《The Time I Got Reincarnated As An Extra》


 Chapter 1: Prologue: An Unprecedented Death

    Chapter 1: Prologue: An Unprecedented Death


    ?


    ****


    On a hot night, a teenage boy with messy ck hair and pitch ck eyes was busy taking care of some books inside a bookstore.


    A bored andzy expression was on his average face right now as he kept tapping the books slowly with a cleaning cloth to clear the dirt.


    He yawned, sleepy and uninterested.


    As the boy was busy cleaning the books on the shelves, an old man entered from a door right next to the shelves.


    Looking at the boy cleaning the books without stopping, he smiled.


    He knew that the boy hated to do this type of work yet did this to provide for himself and his younger sister.


    "It''s all good now, you can take a break." He said to the boy, finally relieving him of his duties.


    The boy''s half closed sleepy eyes suddenly shook awake with the words and he quickly looked at the old man who was smiling at him.


    A happy smile finally spread itself on the boy''s previously bored face as he cheered with joy and put the cloth aside with glee.


    "Thanks grandpa!" He thanked the old man, calling him ''grandpa'' for fun.


    Finally done with his duty, the boy knew just the thing to pass his time before his next shift.


    He darted outside of the doors of the store, his eyes settling on the books disyed outside of the store.


    They scanned through the books with great speed, eventuallynding on the book he was looking for.


    It was a simple, hardcover book with a vibrant and beautiful illustration drawn on the cover.


    Picking it up without hesitation, the boy settled down on the nearby seat before opening it. The book''s name was The Hero''s Ascension.


    It was a book that had been his only source of joy and sce after his parents had passed away and he had joined this bookstore as a part timer.


    Asides for his younger sister who meant the world to him, this book series was the only thing that could make him truly happy for some reason.


    Following its release, the boy had read from Volume I, and today was the final release of the book.


    The final volume which would mark the end of the book and the hero''s victory against the Ghouls.


    Though sad that it would finally end today, the boy was still happy that he read a book like this and was hoping that he would reread or the author would write another book. Pushing his thoughts aside, the boy opened the novel''s first cover page.


    Name: The Hero''s Ascension


    Author Name: Vainhex


    Book Order: VOLUME X (COMPLETED)


    Reading thepleted status, a surge of excitement traveled through the boy''s body.


    He quickly opened the first page of the novel, but to his dismay, it was nk. Completely nk.


    Thinking that it might have been a publishing mistake or an intentional one where authors left the first few pages nk, the boy flipped to the next page only to find it nk again.


    His eyes widened a little but again with previous thought he flipped to the next page, which was again nk.


    And then to the next, nk again.


    He closed the book and quickly flipped its pages at crazy speed by gliding his thumb over it and just like he expected, every single one of the pages on the book was nk.


    The whole final volume was empty.


    Melting into denial, the boy thought that it might have been a publishing mistake for this copy only and quickly picked up another copy only to find it nk again as well.


    What the hell.


    It was supposed to be the best and final volume since the hero was finally supposed to beat the Ghouls once and for all. They would also get to see the world after the war but why had the whole volume turned out empty.


    What was this supposed to mean? Was it a pran-


    THUD! THUD!


    His thoughts were interrupted by two deep and sharp sounds of gunshots going out in the nearby alley.


    The boy''s instincts and sense of righteousness quickly took over his body as he heard an elderly scream for help.


    "HELPP!!"


    A scream that he was familiar with.


    Old man, the boy thought and instantly dashed into the dark and secluded alley to help.


    Since it was night, no one was present at this time of hour and those that were belonged to the young age group.


    The group that would not put their lives on the line for just an old man who was already on the verge of death.


    Of course it was different for the boy who cherished the old man as much as his family. Arriving in the alley, the boy saw two thugs towering over an unconscious body of the old man against the wall, which was bleeding profusely.


    "WE TOLD YOU OLD MAN YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST HANDED OVER THE MONEY YOU NI-" One of the thugs shouted at the body of the old man, riddled with two bullet holes.


    One hole was in the right shoulder while the other was on the right lung.


    The thug''s dialogue was interrupted as he felt a shadow in the peripheral vision of him, causing him to turn his head and see the shocked and horrified figure of the boy standing


    there.


    The second thug quickly started the motorcycle, signaling the first one to quickly get on and


    escape.


    The first thug quickly pointed the pistol towards the boy, threatening him to not move while retreating towards the motorcycle step by step.


    "Don''t you move boy." He threatened, only a few meters away from the boy.


    Unfortunately, the boy''s impulses took control over him causing him to run towards the thugs without any thought.


    His mind had abandoned all rationality at the moment and was quickly driven by pure hatred.


    Hatred for the thugs who had harmed his family.


    To the boy''s misfortune, as soon as he ran over a little distance, the first thug''s survival instincts kicked in causing the finger to pull the trigger two times in session.


    Two gunshots.


    THUD! THUD!


    One to the heart, One to the neck.


    And a fountain of blood erupted once more, ending the boy''s life.


    https://discord.gg/MqHVHHzfxu


    Hello, Author here.


    This is my second novel, and my first try on the extra genre so I hope that you may like it and


    support it till the end.


    As for my first novel readers cough cough, please don''t worry as that book will not be dropped


    and continued to be published at the same rate of 2 or 1 per day.


    Please add this novel to your library and support it in the future, thank you!!!

 Chapter 2: Rebirth

    Chapter 2: Rebirth


    ?


    ****


    It is said that when a person dies their brain remains active and coordinating for 7 minutes before it ceases to operate.


    During that time, a person relives the most important memories of his life through shes.


    And this was exactly what happened to the boy as his whole life passed through his eyes like a sh.


    The happy memories with his parents and sister. The painful memories of their deaths. The sad memories of recovering his broken sister. And yet again, the happy memories with her and the novel he loved.


    Yes, the novel he loved to read passed through his brain like paint, etching every page into his canvas of memories.


    Finally, the seven minutes came to an end, ending his life once and for all. The memories darkened down into an abyss of nothingness epassing him whole.


    Funnily enough, though he did not know where he was, the ability to perfectly remain conscious and think was still present.


    And even if he knew what happened to him, the first thought to cross his mind was about the obvious.


    ''Did I... die?'' He thought but was interrupted as a holographic panel opened up in front of his retina.


    ====[STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: -


    Aspect: -


    ss: Error


    Leaves:????000000*


    Elements: -X


    Talent:-


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT:? ? ? ?


    STR:????


    AGI: ????


    END:????


    INT:? ? ? ?


    ''Wait... this window?'' He questioned with familiarity.


    Despite not knowing how it had opened, the boy was very familiar with the structure of the window.


    After all, it was something that had been present throughout the novel he cherished.


    ''But why was it here?'' He questioned to himself but was taken by suprise as a deep, feminine voice echoed in his ears.


    "Wee, departed soul."


    Surprise came over the boy''s body before a sense or urgency took over and he quickly looked back, only to find nothing there.


    As if his movement was a trigger, the depthless abyss around him suddenly lit up. The scenery changed as light spread from the boy''s feet and swallowed the whole area.


    The all ck nothingness turned into a throne room, with dark purple obsidian walls all around and a star adorned throne ced in front.


    The whole structure of the throne shone with ambient light that emanated from the countless stars etched on it.


    But even this was iparable to the being that sat on the throne, gazing the boy coldly. With an otherworldly beauty that could not bepared to the standards of earth, a tall and mature woman sat atop the throne.


    Boasting long amethyst colored hair that cascaded down her back andvender cold eyes that seemed to bore into the very fabric of his existence, she was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life.


    Realizing that the woman wasn''t going to speak first, the boy decided to open his pursed lips. "U-uhh....h-hello?" He asked the woman, stuttering with nervousness.


    He was not much of a social guy in his past life which led to him having zero confidence to speak right now.


    Whether it was because of her beauty or the cold aloof gaze she watched him with, he didn''t know. But whatever it was, it was certainly making heat rise up in the whole body of the boy


    Finally, the woman showed some signs of movement as she stood up from her throne while the corners of her lips moved upwards.


    "I see you have arrived sessfully, well let''s not waste any time and move on shall we?" She questioned, her clear and beautiful voice echoing throughout the room, into the ears if the boy.


    "I''m sure you are very confused as to how and who summoned you here, aren''t you?" The woman asked chucklingly, her voice carrying a tone of yfulness that was a far contrast from her cold gaze at the start.


    The boy looked at her weirdly, not being able to make sense of anything that was happening.


    "I understand your confusion but let me exin. I''m Zephyra, the Goddess of the Void." She introduced herself before going further.


    "If you are wondering who has summoned you don''t worry it''s me. The reason I have rebirthed you actually is to give you a proposal." She exined.


    At the mention of proposal, the boy''s eyebrows furrowed but Zepyhra continued.


    "I want you to transmigrate into [The Hero''s Ascension], and kill the hero for me." She proposed, her purple eyes gleaming now.


    The boy''s eyes widened with shock. She literally meant for him to reincarnate into his favourite novel and kill the main protagonist!?


    It was absurd. There was no way he could this in the first ce. But as if sensing his thoughts, Zephyra quickly cleared out.


    "I don''t mean to say that you need to kill the hero instantly, no. I want you to kill him after the annihtion of Ghouls. After the story has beenpleted." She exined before going further to his power.


    "Don''t worry, the power gap isn''t a problem for you as I can help with that." She said and waved her hand instantly causing millions of tables toe out if thin air and ce themselves in the endless expanse.


    "You may choose any 3 weapon art or anything in this whole expanse. If the value is quite high the number of choices will he reduced. Other than that, you just need to say the name of anything in this whole expanse and it will be yours." She exined.


    But even with a sea of riches in front of him, the boy did not make a hasty decision yet.


    He chose to ask her some questions first.


    "Why do you want me to kill the hero?" He asked but the goddess merely chuckled in


    response.


    "I''m afraid I can''t tell you that, I apologise." She said.


    The boy nodded then moved to the next question.


    "And what if I refuse?" He asked only for Zephyra to chuckle again.


    "It''s simple then, your soul will follow the normal state of life and death without anything."


    She answered.


    At her answer, the boy again felt into deep thought for a while before raising his head, a


    confirmed expression on his face.


    "Alright, I''m ready to transmigrate."


    https://discord.gg/MqHVHHzfxu Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 3: The Harsh Truth And Choice

    Chapter 3: The Harsh Truth And Choice


    ?


    ****


    "Alright, I''m ready to transmigrate."


    Zepyhra nodded with a yful smile. But the boy raised a hand to question something.


    "Yes?" she asked him before his lips parted.


    "Just wanted to ask, are these 3 choices given to my sister as well?" He asked.


    At his words, her head tilted with confusion.


    "Huh? What do you mean?" She questioned back and then he suddenly realized something.


    There was no one here besides him.


    "Speaking of, where''s my sister anyways?" He asked again and this time a frown etched itself on her beautiful features.


    "What are you trying to even say?" She tried to understand and finally the boy answered.


    "I mean where is my sister? Since I''m transmigrating, she should be here as well right?" He asked and a baffled expression took ce on Zephyra''s face.


    She instantly answered him, making his world crumble.


    "Uhh nope, who told you that your sister would transmigrate as well?" She answered in the form of a question and the boy''s smile instantly morphed into horror.


    When he spoke again, his voice stuttered with fear and horror.


    "W-wait w-what do you mean my sister isn''t here? I-If I''m transmigrating it must be for a special reason t-that I was selected right?" He asked and the void goddess nodded.


    But the next time before he could speak again she already answered his question with a face that was screaming obvious why his sister wasn''t transmigrating.


    "Just because you are special doesn''t mean that your sister is.


    For your information, you are selected since you have literally read all of the novel and your sister hasn''t read a single page correct?" she asked at the end, hiding the answer to his question in it as well.


    At her question, he finally realized it.


    He was just being delusional.


    The answer was always right in front of him, but he just refused to realize in hopes that his sister would be with him.


    It was tantly evident that he was selected for his transmigration cause only he had read the novel and knew everything.


    Down to thest page of the secondst volume.


    Meanwhile, his little sister had read nothing.


    Of course it would make no sense for her to be selected.


    But even so, he just couldn''t ept this fact.


    When his parents had died in a brutal car ident, he had been left to fend off for himself and his sister.


    His sister had lost color in her life and had refused to eat anything but slowly and slowly he had helped her recover to the point she was just like before the ident happened.


    In the ce of her parents, her brother had taken that ce.


    Now that he had left her as well, he could not imagine what would happen to her once she learned of the fact.


    Though she was 16 now and much older than before, she would be left an orphan, left to fend off for herself.


    Tears started to trickle down the boy''s face at a fast speed as he learned that he would never be able to see his sister again.


    He could not even say a goodbye or leave a message to her.


    The tears turned into a downpour as the boy kept sobbing along with the remembrance of his sister.


    Surprisingly, Zepyhra said nothing and remained silent, giving him time to let all his emotions out.


    The boy was only 18 but had lost everyone in his life, it was expected for him to cry.


    He cried for hours in the endless expanse before he finally emptied himself out of the raging inferno of feelings within him.


    With his rationality finally returning, he knew there was still no choice.


    Whether he had lost his sister or not, he would still be only given the choice of death or transmigration.


    And though he would much prefer death right now, he knew his sister would want him to live. Just like he hoped that she would live instead of dying and that she would understand his wish.


    With a resolute face and dead eyes, the boy finally stood up to face the beautiful goddess who had been silent for the whole time.


    Multiple hours and she had not evenined once and kept silent, giving him time to congest the truth.


    Looking at her charming face, the boy nodded and an understanding smile marred her features again.


    She gestured towards all of the tables in the expanse and then her sulent lips spoke,


    "Alright, as you see right in front of you, you just need to say the name of the item you want and it shall be given to you. Three choices, but if the rank of the item is high, then I''m afraid that you would have to sacrifice a choice. The value of an item is decided by the system screen that should open in front of your eyes right now." She exined.


    As her words ended, a system screen opened up in front of the boy simultaneously.


    The Blessing Of The Void


    Please choose 3 things in the expanse and say their name out loud.


    The things can be sorted into categories as well, just speak out the proper name.


    *The choice value of an item will be decided once you select it*


    Looking at the window, the boy nodded.


    Rather than choosing straight away, he started to ponder on what would help himter on in


    the novel.


    Since he had a system window, it probably meant that he was the same as the hero of the


    novel.


    Originally in the novel, only the hero was blessed with the system and no one else but this would change now that he would reincarnate.


    And the proof that he had a system was the window he saw as soon as he reincarnated which was the same as the hero''s.


    If he remembered correctly, it was revealedter on in the novel that the system was granted to the MC by the God of Sun, Sran.


    Taking the information into ount, he would have to probably say that the Goddess of the Void was probably his counterpart.


    Which would further mean that no matter what he picked in this space, he would still end up having less chances in the starting to catch up with the MC.


    Looking back at Zephyra, the boy questioned with an indifferent face.


    "It says "thing" here in this status screen but can you exin for me what it actually means?"


    The goddess tilted her head in question since she had already exined it to him already. But a smile took ce on her face again as she spread out her hands to exin again. "By "thing" it literally means anything in this whole space, Any living thing, mana art, weapon or equipment etc that exists here can be taken by you. Just think that this whole space


    is avable for you and you can take anything inside it." She exined, this time more


    thoroughly.


    At the words, a smirk nted itself on the boy''s face as he confirmed his thinking.


    If he could take anything in this whole space then....


    There was only one possible way for him in his mind to counter a divine being.


    And that was....


    "Goddess of the Void, Zephyra" He spoke in a low voice and a ting resounded in his mind


    making his smirk even wider.


    Listening to him calling out again, the goddess looked at him questioningly again.


    "Yeah?" She asked him with a bewitching smile and the boy raised his hand with a smile,


    confirming his choice with the next words.


    "I want you."


    Thanks for reading!!! https://discord.gg/MqHVHHzfxu

 Chapter 4: Clovists and Armentists

    Chapter 4: Clovists and Armentists


    ?


    "I want you." The boy answered, his finger pointing towards her and a smirk on his face. Few seconds passed in the spatial expanse with total silence.


    It was like nothing existed in the world,plete and utter silence.


    But in the next moment, a shade of pink colored Zephyra''s cheeks along with ears and she cupped her cheeks with her hands.


    "W-Wait what!!!? W-what are you tr-" she yelled stutteringly but was interrupted when a loud system notification sound rang in the area.


    TING!


    The goddess finally understood what he meant and a shocked expression took over her initial shy one.


    "H-huh wait what, did you select something alread-" She was going to ask, before it all clicked in her mind.


    Her face morphed into one of extreme shock as she tried toprehend what had just happened.


    She never expected in a million years for the event to transpire like this but it had.


    And the next system notification confirmed that thought.


    Choice confirmed.


    [The Void Goddess, Zephyra] now belongs to you.


    Choices Consumed: 3


    Choices Left: 0


    The boy nodded with satisfaction. He had expected the goddess to cost all three choices so he wasn''t surprised that much.


    Another notification popped up as soon as the current one closed.


    [Choice Selection] is now over.


    The User will now be sent to the world.


    And just as the new one closed as well, the eternal darkness took over him again, separating him from Zephyra.


    *****


    The boy''s eyes twitched before fully opening with a shock.


    His body sat up as if a jolt had passed through it. He instantly noticed how hot it was, making him realize that he wasn''t in the void world anymore.


    The void world was chillingly cold, which was why the heat was a sign for him that he wasn''t there anymore.


    His eyes moved to his raised hands. Pale white and without any calluses or roughness.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to think any further when a charming and annoyed voice echoed in his head.


    [Stop admiring your beauty already, you have transmigrated. No need to check it again and again.]


    His eyes widened.


    ''She''s in my mind now?'' He thought and the answer came from the goddess herself.


    [Yes, you idiot. It was you who chose me by sacrificing all your choices, so learn to bear with it.]


    ''Ah.'' It finally clicked for the boy.


    Since he had chosen the goddess it probably meant that she was like a soul in his body now or something like that.


    He remembered that it was the same way for the original MC as well.


    Getting out of his bed, the boy quickly walked over to the mirror to see his new features.


    Pitch ck hair and ck eyes.


    Same as the previous world, but he still had to admit that these new features were still more handsome than his previous ones.


    His body was lean and skinny, implying malnutrition andck of muscles.


    The skin tone though was pale white, a wide contrast to his tanned one in the previous life.


    He stopped appraising himself when he heard a ''Urgh!'' in his mind and moved over to the


    next part.


    The System.


    Since he remembered everything, it should just be like how it was done in the novel.


    ''Status'' He thought and a system interface opened in the next second.


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Age: 18


    Aspect: Clover


    ss: Error


    Leaves:???000000 -


    Elements:Void


    Talent: 10th Order]]


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ? ? ?


    STR: ? ? ?


    AGI: ???


    END:???


    INT: ? ? ?


    Shock took over his body when he looked at his [Status].


    For his age he was on the weakest rank right now, even making him the weakest person in his


    whole age group.


    But it mattered barely when he looked at his talent.


    A 10th Order talent!!?


    He quickly turned over his right hand to look at the backside of his palm which he had not


    checked before.


    And there it was.


    An abyssal ck clover symbol with only 1 leaf was etched on it right now, almost the size of a


    watch face.


    As his [Status] showed, he was at the lowest rank right now, which meant only 1 leaf of his clover was avable to him.


    Recalling his memories from the novel, the power system of this world was based upon


    clovers.


    A human was supposed to awaken at the age of 16, which meant that a clover symbol would automatically form on their palm, granting them ess to mana and magic.


    There were two types of people in this world: Clovists and Armentists.


    Clovists were people who were blessed with a clover and were able to use magic for fighting.


    Armentists were people who weren''t fortunate enough to get a clover and then chose the path


    of physical fighting in the future.


    Looking at his name, he realized that his name now was Amon Ashford.


    A character that he had never heard of in the novel, an extra.


    Hell, even his looks were like those of an extra.


    But even so, what mattered here was his talent rather than his rank.


    A Talent in this world was simple.


    The order number of your talent was how many leaves you could have on your clover mark.


    And the more clover leaves you had, the more stronger you got.


    As far as he knew, in this world there was only one 10th tier clovist, and only 2 at the 9th tier.


    The boy was about to move on, when he heard the door open.


    A young woman entered the room with features that couldn''t bepared to even the most beautiful models back on Earth.


    With long lustrous ck hair and sweet warm brown eyes, she had a caring smile on her


    wless face.


    All of a sudden a rush of memories flooded the boy''s head, throwing him into a headache.


    Memories, that he realized, belonged to this body.


    Fortunately, the headache didn''tst for even 5 seconds before receding.


    The only difference was the shocked expression on his face.


    The woman in front of him, was his elder sister.


    Katherine Ashford. 2 years older than him.


    ''Right... I''m not a normal boy anymore. I''m Amon Ashford.''


    Thanks for reading!!!!!

 Chapter 5: Sister and Campus

    Chapter 5: Sister and Campus


    ?


    ****


    Katherine, who entered the door with a smile on her face, now looked at him with worry in her eyes.


    "Are you alright Amon?" She asked, her voiceced with concern.


    Amon looked at his sister. The memories had also brought along some caring feelings for her in his heart.


    "Yes, I''m okay sister, no need to worry." He relieved her, before suddenly realizing that he had called her a ''sister''.


    Even though he got the memories and feelings, he still had his own soul in this body.


    One that wasn''t familiar with Katherine.


    Which was why he couldn''t consider her as a ''sister'' yet.


    But seeing the care and worry in her eyes did remind him of his little sister, who worried and cared just as much when he came back from work.


    He gave a small warm smile to her and raised his hand to signal that he was okay.


    Taking his words for the truth, her worry vanished and the previous smile blossomed back on her face.


    "Ah that''s good." She spoke with relief and then a few seconds passed in silence when she finally realized what she was here for.


    "Oh wait, you almost made me forget what I was here for, you are gettingte for the academy. Hurry up!" She scolded.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    "Huh?" He blurted out, causing Katherine''s face to turn into shock.


    "Have you forgotten!!? Today is finally your induction in Eldergrove Academy, how can you forget it?" She asked with disbelief.


    ''Wait, Eldergrove Academy!? Am I already enrolled in the academy of the hero?'' He questioned himself.


    But before he could answer, a rush of memories assaulted his head again.


    Fortunately, this was a short one, and because of that, the trip onlysted 2 seconds.


    He now knew that he was a part of the academy.


    He had applied for the test before and barely passed the admission criteria, resulting in him taking thest rank of the first year.


    Just like he thought, he was probably the weakest in his age group.


    Yet.


    Realizing that he was making Katherine wait for so long, he quickly came up with an answer.


    "Ahhh yes yes, my bad I truly forgot for a second there. I just woke up so my mind is a bit hazy sister." He excused.


    And fortunately, his sister bought it as she sighed and facepalmed herself.


    "Alright Alright, dress up quickly since we have to leave. Otherwise. you will bete for sses." She ordered and Amon quickly nodded before running towards his closet.


    Taking out the new academy uniform, he quickly headed inside the bathroom while his sister sighed once more and left the room.


    ****


    [After 30 Minutes]


    Amon finally exited his room in his new, finely pressed, academy uniform. He had taken a shower and dressed himself as nicely as possible in order to achieve his goal today.


    Coming out of his room, he saw himself standing in a viciously big and finely furnished apartment.


    It was a wide contrast to his normal and dead apartment in the previous life, thus his evident surprise.


    His thoughts were pushed back as he heard a familiar voice call out to him from the corner. "What are you staring at, idiot? Hurry up!" Katherine called with irritation as she stood at the door.


    Finding himself staring at the walls like a dumb guy, he quickly headed over to his sister to leave the apartment.


    He wanted to talk to Zephyra for some things but he knew this wasn''t the correct time right


    now.


    Heading outside the apartment, Amon again found himself dazed as he saw a massive campus, stretched out to as far as he could see.


    The gentle fresh breeze and the vibrant beauty of the nature was something that could never be found back on Earth.


    If someone told him this was paradise, he might just believe it.


    In order to not embarrass himself again, he quickly took off his stare.


    Amon headed down the stairs with his sister and then started following her to the campus.


    Because of the memories, he at least had the vague idea of the whole academy or more urately, the whole city.


    Yes, the Eldergrove Academy a.k.a the best academy of the human continent, was basically a city.


    It housed everything from living areas, to entertainment areas, to shopping areas and finally the main building, the campus.


    Right now, they just exited from the living area where almost all the students of the campus lived,


    After at least 30 minutes of walking without any word, the duo arrived in front of the main building of the campus.


    Katherine had wanted to talk to Amon on the way but she found that he was a little perplexed ever since the morning, therefore she chose to give him time to sort it out.


    If he had any sort of trouble, he would juste to her.


    Finally, she spoke.


    "We are here. Well then, we should part ways now since I''m in the third year section."


    Amon nodded. He knew his sister was a 3rd year in the academy, the strongest at that. Katherine gave a final nod back before speaking her parting words,


    "Welp, I''m leaving, remember not to cause much trouble alright?" she asked and Amon simply nodded back again.


    Then she finally left him, leaving him alone in the expansive ground of the campus.


    "Well then, I should get going as-" He spoke but his words halted midway.


    ''Oh fuck.'' He cursed in his mind while the void goddess sighed deeply.


    He suddenly realized a major problem.


    He didn''t know the way to his ss.


    No, he didn''t even know where the first year section was for that matter.


    He cursed himself silently in mind again for not asking Katherine but then sighed.


    "Whatever, guess I''ll just have to keep roaming unti-" He spoke out loud but a voice interrupted him.


    "Hey, are you lost?" A female voice came from behind and Amon quickly turned back.


    Standing a few meters away from him was a girl just around his age but a beauty not even


    comparable to his sister.


    Boasting white long lustrous hair and silver gray eyes, she had a smile on her face.


    Amon''s heart fluttered at that moment as he admired her beauty.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 6: Elizabeth Snowcrest

    Chapter 6: Elizabeth Snowcrest


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s heart fluttered as he admired the beauty of the girl.


    Was this what they called teenage hormones?


    Regardless, he didn''t keep staring for long.


    For one, he didn''t want to embarrass himself and secondly, because of the coughing he heard at the back of his head.


    And thirdly, because he knew who this girl was.


    Elizabeth Snowcrest, the second daughter of Snowcrests.


    In the world of Exalria, humans were ruled through monarchy.


    At the top sat the Imperiac, and under them, were 5 Ducal families.


    The Snowcrests were one of them.


    Famous for their exceptional control over the ice element, they rose to power quickly.


    They were also one of the only 2 families ruled by Matriarchs.


    He pushed back his thoughts quickly as he found the girl''s gaze still lingering over him.


    "Uh, yeah..." He answered.


    Elizabeth nodded with an elegant smile. She gestured him to follow, which he did.


    Going through the corridors with her, Amon was subjected to a number of stares. It was normal. She was a royal figure after all.


    And seeing her walk with an average boy would of course be not bearable for them.


    He helplessly sighed and ignored everything.


    Finally, they arrived in a long corridor and Elizabeth stopped. She pointed forwards.


    "Here, we are now in the 1st years corridor. You can check your ss here, or just tell me the number?" She asked politely.


    Amon''s face twisted with embarrassment again as he resisted the urge to facepalm himself. Understanding his reaction, a burst ofughter escaped out of Elizabeth''s mouth.


    She struggled to maintain herself by keeping a hand to her mouth but it was to no avail. Amon sighed for the umpteenth time, not having the confidence to look at her eyes again. The first day and he had already blundered so many times, he thought.


    But then, Zephyra also burst out,ughing boisterously in his head.


    [You were so confident in the void that I actually took you for aplete mastermind. Who knew you were so dumb that you didn''t even check anything hahahahahahaha.] Sheughed, with no end in sight.


    ''Shut up, will you?'' He replied to her in his head with gritted teeth.


    Fortunately, just at that moment the elegantughter of Elizabeth ceased. Then, she pointed towards his right arm.


    As Amon''s eyes moved towards the spot, he noticed a minimalistic thin ck bracelet strapped to his wrist.


    "Oh..." He blurted out, already understanding what she meant to say.


    Elizabeth nodded along with his answer.


    "Yes, that''s a bracelet issued to you by the academy. You can use it to check your sses, personal info, campus news or anything rted. It''s also equipped with somemunication utilities as well." She exined.


    Everything, down to thest detail.


    Though he was baffled by why she was helping him this much when he was just a nobody, he didn''t say anything.


    Why should he question if it was to his own advantage to not ask?


    Clicking his watch, a system interface opened up in front of his eyes.


    The window disyed everything about him.


    The name, roll number, apartment number, photo, ss number and many other things as well.


    His eyes quickly moved over to the ss number.


    And once again, he was left in shock when he found out the number.


    -ss C-20.


    Just like always, the name and the ss were very familiar to Amon.


    Since it was the ss that housed the whole main cast of the novel after all.


    The same ss of the original MC and the heroines.


    By which, it also meant the beauty standing right in front of him.


    He looked up and found her staring at him with a polite smile again.


    "Did you see your ss number? What is it?"


    Amon hesitated for a moment before his lips parted to speak.


    "ss C-20." He answered and a flicker of surprise passed through Elizabeth''s eyes.


    Mainly because she wasn''t expecting such a coincidence.


    But nevertheless, a smile blossomed on her face soon after.


    She pointed towards a corner of the corridor and gestured to him to follow again, which he did.


    Both walked in the crowded pathway again without any word. But even so, Amon remembered to keep a certain distance between both to relieve himself from some of the res at his back.


    After a gruesomely long walk, they finally arrived in front of two metallic doors, which had a metal te on topbeled with the words ''CLASS C-20''.


    Taking note that he was in the right ss, Amon elegantly pointed to Elizabeth that she


    should go in first.


    The white haired beauty was taken aback for a second, before she nodded.


    But something strange happened at that moment.


    As soon as Elizabeth opened the metallic doors, it was as if her whole demeanor changed in a


    second.


    The previous kind and cheering girl was nowhere to be seen as pure coldness and indifference took over her being and she walked forwards.


    With grace and elegance, as if she was the only one worthy to be noticed in this world.


    It was then, that a sudden realization hit Amon.


    He had permanently forgotten for a second there.


    And it was that, Elizabeth Snowcrest, was capable of seeing people''s true thoughts and


    emotions.


    It was an innate property of her family ever since the birth of the founder.


    Their gray eyes weren''t normal. It was not even their true color. The color was just something that allowed them to see a person''s emotions and thoughts.


    ording to this it probably made sense that the only reason she was kind to him was because she knew he was genuinely lost and appreciated the help.


    In turn, she was kind to him.


    Now that she was going to step inside the ss, it was obvious that there were a multitude of people with a whirlpool of emotions.


    Lust.


    Infatuation.


    Jealousy and many more.


    And what was the best way for her to reply to them all?


    Pure and cold indifference. Simply shut them with a look.


    Looking ahead, Amon realized that today was going to be a hectic but maybe interesting


    ss.


    And so he stepped inside, making everyone''s gaze cast from the ice beauty to the neer.


    Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 7: The Entry Of The Main Cast

    Chapter 7: The Entry Of The Main Cast


    ?


    ****


    As Amon entered the ss, numerous gazes were cast upon him, as if evaluating him.


    And it did not even take one second for them to take off their stares, recognizing him as the weakest yet.


    Though some remained, they were not of curiosity or kindness but rather filled with hate and disgust at his power.


    Of course, Amon already knew beforeing here that it would be like this so he just internally shrugged.


    Ignoring everything, he climbed up the stairs before taking a seat among thest rows.


    It was obvious that the seating in this ss was based upon power and ss, and as such the nobles with high power seated at the front.


    Elizabeth was also among them, with her being seated at the front row, since she belonged to a ducal family.


    Though if he had to judge more urately, he would say that power overpowered the family in the seating.


    A way for Eldergrove to prove that they did not take ss much into ount with their students.


    It was probably why even though Katherine was not a noble, she sat on the front row because of her power as a 5th Order Clovist.


    As Amon settled down on the empty long table, the ssroom door opened again.


    And in tandem, three beautiful girls entered, their charm matching Elizabeth''s.


    Suddenly, everyone''s gaze was on them again as almost everyone in this ss knew who they were, including Amon.


    All three of them belonged to ducal families, with him knowing each one of them.


    Why?


    Because all three were part of the main cast as heroines, just like Elizabeth.


    Starting from the back, the girl was just around Amon''s age.


    With long emerald green hair and eyes, she exuded a sheer aura of coldness and dominance.


    Her pale white skin was without any blemish and as she elegantly walked towards the first table, everyone could not help but quickly take their stares off of her.


    She was Liliana Evangeline, the first daughter of the Evangeline Household.


    The Evangeline Family was famous for specializing in wind and scouting, and as the first daughter, Liliana''s control and mastery over wind was unparalleled.


    In the novel, she was also said to be the most cold and elegant heroine.


    She had no special interest in anything and would hate anyone who had no manners.


    She believed that every person and work required a sense of elegance and manners.


    The girl next to her was just as beautiful as Liliana.


    With short light blue hair and warm sky blue eyes, she walked with a bright smile on her face.


    Her attitude was aplete contrast to the one of Liliana.


    Charlotte Von Sullivan, also the first daughter of the Sullivan household.


    Just like her family, Charlotte specialized in the Earth element, destroying everyone in terms of versatility.


    She was a warm and kind girl in the novel who liked to help everyone.


    She was the only earth clovist among the first years, who was able to use Earth in both defensive and offensive ways.


    Moving on to the final girl, she was also the one with the most stares at her back.


    Not only because she walked at the front, but also because of her status and power. Alya Von Lancaster, the princess of Imperiac. She was also the twin of the original MC. Specializing in destructive fire power, the offensive power of Alya was unmatched. Even in theter stages of the novel, the main character had lots of trouble dealing with her fire prowess. With long blonde hair that cascaded down her back and crimson red eyes, she had a jolly smile on her face.


    A joking smile rather than an arrogant one.


    Everyone from the ss knew her personality to be funny and bubbly, one that made others really feel warm around her.


    As the three beauties or ''cmities'' as the author called them, walked, everyone looked at them with lust, infatuation and jealousy.


    As they reached the front row, they seated themselves ordingly with order.


    Elizabeth, then Alya, then Liliana, and then Charlotte atst.


    The top 4 in the batch of first years. The idols of everyone.


    Amon, however, just dismissed them casually after taking a single nce.


    It was not that he wasn''t interested in them, he was.


    As an avid reader of the novel, he could say that he was dying to talk to them.


    But the point was that, there was no way right now because of the difference between their


    strengths.


    Rather, he was more excited by the next people toe. Both because they were important to the story and also he could talk to them.


    And just in time, the door of the ss opened once more and a young boy entered.


    With blonde hair and crimson red eyes, his facial features were awfully simr to Alya''s.


    And there was a proper reason for it.


    He was Michael Von Lancaster, the Prince of Imperiac and the twin of Alya.


    And finally and most importantly, the original MC of the novel.


    Walking forwards, he was again subjected to a lot of stares, just like the other girls.


    But rather than sitting in the front row as the prince, he started climbing up the stairs, passing


    the rows one by one.


    And as if this strangeness wasn''t enough, the gazes that were directed at him were also not of admiration, respect and kindness.


    They were filled with mockery, disgust and contempt.


    The reason was simple.


    It was that even though he was a prince of the kingdom, he was the weakest first year in the


    academy.


    Or more urately, second, because of Amon taking the weakest now.


    And just like he expected, Michael kept passing rows until he reached the one with only Amon


    sitting in it.


    He looked at Amon with a kind and respectful smile.


    ''As expected of an MC.'' Amon sighed internally.


    "If the ce is not upied, can I sit besides you?" Michael asked him.


    Nodding back silently, Amon moved to let the prince sit besides him.


    As soon as he sat down, the ssroom door opened for another time.


    And the one who arrived was a young boy, with purple hair and beautifulvender eyes.


    Amon smiled, mischievously.


    The final member of the main cast had finally entered.


    Thanks for reading!!


    The novel has finally been vetted, so I hope you can all support this novel with power stones!!


    100 P.S= 1 Extra Chapter


    200 P.S = 2 Extra Chapter


    300 P.S = 3 Extra Chapter


    If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to ask.


    Join Discord (Link in Synopsis)


    Thank you.

 Chapter 8: Elemental Tests [1]

    Chapter 8: Elemental Tests [1]


    ?


    ****


    The final member of the main cast had entered.


    With purple hair andvender eyes, he stood out from the rest of the boys in the ss.


    Ren Silvermoon, the third weakest first year in the whole batch.


    But rather than giving him gazes filled with mockery or anything, not a single stare was cast upon him.


    All because of one person.


    And that person entered right behind him.


    With long dark purple hair and abyssal ck eyes, a woman entered the ss.


    Athena Silvermoon, also the homeroom teacher of ss C-20.


    She was also the sister of Ren, thus why nobody dared look at him with contempt.


    Nobody wanted to court death here in any way since everyone knew Athena was not a normal teacher.


    She was the only 9th Order Clovist in all of humanity and the vice-principal of Eldergrove Academy.


    And also, the only [Space] element clovist in humanity.


    Without any words to each other, both siblings parted ways as Athena headed towards the podium and Ren started climbing the stairs.


    Reaching the backbencher duo, the young purple-haired boy smiled.


    "If you guys don''t mind, can you make some space for me to sit?" He asked politely.


    Michael quickly nodded while Amon eyed the boy observingly.


    Ren was no different than his sister. Their talents and prowess were something not to be reckoned with, in theter stages of the novel.


    The only reason Ren was even this weak right now was because of his past with the family.


    There was no need to study their names.


    Though others might have never heard of them, Amon certainly knew everything about them.


    The Silvermoons.


    Something that was......


    His thoughts were disrupted as Athena coughed to get the ss'' attention.


    "Good Morning, I''m Athena Silvermoon. Your homeroom teacher and also the vice-principal of this academy." She spoke sternly, eyeing everyone in the ss with her cold eyes.


    As if she was evaluating their worth.


    As her eyes passed through Amon, he saw her right eye light up for a fraction of a second.


    But it returned to normal in the next second, making him think it might have just been a hallucination.


    "Alright. Since today''s the first ss, let''s just take attendance before heading over to check your powers." She exined before starting.


    "Elizabeth?"


    "Present."


    "Alya?"


    "Present."


    "Liliana?"


    "Here."


    "Charlotte?"


    "Present!"


    And kept going on and on while the students also kept looking at the specific student when their name was announced.


    After a long gruesome wait, she finally reached thest roll numbers.


    "Ren?" she asked, her voice softer than before.


    "Yup."


    She gave him a stern stare at the answer causing him to correct himself.


    "Present." He coughed and she moved on, both of them ignoring the numerous gazes cast upon them for the subtle interaction.


    "Michael?" she asked without any special interest in her voice.


    "Present miss." The boy himself, also answered simply.


    And then, she spoke the final name, also raising her eyes this time causing some people to be taken aback.


    During each name, Athena had never taken her eyes off the sheet, thus making them surprised about this special boy.


    "Amon?"


    However, when their eyes turned, all they saw was a frail-looking young boy with nothing special about him. Not even his mana levels.


    However, the boy himself just smiled back in return and raised his hand.


    "Present."


    Athena''s starested for a moment longer before she turned back to her sheet.


    "I guess that''s all then. Alright, time to leave the ss." She pped and everyone stood up, including Amon.


    As he stood up, Michael called out to him.


    "Hey, Amon." He called out, and the boy in question looked back, surprised because he had called out his name.


    He knew that this was a habit of the prince, but he had to feign surprise.


    "Yes?"


    "Even though you probably know me, I was hoping that you could be my friend?" Michael


    asked.


    Amon looked back at him with surprise.


    But a secondter, he smiled back and reached out his hand.


    "Sure, I was hoping to find a friend in this ss as well. Nice to meet you, Michael." He


    replied, calling the boy with his name as well.


    The prince was taken aback with surprise for a second.


    He didn''t expect it to be easy but......


    It felt nice.


    And so he shook the outstretched hand a momentter.


    However, just when the duo was about to move forwards, another guy called out from behind.


    "Yo."


    Both of them turned back and saw Ren standing there with a smile.


    "Can I join your group as well? I can''t see myself associating with those at the front." He


    asked, scratching his head.


    After a second of silence, both of them nodded.


    "Sure, you can join us." Michael smiled.


    "Thanks, you guys." Ren rushed towards them.


    With that, the trio made their way towards the testing grounds.


    ******


    Arriving in the training grounds, Athena made all of them line up.


    She then exined that each person woulde up and disy their elemental powers on


    various tests.


    All of them nodded along and then she gestured to Elizabeth toe up first.


    The white haired girl nodded indifferently and walked up towards a big space where several


    targets were ced at varying distances.


    "When I say go, you need to shoot down all those targets. Your uracy, time and control


    matter in this."


    Elizabeth nodded back and then took on a stance.


    Seeing that she was ready, Athena nodded and raised her hand before bringing it down in a


    swoop.


    "Go."


    Instantly, a cold hue shrouded Elizabeth''s body making the temperature around her


    plummet.


    Simultaneously, multiple ice shards formed in the air that hovered around her body.


    In the next second, she waved her hand forwards, sending all of the shards shooting forwards


    at great speeds.


    The first shard hit the bullseye instantly on the nearest target before the other shards also


    perfectly hit all marks.


    All the people looked at her awe as shepletely hit all of the targets in less than 3 seconds.


    She wasn''t a first ranker for nothing.


    Athena nodded at her performance before scribbling something down on the paper.


    "Alright, we are done. Next." She announced and Elizabeth turned to go.


    Everyone pped at her performance as she returned back to her first ce. Meanwhile, Alya


    walked up to the stage next.


    Athena looked at her sheet again before looking back up.


    "It says here that you are an armenist, is that correct?"


    Alya nodded with a smile and she gestured to a nearby shelf.


    "Take a weapon from there. Do note that the weapon you take will be registered by the


    academy as your official weapon." She notified and Alya nodded again.


    Then, she ran off to the shelf before immediately choosing a bow, anding back.


    "Alright, same test as before. Just shoot down all the targets."


    With that, Athena again brought down her arm while Alya aimed with her bow.


    But at that moment, a ping notification echoed in Amon''s head who was constantly observing


    all their movements.


    PING!


    [Assimtion Completed.]


    Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 9: Elemental Tests [2]

    Chapter 9: Elemental Tests [2]


    ?


    ****


    [Assimtion Completed.]


    ''Huh?'' Amon blurted in his head as he saw the system notification disyed in front of him. [It seems that it is finallypleted. Check your status.] Zephyra calmly requested him. Heeding her request, he quickly opened his status window.


    ''[Status]''


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Age: 18


    Aspect: Clover


    ss: Error


    *You are an anomaly in this world, an error. Once that was not supposed to exist. Who are you? Only you know.


    Leaves:???000000


    Elements:Void??Levels


    Talent: 10th Order]


    ====[STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: << ? ? ?


    STR: ? ? ?


    AGI: ???


    END:? ? ?


    INT: ? ? ?


    [Skills |_Training||||Inventory


    Surprise passed through his eyes as he looked at the changed system interface.


    But before he was able to check the changes, another system window opened up in front of him.


    Choose 2 Elements:


    - Sound (Maker)


    - Ice (Maniption)


    - Lightning (Maker)


    - Energy (Maniption)


    - Crystal (Maker)


    - Blood (Maniption)


    - Gravity (Maniption)


    - Nature (Maniption)


    ''Wait what?'' He questioned with shock again as the new screen opened up in front of him. There was no need to ask Zephyra about this, since it already said what he needed to do. Derivant Elements.


    They were elements weaker than primordial elements in terms of base strength.


    However, in terms of versatility and applications, they far exceeded the primordial elements.


    Looking at the interface, he pondered upon which ones to choose.


    He wanted elements that werepletely different from his current one.


    Analyzing each element, he finally made his choice within some minutes.


    Choices Selected. Do you wish to confirm?


    Yes/No


    Nodding internally, Amon confirmed.


    ''Yes''


    Preparing for Elemental Influx. Please prepare yourself.


    Time Left: 3>2>1


    Not understanding what it meant, he was unprepared for the sudden barrage of information that invaded his brain.


    Every basic use and application of the element was imprinted in his memory.


    Gritting his teeth to not give into the pain, he remainedpletely silent in order to not even


    let a whimper out.


    Finally, after a minute, the pain subsidedpletely and he opened his eyes.


    He quickly opened his status.


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Age: 18


    Aspect: Clover


    ss: Error


    You are an anomaly in this world, an error. One that was not supposed to exist. Who are you?


    Only you know.


    Leaves:??0000000


    Elements:Void BloodLightning Levels


    Talent: 10th Order]


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ? ? ?


    STR: ???


    AGI: ? ? ?


    END:???


    INT:???


    Skills Training|Inventory


    Amon nodded, satisfied with the results.


    In his opinion, though gravity and energy were pretty broken, the former was something he would gradually attain with his current element and thetter was theplete opposite to


    his main element.


    By these assumptions, it rendered both elements useless to be taken.


    Which was why, he had settled for blood and lightning in the end.


    As for crystal and nature, he had discarded them both since the system didn''t specify what


    they meant. They were also not showcased in the novel, which led him to not take the risk.


    Meanwhile, if we had to choose between ice and lightning for blood, he would much rather go


    with lightning for its offensiveness and versatility.


    However, before he could focus on the other changes, his attention was taken as he heard


    ps resound around him.


    He raised his head and saw Alyaing back from her test while the others pped at her spectacr performance.


    Michael and Ren were also involved in the pping, the former especially happy.


    ''He doesn''t hold any jealousy or envy towards his twin even though he''s miles weaker than


    her. Typical main characters.'' Amon sighed.


    But then, he also realized that he himself, never held any jealousy of his sister''s power or rank


    as well.


    ''Guess he and I are simr in this way.'' He thought.


    Next, Liliana was called upon the stage.


    With a graceful gait, she arrived in front of the targets and just like the previous girls.


    With her maniption of wind spikes, she hit all targets urately in just 8 seconds.


    Afterwards, Charlotte was called upon the stage.


    Since she was an armentist, she used a ymore with her earth magic to swiftly deal with the


    targets and destroy them.


    Except for bow armentists, all other types had to destroy moving bots with their weapons for


    the test.


    The bots were empowered with mana stones, enabling them to move and attack as per the


    user''s decision.


    Following that, one by one every person came to give their tests, the time for clearance


    elongating with each attempt.


    A clear indicator of the gaps in strength between each individual.


    Finally, after a long wait, Michael was called up to the ground.


    As a reader of the novel, Amon knew that Michael was blessed with all 4 primordial elements.


    Which was another reason why he was surprised when he was given the choice between


    derivants rather than primordials.


    However, for the majority of his tenure in the academy, Michael had only used the fire


    element, also making it his strongest element.


    Arriving at the spot, many people looked at him with hidden interest as well.


    Of course, they knew he was weak. His rank clearly showed that much.


    But they wanted to know what his powers were and how much? Athena gave him a confirmation nod before raising her hand and bringing it right down.


    Immediately, Michael closed his eyes before starting to concentrate hard on himself.


    Trickles of sweat beaded down his forehead as he kept focused on his task.


    Flickers of mes started to erupt around him while the time passed slowly. After a minute, 5 spears conjured with mes finally hovered around him.


    But even so, they were very thin, as if they would go poof any moment he lost control.


    Opening his eyes, the prince quicklyunched them at the targets, the spears zing through


    the air at fast speeds. Unfortunately, even then, the spears missed the distant targets by some inches.


    The prince was weak. Awfully weak.


    And it was no surprise to Amon, who had seen him be like this at the start of the novel.


    However, he smiled at him.


    Even though Amon loved the MC of the book he loved, it was not because of his weak strength.


    Actually, he hated weak protagonists.


    But the only reason he grew up to like Michael as an MC, was because of his tough resilience


    and determination.


    And that was exactly what he saw in his resolute eyes at that moment.


    While the others mocked him, he still had a happy smile on his face at thepletion.


    Aftering back to his position, the next person was called up to the grounds.


    Ren Silvermoon.


    Thanks for reading!!

 Chapter 10: Elemental Tests [3]

    Chapter 10: Elemental Tests [3]


    ?


    Ren Silvermoon, also granted the title of immeasurable student by the academy.


    Why?


    Well, it was about to be shown right here.


    "Ren Silvermoon." Athena called out his name, looking up from her list.


    Nodding with a thumbs up to both Michael and Amon, the boy walked forwards. However, as Ren reached the front of the line, something shocking happened.


    Nobody knew why but by intention or mistake, he slipped right near the top rankers.


    In the heat of the moment, he quickly grabbed Liliana''s shoulder to stabilize himself.


    Standing up and dusting his clothes, he was suddenly taken aback as a wind de passed right in front of his face.


    He quickly jumped back, his arms high in the air, signaling surrender.


    "Yo yo yo, just calm down, it was just a reflex." He apologized to her with a calm look on his face.


    Liliana''s face however, was cold, brutal cold.


    But even though she absolutely wanted to murder the boy right now, she knew better not to even try in front of his sister.


    So, in the end, she just gave him a murderous re along with her warning.


    "Do it the next time, and your head will not feel your body anymore." She warned menacingly and the boy bowed.


    Straightening himself back up, Ren walked over to the targets under his sister''s watchful


    stare.


    "Are you ready?" she asked for confirmation and he nodded back with a smirk.


    Raising her hand high, she brought it down.


    Immediately, just like how Liliana had performed, numerous amounts of wind des conjured around him.


    Everyone''s mouth gaped wide open, their faces turning towards Liliana whose face waspletely red with her fists clenched.


    "This.....bastard." She mumbled, malice dripping from her voice.


    Meanwhile, Amon merely smiled.


    Ren was one of a kind in the novel.


    He did not have any magical element yet he also had a clover mark on his bicep.


    His situation wasplicated, to say the least.


    His element waster named as [Copy].


    By initiating physical contact with any person, he can copy their ability and their mastery of it, to the exact level for 5 minutes.


    However, the strength of the element and the number of elements he can copy varies upon his clover leaves.


    He can copy one element with every 2 clover leaves he attains.


    Another way he could obtain an element was by cutting down the time for 1 element.


    For example, if he had copied wind for 5 minutes, he could copy another element by cutting down the time of both elements to 2.5 minutes and so on.


    As Renunched the wind des, everyone witnessed them arc through the air and precisely hit each target.


    It had taken him no more than 8 seconds, the exact time Liliana had taken.


    Except Amon, everyone had their mouths gaped open, their eyes widened with profound shock.


    ording to the time recorded just now, it ced him at the 3rd rank in elementals, just next to Liliana.


    In front of everyone''s evident surprise, Ren turned back with a smirk.


    After a nod to his sister, he walked back to his position, right past Liliana, who had her head lowered.


    Without any care about what happened, Athena moved to the next andst name.


    "Amon Ashford." She called out, her eyes quickly moving from the list to him.


    At her voice, everyone recovered from their shock, their heads moving toward the end of the line with surprise.


    Under everyone''s gaze, he nodded and walked to the grounds.


    Unlike the most times where he was excited or nervous, he feltpletely rxed at this


    moment.


    Maybe it was because he knew what to do and what would happen.


    Arriving at the spot, Athena looked at him for the confirmation nod but to her surprise, he raised his hand.


    He wanted her to wait.


    Once she nodded, he quickly ran his gaze on the ground around him, as if to find something.


    Everyone looked at him with confusion, not understanding what he was doing.


    And just when he was about to give up, his eyesnded upon a tiny ice shard.


    It was probably here because of Elizabeth''s disy from before.


    He quickly picked it up, and Athena frowned.


    "Student Amon, you do know that you aren''t allowed to use other people''s magic as weapons,


    right?"


    Amon nodded without a word, causing her eyebrows to raise up with intrigue.


    What was the boy thinking?


    Was the question on everyone''s mind right now.


    Looking back at his teacher, he gave the confirmation nod.


    Though a little confused, Athena still raised her hand before bringing it down, a moment


    later.


    Immediately, to everyone''s surprise, Amon plunged the shard deep into his forearm before dragging it down near his palm.


    Gritting his teeth from the immense pain, he made arge cut on his arm, blood sttering


    all over.


    Most people screamed, thinking that the boy had gone mad.


    However, Athena''s eyes widened, realizing what he wanted to do next.


    Except, for the top 4, Michael and Ren, everyone had already turned their heads from the


    scene, not wanting to witness the boy''s suicide attempt.


    Unknown to their reactions, Amon just closed his eyes, focusing everything while also trying


    to bear the wrenching pain.


    Fortunately, just when he thought he might lose all his focus to the pain, a soothing feeling


    emerged from within his body.


    He immediately realized who it was.


    Closing his eyes back again, he focused more intensely now.


    Suddenly, the blood on his arms and ground started to swirl around him.


    A red hue shrouded his body as he did not break concentration, making the liquid blood start


    to condense.


    In a minute, the blood had finally condensed into solid sharp needles. Opening his eyes with a jolt, Amon quickly waved his arm forward, shooting the needles.


    And to everyone''splete shock, the first 2 targets were hit withplete uracy. However, the remaining needles wavered, deviating theirnding from the center point. But even so, what mattered to Amon was that he had at least hit one target urately.


    It was a certain milestone for him; the weakest person in the academy. Ovee by happiness, Amon fainted right there from the blood loss, not witnessing the sight of everyone''s gaping mouths.


    Only Athena remained indifferent, but even she had a flicker of interest and surprise in her


    eyes.


    He had inflicted deep pain upon himself just for the test, yet when she looked at his unconscious form now, she saw a smile imprinted upon his face, free from the pain.


    A contented smile. A satisfied smile.


    (Edited Note by the author for future readers: For those of you who keep questioning that why


    Amon didn''t use lightning and used blood which would have been an excellent trump card in the future, it''s because the Lightning element is a maker type element. Maker type elements require 3x more mana than maniption type elements because you are essentially constructing the element from scratch. Since Amon''s mana capacity at that time was rock bottom, at most he could have created one or two bolts of lightning which would


    have led to him failing the test.


    This has been exined in theter chapters but I''m adding this here for all you.)


    Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 11: Void Training [1]

    Chapter 11: Void Training [1]


    ?


    *****


    Nothingness. Pitch ck nothingness.


    That''s what Amon found himself in, after he fainted.


    He had been floating in this void for hours, without any contact with Zephyra, or even his [Status].


    At one point, he might have just gone mad but for some reason, he felt oddly rxed.


    It was as if there was nothing in the world to bother him, to upy his mind.


    But suddenly, the space around him moved, just like the scene after his death.


    As if the fabric of reality itself was being shaped, the space molded and stretched apart.


    Finally, a system interface opened.


    Initiating [Void Training].


    Please prepare yourself.


    ''Wait....[Void Training]?'' Amon questioned in his mind, feeling some familiarity with the word.


    It was then that a sudden realization struck him.


    After his assimtion, there was a Training tab on his status screen.


    ''It''s probably that.''


    Just as he finished his thoughts, the nothingness around him had finally finished transforming.


    It was now apletely differentndscape.


    He was now standing on a floorpletely made of cosmic stars, with the bright starry sky stretching out for as far as he could see.


    Basically, he was standing in space.


    It was the same ce as the expanse he had arrived in, during transmigration.


    The only difference was theck of any walls or furniture.


    There was nothing here. The whole floor waspletely empty for as far as the eye could see.


    As he finished taking in all the changes, a new system interface opened up in front of him.


    Please choose one weapon.


    The chosen weapon shall be the only one avable throughout the training, so choose carefully.


    Simultaneously, a shelf stacked with different weapons and their further types, appeared right beside him.


    Moving his gaze from the window, Amon started to scan through the weapons that would be useful to him.


    There was no doubt in his mind that he did not know how to use any weapon, except a sword. Even in terms of sword, he only knew the basics with some techniques, thanks to his beloved father.


    His father had learnt swordsmanship as a part time hobby in his youth, and following that, passed it on to him.


    Even in Amon''s body, he felt that he had some certain experiences with sword and daggers. Why and how? He did not know.


    The body''s past was something that was unknown to him.


    And though he nned to dig into it, there was no time for that right now.


    Coming back to the present, he decided to choose a sword.


    ording to the novel and his father, a sword wasn''t the best in one category unlike spears who specialized in long range and hammers which specialized in offensive attacks.


    But, they were the most versatile out of all weapons.


    The only problem that Amon had with swords, was that some types were short ranged which can be a major problem for a cloverter on, who needs to deal with long range spear wielders.


    With his gaze passing over all the sword types, he swiftly decided the sword type he wanted to


    use.


    An ¨­dachi


    It was naturally longer than most sword types, but also not that long like a spear.


    It''s weight was also perfect as it wasn''t that heavy, which was expected for long ones.


    Due to its perfect weight and bnce, it could also be wielded both single-handedly and two- handedly.


    It was difficult to use and wield than other easier swords, yes, but this was exactly why he had selected it.


    Since this was described as training, Amon doubted he would die or get crippled here, which gave him the perfect chance to learn this sword.


    Carrying it in his arms, Amon observed its structure.


    It was a menacing, ck ded and formidable sword, one that perfectly suited his needs.


    Taking it off the shelf, another notification popped up in front of him.


    The Weapon [Odachi] has been selected.


    Do you wish to confirm it as your weapon of choice?


    Yes/No


    Nodding internally, he confirmed.


    ''Yes.''


    And the interface vanished into blue motes of light, along with the shelves.


    Following that, the void space shaked with a powerful tremor, throwing Amon almost off his


    feet.


    And with that, numerous structures started to erupt from the ground.


    Ranging from destroyed buildings, to broken cars and much more.


    It basically turned into a destroyed city, with even the t void ground, turning into uneven, broken streets.


    In tandem, a multitude of grotesque creatures appeared in the streets from golden motes of


    light.


    Their skin tone was like the void, a cosmic one with stars embedded at every inch.


    However, their anatomy differed greatly. In such a way, he had never seen such creatures in


    his life.


    They did resemble some creatures of Earth, a little. Some were simr to bears, to hos, to


    leopards, etc.


    Another thing, he strangely realized, was that he was feeling no fear at the moment.


    No, even taking fear aside, he was feeling nothing at the moment. No emotion.


    Complete hollow.


    Realizing this fact, made a shiver run up his spine, at the scariness of it all.


    At that moment, another system interface opened up in front of him.


    Commencing [Void Training], please get ready.


    For the training, use of the following is not allowed:


    -Blood


    -Lightning


    -Zephyra


    Surprise flickered through his eyes.


    He had almost expected that [Blood] and [Lightning] weren''t going to be allowed, since it


    was a training specified for his [Void] element.


    However, he had not expected [Zephyra] to be restricted from this training.


    Or maybe she had done it herself, it was her space after all.


    Shrugging at the window, Amon took on a stance, while also unsheathing his odachi.


    He tried to recall his and this body''s memories.


    Following that, he heard a ping resound in his head, signaling the start of the training. Simultaneously, every creature''s bloody eyes locked with his ink ck ones.


    He started walking slowly towards them, before slowly increasing his speed overtime.


    One of the bear-like monster roared with anger, and initiated a charge towards him


    Fixating his indifferent ck eyes on its body, Amon suddenly felt an influx of skill


    information being engraved into his muscles.


    He had just learned a [Void] skill.


    Wanting to use it, Amon changed his run into a shoot towards the bear, closing the distance


    between both faster.


    However, just as there were few meters left between both, his body blurred with a purple hue,


    beforepletely disappearing with a blink.


    Sudden confusion stopped the charge of the bear, making it wonder where its prey had just


    gone.


    All of a sudden, it felt a simr presence above, it quickly raised its head to confront him once


    again.


    However, just then, the tip of the odachi dug deep into its skull, with Amon crashing on its


    head, killing the bear.


    Just like that.


    Raising his ck eyes, the boy now looked at the multitude of monsters charging towards


    him to avenge the loss of theirpanion.


    Strangely, even then, not a speck of fear rose in his body and his lips parted.


    "Next."


    Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 12: Void Training [2]

    Chapter 12: Void Training [2]


    ?


    "Next." Amon''s emotionless voice echoed in the void.


    Strangely, he felt a surreal and joyous feeling pass through his body at that moment.


    But since there was a bigger matter at hand, he ignored it for now.


    Digging his sword out, he shot forwards in the next moment, towards the iing stampede of monsters.


    Two crane like monsters at the front screeched with rage as he approached near, one of them opening its mouth and quickly bring it down, to snap his neck.


    The second one pped its wings with force, intending to create a gust and force Amon away from them.


    He, however, remained unperturbed in his approach.


    Arriving under their gargantuan bodies, he quickly shoved the pommel of his sword into the opened mouth of the crane, making it choke with pain.


    However, he was not able to avoid the iing gust, which hit his body head on, throwing him back along with his sword.


    As he flew through the air with numerous small cuts grazing his body, another skill influx immediately impacted his brain.


    It took no more than 2 seconds for it to pass, seconds in which the monsters thought, nothing had happened.


    Unfortunately, they were proven wrong when a wide smirk nted itself on Amon''s face, and he quickly threw his sword towards the gust crane.


    Not expecting the sudden move, it was unable to dodge the iing heavy odachi, that hit it right in the middle of its long neck.


    Now weaponless, he had nothing to defend himself from the stampede of monsters.


    Seeing their chance to march forwards, the monsters increased their speed, leaving the sword stricken crane behind.


    Amon did not move at the sudden charge. Rather, he waited for them to close in until thest moment.


    And just when the horde was inches away from his body, he disappeared from their sight once again, leaving them utterly confused.


    It was only a few secondster, when they heard a sharp scream resound throughout the air, that their heads turned back.


    Only to witness another death as the boy dragged the already stuck sword down the neck of the injured crane, ending its life.


    Again, just like before, an inexplicable and cherishing feeling rose up in his chest, one that he couldn''t ignore this time and he looked down, finding a strange system window that he might have also missed before.


    [The Void inside you growsrger..]


    ''Huh?'' He abruptly thought, only for it to be a grave mistake as in the next second, his body was rammed by giant bull like monster, sending him crashing into the buildings.


    Blood sttered out of his mouth as pain overwhelmed his whole body.


    However, the urgency to not get hit by another monster was higher, and so he blindly rolled to the side.


    Fortunately, this saved his life because in the next second, the spot where hended was obliterated by the same bull charging into the spot.


    Standing up, Amon chose that while fighting inside would give him less opponents to fight, it would still put him at a great risk of being attacked from anywhere outside the building.


    Therefore, he quickly jumped out of a partially broken window, and using his sword as a weight, plunged down into the open mouth of the previous crane.


    The tip of the sword sliced through therge body of the crane like butter, while also providing him with the same relishing feeling as before.


    He felt the system window open up again, but he refrained from making the same mistake twice.


    Looking quickly to his left, he found two void bears again charging at him, but just as he was about to respond, another skill influx hit him at that moment.


    As soon as the inflix ended, another vicious smile crept up Amon''s face, giving him a maniacal look.


    Without wasting any time, he quickly activated his new skill, making his irises immediately go from ck to glowing purple.


    Focusing his gaze on one of the charging bears, a purple hue instantly coated the bear, stopping it right in its tracks, while also making it shake his head with pain.


    Not wasting the opportunity, he dashed towards the iing bear, blocking itsrge gaping jaw with his sword.


    For some reason, he felt that his body was alot lighter and stronger than he had first entered the void.


    Choosing to use this to his advantage, Amon decided to perform a trick he had often seen in the movies, back at Earth.


    Pushing all of his weight on one leg, he raised the other one and spun his body with full force, making the raised leg perform a 360 degree rotation, and impact right on the skull of the bear. Due to such arge impact, the bear crashed into the ground, and lost its life when its head was pierced with the odachi, a momentter.


    Sensing that the his skill had only a second left before it would wear off, Amon dashed with full speed under the bears mouth.


    He quickly thrusted his odachi upwards, intending to pierce the brain from below. However, he was a moment slower, as the skill wore off and the bears gaping jaw closed in on his shoulder joints, making him scream like never before.


    Fortunately, the crunch did not proceed further as the bear''s life ended in the next moment.


    Even so, it had left arge gaping gash in his shoulder, almost leaving his left arm dangling. Biting his lip to not give into the pain, Amon quickly stood up to face the now wavering horde of monsters.


    "I swear, I''ll kill you all!" He screamed with rage, but if one noticed closely, they would also notice the insane smile creeping on his face.


    *****


    [6 Hours Later]


    The previously wrecked city was a paradise,pared to what it was now.


    With arms and legs of monsters dangling on streetlights and buildings, crimson blood painting the wrecked rusted cars and streets, the ce looked as if hell had broken loose right


    here.


    Amidst the countless pile of corpses, shrouded in cold crimson bloody fog, the boy who was responsible for all this bloodshed, sat down tiredly with his back to a wall


    With one eye missing, one armpletely bitten off and one leg dangling due to a gaping injury at his waist, the boy''s body was mushy mess of blood.


    With his head lowered, Amon gasped with deep andrge breaths.


    So many times he hade face to face with death, and even though he knew it was just training, a deep instinct inside him told him to keep fighting.


    Fight for his life. Fight for his life.


    And at some point, the lines inside his head changed.


    Fight for blood. Fight for blood.


    However, they did notst long because thest remaining creatures finally died down to his


    blood.


    Now, sitting with his back against the building, a victorious smile crept up his face.


    He had done it.


    He had killed all 100 Void Beasts.


    He had emerged victorious.


    And in the next second, he fell unconscious.


    Unaware of the space molding around him back to what it was before, and also unware of.....


    The two warm hands that cupped his face and brought him close to their chest.


    "You did well, my dear."


    Thanks for reading!!!


    I extremely apologize for no updates in two days, I was sick with severe fever and stomach


    infection, so I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me.


    I''m still sick but I will try to write and post whenever I can, but I can''t give any promises on


    consistent updates as my health flickers up and down at unknown moments.


    I hope you guys understand!


    Thank you!

 Chapter 13: Waking Up and Changes [1]

    Chapter 13: Waking Up and Changes [1]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in the light around him.


    As he became more aware of his surroundings, he noticed three people standing around his bedside.


    ''Where am I?'' He questioned groggily to himself.


    Last he remembered, he had fainted after killing all of those....


    His half-opened eyes suddenly opened with a shock, and he sat on his bed, panting at a rapid pace.


    Without any care for where he was and who was around him, he quickly ran his eyes down his body.


    Finding himself perfectly fine, he quickly ran his hands down his arms and legs, as if not believing his eyes until he felt them.


    He let out a deep sigh.


    ''I-I''m fine.....so it was training.'' He thought with relief.


    He had sacrificed so much of his body in training, all upon the basis that it was "training" and he wouldn''t lose anything in real life, even though he had no guarantee for that theory.


    ''Wait, real life..''


    A realization suddenly struck him and his head quickly jolted to his side, only to find his sister, Elizabeth and an unknown person looking at him worriedly.


    As his eyes met the warm hazel brown ones of his sister, he saw the emotions contained in her eyes finally burst.


    Before he could speak, Katherine quickly ran upto him, before embracing him in a tight hug.


    "You idiot!....there was no need for you to go that far." Sheined, burying her head in his chest.


    Taken aback by her sudden reaction, Amon lost his will to speak.


    But even so, he felt a familial warmth creep up in his chest, making him smile lightly and rubbing her back with his hand.


    Katherine did not move, as if enjoying the sce she found in his embrace.


    Not minding it, his eyes flickered towards the other visitors.


    As his eyesnded upon Elizabeth, he found her cheeks tainted red.


    "Hey." He greeted while also tilting his head in confusion at her shyness.


    Startled by his voice, she quicklyposed herself and raised her head.


    "Hey, you fainted at the grounds, so they carried you to the infirmary." She exined and Amon nodded along.


    "I see."


    Then, she gestured towards the unknowndy.


    "As soon as your sister heard of the news, she and my sister quickly ran up here to check what happened."


    Amon nodded again, understanding that the new person was her sister, before suddenly raising a question.


    "Wait please, who informed my sister?" He asked and Katherine quickly freed herself from his hug.


    "You see, me and Alice here are best friends, so when you fainted, Elizabeth informed her sister through her watch, who in turn, informed me." She informed the whole situation.


    At the mention of Alice, his eyes quickly drifted towards Elizabeth''s sister, finally getting a good look at her.


    With long ck lustrous hair and shining gray eyes, her beauty was on a level equal to Katherine''s.


    He finally recognized her from the novel.


    Alice Snowcrest, the first daughter of the Snowcrest Dukedom.


    Just like what Katherine had said, she was the elder sister of Elizabeth.


    Furthermore, she was the second strongest in the third years, just behind Katherine.


    She was also the president of the disciplinarymittee in Eldergrove, making it not too strange for her to be the best friend of his sister.


    Then, Amon''s face turned into a deep frown.


    Unfortunately, she diedter on in the story when a dungeon incident happened with the first


    years.


    The incident prompted the student council and disciplinarymittee to head inside, which also included Katherine and Alice.


    Since his sister was never mentioned inside of the novel, he didn''t know what happened to her.


    But, Alice died protecting Elizabeth from a high ranked monster, thus also initiating the breakdown and withdrawal of thetter from the academy.


    It was one of the worst incidents to go down in the history of Eldergrove, also giving a deep injury to its reputation.


    Now, looking at Alice, Amon knew that he couldn''t let her die.


    Not only because of Elizabeth''s position in the main cast, but also because of....


    His eyes quickly travelled to the corner.


    Katherine.


    He couldn''t predict how much of an effect it would have on his sister, but he did know now that since they were best friends, it would be anything but positive.


    And not a small one as well.


    He sighed deeply. The future was surely going to be tiresome.


    Noticing his sigh, Alice quickly spoke for the first time. Her voiceing out sweet and


    mature.


    "Are you okay? You lost too much blood with that cut."


    Amon quickly shook his head with a smile.


    "No, not at all. I was just dozing off since I just woke up."


    At his answer, Alice nodded politely.


    Katherine quickly coughed, prompting him to turn his attention towards her.


    "Anyways, why did you never tell me that you had a [Blood] affinity!? For three years, you never showed interest in magic or even used your element?" She questioned. ''Huuuh?'' Amon bafflingly questioned in his mind but kept up his smile while scratching his


    head.


    "Hahahaha, I guess it finally sparked up in me today." He made an excuse, but he was in a turmoil inside.


    ''Wait, so the original Amon never told his sister about him not having an element? Because, I''m sure when I woke up there was no other element avable to him except [Void], which then again, was given to me by Zepyhra.''


    It was interesting, very interesting.


    Why did Amon, who did not even have a single element, never tell his only family, his sister,


    that he did not have an element?


    Did he expect her to get mad or shun him?


    Whatever it was, he knew that he would find the answer to this sooner orter when he would


    dig up this body''s past.


    For now, he had some other things to worry about.


    After some more chatter with Elizabeth and both sisters, they left him alone to rest.


    Finally free from everything, he turned towards the thing he was excited about.


    However, he was sure to first check up on the goddess inside his head.


    ''You there mydy?''


    Fortunately, the reply arrived soon after.


    ''Hmph! Nice of you to finally remember me. And enough with your ttering or rizz, that


    doesn''t work on me now.''


    At the mention of ''rizz'', a cheerfulughter escaped out of his mouth.


    It was a term from his world but he didn''t know how Zephyra knew about it.


    Nevertheless, it had lightened his heart a lot, and he also got a feeling that Zephyra smiled as


    well.


    Moving from the light exchange, he quickly focused on the more important task.


    [Status]


    Thanks for reading!!!


    I''m still sick but I''ll try to push updates as soon as possible.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 14: Waking Up And Changes [2]

    Chapter 14: Waking Up And Changes [2]


    ?


    ****


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Age: 18


    Aspect: Clover


    ss: Error


    You are an anomaly in this world, an error. One that was not supposed to exist. Who are you? Only you know.


    Leaves: 00000000*


    Elements:Void_Blood_Lightning Levels


    Talent: 10th Order]


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ¡Á¡Á¡Á? ?


    STR: > > ? ?


    AGI: ??


    END:¡Á¡Á¡Á ? ?


    INT: << < ? ?


    Skills Training Inventory Quests


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    "The training....it just raised each of my stats.'' He pointed out, baffled.


    It was to be noted that, though raising each stat by one point was fairly easy when you had one leaf,


    However, raising them all with one fight was certainly never possible.


    He quickly nced more intently at his body, and he immediately found it to be more sturdy and lighter.


    [Void Training] was truly a cheat.


    Moving on, he found himself intrigued by the small warning signs near some tabs.


    Choosing to start from the top, he opened the [Levels] tab.


    [VOID]: Level 1¡Á¡Á¡Á? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 1 ? ? ?


    [LIGHTN]: Level 1¡Á¡Á ? ? ?


    "Oh.." He blurted as he saw the new interface.


    The [Level] tab had appeared for him as soon as his assimtion had beenpleted.


    Unfortunately, due to the sudden turn of events at that time, he had been unable to check what it was.


    Looking at it, he realized that they were indicators of his mastery of each element.


    All were at level 1, but the [Void] element was a stat point above, which was most probably the reason why the warning sign appeared as well.


    The reason for it being higher was probably because of the [Void Training] as well.


    If he converted the stats into numerical, the [Lightning] element was his lowest since he had never used it even once.


    Closing the window, he decided to move on and opened the [Skills] tab.


    Active Skills:


    [Voidstep]


    Upon usage, the user can teleport 10 meters in any direction around them.


    The user can not phase through any obstacles in their path of teleportation. If any obstacle


    is encountered between the paths, they will teleport to the front of the obstacle.


    [Voidteleport]


    The user must mark a certain object or being, once before the usage of this skill.


    Upon usage, teleports the user exactly to the mark coordinates.


    The mark can be transferred to another object or being as long as the second target is in direct physical contact with the mark.


    [Eye of the Void]


    Upon usage, the target of the skill is rendered immobile for 5 seconds.


    The skill may also be used to zoom in and out a certain range while also allowing the user to perceive the world around him in slow motion, at the expenditure of mana.


    [Void Transfer] [Locked]


    [Bond of the Void] [Locked]


    Passive Skills:


    [Void''s Blessing]


    * In any spatial domain or area, enhances passive regeneration, health, senses, and defense of the possessor of this skill.


    Looking at the skills, Amon wasn''t very surprised.


    He knew all about them when he had obtained their influx.


    Well, all, except one.


    The Passive Skill.


    Looking at it now, he was quite satisfied with it, even though he wondered how ''much'' was


    the enhancement.


    It could only be known by testing in a dungeon, he thought.


    Done with the skills, he chose to move further.


    He was a little curious as to why had Zephyra not spoken at all throughout all this, but he


    chose to stay silent.


    He immediately opened the next interface, the [Training] tab.


    Current Void Trainings:


    NONE


    [Next Void Training: 1 Month]


    [Rewards A]


    ''Oh....'' Amon surprisingly spoke out in his thoughts.


    He had expected [Void Training] to be challengeable an indefinite number of times, but it


    seems he was wrong.


    ording to this, he suspected that each training would be held after a certain time, and each time, the difficulty of the training would increase.


    However, uponpletion of a new difficulty level, the time between each training would


    also increase.


    At least that was what he suspected anyway.


    But, it was not the time to close the window yet.


    Excited by the warning sign on the [Rewards] tab, he immediately clicked on it.


    The interface opened.


    [Congrattions onpleting Void Training 1!!]


    [Reward 1: Kill 20 Void Beasts] [ Completed!]


    [Reward 2:Kill 50 Void Beasts] [Completed!]


    [Reward 3:Kill 100 Void Beasts] [Completed!]


    Looking at thepletion of all 3 conditions, Amon felt a little proud of himself.


    Like how he had jumped around as a kid, whenever he would obtain an S rank in any game


    quest.


    Just as the thought passed through his mind, the window in front of him closed.


    In the next instant, a new one opened up in its ce.


    Choose 1 of the 3 Rewards:


    ? [2 Stat Points Increase In Any Stat Of Choice]


    ? [2 Stat Points Increase In Any Element Level]


    ? [1 Million Exlors]


    Amon''s eyes widened at the rewards.


    Though feeling a little disappointed by the rewards, he decided to work with what he got.


    Logically, the first two choices were perfect from a normal point of view.


    Using the first option, he could advance any stat of his to the next level. While using the second, he could potentially level up his [Void] level and gain more mastery


    and control over it.


    He could also level up [Lightning] and then he would have an increased amount of control


    over each of his elements.


    However, for him, the third option was the best.


    Exlor was the currency used in the world of Eria.


    It was the standard currency in the human empire that was taken everywhere throughout the


    continent, regardless of the city.


    Right now, the biggest problem Amon had to worry about was money.


    Being the 1st ranker in the third years, Katherine was certainly granted a lot by the academy.


    However, the amount Amon needed for his future needs was a lot.


    And though Katherine could pay him that because of her saving up for some months, it would


    certainly make her suspicious as to why he needed that all.


    And he certainly didn''t want his sister interfering in his future ns.


    So in the end, Amon decided to go with the third option.


    Thanks for reading!!

 Chapter 15: Spending Money [1]

    Chapter 15: Spending Money [1]


    ?


    ****


    [Reward Selected!]


    [DING!]


    The notification sound was from his watchband rather than his system.


    [Reward Given!]


    Amon looked at his watchband, where his normal information was disyed.


    [Exlor Bnce: 1,000,000]


    He nodded with satisfaction.


    Done with the [Training] section, he decided to move on.


    He quickly opened the [Inventory] section next.


    Void Inventory


    May store any solid items in here.


    If there are multiple copies of the same item, they will be counted as one item. [Stored Items: 0/10]


    A look of disappointment came over Amon''s face as he read the description.


    But at least it was good enough, he thought.


    In this way, he could store any item and also didn''t have to worry about their amount.


    Hopefully, the number of items and their types will change as he ranks up.


    Closing the interface, he looked at the next option.


    [Quests].


    It was an option that wasn''t avable to him before his [Training].


    He quickly opened it, resulting in a new interface opening.


    QUESTS


    [Avable Quests: 0/100]


    [Current Quests: 0/100]


    [Completed Quests: 0/100]


    [Failed Quests: 0/100]


    Nothing surprising.


    It was what he expected from a quest menu.


    It was just like a game; he had also seen the same menu on the hero''s status.


    There weren''t any quests, so there was nothing to look at much right now.


    He closed the screen and the door opened at the same time.


    The infirmary teacher came in.


    With long meadowish colored hair and blue eyes, Amon instantly recognized her. Emilia ire.


    She was the best healer and the head of the infirmary department in Eldergrove.


    She was probably assigned to him because of his sister''s status.


    "Oh, you are awake." She noticed.


    Coming to him, she quickly ran a nce over him before raising her hand.


    It began to emit a soft suffused emerald glow, basking him in its embrace.


    Nature Magic, Amon thought.


    He felt refreshed and reinvigorated as warmth welled up within him.


    Then, the light faded and she smiled lightly.


    "You are good to go kid. But remember to take some additional intake in order topensate for the blood loss." She informed and he nodded.


    He jumped out of the bed and stretched himself.


    Amon noticed that his clothes had been changed and so he quickly bowed thanks to Emilia and left.


    Coming out of the infirmary, he realised it was still afternoon.


    He had fainted in the morning, so it hadn''t take him more than 7 hours to wake up.


    He decided that there was no point in going back to the apartment right now.


    ''I should use this time to n for the future.'' He thought.


    He had a million exlor to spend and he knew right where to start.


    So he quickly made his way to the City Centre.


    Since Eldergrove was basically a city, there was a ce called City Centre right in the middle.


    It was basically a big shopping area where whatever you needed could be found.


    Selling, trading, buying to everything.


    It was more of a mall if Amon had to say so.


    Marveling at its gargantuan size and grandeur from outside, he quickly headed inside.


    Here it was a little bit of problem since the hall had never been described down to thest detail in the novel.


    Fortunately, after a minute of looking around, he saw a map nearby with directions.


    Marking his destination, he quickly navigated through the bustling golden hall filled with students and teachers.


    As much as this world was medieval, it also modern in many areas due to the influence of


    mana.


    Boys and girls of different age groups and years walked about, each with their own purpose. Some were shopping were clothes while others simply hung out to enjoy or spend time with


    their dates.


    Looking at them, nostalgia welled up within Amon.


    Before his parents death, they used to go out for shopping and entertainment like this.


    However, it had all fell downhill after that and he and his sister were never able to experience


    such joys.


    Being able to experience them now, was nice...


    But he bit his lip in bitterness of the fact that his sister wasn''t here.


    He controlled himself from the tears and quickly averted his gaze, focusing on the main task,


    even though the would was still there.


    After 10 Minutes, he finally arrived in front of the shop.


    House of Olympus.


    It was basically a corporation that dealt in everything from equipment, to potions, to


    weapons.


    However, its best product and the one it was mainly known for was its production of spatial


    rings.


    Yes, thispany was actually headed by Athena, who basically took the market by storm using her space element in daily applications.


    The spatial ring was a product by her where she basically modified the properties of a normal


    ring and create a space within it that could house materials.


    The product had took the market by storm, sending thepany soaring into the high


    leagues.


    Nowadays, it was expanding it''s reaches into other fields rather than just space.


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon quickly headed inside the store.


    Inside, the interior was morous, with furniture being perfectly arranged and cleaned with


    not a single dust particle.


    Various items were put on disy behind ss shelves, the spatial rings being one of them.


    They were all priced differently ording to their shapes, sizes, the number of items they


    could hold, and the type of items as well.


    Taking a moment to admire them, he then headed to the counter.


    The clerk looked at Amon with a weing smile, even though he looked quite average


    looking with no money at all.


    "Wee, dear sir!! How may I help you?" He politely questioned, showing professionalism.


    Amon nodded back with a smile.


    "I would like to get a spatial ring please."


    The clerk''s eyes gleamed in response.


    However, just as he was about to say something, a sharp voice from the entrance interuppted


    him.


    "Stop! Someone please help!"


    Amon sighed deeply.


    Thanks for reading!!

 Chapter 16: Spending Money [2]

    Chapter 16: Spending Money [2]


    ?


    ****


    Amon sighed deeply.


    His body shuddered, trying to run at the spot, but he quickly controlled himself.


    "So as I was saying-"


    "HELP PLEASE!"


    He sighed once again.


    He tried to continue and ignore it, but the voice interrupted him again.


    The clerk was also looking at him with worry, expecting him to act like the hero and rush there.


    He had already learned his lesson before, there was no need to prompt him to rush in again.


    He really didn''t want to go there and get a repeat of that.


    So he opened his mouth to try to speak again.


    However....


    "HELP! ANYONE!"


    Amon coughed.


    He facepalmed himself and turned to go check at the entrance.


    Arriving there, he quickly moved to the side, in order to avoid being seen.


    Right there, he saw a first year student constantly asking a girl for her contact information.


    "Please stop yelling so much, I''m just asking for your information so we can start out as friends. I just find you pretty." The boy tried to reason.


    The girl waved her bag, trying to wave the boy off.


    "NO, SOMEONE HELPP!"


    Looking at the interaction, Amon waved it off.


    So it was nothing serious.


    However, just as he was about to go back, the girl suddenly used her wind element to wave the boy off.


    2 weak wind des manifested around her andunched themselves at the boy.


    Fortunately, the boy was able to react perfectly and created an earth barrier to stop her des.


    But the attack didn''t stop just there as they kept manifesting and targeting the boy, who kept defending them as well.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    Their conflict was expanding and it might just hurt the furniture around them.


    Not wanting to use blood again, he took a quick nce around him.


    Not finding anyone there, he quickly used [Void Blink] to appear behind the girl, unnoticed.


    Using his lightning element, he quickly zapped the girl, making her attacks stop and body shudder with a little pain.


    Holding the shoulder for some seconds, he let the girl down when her body slumped unconscious.


    Fortunately, because of the smoke released by constant shes, the boy was unable to see him use the lightning element.


    Realizing that the attacks had stopped from the other side, the boy also stopped and look at the girl finding her unconscious.


    He looked at Amon, the cause of it but in the next second, a sudden wind current pushed him off his feet, sending him sliding across the floor.


    Amon looked at the boy who crashed into the wall and then turned to look at the source of the attack.


    There, he found Liliana walking towards him.


    She entered the shop and immediately looked at him with disdain and coldness.


    She analyzed the girl''s condition.


    "What the hell were you and that guy trying to attempt with this girl?" She demanded.


    Amon''s gaze didn''t waver and his expression remained the same as well.


    He had somehow already expected this when she was walking towards him.


    "What do you mean?" He asked, tilting his head and feigning ignorance.


    Her cold frown deepened.


    "Don''t try to y dumb, why is this girl unconscious with you standing over her?"


    He felt a cold grasp of wind closing in around his neck.


    Fortunately, the clerk quickly arrived to his rescue.


    "Just a second ma''am! This young gentleman isn''t at fault here, he just helped resolve the issue."


    Liliana alternatingly looked between the man and back at Amon.


    But then, she gave him onest cold re before waving off her hair and walking off.


    However, not before muttering some words....


    "Like I would believe that...weak and coward."


    Amon looked at her back from a distance before shrugging it and heading back inside.


    What was that?


    Liliana hade for shopping after the sses to get some new clothes before she heard a cry


    from a girl.


    Usually, she brushed it off since it was not her duty to take care of them.


    However, after the constant screaming, she decided to check it out since she was near the


    shop anyways.


    After arriving, she immediately saw two students fighting each other.


    It was more of a misunderstanding but after seeing the cause, she started to leave since it was none of her business.


    However, she stopped when they started using elemental powers.


    Using elemental powers inside the City Centre was strictly prohibited and she thought that it was her job as the 3rd rank to stop it.


    It was while she was walking that she was the boy from the elemental test.


    He was cedst in the first year rankings so it wasn''t someone she should actually know or


    care about.


    But he had taken her eye in the test where he had intentionally sliced himself to use his


    element.


    The [Blood] element was one of the rarest derivant elements so it was natural that nobody


    expected it.


    Though she hated weak weapon and didn''t bat an eye at their suffering.


    But those who actually didn''t ept their weakness and strived towards making themselves strong were the people she respected.


    Even though it was a bit of a masochistic approach, she respected the man for trying his best


    to score high.


    She saw him sighing as they both started using their powers, but the next thing that happenedpletely shocked her.


    Arge wind de collided with the earth, creating arge amount of dirt while also making her unable to see.


    But when it cleared a secondter, she was surprised to see Amonpletely gone from his


    spot.


    And when her eyesnded on the girl, Liliana saw him standing right behind her with his hand


    on her shoulder.


    As surprising as it was, it turned into unbelievable for her when he used the [Lightning]


    element.


    Didn''t he have the [Blood] element before?


    Then how did?


    It didn''t make any sense.


    Dual element clovists didn''t exist in the world.


    He couldn''t have dual elements.


    In the end, she concluded that he might be another [Copy] element user like Ren.


    Or it might have been lightning from an external device.


    But even then...


    She looked back at the shop entrance, now empty.


    "Amon Ashford."


    Then she turned back and started walking.


    "I''ll remember you."


    Thanks for reading!!

 Chapter 17: Spending Money [3]

    Chapter 17: Spending Money [3]


    ?


    Heading back inside, the clerk looked at Amon with grateful eyes.


    "I''m extremely grateful to you young man! If anything were to happen to the furniture, I cannot fathom what miss Athena would do to us." He hurriedly bowed.


    Amon waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing much.


    However, the clerk wasn''t done yet.


    He quickly retrieved a golden card from behind the counter and handed it to him.


    "Actually, I''m also the manager of this shop. So as a token of my thanks, I would like to give you our golden membership of this shop."


    Taken aback a little, Amon retrieved the card.


    It was a golden card with ck lines running through the top and the logo of ''House of Olympus'' imprinted at the corner.


    He knew that HOD had various memberships for their customers that they would give for a certain amount of Exlor.


    The golden membership was one of the starting tiers.


    Amon knew this all since it was also given to Michaelter on in the story by Athena as a reward for doing her a favour.


    This was what led him toter form a close partnership with the shop and also purchase spatial rings.


    It was a little surprise for him to get it this easily, but not like he wasining.


    He gratefully epted the card, but sighed internally.


    He already felt like he wasn''t an Extra anymore with all these cheats.


    "Ah yes! Now that we are free from all interruptions, may I inquire what you need?"


    Amon nodded, remembering what he was here for.


    "I''m here to buy a spatial ring."


    The clerk nodded, his eyes gleaming.


    Most customers here mostly bought the spatial ring, so it wasn''t much of a surprise that he was here for the same.


    Though it was a little intriguing that he would have that much money to buy it, considering his average appearance.


    Nevertheless, the clerk continued.


    "A spatial ring of course! What are your specifications for the ring?"


    "A spatial ring that can hold liquids to be precise. Its capacity should be 10 cubic metre." (A.N: 10 cubic metre = 10000 Litres)


    Initially surprised a little by the sudden request for a liquid spatial ring, the clerk quickly recovered and nodded with eagerness.


    "Of course! And do you have any specific thickness or custom design you want for the ring?" He inquired.


    Amon shook his head and raised his right hand, extending his ring finger.


    "No specific design, just a simple metal gray ring that would fit this finger." He informed and the manager nodded.


    He quickly took some measurements for his finger before proceeding through the back door to check for the ring.


    After a while, he arrived back.


    "I''m extremely sorry but unfortunately we don''t have a ring for your specific size. So I''m hoping if you could please wait one day for your ring to be prepared." The clerk informed.


    Amon was a little disappointed but he still nodded.


    "Usually it would take 3 to 4 days but because of your golden membership, we''ll prepare it as fast as we can, and of course you get 50% off on your first out of ten orders. The discount will be reduced to 20% after that." The clerk tried to improve the situation.


    Nodding again, Amon decided to move towards the next topic.


    "I want a face covering artifact, a mask preferably."


    The manager nodded.


    "Do you want a full coverage or half coverage mask?"


    Pondering on it for a moment, Amon replied.


    "Full coverage."


    The manager nodded and quickly disyed a number of masks in front of Amon.


    Looking at all of them, he saw various designs imprinted on the masks. Between them, he even saw the mask that Michael would chooseter on.


    A white mask with fiery red eyes imprinted on it and a burning smile.


    It quite matched his fiery and wholesome personality so he had picked that.


    As he was admiring the white mask, a certain mask right next to it caught his eye.


    It was a simple all ck mask with a wide devilish white smile spread on it and two big white


    circles as eyes, with the right one having a small scar.


    For some strange reason, it appealed to him and so he picked it up.


    Right as picked it up, a system interface opened in front of him.


    Artifact Name: Machiavelli''s Mask


    Artifact Rank: 3 Stars


    Upon wearing, the user can disfigure their face behind the mask to look like whatever they imagine.


    * If the mask is taken off, the disfigured face that the user imagines will remain on for one minute before the real face of the user is shown.


    >The timer for the above effect can be reset if the mask is worn again.


    Artifacts were ranked from 1 stars to 10 stars, and their effects and abilites depended upon


    their rank.


    ''The artifact is perfect for me.'' Amon thought.


    He quickly faced the manager and asked the price.


    "I''ll take this one, how much is it?"


    The manager took a quick nce at the mask.


    "That''s 75k Exlor but with your gold membership, it''ll be 37.5k sir." He answered and Amon


    nodded.


    He handed the mask over and told him that he''ll buy it.


    "If you mind me asking sir, but do you want anything else or is that it?"


    Shaking his head, Amon asked for his next item to buy.


    "I want a mana concealing artifact next."


    At his words, the eyes of the manager gleamed.


    "There are two more items thate with this artifact in a set, one of them matches your requirement. May I show you items if you want?" He asked and the boy in turn nodded.


    He quickly proceeded through the back door beforeing back a minuteter, with a shiny


    ck cane and cape emcased in a shiny box.


    Taking off the lid, he quickly showed them to Amon.


    Piqued by the cane, the boy picked it up to inquire it.


    A system window opened up again.


    Artifact Name: Machiavelli''s Cane


    Artifact Rank: 3 Stars


    The owner of this cane can im it, by which if it ever gets lost, the owner can immediately


    call it back or know its location.


    * Once imed, the cane can never be owned by anyone except the owner except if the owner intentionally lends or gifts it to someone else.


    > The bearer of this cane may fire a microscopic dart at anyone, and can use it to track the target or paralyze them for 30 seconds.


    The dart can also be used as a camera in the user''s mind, providing the view in their mind from where the dart is ced.


    Thanks for reading!!!!!

 Chapter 18: Spending Money [4]

    Chapter 18: Spending Money [4]


    ?


    The artifact was perfect for his future needs.


    He had nned to get one like this in the future, but never thought he would find it so early. Taking the cane in his hand, he admired its structure.


    cing it on the floor, he found that it automatically adjusted itself to the user''s height and need.


    Waving it a little in the air, another thing that surprised him was the lightness of the item.


    It even had a small retractable de at its bottom.


    Setting it aside, Amon picked up the ck cloak and the interface opened up.


    Artifact Name: Machiavelli''s Cloak


    Artifact Rank: 3 Stars


    When worn, the user''s mana signature ispletely concealed. The effect remains even if the cloak is burnt or cut.


    > Even when taken off, the effect will remain for 1 minute. The countdown can be reset by wearing the cloak again.


    * Also acts as a shield from physical and magical attacks and effects.


    * Nullifies any tracking or harmful effect for the user under the artifact''s rank.


    Amon nodded with satisfaction.


    This was exactly what he wanted from a concealment artifact.


    He looked at the manager.


    "How much would this whole set be?"


    The manager nodded with glee.


    "The whole set costs 250k Exlor, however, with the set and membership discount, the final price will be 100k." He informed.


    Nodding back at the fairness of the price, Amon told him that he''ll buy it.


    "Will you buy with real cash or watchband transfer?"


    "Watchband transfer."


    The manager handed him a device, signaling him to touch the face of the watch with the screen.


    Doing just that, Amon heard a ting resound from the watch.


    TING!


    He looked at his watchband.


    [Exlor Bnce: 900,000]


    After informing that he would just take the artifacts from here rather than having them delivered at the door, Amon left the shop.


    Realizing that it was close to sunset, he decided that it would be better to go back in order to not worry his sister.


    He left the City Centre, and stored his items in the [Inventory].


    Arriving back at the apartment, he entered it, only to find it empty and dark.


    Turning on the lights, he found that Katherine still wasn''t home.


    It was then that a sudden realization struck him.


    His sister was the student council president, so of course she woulde homete.


    He sighed.


    ''Guess I''ll just be sitting around alone here till shees.'' He thought but suddenly, a cough resounded in his head.


    [I''m still here for you to talk to, you know.] Zepyhrained.


    For some reason, Amon felt she was pouting.


    He smiled, thinking to y with her a little.


    He nonchntly waved his hand in the air.


    ''Nah, you take everything I say to you as ttery.''


    [Hey! I was just joking.]


    Heughed heartily.


    ''I know I know, I''m just joking.''


    He heard a ''hmph'' echo in his head, causing him to chuckle.


    ''Well, I should take a shower in the meantime.'' He thought and was about to head in the shower, before he suddenly stopped.


    ''Wait....''


    A realization struck him.


    ''Zepyhra.''


    The charming voice of the goddess came a momentter.


    [Yeah?]


    With a small amount of fear, he asked her.


    ''Since you are able to see everything around me, aren''t you going to able to see me naked


    when I shower....?''


    However, the answer came instantly.


    [Yeah, so what? You talk as if I didn''t see you the first time.]


    He suddenly shuddered with shock.


    ''Wait, first time wh-'' He remembered.


    In the morning.


    He wanted to facepalm himself now.


    But....


    ''That''s perverted you know?'' He rebutted.


    He felt the goddess inside his head shrug.


    [Well, uh it''s not like I have a choice. I can close my eyes but why should I? If we are going to


    be together for the whole life, then seeing you whole is nothing my dear.] She answered.


    The answer was shocking.


    He went silent for a whole minute with embarrassment because of thetter part.


    Wasn''t it him usually teasing her?


    Atst, he just said two words to her.


    ''Shut up.''


    [That''s not a nice thing to say to thedies my dear.]


    Having no energy left to answer back, he gave up.


    He lingered for some moments at the bathroom door, still not having the mindset to go in.


    [Ohe on! You already did it once in the morning, and I saw you. There''s nothing to hide


    from me now.] Sheined.


    He sighed.


    ''You are right I guess.''


    Diminishing somest bits of hesitation, he jumped inside the shower.


    Trying to think that she wasn''t there, he quietly took a shower.


    *****


    [After 20 Minutes]


    Amon finally came out of the shower, feeling refreshed and wearing casual clothes.


    The goddess, who had been teasing him throughout the whole shower, spoke once again.


    [See? That wasn''t so hard, don''t know what you were being so shy about.]


    He clicked his tongue.


    ''If you were in my ce then you would know.''


    He felt Zepyhra chuckle.


    [Honestly, I would have no problem taking a shower with you being my head and seeing me


    naked. I mean,e on, I chose you instead of the three things, so shouldn''t this be normal]


    She said nonchntly.


    However, the boy in question had his mouth opened.


    ''HUHH!??'' [What ''huh? This is normal boy, you chose me so take responsibility.]


    Amon wentpletely silent.


    Finally, he chose topletely set this topic aside and say nothing.


    [Hey! Don''t leave me hang-]


    He raised his hand.


    ''Let''s just cook something rather than uhhh this conversation please.''


    [Oh, alright. What are you going to cook then?]


    He shrugged. ''Let''s just check what''s stored in the refrigerator.'' He answered and walked towards the open


    kitchen in the lounge.


    In this world, though not like modern refrigerators of his world, there were devices made


    with mana that world like refrigerators.


    And what were they named?


    Refrigerators, the author was just toozy to name them anything else.


    He walked towards the metal device called a refrigerator and opened the door.


    He was quite experienced in cooking, since he often learnt it from his parents and after their


    death, he was the one who cooked for both his sister and him.


    Finding a variety of ingredients such as mana beast meat and such inside, he took them out


    after deciding what he was going to make.


    Feeling nostalgic, he decided to make his sister''s favourite dish.


    A Chicken Sandwich.


    Or, A Beast Meat Sandwich.


    Thanks for reading!!!

 Chapter 19: Cooking [Extra Chapter]

    Chapter 19: Cooking [Extra Chapter]


    ?


    (THIS IS MOSTLY A COOKING CHAPTER, SO SKIP IF YOU DONT LIKE THOSE KIND OF CHAPTERS. I MIGHT DO THEM AGAIN IF READERS LIKE THEM BUT IF NOT I WONT DO THEM


    AGAIN)


    A.N: This is an extra chapter for the immense support you guys gave mest week for 100 Powerstones!! Thank you for giving this novel a chance and supporting it!!


    *****


    Amonid out all the ingredients on the table.


    He didn''t know how mana beast meat tasted like but in an extra note at the end of a volume, the author had described the meat as leagues tastier than the one on earth.


    He could just hope it was true.


    Surprisingly, a mana beast sandwich had never been mentioned in the novel like a chicken sandwich.


    Because of which, Amon thought that maybe the people in this world didn''t have a snack like that.


    He thoroughly rinsed the meat through the water from the tap.


    Then taking a bowl he ced some mayonnaise, which surprisingly existed in this world. cing some tomato sauce and vinegar in the same bowl, he added salt and pepper before giving it a good mix.


    After at least 2 minutes of good mixing, he finally made the sauce for the sandwich.


    This was usually their main sauce in his previous world, where he would use it on any quick meal aftering back from work.


    Going back to the meat, he observed that it was very simr to the normal beef from his world rather than a chicken.


    Therefore, he chose to just go the normal way to do it by sprinkling some salt and pepper on the meat and covering it in it.


    Taking a pan, he quickly covered it with olive oil before setting it to heat on a stove.


    This world was supposed to be medieval but in many ways, it was no different than modern.


    The novel''s author described the reason for it to be the advancement of mana technology and research.


    After the pan was hot enough, he gently ced the meat on it.


    Then, he took two whole heads of garlic and ced them in the corner of the pan before putting thyme on top of them.


    Letting the meat rest for a while to get a sear, he walked to the refrigerator and took out a stick of butter.


    Since the meat was the fillet of the beast, it didn''t take long for it to get a sear on one side.


    Turning it over to the other side, and getting a sear on that as well, Amon ced the whole piece on top of garlic and thyme.


    Letting it rest for a minute, he cut a small part of the butter stick and ced it inside the pan. Following that, he started to baste the meat constantly for 20 seconds.


    After being done with everything on the pan side, he put the pan in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.


    In the meantime, he decided to work on the tomato relish.


    A smile coated his face when he remembered that this would mostly be his sister''s favorite part of the sandwich.


    Taking some red onions and chilies, he started to dice and chop them.


    [Why are you so focused and silent?] Zepyhra inquired.


    ''Huh?'' He questioned in his mind.


    She suddenly burst intoughter.


    [I mean that your face looks like it will burst apart if anything goes wrong.]


    He scratched his head in embarrassment.


    ''I guess I just cook that way.''


    He felt her chuckle in his head again.


    [Want me to help with the cooking?]


    He was taken by shock.


    ''Do you even know how to cook?''


    There was silence from the other side.


    [Uhhhhh maybe.]


    ''Of course you don''t.''


    He sighed before mumbling.


    "Useless."


    [I heard that you know?]


    He grabbed the chopped chilies and onions and threw them into another pan.


    ''What? I said nothing.''


    [You.....]


    Waiting 5 minutes for them to soften, he started to chop the red and yellow tomatoes before also throwing them into the pan.


    Then he started to shake them all around, mixing them and creating the perfect relish.


    [I can''t wait to taste this, I''m already drooling....]


    He heard a soft mumble in the back of his head and he chuckled before questioning.


    ''How will you even taste them? Can you materialize yourself here?''


    He felt the goddess shake her head.


    [Nope. but I can share your senses if I want. So whatever you taste is what I taste if I want. Though I can materialize into your world, just not right now.]


    Amon shuddered.


    It was a little bit creepy for him to think that she could share his senses.


    But he cleared his thoughts and focused on thetter part of the answer.


    ''Oh, so when can you materialize?''


    He felt Zepyhra smile mischievously.


    [A, do you want to see me so bad?]


    Feeling the urge to facepalm himself for even asking this question, Amon rebutted.


    ''Stop with the jokes, just tell the reason knee grow woman.''


    The goddess startedughing boisterously.


    [Alright Alright, it''s a long process and reason so don''t worry about me. You will see me in the


    future, just keep going as you are.]


    ''Ohh, alright.''


    Amon didn''t persist with the answer.


    As a final step for the relish, he cut some basil and ced it on top, finishing it.


    Then, he took a loaf of bread and cut it into equivalent parts.


    Drizzling it with some olive oil, he ced it in the pan to toast.


    In the meantime, he took out the pan from the oven and quickly put the fillet on a te


    Taking the now-toasted bread from the third pan, he applied some of the sauce on it.


    Following that, he ced lettuce leaves on all of the bread pieces before cutting numerous generous slices of meat and cing them on top.


    Finally, heyered the meat slices with a generous amount of relish and ced the top slices,


    finishing the sandwiches.


    Strangely, he had gotten so excited, that he ended up making 8 sandwiches.


    The whole ce was now filled with the aroma of baking and frying.


    Fortunately, just at that moment, the door of the apartment opened.


    "What''s the good smell?" He heard his sisterment and he walked to door to wee her.


    However, as he got there, the towel he was rubbing his hands with dropped.


    At the door was Katherine.


    However, behind her, stood Alice and Elizabeth.


    He felt like dying from embarrassment since he was wearing casual clothes and his long hair


    were messed up at the sides.


    Feeling the urge to wee them, he quickly recovered and opened his mouth to speak.


    "Ahhh wee home, I was just making something to eat."


    A look of immense surprise passed over Katherine''s features.


    "You know how to cook? That''s surprising."


    He stumbled a moment for an excuse.


    "Ahh you see, I tried to learn it while you would be away for sses."


    "I see."


    Feeling a little awkward with all of them standing at the door and Zephyraughing like a


    maniac in his head, he quickly extended his hand inside.


    "Why are you standing at the door? Come in."


    Katherine realized she was still standing at the door, so she quickly turned to say goodbye to


    them.


    But suddenly, Amon got an idea. "Would you two like to have dinner with us? I made quite a lot actually."


    "Oh you did? Then why are you both standing there,e on in?" Katherine also invited


    cheerfully.


    Both sisters exchanged nces with each other, and then nodded back with a smile to Katherine and Amon.


    Since the apartment was quite spacious, the dining table was quiterge for all of them as


    well.


    After having them all seated, Amon quickly went and ted the sandwiches in front of them before joining them at the table.


    "What''s this? I have never seen anything like it?" Elizabeth questioned, poking the sandwich


    with her fork.


    Sitting down, Amon chuckled.


    "Ahh, its just a new idea that I wanted to make. It''s called a ''sandwich'', just mana beast meat


    ced between bread. And uhh, if you don''t mind, I would rmend eating with your


    hands." He exined to all of them.


    Initially confused at his exnation, they chose to trust him at the end and held the sandwich


    with their hands.


    Finally, they took the first bite.


    Inside, Amon was hoping that it turned out good since he didn''t have time to taste it.


    Fortunately, his efforts paid off, as all of their eyes gleamed with satisfaction. With a surprised look on their faces, they quickly took the second bite.


    Their eyes sparkled with satisfaction even more.


    All of the looked at him with surprise.


    "This is really good!"


    Amonughed.


    "Hahaha, I''m d that you enjoy it."


    Elizabeth noticed that he wasn''t eating.


    "You aren''t eating?"


    Amon''s mouth contorted to an ''o'' shape as he realized that he hadn''t taken a bite yet.


    He quickly held the sandwich and took his first bite and all of them watched him.


    He munched down the bite, but suddenly his mouth went rigid and his head lowered.


    Memories started to flow through his mind as the familiar taste hit his tastebuds. The memories of his younger sister.


    How he woulde back home tired from work and she would beg him to make it.


    And he would, just to put a smile on her face.


    Sometimes, when he came homete, he would find his sister making them by herself and


    often cut herself on the finger.


    All of the happy times flowed through his mind in that instant.


    How she would feed him sometimes when he was tired.


    The times when he made this for her cause she was sick.


    He thought was ready to transmigrate.


    But he wasn''t.


    Suddenly, Alice and Elizabeth''s face contorted with shock at Amon and thetter quickly


    lowered her face to see his face.


    Amon was crying.


    Tears were flowing down his cheeks like a downpour.


    Thanks for reading!!

 Chapter 20: Tears For Someone Lost In Time [1]

    Chapter 20: Tears For Someone Lost In Time [1]


    ?


    *****


    Amon Ashford.


    An intriguing person.


    This was how Elizabeth would describe her if someone were to ask about him.


    Her first impression of him was quite high.


    In fact, if there was one person she would rate the highest out of everyone she had seen on her first day, it would be him.


    It was for a in simple reason actually.


    His emotions.


    Born in a noble household famous for their innate trait of being able to see other''s emotions, Elizabeth stood out even among them.


    It was because when she was born, out of all the members in the family''s history, she was found to have the strongest innate trait out of all.


    Normally, a Silvercrest can only tell a person''s emotions name through their eyes.


    For example, if a person is feeling sadness, then they can see through their eyes that they are sad at the moment.


    But for Elizabeth, she can see much more than that.


    For her eyes, emotions were disyed to her like a color palette.


    She could tell a person''s current emotions by the colors surrounding their body.


    Not only that, she could even see further as to what was the cause of that emotion.


    This was why she was hailed as a prodigy among prodigies in the Silvercrest Household. Being born as a noble, she had already faced exposure to a wide variety of emotions from birth.


    Jealousy, Envy, Rage, Wrath, Lust.


    All these emotions had be normal for her to see over time in the household, especially the first andst.


    No matter how genuine and kind a person was from the outside, she could always see their true emotions.


    The ones that they harbored deep within themselves.


    There was always jealousy and envy in a person.


    That''s what made them human after all.


    On her first day at the academy, she went to the campus not expecting anything new.


    Her sister had tried to cheer her up and motivate her to make some new friends but for her, she doubted that there would be this much progress on the first day.


    Her sister had left early on the first day, because of her duties to maintain discipline.


    Therefore, she had walked to campus alone.


    She wasn''t keen on making friends.


    She was more of an introvert and only liked to keep close friends even though she had none at the moment.


    However, something surprising happened for the first time in her life as she arrived at the


    campus.


    At the entrance, she saw a frail average-looking boy, casting his gaze around the campus without any aim.


    There wasn''t anything special about it.


    He was just a normal student who was lost and was trying to find his way around.


    She knew him.


    Her sister had told her about the younger brother of her best friend and how he was also set to enter the campus tomorrow.


    Her sister hoped that they would get a chance to meet and hopefully be friends.


    Unfortunately, Elizabeth wasn''t quite keen on meeting him.


    However, it was when she saw him, that she knew he was different from the rest.


    The special and intriguing part about him to her was his emotional palette.


    For her, the aura that surrounded a person was their emotions.


    And the color of that aura was the respective emotion they had.


    And the deeper the color, the stronger the emotion.


    Also, there could be multiple colors of the aura, which indicates multiple emotions of the target.


    And the closer a color was to the target''s body in the aura, the more they hid that emotion.


    The true emotion, as she called it.


    However, for the boy, she saw no true emotions.


    He was hiding nothing inside him.


    Rather, all she saw was a pitch-ck void close to him.


    Surprisingly, she saw no hint of green in his aura, which indicated envy.


    It was intriguing and surprising for her, to say the least.


    Her curiosity in him exceeded further, when she talked to him and was surprised to see no trace of lust arise in his palette.


    This had be normal for her.


    Whenever a male would set their eyes for the first time on her, their lust ratio would visibly increase in the palette.


    Talking to him felt surprisingly good, as if for the first time she was talking to someone


    natural.


    Someone''s real face.


    She guided him to the ss and was also surprised to find out that he was in the same one as


    her.


    After separating from him, she truly realized how different she was when she entered the ss and immediately saw eyes of lust set upon her.


    Following that incident, she thought she wouldn''t see him anymore because of such a high- rank difference between them.


    He was the weakest person out of everyone and she was the strongest.


    Yet, he caught her attention once again during the elemental tense when he intentionally hurt himself to use his element.


    She could see that it was his first time experiencing this amount of pain by how he had fainted right after, but had still gone to such lengths for just a test.


    Even after he had woken up, talking to him felt strangely refreshing aspared to all those


    others she talked with.


    His palette was so clean and casual that it didn''t suffocate her when talking to him.


    After he had invited Elizabeth and her sister to dinner, she was surprised to find him so good


    at cooking.


    The food was a lot better than anything she had tasted around these days.


    She also felt a change in his emotions as a bright yellow color bloomed in the outer part, indicating his happiness that they liked it.


    Seeing that he was not eating the dish, she had asked him why he wasn''t eating and


    apparently he had forgotten.


    However, as soon as he took one bite and munched a few times, his face went rigid and


    lowered itself, hiding it from their eyes.


    Elizabeth, who was confused as to what happened, entered a deep state of shock as she saw a


    dark blue overpower his whole palette.


    And dark blue indicated.....


    Immense Sadness.


    What was more shocking was the reason for the sadness she saw.....


    Longing.


    Longing for a close one.


    Someone who he had lost.


    And when she lowered her face, she saw tears running down his cheeks to no avail.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 21: Tears For Someone Lost In Time [2]

    Chapter 21: Tears For Someone Lost In Time [2]


    ?


    ****


    As tears poured out of Amon''s eyes, he felt a hand rest upon his back.


    The sudden touch jolted him awake from his memories, his face drifting upwards.


    Looking up, he met the confused and slightly worried gray eyes of Elizabeth.


    Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she asked him.


    "Are you okay?"


    Snapping back to reality, his head wandered around, finding all of them looking at him with worry.


    Without a word of answer to her question, he abruptly stood up from his seat.


    "Excuse me, something just got to me. Please enjoy the dinner without me." He excused himself without looking in their eyes and quickly walked to his room, locking the door.


    Slumping in his bed, he cursed himself for what had happened.


    ''Fuck.....''


    Zephyra quickly talked to him in his head.


    [It''s not your fault, you didn''t expect it to be so overwhelming.]


    Amon did not answer back, keeping silent.


    Rather his mind drifted towards his sister again, however this time he held back the tears.


    ''I hope you are doing fine.'' He wished for her well-being, wherever she was at the moment.


    Not having any face to go outside and face them again, he buried his face in the pillow, waiting for sleep toe.


    Fortunately, it did and his eyes blissfully drifted to rest.


    *****


    The nted morning rays from the window cast themselves upon Amon''s eyes, making them twitch and flutter open.


    ''It''s morning already.....'' Heined, wanting to sleep a bit more.


    [Yes, which is why you need to wake up or you''ll bete otherwise.] Zephyra lectured him in his mind.


    Remembering what happenedst night, he quickly sat up on the bed.


    He felt a little bad for not only ignoring Elizabeth but also suddenly leaving all of themst night.


    Deciding that he would apologize to her in ss, he quickly got out of bed and headed into the shower without a word.


    After 30 minutes, he came outside of his room, donning his academy uniform.


    [See? You didn''t even care about anything in the shower today.] The void goddess'' voice echoed.


    Finding no answer to her words, he kept silent.


    Finally, he replied to her with an excuse and focused on what was ahead of him.


    ''Shut up.''


    Surprisingly, he found out that Katherine had already left for her duties.


    Student council duties were truly hard, he sighed.


    Walking to the kitchen, he quickly made a bread and jam sandwich for himself since he was in a hurry.


    Quickly eating through the sandwich, he washed everything up and left the apartment.


    During his whole way to campus, he didn''t see any sign of Elizabeth, making him think that she might have already gone to ss.


    Arriving at the campus gate, he saw Michael arriving from the other side of the road.


    "Hey!" He greeted, running up to him with a bright smile.


    Amon smiled back and raised his hand to greet him.


    "Hey, had a good morning?"


    "Yeah, I''m d I didn''t wake upte." Michael joined him and they both started to walk through the gate.


    At his words, Amon suddenly remembered that in the early days of his being weak, Michael would often stay up tillte at night, training.


    Due to this, he would often bete for sses.


    Suddenly, both of them heard a call from behind.


    "Yo!"


    Simultaneously turning back, they saw Ren running up to them, waving his hand to greet


    them.


    A considerable distance behind him was Athena, who was walking slowly in an elegant


    manner.


    Amon saw her eye the trio for a second, as if observing and evaluating them.


    Her eyes met his, and her gaze lingered for a few moments.


    Suddenly, he felt her lips curl into a light smile for a fraction for a second.


    However before he could confirm his eyes, she was already gazing ahead,pletely ignoring the three.


    Feeling a chill creep up his spine with small interaction, Amon quickly removed his gaze from


    her.


    Ren finally joined up with them.


    "You guys had a good sleepst night?" He asked with a casual smile.


    Both of the boys in question nodded back with a light smile.


    "Nice, I stayed up for a whilest night so I feel like going to sleep already." Heined


    while doing a fake yawn.


    Together, all three of them walked to ss.


    Entering it, a multitude of gazes were cast their way.


    However, the trio was so engrossed in their conversation that theypletely ignored what


    was happening around them.


    While talking, Amon took a quick nce around the ss and saw that they were thest to


    arrive.


    Minutes before the ss started.


    Arriving near the first table, he found the top 4 rankers to be already seated.


    And funnily enough, all of them were looking at them, probably because of their slightly loud


    voice.


    Unfortunately, the trio were too engrossed in themselves to notice anything around them.


    But fortunately, just as they were about to pass the first table, Amon remembered that he had to talk to Elizabeth.


    "You two go ahead, I''lle in a minute. Need to talk to someone." He excused himself and both of them nodded back, starting to climb the stairs without him.


    He quickly turned left to face the first table next to him.


    Feeling his gaze towards them, all of them turned their heads to look at him.


    Amon supressed a gulp of nervousness and walked towards Elizabeth, who was sitting at the


    far end of the table.


    Alya and Charlotte eyed with confusion while Liliana looked at him with disdain and disgust.


    Ignoring all of them, he arrived in front of the seated Elizabeth, who looked at him with confusion but also a little bit of worry for what happenedst night.


    Seeing him arrive close to her, he felt all of the ssroom gaze at his back, even Michael and


    Ren.


    Pushing them to the back of his mind, he opened his mouth.


    "Hey, ahhhh I just wanted to apologise for what happenedst night. Something got to me


    and I didn''t know what happened in the heat of the moment."


    And before she could respond back, he bowed very slightly.


    "And so I hope you can forgive me if I offended you in any way."


    Elizabeth, in turn, was at a loss of words.


    She knew he was probably here to apologise but now that he did, she found herself unable to


    answer.


    Fortunately, she quicklyposed herself and waved her hand, as if indicating it was okay.


    "Ah it''s alright, I understand what happened. No need to apologize."


    Nodding with a light smile at her apology, Amon thanked her and then quickly headed


    towards his seat, joining Michael and Ren.


    Just as Ren was about to ask him what happened, the ssroom door opened once more and


    Athena entered.


    Arriving at the podium, she looked up towards the ss, scanning them.


    Amon knew what today''s first ss was going to be about.


    Electives.


    Thanks for reading!!!


    Join Discord(Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 22: Clovist Training [1]

    Chapter 22: Clovist Training [1]


    ?


    *****


    Standing at the podium, Athena quickly took the attendance of everyone before addressing them.


    "Today we''ll talk about electives. In a moment, I''ll hand you out paper forms with various electives for you to choose from. You are allowed to choose 5 electives maximum and not less than 3. Do note that the chosen electives will remain for the entire first year and they cannot be changed unless a special reason is provided."


    The whole ss listened to her attentively without a noise and she continued.


    "The electives are avable to you in a wide range. There''s mana beast study, rune theory and application, closebat training, and much more. Choose to your liking."


    "However, Weapon Training is mandatory for armentists, though it can be taken by clovists as well if they want. And Elemental Training is a must for clovists, though it can be taken by armentists to get a better understanding of mana maniption if they want." She informed and some students nodded.


    Following that, she retrieved a pile of papers and pointed out to Elizabeth.


    "From today you''ll be the ss representative, is that okay?"


    Thetter nodded indifferently and Athena handed her the pile of papers, asking her to distribute them throughout.


    Nodding again, Elizabeth took the papers and distributed them to everyone in the ss.


    After getting the paper from her, Amon looked down at the paper, finding various options for electives listed on it.


    At the top of the elective choice, he also found his personal information written.


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Rank: 2403


    Category: Clovist


    Elemental Affinity: Blood


    In the original novel, the number of ranks only existed till 2402 and Michael was thest rank. However, it seemed to be a different case with Amon''s intervention in the novel now as thest rank was now 2403, and it also belonged to him.


    His affinity wasbeled as [Blood], the only element he had shown in the elemental test.


    Done with his information, Amon looked at the list of electives to choose from.


    Not all electives had been specifically mentioned in the novel, which resulted in him being surprised at the sheer number of them.


    There was everything that one could think about on the list.


    But Amon had already decided what he was going to go for before he even entered the ss.


    As an average guy who had no experience surviving in a harsh world like this, he wanted to learn the basic things for survival.


    Therefore, his 5 electives were.


    Dungeon and Wilderness Survival Training.


    Basic and Intermediate Mana Maniption.


    Close Combat Training.


    Weapon Training.


    Strategical and Battlefield Analysis.


    Looking at his 5 electives, he nodded with satisfaction.


    Seeing that he was done, Michael and Ren quickly took a nce toward his electives.


    ""Close Combat and Weapon Training? Aren''t you a clovist?"" Both of them simultaneously asked him.


    Amon nervouslyughed under their stares.


    "Haha, my sister rmended me to take them both. A clovist also needs to prepare


    themselves if anyone gets close right?"


    Understanding his reasoning, both of them nodded and focused back on their sheets.


    After 10 minutes, he saw that they both were done.


    He quickly took a nce towards their electives, and sighed in relief when he saw them being the same from the novel.


    Actually, the electives Amon had chosen were not just based on his own interests.


    They were also carefully chosen with the main cast in mind. Every elective that Amon chose had at least 1 main cast member in them.


    Due to this, he hoped that Michael and Ren wouldn''t deviate from their original choices in the novel just because they had seen his sheet.


    Fortunately, they didn''t.


    There was a little deviation as Amon saw Ren choosing all five electives this time rather than only 3 like in the novel.


    However, Amon didn''t think much of it as out of 5, three electives were still his original choice from the novel.


    The other 2 were also the ones that Amon had chosen, so there was no problem.


    After 20 minutes of waiting, Athena finally asked everyone if they were done.


    Everyone nodded, making her signal Elizabeth to collect the sheets.


    Standing up, thetter quickly started collecting the elective sheets from everyone.


    Reaching Amon, he handed her his elective sheet, and for some strange reason, he saw her eyes linger on his sheet for a few moments as if scanning it.


    He even saw them flicker with confusion for a fraction of a second before turning to normal in the next and setting aside his sheet as if nothing had ever happened.


    After collecting everyone''s sheets and sorting them out, Athena looked at them again.


    "Another news for all of you is that your first FULLDIVE will be held a weekter. I would advise you all to prepare well for it."


    "Now that that''s done, All clovists will proceed to their training areas while all armenists will move to their grounds. The directions will arrive on your watchbands in a moment."


    Right at that moment, a multitude of notification sounds resounded on everyone''s watchbands.


    With that, Athena left the ss, waiting for them to move to their specific grounds. Since all three of them were clovists, they walked to the clovist grounds together.


    The training grounds for clovists and armenists were built right next to each other.


    Each of them was asrge as a football stadium and though both looked exactly simr from


    the outside, they differed greatly from the inside.


    Walking through the entrance corridor of the clovist grounds, Amon arrived in arge


    spacious lush green field.


    He instantly felt the mana density around him increase multiple times, making his skin pores


    up and limatize to the change.


    He saw arge number of students around him, including Elizabeth and Liliana, who were


    both respectively clovists.


    It was obvious that the ratio of clovists was twice the ratio of armenists.


    In front of them, the students saw 6 teachers standing to teach them, including Athena, who


    now donned a tight skinsuit.


    Scanning all the teachers, Amon knew all of them.


    They were all influential figures after all, with some of them even being retired from the


    Imperial Military and having fought in the Great War.


    All of them were some of the best clovists in humanity.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 23: Clovist Training [2]

    Chapter 23: Clovist Training [2]


    ?


    ****


    Amon looked at all of them with reverie and respect.


    All of them had fought in the Great War, the first war between humans and ghouls.


    As the head of all teachers, Athena was the one to speak up on their behalf.


    "Now that you all are here, we will start your clovist training. The first step is simple, you all have to mediate in this mana surrounding for 2 hours." She debriefed them.


    In order to make them understand better, she exined further.


    "These grounds have multiple times the mana density outside, you have to open your mana pores and absorb the surrounding mana. This technique is called mana breathing."


    "Sit on the ground a considerable distance from each other and close your eyes. Try to feel the surrounding mana around you and pull it towards you, the pores on your body will open up with this step, as if weing the mana." She exined.


    Amon saw that the normal students were still a little confused but they chose to heed her advice and started to sit at a certain distance from each other.


    For the noble students though, their faces were impassive, as if already knowing mana breathing was.


    And they did.


    As soon as a person awakened in a noble household, their parents would make them meditate daily in high mana-density surroundings.


    This gave them a huge jumpstart over other students as their mastery in mana breathing was already high by this time.


    The trio also started to sit at a distance from each other without any trace of confusion in their eyes.


    For Michael, he was a royal so he already knew of this technique.


    Ren was taught by his sister and for Amon, he already knew about the technique from the novel.


    Closing his eyes, Amon tried to feel the surrounding mana around him.


    Initially, he felt nothing around him no matter how hard he tried.


    However, he soon felt a wobbly substance all around him.


    It was an astonishing feat.


    Usually, it would take several hours for a normal student with a normal talent to feel mana around them.


    However, just like Michael, he had no problem getting his first feel of mana in a few minutes of starting.


    It was only because of this body, which had such a high talent now because of Zephyra.


    The mana around him felt like a gooey, wobbly thick fog.


    Following the next part of Athena''s advice, Amon tried to pull the mana towards him.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t that easy as the mana kept getting out of control.


    However, he still didn''t open his eyes and give up.


    Fortunately, after multiple retries, he finally felt a small amount of mana pull toward him.


    For some strange reason, at the same moment, he felt a sharp mental pierce upon his back, as if someone was watching him,


    Still not opening his eyes, Amon ignored the feeling and focused on the mana.


    After multiple small constant pulls of mana, he finally felt a small suctioning force around him, an indication that he had finally taken the first step in mana breathing.


    For 2 hours, he used every bit of his focus to pull the mana towards him, strengthening and elongating his pull by each minute.


    There was not a speck of sound around him, with everyone focusing on themselves.


    The nobles, as he said earlier, had a much calm andposed expression on their faces, as if already used to this.


    Finally, Athena''s voice cut through the air, signaling the end of meditation.


    "That''s it! You can all open up your eyes now."


    In tandem, everyone''s eyes fluttered open, making them finally realize what was happening around them.


    Those who experienced mana breathing for the first time were covered in sweat because of their bodies experiencing pure mana.


    pping her hands to get their attention, she voiced out once more.


    "Now all of you will do a light spar with one of the teachers here." She exined before gesturing to the teachers beside her.


    "For water clovists, you will fight Madam Samantha."


    All students'' eyes'' moved towards the respective woman.


    With short blue hair and eyes, she waved towards them with a light smile.


    She was one of the war heroes.


    Moving on, Athena gestured to a man, who was standing right besides Samantha.


    With fiery red hair and crimson eyes, he had a tanned bulky body with a diagonal scar running across his face.


    "For fire clovists, you will fight Sir Maxwille."


    Amon recognized him instantly as he was an influential retired figure from the Imperial


    Military.


    Once a Captain in the military, he was also one of the war heroes.


    She then gestured to another man besides Maxwille.


    "For Earth Clovists, you will fight Sir Owen."


    With a chest and body bulkier than Maxwille, Owen stood tall with a stony expression on his


    face.


    Then, Athena gestured to a woman next to Owen.


    "And for wind clovists, you will fight Madam Aya."


    With long ck hair and eyes, Aya stood with a light smile on her face.


    Out of all the teachers, she had the weakest presence but Amon instantly recognized her.


    Except for Athena, Amon knew that Aya could easily beat any teacher who was standing here. Once a temporary Brigadier in the Military for the war, Aya was also the closest friend of


    Athena.


    Her wind mastery and experience were iparable, even among some of the highest- ranked wind clovists in the human empire.


    And finally, Athena gestured toward thest teacher, a man standing next to Aya.


    "And for derivant element clovists, they will fight Sir Daniel."


    With clean blonde hair and golden eyes, Daniel had a bored expression on his face,


    Amon knew him.


    He was one of the first viins that Michael would face inside the academy.


    Though he acted bored and dumb on the outside, he was a scheming figure inside the


    academy.


    Amon''s attention to him was quickly taken when Athena pped once more and told them to


    form a single line in front of each teacher.


    Sighing at having such an early encounter already with a viin, Amon quickly got his ce in


    the small line in front of Daniel.


    And with that, the sparring with teachers finally began.


    The first one to go up against Daniel was....


    Elizabeth Snowcrest.


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 Chapter 24: Clovist Training [3] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 24: Clovist Training [3] [EXTRA]


    ?


    ****


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 100 PS THIS WEEK)


    Elizabeth stood in front of Daniel, who kept looking at her with bored eyes.


    "You can start whenever you want." He spoke.


    Nodding indifferently at his words, she instantly took on a stance.


    The temperatures of her surroundings instantly plummeted, with tiny snowkes forming in the air.


    Instantly, multiple icicles formed in the air, before shooting towards Daniel at high speeds.


    Thetter, however, still had no change in expression as he looked at the icicles that were inches away from him.


    Finally, he raised his both hands and pped them with force.


    CLAP!


    In the next instant, arge soundwave traveled through the air in front of him,pletely shattering the iing icicles towards him.


    The sound was controlled in such a way, that even though it had such a sheer intensity, it never caused harm to the people out of its area.


    Amon gulped.


    He had to admit that even though Daniel was evil, he was still one of the teachers in the strong tier of the academy.


    His control over the sound element was phenomenal.


    Lowering his hands, he asked Elizabeth in an apathetic tone.


    "Anything else?"


    Thetter however, remained silent and kept looking at him with coldness.


    Amon even spotted some flickers of disgust in her eyes.


    He knew that Elizabeth could see Daniel had an evil alignment with her eyes.


    After all, if a person wasn''t above or at the rank of 6th order or tier, their emotions wereid bare to see in front of the eyes of a Silvercrest.


    He knew that she could see his malicious emotions.


    Suddenly, Elizabeth took on a stance again and raised her arm in the air, before clenching her hand a secondter.


    Daniel instantly looked down and in the next moment, numerous ice spikes erupted from the nearby ground underneath him.


    Remaining calm, he jumped in the air and looked down at therge number of spikes now erupting from the ground.


    As the nearest spike finally neared him though, he spun in the air and delivered a powerful kick to the tip of the spike.


    Before everyone could see what happened, all the spikes vibrated with sheer intensity and suddenly shattered into minuscule pieces.


    Landing back on the ground unharmed, he looked at her again.


    "Anything else?"


    Looking at him in silence for a while, Elizabeth shook her head and went back to stand right next to the line.


    Looking at her, Amon knew that she could do more but couldn''t handle his suffocating emotions anymore.


    He sighed.


    In actuality, Daniel was a viin for Elizabeth.


    He was a Ghoul Recruiter.


    Ghoul Recruiters were people who tried to find strong and weak targets and then recruit them to their side by converting them into a ghoul contractor and promising them more power. Ghoul Recruiter themselves were also ghoul contractees.


    By contracting with a ghoul, a clovist, or an armenist can gain temporary enhanced power by the use of corrupted mana.


    The problem with this was that prolonged use of the power led the contractee to lose their rationality and then turn into a ghoul beast.


    Daniel would try to target Elizabeth by exposing her to corrupted mana with each training session and messing with her emotions.


    Since a teacher can also take in personal students, he would also take in Michael as a personal student because of thetter being weak enough to be converted.


    However, his n would be soiledter on when Michael himself exposes Daniel at a party and then proceeds to beat him.


    It is also when his first interaction with Elizabeth takes ce.


    With Amon''s intervention in the novel and friendship with Michael, he now had to make sure


    that Michael would expose Daniel and get him to meet Elizabeth.


    He had to ensure that the plotline would carry out just like in the novel.


    He was jolted awake from his thoughts when he realized that the whole line had already


    cleared out.


    Feeling Daniel''s gaze on him, Amon walked up to the small fighting area.


    Like he had said to everyone else, the former repeated the same line,


    "You can start whenever you want."


    Nodding at his words, Amon suddenly realized that he had to use the [Blood] element again.


    [You are an idiot aren''t you?] He heard Zephyra remark in his head,


    Suppressing a sigh and ignoring her remark, he quickly looked around for an ice splinter


    again.


    To his dismay, he didn''t find anything to cut himself with.


    Feeling Daniel''s piercing gaze on him, he finally let out a deep sigh.


    ''Guess I''ll just have to do it that way....'' He concluded.


    It was something that he had seen in one of the books at the bookstore.


    He raised his hand and in the next moment, bit hard on it.


    Enduring the pain, he tore off the flesh at the spot, letting blood freely pour out from the wound.


    He saw Daniel''s eyes widen for the first time and a flicker of interest passed through them. Concentrating hard on the blood, he repeated the same process asst time.


    However, this time it was much easier as within half a minute, numerous des made of


    blood hovered in the air.


    Holding on to his consciousness, he shot them towards Daniel who was still looking at him


    with surprise.


    The des cut through the air at high speeds.


    But like every time, just as they were inches away from him, he pped his hands and the blood instantly lost its form, turning into liquid and falling on the ground.


    Strangely though, this time Daniel''s eyes did not have any trace of boredom but were rather


    filled with interest.


    Not even asking if Amon wanted to continue, he instantly appeared before Amon with a


    potion in hand.


    "Here, pour this over your wound. We are done for now." He quickly told him, extending the


    potion towards him.


    Amon, who didn''t understand anything that was happening, looked at him at a loss.


    Realizing that he might have been a bit too sudden, Daniel opened his mouth to speak again. But suddenly, a hand grasped Amon''s shoulder and pulled him away from him.


    "I apologize Sir, but I don''t think you need to use a potion on him. I can just heal this small injury with my ice. There''s no need for you to bother." Elizabeth spoke to Daniel. Recognizing the voice next to him, Amon looked to his right and found her standing there, still holding his shoulder.


    For a fraction of a second, he saw annoyance flicker through Daniel''s eyes before boredom


    reced it.


    "Ahh, well, If you can do better then go ahead." He waved off his hand and then returned to


    his ce.


    Before Amon could make sense of anything that was happening, Elizabeth grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, far away from Daniel.


    Finally arriving at a considerable distance from him, she quickly turned over his hand to see


    the bleeding wound.


    Without any word to him, she raised her other hand and started to heal the wound using ice.


    ''Huh?''


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 Chapter 25: Clovist Training [4]

    Chapter 25: Clovist Training [4]


    ?


    ****


    ''Huh?'' Amon blurted out in his thoughts, not making anything out of the sudden events.


    He suddenly felt Elizabeth''s hand touch his clothes. Before he could think anything of it, she tore a certain part of his sleeve.


    Immediately, she started dressing his wound with the cloth, all while he stared at her in astonishment.


    "Why do you keep injuring yourself?" She questioned.


    ''Uh, ''cause I have no other way to use my element?'' Amon wanted to say but controlled himself.


    He averted her gray stormy eyes and scratched his head.


    "Your sister keeps worrying about you but yet here you are, still injuring yourself. Do you not care about yourself?" She further questioned.


    Ignoring her raging stare, he tried to bring up an excuse.


    "I mean, my element is [Blood], so there was no other way for-"


    "You could have just refused to participate." She rebutted, interrupting him.


    He went silent at her answer.


    Silence ensued between them for a few seconds before she let out a deep sigh.


    "Alright, let''s just leave this topic. However, stay away from that man." She gestured with her eyes towards Daniel, who leaned back against a tree.


    It was then that Amon finally realized the cause of her sudden reaction back there.


    The potion that Daniel was handed to him for his would was probably mixed with corrupted


    mana.


    The potion would slowly and steadily destroy his mana veins, leaving him with no choice but to be a ghoul contractor.


    Elizabeth must have seen his malicious emotions and quickly butted in to save him from the


    man.


    If not for her, he would have truly been a goner.


    He didn''t understand why Daniel suddenly took an interest in him.


    ''Fuck....this wasn''t supposed to happen.'' He cursed internally at the sudden change.


    This meant that he was now one of his targets to turn into a ghoul contractor.


    Feeling his brain hurt from this thinking, he let go of the thought, thinking that it would be right as long as the original plotline proceeded normally.


    As long as Daniel still took Michael in as a disciple, it would be fine.


    But there was a more important matter at hand right now.


    One that he had ignored.


    He didn''t realize this at first but now he did.


    He thought that just because he was not a part of this novel, he was safe from all threats.


    But if not for Elizabeth''s intervention just now, he would have truly been a goner.


    He would have just turned into a ve and then into a ghoul beastter on.


    It was chilling and scary to think about it and how ignorant he had been.


    Going on in the future, he had to be more careful.


    Focusing back on Elizabeth, he couldn''t thank her enough in his heart right now.


    He was truly grateful to her even though he couldn''t say it.


    Which is why, he feigned ignorance.


    "Why?"


    She shook her head in response.


    "I can''t tell you the reason but just please trust me. Stay miles away from that man."


    He knew that she couldn''t tell him about the emotional palette ability of hers.


    Therefore, he just trusted her and answered back.


    "Alright, I understand."


    Elizabeth nodded.


    "We should go back now."


    And she turned to leave, but suddenly Amon remembered to thank her for the healing.


    "Ah, just a moment."


    She turned back, tilting her head in confusion.


    "Yeah?"


    He smiled gratefully.


    "Thanks for healing my wound."


    At his words, she suddenly went rigid.


    Silence reigned between them for a few seconds before she nodded with a light smile.


    "No problem."


    Then she turned and walked back to her spot with Amon in tow, missing the slight tink of pink on her pale cheeks.


    Arriving back at their spots, he saw that the training from every teacher had already been concluded.


    Athena pped her hands to gain everyone''s attention.


    "Alright, that''s it for today, everyone. sses are over for today. You will get your schedule ording to the electives you have selected by night on your watchbands. From tomorrow, your sses will be ording to that. You all can leave now." She exined. Nodding at her words, everyone instantly joined up with their friends and started to leave.


    Amon quickly met up with Michael.


    "Hey, training went well?"


    Michael smiled and nodded back.


    "Yeah, Sir Maxwille is a great teacher. What about you? I forgot who was your teacher."


    Amon smiled and nodded, then gestured towards Daniel, who was leaving the grounds. "Yeah, it also went pretty well. There''s the teacher, his name is Sir Daniel."


    Following his gesture, Michael looked at Daniel, and not even a secondter, a frown coated


    his features.


    Amon instantly noticed the frown.


    ''He also sees the malicious aura around him.''


    [Sran must have also informed him about it.] Zephyra pointed out and he nodded


    internally.


    Not saying anything about it, he looked around him and noticed Ren was missing.


    "Where''s Ren? Did you see him?" Amon questioned Michael, changing the topic,


    Jolting awake from his thoughts, thetter nodded.


    "Ah, oh yeah, he just left with his elder sister after training was over. Said that he had something urgent to attend to."


    "Ah."


    At the mention of something ''urgent'', Michael too suddenly spoke up.


    "Actually, I got something urgent to attend to as well, so I''m afraid that I gotta go right now.


    Meet up tomorrow in the morning?"


    At his words, Amon knew that something urgent was training but he didn''t mind it.


    He, too, had somewhere to go also.


    "Yeah, sure. Have a nice day." Amon smiled.


    Michael smiled and waved goodbye, before running out of the grounds in a hurry.


    Now left alone, he stretched himself, ready to also get to today''s work.


    Heading out of the grounds, he quickly set his way towards the City Centre again, rather than


    his apartment.


    It was still afternoon, so there was no reason to go back.


    Entering the building, he smiled.


    It was time to get a weapon and collect his spatial ring!


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 Chapter 26: The Black Market [1]

    Chapter 26: The ck Market [1]


    ?


    Entering the City Centre, Amon quickly headed towards his destination.


    Arriving in front of the shop, he looked up at the name just likest time.


    House of Olympus.


    Nodding, he headed insided.


    He found the manager at the counter, who instantly recognized Amon and smiled.


    "Wee back sir! I''m guessing you are here to retrieve your order?"


    "Yes, precisely." He replied and the manager nodded back.


    "Great! It''s ready. Let me quickly retrieve it for you."


    The manager proceeded through the back door and after a minute of waiting, arrived back with a ck ring box.


    cing it on the counter, he slid it towards Amon to check.


    Picking it up, he undid the golden ribbon sealing the box.


    Without further ado, he opened the box.


    Inside, he find a sleek and simple metal ring, polished and clean.


    Taking it out of the box, he examined it for some seconds before putting it on.


    Instantly, a system interface opened up.


    Artifact Name: Spatial Ring


    Artifact Capacity: [0L/10000L]


    Artifact Description:


    A normal metal ring imbued with the power of [Space]. Can hold solids and liquids.


    Taking a quick nce at the window, he nodded with satisfaction and closed it.


    He looked back at the manager.


    "It''s perfect. How much will this be?"


    The manager smiled brightly, happy that he was satisfied with the product.


    "It would be 300k but with your card discount, it will be 150k Exlor Sir."


    Amon nodded at the price, it matched ording to the one Michael had gotten in the novel. "Alright, I''ll pay by watchband."


    He extended his arm towards the manager, facing the watch face towards him.


    Nodding at his words, the manager quickly retrieved a device and connected it to his watchband, making a notification sound echo like usual.


    DING!


    Done with the payment, the manager rubbed his hands.


    "Anything else dear sir?"


    Amon shook his head.


    "Nope, that will be it. Thank you."


    The man bowed with a bright smile at his words.


    "Pleasure doing business with you! I hope you like our products ande again!"


    With that, he left the shop, and onwards to his next stop.


    His next stop was something secret that Michael woulde to know aboutter in the academy.


    The City Centre was a gigantic ce to roam and the more you traveled in, the cheaper and more secluded the ces would get.


    Normally, all the big brands and shops were located right at the entrance but the smaller and cheaper shops were located further inside the Centre.


    The security and people around you would also decrease the further you went, as the management barely cared about small shops like those.


    However, that was exactly where Amon was heading right now.


    Heading past various big shops, he immediately started to notice theck of people and lighting in the area.


    After taking some narrow shortcuts and pathways, he arrived so further in, that the ce basically became a house of poverty.


    ves and prostitutes were seated on every side of the street.


    In order to keep himself and his identity safe from all the sneaky people around him, he quickly took a sharp turn into a dark corner of the street,pletely devoid of life.


    Storing the box of spatial ring and his sweater inside his inventory with a wave of his hand, he also retrieved the artifacts he had previously bought from the shop.


    Donning the ck cloak around his body, Amon tapped the cane on the ground before finally putting the mask on his face.


    Walking out of the corner, he was apletely different man from before.


    It was not that far now, he was almost there.


    Walking further in, he saw the quality of life worsen with each turn and the number of poverty-stricken people drastically increase.


    The people looked at him with fear and skepticism because of his new attire.


    It was truly pathetic how the management of this city was turning a blind eye to the people


    here.


    Averting his eyes from the poor state of life, Amon tried to focus ahead.


    However, it was not long before he felt a sudden tug on his cloak.


    Looking back, he saw a little girl, no older than three, looking at him with her pleading,


    desperate ck eyes.


    His eyes behind the mask widened.


    "Uncle, me hungry, anything eat?" She asked, in broken English.


    Looking into her eyes, he surprisingly saw a will to survive, something that he had rarely seen


    in the people inhabiting these streets.


    Amon felt pity rise in his chest for the girl. He crouched down.


    "You have any family?" He asked, his tone bing deeper and more authoritative because


    of the mask.


    The girl shuddered a little, probably because of his imposing voice.


    But eventually, she shook her head.


    "M-Me only, no else."


    A flicker of shock passed through his eyes at how this girl was alone in these streets but still


    had a me to survive.


    He felt his pity for the girl and disgust for the management increase.


    Unfortunately, at this moment he had nothing for the girl to eat.


    He could give her some Exlor but there was no shop around these parts for the girl to purchase


    from.


    Besides, the rabid dogs around these parts wouldn''t let the moneyst in her hands for a


    single minute.


    With a light smile behind his mask, he caressed the cheek of the girl, which still had baby fat


    on it.


    "Uncle doesn''t have anything for you to eat right now, but can you wait here for a while for me toe back?" He asked the girl, also making some signs for her to understand better. "You,e back?" The girl asked, pointing towards him with her small finger. Amon nodded and with confusion, but also a flicker of hope in her heart, the girl nodded back. Standing up, he pointed at a small corner of a shop for the girl to wait for him. Understanding his gesture, the girl stumblingly walked to the spot and sat down, tired and


    hungry.


    Reluctantly, he removed his gaze from her and continued further down the street, until he finally arrived at his destination.


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 Chapter 27: The Black Market [2]

    Chapter 27: The ck Market [2]


    ?


    Amon looked at the now almostpletely dark street, devoid of life except for a single old man, sitting at a corner of an average shop looking down at the ground without a care in the world.


    Walking and arriving next to him, Amon didn''t look at him.


    Rather, he looked up and gazed at the sky,pletely ignoring the old man''s existence.


    Both parties remained silent and kept their gazes focused on their work as if the other wasn''t even present there.


    For a whole hour, this silence continued as Amon kept gazing at the sky while the man kept gazing at the ground.


    Finally, the man''s eyes moved to the corner, eyeing him.


    The man kept his gaze still for a few seconds as if evaluating him.


    Amon however, remainedpletely engrossed in his own work, still ignoring the man.


    Finally, the man spoke, his voice hoarse and raspy.


    "Excuse me, do you know the time?"


    Without moving an inch, Amon replied instantly.


    "It''s half past three."


    The man''s gaze narrowed.


    "Are you from the rich part of town?"


    "You could say that."


    "Any cafes there?"


    "Yeah, there''s one with a blue door."


    The man''s gaze narrowed even further.


    "Any special drinks you know there?"


    "Yeah. They serve a meantte. I''m mostly there."


    "Get us a tea then." The man said.


    "Fucking Brits..." Amon replied, saying the final piece of code.


    His gaze finally rxed and his head turned around rapidly, looking left and right continuously to see if anyone was there.


    Finding no one around, he sneakily raised his arm up, nearing it towards the gloved hand of Amon.


    And in the next moment, he handed him a ck card before standing up.


    Thetter finally removed his gaze from the sky, and checked the ck card handed to him.


    After some moments, he turned to the man and nodded before starting to leave.


    "Pleasure doing business with you," Amon spoke and the man nodded back.


    However, just as he had walked a few steps, the man called back.


    "You''re gonna owe me for this."


    Amon turned back, his mask hiding his expression from the man. "Why?"


    The man''s lips curled up into a small smile.


    "We''re fixing each other''s problems."


    Without any movement, Amon asked back.


    "What''s my problem?"


    The man''s smile widened further.


    "The mask...Take it off..."


    "Show my face?"


    The man nodded.


    "Yes, sir."


    "Negative," Amon replied.


    "Are you ugly?" The man smirked.


    "Quite the opposite." He smiled a little behind his mask.


    "I doubt that." The man replied finally and then without waiting for an answer, started to


    leave.


    Amon stared at the fading back of the man till he finally disappeared from view.


    He let out a deep sigh of relief at that moment.


    The man who he had just conversed with was a client of the ck Market in Eldergrove.


    Every day, he would sit at this time exact spot for 2 hours at noon before leaving.


    After receiving information about it from Athena and how to enter it, Michael woulde here in the future to gain ess to the market.


    A person was first supposed to say nothing to the man and just stand next to him for the whole time until the man would ask the time.


    Though the conversation made no sense, this was how the author had written it in the book.


    It was the only way to gain ess.


    And Michael would repeat this same conversation with the man in the future.


    But even when you had the conversation with the man and obtained the card from him, the test to enter did not end there.


    A person would wear a mask when entering the ck Market or when conversing with any person belonging to the market.


    This is why the second conversation that Amon just had with the man was also a test to see if he was genuine.


    If he had said even a word wrong in the conversation, he would have died in the next minute by the guards hiding around this spot.


    Now finally having ess to the card, Amon turned left and headed further into the dark


    street.


    He arrived under apletely secluded and dark spot where two bulky men, d in formal suits were standing, guarding a rusted ck metal door.


    They eyed him with skepticism, their bodies tensing, ready to act at any moment.


    Amon instantly felt a piercing pressure boring down on his body.


    These guards were not ordinary guards but very strong retired mercenaries.


    Fortunately, he quickly raised his ck card for them to see and saved himself from the


    pressure.


    Taking the card from his hand, one of the men examined it for some moments before cing


    it in a device.


    DING!


    The device let out a ringing sound with a green light, letting the guards know that it was


    genuine.


    Handing the card back to him, both men separated to make some distance for him to pass


    through.


    Opening the ck rusted metal door, Amon saw a single narrow staircase, heading deep down


    into the darkness.


    Without looking back, he started to proceed down the stairs.


    The darkness enveloped him whole, taking away his sense of sight but he continued


    regardless.


    After 2 minutes of walking down the stairs non-stop, Amon finally saw a bright light ahead,


    finally returning his sense of sight to him.


    Exiting the staircase, his eyes widened in shock.


    What greeted his sight was arge, vicious space as far as the eye could see.


    It was basically a small town.


    All around him were stalls with sellers selling various items ranging from potions,


    equipment, tomes, and much more.


    ve and prostitute traders sat at the corners, calling out differents prices for different kinds


    of ves.


    Different buildings stood tall for different illegal purposes.


    Behind his mask, he finally realized that he had now entered the cruel dark part of society.


    The part that was hidden from the general public.


    The part that almost made him puke with disgust at the cruelty of it all.


    The ck Market.


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 Chapter 28: The Black Market [3] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 28: The ck Market [3] [EXTRA]


    ?


    ****


    Entering The ck Market, Amon tried to ignore everything around him and focus on his main goal here.


    Walking forward, he kept his gaze strictly focused on buildings rather than stalls.


    Unfortunately, entering a ce of this kind also meant that you could never escape those clingy vendors.


    He felt a sudden hand rest on his shoulder and he looked back only to find a prostitute trader looking at him with greedy eyes,


    In his hands was a chain that led to a young naked woman bound by restraints.


    She was ugly and her face was covered in dust and sweat.


    The man quickly spoke.


    "Well hello there young man, would you care to have a round with this beautifuldy? Only 2k Exlor, I tell you."


    Looking at him, Amon''s face contorted with disdain and rage behind the mask.


    Raising his arm, he let out a small thin whip of electricity on the trader and the prostitute, electrocuting them.


    The duo shuddered with pain and the trader instantly realized his mistake.


    Without any word, the trader quickly retreated, also pulling the weak woman along with him.


    This action of Amon also alerted the other traders who were also nearing to grab some money, and they quickly backed off.


    Without wasting any more time on them, Amon turned and continued on his way, his cane tapping down on the cobblestone.


    After several minutes of walking further and ignoring the stares that were cast upon him, he finally arrived in front of the building he was looking for.


    Nathan''s cksmithies.


    It was an average building with nothing special for it to stand out. Even its board outside was an ordinary one made of wood.


    It wasn''t even mentioned about much in the novel.


    But it was only ordinary from outside.


    Originally, this ce was suggested to Michael by Athena as the best cksmith shop in Eldergrove, however it wasn''t mentioned any further because Michael wasn''t an armentist.


    Which was why this ce never came into use in the novel.


    However, for an avid and top reader like him, he had remembered even this smallest bit of information.


    Without any further ado, he quickly headed inside.


    The furniture inside was beautifully organized and clean, a wide contrast to how the shop was from outside.


    However, the special part here was the cobblestone stairs heading to the basement of the home.


    And so, Amon quickly headed down the stairs.


    Arriving in the basement, he instantly felt the sudden high rise in temperature, making him sweat in just couple of seconds.


    He felt a small pressure bearing down on his body from the heat.


    Simultaneously, he heard the constant nging of metal against metal resound in his ears. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Moving his gaze forwards towards the source of the heat, Amon saw arge furnace, glowing orange and golden, emittingrge amounts of heat.


    But the special thing that caught his attention was the man standing right in front of it, with arge hammer in his hand.


    He constantly brought the hammer up in the air and then down on the metal in front of him, producingrge echoes in tandem.


    Suddenly, the man''s body wentpletely still, rigid. As if he had sensed the small presence behind him.


    Setting his hammer aside, the man turned back, his face finallying in full view for Amon. With arge bulky bodyparable to Maxwille, his skin was fully tanned, and multiple scars ran across his wide muscles.


    The man was Nathaniel ke, a 6th Tier Armentist.


    An Armentist was ranked from 1st Tier to 10th Tier. When an armentist''s body would reach the pinnacle of physical strength with help of mana, their body would break their limits, making them advance to the next tier.


    "Hmmm, what brings you here young man?" Nathaniel questioned, his voice deep and calm. Just by staring into his calm eyes, Amon felt the pressure on his body increase a couple folds. This was the strength of an armentist. A 6th Tier at that.


    He felt that he would die in a second if the man before him so wished and he wouldn''t be able to even see it.


    Suppressing a gulp of nervousness, he voiced.


    "I request you to forge me a weapon."


    At his words, the bulky man replied back instantly.


    "And what makes you think I would do that?"


    Trying to ignore the nervousness from his piercing gaze, Amon answered.


    ''Here goes nothing...'' He thought internally.


    "Because Ie here with the rmendation of Athena Silvermoon."


    He saw a flicker of shock and surprise pass in Nathaniel''s eyes at that moment before being


    reced with calmness once again.


    "And why would that matter to me?" He asked back.


    Without any hesitation, Amon replied back.


    "To repay the debt you owe her, the debt of saving your life."


    He saw Nathaniel''s face contort with embarrassment for the fraction of a second.


    Technically, what he was saying here was information that waster revealed to Michael but never put to use.


    In this sense, maybe he wasn''t changing the timeline.


    All he knew was that this man owed Athena a debt for saving his life in a dungeon once in the


    past.


    She hadter given Michael the opportunity to go make himself a weapon from him by using


    this debt.


    In Amon''s eyes, Nathaniel was probably judging him to see if he actually knew Athena or not.


    And when the man spoke next, he knew that he had passed the test.


    "Alright, what weapon you want me to make?"


    Nodding internally with satisfaction at his n working, Amon replied.


    "A sword, basically an odachi."


    Nathaniel''s eyes flickered with interest.


    "And what are your affinities?"


    "[Blood] and [Lightning]." Amon revealed the truth.


    The man in front of him was a retired hunter that never went out of his house.


    He kept forging weapons and metals all day and had never set a foot outside of this space.


    With this information, Amon thought that he could trust him and reveal the truth about his affinities. He had nothing to do with the information anyways.


    He might even think that Dual Elemental Clovists were normal in today''s world now. After all,


    it has been decades since he set foot outside of the ck Market.


    And he doubted that the man would threaten him with revealing this information was he probably thought at this point that he was closely rted to Athena.


    And of course, nobody dared to offend the second strongest clovist in humanity.


    He saw Nathaniel''s face contort with anger.


    "Are you ying games with m-"


    Before he could rage further, Amon chose to just show him as he quickly bit on his hand,


    drawing some blood.


    And right before the man''s very eyes, he manipted blood with one hand and produced lightning with the other.


    He saw the man''s face contort into utter shock with his mouth turning into an ''o'' shape.


    It was the first time in his life that he was seeing a Dual Elemental Clovist after all.


    Seeing Amon stare at him waiting to recover from the shock, Nathaniel quicklyposed himself with a cough.


    "I''ll need some materials for the weapon. Get me the materials and I can try to make you a weapon for both elements."


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 29: Black Market [4]

    Chapter 29: ck Market [4]


    ?


    ****


    Amon walked out of the shop with a smile on his face.


    His n had sessfully worked.


    Now all he needed to do was get the materials for his weapon.


    And fortunately, he knew exactly where to get them.


    Having his purpose achieved, he started to head towards his next stop.


    He started to walk further into the ck market, and gradually the ratio of stalls decreased while the ratio of buildings increased ordingly.


    After about 15 minutes of walking, he finally arrived at his next stop.


    Unlike the cksmith building, this one was quite well maintained from outside.


    Though it stillcked luster and shine whenpared to the other buildings around it.


    It was a brokerage firm.


    Actually, this whole street was full of brokerage firms.


    The one that Amon looked at right now was pretty average ifpared to every other firm in the street.


    This was because they had just started out.


    In the future, this ce would quickly top every other firm in the street, going on to be the best.


    It was also the point where Michael found out about it and became one of their customers.


    Because of them bing too big, he was charged a hefty price.


    However, starting out right now as one of their first customers gave Amon a great advantage.


    Cryptic Glories, that was their name.


    Whatever this name meant or why they chose it, he didn''t know.


    Nodding at the signboard, he headed inside.


    Just likest time, the furniture inside was surprisingly clean and organised.


    However, there was no reception table or anything in the whole building, which was


    something one would expect whening to a business building.


    Not only that but the whole floor was devoid of life, just different kinds of furniture set up, like the floor was a hotel or bar.


    But, Amon knew it was supposed to be like this.


    Without a word, he walked to an empty chair in front of a round table and sat down.


    Silently, he kept gazing outside of the building from the window with his hands on the cane.


    After several minutes passed, he finally heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs behind him.


    A hooded figure came to sit next to him.


    "This is the [Cryptic Glories], what services do you require of us dear sir?"


    Amon answered instantly.


    "I''ll take your premium package."


    The man behind the hood looked taken aback for a few moments.


    The ck-haired boy behind the mask smiled.


    He knew everything about Cryptic Glories.


    Although they posed as a brokerage firm from the outside, they were much more from the inside.


    Initially high-ranking information department officers in the Imperial Military, they retired after the war due to trauma.


    After years of recovering, they decided to band together again and open their services in the ck Market.


    Because of their high standing in the military, their connections and abilities were the best of the best, also exining their sudden rise on this street.


    Being their first customer here, Amon decided to purchase their highest-valued package.


    It was also the package that would get him ess to their other services, something that wasn''t avable in the normal package.


    This would get him a special position among their customers in the future, also allowing him to form a good bond with them.


    Recovering from his initial shock, the hooded figure spoke once more.


    "W-which premium package would you like sir? There''s 50k, 100k-"


    "The highest you people have." Amon indifferently answered, making the man''s eyes widen but he quickly recovered.


    "T-that''ll be 200k s-sir."


    He nodded.


    "I''ll take it."


    Reluctantly nodding, the man retrieved a ck device, one that was different from the one he had seen in HOU.


    This was because this device was designed to hide your personal information and make your transaction anonymous, a thing that was crucial in the ck Market.


    Taking the device from the man''s hands, Amon attached his watch to the device behind his


    cloak.


    DING!


    As soon as the sound of transaction sess echoed in the space, he handed back the device to the figure, who quickly stood up.


    "We highly appreciate your willingness to trust this firm and hope that we will be able to meet your demands. You can ess our services andmunicate with us on your watchband." The figure thanked him before pointing out.


    Then he bowed.


    "Now I shall leave, we hope to get your first request soon. Thank you once again. sir."


    Then the figure turned and left the area, proceeding up the stairs.


    Once left alone, Amon quickly headed out of the shop, ready to make his first request.


    ****


    Proceeding up the stairs, the figures arrived in a room which was full of people just like him.


    As he entered, all of them looked at him with glimmering eyes, expecting that he had


    returned with good news.


    "I-I have some shocking news..." The figure said.


    Another figure sitting nearby quickly asked, her voice feminine.


    "What happened!? Tell us quickly."


    The first figure gulped and nodded before looking at all their faces.


    "That person....he just decided to purchase our highest premium package."


    At his words, pure silence descended in the room for a few moments.


    But then, all of them simultaneously blurted out with shock.


    "WHAT!!??"


    The first figure nodded and one of the figures sitting near to him quicklytched on to the


    device he was holding, starting to examine it.


    After a few seconds, they shuddered with shock.


    Looking up at them, he spoke, his voice deep and raspy.


    "It''s real guys, the man bought our highest package. I can''t believe someone would trust us


    like this..."


    Enveloped in shock for some seconds, a figure sitting in the middle of all of them quicklyposed himself and ordered them.


    "Quick, ce the man as the highest priority in our orders, we need to be avable for him whenever he wants. Also grant him the highest services and discoun possible. He''s our first customer, and he trusted us with such arge amount. We can''t fail this."


    After listening to the words of the man, who was supposedly also their leader, all of them quickly got to work, fully ready to fulfill the first request of this mysterious man.


    And fortunately, the first request didn''t take long to arrive.


    *****


    <Anonymous User: Hello, I require your services.>


    Amon messaged them through the band and the answer came instantly.


    <Cryptici: Wee Sir, what kind of services do you require?>


    Smiling at their fast response, Amon wrote back.


    <Anonymous User: I require a broker, the best one you can give,>


    <Cryptic1: Understood, the broker shall be here with you shortly,>


    In just a couple of seconds, a new user popped into the chat.


    <Crpytic2: Understood, before we continue I would like to make clear that the broker fee will


    be separate. Is that alright?>


    <Anonymous User: Sure.>


    <Cryptic2: Thank you, ourmission will be 5% of all profits and 10% of the investment.>


    <Anonymous User: I understand.>


    This time the answer was dyed.


    The person behind the screen was probably surprised how he had agreed so quickly to their


    conditions.


    And honestly, though they were ridiculously high, Amon had no problem with it because of


    how good their abilities were.


    <Crpytic2: Where would you like to invest in?>


    He smiled behind the mask.


    This was the moment he had been waiting for.


    <Anonymous User: I''ll bet 200k on rise of stocks of House of Olympus to first ce and the


    downfall of Locke Market in the field of Mana cores.>


    The person behind Cryptic2 suddenly went silent.


    The silence in the chat was longer than when he had agreed to their terms.


    And their reaction right now was understandable.


    Mana cores.


    They were basically tennis ball sized objects sometimes found in the heart position of mana


    beasts.


    These small objects wereposed of condensed mana and energy.


    All the world''s advanced technology in this medieval era was powered by mana cores and


    their harmless energy.


    And in the field of mana cores, Locke Market was the top stockholder.


    There was no business right now that even held a candle to them in terms of mana cores.


    And in terms of mana cores, House of Olympus was in third ce, its stocks being leagues


    behind Locke Market.


    Yet, Amon was just betting 200k on the nonexistent probability that House of Olympus would


    top Locke Market in the field of mana cores.


    It was stupid and idiotic.


    However, it was not like they could question his decision of doing this.


    Their client might just be a top ss viin with connections to the highest ranked people in


    the world.


    But, they couldn''t care less about the clients identity.


    For them, their duty was only to fulfill their demands and don''t question who they were.


    And finally after minutes of wait, the answer came.


    <Cryptic2: Understood, you can pay the amount using a terminal on the backside of the


    building. We hope to see you again sir.>


    And the chat closed.


    Nodding outside of the building, Amon quickly maneuvered to its backside, finding a ck


    terminal there which was simr to the device he had used inside.


    In the ck market, where viins roamed like normal citizens of the society, the method of physical payment never existed.


    Or it would be more urate to say that it could be done but it was never preferred.


    In this world where using the help of mana, a man''s identity could be exposed with even the


    tiniest of mistake.


    This was why the method of payment was always digital payment, a method where one transferred amount to another party using mana core as a medium.


    Arriving before the terminal, Amon attached his watchband to the terminal and quickly heard


    a transaction sound ring.


    DING!


    He quickly checked the Exlor Bnce he had left for himself.


    [Exlor Bnce: 350,000]


    Done with his second task, he now moved to the final task of the day.


    If he was correct, it was soon going to be sunset in the outside world.


    He didn''t want to worry Katherine so he would cease his activities here for today after his final


    task.


    Tapping his cane on the ground, Amon quickly traversed through the streets.


    After minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of arge luxurious building.


    Its size was sorge, that it easily dwarfed each and every building and stall in the ck


    market.


    The structure of the building was also very well maintained and sturdy.


    He looked up at therge glowing signboard, fully cleaned and without a sign of rust.


    Dungeon Dreams.


    The main reason that people came to the ck market even was for this building.


    In a world where the Imperiac and the Dukedoms ruled and monopolized everything, dungeons was one of those things.


    Dungeons were rifts or portals that connected to dimensions that were unknown to mankind.


    The cause of their appearance was still not clear, even with Athena''s help in trying to understand the spatial mechanics of them.


    Once inside, there was no way to leave the dungeon until it was fully cleared.


    A dungeon was divided into 5 ces, and at each ce the challenger would encounter a phase of ghoul beast that they had to defeat and move on to the next area. With each phase, the number and ranks of ghoul beasts would gradually increase.


    At the 5th phase, the challenger would face a boss that upon defeating would finally end the


    dungeon and grant various rewards.


    All in all, dungeons were a great boost to humanities strength, also allowing them to learn


    better on how to fight ghoul beasts.


    The problem here was that most of the dungeons were already imed by noble families or


    Dukedoms, making an unknown party unable to enter dungeons.


    The Clovist Association, an association that worked under the Imperiac was responsible for


    maintaining clovists all across the continent.


    They were also responsible in maintaining dungeons essible for the general public.


    However, even then, some ratio of the public was unhappy with the restrictions that CA ced on dungeons and how a certain share of profit would be allocated to them.


    This was especially true for viins, who wouldn''t even be allowed into dungeons at all because of their record.


    But this was where Dungeon Dreams came into y.


    It was an autonomous organization operating within the ck market and it allowed ess


    to dungeons for anyone who wished to enter.


    Your role in the society didnt y any part in booking a dungeon here.


    It even allowed people to enter a dungeon solo as long as they payed a certain fee and


    matched the strength level to enter.


    All in all, Dungeon Dreams was a ce that the ck market could never let go of because of


    how much they earned from it.


    Nodding at the board, Amon finally headed inside, ready to attempt the dungeon he had in


    mind.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 30: Black Market [5]

    Chapter 30: ck Market [5]


    ?


    ****


    Heading inside, Amon saw a crowd of people roaming about on the floor.


    It was a wide contrast to the previous shops he had been to.


    Focusing on the front, he quickly headed towards the receptionist''s table.


    Arriving there, he saw ady dressed in a formal suit and a mask covering her facial features sitting behind the counter.


    Due to the crowd, he had to wait several minutes before he could talk with her.


    She looked up at him and spoke, her voiceing out raspy and deep.


    "Wee to [Dungeon Dreamers], how may we help you?"


    "I''d like to book a dungeon," Amon replied without wasting a second.


    Nodding, she quickly started to rummage through some files.


    "Understood, how would you like to attempt the dungeon?"


    "Solo."


    It was essential for him to go solo on this mission, even though it multiplied the danger to his life many times.


    "Understood, ording to our terms, we will obtain 15% of everything you gain in the dungeon, however, the exclusive reward you get at the end will belong to you."


    She looked up at him for confirmation and he nodded back.


    "Which dungeon would you like to attempt?" she asked before handing him a list with various dungeons listed for him to book.


    His eyes quickly scanned through the list beforending on the one he was looking for. Scarlet Reverie.


    Dungeons were ranked by 1 leaf to 10 leaves.


    The method by which they were ssified was ording to the rank of ghoul beasts in the 4th phase, just one phase before the boss.


    It was also the phase that would house the strongest ghoul beasts in a dungeon which was why it was ssified upon that.


    This dungeon was a 1 leaf dungeon.


    This dungeon was going to be regarded as a history changer in the future.


    This was because, in this dungeon, each ghoul beast had a mana core.


    There was not a single beast without a core, which was something impossible to find in a dungeon.


    Originally, it would be booked a weekter by Locke Market just to train their newbies in how to salvage mana cores from beasts.


    However, they would hit a gold mine in doing this, which would also skyrocket their stocks even further, erging the gap between them and HOU by miles.


    But, Amon wasn''t going to let it happen like this now.


    This event had no significance to the plot which was why he was changing the oue to hoard some money.


    Although he could have just bet on Locke Market and waited for their stocks to rise and get some money, he had other ns that couldn''t be achieved this way.


    Amon circled the dungeon he wanted to attempt and handed her back the list.


    "I''ll take this one."


    Thedy took a quick nce at the sheet before filling in some paperwork and looking back at him.


    "When would you like to attempt this dungeon?"


    "Tomorrow."


    She filled in some more things on the paper.


    "We will need a code name for you to attempt this dungeon, what name would you like to register as?"


    At her words, he started to think about what he should name himself as.


    After a few seconds, he finally decided.


    It was a name that he had once read in a book of crime.


    "James Corleone."


    Nodding, the receptionist quickly filled in his name at the paper before handing it to him along with a pen.


    "Please sign here so that you may agree to all our terms and policies."


    His eyes quickly scanned through the paper to check if everything was correct. Afterwards, he signed the paper with a fake signature he came up with for his code name.


    Handing back the paper, he retrieved the transaction terminal from thedy.


    "10k Exlor will be required for your attempt." She informed him and he nodded.


    Usually, for a 1 leaf dungeon, this much money wasn''t required in the outside world


    However for their anonymous services and his choice to go solo in the dungeon, the price was significantly raised.


    Quickly linking the watchband to the terminal, he transferred the money.


    DING!


    He handed the terminal back to her.


    "Thank you for choosing [Dungeon Dreamers], please be present here at any time tomorrow


    to attempt the dungeon. Do not forget your code name as its required to check your dungeon


    booking."


    Amon nodded, and then turned to leave, his cane tapping against the cold hard ground as he headed outside of the building.


    ****


    Coming out of the building, he realized it might be night outside.


    He quickly traversed through the streets, wanting to get out of the ck market as soon as


    possible.


    He arrived at the entrance street, which was now way more crowded than before.


    Night was the favorite time of people toe here after all.


    He was about to head towards the narrow pathway to leave before a sudden memory struck


    him.


    His promise to the girl.


    To wait for him while he got done with his work and brought her something to eat.


    He quickly ran his gaze around him to find if anyone was selling food.


    However, he didn''t find a single stall that was selling proper food.


    Until finally his eyes set upon a small stall in the corner.


    The stall was selling equipments for dungeons but he saw a box of choctes behind the guy,


    probably for himself to eat.


    Walking to the stall, he met the eyes of the frail looking old man wearing a cracked mask.


    His stall was quite smallpared to the other ones as well.


    "Wee dear sir! We got all kinds of eq-"


    "How much is the box of choctes for?" Amon asked straight away.


    "Huh?" The man blurted out with surprise, not understanding what he had said.


    The boy pointed to the box of choctes behind the man.


    "That box, how much will it be for?"


    "Huh uhh sir, it''s for myself..."


    "I don''t care, I''ll pay as much as you like for it."


    The man looked at Amon with shock, probably wondering why the masked man in front of


    him was so obsessed with choctes.


    But thetter knew he would agree.


    From his stall, he knew that this man didn''t sell alot and was in bad conditions, probably the


    reason why he was surviving on choctes as well.


    And to his satisfaction he did.


    "Umm you can take this for 500 Exlor." He proposed.


    Instantly agreeing, Amon extended his hand out for the terminal.


    The man, shocked at how easily he had agreed, grabbed the terminal and handed it out to the


    masked man before him.


    Linking his watchband, he quickly transferred the money.


    Handing back the terminal, the man quickly retrieved the box of choctes and handed it to


    Amon.


    Nodding at him, he started to leave, leaving the man wondering at his weirdness.


    ****


    Amon arrived out of the ck market, the box of choctes stored in his inventory.


    Without a word to the guards, he moved swiftly through the streets, his cane taps piercing through the warm silence of the night.


    Arriving in the street where he had previously seen the girl, he saw her sitting at the same


    corner he had asked her to wait, sleeping.


    She had a small frown on her baby face, probably because of her intense hunger.


    He walked up to her and crouched down, lowering his face to her level.


    Softly pressing his gloved hand with her dirty cheek, he made her twitch and wake up.


    Her sight blurry, she rubbed her eyes with her baby fingers.


    She instantly recognized him.


    "Uncle back?" she asked, her voice soft and dry with hunger.


    Smiling with pity behind the box, he quickly retrieved the box of choctes from his


    inventory into his hands.


    He nodded at her words and quickly took out a chocte.


    Seeing the bar of food, he saw a glimmer of happiness pass through her eyes as they lit up.


    Tearing off the wrapper, he handed her the bar.


    Grabbing the small bar with her small hands, she nibbled on it cutely.


    The sweet taste of the chocte settled into her mouth, making her eyes shine with joy and


    happiness.


    Suddenly, her speed increased as she started to nibble faster.


    Amon kept watching her with a smile on his face as he waited for her to finish the bar.


    And it didn''t take long for her to finish as well.


    But that was not what caught his attention at the moment.


    It was the satisfied and happy light smile on her face at the moment that made his eyes widen


    with surprise.


    He quickly tore the wrapper of another bar and handed it to her, wanting this small girl in


    front of him to eat as much as she wanted.


    Taking the small bar with glee, she started nibbling on it again with joy.


    However, this time, she suddenly stopped midway.


    Looking up at his mask, the girl extended the bar slowly towards him with a pleading face.


    Confused, Amon looked at her with a tilt of his head.


    "You uncle no eat? Why no eat?"


    He looked at her with shock. Surprised at how one could be so kind within these streets.


    It was at that time, that his stomach grumbled as well.


    Familiar with the noise she had heard so many times, she extended the bar further, making it


    touch the surface of his mask.


    "Uncle hunger eat."


    Composing himself, he looked at her with kindness behind the mask.


    Raising the mask a little, he took a smile bite of the bar that now touched his lips.


    Looking at him eat, the girl smiled further with happiness.


    It was a happy moment between the two who had just met a few hours ago.


    Yet they already looked like they were friends.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 31: Elective [1]

    Chapter 31: Elective [1]


    ?


    ****


    Finally being done with the girl, Amon handed her the chocte box and waved her off.


    The girl lightly waved back, a little bit sad at his waving.


    But she was happy when he told her that he woulde back again tomorrow.


    Taking ast look at her, he turned and started to leave.


    However, as soon as he walked a few steps he felt a piercing gaze upon his back.


    Sweat started to trickle down on the side of his face/


    He gulped at the pressure weighing upon his back.


    He knew that whoever it was, they weren''t that much stronger.


    But if he was to turn back right now and face them, he would undoubtedly lose.


    With this thought in mind, he started to act normal and not notice them.


    With his cane tapping in the silence of the dark streets, he walked a little bit quicker, eager to get out of this part.


    Fortunately, nothing happened except the stare continuing to pierce at his back, making his hair stand up.


    Finally, as he turned a corner, the gaze disappeared as if it was never there.


    He still didn''t want to take any chances right now though.


    And so he walked further until he finally got out of the dangerous streets and entered the normal secluded ones.


    After 15 minutes of continuously walking further, he changed his clothes at a corner.


    He was nearing the developed part now, so there was not much danger now.


    And so, he headed out of the City Centre as well, now running towards his apartment.


    ***


    Amon opened his apartment door, finally arriving back.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t spared as he saw a questioning Katherine waiting for him in the lounge.


    "Where were you at? It''s sote in the night." She asked, surprisingly in a calm tone.


    He had expected to get yed but she wasn''t that angry.


    "Was hanging out with friends at their apartment. Didn''t realize the time, am really sorry." He pleaded with a fake innocent face.


    She looked at him for some seconds in silence, before sighing lightly.


    "At least inform me beforehand so that I wouldn''t worry idiot." She requested.


    Amon nodded with an apologizing smile.


    "I understand."


    Then, she gestured towards the kitchen counter where some tes of food were ced.


    "I already ate with Alice outside, but I cooked food for you. You can eat it."


    He nodded.


    He was really hungry after the whole day of roaming around.


    Walking to his room, he quickly changed into some casual clothes after a quick shower.


    Also ignoring the continuous teases inside his head by a certain goddess when showering.


    Settling down on the table, he looked at the bowl of noodles ced in front of him. Looking at the normal noodles in front of him, he suddenly felt a creepy sensation in his spine.


    For some reason, he suddenly felt like something bad was going to happen, even though there


    was no reason.


    A pang of fear assaulted his chest next for no reason.


    He didn''t realize why this was happening.


    Trying to ignore the feeling, he swallowed a mouthful of noodles.


    His mouth immediately went rigid and his face became a pale color.


    The food.....


    It was disgusting.


    Not just because he cooked in his past life and so he had high standards.


    It was bad.


    Literally bad.


    He finally realized why he was feeling fear.


    It was because of this body''s memories that experienced this food for a long time.


    He looked at Katherine who was looking at him with a smile.


    The original Amon must have never told her how bad this food was because of his love for her.


    Looking at her tired smile, he knew she must have made this for him even though she was tired after her student council duties.


    It would be bad if he discarded her food.


    Suppressing a gulp of fear, Amon quickly swallowed another mouthful, not bothering to chew because of the taste.


    He quickly started eating the food quickly in order to not let the taste rest in his mouth. Katherine looked at him with happiness at how fast he was eating and enjoying her cooking.


    However, the experience was terrible.


    Especially so with the goddess in his mind that keptughing like a madman with each bite he


    took.


    After some minutes, he was finally done with the bowl.


    He rested back on his chair, feeling horrified.


    ''I suddenly feel like killing myself.''


    [HAHAHAHAHA]


    Standing up from his chair, he wished goodbye to his sister and headed for bed, not wanting


    to let this tastest in his mouth.


    But just before bed, a notification sound popped on his watchband.


    DING!


    He looked at it and saw that his elective schedule had finally arrived.


    From: Eldergrove Academy


    To: Amon Ashford (2403)


    Schedule:


    Basic and Intermediate Mana Maniption (8AM to 9:30AM)


    Dungeon and Wilderness Survival Training (9:50 AM to 11AM)


    Close Combat Training (11:20AM to 12:30PM)


    Strategical and Battlefield Analysis (1PM to 2PM)


    Weapon Training (3:30PM to 5PM)


    Fortunately, the schedule was just like he had expected it to be.


    Concluding his thoughts, he quickly drifted to sleep.


    *****


    Amon woke up to the bright light of morning which arrived through the window.


    [Waky waky, its time for school.] Zephyra called out in his head.


    ''Arghh..'' He grunted and got out of bed.


    Taking a quick shower, he got out of his room, only to find Katherine gone again.


    With fear in his heart, his gaze quickly moved to the kitchen counter.


    And fortunately, there was no food ced for him to eat.


    Sighing deeply in relief, he quickly walked to the counter and made himself some bread and


    jam sandwiches along with 2 cups of tea.


    Devouring them quickly, he headed out of his apartment.


    [....What a glutton.] Zephyra mumbled in his head.


    ''Hmm, you said something?''


    [Nope, nothing at all.]


    He shrugged at her response and walked to campus alone.


    And just likest time, he found Ren and Michael at the entrance.


    "Yo! What''s up y''all?" Ren was the first one to greet, in a casual tone.


    "Yo, am pretty good." Amon greeted back, also using a casual tone which made Ren''s smile


    brighter.


    Michael noticed their informal tone and tried to act casual as well.


    "Y-yo."


    Noticing his stuttering, Ren put an arm around his neck.


    t''s not that bro, try to say it louder."


    Building up courage, Michael tried it once again.


    "Yo." He said simply.


    "Yup, just like that." Ren remarked.


    Suddenly, all three of them heard coughing behind them.


    They turned to find Athena looking at them imposingly.


    "If you three don''t want to gette for sses and get a punishment, I suggest you hurry up."


    Gulping, all of them quickly hurried up to ss.


    Coincidentally, all three of them had picked Basic and Intermediate Mana Maniption, which resulted in their first sses being the same.


    And like yesterday, they were thest people to enter the ss.


    For Mana maniption, their homeroom teacher was responsible for the ss.


    "I''m Athena Silvermoon, and I''ll be responsible for your mana maniption ss." Athena introduced herself to the new students of other sses.


    Except Alya, who was an armentist, all three of the females at the front were present for the


    ss.


    Though Charlotte was also an armentist, she had taken this ss as an optional elective.


    She had a hardworking and knightly personality in the novel, which was why she was always


    trying to grow stronger.


    "Now, let''s discuss in what way your mana is mainly used. And that''s to use your elements, whether to imbue your weapons or body as an armentist or to simply use it as a clovist" "When a person awakens, the element they awaken are ssified into two types. Maker Types


    and Maniption Types."


    "Maker Types are the elements that can simply just produce the element out of thin air. For


    example, if a person''s water element is a maker type, they can produce water out of thin air. "Maniption Types are the elements that manipte an already present source of element to their advantage or how they want to use. For example, if a person''s water element is a maniption type, they cannot produce it out of thin air.


    Rather, they need to manipte the water already present around them. Like in a ss or


    lake."


    This was true.


    Out of the two derivant elements he had chosen, [Blood] was a maniption type whereas [Lightning] was a maker type.


    For reality elements like [Time] or [Space], they had no type to ssify them.


    And same was said for [Void] and [Sun] elements, which belonged to Amon and Michael


    respectively.


    Michael''s all four primordial elements were maker-type elements as well.


    And for Ren''s [Copy] element, he didn''t know.


    It was never exined much in the novel and the author had never rified what its type was.


    Out of all the 8 choices he had been given at the start, only [Sound], [Lightning], and [Crystal]


    were maker elements whereas all other elements were maniption types. "Now we will proceed towards the clovist training grounds again to teach you how to


    manipte mana." She instructed and everyone got up.


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 Chapter 32: Electives [2]

    Chapter 32: Electives [2]


    ?


    ****


    Arriving at the clovist grounds, Amon found the same teachers standing and waiting for them as thest time.


    His eyes settled on Daniel, who was leaning against the same tree asst time with bored eyes.


    Not wanting him to sense his presence, he quickly averted his gaze from him.


    "The armenists who have joined this ss as optional may take weapons from the shelves at the side, though it''s not necessary" Athena gestured towards the shelves.


    A couple of them nodded, and quickly headed towards the shelves, including Charlotte.


    As soon as they returned, she started her lecture.


    "Let''s start with the obvious. When you awaken at the age of 16, mana veins form in your body automatically as your body gets exposed to the surrounding mana."


    "With the formation of mana veins, if you get a clover mark, you are a clovist. But if you don''t, then you are an armenist. But remember, whether you are a clovist or an armenist, you can still harness mana in your body. Just the way of using it is different."


    "Just like yesterday, we still start again with a 2 hour ss of mana breathing, as its one of the simplest ways to manipte mana in your surroundings."


    Because this was the first ss for those selective armenists, Athena had to exin mana breathing to them again.


    Meanwhile, Amon kept ncing from time to time at Daniel, observing his actions and reactions.


    This was the elective.


    The ss where he would first take notice of Michael.


    Done with the exnation, all of them sat down to practice mana breathing.


    Amon felt further progression in his pull of mana by each passing second and at the end of the two hours, he was fully convinced that he had improved by alot.


    However, it was nowhere close the progression of Michael.


    Because of his affinity to all primordial affinities and also the Sun element, he had much more improvement than Amon.


    This was because unlike derivant elements, the mana in the air was much more attuned towards the primordial elements.


    There was also the fact that his Sun element had the highest attunement towards mana out of any element, making his resonance with the energy a lot easier.


    As for Void, Amon didn''t know anything as it had never been mentioned in the novel.


    Done with their training, they all now looked at Athena who nodded.


    "Now, we will proceed towards our next step. Mana Release."


    "Mana Release is basically the expulsion of stored mana inside your bodies. For example. For clovists it''s through their clover marks while for armenists it''s through their whole body."


    "The clover mark for clovists basically functions like a convertor. The mana stored inside your veins is converted into the elemental mana of the element you want to use and expelled out of your bodies."


    "For Armenists, you people augment your body with the mana thus making it physically stronger and durable. And to expel the mana in the form of attacks, you use weapons which have an imbedded convertor in them that converts your mana." She exined.


    They all nodded at her words.


    She further lectured the armenists that the best way to learn mana release was to first learn how to augment one''s body, as it made learning weapon augmentation really easier further


    on.


    After done with the theoretical part, she ordered them all to now perform mana release.


    ''This is the part...'' Amon thought.


    This was the time when Daniel would finally recognize Michael''s talent in mana.


    [Do you want me to keep an eye on him?] Zephyra asked.


    For a moment, Amon was taken aback.


    This goddess was finally being useful for something.


    But he appreciated the help.


    He would be unable to keep his gaze on Daniel with his eyes closed.


    ''Yeah, can you do it?''


    [Sure, no problem.]


    Leaving the duty to her, Amon was about to close his eyes when suddenly he saw Athena appear before him in a sh.


    A small-sized portal suddenly opened in the air and she passed her hand through it.


    Then, she drew it out, carrying a jar filled with blood alongside.


    She extended it towards him.


    "Here, use this to manipte the blood. Stop biting yourself again and again."


    For a moment, he was shocked.


    He didn''t know Athena noticed this about him.


    And even if she did, she wasn''t a person that would care about what happened to those she


    didn''t know.


    But then it hit him.


    ''It must have been Ren....''


    Ren must have requested her to give her a jar of blood in training so he could avoid hurting himself.


    He took the jar from Athena''s hands while being internally grateful to the guy.


    Thetter nodded and then disappeared and appeared back to her position.


    Setting the jar on the ground, he opened the lid while also sighing in relief.


    ''At least with this Elizabeth wouldn''t keep an eye out for me anymore.''


    It was not that he wasn''t grateful to her. He really was. He even owed his life to her.


    It was just that being always eyed by her made it difficult for him to do what he needed to do


    as it might end up getting her needlessly involved.


    Something he didn''t want to do as she was a member of the main cast.


    Closing his eyes, Amon now started to manipte the mana inside him.


    It was a little bit difficult at first, felt like it kept getting stuck at point and point.


    Halting its flow.


    But he persevered.


    His ck 1 leaf clover marked shone red, an indication of his affinity towards blood.


    The blood inside the jar started to whir and swirl, now being manipted by his mana.


    ''Let''s start with a simple ball.'' He thought to himself, sweat trickling down the side of his


    face.


    He was in a mode of intense concentration now.


    Slowly, one drop separated itself from the water and hovered into the air.


    He frowned and concentrated even more.


    One by one the drops started to lift and form a small ball.


    He started to expand the ball as much as he could, making drops join the hovering ball and


    empty out the jar.


    Within minutes, he had finally emptied out the jar and a huge balloon-sized ball was floating


    in the air.


    ''Now I''ll try to change its shape.'' He thought internally and started to sharp out the curves of


    the ball, trying to make it into a square.


    But it was then that.....


    [Daniel''s eyeing Michael now.] She abruptly spoke in his mind, destroying his concentration.


    The ball popped and the blood sshed all over the ground.


    However, this was not the important part right now as in the next moment, a huge st


    resounded nearby him.


    ''It''s time.'' He sighed and thought.


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 Chapter 33: Electives [3]

    Chapter 33: Electives [3]


    ?


    ****


    Arge explosion urred in the grounds, just beside Amon.


    His ears were deafened by therge intensity of the noise.


    However, he felt no pain on any part of his body.


    Rather, his senses were distorted for some seconds before finally returning to normal.


    Opening his eyes, he found himself at arge distance from the explosion, and just near him was Ren who was looking at the explosion with widened eyes.


    Unlike everyone who''s wide eyes were fixed on therge clouds of fire, Amon''s eyes drifted toward the right.


    He found Athena standing there with a frown etched on her face.


    ''She teleported us...'' His eyes narrowed.


    It was the very reason why he was calm as the explosion carried out.


    She was very sensitive to mana in the air which was why as soon as she had felt a disturbance near them, she had teleported them all.


    And then, he looked to his right side, near his feet.


    A bloody body of Michaely there with various burns on his partially charred body.


    ''This idiot....''


    [That idiot....]


    Amon and Zephyra simultaneously spoke out internally.


    For the former, he was referring to Michael as the explosion had been carried out due to a failed experiment he wanted to carry out.


    He had attempted to fuse [Sun] and [Fire] in his attack, and the former had overloaded the explosion due to itsrge amount of energy released with just the smallest amount of mana.


    And for thetter, she was probably referring to Sran as he had obviously given his approval to Michael to experiment.


    The god himself must have been very excited about the experiment as well.


    Next, Amon''s gaze moved towards the tree.


    And his thoughts were proven correct, as just like him Daniel was looking at Michael''s body rather than the explosion.


    Just like how it had happened with himst time, the man moved with speed to reach Michael.


    ''Now, in the novel, Athena should interrupt him before he can reach..'' Amon thought as he looked back.


    However, to his surprise, she was not there.


    She had disappeared.


    He gritted his teeth in frustration.


    ''Shit, no!'' He looked back at Michael.


    He had to stop Daniel from reaching him.


    He crouched down towards the bleeding body of thetter with sweat dripping down his face.


    Quickly, using his maniption of blood, he started to control the blood pouring out from various injuries.


    Daniel arrived before him.


    "Leave it, boy, I can handle him, let me take him to the infirmary."


    Amon gritted his teeth in rage, not bothering to reply to the man because of his intense focus.


    "I.....can.....do.....it.... myself." He mumbled through closed teeth.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t working.


    Though he was able to control the blood from some injuries. It was not nearly enough to control it from every spot, especially therge injuries.


    And noticing that, Daniel remarked again with a shout, irritated.


    "I said, leave it boy! I''ll take him to the infirmary quickly, you are not nearly enough to control all his blood!"


    Amon bit his lip hard, drawing some blood.


    He couldn''t let this happen.


    Otherwise, Michael was done for.


    He didn''t understand where the hell Athena was, but now was not the time to think about that.


    He thought hard about what to do in that moment and fortunately, the goddess inside his head came to help quickly.


    [Call Elizabeth, quick!]


    Hearing her voice, the realization struck him.


    She was right. Elizabeth could stop therge injuries with her ice.


    The students were in a panic right now, but he hoped she would be there.


    To hell with his pride right now.


    And so he shouted at the top of his lungs without taking his gaze off Michael.


    "ELIZABETH! I NEED YOUR HELP!"


    The shout was done. He couldn''t look around for her right now to not lose focus.


    He focused hard but it still wasn''t working.


    ''Fuck!'' He cursed.


    Daniel, now clearly pissed off quickly crouched and reached his hands out to take Michael''s body.


    ''NO!'' Amon shouted internally and prepared to use [Voidstep] and teleport Michael out of


    range.


    But fortunately, it wasn''t needed as a hand came from behind him, pping Daniel''s hand


    away.


    In the next instant, frost started to cover therge injuries, stopping the blood and creating clots at the ce.


    He didn''t look beside him but he knew who it was.


    She had arrived at his call. Truly a lifesaver.


    "It''s alright, we can handle our ssmate professor." She retorted with cold eyes.


    She thenpletely ignored him, looking at the bleeding body of Michael and also instantly


    identifying him as the cause of the explosion.


    But she didn''t say anything and continued to heal his body using ice.


    Daniel''s bored eyes were now filled with rage.


    Even though the injuries were being sealed now, his position as a professor still held some


    respect that had to be given.


    And so hetched out his hand to push them away and take Michael forcefully.


    But it seems that luck was on their side, as a portal opened next to them and a beautiful figure walked out, grabbing Daniel''s hand from the cuff.


    She looked at him with indifferent cold eyes.


    "It''s alright Professor Daniel, I''ll take my student from here. You may return to the other


    professors."


    And before the professor could say a word, she grabbed them all and disappeared from the


    ce in a blink.


    But before they disappeared, Amon saw Daniel''s eyes set on him for thest second, filled


    with rage.


    The man''s great opportunity and n had beenpletely ruined.


    His whole body was fuming right now. And all that was because of just one boy.


    But the boy didn''t care right now as he deeply sighed with relief. He had made it work.


    They were safe. He had saved Michael.


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 Chapter 34: Electives [4]

    Chapter 34: Electives [4]


    ?


    ****


    [Inside the Infirmary Centre]


    Amon let out a deep sigh, leaning back against the wall. He was tired and stressed out after what happened.


    Michael had been carried inside by Athena and handed over to ire, who was currently caring for him to the best of her abilities.


    Just his royalty status was enough to afford him this treatment.


    ''Thankfully, it worked....'' He thought internally.


    When Athena wasn''t present there, he truly thought that they were done for.


    Fortunately, quick acting and thinking had helped him.


    ''In the first ce, why was she not there anyways?....'' Amon pondered.


    In the novel, Athena instantly reached his side, making Daniel''s attempt to reach him go to waste.


    However, for some reason, it had gone the other way now.


    Was it because of his interference?


    Was her disappearance linked to him?


    He didn''t know but he now knew that he couldn''t trust small plot instances to go exactly like he nned.


    Especially with characters whom he closely knew like Michael and Ren.


    Thinking of Ren, he would have called him as well but he was quickly transported out of the grounds by Athena to not get harmed in any way.


    Thus, he had only himself to count on.


    At least for a certain period.


    His gaze slowly moved to the side, towards the end of the hospital bench.


    Elizabeth sat in an elegant posture but her entire attire was now wrinkled up.


    Her lustrous silver hair were messed up, with some strands sticking to her face because of the sweat.


    He was truly grateful for her help back there.


    If she had not arrived, then he would have probably resorted to his skills, essentially revealing them to Daniel.


    He took a deep breath and opened his mouth.


    "Thanks for your help back there. I really appreciate it."


    Taken aback by his voice, her head moved to the side, her urgent silver eyes peering into his tired ck ones.


    A small smile marred her features.


    "Ahh, no problem. What happened back there anyways?" she asked.


    ''Ahhh...''


    It wasn''t really surprising.


    It was evident that she would ask this question.


    She probably knew what happened from her eyes but wanted to hear it from his ears.


    "Ahh, nothing much just that you told me to stay away from the man so I thought he''s bad. He wanted to take Michael but I didn''t let him because of your words." He exined.


    Before Elizabeth could say anything, the door to the infirmary room opened and Athena came out.


    She looked at both of them who were waiting and nodded.


    "He''s alright now, he should probably be back up to normal in one or two days. The electives for today are canceled as we are still investigating what caused this to happen." She exined.


    Amon nodded but Elizabeth quickly asked a question.


    "So you don''t even have an inkling of what might have happened, teacher?"


    Athena nodded.


    "As far as I can guess, I think his mana suddenly overloaded or went beserk, making his fire element uncontroble and resulting in arge explosion."


    Elizabeth''s eyes widened.


    If this was true, then how big was the mana pool of Michael to have resulted in such arge explosion?


    "Anyways, I''ll need to leave now as I have matters to discuss with the teachers. The doctor advises not to visit him right now."


    Both of them nodded once again.


    She then raised her hand and waved them off before opening and portal and stepping through.


    "I''ll see you both in ss tomorrow."


    Amon''s head then turned towards Elizabeth.


    "I''ll probably stay here for some time to look after him, you can go." He told her.


    She looked at him for some seconds before asking him.


    "Why did you push yourself so far for him?"


    He tilted his head.


    "Huh? What do you mean?"


    "Why were you trying your hardest to not let that man take him? While also fully using your element to stop his blood? You even shouted out my name for help without a thought." She


    asked.


    He didn''t understand her questions.


    With an expression of confusion, he tilted his head further.


    "Umm, I don''t understand your questions. It''s simple is it not? He''s my friend so why


    wouldn''t I?"


    His words triggered a flicker of shock in Elizabeth''s eyes.


    She looked at him in bafflement for a second before quicklyposing herself and coughing.


    "I see. See you tomorrow then." She waved then turned and left.


    ''I literally don''t know what she meant...'' He thought.


    [You guys are just too dense to understand our thoughts.] Zephyra sighed in his head.


    ''Shut up.'' Amon quickly retorted.


    But it was then that he remembered something.


    ''Oh yeah, thanks for your help back there.'' He told her.


    [Huh?] She asked.


    ''If not for you, I wouldn''t have enough time to think about Elizabeth. Thanks for that.'' He


    exined.


    For some seconds, there was silence from the other side.


    Not understanding what she was doing, he shrugged and started to leave the infirmary.


    The information that he would stay here was just a lie to get Elizabeth off his tail.


    There was no point in waiting here anyway.


    Besides, he had a better ce to be at right now.


    But just before he passed through the door, he heard a mumble from the back of his head.


    [You are wee.]


    He smiled at her words and left.


    ****


    Dressed back in his artifacts, Amon entered the secluded streets again.


    Having memorized it fromst time, he traversed through them rtively quickly.


    He finally reached the street he had been waiting for and a smile marred his face.


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 Chapter 35: Dungeon Raid [1]

    Chapter 35: Dungeon Raid [1]


    ?


    At the same spot asst time, he saw the little girl sitting in the same corner, the small box of choctes enclosed by arms in a tight hug, close to her chest.


    Walking up to her, he crouched down with a smile and found her asleep again.


    He poked her cheeks with a finger, stirring her awake with her eyes hazy.


    Rubbing them, she cleared her vision, and as soon as she saw Amon, a happy smile nted itself on her face again.


    "Uncle!" She squeaked with glee.


    Smiling, he patted her head and took a gaze at her box of choctes.


    To his shock, the whole box was now empty except for one chocte bar still safely kept in a wrapper.


    "You eat all choctes?" He asked, while also pointing at the box to make her understand. Understanding what he meant, the girl''s smile suddenly wavered and her body shuddered.


    "Y-ye! I s-spread all!" She spread her arms, saying to him that she distributed them all to the people in the streets.


    Amon frowned.


    He knew that they had probably snatched it from her with force or some fake promise.


    He sighed.


    At least she wasn''t injured.


    He looked at her slightly sunken cheeks, indicating hunger, and caressed them with pity behind the mask.


    The girl''s smile returned to normal and she quickly ran her baby hands in the box before retrieving the final chocte and showing it to him.


    He smiled and took it in his hands before tearing off the wrapper and handing the chocte to her.


    She instantly started to cutely nibble on it.


    While she was eating, he exined to her with gestures that he would bring her back food again today.


    With a joyful smile, she jumped into his grasp while still eating the chocte.


    Surprised by her sudden action, he still took her in his hands and patted her back for a little while.


    Realizing that it was time to leave, he quickly settled her back into the corner.


    "Uncle,e back, wait here, okay?" He told her through gestures.


    She nodded obediently and he stood up to leave.


    But as he turned, he felt a sudden tug on his cloak.


    Looking back, he saw the girl standing and looking at him with a resolute expression.


    He tilted his head in confusion but she looked down at the chocte bar, which was still quite a lot left.


    With the little strength she had, she tried to break it apart.


    CRACK!


    Breaking it into two unequal pieces, she looked up at him and handed him therge piece.


    "Uncle, why no eat? Eat, strong." She said, exining that he should eat it to grow strong.


    He was taken aback once again by her kindness.


    The girl was sacrificing her hunger for him. She was truly a kind soul.


    However, he smiled and patted her head.


    Breaking therge piece even further, he only took a small nibble of it and handed the rest back to the girl.


    "Uncle, fine this, you eat that, big." He gestured that he was fine with the smaller piece and that she should be the one eating the bigger piece to grow strong.


    Her mouth contorted to a cute ''o'' shape before smiling brightly and giving a big nod.


    Patting her head once more, he stood up and left the area, heading towards the ck market.


    *****


    [Inside the ck Market]


    Amon arrived inside the market using the card again.


    Without wasting a second, he quickly rushed towards the [Dungeon Dreamers] building, his


    cane tapping constantly against the ground attracting the passerby''s attention.


    Arriving in front of the building, he headed inside towards the receptionist.


    "Greetings! How may I assist you?"


    "There''s a dungeon reservation for today by the name of James Corleone."


    Nodding, she quickly started to rummage through some files before settling on a final one.


    "Ah right here, the dungeon reservation for [Scarlet Reverie] for the day July 5th, 1789 by the codename James Corleone. Am I correct?" She asked


    Amon nodded and she quickly handed him a small card.


    "This is our dungeon identification card, please hand it over to the person stationed at the dungeon keeping,"


    He nodded once again and she quickly called a helper for him.


    The man gestured for Amon to follow him and he quickly started guiding the way.


    The man started guiding him to the far end of the building, making him pass various people who were preparing to attempt dungeons as well.


    The strange cane earned Amon various looks from the people but he ignored them and focused on the task at hand.


    After a couple of minutes of walking, they finally arrived in front of a series of portals arranged in a horizontal line.


    Various dungeon keepers stood in front of the portals, identifying solo attempters and also parties that wanted to enter a dungeon.


    He was quickly led to a secluded dungeon portal at the far end of the row, where a well- dressed dungeon keeper stood ready.


    Handing him the card, the keeper quickly checked it while also taking nces at him to make


    sure.


    "Ah, you are clear, you may proceed. Please keep the dungeon card physically present close to you so that if any mishap happens, we may detect your location to rescue you. Do not store the


    card in a spatial ring."


    Listening to his words attentively, Amon nodded.


    Then he looked at the portal in front of him that was whirring alive with distortion noises


    constantly leaking out of it.


    SWIRL! SWOOSH!


    Without further ado, he stepped inside the portal to attempt his first-ever dungeon.


    As soon as he took a step inside, Amon felt all of his senses distort and a weird feeling came


    upon him.


    He was tossed around like a rag doll as he felt his body being dposed andposed


    again and again.


    A nauseous feeling welled up in his chest.


    But after a long while, he finally felt his senses return to him one by one while his body was


    rearranged back to what it was.


    As his sense of sight returned, he found himself on arge deste floating ind, with a sea


    of blood all around him.


    The crimson sea sent a salty iron smell to his nostrils.


    He was finally here in the dungeon.


    The Scarlet Reverie.


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 Chapter 36: Dungeon Raid [2] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 36: Dungeon Raid [2] [EXTRA]


    ?


    (EXTRA CHAPTER FOR 100 POWERSTONES!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!)


    ****


    Dungeons.


    As exined before, they were pocket dimensions that connected to an unknown space filled with ghoul beasts.


    They were widely raided throughout the whole human continent.


    Some did it to get used to ghoul beasts while others did it only for the rewards they would acquire from clearing it.


    Amon looked forward, seeing arge crimson forest in front of him, filled with sharp palm trees that reached high into the sky.


    With his guard raised, he headed inside the forest.


    Typically, for a 1 leaf dungeon like this, the first phase would only be filled with 10 ghoul beasts.


    One of the minor reasons he had chosen blood back at the assimtion was precisely because of this reason.


    The sea of blood around him and the constant blood puddles he saw on the ground took the main problem away of finding blood.


    [Raise your guard, I can see some movement around you.] Zephyra warned in his head.


    He rooted himself to the spot where he was standing and quickly sharpened his senses.


    And in the next moment.


    [Behind you!] Zephyra warned and he quickly took a sharp turn backward.


    A sharp bolt of lightning left his palms, striking a creature in the next moment.


    It''s shriek resounded in the next moment filled with pain as it died down slowly, marking it dead.


    "SHREEEEK!"


    Looking back, Amon saw two more pounce out of the bushes facing him.


    Now that he was finally able to get a better view, he was able to analyze their structure.


    Standing at a knee-high height, these four-legged creatures resembled a strangebination of a bat and a wolf.


    Their bodies were slim and agile as if built for stealth.


    The most striking feature about them was their phosphorescent green eyes, glowing like orbs in the uncanny darkness as if they were helping them to navigate.


    Their long bat-like ears stretched out vertically, twitching at the slightest rustle of wind or noise.


    Four pincers protruded out of their jaw filled with jagged razor-sharp teeth.


    These were ghoul beasts. At least one of their type.


    Taking a quick nce at the dead ghoul beast''s body near the beasts, he saw pitch ck blood gushing out of its brain.


    He had seeded in killing one of them.


    The other beasts red at him with rage flickering in their eyes like a raging storm.


    Silently, with minor movement, Amon tried to see if he could manipte the blood of the beast.


    Fortunately, he could but unfortunately, the beast was a further distance away from him so it took a lot of concentration to try to move it.


    The ghoul beasts howled in anger at him, ready to pounce at any moment.


    With full concentration on the blood, he tried to move it to his will, shaping it.


    The practice of mana release came rushing to his brain, teaching him how to shape it.


    The pouring blood on the grass wavered before a thin line of blood extending from the puddle.


    He could finally manipte the line to his own free will now.


    And so, he moved to the next step.


    He moved the blood further outwards, making the grass rustle.


    As soon as the rustling sound entered their ears, their bodies perked up in alertness.


    Without wasting a single moment, Amon raised one of his palms and shot a bolt of lightning at the beast more distant to the puddle.


    It wasn''t able to react and the bolt impacted its body, making it shudder with shock and blood pouring out of two legs.


    They were charred now.


    "SHREEK!!" The beast shrieked in pain and itspanion instantly pounced at Amon, ready to tear it apart.


    Fortunately, he was prepared.


    In the next moment, the thin line of blood turned into a sharp long thick blood thread that cut through the air and pierced the nape of the beast.


    "SHREEK!" The beast also screeched in pain and crashed onto the ground.


    Without wasting a moment, Amon sent another bolt to the charred beast, killing it as the bolt impacted on the head, blowing its brain.


    Meanwhile, using the thick thread, he dug it deep into the skull of the monster, ending its life


    as well.


    He had killed three ghoul beasts now.


    Suddenly, he got a notification.


    [Your [Blood] element has leveled up!]


    He felt a new influx of information about the blood element bombard his brain, teaching him new ways of using it and also advancing his control over the element.


    In a few seconds, he was finally done with the influx.


    But his control had advanced significantly as he felt that he would now create that previous


    thread easily in a second.


    Walking up to the three bodies of the beasts, Amon gathered them around.


    He had now found a new way of using blood.


    Using the blood puddle nearby him, he formed arge blob of it in a minute.


    And then, he pushed his hand into the blob, making it like arge ball surrounding his fist.


    Slowly and steadily, he thinned out the blob, making it like a gauntlet around his fist.


    It was like he was coating his fist in a sheet of blood.


    And finally after some minutes, half of his arm now was coated in a sheet of blood.


    Wanting to try its power, he tried to punch the pincer of a beast with his full power.


    Arge thud resounded as his fist connected, making cracks spread out on the pincer but still


    not breaking it


    THUD!


    Next, he took a new pincer and punched it rock hard with his blood coated first.


    And to his surprise, the pincer broke instantly, separating itself from the body.


    CRACK!


    Feeling his mana being constantly drained with the use of blood, he let go and the blood sshed onto the ground back in the form of liquid.


    SPLASH! Grabbing the pincer, he cleanly cut arge gash in all three of the bodies.


    In the next hour, he opened all of their bodies, not missing a single droplet of blood.


    And then, he put on his spatial ring on his finger and raised his hand, willing for it to store all


    the blood.


    And instantly, the ring shone with a blue sheen.


    SHEEN!


    All the blood around him, down to thest droplet, disintegrated into blue motes of light,


    leaving the area wlessly clean.


    Except the gory bodies that is.


    Quickly, he opened the window description of his storage ring.


    Artifact Capacity: [12L/10000L]


    "Nice."


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 Chapter 37: Dungeon Raid [3]

    Chapter 37: Dungeon Raid [3]


    ?


    ****


    Amon stood in the clearing of a forest, surrounded by 7 remaining ghoul beasts.


    Though he would have preferred hunting them down one by one, he had to keep his mana expenditure under control.


    He still had 4 phases to go through after all.


    With his right arm coated in blood, he stood ready to respond at any moment.


    One of the ghoul beasts to his left perked up as his foot lightly scratched over the rough ground and instantly pounced upon him.


    With his n working, Amon raised his left hand towards the beast and fired off a lightning bolt.


    [To your right!] Zephyra warned.


    Not bothering to look at it, his head took a sharp turn to the side as he felt 3 pincers scratch against his arm.


    CLANG!


    Due to his artifact effect and blood coating, the pincers were barely able to scratch against his


    arm.


    Grabbing its head and separating it from his arm, he sent a jolt through its head, making it explode into a mushy mess.


    The blood sttered over Amon''s mask, painting it ck.


    [Behind you!] Another warning came.


    The headless body of the beast fell to the ground and he spun on his heel, turning to face two ghoul beasts inches away from him.


    At that moment, his spatial ring glowed in a faint blue hue and two blobs of blood appeared next to him.


    Each blob turned into two thick sharp strings of blood and instantly shot out towards the two beasts.


    The strings pierced through one of each beast''s eyes, making them scream in pain.


    SLASH! SLASH!


    ""SHREEEK!""


    Grabbing their bodies with both his hands, Amon sent a jolt of electricity from his left hand, ending one beast''s life.


    For the second one, he simply folded his blood-coated hand with as much force as he could muster, and within some seconds, the body of the beast erupted in a big bloody mess.


    However, there was no time to rx.


    Three of these monsters were still alive.


    And exactly at that moment, the goddess inside his head warned him again.


    [3 from behind you!]


    Sensing they were close, he had no time to turn back without getting hurt.


    So, he used one of his skills and instantly disappeared from his position. ''[Voidstep]''


    Appearing behind all of them, he saw them pounce at nothing but thin air.


    Confused, the beasts weren''t given any moment to react as Amon reached them instantly and killed all three of them with lightning and the two bloodstrings.


    He was done.


    The first phase had beenpleted.


    And as if to notify him about it, he felt the ground of the ind rumble with intensity.


    He fell to the ground but the shaking didn''t stop for quite a while.


    Finally, after a minute, it came to a halt.


    Standing up, Amon started to look around for any changes that might have happened.


    But before that, he quickly noticed the fist-sized seven blue orbs that were rolling around on the floor.


    In the heat of the battle, he had failed to notice them but now he did.


    They were mana cores.


    And each monster he had killed got him one which was an event never seen before in history.


    They were very rare to emerge from a monster let alone seven of them at the same time. This was why they were so pricey in the market as well.


    However, he had just found seven of them in a single wave. And this was just about to increase.


    He hadn''t found them in the first three beasts he had sliced up which made him wonder if it was actually meant to be that way.


    Storing all of them in his inventory and the blood from the monsters in his spatial ring, Amon now started to wander around, looking for the entrance to the second floor.


    Eventually, he reached the other side of the ind, on the rock beachy sand.


    But there was on significant change from the other side.


    There was now a wide staircase made with red bricks, heading deep down into the bloody


    ocean.


    Looking around, he saw no other thing that stood out except for this.


    Taking a deep breath, he started to head down the staircase, which he thought was also an entrance to the 2nd phase.


    ***


    After minutes of walking, he finally arrived in what seemed to be a whole new area.


    It was arge rocky cave, with giant pointy stctites hanging from the cave ceiling and stgmites growing out of the floor.


    The floor was uneven with many blood puddles here and there.


    Fortunately, a luminary liquid dripped down from the stctites, which illuminated the whole cave.


    It was Fractile. One of the main ingredients that were used to make potions in the market. With his guard raised, Amon now started to traverse further into the wide spacious cave. And before long, he sensed 4 presences around him, two of them hiding behind stgmites while two hid behind stctites.


    The phase 2 was said to carry 15 ghoul beasts, each one slightly stronger than the previous


    phase.


    Without waiting, he quickly formed another 3 blobs of blood around him.


    Artifact Capacity: [35L/10000L]


    The sound of blood perked their bat-like ears, and instantly the 2 beasts behind the stctites shot for him.


    Manipting 2 of them into two thick strings again, Amon got ready for battle.


    The beastsshed out at him with their pincers which he efficiently countered with his bloodstrings that shed with them.


    CLANG!


    The sh echoed loudly in the cave, making Amon click his tongue in frustration.


    This would attract all of the ghoul beasts towards him now.


    Going toe to toe with their jaws and pincers by using his strings, he finally managed to coat


    his arm in blood.


    And in the next moment, he delivered a bone-cracking punch to the mouth of one beast,


    breaking its pincers.


    The beast shot back with a scream of pain.


    Now left alone, the second was no match for 2 strings at once and quickly sumbed to a fatal


    death.


    However, as soon as that happened, Amon suddenly felt two sharp jaws closing in around his


    both shoulders.


    "ARGHH!" He screamed in pain.


    Quickly grabbing the head of one of the beasts with his blood arm, he closed his first with


    force, while also bearing the constant pain he was getting.


    After a few seconds of using his full force, the head of the beast finally caved into the force,


    exploding in blood.


    Taking his attention away, he focused on the other beast on his right shoulder and quickly


    sent electricity coursing through its body at full strength.


    Soon, it died as well, sending its body crashing into the ground.


    Amon noticed two deep gashes on his shoulder now, with blood pouring out of them.


    But he had no time to focus on that.


    Because as he looked around him, he now saw 11 ghoul beasts surrounding him.


    The new ones with wings were hiding behind stctites while the others were hiding behind


    stgmites.


    Realizing the situation he was in, he couldn''t help but curse.


    "Fuck...."


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 Chapter 38: Dungeon Raid [4]

    Chapter 38: Dungeon Raid [4]


    ?


    ***


    The once light brown floor of the cave that glowed in the ambient lighting of fractile was now a shade of dark ck.


    Stters of pitch ck blood now painted the floor everywhere, blocking it from the light of fractile.


    The stctites and stgmites had sshes of ck on them, which would make one think that a massacre had beenmitted here.


    And it was.


    Mushy and cleanly sliced bodies of ghoul beasts were messily lying dead on the floor of the cave as if someone had brutally killed them all in every way possible.


    And the cause stood there in the middle of everything, panting in heavy breaths.


    Amon''s ck cape wavered in the air with each breath it took.


    It was covered in stters of blood but it wasn''t noticeable as the blood was ck as well. However, there were crimson sshes on him as well, indicating he had been hurt.


    Minor cuts from the pincers coated his face in red while there were two deep injuries on his shoulders as well.


    He wasn''t hurt much but it was still only the second wave.


    But currently, his focus wasn''t on anything around him.


    It was on the one system screen before him.


    [Your [Lightning] element has leveled up!]


    Even though he was panting deeply right now and was enduring the pain, he smiled with satisfaction.


    He had grown stronger once again.


    He felt the ground rumble with intensity again, throwing him to the ground.


    Dust and some stones fell from the ceiling but overall nothing damaging happened.


    However, this time Amon saw the major change that happened to the cave.


    On the far end, he saw arge circr entrance open up as the rocks there were removed as if they never existed.


    Standing up, he used his current mastery over [Blood] to close some minor cuts on his face from bleeding.


    Taking his gaze off the entrance, Amon started to thoroughly slice open the ghoul beasts'' bodies with the strings, unveiling mana cores from each one.


    All 15 of the beasts in the second phase had a mana core.


    He had saw the news in the novel but it was still shocking once he saw it in front of his face. Storing them inside his inventory, he then stored the blood of all of them inside the ring.


    He could also store the bodies and sell them to House of Olympus, but he doubted they would sell for much considering how brutally he had killed them all.


    ''Thanks for your help again Zephyra.] He thanked her, not knowing that this was the first time he had spoken her name casually.


    If not for her, he would have a lot more on his body than just cuts and two injuries.


    She had warned him sessfully each time.


    [I-It''s no problem.] She replied.


    He smiled before sitting down back on the floor.


    Due to the sheer number of enemies, he had been forced to use all of his skills multiple times along with his elements.


    He had used up a lot of mana.


    Sitting down back on the floor, he closed his eyes and started to practice mana breathing like he had been taught.


    And within one hour, he had almost recovered his mana back to the brink.


    With enough practice, he could even do it while walking and talking but he was still from that stage right now.


    Standing up, he headed towards the tunnel that had opened up.


    To a new phase.


    ****


    Arriving at the new phase, he noticed that he was back to where he had started.


    Or more urately, it was the same ce as before but he was now on anotherrger ind.


    It was arge distance away from the first one, which could be seen from the sea.


    The staircase and cave he had been to was a pathway from one ind to the other.


    Taking a deep breath to ensure that he was ready, he headed into the new forest.


    Phase 3 was said to have 25 monsters and just like how it had happened before, they were stronger than the ones he had faced previously.


    It was not long before he found himself in front of a horde of monsters once again.


    There were at least 12 ghoul beasts.


    And like how one aspect had been added into them on the 2nd phase, the same had happened this time.


    Only that, rather than adding a new biological part like wings, this time their size had grown significantly.


    Each one of them on their four legs, stood at a chest-high level.


    Generating three bolts of electricity around him, Amon shot with full speed at the beasts.


    Rather than generating new blobs of blood this time, he tried out a new technique he had thought of.


    Since his element was [Blood Maniption], he could essentially do this.....


    Locking his sight with one of the beasts, he raised his arm with his palm open.


    Suddenly, the beast twitched in pain, as if something was happening within its body.


    "SHREEK!" It shrieked as the pain intensified.


    And after a few seconds, Amon closed his palm into a fist.


    Instantly, the head of the beast exploded into a pitch-ck bloody mess, sttering it all


    around.


    It had worked.


    It was just an idea but it worked.


    He was able to control the blood inside enemies'' bodies as well, albeit with a little difficulty.


    He had initially thought that he needed to be able to see the blood to be able to manipte it. But it seems that was not the case.


    With a newfound way of battling, Amonunched the three bolts of electricity at the three iing beasts.


    The bolts hit them right in the chest, sending a jolt through their body and paralyzing them. And as soon as that happened, Amon controlled the blood inside their bodies using his hands. Their furry skin burst apart as sharp ck strings made of their blood emerged. They tried to scream in pain but failed as the same strings then pierced their brain, ending their lives.


    An insane satisfactory smile came upon his face as he found this new way of battling to be so


    worth it.


    The remaining 8 beasts started to move back a little, terrified by Amon''s show of power.


    But he didn''t let that happen and quickly shot toward the beasts, wanting to end them quickly


    and proceed to the next wave.


    Initially, it was Amon staying rooted and the beasts pouncing upon him, but it seemed to be


    that it had turnedpletely opposite now.


    He was the beast now. And he wanted to kill them all.


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 Chapter 39: Dungeon Raid [5]

    Chapter 39: Dungeon Raid [5]


    ?


    ****


    Amon was surrounded by corpses as he stood, panting lightly.


    The area around him was now again covered in pitch ck blood again, andbined with the corpses, it gave a gory sight.


    Though this wave had an increased number of beasts and alsorge sizes, it was rtively easier than the previous one.


    Maybe it was because of his [Lightning] affinity increasebined with the fact that only their size had increased unlike thest phase, where wings had been added.


    Dragging his body to a nearby tree, he settled down with a deep breath.


    At the same time, the ind rumbled deeply again.


    RUMBLING! RUMBLING!


    Ignoring the deep sound, he focused on himself.


    Fortunately, there were no major injuries this time, but there were still several cuts.


    He quickly started to close them all using his maniption of blood.


    After 10 minutes, he was finally done and so he started to practice mana breathing again. With each passing second, he felt his mastery over the technique increasing.


    This was also indicated by him taking less time to recover his mana than before. Standing up, he dusted his cape which had some minor scratches at some ces. Like always, he didn''t forget to store their mana cores and blood.


    Then he traveled to the outer edge of the ind again, expecting another entrance.


    And just like he thought, there was one.


    However, unlike previously where there was a staircase heading down.


    This time he saw a coral bridge that linked the current ind to another ind in the far distance.


    The rumbling had probably raised the bridge to the surface from the depths of the blood sea.


    [You need to be more careful in the next phase, stop relying too much on your skills. Try to use elements more creatively, you are being too narrow-minded right now.] Zephyra lectured.


    He suddenly stopped and pondered upon her words.


    It was true, in thetest phase he had used his three Void skills a lot, leading to a waste of


    mana.


    He would be able to kill them all if he knew how to use his elements more imaginatively.


    Right now, all he did was use strings for blood and bolts for the lightning element. Surely he could do better than this...


    After all, it was maniption and maker, he could do whatever he wanted as long as he imagined it.


    Nodding at her words, he started to cross the bridge.


    He didn''t lower his guard though. For all he knew, the 4th phase might have started as soon as he stepped on the bridge.


    And just like he thought, it wasn''t long before 13 ghoul beasts jumped out of the water, shooting into the sky.


    In the next second, theynded upon therge coral bridge, surrounding Amon from both sides.


    He gritted his teeth and looked left and right, finding no way to escape to thend and fight them there.


    The ghoul beasts now stood on two legs, with their upper legs turned into sharp des.


    They resembled more of a bat and mantisbination now instead of wolf and bat.


    Amon bit his lip.


    Though the bridge was wide enough for him to fight them, it was nearly not wide enough for him to use his Void Skills.


    The narrow area where he could teleport nullified his advantage of surprise.


    ''Fuck it....'' He cursed and got ready to fight.


    Just as the thought left his mind, a ghoul beast shot towards him, its speed a far cry from the previous phase.


    Creating two blobs of blood, Amon quickly formed three blood strings to sh with the des of the beast.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    But it wasn''t long before another monster jumped into the fight from behind.


    [Behind you!] Fortunately, the warning was there.


    Diverting his attention for a second, he shot off a lightning bolt at the beast, trying to keep it in ce.


    The bolt hit it square in the chest, paralyzing it and throwing it to the ground.


    As it felt on the wet coral surface, a spark of electricity spread around suddenly jolting Amon who was battling the first beast again.


    The spark paralyzed him for a a second making him look back at what happened.


    Realizing the cause, he moved back to battle the beast again which was shing one on one against his strings.


    It was then, that he suddenly got an idea.


    Manipting the sea of blood around him with some difficulty, he separated two blobs, one on each side.


    Pulling them towards him, he started to coat his arms again while still concentrating on the beast.


    The strings and its des were an even match, no one getting an up on the other.


    After a minute, both of his arms were finally coated.


    He suddenly abandoned the three strings, making the beast confused about what happened. However, a jaw-breaking punchnded on its chest before it couldpose itself, sending it crashing back into the horde.


    CRACK!


    He brought his fists close to his chest, making an offensive stance against the beasts.


    Though he had now lost his ranged mode of fighting, the strings, he would have to hold it out like this for some minutes for it to work.


    Seeing his offensive pose, all of the beasts bared their fangs at him before shooting for him all at once.


    Taking a deep breath, Amon shot toward the nearest one and grabbed both its pincers.


    With his full force, he stretched them outwards, making them break and separate the whole body of the beast in half.


    While he was doing this, he subtly started to manipte the sea and separate multiple strings


    from it.


    Suddenly, he felt two pincers closing around his arm, producing a sharp metallic sound.


    CLANG!


    Using his other arm, he grabbed the beast and threw it back into the iing horde.


    Meanwhile, he focused on the threads


    12 threads...


    He felt two des scratching against his chest, however the cape protected him.


    Catching on its des, he punched it in the chest with the other arm and threw it onto the


    ground.


    25 threads....


    One by one, he started to deal with all the beasts that attacked him while also facing minor


    injuries.


    And after two minutes.


    46 threads.....


    Just as the next beast was inches away from him, he disappeared from the spot.


    The beasts looked around hurriedly trying to find him in confusion. Suddenly their ears perked up with noise, and they quickly faced to the other end of the bridge, finding Amon standing there in relief.


    His gaze moved above them and they followed along.


    There, they found arge vertical narrow cobweb, woven of 46 bloodstrings.


    He instantly dropped the cobweb down upon all the beasts, trapping them at their ce.


    And as they looked up, they saw both of his now normal arms extend towards the web.


    To their horror, tworge bolts of electricity shot out of them, heading towards them.


    But it didn''t hit them.


    Rather it hit the cobweb which was now connected to all of their bodies.


    And in the next moment....


    BUZZZZZZZ!


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    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link In Synopsis)


    From now on there will be a new update schedule. Its 2 chapters per day (excluding the extra


    chapters of power stones), and they will be published at a set interval.


    3AM and 3PM (GMT+5)


    Thank you for understanding.

 Chapter 40: Dungeon Raid [6]

    Chapter 40: Dungeon Raid [6]


    ?


    ****


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!


    The blood web crackled with bright yellow electricity, emitting a bright light while multiple shrieks erupted from the beasts.


    SHRIEEEEK!!


    The crackles and screams continued for a whole minute before finally ceasing slowly.


    Amon opened his eyes after the bright light finally abated.


    There in front of him,y all 12 bodies of the ghoul beasts, electrified and scorched to death. The blood web erupted into a fountain of blood once he stopped his supply of mana.


    Walking to their bodies, he stood still for some moments, waiting if any other beasts to pop


    out.


    Fortunately, none did.


    Letting his guard down a little, he crouched down and sliced their bodies open using their pincers.


    He stored every single mana core of the beast, before facing the sea.


    Pointing his spatial ring at the sea, the object started to glow in a bright blue sheen.


    Suddenly, small portions of the sea started to disappear in chunks, before the blood around it filled the space up.


    Amon sat there for 2 whole hours, with his ring pointed toward the sea, which was now at a lower level than before.


    Finally, the sheen died down and the sea stopped losing blood.


    He quickly checked the description of the ring.


    Artifact Capacity: [10000L/10000L]


    Nodding with satisfaction, he stood up, ready to face thest 18 enemies of the wave.


    With that thought, he headed inside the forest.


    *****


    [After 2 Hours]


    Amon sat down on the ground with his back against a tree while looking at the new notification in front of him.


    [Your [Blood] element has leveled up!]


    This time, however, no new influx of information came. But he did feel his control and mastery over blood increase by a good amount.


    His cape was pretty much fully covered in ghoul blood now.


    During the past 2 hours, he had killed down every single ghoul beast of phase 4.


    Due to such a high amount of blood storage now, it was rtively easier to kill them.


    This,bined with the fact that ghoul beasts now ran and fought on two legs and had lost their element of stealth, made it no problem for him.


    Rather than fighting them all in one big group, he had fought them in smaller groups this time to limit the injuries he got.


    As he started to heal his wounds, the ground rumbled with sheer intensity, higher than any he had experienced before.


    RUMBLING! RUMBLINGI


    After the shaking ceased, he healed his minor injuries and recovered his manapletely. Standing up, he headed towards the outer edge of the ind again.


    However, while on his way there, he found a dark wide staircase in the middle of the forest, heading down underground.


    ''It seems as if the entrance to the next phase is from here rather than the edge of the ind now.....'' He thought.


    However, just for confirmation, he still headed to the edge of the ind and looked around for entrance.


    Once he found that there was none other, he headed back to the staircase.


    Taking a deep breath, he started walking down into the peering darkness.


    As he reached the end of the stairs, he entered a pitch ck tunnel, making him unable to see.


    ''Can you see what''s around me?'' He asked the goddess inside his head.


    [Not fully clear but it''s manageable. I''ll keep an eye out for anything around us.] She exined.


    Even though it was now going to be phase 5 and there was only the boss left, Amon still couldn''t help but be on his guard.


    Any mistake could lead to his death right now.


    Fortunately, the walk through the tunnel was safe and without any dangers.


    He finally saw a bright light at the far end of the tunnel and he quickly ran towards it.


    Arriving at the spot, he saw an exact staircase as before heading up to the surface with the bright light of the crimson skying from the opening.


    He started heading up the stairs but this time with his guard at full alert.


    As soon as he reached up to the surface, he found himself at arge deste piece ofnd with no sign of nt life.


    But his attention was taken as he stared at therge gargantuan monster that stood in front of


    him.


    It was the same monster as phase 4 ones however its size was multiple times of the previous monsters.


    Standing at a height of 8 meters, the beast red at Amon with its emerald glowing eyes. He saw a flicker of hostility pass through its eyes as they both locked their gazes.


    In the next moment, therge beast erupted with rage and raised its right arm, swinging itsrge de at Amon.


    But thetter was prepared and quickly ducked to the ground, letting the de pass over harmlessly.


    Following that, he stood up and ran towards the beast.


    Multiple blobs of blood appeared next to him before transforming into sharp thick strings


    thatunched toward the mantis-like beast.


    The strings coiled around its upper arms, preventing them from moving.


    With its movement of arms restricted, Amon dashed to its underside andunched a blood


    and lightning coated first at its chest.


    Arge thud resounded in the air.


    THUD!


    The mantis'' body jolted with a shock and was forced back a couple of inches.


    "SHRIEKKK!"


    It cried out in pain and quickly flung its leg at Amon, attempting to drive him away.


    Caught by surprise, he quickly created a small blood shield to save himself from the attack.


    However, the shield was destroyed instantly and the leg cleanly connected with his arm, sending him flying backward.


    His body crashed into the surf zone of the blood sea before he quickly stabilized himself and


    stood up.


    His body ached from the immense pain but unfortunately it wasn''t over just yet as he saw another de nearly meters away from crashing into him.


    Letting his instincts take over, he raised his hand and quickly manipted the blood inside


    the arm.


    And though it quickly failed because of how strong the beast was, it was enough to change the trajectory of the attack and let him dodge it.


    Diving to the side, Amon stood up and red at the beast.


    He knew that if he used the normal methods of both elements again, he would undoubtedly


    die.


    Which was why he had to take a risk and take this a step further.


    ''Guess we''ll have to do it another way....'' Amon thought and walked forwards.


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 Chapter 41: Dungeon Raid [7]

    Chapter 41: Dungeon Raid [7]


    ?


    ****


    Walking forward, Amon manipted the sea around him into numerous thick strings.


    Not noticing them, the mantis'' pincers twitched and it shot towards him.


    But it was taken by surprise midway as the strings suddenlytched onto its two legs, throwing off its rush and keeping it in ce.


    The mantis looked at the strings holding it and tried to break free but to its dismay, failed to do so.


    Moving its gaze back to where Amon stood in rage, it was left utterly confused when it saw that he wasn''t there.


    Suddenly, it felt a bone-cracking punchnd on its face, making its head cock to the side with force.


    CRACK!


    One of its pincers broke under the sheer force and fell to the ground.


    The monster recovered from the blow and quickly moved its head to the side, fuming in anger.


    There, it found Amon in mid-air, both of his arms covered in blood.


    Ovee with fury, the monster hurled its two des at him, attempting to slice him down.


    However, just as they were inches away from him, his eyes suddenly glowed amethyst purple, locking gazes with the emerald ones of the beast.


    Instantly, the beast felt its body rooted in ce like a statue, unable to move despite its best attempts to do so.


    And again, Amon pulled himself to its face using some strings andunched another hard punch at its front face.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    Two more of its pincers broke under the force of the punch, dropping to the ground with a thud.


    The beast''s head nocked back with full force, but in that moment, the control of its body returned.


    Amon''s instincts suddenly red at full alert and his head moved to the side at full speed, only to find a de inches from his arms.


    He instinctively generated a blood shield at that moment, but it too broke under the force of the de, only serving to slow its impact.


    The de cleanly connected with Amon''s blood-coated arm, producing a sharp sound because of metal shing against metal.


    CLANG!


    His body went flying to the side due to the force of the impact, making him crash into the sea. He was drowning in the sea with each passing second before he regained control over himself and swum up to the top.


    His face shot out of the blood surface, only to meet the beast meters away from colliding with him.


    Fortunately, he was calm this time and instantly disappeared from the spot, making the beast crash into the sea for nothing.


    The beast''s body was submerged in the blood sea now, and it quickly looked around for its target, finding it standing on thend now.


    "SHRIEEEK!" It shrieked in rage.


    But before it couldunch itself at him again, Amon crouched down and ced both his hands inches above the blood surface.


    Following that, his hands crackled with electricity and it escaped from his hands into the sea. The surface of the sea now started twitching with yellow electricity and it instantly spread out as Amon channeled more of it into the sea.


    The electrified sea finally reached the beast and it sent jolts of electricity through its body, jolting it and making it scream in pain.


    "SHRIEEEEEEEEEK!"


    Amon kept channeling the electricity into the sea for a half minute before he finally ceased to conserve his mana.


    The beast''s body suddenly went limp as the jolts finally ceased.


    Its head lowered and its body started drowning in the sea.


    Amon kept looking at the bubbly spot where it stood before for some seconds with a frown on his expression.


    He knew that the dungeon wasn''t over yet of course. There were multiple reasons for it but the main one was that he hadn''t received any clearing signal yet.


    And just like he had thought, the spot where it was drowning suddenly started to bubble with even more intensity than before.


    The mantis'' body shot out of the surface with intense speed, making it seem like a blur to his eyes and throwing him off guard


    In the next moment, Amon felt a heavy force crash into his body, sending him flying to the other end of the islet.


    He crashed on the ground, his body dragging through the rough ground,


    Blood poured out of his mouth with cuts to his hand and face now.


    Ignoring the injuries, he quickly got up but was again shocked as he found a de a couple of inches from his face.


    [WATCH OUT!] The goddess inside his head called, warning him.


    ''[Voidteleport]''


    He vanished from the spot and the de whizzed past where he stood harmlessly.


    Amon appeared on top of one of therge pincers that had crashed to the ground earlier.


    He had marked it when he had punched the face of the beast, just in case he wanted to


    teleport.


    He quickly looked forward, and there he saw the gigantic body of the beast, with a red hue


    surrounding it.


    He knew what it was.


    It was a state called Beserk Mode.


    This was when an irrational boss monster would be close to dying and it would gopletely berserk, attacking and dodgingpletely on its instinct.


    Its physical stats and mana would also increase by a significant amount which was the reason


    why Amon was suffering right now.


    The beast locked eyes with him, finding where he had gone.


    In its mind, all it wanted right now was to kill him.


    And just like what he had expected, the beast shot at him with rage.


    He manipted the sea again and several thick strings shot out, coiling around the mantis to


    keep it in ce.


    However, they were instantly broken, a reminder of how strong it had gotten.


    Caught by surprise, Amon tried to dodge its des but was hit by one of its legs again,


    throwing him across the ground.


    He quickly got up again, with blood now trickling down from the edges of his face.


    He was brutally bruised now and he knew if not for his artifacts, he would have been certainly


    dead by now.


    Due to the sudden power-up, Amon could barely react to its speed right now and he knew


    every time he would try to dodge he would get hit, undoubtedly.


    His reflexes just weren''t fast enough.


    His mind worked at zing speed on what to do.


    Fortunately, the goddess inside his head had a way.


    A risky way, but a way nheless.


    [I have a method...] Shemented inside his head.


    ''Hmmm?'' He asked, still focusing on the beast for any attacks.


    [Use the blood maniption on yourself...]


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link In Synopsis)


    An announcement that I wanted to make as well.


    As you might see, my novel is contracted now thankfully. Thank you all you guys for your


    support throughout this time. I am truly grateful.


    However, I want to say now that because of being contracted and also my colleges starting next week. The P.S extra chapter system is now terminated.


    The P.S won''t give any extra chapters. However, there will be a golden ticket system now.


    15 G.T=1 Extra Chapter


    30 G.T = 2 Extra Chapters and so on.


    However, don''t worry, the 200 PS extra chapter ofst week and 100 PS chapter of this week


    will still be given. I''ll try to do them both today, or maybe one today and 1 tomorrow for sure


    Thank you for understanding.

 Chapter 42: Dungeon Raid [8]

    Chapter 42: Dungeon Raid [8]


    ?


    ****


    [Use blood maniption on yourself..] She voiced out in her head, her tone a little unsure.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    He had thought about this way before in the starting but had dismissed it because he knew his control over the element wasn''t enough.


    Afterward, he had never considered it. Until now.....


    Blood maniption on himself.


    By doing it, he could elerate his blood flow, making his movements and reflexes fast while also triggering the release of adrenalin into his blood flow.


    The strength and durability of his body would also increase by a significant amount.


    This was exactly what he needed at the moment.


    It would make him on par or maybe even above the mantis in terms of speed and reflexes, making him able to beat it again.


    But there was a problem.


    Using blood maniption on himself was an extremely risky move.


    Increased blood flow would put immense stress on his veins.


    And if he lost control over his maniption of blood for even a second, his veins would burst under the pressure, making him undoubtedly die.


    He had to manipte the flow to an urate range of speed, which wasn''t an easy task while constantly battling the beast.


    Any faster and the pressure would increase the limit he could handle.


    He sighed deeply.


    It seemed to be the only way right now by which he could win this fight.


    He took a deep breath and exhaled, bracing himself for a new fight. ''Alright, let''s do this...''


    [Don''t worry, you just focus on the fight. Leave your body to me.] She tried to reassure him.


    Not thinking anything of it due to the heat of the moment, he gave a subtle nod and then started the process.


    Manipting the blood flow inside of him, he suddenly increased the blood regtion throughout his body.


    He instantly felt the changes.


    His eyesight sharpened and he felt strength and power coursing through his body vigorously, waiting to be unleashed.


    Veins bulged on his whole body, an evident signal of the stress that was being put on them right now.


    His eyes became bloodshot as the red thin blood vessels started expanding towards the iris.


    The beast looked at Amon with a new expression, clearly feeling the changes in the presence he was exuding right now.


    And right before its very eyes, he shot towards it at a speed that was a far cry from his previous self.


    Raising its guard to the maximum, the mantis shed its des toward Amon, attempting to slice him midway.


    However, it felt its des collide with nothing but thin air and when it looked, he wasn''t there anymore.


    Suddenly, it felt a crashing blow to the back of its head, knocking its head and body forward. Ignoring the pain, the beast took aplete turn back, finding Amon in mid-air with his leg coated in blood.


    Roaring in rage, itunched its pincers and des toward its prey.


    To its dismay, they were stopped midway as numerous thick stringsunched out of Amon''s hand that coiled around them, halting them in their ce.


    The beast screamed in anger once more and shook its body, attempting to break the strings off.


    But suddenly, the strings that were connected from Amon to its body started to crackle with lightning.


    In the next moment, its body was jolted with immense pain as electricity traveled through its whole body.


    However, Amon wasn''t unharmed as well.


    The sudden maniption of electricity from his palms messed up his blood flow for a second, making it exceed what his body could handle.


    Two bulging veins burst apart, and blood sttered in the air.


    Intense pain shot through his body but he held it in by biting on his tongue and gritting his teeth.


    He could not mess up right now otherwise his other veins would burst as well. Unfortunately, the strings had lost their form cause of the sudden loss of concentration.


    Recovering from the jolt, the beastunched its des at Amon again.


    Having no time to make strings again, thetter quickly used his skill and his eyes glowed


    purple.


    ''[Eye of the Void]''


    The beast''s de halted at thest second and its body was rooted at its spot.


    Hended on the ground and in tandem, the skill deactivated, making the de pass by


    harmlessly.


    He was low on mana now.


    With each passing second, his mana kept decreasing at a fast speed because of his continuous


    blood maniption.


    He had to end this all in one final move.


    Amon bent himself to an angle, ready to make his final rush, with his feet rooted into the


    ground.


    From what he had deduced, he knew that the backside of the mantis'' head was its weak spot.


    It was also softer and much easier to hit than its other body parts.


    One or two hits at the same spot would definitely end the beast once and for all.


    A mana core appeared in his hand from his inventory.


    The beast red at Amon in fuming rage.


    It knew that it was close to dying from all the pain that he had caused it.


    And so the beast also bent its body, ready to make a final rush at him and tear him to pieces with its des.


    In the next moment, it shot from its ce at full speed with Amon doing the same, the mana


    core in his hand.


    Just when both were meters away from each other, he raised the mana core and threw it with full force at the beast''s head.


    And then both of them were barely inches away from each other.


    With its eyes locked on him, the beast ignored the core and with a slight tilt of its head, dodged the mana core and attacked Amon with its de.


    The de neared his right bloodshot eye, just a centimeter away from piercing it and his


    brain.


    But at that moment, Amon suddenly vanished from his spot, making the de go past


    harmlessly.


    And appeared in mid-air on top of the core, which had just traveled an inch past the mantis''


    head.


    Grabbing the core with his left hand, he knocked back his bulging blood-coated arm and threw a fist with pull power at the back of the beast''s head.


    The first collided cleanly and arge cracking noise resounded in the air.


    CRACK!


    ck blood poured out from the back of the beast''s head and it crashed down on the ground


    but his fist had still not gone deep inside the head.


    With a scream, he punched the back of the beast''s head again and this time his fist went


    deeper inside, but still not enough to kill the beast.


    Pain shot up through his arm as his mana was almost seconds away from being emptied and the veins on his right arm burst open, blood sttering in the air.


    Screaming intensely in pain, Amon bit on his tongue and gritted his teeth to hold on to his


    consciousness.


    The beast, with itsst hope on its life, attacked at its back with its des, attempting to kill


    him finally.


    With his right arm useless now, he used hisst bits of mana and manipted the blood that had burst from his veins into sharp strings.


    With a final scream, he pushed those strings into the head of the beast with as much force as


    he could muster.


    The des of the beast shot at him and there was nowhere else to move now as there wasn''t any mana left for him to use a teleportation skill.


    The strings dug deep into the head and the des neared, just 3 seconds away from killing


    him.


    But, just as the de pinched into his left arm, drawing in some blood, its movement died down, indicating that the boss was finally dead.


    The strings had pierced its brain. And now he was finally out of mana.


    Losing his lost hold of his consciousness, he drifted towards darkness.


    But before his eyes shut finally, he saw ast system notification.


    [Congrattions! The Boss has been defeated!]


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 43: Dungeon Raid [10]

    Chapter 43: Dungeon Raid [10]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s body twitched and his eyes opened weakly.


    His whole body was aching with pain right now.


    His eyes roamed around his surroundings and he immediately saw a group of people dressed in ck formal suits around the area.


    Suddenly, one of them looked back and noticed that he was awake so he quickly called out to another person.


    The other person responded to his call and quickly headed towards him and crouched down.


    "Sir James Corleone, correct?" He asked and Amon weakly nodded, not understanding what had happened.


    "We are the Dungeon Dreamers Rescue Team. We arrived here after you didn''t leave the dungeon within 2 hours of its clearance as it was written in the policy." He exined and it was then that the memories of what happened impacted him.


    ''I had fainted...after killing the monster..'' He remembered behind the mask.


    Taking note that Amon now remembered what happened, the man continued.


    "Yes, upon arrival we saw that you were wearing a mask, so we didn''t feed you a potion to not see your face. Rather, we used a [Nature] clovist to heal you, I hope you understand."


    Amon nodded in understanding.


    Through potions, one would heal without any pain. And the speed of instantaneous recovery would depend upon the rank of the potion.


    However, you could also heal if you had a [Nature] affinity. The only downside was the longer time it took to heal and the pain you had to bear with the healing.


    His gaze moved toward his right arm, and fortunately, he found that it had healed back without a bruise.


    Though he now had scars on the arm. But it wasn''t much of a worry as they could be healedter with a potion.


    But then suddenly, he remembered about the boss and his body instinctively shot up to see what had happened to it.


    "ARGHH!" A sharp pain traveled through his body because of the sudden movement.


    The man quickly put a hand on his back to help him and with his support, Amon slowly stood up.


    "Don''t worry, sir. We only healed you and stood around until you woke up. Not a single thing has been moved from what it was previously. You can do what you want freely before going back." He reassured and the boy nodded weakly again.


    Letting go of the man''s support, he quickly summoned his cane for support.


    Under the curious gazes of everyone, Amon walked to the boss monster.


    He was out of mana for now and mana release would still take time for him.


    And so, he leaned against the body of the mantis and shed his cane in the air.


    A retractable de slid out of the bottom suddenly.


    Piercing the de into the middle of the beast, Amon mustered his full force and forced the de down to the whole body.


    The cut on the body split apart the two sides of the beast, revealing its innards and blood.


    But the special part was therge basketball-size mana core in its heart.


    A boss'' mana core was special. Its lone mana core was at least equal to 10 cores of the monsters in phase 4. A mana core obtained from a phase 4 monster was 3x better than a one obtained from a phase below it.


    Though the guilds of the major families and Imperiac''s C.A would keep the boss'' mana core and distribute the small ones, the D.D did the exact opposite.


    They let you keep the boss mana core but in turn, took a certain amount of small mana cores.


    This was a major reason why people preferred D.D over C.A.


    Amon grabbed the boss core and quickly shifted it to his spatial ring, indicating to everyone that he had one.


    Afterward, he stumblingly walked towards the supposed leader of the team, the man who had just talked to him.


    "I''m done." He said and the man nodded.


    "Now before we go back sir, just a second. Can you tell me how many mana cores have you obtained?" He asked.


    Amon nodded. The distribution was done as soon as you got outside of the dungeon but this time it was being done here.


    He internally shrugged. Not like he had any problem with it.


    "22 mana cores." He answered and instantly made the exact number appear on the ground through his inventory.


    Of course, he had lied. Out of the 80 ghoul beasts in this dungeon, he had gotten 78 mana


    cores.


    But it was not like he was going to tell them the truth and get 15% of it stolen from him. 22 mana cores out of 80 ghoul beasts in a 1 leaf dungeon was normal, maybe even a little bad. The man looked at the cores and counted them in seconds before looking back at Amon. "Any bodies or other stuff?" He asked and the boy shook his head.


    Usually, the C.A and major families would kill the beasts cleanly and also obtain their bodies in the dungeon to sell.


    But his weak strength led to a brutal way of fighting, it destroyed any worth of the bodies.


    As for the Fractile, he simply didn''t care enough about it to store it in the spatial ring along


    with his blood.


    His blood mattered more at that moment.


    "None." He answered and the man looked at Amon with scrutiny, searching for any signs of lying or deception.


    However, he found none as the boy stood like a statue, with his expression hidden behind the


    mask


    But then, the man suddenly remembered that he had a spatial ring.


    "You have a spatial ring, right sir? If you could please hand it over so we could see that there is no sign of theft or lying." He extended his hand.


    "Please understand that it''s just a way for ourpany to get what we deserve. This is written in our policy that we can check your spatial pieces of equipment when leaving." He rified


    with respect.


    Amon smiled behind the mask and nodded.


    Taking off the spatial ring from his gloved hand, he handed it to the captain.


    Taking the spatial ring in his hand, the man quickly checked its contents.


    A flicker of shock passed through his eyes, probably cause of therge amount of blood inside


    it and a single boss mana core.


    But he quickly recovered and handed the ring back to Amon and nodded with respect.


    "So this is it. Since we take 15% of what you get, we will take 3 mana cores out of this. You can keep the rest." The man answered and quickly took 3 mana cores.


    With his smile widening, the boy nodded once more.


    This was why he had stored the mana cores in the inventory.


    Both spatial ring and inventory worked exactly the same, except for the fact that nobody


    except him could see his inventory.


    Storing the 19 cores inside his ring, Amon headed past the dungeon exit portal along with the


    rescue team.


    Thanks for reading!!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 44: The Next Electives [1]

    Chapter 44: The Next Electives [1]


    ?


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 200 POWER STONES LAST WEEK!!)


    *****


    Exiting the portal, Amon quickly separated from the rescue team and headed toward the reception table.


    There were numerous tears and blood marks on his cape which attracted some stares from the nearby people but not too many.


    Coming back injured and bloody from a dungeon was a normal urrence after all.


    Arriving at the reception table, the same female receptionist looked up at him.


    "Wee, how many I help you?"


    "I''d like to inform of the clearance of my dungeon." He answered and she nodded before starting to rummage through some files.


    "Your codename and dungeon name sir?"


    "James Corleone and [Scarlet Reverie]"


    "Ah yes, you entered the dungeon 14 hours ago. I shall put cleared here and have your rewards been distributed?" she asked and he nodded.


    "Great, you can return the dungeon ID card we gave you now sir." She informed and extended her hand.


    Taking the card out from a pocket, Amon handed it to her.


    "Thank you, Sir James Corleone. We hope that our services have satisfied you and that you maye here again." She bowed and he nodded without a word.


    Turning, he left the building.


    ****


    Amon arrived at the ck market entrance again but was suddenly called out from the side. "SIR!"


    He turned and saw a familiar face. It was the shopkeeper that he had bought the choctesst time from.


    "Hmm?" He questioned from behind the mask, his tone deep.


    The shopkeeper halted for a second but quickly mustered up his courage and rubbed his hands.


    "I just wanted to inform you that there are a variety of sweets today in my stall. If you would like to check some, please go ahead." He informed with a bright fake smile.


    Amon tilted his head but then suddenly realized what the man meant.


    He had probably thought that he loved sweet stuff because of how he had bought a normal box of choctes but had yet given such arge amount of money for it.


    The man probably thought that he craved sweet things.


    Sighing internally, he was about to reject when the goddess inside his head suddenly reminded him of something.


    [Wait, you should check it out and buy something. That little girl is probably starving out there waiting for you.]


    Amon''s eyes behind the mask widened. He had mistakenly forgotten about the little girl.


    She was probably starving out there for 14 hours, waiting for him toe back.


    Scolding himself internally for forgetting something like this, he turned back to the shopkeeper.


    "Hmmm, alright, I''ll check it out." He answered nonchntly.


    The shopkeeper nodded and quickly led him towards his stall, where in a corner, multiple kinds of sweets were disyed.


    There were cotton candies, choctes, premade macarons, and much more.


    Taking his time to find the best ones, he took a couple of everything for 1000 Exlor.


    The shopkeeper bid farewell to Amon and he left the market with the items in his inventory.


    ****


    Amon quickly traversed through the streets with efficiency.


    It was 4 am right now and extremely close to dawn.


    He was certainly going to get loads of questions and an earful from his sister.


    Arriving in his usual street, he once again saw the cute little girl sleeping in the corner, her head tilted and resting against the corner wall of the shop.


    Walking to her, he crouched down and for some seconds smiled at the cute face she had when she was sleeping.


    [By the way....] Zephyra butted in before he was going to wake her up.


    ''Yeah?'' He asked.


    [You are kind of retarded aren''t you?]


    ''Huh?'' He blurted out.


    [For a girl that you have been feeding and caring for for 2 days, you never thought of asking her name did you?] She sighed tiredly


    Amon went utterly silent at her question, realizing how stupid he was.


    He had been caring for her and feeding her and yet had never even remembered to ask her


    name.


    Resisting the urge to facepalm himself, he coughed.


    ''I guess I am stupid in some cases.'' He concluded.


    Suddenly, the girl twitched at the sound of his cough and weakly opened her eyes.


    At the sight of her favorite mask, they suddenly opened with a jolt, as if fully refreshed.


    She jumped into her arms.


    "Uncle!"


    Taking hold of her, he suddenly felt a strange warmth creep up in his chest for the girl.


    "Haha, did wait for uncle?" He asked her and she nodded with glee.


    He quickly retrieved the sweets for her, not making her wait any longer in hunger.


    As the numerous sweetsnded in hisp, the girl''s eyes glimmered with happiness.


    But despite her hunger, she looked at him, not digging into the sweets. Amon looked at her with confusion but Zephyra quickly conveyed what the girl meant.


    [She''s asking if she can take them.]


    His mouth contorted into an ''o'' shape, taken aback by her control and manners.


    But he quicklyposed himself and nodded, making her dig into the sweets.


    Rather than a chocte likest time, she grabbed two cotton candies and handed them to


    Amon.


    He tore off their wrapper and handed them back to her but she quickly extended one back to


    him.


    "Uncle hungry too." She said, telling him that he was hungry as well.


    Smiling at her consideration, he took it from her hands and lifted his mask.


    The girl happily started to take small bites out of the candy, her smile widening at the sweet


    taste.


    ''She really likes sweet foods...'' He noticed, eating a bite of the candy.


    After being done with one, the girl handed him two macarons.


    But, he quickly remembered to ask her name.


    "Your name?" He asked, pointing at her forehead and the girl''s face contorted to an ''o'' shape


    at his question.


    But then she giggled and waved her arms in the air.


    "Lily!"


    He smiled at her cheerfulness. It was a cute name.


    Following that, the two sat together for an hour and ate several sweets.


    Surprisingly, she was a big glutton for sweets as she happily kept eating each one while


    constantly giggling in his arms.


    It had not been long since he met the girl. Yet the cheerful spirit and happiness she exuded in


    these dark streets made his heart warm and made him awe at her will.


    In just a short time, the two had really be close friends.


    Thanks for reading!


    So, I''ll ask a question for the day. What do you think about the girl and what do you think


    Amon will do with her?


    Remember that sharp stare he felt at his back? Do you think she is evil?


    Find out more, in the next episode of DRAGON BALL- ahem.


    Have a good day.

 Chapter 45: FULLDIVE [1]

    Chapter 45: FULLDIVE [1]


    ?


    ****


    After spending an hour with the girl, Amon bid her farewell promising toe by again in the evening.


    Again, as soon as he left her, he felt a sharp piercing gaze upon his back, as if someone was watching him.


    But just likest time, he ignored it and quickly walked some streets.


    And as he expected, as soon as he took the same turn as thest time, he felt the stare disappear.


    Walking out of the dark parts, Amon quickly changed back to his normal school clothing.


    It was 5 AM right now and the City Centre still had some shops opened, HOU included in that. Because of no rest the previous day and the dungeon incident, he was sleepy as hell.


    Walking back to his apartment, he saw many students of all years doing their morning exercise or walk.


    Ignoring the stares he was subjected to because of still wearing his school uniform at this time and his unkempt appearance, he focused on his own way.


    Arriving in front of his door, he was about to open it when suddenly it was opened by someone from the inside.


    There, he saw Alice and Katherine standing in front of him, fully dressed in their academy uniform.


    Both were presidents of theirmittees so they were probably heading out early.


    Amon quickly bowed in greeting.


    "Hello, sister and senior Alice."


    Alice quickly waved her hand in the air.


    "Hello Amon, hahaha there''s no need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Alice." She chuckled.


    But before the former could reply in agreement, his sister quickly asked in a worried tone.


    "Where were you the whole day yesterday? You didn''t evene back at night, and why are you so dirty?"


    Amon coughed and scratched his head.


    "Ahh, my friend was fatally injured yesterday in the mana elective so I was in the infirmary the whole night beside him." He lied.


    Alice and Katherine''s mouths suddenly contorted into an ''o'' shape but a flicker of realization quickly passed through the former''s eyes.


    "Ahhh you mean Prince Michael?" She asked and Amon nodded.


    Surprise passed through Katherine''s eyes.


    "You know Prince Michael?" She asked and he nodded back.


    "Yeah, we sit together every day. We are friends." He exined.


    The incident of yesterday probably spread out in the whole academy since it was rted to Michael, who was a royal prince.


    "You were caught in the explosion that happened?" Katherine asked, her eyes scanning his dirty body.


    She probably thought that he was and that''s why he was dirty right now.


    "Yeah, I was but Miss Athena quickly pulled me out so I only got dust and dirt on my clothes, no injuries." He informed.


    Katherine quickly sighed in relief.


    Suddenly, Amon did a big yawn, indicating to the both how sleepy he was.


    Katherine remembered that they were about to leave.


    "Ahh yes, we are about to leave for our duties then. You are probably tired from yesterday, so you can go to sleep for some hours." She answered.


    His eyebrows shot up in confusion.


    "Wait, aren''t there sses today for me?" He asked but he suddenly remembered.


    And Katherine informed him as well.


    "Nope, the electives and sses for the first years are canceled for this week. A meeting was held yesterday and due to such an attack on the prince, the academy has decided to give a break so that the teachers can check all the grounds thoroughly." She exined.


    Because of how close the prince hade to death and how the teachers had found no source or cause of the explosion, they had decided to investigate all grounds again to prevent this in the future.


    They would never believe that Michael was capable of such arge-scale explosion even if he had lost control over his element.


    He just didn''t have enough mana. And so the sses and electives had been canceled.


    But in turn for this...


    Katherine continued.


    "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. But topensate for this action and event, the academy has decided to move the first years'' first FULLDIVE earlier. It will now be held after 2 days."


    Yes. The FULLDIVE event would now be held after 2 days.


    Before he could think further though, she took his attention.


    "Ahh we are both gettingte, well see you in the evening. Rest well dear brother." She looked


    at her watch and waved.


    Alice also waved at him.


    "See youter Amon. Have a good sleep."


    Smiling, he nodded to them both and waved before heading inside.


    Instantly, he slumped down on the couch, fully tired.


    He didn''t even want to make breakfast right now.


    [At least change your clothes and take a shower idiot..] Zephyra called in his head.


    His mouth twitched.


    [Fuck shower, can''t you see that I can''t even walk to my own bed? That''s how tired I am..] He cursed, his eyes drooping further with sleep.


    He yawned out loud.


    [Nevermind, just go to sleep.] Zephyra concluded in a tone that suggested she wanted to


    facepalm herself right now.


    ''Yeah....'' He snuggled in his head into the pillow and tried to drift away to sleep.


    But before that, he showed his gratefulness to her.


    ''Thanks for your help in the dungeon.''


    Then his eyes closed, not hearing the answer that came after.


    [No problem.]


    ****


    [After 10 Hours]


    Amon''s eyes twitched and slowly opened up, letting the afternoon rays hit right into them.


    [Wake up sunshine, its half past three.] Zephyra spoke.


    At the mention of the time, his body suddenly jolted up.


    ''Shit, I need to hurry up.'' He remembered what he wanted to do and quickly got out of bed.


    ''You should have woken me up earlier.'' Heined to Zephyra.


    [But I didn''t want to ruin your deep sleep, you looked cute.] She answered, causing Amon to


    gopletely silent.


    Taking a deep sigh, he calmed himself down and quickly took a shower beforeing out, wearing some casual clothes.


    Making himself some bread and jam sandwiches, he quickly ate them before starting to head


    out.


    But suddenly, his watch made a notification sound.


    DING!


    Thinking it might be the [Crpytic Glories], he quickly checked the watch but what saw shocked


    him to the core.


    FULLDIVE MATCH 1 TEAMS:


    Amon Ashford


    Charlotte Von Sullivan


    Klein Sinire


    VS


    Michael Von Lancaster


    Alya Von Lancaster


    Adam Ravenfield


    ''Fuck.....'' He cursed again.


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 Chapter 46: FULLDIVE [2]

    Chapter 46: FULLDIVE [2]


    ?


    *****


    Amon walked through the streets, watching some couples hanging out.


    It was close to 4, so third years and second years were already free as well.


    Passing the parks and buildings, different training buildings were around him now.


    He was out of thefort and entertainment zone now, which included their dorms and other utilities for life.


    Looking at therge training buildings, Amon barely saw anyone around them for training except a couple of second-years and first-years.


    He sighed deeply.


    This was another reason why the academy suffered so much this year.


    Other than the noble children and main cast who had exceptionally high talent and strength, this year was nothing but garbage.


    It did not mean that the low social standing students did not possess any potential, in fact, some had talent evenparable to the low or mid-ss noble families.


    But it was the fact that they just epted their strength and refused to grow stronger.


    In their mind, just being admitted into the best academy in the human continent, Icantia, was enough for them to grow very strong and be able to face the ghouls.


    But this was not the case of course. And as a person who knew the future, he knew how fatal it would proveter.


    He had to change this mindset of theirs quickly in order to stop the future losses.


    Suddenly, two figuresing out of the armenist grounds caught his attention.


    Both were female students and he could already sense how strong they were from the aura he sensed from them.


    With long sky-blue hair and sapphire eyes that attuned with the color of the bright sky and reflected upon it, Charlotte donned a flexible knightly armor that entuated the curves of her body.


    Right beside her, Alya was dressed in a stealthy agile lightweight brown armor that stuck close to her body, outlining her ample breasts.


    Her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail exposing her nape for the others to see while her crimson eyes shone like bright rubies.


    Unbeknownst to the duo who were engaged with each other, the males around the area fawned over them while some girls cast jealous stares at them.


    ''Ah yeah, these two...'' Amon thought.


    It was not strange to see them both here on a holiday.


    First, he looked over to Charlotte.


    Even in the novel, she possessed a knightly hero spirit from birth. Despite her high-ranked talent, she never let that stop her constant hard work to get stronger.


    As the younger one of the two daughters in the Sullivan family, Charlotte already gave up the seat to her elder sister as she had no interest in bing a Matriarch.


    Rather, she expressed a deep desire to join the Imperial Military.


    And because her family specialized in Earth element which was a defensive element at its core, they had deep connections with the Military.


    Sullivan Family was the weakest out of the 4 families as well. But it was never a problem for them as they had forfeited from participating in the fight for the throne.


    The current Matriarch of the Sullivan Dukedom, Vanessa Von Sullivan was a caring and kind person and she had honored her daughter''s wish to join the military.


    Moving on, Amon''s gaze moved towards Alya, the twin sister of Michael Von Lancaster.


    Every 100 Years, the 4 Dukedoms would fight for the throne to be the next ruling family over Icantia.


    In thest battle 97 years ago, the Lancaster Family had won the battle again. They have been on the throne for 197 years now.


    The next battle would be held 3 yearster from now, in which either one of the 4 families would win or the Lancasters would keep their throne.


    As the twin sister of Michael, both of them had grown up together as close twins.


    Well, it was mostly the former always taking care of her or following her as a kind twin while thetter would always end up being flustered and would run away.


    However, when Michael had awakened a low-ss talent and Alya had gotten the exact opposite, the former had automatically stopped being around her to not harm her image. Though their parents loved both of them, Michael knew about the other nobles who would look at him with disdain when he was alone.


    To not let this affect his sister, he had distanced himself from her.


    Because of the distancing from his family and continuing to remain weak for 2 years, Michael had given up the seat to her sister for the throne battle.


    Armenists were generally weaker than clovists, that was an undebatable fact.


    This was why she trained relentlessly in order to not lose the throne in the future and solidify her position as the first ruling Queen of Icantia.


    But she also cared about Michael right now even if thetter didn''t know.


    He knew that she must have been very worried yesterday when he got hurt, even going to visit himter in secret.


    He saw theming toward him while talking with each other.


    Done with them, Amon started to get on his way, taking his gaze off of them.


    Suddenly, Alya felt something move in her peripheral vision and her gaze quickly moved


    towards it.


    She saw a man with a slightly above-average face, ck hair, and onyx ck eyes walking through the street.


    Just like everyone, she realized that he was watching them as well.


    His gaze was more perceptive and a calcting one, unlike the other ones who were


    entranced by her and Charlotte''s beauty.


    But it didn''t matter. Not like she knew him anyway.


    She was about to move back to Charlotte when suddenly a stroke of familiarity hit her.


    She knew who the boy was now. He was the one who fainted after using his [Blood] element in


    the test.


    He was also the weakest person in the entire year. A below-average 1-leaf clovist only.


    But those were only mere things that she realized about him.


    The most important thing about him was.....


    He was a dear friend of Michael, her twin brother.


    And he had also instantly run to him after the explosion or so she had heard from Elizabeth


    And so she quickly called him.


    "Hey! Wait!"


    The boy stopped and looked back, his ck eyes boring deep into hers,pletely stoic.


    "You are Amon Ashford right?"


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 Chapter 47: FULLDIVE [3]

    Chapter 47: FULLDIVE [3]


    ?


    ****


    "Are you Amon Ashford?" She asked.


    Amon kept silent for a moment, thinking why she might have called him out.


    But eventually, he nodded.


    Suddenly, Alya was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say now that she had called him out.


    But she quicklyposed herself and bowed slightly.


    "As a member of the Royal family, I heard how you ran to Prince Michael. I would like to express my gratitude towards you for this."


    The people around her looked in shock at Alya and their eyes turned towards Amon, evaluating him.


    The boy bowed back in turn,


    "It''s nothing to mention really. More than him being a prince, I did it because Michael is a dear friend of mine."


    Alya nodded with a smile.


    "Oh yes, you are close friends with Michael. You often hang around with him."


    Amon nodded, but before Alya could say anything now, suddenly Charlotte bumped in.


    "Excuse me, since you are Amon Ashford, you must be my teammate for the FULLDIVE correct?" she asked respectfully, something that was shocking considering the gap between their statuses.


    He nodded again.


    "Yes, I''m Amon Ashford, Rank 2403, also your teammate in FULLDIVE."


    Charlotte''s mouth contorted to an ''o'' shape, but immediately Alya bumped in.


    "Hey, what do you mean teammates?" She asked Charlotte casually, dismissing her formal tone from before.


    In the novel as well, she was jolly and mostly casual with friends, hence the change of tone.


    Charlotte coughed, reminding her that he was still there.


    Thetter realized and quicklyposed herself.


    "The FULLDIVE matchups, they were sent to our watches. You can check Princess Alya." She exined and Alya quickly checked her watch. For some reason, she didn''t tell her the she already knew her teammates.


    Amon observed her expression.


    He saw a flicker of shock and happiness pass through her eyes. Most probably due to finding Michael on her team.


    "Who are your teammates, Princess Alya?" Charlotte pretendingly asked and Alya looked at her with a normal smile.


    "It''s Prince Michael and another person from our ss." She answered and the former beamed.


    "Oh, that''s great! You can fight us with your twin brother."


    "Oh yes, we are fighting against your team."


    Then, Alya suddenly realized something


    "Just a moment. Since you are paired up against us, shouldn''t you have already known my teammates and our matchup? Why didn''t you tell me?" She asked.


    Charlotte chuckled in response.


    "I just wanted to find out for yourself for it to be a surprise. That said, I wish both of our teams the best of luck." She smiled warmly.


    Then, she turned to Amon, who was standing there staring at them, waiting for them to let him go.


    "But, is Prince Michael going to be able to participate? I heard he was injured quite fatally." She asked him.


    Immediately, Alya turned towards him as well with a snap of her neck.


    "Oh yes, is Prince Michael alright in the infirmary?" She asked, probably knowing that he had been there before.


    Considering her character, she wanted to go by his side as well but probably couldn''t because of the people seeing her, including ire at the infirmary.


    [As if the god inside his head would let him die...Tch.] He heard Zephyra click her tongue inside his head.


    Ignoring her, he looked at Charlotte and saw her do a fast wink at him.


    ''Ahhh.....'' He realized.


    Taking the other reason aside, the main reason she was asking him this question was to give him a chance so that Alya could ask this question to him.


    Charlotte was very perceptive towards other people''s behaviors and she had probably noticed how thetter was feeling down.


    "Yes, I was with him in the infirmary the whole day. Miss Athena said that he was fine and out of the fatal zone, he would probably be recovered by today or tomorrow." He exined and he immediately saw Alya''s body rx a little.


    "That''s good to hear," Charlotte said and thetter nodded.


    Feeling himself gettingte, Amon took a nce at his watch and excused himself.


    "I''m extremely sorry but I''m gettingte for an important meetup."


    Realizing her mistake, Alya quickly nodded.


    "Oh yes, please go ahead. Thank you for answering our questions." She waved at him with a smile.


    Amon smiled and bowed before turning to leave before suddenly Charlotte called him out.


    "Oh, just a moment please!"


    He turned back.


    "If you don''t mind can we exchange contact information? I want us to do a mock training for the exam but if not at least discuss strategies for the FULLDIVE." She exined.


    ''Oh yeah, considering her hardworking nature, she''s probably taking this very seriously.'' He


    thought.


    "Sure." He answered and quickly exchanged their contacts with each other.


    "Oh yes, another thing. If possible, can you please try to get in touch with the third teammate


    as well?" she asked.


    His mind suddenly drifted towards the third teammate.


    Klein Sinire.


    He wasn''t just a fodder character. Rather he was actually quite a formidable clovist.


    He had his future ns for him as well.


    But that said, those ns were for after the FULLDIVE, he didn''t have enough time right now


    to go after him.


    "Ah, I apologize but I''m quite busy these 2 days, so finding his information might not be possible. But I''ll try my best." He answered.


    Not finding a problem with it, Charlotte nodded with a smile.


    "Thank you, it''s perfectly fine."


    Bidding them farewell, he departed from them and quickly headed towards the HOU.


    Alya and Charlotte stared at his departing figure.


    As soon he disappeared from view, the former turned to thetter.


    "Hey, is it just me but I felt a different kind of aura and vibe from him than the first time I saw


    him?" she asked.


    The blue-haired girl nodded.


    "Yup, you are correct. I felt this as well. Additionally, his physical features were considerably


    different as well. A little bit taller and more lean I guess." She exined and Alya nodded.


    But then, she shrugged.


    "Well anyways, he is a good person at least. Not like those othermoners. Other than that,


    I don''t find anything special about him."


    Charlotte merely smiled and followed Alya, not replying to herment.


    ''Amon Ashford, he''s an intriguing guy.'' She thought, saving himself in her memory.


    *****


    Amon finally arrived at his destination. He was at the House of Olympus again.


    But this time, for a different purpose.


    And with that, he headed inside the shop.


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 Chapter 48: FULLDIVE [4]

    Chapter 48: FULLDIVE [4]


    ?


    ****


    Entering the shop, Amon quickly headed towards the manager.


    Seeing him from a distance, the manager beamed.


    "Ah wee again sir! How may I be of service to you today?" He bowed.


    Coming in front of him, the boy smiled warmly.


    "Ahh you see, I want to do an anonymous dealing today." He answered.


    This was another perk of the gold membership.


    Using this, he could make transactions with HOU that would always be kept from the public.


    If they were released, then it would be against their customer privacy policy for the gold members.


    The manager nodded, his eyes gleaming with more interest now.


    The manager gestured towards a nearby room and led him there.


    They entered the room through the metal door, which was different from all the other doors.


    Coming inside, Amon found himself in a spacious metal room with ck metallic walls on all sides.


    In front, there were a couple of couches and seating arrangements with tables between them to discuss.


    It was a formal setting. A good one for an anonymous transaction.


    Both Amon and the manager settled down on one couch, opposite from each other, and arge table between them.


    "Wee to our anonymous transaction room. The walls around here are made of the toughest materials that have also been enhanced with the [Space] element, thus leading to no sound or mana leakage." He exined.


    "In here, you can trust uspletely with your anonymity."


    Nodding, Amon got straight to the point.


    "I''m here to sell this time, rather than buying."


    There was a pause for a second but the manager nodded,pletely serious now.


    "I want to sell mana cores." He continued.


    The man was taken aback for a second since he knew mana cores could also be done in public but quicklyposed himself and nodded.


    He knew that there must be a reason the man wanted to do it here.


    And so, Amon waved his hand, causing all of the 56 small cores and 1 boss core to appear on therge desk.


    Immediately, silence ensued in the room as the manager wentpletely quiet while he looked at him for a reaction.


    But he quicklyposed himself with a cough in a moment.


    It was just a little surprising for him, that was all.


    Most people who wanted to sell these many mana cores would go to Locke Market after all.


    Amon smiled internally.


    The surprise wasn''t done yet.


    "Please check the mana quantity and quality of the cores." He pointed out.


    Confused by his words, the manager tilted his head.


    He was probably wondering why 1 leaf dungeon cores, which he had identified by their size, would need their mana quality and quantity checked.


    Nevertheless, he followed his request and took a mana core in his hand, and started to examine it.


    In a moment, his wides went wide with shock.


    "T-t-these are 3 leaf dungeon cores...." He said, stammeringly.


    Amon nodded.


    The major reason why the dungeon was such arge hit for Locke Market wasn''t because of their sheer quantity.


    No.


    After all, they could have easily gotten this amount of cores with 3 or 4 attempts of 1 leaf dungeons.


    It was about the mana quality and quantity of the cores they had obtained from [Scarlet Reverie], which easilypared to one of a 3-leaf core.


    It had never been exined how this had happened or what was the reason behind it in the novel.


    And nor did Amon care. If he got it, then he took it gratefully. The reason didn''t matter as long as it didn''t affect the plot.


    Enveloped in disbelief, the manager quickly set the core aside and took a second one in his hand, examining it as well.


    "T-This is a 3-leaf core as well...."


    He set the core aside.


    "B-b-but how??? The s-size clearly shows it''s a 1-leaf core then how???" He asked himself.


    It was a widely known fact that the higher ranked a dungeon was, the rarer it was to find a mana core because of its quality.


    But right now, in front of the manager were 56 cores, allparable to a 3-leaf one.


    Amon coughed loudly, bringing back the manager to his senses.


    Thetter looked at him with a worried nce.


    "I-I''m sorry sir but we have never gotten thisrge amount of high-ranked mana cores


    before because they are all sold to Locke Market." He pointed out.


    The boy nodded, waiting for him to continue.


    The manager took a deep breath.


    "Which is why I''m sorry but I''m incapable of handing this transaction. If you still want to do


    it with us, I''ll have to ask Miss. Athena to handle this transaction if it''s okay with you..."


    Waiting for some moments, Amon nodded again.


    "It''s alright, I understand. Please inform Miss Athena that I want to perform an anonymous transaction and whenever she is free, you can contact me. I want to do this deal only with thispany." He answered, putting some emphasis on thest line.


    The manager nodded eagerly.


    "I understand! I''ll get you in touch with her as soon as possible."


    Nodding again, he stood up.


    "I guess my business is done here."


    He shook hands with the manager and then left the shop with a smile on his face.


    His n had worked perfectly.


    ****


    Coming back to his apartment, Amon saw that his sister still wasn''t back yet


    Heading into the shower, he quickly changed into some casual clothes.


    After 20 minutes, he came out and headed straight for the kitchen, making some dinner for


    both himself and his sister.


    After being done, he stored hers in the fridge and quickly devoured it, feeling better that he was saved from Katherine''s cooking.


    After being done, he was about to discuss his [Void] element with Zephyra when suddenly his


    watch vibrated.


    DING!


    He quickly looked at his watch.


    It was Charlotte.


    [Charlotte: Greetings! I''m sorry to disturb you but if you aren''t busy at the moment, would


    you like to discuss the strategies for the FULLDIVE with me?]


    Looking at the message, he sighed, not surprised at this happening.


    But he wasn''t against the idea. He wanted to discuss some strategies with her since she was


    much more experienced than him.


    Even though he was an extra in this novel, it wasn''t like he was going to hold back his power in


    all cases.


    He wanted to win his first match.


    Especially, since he was against Michael.


    He wanted to see how his power would fare against his at the current stage.


    How an extra would fare against the main character of the novel.


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 Chapter 49: FULLDIVE [5]

    Chapter 49: FULLDIVE [5]


    ?


    ****


    In the end, Amon ended up discussing strategies with Charlotte for 6 hours on his watch.


    Surprisingly, it didn''t feel boring chatting battle strategies with her. Rather, it felt quite good.


    She was a remarkably good teacher as well.


    Whenever he did not understand the basis of something or how it would work, she would patiently teach him the advantages and disadvantages of the move.


    But then again, that was just her personality. Anyone would feel natural and good talking to her.


    She didn''t ask him how well he could manipte his blood, probably knowing how bad and weak he was and not pointing it out.


    All she did was tell him to do his best and how even with small maniption of blood, he could benefit the team.


    She asked him about Klein''s element as well if he knew about it.


    Fortunately, Amon knew everything about him because of his significance in the story.


    His element was Water, which made Charlotte happy since he could deal with Michael.


    In her n, she told him that her [Earth] element was very advantageous against Alya''s [Fire] one and that she would be the one to handle her.


    Even though she was 2 ranks below her, she still thought that she might be able to win.


    She left Klein to battle Michael and asked him if he could fight for some time against Adam, until the former could hopefully arrive to help him.


    They still didn''t know about the theme of the FULLDIVE so all they could do was make some predicting ns ording to various possible themes.


    It was concluded in the end that they would undoubtedly lose against their team in a team fight where two users [Fire] element would overpower Charlotte''s [Earth].


    After making some small talk with his sister and pointing her toward the food, he also ended the chat with Charlottete into the night.


    She finally realized how immersed she had gotten in their conversation.


    After wishing her goodbye and goodnight, Amon turned towards sleep as well.


    Waiting for the next day.


    ****


    [The Next Day]


    Amon woke up, his eyes twitching from the burning rays of the sun impacting upon them. [Wake up sunshine.] Zephyra spoke in his head.


    ''Do you even sleep?'' He asked her.


    [I mean, not really since I can share your senses. So when you sleep and wake up, I get the same feeling of being refreshed as you. But even cutting that aside, as long as I''m in this formless state inside your head, I don''t need to sleep.] She exined.


    ''Ah, I see.''


    [Anyway, it''s getting quitete you know? You slept too much because of going to sleepte.] She pointed out and Amon quickly turned towards his watch.


    He saw that it was almost half an hour left before noon.


    ''Fuck..'' Cursing at himself, he quickly got out of the bed and headed for the shower.


    Coming out of his room fully dressedter, he fortunately saw no food left at the counter for him to eat.


    He felt blessed for getting another day of not eating his sister''s cooking.


    He started making himself some bread and jam sandwiches when suddenly Zephyra talked up in his mind.


    [You know, you actually forgot to visit Lily yesterday.]


    Amon''s hand stopped. He hadpletely forgotten to visit her because of the sudden rush of events yesterday.


    He felt like he hadmitted a crime. But Zephyra wasn''t done yet.


    [Also, you should give her some real food for once don''t you think?] She asked, seemingly trying to point at the sandwiches he was making.


    Now, he felt like killing himself from the sadness.


    Nevertheless, he quickly made some sandwiches for her and went out to feed her first before the other tasks.


    ***


    Reaching the streets, he found her sitting at the same corner again, pale from hunger.


    Her eyes were seemingly dead.


    He hurried towards her and quickly crouched down, looking at her face.


    For some reason, it was as if she hadpletely lost the color in her eyes that he had seen before.


    "Lily! Are you okay?" He asked, worried for the girl.


    Her eyes moved towards him and he saw color and joy return to them again.


    A happy smile marred her features and she jumped into her arms, tears pouring from her eyes.


    "Uncle!"


    Not understanding the reason of her crying, he patted her back gently, waiting for her to stop


    patiently.


    After some minutes, she finally stopped.


    "What do to you?" He asked her in broken English. (Author Comment: Demon this is you fr.)


    She wiped her tears and tried to fake a smile.


    "L-Lily h-hungry uncle."


    He squinted his eyes, wondering if that was really the case.


    Did the people in the streets do something to her?


    He wasn''t sure but it might be possible.


    He quickly took out some sandwiches and started to feed her.


    Taking in the new taste, she opened her mouth in joy and started eating the food fast, causing


    him to give her some water.


    She also handed him one, asking him to eat which he actually did.


    At this point, Amon knew that he was very attached to the girl. So much that if someone tried


    to harm her, he would not even think about the consequences.


    He thought of her as his little sister now and knew that he had to adopt her. Unfortunately, he didn''t know what his sister would think of this and he had to ask her first.


    There was also the matter of the piercing strong gazes he felt at his back whenever he tried to


    go.


    Was it Lily? Was she someone else trying to disguise someone?


    He didn''t think so.


    No.


    He was being dishonest, it was just his heart speaking cause he wouldn''t like to believe in


    such an oue.


    Taking all the feelings aside, he knew that he had to investigate this matter at hand first before he even asked his sister.


    After spending some time with her, Amon left her some sandwiches to eat and parted ways


    with her.


    Just likest time, he felt a strong pierce on his back.


    But like always, he ignored it and moved through the streets like before.


    But this time, something was different.


    Whoever was responsible for this,pletely missed something that he had done.


    They ignored the minuscule microscopic device that he had attached to Lily when talking. And at that moment, he was at least 90% sure now that it wasn''t Lily.


    Because the tracker he had attached to her showed that she hadn''t moved from her spot


    whereas the piercing gaze on his back kept following him through the streets.


    He sighed in relief as he took thest turn.


    Now he just hoped that the remaining 10% would be fulfilled as well


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 Chapter 50: FULLDIVE [6]

    Chapter 50: FULLDIVE [6]


    ?


    ****


    [The Next Day]


    Amon got up quickly in the morning, contrasting his normal schedule.


    This was because of how eagerly he had been waiting for this day.


    Yesterday, he had visited Athena in her office just a few blocks from the City Centre.


    The teacher''s offices had apletely separate area for them in the academy.


    It was closer to the main sses and the grounds so that if any mishap arose, they would be quickly present for the situation.


    When he arrived there, he got straight to the point.


    He asked for permission to use his spatial ring in today''s FULLDIVE


    Athena thought about it for some minutes before finally agreeing.


    Usually, this wasn''t allowed as elements like [Water Maniption] or [Fire Maniption] didn''t require a spatial ring.


    However, his case was very rare.


    Blood itself was an extremely rare element, and a maniption ss of the element was even


    rarer.


    After exining to her how he couldn''t fight without a spatial ring that carried blood and he would have to injure himself to do so, she finally agreed.


    She even went as far as to agree that she would arrange a spatial ring for him after informing the management, the expenses of which would be covered by the academy.


    But she told him that it wouldn''t be possible to do it till tomorrow and that was a problem for him.


    Fortunately, he quickly told her that he already had a spatial ring for that purpose and showed her the ring, surprising her that it was from HOU.


    Though she might have thought how he got it from his average strength and background, she didn''t ask.


    After checking it thoroughly, she told him that he was allowed to use the ring.


    But, only 50L of blood and no more.


    After that, he left the office and returned home at night where he made food for his sister and then went to sleep early.


    Before closing his eyes, he made sure to check up on the strategies with Charlotte, and at the end, she wished him luck for the match tomorrow.


    Returning to the present, Amon dressed himself in a tracksuit and quickly headed outside for a normal jog.


    Returning after 1 hour of exercising, he took a quick shower and ate a simple breakfast.


    Unfortunately, he had missed the chance to talk with his sister as she had already left by the time he returned.


    After being done with the dishes, he headed outside towards his ss.


    ****


    Strangely enough, Amon didn''t meet Michael or Ren at the entrance of the school which was what always happened before.


    But, he did meet Athena at the entrance.


    Since thetter always arrived with her together, he asked her why he wasn''t here today.


    "Greetings Miss Athena, may I ask why Ren is absent today?"


    She looked at him for a second before facing forward.


    "He told me that he wanted to skip the first ss of today for some important reason so I allowed him to do so." She exined.


    He sighed internally in his head.


    Normally, skipping the first ss of Athena was a grave offense and punishment yet she so casually allowed Ren to do so.


    ''She isn''t even hiding her favoritism...''


    Entering the ss, Amon looked up at thest seats in the back and saw no one sitting there.


    Numerous gazes were cast his way, some filled with mockery and disdain.


    ''The weakest guy in the first match? Miss Charlotte''s team is totally going to lose..''


    ''I know right, especially with thatme control over his element.''


    They weren''t even trying to hide their whispers.


    Sighing and ignoring them, Amon was about to head up the stairs when suddenly he was called out by Charlotte, who was sitting right next to them.


    "Greetings! We meet again Amon." She greeted him with a warm smile.


    Putting on a smile as well, he nodded.


    "Ah, yes. Good morning to you, it''s a pleasure to meet you again." He scratched the back of his head.


    "I would have liked to talk more with you but it seems the ss is going to start. I wish us luck for the FULLDIVE." She said and he nodded.


    "I wish the same to you."


    In tandem, she focused her gaze up ahead and he started heading towards his seat.


    Right as he sat down on his seat, the door opened and Athena entered.


    Quickly settling down her files on the podium, she started taking attendance.


    "Elizabeth Snow-" She was interrupted as the ssroom door opened.


    SLIDE!


    It was Michael.


    Then it all clicked in Amon''s mind. The man must have woken upte and when he got to know about his FULLDIVE, he had instantly started training for the match.


    ''He must have been training till thest moment...'' Amon thought, observing from therge pants that Michael was taking.


    Athena looked at him.


    "Student Michael, since this is your first time beingte to the ss, I shall let this go. But the next time, please be on your seats before I enter the ss." She informed him then nudged him towards his seat.


    "Ah yes! I apologize Miss Athena." He bowed and started walking towards the stairs.


    As he was walking, Amon observed him and Alya sharing a brief nce in tandem.


    But the former quickly averted it as soon he noticed her looking at him. Coming and sitting next to Amon, the former quickly asked him about how he was.


    "Yo, you good now?" He asked, taking a casual tone.


    Michael smiled and nodded eagerly.


    "Y-Yeah, I recovered at a fast pace actually." He answered, still adjusting to the tone.


    Amon smiled and nodded.


    "That''s good, excited about today?" He asked and the blonde-haired body nodded excitedly.


    "Yes!"


    After being done with attendance, Athena told them all to form a line and they were led out of the ssroom.


    She took them behind the clovist and armenist grounds, where another building just asrge as one of the grounds stood forth.


    Entering the building, they were greeted by a spacious wide interior, covered in white.


    Everything from the walls to the furniture was all white.


    There were long stairs at each corner of the floor that led up to the upper floors.


    But the main focus right now was the wide rows ofrge vertical white pods that were erected


    from the ground.


    "I''ll exin the mechanics of the FULLDIVEter when you enter the space. Before that, will


    the first match contestants pleasee forward and stand in front of each other." She called


    out.


    Out of therge crowd of ss, Amon and Michael together walked out.


    From the other side, he saw Charlotte and Alya walk out together.


    And then, a boy with pitch-ck hair and bright blue eyes emerged from another side.


    His facial features were slightly above average but Amon instantly recognized him.


    He was Klein Sinire, the second son of the former Sinire Barony. Then, from another side, he was a boy with golden eyes and wheat blonde haire out.


    His facial features were quite beautiful, leaning more towards the noble side.


    He was Adam Ravenfield, the first son of the Ravenfield County.


    Both teams came to stand in front of each other.


    With Amon in front of Michael, Alya in front of Charlotte, and Klein in front of Adam.


    "Perfect, now please each one of you settle down into one of the pods on the frontne." She


    pointed out.


    But before letting Amon do that, she quickly checked his spatial ring and separated all the


    blood in a separate space, leaving him only with 50L.


    Then she allowed him to go.


    Following her instructions, everyone arrived in front of a white pod and immediately, the


    entrance of the pod opened, as if sensing their presence.


    White cold air emerged from the interior and Amon was greeted by afortable brown chair


    inside of the pod.


    "You all may sit down now." She ordered and everyone settled down in their pods.


    "There should be a helmet above your heads. Please put it in on your eyes and close them, so


    that the simtion may start."


    Looking up at his seat, Amon saw a white headgear dangling from the top.


    Grabbing it, he put it on his eyes and closed them just like everyone else. Instantly, yellow golden screens started to appear in the darkness of his closed eyes.


    [STARTING SIMULATION....]


    [2%]


    ....


    [10%]


    ...


    [34%}


    --


    [56%]


    ...


    [78%]


    ....


    [92%]


    ...


    [96%]


    ...


    [99%]


    ...


    [SIMULATION LOADING COMPLETE. PLEASE PREPARE YOUR BODY.]


    Suddenly, Amon''s body shook, cing a distorted feeling on his body.


    It was the same feeling he got when he stepped through a portal.


    The feeling that he was being teleported.


    And after 2 minutes, the feeling finally disappeared and Amon felt as if he was standing right


    now.


    He heard Athena''s voice in his head.


    [Alright, you may open your eyes now.] She informed them and he opened his eyes, and as


    they opened, he saw the final golden screen in the darkness.


    [WELCOME TO FULLDIVE!]


    It was finally time.


    The time for Extra VS MC.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 51: FULLDIVE [7]

    Chapter 51: FULLDIVE [7]


    ?


    ****


    Amon opened his eyes and was greeted by the vicious sight of a gigantic deep rainforest.


    Trees towered up into the sky, blocking the sun''s rays from reaching into the heart of the forest.


    His eyes widened at the realness of it all.


    He sniffed and the fresh rainy air impacted his nostrils.


    He looked at himself and found himself dressed in a tight ck bodysuit.


    His head was encased in a ck helmet as well that covered it from all sides except the front.


    He looked around and saw his teammates standing nearby, dressed in bodysuits as well.


    And right behind them was arge silver crystal, floating in the air.


    "Hey!" He called out to his teammates and ran to them.


    Charlotte saw him and nodded, but just when she was about to say something, Athena spoke up.


    [Wee to FULLDIVE everyone. Since this is your first experience, I''ll exin what it is for you.]


    Amon nodded. He already knew what FULLDIVE was but it wouldn''t hurt getting a revision of the topic.


    [FULLDIVE is a virtual simtion created by the Eldergrove Academy in cooperation with the Imperiac. It''sposed of various elements and mana cores to create apletely realistic experience for students without causing them real damage.]


    He nodded internally. This aligned with what he knew about the thing.


    [FULLDIVE has various modes that we use to train the students throughout the years. The one you are currently going through today is Knock or Destroy.]


    He nodded again.


    [The rules are simple. You can see arge hovering crystal behind your team. Each team can either destroy the opposite team''s crystal or eliminate the whole team to win.]


    [Artifacts or Weapons that provide you with an additional buff automatically result in an automatic disqualification. But if a weapon or artifact is necessary for your element to function, for example, a maniption type, then it is allowed to a certain degree.]


    Charlotte''s and Klein''s eyes turned towards him, the only maniption-type clovist they knew.


    [The bodysuits you wear are designed to protect you from fatal harm. It will also


    automatically sense any fatal attack on your body and eliminate you instantly, so be careful to avoid it.]


    [You are also not allowed tomunicate with each other using your school wristbands. Doing so will automatically result in a disqualification.]


    He nodded.


    [Now that everything is said, let the first match of FULLDIVE officially begin!]


    And the connection instantly cut.


    Charlotte looked at Klein.


    "You are Klein, right? Nice to meet you, I''m Charlotte. I was unable to find you for the past 2 days so we were unable to discuss strategies with you. That said, I''ll give you a quick runaround on our strategy for today, is that okay?" She hurriedly said, her tone and expression serious.


    Amon internally smiled.


    It was just like Charlotte.


    Despite her usual kind and cheerful personality, whenever she would go to a battle or exam, her whole demeanor would instantly flip.


    This was what earned her immeasurable praiseter in the Imperial Military.


    In battle, she would be aplete calcting mastermind, exuding the aura of amander.


    Klein, in turn, nodded with a slight smile.


    "Ah yes, it''s a pleasure to meet you as well Miss Charlotte." He shook hands with her.


    "I apologize, I was a little busy with my family for the past days but yes, please give me a


    brief exnation of the strategy." He apologized.


    Charlotte nodded and started exining the strategy to him.


    Amon looked at Klein with a conflicted expression.


    The Sinire Family was once a Barony but had lost their status and wealth after they had been falsely used of conspiring against the Imperiac.


    His family was very poor now and this was why most of the time he was unable to get stronger, despite his high talent in water.


    He was always caring for them and trying to feed them along with his elder brother who worked in the Imperial Management Department.


    Amon certainly had ns for him in the future. He did not n to let a talent like this go to waste.


    Being done with him, he turned his gaze towards the forest.


    It was not that different from the one he had seen in the dungeon, giving him the advantage


    of experience and how to use his elements in here.


    He observed various trees and positions and how he could use his blood strings here.


    After 5 minutes, Charlotte was finally done and both of them looked at Amon.


    "I forgot to inform you Amon but the Adam of their team has a [Lightning] affinity."


    Thetter nodded, despite knowing the fact already.


    Klein looked at him.


    "So we are doing a 1 on 1? I''ll handle Prince Michael then." He concluded.


    Charlotte nodded then moved her gaze to the forest.


    "Yes, now we must hurry, we don''t know how far they are into the forest yet. I don''t know about Adam but with my discussion with Amon, we both concluded that they are rushing in


    without a n. So let''s move out now."


    It was true.


    Michael and Alya both had an impulsive personality as twins. They would do whatever their instincts or heart told them to do without any thinking.


    And so they were just about to move out when Amon stopped Klein.


    "Klein, a word."


    Charlotte stopped at a distance and the man in question came over to him.


    Nearing him, he whispered.


    "I know your family is suffering from poverty."


    Suddenly, he saw a flicker of rage pass through Klein''s eyes and he moved to attack him but


    the next words quickly stopped him.


    "I can fix that for you."


    He looked at Amon with shock-stricken eyes.


    "H-h-how?"


    The Sinire Barony Downfall case was amon one that was known throughout the


    public.


    Everyone knew about Klein but nobody dared to help him or talk to him. Nobody wanted to


    earn the ire of the Imperiac after all.


    So why was this guy wanting to help him?


    Nevertheless, he was willing to listen as long as he could help his family.


    "I''ll give you 10k Exlor for switching targets with me without telling Charlotte."


    Klein''s eyes widened.


    10k Exlor was a lot of money. Yet this man was just willing to give him that amount with a


    switch of target?


    Amon looked at him, waiting for him to make his decision.


    Finally, he agreed.


    "I-I''ll do it. But how do I know you aren''t lying? You are the weakest person of the ye-" He


    was interrupted as Amon linked his watch and his after tapping a few numbers on his watch.


    DING!


    Klein took a brief nce at his watch and his eyes widened but he quicklyposed himself because of the short time.


    "A-alright, I''ll take Adam." He answered.


    Amon smiled.


    The man had probably thought that 10k Exlor was better over a measly first FULLDIVE match.


    A smart move. This interaction would also allow him to interact more with Klein in the future. And with that, they both quickly returned to Charlotte, pretending nothing happened. They quickly convinced her after they said that they were just exchanging contact details for


    the future.


    And so, each of them split up and headed into separate paths of the forest at full speed.


    ****


    Amon traversed through the trees at full speed, his eyes out for Michael. Fortunately, it didn''t take long enough for him to find him as suddenly both of them passed


    each other through the trees.


    Both of their eyes widened, recognizing each other and they simultaneously took aplete


    turn back.


    In tandem, three fire spears were fired at Amon while three blood spears were fired at Michael.


    The spears passed the other spears and headed straight towards their targets.


    Amon quickly generated a blood shield while Michael did the same.


    Arge explosion carried out as the spears impacted upon the shields, producing smoke in the


    area.


    As the smoke cleared, the former saw thetter''s mouth open with shock.


    He had probably not been expecting Amon to grow this strong in such a short period.


    But even he was surprised at Michael.


    He wasn''t supposed to be this fast and strong at this stage.


    Had his character brought upon change in the plotline. Nevertheless, a tense and excited smile marred both of their features.


    It seemed like both of them wanted to fight each other from the start.


    ****


    Michael was shocked.


    Truly shocked.


    In all his dreams, he had never expected Amon to be this strong.


    Was he hiding his power?


    Or had he truly grown this strong in such a short time?


    Did the guy possess some kind of cheat like him?


    In his eyes, Amon had always been an anomaly but yet a truly good friend.


    His hard work and how he put his all into everything he did had motivated him even more to


    train.


    When he had seen the matchups, he had been so excited to finally fight him.


    So much that the god inside his head had screamed for him to stop training so much.


    But it was worth it for the fight they were going to have. Suddenly, Michael saw Amon''s eyes sh purple for the fraction of a second.


    It was nothing major but instantly the god inside his head jumped.


    [Wait!] A deep manly voice surged inside his head.


    ''Huh?''


    [That woman....] Sran whispered.


    ''Amon? What about him?'' Michael hurriedly asked.


    But the god went silent.


    He suddenly felt as if the god inside his head was trembling with tension.


    Finally, Sran spoke, his voice excited and shaky.


    [My boy Michael..]


    He felt the god inside him smile widely.


    [You must defeat that boy no matter what, use all that you have!]


    And Michael smiled excitedly.


    ****


    As Amon tried to use his [Eye of the Void], he suddenly saw Michael''s own eyes sh crimson,


    causing him to cancel the skill.


    At the sight, Zephyra jumped him in his head.


    [Amon!]


    ''Yes?''


    But the goddess was silent now.


    All he heard was a trembling whisper from her.


    [That bastard...] Finally, she spoke and he almost saw her smiling widely like him inside his mental space,


    sweating.


    [Listen Amon.....]


    [You must beat that boy to a pulp, use all that you possess!]


    Not understanding her reason, he still smiled and waved his hand, causing arge number of


    blood blobs to appear in the air.


    "Alright," Amon answered.


    ***


    Michael smiled and waved his hand causing arge firewave spread to around him to counter


    to blood blobs.


    "Alright."


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    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 52: FULLDIVE [8]

    Chapter 52: FULLDIVE [8]


    ?


    ****


    Alya moved through the trees with remarkable speed.


    As an archer armentist, she had been trained in physical activities since her awakening. Her bow was in her hand and she had already nocked an arrow on it to prepare herself. She didn''t know about the other group but there was nomunication at all on her side. More like, she was the cause of nomunication.


    After years of barely talking with his brother, there was an awkward atmosphere between the two.


    As for the other guy....


    ''What was his name again?..'' She wondered as she jumped from a tree.


    Ah, yes, Adam.


    He waspletely calm about the situation, having no worries at all.


    Rather, he was even sleepy as he kept yawning from time to time.


    Well, it wasn''t like she would have preferredmunication.


    She knew that Charlotte was already quite weaker than her in terms of a hide-and-attack battle. As long as she could keep her distance, defeating her was easy.


    And fortunately, the current environment was perfect for it.


    A Rainforest. It provided everything that was needed for an archer.


    The long and thick trees provided good cover and stealth for her while at the same time making it difficult for Charlotte to attack with her greatsword.


    As soon as the exnation was done by Athena, she instantly announced to her teammates that she would be taking care of the whole team by herself.


    She told them to just sit outside of the forest and guard the crystal.


    But that order was more directed at Adam as Michael had instantly rushed off at the sound of starting.


    The former, who was alreadyzy, had agreed to sit outside the forest and guard the crystal.


    But here was the problem for Alya.


    Recognizing that the forest would be a problem for herself, Charlotte must be opting to get out of it and destroy the crystal, which would be ced in an open space.


    She would be able to definitely fight at her full power there.


    And for a guy like Adam, who possessed the [Lightning] element, he was obviously not standing a chance against her.


    Nevertheless, Alya was confident in herself that she would find Charlotte first and defeat her before she could get out of the forest.


    Suddenly, as she jumped from another tree, arge tremor shook the ground, throwing her off bnce on the next branch.


    Quickly stabilizing herself in the air, she grabbed a nearby branch and hung down from it.


    Her head quickly drifted towards the source of the noise which came from a distance.


    There, quite far into the forest, she sawrge billows of smoke rising up.


    ''Michael....'' She instantly recognized the cause.


    For the Lancasters, who were highly proficient in [Fire], they could easily detect a fire from miles away.


    Especially so if it was started by their kin.


    But therge firepower that was being exuded from Michael right now sent her into immense shock.


    ''H-how, t-this is Michael right now?'' She thought in disbelief.


    It was the same man who was barely able for form a fire spell a week ago!?


    She couldn''t believe it but it was right in front of her eyes.


    But still, she quicklyposed herself. This was a battle. She couldn''t let down her guard right now.


    As she tried to find out who the other person was and if her twin needed assistance, she quickly calmed down after seeing it was Amon.


    She could see the color of blood from the spaces between the trees because of her archer eyesight.


    Amon Ashford. He was an intriguing person indeed.


    Certainly, someone who was enough to get her attention.


    But that was only because of his rtionship with Michael.


    As for his strength, she was definitely sure her twin was enough to beat him.


    Even though he might still be a little weak from the powerup, the person he was fighting, Amon, was abysmally weak.


    To the point of even making her call him pathetic because of his control over his element. Before she could continue her trail of thought, her eyes suddenly moved with alertness. Her body instinctively reacted and a fire-imbued arrow escaped from her bow in the next second to the side.


    The arrow whizzed through the air beforeing directly in contact with a water spear. The fire and water fought against each other and the former instantly got extinguished. But even so, the normal arrow cut through the spear and continued at its path.


    But the person had already moved from their spot and it hit nothing but the sturdy bark of a tree.


    Alya''s eyes turned to another spot and she quickly jumped out of the tree''s hiding.


    Coming out, her eyes locked with the attacker.


    He had messy pitch-ck hair and azure blue eyes.


    Since it wasn''t Amon, she instantly recognized him as the third person of the party.


    Klein Sinire.


    In the next second, two ming arrows and two water spears contacted each other again. Just like before, the arrows cut through the spears and shot right at Klein, who was forced to


    dodge them.


    Unfortunately, though he dodged both of the arrows, he was unprepared for the sudden kick thatnded on his back, sending him crashing across the ground.


    Gritting his teeth through the pain, Klein jumped from the ground to the side, dodging the


    two ming arrows that impacted the ground.


    Blood trickled down from both sides of his mouth that he brushed aside and got ready to fight with two water shortswords manifesting in his hands.


    Alya too nocked 3 arrows on her bow, which instantly caught fire on the tip.


    She was ready to quickly demolish this person and continue on her path to find Charlotte.


    ****


    Charlotte moved remarkably fast across the forest ground.


    She was moving through the middle of the forest right now, the part which was quite denser


    than the other parts.


    Therge number of vines and trees posed a bit of difficulty for her to move but it was fine as she kept making earth for herself to traverse better.


    For a heavy tank like her, it would have been better for her to move from the outer edges of


    the forest, where there was less density.


    But, that was exactly what she wanted Alya to think.


    Mistaking that Charlotte would being from the outside edges, she would take that path


    to eliminate her quickly.


    Taking the main person out of the team would instantly plummet Charlotte''s team chances to


    zero.


    After seeing the forest, she instantly scrapped her n to fight with Alya.


    She would never win in this environment. And this was what they had decided after they had revised the n aftering.


    Suddenly, the ground rumbled with intensity and arge explosion urred on the right side


    of the forest.


    She quickly moved her head to the side and sawrge billows of smoke in the air.


    She instantly thought of the person as Alya. In her mind, she was the only person who was


    capable of this much firepower.


    Michael was too weak.


    She tried to see who was fighting her and shock etched on her face as she saw the color of


    blood for a millisecond through a space.


    She still wasn''t sure about it but she thought it was Amon now.


    In this case, he was definitely going to lose to her in a minute. Maybe even seconds.


    But that aside, her eyes suddenly widened.


    ''If Alya is there then...'' Since Alya was a considerable distance from her, that meant...


    ''The Team Crystal was all for me to handle and destroy....'' She thought.


    And instantly, she put more mana into her element and shot through the trees.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 53: FULLDIVE [9]

    Chapter 53: FULLDIVE [9]


    ?


    ****


    Amon shot at full speed toward Michael with his blood strings in tow.


    Thetter smiled and waved his hand, causing three fire spears to manifest beside him before shooting forward himself.


    The blood strings shot towards his neck attempting to strangle him but were instantly incinerated as they came in contact with the spears.


    Rather than shooting them at Amon, Michael was moving them through the air, using them to keep the strings at bay.


    It was surprising.


    For a guy who was barely able to cast a spell a week ago, wasn''t this growth too sudden?


    He wasn''t supposed to be this strong.


    Nevertheless, Amon knew that Michael too had a system and cheats of his own.


    Especially the fact that he got several quests at the start of the novel unlike him who had gotten none yet.


    Reaching near him, he grasped his wrist and attempted to throw him to the ground.


    But his grip was instantly broken as Michael used his other hand to grasp Amon''s hand and shake it away with force.


    Sumbing under the sudden sheer force, thetter was taken by surprise and got a kick to his abdomen, sending him straddling back.


    He instantly realized the reason behind the force of the grip.


    ''[Earth] element....'' Amon''s mouth twitched.


    Michael had formed earth underneath his hand for just a split second to strengthen his force and thwart away his hand.


    ''His 4 elements are going to be troublesome...''


    [From your side!] Zephyra warned.


    Immediately moving his body to the side, he was taken by surprise as multiple small fire darts shot at him.


    Generating arge blob of blood, Amon quickly generated arge blood shield that blocked the darts from reaching him.


    Unfortunately, it was just a feint to take his attention away from Michael who appeared underneath him in an instant.


    Extending his hand towards his neck, arge fire de shot out from his palm.


    [Underneath!] Zephyra warned and Amon quickly looked down, finding the de inches from his neck.


    Fortunately, he was saved as his eyes instantly glowed amethyst.


    ''[Eye of the Void]''


    Instantly, Michael''s body was stunned, keeping him in ce.


    The sudden shock disrupted his mana flow, halting the extension of the fire de from his palm.


    The blonde''s eyes widened from shock and were unable to react to the bone-cracking kick thatnded on the side of his face, sending him crashing through the trees.


    The fire spears disintegrated in the air and without a moment of waste, Amon shot towards the man along with his strings.


    Michael gritted his teeth through the pain and crashed to the ground.


    Coming near him, the strings shot for him but instantly a cocoon of fire enveloped the man, burning the strings.


    ''A [Sun] element skill...''


    And right at that moment, Amon''s eyes widened and he looked at the ground.


    His thoughts were proven correct as orangish red spears erupted from the ground near him.


    The color was drastically different from the yellow-orange one of Michael''s normal mes, indicating that it was another [Sun] skill.


    In the heat of the moment, Amon instinctively activated a [Void] skill.


    He instantly disappeared from the spot and the sun spears harmlessly erupted in the air.


    Appearing meters away, his face was stricken with horror.


    He had activated a [Void] skill....


    He didn''t know if Athena could sense the spatial mana fluctuations in the cameras or not because this was a separate space but...


    If she did, then he was done for.


    It was not as if he didn''t want her to find out.


    It was just that this was not the correct time.


    It would bring him needless attention andpletely destroy the first arc of the story.


    The first arc was pivotal as it was needed for Michael to be introduced to the main cast and settle in with them.


    It was only after that, that Amon could reveal his full powers to the public.


    Right now, all he hoped was that Athena hadn''t found out about his spatial skill.


    Focusing his attention back on the battle, he clicked his tongue when he found Michael wasn''t there anymore.


    And before he could think about it, a ming fistnded on his right cheek.


    Blood poured out of Amon''s mouth as his body was sent dragging back because of the force.


    Spitting on the ground, he saw Michael a few meters away from him, his legs and armspletely covered in mes.


    ''He''s sacrificing his body and mana for additional strength...'' He thought.


    With the speed at which both of them were using mana, he knew that it would only take several minutes for both of them to run out.


    Nevertheless, an excited and maniacal smile came upon Amon''s lips.


    If they were going all out then he had no problem.


    Manifesting tens of blood globs around him, he shaped them all into ten long blood spears


    while Michael closed the distance again.


    The spears fired at him with full speed.


    But just as they were a second away from touching him, thetter''s eyes glowed golden.


    Instantly, the mes on the legs of Michael burned in a ferocious red color and he disappeared


    from his spot.


    More like he turned into a zing blur and reached Amon before he knew it.


    The spearspletely missed their mark and a bone-cracking uppercutnded on Amon''s


    chin, sending him shooting up in the air.


    "ARGHH!" He screamed from pain as blood poured out from his chin.


    Shooting up in the air, Michael chose to deliver hisst attack.


    His right leg red even more, with the mes turning that part of his bodysuit ck.


    Amon gritted his teeth and tried to move in the air but pain shot up in his body as he tried to


    do so.


    And in the next moment, a ring kick shot through the air aiming at his skill. Trying to end


    him.


    But suddenly, Michael''s eyes widened as Amon moved his body with full force, blood gushing


    out of his injuries.


    It was now or never.


    Manipting the blood inside of him, he elerated it at full pace.


    Veins bulged out of his body suit and his eyes turned bloodshot, the small blood vessels in


    them extending towards the iris.


    He finally regained control over his body and instantly maneuvered in the air with speed,


    bearing the pain that shot up his waist.


    The kick zed past the spot, missing himpletely.


    Moving to Michael''s back, bloodpletely coated his arm and before the former knew it, a


    clean punch connected with his helmet, producing a metallic sound.


    CLANG!


    The blonde''s head blurred with pain and blood shot out of his nostrils as he was sent


    smashing into the ground.


    At this point, he barely had any mana left.


    At most, he could execute only one attack.


    Amonnded on top of Michael, towering above his lying body.


    He looked at thetter with a bloody maniacal smile.


    Thetter gritted his teeth in pain as even more crimson liquid gushed out his mouth and


    looked at the former through half-opened eyes.


    Amon chuckled.


    "G-guess I win bud-" He was interrupted as Michael made a sign with his middle and


    forefinger curved inwardly and the thumb keeping them in ce.


    Thetter made a maniacal smile as well.


    "Hehe, let''s make a gamble.." He said and a minuscule zing red ball formed at the tip of


    his fingers.


    Amon instantly realized what it was and his eyes fully widened in horror.


    The clovist grounds...


    And in the next moment, the marble-sized ball of red exploded and a bright red sea of


    scorching heat hit both of them.


    B000000000000000000000000000000M


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 Chapter 54: FULLDIVE [10]

    Chapter 54: FULLDIVE [10]


    ?


    ****


    ''YOU FUC**R!'' Amon cursed internally.


    The red ball at his fingertips exploded and in the next moment, a crimson sea of scorching heat engulfed both of them.


    B000000000000000000000M!


    ****


    [On Charlotte''s side]


    Charlotte passed through the thick trees quickly, expending more mana for agility.


    Suddenly the ground terrifyingly shook with a tremor.


    It rumbled with a ground-breaking intensity and arge explosion sounded in the air.


    Alerted, her eyes immediately moved towards the source.


    There, at arge distance away from her, she saw arge crimson bundle of clouds, rising high up into the sky.


    The area in and around had beenpletely incinerated.


    Her eyes trembled with surprise.


    The battle at that spot had now ended.


    She was shocked at the scale of power she was seeing right now. Had Alya always been keeping it in store?


    She didn''t expect this much firepower from a fire armentist, much less from an archer.


    She didn''t know if either Alya had escaped the explosion or escaped.


    But knowing how weak her opponent was, Charlotte knew that the battle would have nevere to a point where she would have to sacrifice herself to take down her opponent.


    Nevertheless, Amon had now been eliminated, that was for sure.


    ''I need to hurry. Considering that Alya must have esca- '' Her thoughts were halted as the confirmation of elimination of candidates resounded in her head.


    But they had not been halted because of the sudden interruption.


    No.


    They had been halted because of the unbelievable words that were spoken.


    [Amon Ashford from Team A has been eliminated. Michael Von Lancaster from Team B has been eliminated. The remaining candidates are 2 from each party.] Athena voiced over the speaker.


    Charlotte''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    ''Those f-fires...t-they were from P-Prince Michael!?'' She stammered in her thoughts.


    Such a thing like that was impossible.


    What Athena had just confirmed right now was that such arge explosion had been created by the second weakest person in the ss!?


    A normal person like Charlotte would have instantly said nonsense.


    But the proof was right there for her to see.


    Previously, when she saw the explosion in the clovist grounds and found outter that the


    cause was believed to be Michael, she had instantly passed it off as a rumor.


    How could one even generate that much amount of mana for an explosion like that?


    So she had thought it was just a problem with the grounds.


    But this proof right now had just pped her in the cheeks.


    But what was even more surprising right now was that Amon had beaten Michael.


    The explosion probably looked like ast-resort move from Michael to take down Amon with himself which meant that thetter had originally beaten the former.


    Although it was not ording to the n they had made cause her teammate had switched targets, she couldn''t do anything about it right now.


    What was even more of a problem was that Alya was still alive, which meant she had to hurry.


    Before, she had heard another explosion from her left side, which probably meant that Alya and Klein were fighting there right now.


    Unlike Amon, no, she had to put the man in a higher light now after the feat he had performed.


    Unlike her former expectations of Amon, she expected Klein to hold out longer.


    His element was also water, which was an advantage against her fire.


    So it was only her and the guy Adam left now.


    She was almost to the crystal now.


    Making a note at the back of her mind to pay more attention to Amon and Michael now, she quickly hurried towards the crystal.


    ****


    Charlotte finally saw light at the end of the forest and with one big leap along with her ymore, she jumped out of the trees.


    Instantly, the ever-stretchingndscape entered her eyes, with the grass swaying lightly in


    the cold breeze.


    But that wasn''t the point right now.


    The main attraction of this scenery was therge reflecting crystal that shone in mid-air, levitating by itself.


    The device to win this match was right in front of Charlotte right now.


    But the single problem preventing her from essing was also right there.


    A handsome boy with wheat-blonde hair and golden eyes and an appearance that exuded


    nobility.


    Yet, his actions and aura screamed the exact opposite as he yawned in the air, feeling sleepy.


    He was Adam Ravenfield.


    Noticing Charlotte''s presence, his face turned to her and an amused smile crept up his bored


    face.


    "Are you strong?" He asked.


    Not responding to his question, she raised her ymore and her clovis mark shone dark brown, indicating her preparation to fight.


    Variousrge rocks started to coat the gigantic ymore while she leaned and adjusted her


    posture.


    In response, Adam spread his hands, causing lightning to tingle out from the palms.


    His legs started to crackle as small sparks started to emit from around them.


    And in one moment, heunched himself with all his might waving his hands through the air.


    The lightning in his hand shaped itself into whips of electricity and shot at full speed towards


    Charlotte.


    However, with one wave of her ymore, a wave of rocks wasunched at Adam''s way,pletely nullifying his electricity.


    Using the boost in his speed, he quickly maneuvered and dodged them before nearing the distance between each other.


    Pulling back his lightning coated right arm, he punched with all his might at the now earthen


    ymore.


    The punch cleanly connected and multiple rocks broke under the force.


    But the attack wasn''t done just yet as multiple small whips spread from his forearm trying to


    reach Charlotte.


    Unfortunately, he was pushed back as the greatsword suddenly twisted and connected cleanly


    with his abdomen.


    Stabilizing himself in mid-air, he shot towards Charlotte again with lightning coating his


    whole body.


    ****


    [Meanwhile at Alya''s side]


    With thest volley of arrows from Alya that instantly exploded as they neared Klein, she finally defeated him and his body dispersed into blue motes of light.


    [Klein Sinire from Team A has been eliminated.]


    But that wasn''t what was on her mind right now.


    It was the sheer power that Michael had exuded before, resulting in arge scale explosion


    that eliminated both of them.


    And also the fact that Amon Ashford, someone whom she considered to be a weakling,


    defeated Michael first.


    She knew it. It was obvious from the explosion that it was thest resort of her twin.


    Michael was weak, she knew it. But to lose to someone who had fainted with just some spears


    a week ago? Impossible.


    Nevertheless, she would just find out moreter.


    Right now, she knew that Charlotte must have headed towards the crystal and Adam was


    handling her right now.


    Going back would just be a waste as the former would already be done by then and she would


    lose.


    Therefore, it was smarter to head towards the crystal which was only a short distance away


    from her.


    And so keeping some notes at the back of her mind, she leaped into the trees again.


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 Chapter 55: FULLDIVE [11]

    Chapter 55: FULLDIVE [11]


    ?


    ****


    [On Charlotte''s side]


    Charlotte raised her ymore and mmed it into the ground, digging it halfway deep.


    Instantly, the ground near Adam ruptured and formed into a crater, cing him in the middle.


    He instantly used his element to try and propel himself but to his dismay, it was useless as earth spikes erupted from the crushed ground.


    Numerous of them pierced through his arms and legs before finally, one neared his unprotected neck.


    Detecting the iing fatal strike, the bodysuit instantly reacted and dispersed Adam''s body into blue motes of light.


    As soon as he disappeared, the voice came into Charlotte''s head, confirming his elimination.


    [Adam Ravenfield from Team B has been eliminated.]


    Heaving a deep sigh of relief, her grip loosened around the grip of her ymore and she slumped to the ground.


    She was panting deeply as her mana was nearly rock bottom because of herst move.


    She had already used most of her mana in the forest and with the usage of her strongest move right now, she was almost out.


    But.


    She gripped her ymore''s hilt tight again, clenched her teeth, and got up by using it as support.


    The battle wasn''t over yet.


    Alya was still alive.


    Midway through her battle, she was distracted by the voice that came in her head.


    The elimination of Klein.


    This meant that Alya was still alive. And with her agility, she would have already arrived in front of her team crystal by now.


    This meant that it was now a race. A race on who could destroy the crystal first.


    And Charlotte sure as heck didn''t n to back down.


    With effort, she moved her body towards the crystal and practiced mana breathing to recover bits of mana.


    Reaching the crystal, she saw the faces of both therades that had participated with her in this fight.


    Amon. Weak but he had taken her by surprise and had managed to defeat the Prince.


    Klein. Also weak yet had managed to stall Alya for so long.


    It was up to her now to win this fight.


    Raising her greatsword, she performed a wide swing at the crystal.


    The swing cleanly collected in the middle, producing a sharp metallic sound.


    CLANG!


    Two cracks spread out from the point of impact.


    It would take three to four strikes to totally break this crystal down.


    However, she was willing to go to the point of mana exhaustion.


    Mana exhaustion was a condition where you overused your mana to a point where youpletely ran out of mana in your body.


    At this point, a person''s body would starve for the mana making them go sick and see hallucinations until their mana was finally recovered.


    And so with herst bits of strength, she smashed her ymore into the ground again, making a wide crater around the crystal.


    ''Sullivan Art 1st Form: Earthen Rupture''


    And so, instantly, spikes shot out of the ground. Aiming straight toward the crystals.


    ****


    [On Alya''s Side]


    Alya finally reached the other send of the forest, finding the crystal right before her eyes,


    unguarded.


    Smirking, she shrugged.


    "Easy, they didn''t stan-"


    A voice rang in her head.


    [Adam Ravenfield from Team B has been eliminated.]


    Her eyes widened.


    He had lost so quickly?


    As far as she knew, Adam must have been from a noble family.


    So defeating him was no quick task. Yet Charlotte had done exactly that.


    She gritted her teeth in frustration.


    Maybe she had considered her too weak for someone in the 4th ce.


    She failed to realize that a person in 2nd and 3rd ce might just be so faintly apart in strength that you couldn''t tell the difference or they might just be so far apart that the


    difference would be like sky and heaven.


    However, between Alya and the ones at 3rd and 4th, Liliana and Charlotte respectively, the difference in strength was the former version.


    Just faintly apart.


    Clenching her hands in anger.


    ''No, I''m better than both of them. I''m stronger.'' She concluded and raised her bow.


    Harnessing all the mana she had stored, she poured it into the single arrow that was nocked


    on her bow right now.


    The mana turned into pure mes that ignited the arrow whole.


    The mes rippled in the air with vigor and they reached Alya''s fingertips, burning them and


    inducing pain.


    However, her whole focus was on the crystal right now.


    And so her pale fingertips got burnt crisp ck and even blood started pouring but her eyes didn''t move from the target.


    With a small breath, she faintly moved her bow, aiming right at the middle now.


    ''Lancaster Art 1st Form; ming Bullet''


    And she released the arrow, making it whizz through the air with insane speed. There was no bend. It was as if it was slicing the air open and then forcing its way through it.


    The mes on the arrow produced a zing trail as the target finally neared.


    And so it struck the target and cracks spread through the whole crystal at the force of impact.


    Alya''s eyes instantly widened as suddenly a voice rang in her mind and the crystal broke down


    the next moment.


    [The Crystal of Team......]


    She could hear nothing more as suddenly the tiredness caught up with her due to the sudden depletion of mana and she fell unconscious.


    *****


    [An Hour Before]


    Amon felt a distorted feeling arise in his body again as his body suddenly disappeared from


    the forest.


    But right in the next moment, it disappeared and he felt fine again.


    He opened his eyes and instantly saw the covering of the helmet he had been wearing before


    The closed his eyes.


    Taking it off, he pressed a button indicating the exit of the pod.


    A clicking sound urred.


    CLICK!


    The pod''s cover lifted and he saw light entering it from the white room again.


    And as it fully lifted, he immediately saw the other people from his whole ss, that had been


    waiting for their matches next.


    The Match was broadcasted to them so they had all been watching it.


    But right now, their eyes weren''t on the screen. No.


    Their gazes were all directed at him right now. Filled with evident shock and disbelief.


    The whole room was in literal eerie silence.


    He couldn''t help but sigh.


    ''Shi*....''


    [Well, it''s not like you didn''t want this right?]


    ''...True.'' And so he got out of the pod.


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 Chapter 56: FULLDIVE [12]

    Chapter 56: FULLDIVE [12]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s gaze locked with all the ss in front of him and an awkward silence ensued in the


    room.


    But under their disbelieving gazes, a sudden realization struck him.


    And without wasting a second, his body took a sharp turn, broke the gazes with the ss, and ran towards a pod next to him.


    The entrance of the pod was still sealed shut, which meant the person inside was unconscious. And the only one who had arrived with him was....Michael.


    Immediately, he pressed the shuttle open button, and the entrance door disengaged from the body.


    CLICK! PWHOOOSH!


    The door lifted and inside he saw an unconscious bleeding body of Michael.


    Instantly, Amon threw his arm around him and raised him out of the pod.


    "Medic!" He called while looking towards his friend''s body.


    When Michael had made the Sun technique explode, he was also engulfed in its range.


    Fortunately, he wasn''t injured as much as he was in the clovist grounds since the suit already detected fatal damage after a second or so.


    This was why he had performed the technique in the first ce.


    It was a gamble.


    He would take down Amon with him and the rest depended upon if the suit detected the damage fast enough.


    And it had.


    As for Amon.....


    Fortunately, because of his sharpened senses with the elerated blood flow, he could react the instant he felt damage to his body.


    It had not been a quarter of a second of the heat reaching him before he immediately used [Voidstep] and teleported 10 meters away from his position.


    However, Amon''s suit had already detected the fatal damage and so he got teleported, eliminated from the match.


    He got jolted from his thoughts when the medics finally arrived and took Michael from his hands.


    They ced him on a stretcher and left.


    He yawned. He suddenly felt very sleepy after therge expenditure of mana.


    He was trying his best to ignore the gazes on himself right now.


    He wanted a little rest for once not a cold sweat breaking on his back.


    Fortunately, the world was kind to him as a voice resounded in the room, pulling everyone''s attention to the screen.


    Including Amon.


    There, he saw Alya standing proudly on a tree branch as the opponent in front of her disappeared into blue motes of light.


    Everyone pped with intensity.


    Of course, the princess had won. It made for a big apuse.


    Rather than pping, his gaze moved toward the pods where a clicking sound resounded.


    Walking to the pod, he saw the door of the pod lift, revealing the sweating and tired body of Klein.


    It was apparent that he had tried his best. But the second strongest of the year was just too strong.


    Even when she had an elemental disadvantage against Klein.


    Nevertheless, Amon smiled.


    The person in front of him did well.


    Not seeing him standing in front of him, Klein sighed at the pping he was hearing.


    "Well, I tried my best and got wha-"


    He was startled as a hand reached out towards him.


    His gaze moved upwards and there he saw Amon, smiling lightly at him with his hand reached out.


    For some reason, the light smile felt a little cold, yet weing at the same time.


    "You did well," Amon spoke.


    Gazing at the hand for a moment, Klein sighed once more and then tiredly smiled before taking his hand and standing up.


    "Yeah. She was just too strong and precise. Gave me no time to dodge at all." He replied.


    Letting go of the hand, they looked towards the two screens, where one disyed Charlotte fighting Adam while one disyed Alya quickly traveling through the thicket of trees, towards the team crystal.


    "Guess we can only count on Miss Charlotte now," Klein spoke without taking his gaze off the screen.


    Amon nodded, his eyes narrowing at the screen.


    "I wish Charlotte wins. No. She has to win. It''s the best route in this current plotline otherwise it''s going to be a headache for me." He mumbled to himself, no one hearing what he said.


    ****


    Liliana watched a person from far away, her eyes fuming with disgust and hate.


    She already had an encounter with this person before.


    And it was enough to downgrade his impression even more than what she had of him before.


    It was none other than Amon Ashford, a weak and disgusting clovist.


    His actions at the mall were enough to guarantee that.


    But what she had seen right now hadpletely blown her expectations.


    The man who could barely make 5 blood spears a week ago by fainting was now producing them like they were nothing.


    Not only that, but he used them in multiple ways, ranging from coating his body and even elerating his blood to sharpen his senses.


    This level of mastery wasn''t achievable in one week. Never. Impossible for someone with such


    a low-rank talent.


    Yet, what she saw right now absolutely crushed her thoughts.


    But even then, after seeing the oue of the match she still had nothing but disgust and


    hate for him.


    She respected someone''s hard work and perseverance to win and Amon did that perfectly.


    But what she hated more weremoners trying to reach the royals and beating them.


    In her eyes, it was as if they were humans poorly attempting to reach godhood.


    Impossible.


    Of course, she hated weak people and Michael was no exception to that, despite his title as a


    Prince.


    But along with Amon, he too had blown away her expectations of him.


    Nevertheless, she couldn''t handle amoner winning against a royal.


    Amon winning against Michael despite both of them being weak was uneptable.


    As everyone pped, she coldly gazed at Amon and clenched her fists.


    As someone who had thought of getting her hate and disgust, she would at least do him the


    honor of personally showing him the difference between a royal and amoner.


    All she needed was an opportunity.


    ''Amon Ashford...just you wait.'' She muttered, her cold eyes piercing at his back.


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 Chapter 57: FULLDIVE [EPILOGUE]

    Chapter 57: FULLDIVE [EPILOGUE]


    ?


    ****


    Amon watched along with Klein as both Charlotte and Alya performed their strongest moves towards the crystals.


    And finally both attacks broke the crystal at the same time.


    No.


    The former closed his eyes, already knowing the victor.


    And the confirmation also came in the next moment.


    [The Crystal of Team B has been destroyed an instant earlier than Alya Von Lancaster by Charlotte Von Sullivan.]


    He smiled, satisfied that his n worked and opened his eyes.


    [Team A has won the 1st match of FULLDIVE.] Athena dered over the speaker and instantly apuses broke out.


    On the screen, he saw both Charlotte and Alya pass out at the same time, unable to see the results.


    Heaving a sigh, he settled back down at one corner of room.


    Even taking his own rivalry against Michael aside, this win for their team was crucial for Amon.


    In the novel, Liliana and Ren would be against Michael and Alya.


    And of course, the former team won easily even without any n or cooperation.


    This was because Alya was too prideful and fireheaded to acknowledge that her team was weaker than Liliana''s and therefore form a n.


    After the loss, this would make her realize how wrong she was and thus would be the first step in changing her attitude.


    If Charlotte had lost right now, it would stimte no change in her and thus his n would fail.


    And since a change in her was especially necessary for the future, Amon would have to then be responsible for creating one.


    But, it proceeded smoothly so there was no problem.


    And with that, the second match of the FULLDIVE began.


    Elizabeth, Ren and another random against Liliana and two randoms.


    ****


    [Late Evening]


    Amon finally arrived home after a long day of FULLDIVE.


    As it was supposed to be, Elizabeth and Ren had defeated Liliana''s team easily.


    Unlike Liliana, Elizabeth wasn''t that prideful and didn''t hesitate to let Ren touch her shoulder to use her element.


    And because of that, they both totally crushed Liliana''s team in no time.


    This would make her frustrated and reflect on her strength making her train even more.


    Losing to Ren would be unbearable for her who was amoner in her eyes.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    "Tsk.."


    He was annoyed at Liliana.


    She was the character he hated the most in the novel as well.


    In all this, she would always search for a problem in her strength but not her attitude.


    The sooner she would realize the problems with herself, the more quickly she would be stronger.


    And for that, he needed to be a catalyst.


    Pushing his thoughts at the back, he looked around the apartment.


    He realized his sister wasn''t here yet.


    He really felt about not being to spend much time with her even though he was her brother


    now.


    For some reason, in his chest, it felt exactly same as if he was ignoring his sister from the previous life,


    Promising to focus on thister, he quickly headed towards the kitchen.


    He had to make food for himself and Lily before his sister coulde home.


    As much as he wanted to sleep from the tiredness today, he wanted to fix the mystery behind Lily today.


    This and also the fact that he had to feed her once again.


    While cooking the sandwiches, Zephyra spoke up in his head.


    [Great victory today!] She eximed with glee.


    He smiled.


    ''Yeah, thanks.''


    [You beat him up so well! I''m proud of you.] She proudly stated.


    He suddenly remembered something.


    ''Why did you want me to win against Michael so badly anyways?'' He asked her,


    Silence suddenly ensued inside his head.


    Faintly, just barely, he felt as if Zephyra was gritting her teeth right now and he heard a


    mumble.


    [That bastard.....]


    Thinking that he might have not heard her, she quickly changed the topic.


    [Oh yeah! You are making the sandwiches for the girl right?] She asked.


    Staying silent for some seconds, he internally sighed and chose to let it go.


    ''Yeah, I need to feed her and find about those stares...''


    Amon instantly felt Zephyra smile widely in his head.


    [You have really gotten close to that girl haven''t you?] She asked


    He nodded.


    It was true.


    Although he might have seen Lily as just a poor girl that he took pity on initially, she was like


    a little sister to him now.


    He genuinely cared about her well being, her hunger, her life now.


    Her giggle really made his heart warm up.


    ''Yeah..''


    And so he continued on the lunches until they were finally made.


    ***


    After packing them thoroughly, Amon stored them inside his inventory.


    In order to not let his sister worry about him, he left a note stating that he was out to party


    with friends because of the win in FULLDIVE.


    Heading outside, he quickly headed towards the City Centre.


    Unfortunately, even after FULLDIVE was done, he still hadn''t received any response from the manager about Athena.


    But even so, he was willing to wait.


    After 30 minutes, he finally arrived at the City Centre.


    And 40 minutes walk after that led him straight to the street of Lily.


    Like always, she was sitting with her head resting against the corner.


    But unlike before, she was wide awake, just sitting there staring into the space and


    asionally ying with her hands.


    He started walking to her, dressed in his disguise.


    Hearing the sound of the cane tapping against the rock hard ground, Lily jolted and her head


    quickly turned to the side.


    Recognizing him in an instant, she quickly got up with the support of her hands and ran to his


    arms clumsily.


    "UNCLE!!"


    Taking her happily in his embrace, he walked over to their normal spot and quickly took out


    the sandwiches.


    Her eyes sparkled with hunger and her mouth drooled as she quickly grabbed one and started


    to nibble on it.


    Just like always, both of them had a nice snack while the little angel kept cuddling in his arms.


    *****


    Finally done with her ater an hour, Amon stood up and got ready to leave before giving her


    one sandwich.


    "Unclee next." He gestured to her that he woulde again and she nodded happily.


    Embracing her into his arms onest time, he turned to leave.


    And just like always, he felt a piercing gaze on his back.


    But unbeknownst to the pursuers, there were two minuscule devices that were stuck in Lily''s


    hair this time.


    It was finally time to find the gaze''s identity.


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 Chapter 58: Lily and the Gaze [1]

    Chapter 58: Lily and the Gaze [1]


    ?


    ****


    Leaving the streets quickly to finally free himself from the stares, Amon took a sharp turn into a secluded alleyway.


    Finding a hidden corner where no one could see him, he settled down there.


    And with that, he instantly pressed a tiny button under the curved handle of his cane.


    The vision of his eyes instantly glitched and after two or three seconds, his whole eyesight blurred.


    He felt a change of scenery and the blur finally started to recede, returning his clear vision to him.


    But this time, the scenery was changed.


    He immediately perceived how the world around him was thousands of times bigger now.


    Right at the bottom of his vision, he saw a jungle of thick ck grasses that stretched far and then took a sharp downfall.


    It was Lily''s hair.


    He had nted the device into her hair.


    He quickly ignored everything else and focused in front of him, seeing the gargantuan street now from where he had just turned a few minutes ago.


    Focusing ahead, his vision remained motionless for several minutes, waiting for the sources of the stares toe back.


    And finally, after five minutes, he noticed three presences taking a turn and arriving in the street.


    They were three men with lean and athletic bodies.


    All of them had ck hair and their eyes were covered by ck sses.


    All of them were wearing formal suits with one of them even having a katana in his hand.


    Just from looking at them, he instantly concluded that two of them were clovists while one was an armentists.


    He couldn''t gauge their strength or their elements.


    They walked towards him, or more urately Lily, causing him to narrow his eyes.


    ''What do they want with her? Do they know her?'' He questioned internally.


    Arriving before her, the one with the sheathed katana in his hand used it to dab her cheeks with it.


    "Stand up girl." He kept tapping it with her cheeks.


    Due to being in her hair, Amon was unable to see the expression on her face.


    But he felt her body jolt awake and her head raised.


    "Y-y-ye!" She answered quickly and stood up.


    The man receded his weapon, but not without a disgusting remark.


    "Filthy brat, I can''t believe that we don''t just sell her to the man thates every day to feed her."


    Anger red up in Amon but he was surprised when he suddenly felt his vision grow weak.


    It glitched and blurred again while his head hurt.


    Suddenly, it got clear again but to his disappointment, he was back in the streets.


    It did not even take a second for him to realize that he was almost empty of mana.


    This was a new thing as he remembered that the system didn''t say anything about the vision requiring mana.


    ''I guess it was for me to figure out...'' He heaved a sigh.


    If he had to make an estimation right now, he could probably watch through the camera


    vision for 7 minutes before he ran out of mana.


    Furthermore, it seemed to be that after essing the vision one time and leaving it, the dart would be dead.


    Meaning it could no longer be essed.


    Fortunately, at least he could sense her location by using the 2 darts.


    Using a little bit of mana, he sensed Lily''s location moving from her original street.


    Her location showed her going further in the secluded and dark streets.


    Dismissing the location to save mana, he finally realized who Lily was.


    A Child ve.


    This was not a modern world like his.


    Even with all the technology and mana cores, this world was still medieval at its core.


    And very was somethingmon in those times.


    Though child very was a tad bit rarer than adult very and even the work was not that grueling, it still existed.


    And from what he had seen, Lily was a child ve. Not just an orphan surviving in the streets.


    Judging from the attires of the men and their stealth level, Amon knew that she probably belonged to arge ve market or business.


    He knew that he would just die from those 3 guards head on let alone take Lily and escape.


    Considering they were big, he could not hide her as well.


    But it wasn''t like he would just forget Lily now and let her be with them.


    No.


    She was like a younger sister to him.


    If he had to take on the market where she and partially destroy it, then he was ready for it.


    But that would take arge amount of nning and setups first as he would obviously die in a


    straight fight.


    He couldn''t just rescue her right now.


    He sighed deeply, tired and stressed.


    He had really hoped that this would be easy and he could just adopt her normally. But it


    seemed to be that this wasn''t going to work.


    ''I need to get str-'' His thoughts halted.


    ''Wait..''


    He just realized right now that he had forgotten to check the changes in his body aftering


    back from the dungeon.


    Restraining from cursing himself, he stood up and started to leave the streets.


    It was dangerous here now that the night had set in, so he would just check his system after


    returning home.


    As he left, he kept Lily in his thoughts.


    ''I''ll get you from them....I promise.''


    ***


    Amon arrived back at this apartment, finding his sister already asleep on the sofa.


    She was still wearing her uniform so she was probably so tired that she had slumped down on


    the couch.


    Student Council duties were truly hard.


    He smiled with pity and quickly took a nket, cing it over her.


    Fortunately, she had at least eaten the dinner he made for her.


    Taking a quick shower, he got into his bed and tried to think of some ns before sleeping.


    Unfortunately, none came to his mind at that moment and before he knew it, he was asleep.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 59: The Quest To Save Lily [1]

    Chapter 59: The Quest To Save Lily [1]


    ?


    ****


    Dawn came and with it, the filtered nted rays of sunlight impacted Amon''s eyes through the window.


    They twitched with irritation and slowly opened up tiredly.


    Since there were no sses today, he thought of sleeping a little more.


    But just like always, the goddess inside his head was there to stop him.


    [No sleep. Wake up and check your watch, it pinged while you were sleeping.] She spoke in his head.


    He sighed, burying his head in the nket.


    ''I swear just five mor-'' He halted as thetter part of her sentence registered in his mind.


    His head jolted toward his watch, and quickly opened the messages.


    His eyes widened with satisfaction as the message he wanted finally arrived.


    [HOU Manager: Good Morning Sir. I''m pleased to inform you that Miss Athena has cleared her schedule for today, you can meet her at HOU by 1 PM sharp. I have not told her about your


    identity as of yet since the conversation we had was in the anonymous chamber.]


    Nodding with a smile, he quickly thanked Zephyra and got out of bed.


    ''Thanks for informing me about this.''


    [No problem.]


    He looked over at the mechanical clock and found out that it was 10 AM.


    Without wasting a moment, he quickly headed into the shower.


    After 20 minutes, he finally arrived outside wearing his usual casual clothes.


    Looking at them, he suddenly realized that there were not many clothes he had for himself to


    wear.


    Or more urately, the previous Amon didn''t have.


    ''Maybe he just didn''t like shopping...''


    ''Which reminds me, I also need to look in on my past self''s body after some time. It might be that sister knows about it but for some reason, she never brings our parents up.'' He realized.


    It might be that there was a sad past for their parents which made him think that he should refrain from asking Katherine so casually about it.


    He needed to find the right time.


    Pushing back the thoughts for now, he headed into the kitchen and made himself bread and jam sandwiches like always.


    They were just quick to make andpensated for the time he wasted sleeping.


    Though he couldn''t lie that they were nd.


    [You are going to die eating bread and jam every day you know?...] Zephyra pointed out, her voice tinged with slight concern that Amon failed to notice.


    ''It''s alright, don''t worry. I only do it for the morning as well.'' He answered and felt her sigh.


    Suddenly, as he was about to take another bite, a translucent system window opened up in front of him.


    ======[QUEST]======


    Objective: Save Lily From the ve market


    Time Limit: 14 Days


    Reward: [1 Sub-rank Increase In All Body Stats]


    Penalty: [Erasure of Blood Element]


    His eyes widened with shock.


    It was his first quest that was assigned to him by the system.


    And it was to save Lily from the ve market which was so dangerous that even the two guards could kill Amon in a minute.


    Even the time limit was bafflingly short.


    The reward was a sub-rank increase in all his body stats which were STR, AGI, etc respectively.


    It was a good reward in Amon''s opinion as with it, he just needed an increase one more time to hit the second order.


    But the penalty was far worse if it waspared to the rewards.


    Aplete erasure of the [Blood] element.


    It was impossible. He couldn''t let this happen.


    Of the 2 elements he had chosen, the one he had the most experience and mastery was


    [Blood].


    He couldn''t let it be taken now.


    It would also leave him with only [Lightning], which he couldn''t afford.


    But then again, aplishing the quest in 14 days was going to be extremely hard if he had to judge with the limited information he had.


    But it wasn''t like he could refuse the quest and so he heaved a deep sigh.


    [This is going to be difficult.] Zephyra pointed out and he nodded while taking another bite.


    ''It is....''


    ''I''ll need to first scout and find information about them. Fortunately, I have Cryptics for that. After that, I''ll also need to set many things up.'' He started forming ns in his head.


    ''...But even with that, this is going to be very risky..'' He concluded.


    For now, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his head.


    Suddenly, he remembered something due to the quest window.


    ''Oh yeah, I forgot to check my system changesst night...'' He remembered and quickly


    opened the system window.


    ''[System]''


    The translucent blue interface opened up.


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Amon Ashford


    Age: 18


    Aspect: Clover


    ss: Error


    * You are an anomaly in this world, an error. One that was not supposed to exist. Who are you?


    Only you know.


    Leaves: 0000000


    Elements:Void BloodLightning??Levels


    Talent: 10th Order]


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ¡Á¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á


    STR: ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á


    AGI: XXXX X


    END: ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á


    INT: ¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á ?


    Skills Training Inventory Quests (Pending: 1)]


    His eyebrows shot up a little and his mouth contorted into an ''o'' shape.


    ''Oh..'' He blurted in his thoughts as he saw his stats.


    Either during his dungeon attempt of the FULLDIVE, all of his stats had leveled up together.


    Or maybe some had leveled up in the former and some in thetter.


    The constant blood pressure that he put on himself by elerating his blood flow must have increased his endurance and vitality.


    Meanwhile, his fight with the beasts and constantly getting hurt had increased his other stats.


    Moving from his stats, he noticed the new change sign next to the elemental levels and


    quickly opened the tab.


    [VOID]: Level 1 ? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 1¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á


    [LIGHTN]: Level 1¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ? ?


    He hadn''t paid much attention to it during the dungeon but he saw it clearly now.


    His [Blood] element had obviously leveled up more times than [Lightning] because of how much he had used itpared to the other.


    Speaking of this, he realized that his usage and thinking of [Lightning] was very constricted


    compared to [Blood].


    He didn''t use it much and also failed to use it in a versatile way.


    Maybe if he had thought about this before, he would have been able to escape therge


    explosion at the end.


    Unfortunately, it was past that now. All he could do was think about it better going further.


    Suddenly, he realized another thing.


    Since his body stats had already leveled up once in the dungeon, then that meant.....


    With thepletion of Lily''s quest, he would finally rank up.


    He would finally be a.....


    2nd Order Clovist. With a 2 leaf clover mark.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link In Synopsis)

 Chapter 60: The Quest to Save Lily [2]

    Chapter 60: The Quest to Save Lily [2]


    ?


    ****


    After being done with his breakfast and washing the dishes, Amon quickly looked at the time again.


    11 AM.


    There were still 2 hours before the appointed time for the meeting.


    He thought about what to do and quickly decided on some shopping for the mission.


    He was just about to leave when suddenly his eyes noticed something strange in the corner. His face turned towards it and saw a long mirror, reflecting his whole body.


    There was nothing too special or strange about the mirror.


    But the sight in the mirror took back Amon by surprise.


    When he had arrived in this world, the first thing he did was check himself in the mirror.


    And what he saw was a frail, thin, pale-looking short boy who was nothing short or above average.


    Everything about him screamed average.


    However, the person he saw right now waspletely different.


    He immediately noticed how he had gotten taller. If he had to make an estimate right now, he was probably 5''11 which was a big leap from his previous 5''9 a week ago.


    His thin pale arms had a good amount of muscles on now and his facial features had also sharpened and were more refined.


    Overall, he had improved by a lot from his previous appearance.


    And that was of course due to the constant increase in his body stats.


    [Stop smiling like a fool....] Zephyra chimed in his head, sighing.


    ''What? I can''t even admire my changes?'' He retorted.


    [It''s fine to do it for some seconds but you are drooling over yourself right now...] Her voice trailed off at the end.


    "Tsk."


    He clicked his tongue and took his gaze off of the mirror.


    He got out of the door and locked it, before quickly looking over at his watch.


    Opening the messaging function, he quickly opened his chat with the Cryptic Glories.


    [Anonymous User: I want your services again.]


    It did not take more than a few seconds for them to reply.


    [Cryptic1: We are here anytime. What services do you require of us?]


    [Anonymous User: I want you to do a search in the ck Market and around it for medium torge ve markets or houses.


    [Cryptic1: Understood.]


    [Anonymous User: If possible, send me the map blueprints of the markets and houses as well,bined with information about any ves that they hold. Grab every possible information you can.]


    [Cryptic1: We understand. We will get to it right away.]


    Taking his eyes off his watch, he started walking towards the City Centre while also practicing his mana breathing and release constantly.


    ****


    [After 40 Minutes]


    He finally arrived at the City Centre.


    But he didn''t head to HOU straight away. Rather, he chose to get some clothes for himself now that he had time.


    His sister probably wanted to do that for him as well but never found time because of her duties.


    It would be good to take one of her burdens off her shoulders.


    He quickly started looking around for some good clothing shops.


    Unfortunately, he knew nothing about them.


    He didn''t even have experience with this in his previous life since it was always his sister selecting clothes for him.


    ''You know how to pick clothes?'' He asked Zephyra.


    The answer came after some seconds of silence.


    [No...]


    He sighed. He was in a dilemma now.


    ''Nevermind, I''ll just pick whatever sui-'' His thoughts came to an abrupt end as he thought of asking her sister of some shops.


    Opening the messaging function, he messaged her quickly.


    Unfortunately, no reply came after a long time. She was still busy probably.


    Just as he was about to close his watch, he suddenly another contact just beneath her.


    [Charlotte Von Sullivan]


    He hesitated to message her. He didn''t even know her that well so asking her was obviously a no-go.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t want to waste his money on some random clothes as he really had no money to waste.


    ''Wait..does she even know about men''s clothes?'' He thought in his mind.


    Probably no.


    Ruffling his head at the hard decision, he swallowed his pride and asked her.


    The way her personality was, she wasn''t going to mind it. Right?


    Surprisingly, the reply came minutes after.


    [Charlotte Von Sullivan: Yes actually. If your budget is between 100-500 gold, then the perfect


    shop for you is Edward Garments.] She replied.


    [Amon Ashford: I see, thank you.]


    [Charlotte Von Sullivan: No problem! Also, if you don''t mind me asking are you out for


    shopping?]


    Finding no problem in telling her, he answered.


    [Amon Ashford: Yes.]


    [Charlotte Von Sullivan: Oh, I see. Actually, I''m in the City Centre as well. So if you don''t mind, can we meet after you are done? I want to properly discuss the FULLDIVE in person.]


    Thinking about it for a few seconds, he agreed.


    [Amon Ashford: Sure, no problem. I''ll be done in about 20 minutes, so we can meet after that.


    You can send me the location for the meetup.]


    She replied instantly,


    [Charlotte Von Sullivan: Thank you! I''ll see you there then. Have a good shopping!]


    He smiled and replied with a ''Thank you.'' and closed his watch.


    Edward Garments. That was the shop she told him about.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t that far away from his current location as he found it within a couple of


    minutes.


    Then, he headed inside to buy himself a heap of clothes for the summer.


    ****


    [After 15 Minutes]


    Amon arrived from the shop, with multiple shopping bags filled with clothes in his inventory.


    He stretched his body.


    He quickly looked at his watch and found a DM from Charlotte after hisst message. It was the location of the meetup.


    Finding it not too far from him, he quickly headed over and saw her settled on a table outside


    the shop.


    ''I quickly chose clothes to arrive early and save her time but she''s here even before me. But I guess that matches her personality. He thought.


    Sensing his presence, she looked up from the menu and waved lightly at him, making him


    wave back as well and head over.


    Settling down on a chair in front of her, he quickly greeted her.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you in person again after the event Miss Charlotte."


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 61: A Quest To Save Lily [3]

    Chapter 61: A Quest To Save Lily [3]


    ?


    ****


    Charlotte was wearing a milky white sleeveless blouse along with a knife-pleated skirt.


    Her cerulean hair gently cascaded down her back and her sky-blue eyes shone like sapphires with the mall''s lighting.


    "Would you like to order something first?" she asked.


    Not finding a problem with it, he picked up the menu and quickly called a waiter from nearby.


    "I''ll have a cold lemonade and some mana meat with a croissant please." She pointed to the waiter and he nodded before turning to him.


    Since he had already eaten breakfast not long ago, he chose to go with a simple cup of ck


    tea.


    "I''ll have a cup of ck tea with 2 sugar please." He told the waiter and thetter nodded without a word, before leaving.


    Turning back to Charlotte, he noticed that she was looking at him in surprise.


    He tilted his head.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, but you drink tea in this hot weather?" she asked, her blue eyes tinged with surprise.


    He wasn''t surprised at her question. It was a normal one.


    Not many people would have tea in this heat. Preferring to go with a lemonade or something else instead like Charlotte.


    However, in his case, he was a teaholic.


    In his past life as well, he loved tea more than anything.


    Though he wanted to have it in breakfast here as well, he was oftente for his campus so he didn''t bother with it.


    He nodded to Charlotte and smiled lightly.


    "Haha, I just prefer tea over anything else. That''s just my preference you see."


    Her mouth contorted to an ''o'' shape and an ''Ah'' escaped out of her mouth.


    She understood that he was one of those kind of people.


    While waiting for their order, Charlotte quickly asked him.


    "I actually called you here to talk about the FULLDIVE match. Is it okay?"


    He chuckled a little.


    "I mean it was obvious that you called me here for that, so please go ahead. Ah but before that, I would like to congratte you on winning us the match. That was truly a spectacr effort." He apuded.


    She smiled and nodded.


    "Yes! Thank you. I''m happy that our hard work worked even though the strategy messed up in the middle. If I was just a secondte, the win would have gone to Princess Alya."


    He nodded and she continued.


    "I wanted to call us all for a small gathering but it seems Klein is busy for a while so I could only call you out. So please, whatever you want to eat, go ahead. It''s all on me." She gestured towards the menu.


    Amon quickly raised his hands to refuse.


    "Ah, there''s no need for that. Rather, it should be me who needs to give a treat to Miss Charlotte for ying the most important part."


    She lowered her head and shook it.


    "Ah, you are wrong in that Amon. All I did was just traverse through the forest and beat one person. Actually, I should be apuding you for winning against a person 2 ranks above you." She looked at him with genuine surprise.


    "How did you do it? I mean...." Her voice trailed off at the end, not wanting to make him feel as if she was mocking him.


    He smiled lightly.


    "It was just simply hard work Miss Charlotte."


    She leaned back in her chair at his response.


    Her surprise diminished but it was still there. Of course, she knew it was a lie or more probably, a vague answer.


    As a person who understood hard work the most, she knew even by training day and night you could not get to that stage.


    Especially for a person who has been stuck on 1st leaf for years now without any advancement and suddenly grows this strong.


    She knew it was probably something else but she didn''t force her question further.


    She just wanted to ask one time if he would tell her and since with this answer, he was signaling her it was something important, she was going to leave it at that.


    It was none of her business to choke the answer out of him.


    Finally, their order arrived and both of them started to have a normal lunch while discussing what happened in the FULLDIVE.


    ****


    [After 30 Minutes]


    Amon finally separated from Charlotte after they both had talked enough.


    She still needed to do shopping and he told her that he had some work to do.


    So after shaking hands and telling her that it was a pleasure to be in a team with her, he left her and headed straight for his destination.


    The HOU.


    There were still 20 minutes left, so he wasn''tte. Rather, it would be beneficial to arrive


    early.


    Athena appreciated those who arrived early and for today''s n to work, he needed her in a good mood.


    Arriving in front of HOU, he quickly headed in, finding the manager waiting for him already at the desk.


    "Wee Sir! I take it that you are here for the items?" The manager asked.


    By ''items'' he probably meant the anonymous deal, but since he couldn''t say it out loud and


    give his identity, he used a code word.


    Amon nodded and the manager quickly gestured to follow.


    But unlikest time, he took him to a more secure and better room which was better enforced


    and structured.


    Entering the room, he elegantly sat down on the sofa and manager closed the door.


    "Please wait here, Ma''am Athena will be here with you shortly sir." He bowed and Amon


    nodded again, causing him to politely open the door and leave.


    Once gone, Amon quickly started checking the preparations for everything and rehearsing the n he had made for today.


    Athena was a clever and smart woman. He needed to be extremely careful with his approach.


    After making sure everything was correct, he silently sat at his spot while looking around until the time finally reached 1 PM.


    Instantly, the sound of a doorknob turning was heard and Amon''s gaze instantly flickered


    towards it.


    And as it fully opened, she finally came into view.


    Athena Silvermoon, the Vice-headmaster of Eldergrove was here.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 62: The Quest to Save Lily [4]

    Chapter 62: The Quest to Save Lily [4]


    ?


    ****


    Wearing a ck tulip dress that entuated her long indigo hair falling upon her back, Athena walked in.


    Her abyssal ck eyes quickly ran over the room, before settling down on Amon.


    Even though he knew she had no intention of it, Amon felt a shudder pass through his body as those inky ck eyes locked with his coal-colored ones.


    This was the pressure that naturally exuded off a 9th-order clovist.


    Despite having a 10th-order talent, she had never been able to make it to that stage.


    This was because of how hard it was to control and master her spatial element.


    Nevertheless, it was also powerful enough to make herbat prowess equal to that of a primordial element 10th order clovist, if there was one at least.


    Making eye contact with her, Amon saw a flicker of disbelief pass in her eyes before a frown reced her facial expression.


    But she quicklyposed herself and walked over to the sofa in the front and settled down. Before he could say something, she started the conversation herself.


    "Well well, I must say but even in my wildest dreams, I had never expected you to be here, Student Amon." She looked at him dead in the eyes.


    "Now, what are you here for that you require an anonymous transaction?"


    Amon suppressed a gulp at those indifferent eyes. He knew she was trying to pressure him.


    A natural tactic that businessmen or women use to get deals favored towards their side. He had learned a lot about this type of stuff at the bookstore he worked at.


    He smiled at Athena in return.


    "I''m here to trade mana cores." He simply replied and waved his hand, making all the 56 mana cores and the single boss core appear on the table in front.


    Athena''s eyes widened with shock for the first time.


    Unlike the manager, she didn''t even need to hold them to check the mana quantity and quality.


    That was because she could see the mana in them through her spatial element.


    And his thoughts were proven correct when her left eye suddenly shone amethyst.


    Or more urately, a 9-leaf clover mark shone in a bright indigo light on her left eye. That was correct. The clover mark for Athena was on her left eye.


    And because clover marks were ck in general, nobody could notice it until she used her power.


    This was why her spatial power wasn''t just limited to using it and manipting it as she pleased. She could literally see space through her left eye and watch what it was made up of.


    And since mana was present in the space, she had no problem seeing it. Even elemental types of mana.


    This was exactly why he had not brought out cores from his inventory but his spatial ring right now. She would find out that no spatial magic was used since it was the inventory.


    This would make her question more about how the items appeared.


    This was why she could react and prepare for an attack minutes before it evenunched.


    Hence, also the reason why he was worried that she would recognize the [Void] element in FULLDIVE.


    Following that, she could even manipte space using her eye which was exactly what she was doing right now.


    Just as a precautionary measure, she was checking the cores thoroughly to see if this was not some scam or prank.


    Finally realizing that this was the real thing, the aubergine light on her clover mark died down, making both her eyes ck again.


    But her eyes were still widened in shock, wondering how it happened.


    Fortunately for her, she quickly realized that there was still a student sitting in silence in front of her, causing her to cough andpose herself.


    It was none of her business to ask how her client got it anyways.


    She looked at his calm eyes now, cing her head on her intertwined hands.


    "60 Million. Take it or leave it."


    Amon looked at her silently in the eyes, before his mouth opened.


    "1 Billion Exlor along with the tinum Membership of HOU."


    Her expression contorted into one of evident shock at his ridiculousness.


    "Absolutely not." She replied with a deep frown.


    At her words, he kept eye contact with her again for a few seconds, observing her silently. Before finally he heaved a deep sigh and waved his hand, making all of the cores disappear. He stood up, bowing a little and locking gazes with her again.


    "Then I guess we are done then, Miss Athena. I''ll try my luck on Locke Market then."


    Breaking eye contact with her, he turned and started to head towards the door, ignoring her piercing gaze that was still on it.


    However, just as his hand reached out towards the doorknob, Athena''s voice resounded in the


    room again.


    "Wait,e back. We can still negotiate."


    A smile spread on his lips. One that she couldn''t see.


    He knew it. That she would agree with his deals.


    These cores were very important to her now that she had found them. She couldn''t let them


    go.


    Besides the hidden fact that HOU was desperately trying to find mana cores right now to overtake Locke Market and im the 1st spot as well, these cores were also needed for Athena to improve her spatial rings.


    By studying how they stored so mana in a contracted design, she would be able to further lessen the size of spatial objects while keeping the same space inside them.


    Or, she could finally cross the threshold of space that could be stored by a normal ring.


    The space etched on a ring could even turn into infinite.


    But for that, she needed to get her hands on the mana cores and learn from them.


    And even if he wasn''t willing in the end to sell them, she was definitely not going to let him sell to Locke Market and widen the gap between the twopanies.


    This was why, she would definitely agree to his deal. No matter how ridiculous it was.


    Turning back, he walked back to his seat and sat down with a calm expression again.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 63: The Quest To Save Lily [5] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 63: The Quest To Save Lily [5] [EXTRA]


    ?


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 100 POWERSTONES LAST WEEK!)


    ****


    Amon''s calm gaze locked with Athena''s indifferent one.


    He knew that she was only like this from the outside but inside, she was fuming and frustrated.


    If not for the special quality of these mana cores, she would have never bought them.


    This was exactly why his deal had worked.


    "70 Million-"


    "I guess we are done-" Amon started to stand up.


    "Wait!" Athena called out.


    "80 Million Exlor and a tinum Membership of HO-"


    "I told you my terms, M-"


    "90 Million Exlor and a tinum Member-" Athena called out again.


    "No, I''m done. Thank-" Amon was interrupted once more as he took a few steps towards the door.


    The natural pressure exuding off of her was increasing with each offer she gave but he gritted his teeth and beared it without a change in his expression.


    "95M Exlor and a tinum Membership of HOU. I can-" She was interrupted the final time as he voiced out his approval and came back to sit down on his chair with a smile.


    The pressure of hers instantly disappeared as she saw his expression, her anger being reced with immense shock.


    Looking at the smile, she finally realized how big of a mistake she had just made.


    She had been enveloped too much in her impulses that she had failed to notice that he was just trying his luck on how far he could go.


    And as soon as she blurted the nearest option, he agreed and now she couldn''t lower it.


    It was truly embarrassing for her to get manipted by an 18-year-old child.


    She sighed.


    He disyed all the mana cores on the table again.


    "So, as you said, Miss Athena. 95M Exlor and a tinum Membership with HOU."


    Suppressing a grit of her teeth, she nodded.


    "Perfect." He smiled honestly.


    She waved her hand and instantly a grey basketball-sized portal opened up.


    Passing her hand through it, she received a transaction device simr to the one that was ced outside on the counter.


    She extended it toward him without a word and he also retrieved it silently.


    He immediately connected his watchband with the terminal and like always, a transaction sess ping resounded in the room.


    DING!


    He handed her back the terminal and quickly looked over at his watch.


    [Exlor Bnce: 95,325,000]


    Passing her hand in the portal once more, she retrieved a silver card and extended it towards him.


    He took it from her hands and looked at it.


    [tinum Membership Card]


    "Your personal one will require some time to make. Until then, you can use this." She exined and he nodded.


    Although Amon already knew what it was, she exined it for him.


    "tinum Membership is the highest membership tier at House of Olympus."


    He nodded.


    "Using this, you will obtain a 50% off on all your orders. Additionally, you may order the materials to your apartment or home and also have the highest anonymous room avable to you which is the one we are in currently."


    He nodded once again.


    "Following that, a special spatial tracking magic can be put on an artifact or material if you so choose to do so. If you lose the item, we can help you track it down. You can also call me for a personal transaction or service in HOU 2 times per month using this card." Her voice trailed off at the end, indicating that it was the end.


    He nodded finally and opened his mouth.


    "I understand. Thank you for the transaction." And he stood up.


    "If that is it, Miss Athena, then I''ll be taking my leave."


    Athena remained seated on the sofa and he did a bow before turning to leave.


    However, just as he ced his hand on the doorknob, Athena''s voice resounded.


    "Student Amon, do you have the element of [Space] per chance?" she asked, making him freeze in his tracks.


    [Calm yourself!] Zephyra warned in his head and he quicklyposed himself.


    He turned back and looked at her, who was now matching his gaze with her inky ck eyes. "No, Miss Athena." He replied calmly.


    She didn''t say anything else. But rather, like before, the clover mark on her left eye glowed purple with intensity again.


    Ampn kept hisposure, not giving into the natural pressure or tenseness of the situation.


    After a minute, the light finally dimmed down and she nodded.


    "I see, you may leave." She replied and he nodded, turning back to leave once again. But as he opened the door and was about to leave, her final words resounded in the room.


    "I do not know how you teleported in the FULLDIVE match using your blood element. The system didn''t pick up any artifact or item use. You don''t possess a spatial element as well you say...."


    Amon froze in his tracks again and his head did a sharp turn back towards the room.


    However, Athena was no longer sitting there, having already disappeared.


    "Amon Ashford...you are an intriguing one." Herst words echoed, making a shudder run


    down his spine.


    He quickly shook his head, trying to shake off the thoughts, and headed towards the counter.


    ****


    Amon headed towards the counter with his tinum card.


    The manager saw him and instantly greeted him.


    "Wee back sir! How many I help you today?" He asked, asking nothing about the deal.


    Amon nodded and handed him a list.


    "I would like to purchase all these materials. And I have a tinum membership card as well." He shed his card.


    The manager wasn''t surprised and nodded with a smile.


    Athena had probably told him about it and asked him to prepare a personal card for him.


    It also must have not been much of a surprise for him initially as well since he had seen the


    cores as well.


    A tinum membership card was the least Athena would have to give if one excluded the


    money.


    "Just a few moments Sir, I''ll be right back with the top-tier materials." He bowed and went to


    the back.


    Amon smiled.


    It was finally time to get the materials of his sword.


    This was the first step in his n to save Lily.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 64: The Quest to Save Lily [6]

    Chapter 64: The Quest to Save Lily [6]


    ?


    (A.N: Before this chapter starts, I know that some of you might have an issue with the pacing and I do admit it was a slight mistake on my part. However, I want to reassure you all that this won''t be a problem going on now as I will be skipping all the unnecessary stuff now and moving to the main plot. Thank you for understanding.)


    ****


    [1 Week Later]


    Amon came out of the ssroom, finally done with all his electives.


    A week had passed after the FULLDIVE and normal sses had begun again at their normal schedule.


    It was safe to say that because of his numerous experiences in the dungeon and also teetering several times at the edge of his life, he was pretty efficient in survival tactics now.


    Nevertheless, the Dungeon and Wilderness Survival was still very important.


    He learned about various dungeon environments and how to survive in them if a dungeon unlink happened.


    In the higher ranks of a dungeon, it wasn''t just a random space dimension anymore.


    It was connected straight to the ghoul continent where actual rational ghouls roamed.


    However, in certain cases the link between the dungeon space and the human continent would weaken and it would break.


    This was what humanity called Dungeon Unlink, where the people would be left on the ghoul continent without any way to return.


    In those cases, the chances of a humaning back were null. Yet, there were still ways of survival that were taught to the students so they could survive for as long as they could.


    Moving on, there was also the Leadership and strategy elective where various strategies were taught to them for when the students would enroll in the military after growing up.


    Or, the nobles who would take over their families one day.


    As for Close Combat Training, there wasn''t anything taught yet since the main instructor responsible was on a mission.


    And finally, he had skipped Weapon Training for today because of the tasks that he needed to do.


    After purchasing the materials a week ago from the manager, he had quickly handed them off to the cksmith who additionally took 2 Million Exlor from him for the job.


    It wasn''t much of a problem though, since his harvest from the stocks wasing soon and he would have no problem with the money.


    For now, his first task was to get his weapon from the cksmith today.


    And with that thought, he quickly headed towards the ck Market.


    ****


    Amon arrived in the ck Market through the staircase as always.


    Over the few visits that he had had here, he had be ustomed to the atmosphere now.


    It didn''t disgust him as much as before anymore.


    That said, for some reason, he hadn''t seen Lily at the usual spot today like always.


    He was worried that something might have happened to her.


    Over the week, he had met every day with Lily, and each time, he had nted the darts from his cane on her.


    Additionally, he used the video footage for 7 minutes. He observed the surroundings around him before waiting the next day for 7 minutes and picking up from before to observe the further surroundings.


    And because of that, he finally learned the name of the ve house.


    It was ckchain Enve.


    Fortunately, his information from the Cryptic Glories was also supposed to be arriving soon so he could straight up skip to the relevant information.


    While traversing the streets, he thought again about his n to save her.


    There was only 1 week left to save Lily now. Otherwise, his [Blood] element was being to be totally deleted.


    Over the week, he trained multiple times using his [Blood] and [Lightning] elements in secret, also trying to harmonize them.


    Rather than sending one out and then using the other one, he wanted to use both of them at the same time.


    He also constantly practiced his mana breathing and released whenever he was free.


    He was almost close to making it a normal habit for him now.


    Before he knew it, he arrived in front of the shop.


    He quickly headed inside and downstairs, finding the cksmith, Nathan working like always.


    Sensing his presence, his hammer stopped pounding on the metal in front of him and he turned back, facing Amon.


    "You are here..." Nathaniel spoke and he nodded.


    "Good. Your weapon was finishedst night, let me get it for you quickly." His deep voice resounded and he quickly proceeded upstairs.


    After 5 minutes, he finally came downstairs with a long sleek oak wood box in his hand.


    He ced it on the table in front of him and asked Amon toe forward.


    Looking at him for permission, the boy nodded and the cksmith carefully took the lid off of the box.


    Right in front of him, resting on a long white fabric cloth was a ¨­dachi.


    Or more urately, a Nodachi.


    With an amethyst hilt and golden cord wraps, the nodachi was sheathed in a sleek ck scabbard that beautifully contrasted with the crimson sageo that was wrapped around it.


    Amon quickly looked at Nathan who shrugged.


    "A week ago, you had given me the order for an ¨­dachi, which was very surprising for me since they are awfully long and heavy."


    "I don''t know who told you to ce an order for that but since it was for you, who has a frail and weak body, I doubt you would have been able to handle one."


    "This was why I made you a nodachi. Same as odachi but rtively shorter and lightweight. It''s still longer than a katana or normal sword though." He exined and Amon nodded.


    With carefulness, he picked up the nodachi from the box and surprisingly it had the same weight as the odachi in the Void Training.


    ''Were the weapons lighter there or my body was stronger?'' He wondered.


    But if he had to go with one, he would saytter because of how much pain he had endured in the training yet still hadn''t fainted but he fainted from a simple cut in real life.


    Nevertheless, he was extremely thankful to the cksmith.


    If not for his thinking, he would have gotten an odachi and that would have been quite a


    problem where he would have to raise his stats quickly.


    He nodded thankfully to the cksmith and after some other talks with him and storing the sword in his inventory, he left the shop.


    Out of the ck Market.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 65: The Quest to Save Lily [7]

    Chapter 65: The Quest to Save Lily [7]


    ?


    ****


    After obtaining his sword, Amon returned to his apartment, still not finding Lily on the street where they met anymore.


    After returning, he settled down on his bed in his room and locked the door.


    His sister still wasn''t home yet but he didn''t want to take any chances of her finding out.


    Retrieving the box from his inventory, he disyed it on the bed and removed the lid.


    And for the second time, he saw the sleek obsidian ck sword before him.


    He took it out of the box with utmost carefulness as if it was a priceless antique, wielding it in his hand.


    He hadn''t done it in the shop, but now he could finally do it.


    He quickly knotted the nodachi to his outfit using the sageo before taking a stance.


    Next, he gripped the scabbard in one hand and pushed the handle of the sword with his thumb, breaking the seal.


    Tilting the scabbard downward with his hand he brought it back and pulled the nodachi out with his right hand.


    The ck obsidian metal gleamed under the atmospheric lighting, reflecting it like a sparkling titanium.


    And just like the Void Training, he instantly realized how it was eerily simr in weight to the odachi even though it was shorter,


    He admired the groove and the curved edge of the nodachi, examining the intricate patterns that had been woven on the metal with meticulous care.


    He shed it in the air, and with each swing, he heard euphoric ripples resound in the air.


    The ck metal seemed to cut through the air like a knife cutting through paper, making it the cause of the ripples he heard.


    At that moment, Amon remembered to check the status of the weapon.


    Weapon Name: Obsidian Bloodstorm


    Weapon Rank: 4 Stars


    * Increases the [Strength] and [Agility] stats of the user by 1 point. [This effect will be null once the user''s rank crosses the rank of the weapon]


    * Increases the affinity stats of [Lightning] and [Blood] by one point. [This effect will be null once the user''s rank crosses the rank of the weapon.]


    Skills:


    * [Bloodborne Symphony]: By inflicting a cut on an opponent using this sword, the user can choose to inflict paralysis or bleeding effect on the user for 8 seconds. The stronger the user is, the less time it will take for them to break free.


    With his eyes running through the description, Amon subtly nodded at every exnation with satisfaction.


    This was exactly the weapon he needed right now.


    Though one could say that he should have disyed his [Void] element as well, there was no point.


    First off, he didn''t know how to control or use the [Void] element.


    When he asked Zephyra to teach her finally after getting time, she answered him with an absolute no.


    She exined that it was such a strong and chaotic element that even using it for 2 minutes would break his body down due to the sheer pressure.


    She tly replied to him that he couldn''t learn the [Void] element until his second [Void Training] which would take ce 2 weeks after this quest.


    In her words, the [Void Training] wasn''t just there for him to train and get stronger. One of its purposes was also to steadily attune his body with the [Void] element to the point he would be able to handle it.


    However, this wasn''t a surprise for Amon since something simr had been mentioned to Michael by Sran.


    The Void Beasts and the spatial environment limatized his body slowly to the element till the point it would finally be able to withstand it without many issues.


    As he closed the system window, a notification sound resounded on his watch.


    DING!


    Carefully sheathing his nodachi, he set it aside and looked over to his watch or more urately, his messaging function.


    It was Cryptic Glories.


    A smile appeared on his face.


    The data was finally here.


    There were multiple files and his eyes quickly ran over the names of each one of them. Fortunately, he knew the name of the ve house so he instantly found it midway into the list.


    ckchain Enve.


    He quickly opened its file and found a wide array of information all about the ve house.


    From its location blueprints to the data of ves and employees they had and even the information of the leader.


    Apparently, it was majorly known as a tavern rather than a ve house. In fact, not many knew of it as it was never explicitly shown and it was done in the background.


    Even Amon himself had just made an assumption back at the time and never found evidence that it was a ve house.


    For all he knew, Lily could have been anyone.


    In any case, he quickly looked over the profile of the ve house'' leader.


    His real name was Norman Clove but in the ck Market, he used to go by Mr. ckchain.


    He was a 4th Tier Spear Armentist in the army a few years back but had retired when he lost his wife who died giving birth along with her child.


    It happened when he was out in a battle.


    ''No wonder they managed to get so much data on him...'' Amon thought since the man was


    from the military.


    After the loss, he fell into despair and further on into hatred when he saw others being happy


    with their children and families.


    He hated how this world worked.


    And so he started to turn children into ves. Not just orphans but even stealing newborns


    from their parents and turning themter on into ves.


    This was his motivation behind the hidden ve house he now administered.


    As he ran through all the files, Amon''s eyes finally settled on the name of Lily.


    There wasn''t much about her since he had never specified it.


    Her name and age only with a picture of her.


    And finally, he turned to the location blueprint and started to analyze it, ns already


    forming in his mind.


    *****


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 66: The Quest To Save Lily [8]

    Chapter 66: The Quest To Save Lily [8]


    ?


    ****


    [5 Days Later]


    Amon exited his apartment, into the dark starless night.


    Gray formless clouds were parting through the nket of dark sky, leaving small trails in their wake.


    Despite the hot humid weather, slight gusts of chilly wind graced thend from time to time.


    The air had a touch of saltiness in it, making him aware that it would rain soon tonight. Tonight was the final night. 2 days were left before his quest would end and so today he would clear it.


    Rather than taking a risk of time and doing it tomorrow, he chose to do it today.


    It was about 12:30 AM right now, and his sister was fast asleep in her room.


    Later that previous day, when he had finished checking out the information by the Cryptic Glories, he also received the equipment he had ordered from HOU 3 hourster.


    After the dungeon incident, he suffered some minor tears and scratches on the equipment.


    So after obtaining the tinum membership, he returned the equipment to HOU for repairs and further enhancements.


    It now had a stealth enhancement that wouldpletely cover his body and tracks for 5 minutes.


    However, people stronger than the artifact''s rank were able to sense his presence with a little difficulty due to which he needed to be very careful.


    A 4th tier armentist was no joke.


    During these 5 days, he had taken several trips to the street in his new equipment at different times of the day.


    And each time, Lily wasn''t present there anymore but rather a different girl had taken her ce.


    Rather than interacting with her though, he used his stealth enhancement this time and took several visits to the main building of ckchain Enve.


    Though he had made the n using the blueprint, he wanted to analyze how he would personally infiltrate the building.


    Especially since he didn''t know where Lily was going to be among the extremelyrge number of children.


    Fortunately, he was lucky that he did because after arriving in the secluded street where the building was located, he was instantly made aware of how tight the security was.


    But actually, the security wasn''t that tight. It was that the ve house building was quite small.


    Maybe it was to keep its activities under cover or something else, he didn''t know.


    But he did know no matter how stealthy he was, going from the front was definitely suicidal. After observing the security in and out for 2 days, he concluded that most of them were 1st leaf clovists, contrary to what he assumed earlier.


    Only about 8 to 10 were 2nd order clovists were present as far as he had seen.


    After further investigation, he found out that every child would sit down on the street for 1 week and they would be changed the next week, thus the reason why Lily disappeared after one week.


    And since the children were special to them, they assigned the few 2nd order clovists they had to protect them.


    If someone wanted to enter the tavern for any kind of business they had to tell the child a secret code that would be heard by the guards protecting her, leading them to further lead the client in the building.


    Moving back to the present, Amon quickly got out of the apartment area.


    To his surprise, some couples or people were still roaming the streets.


    Regardless, he called a horse carriage and quickly gave it one Exlor for a trip to the City Centre.


    Normally, he would walk but he wanted to get done with this as quickly as possible today.


    He still had sses to attend in the morning.


    ****


    [After 25 Minutes]


    Amon arrived in the street where Lily used to sit and saw another girl sitting there. However, rather than walking up to her, he jumped on top of a small shed of a store. From there, he jumped on a higher tform and eventually on top of a building. He had his nodachi strapped to his waist which was further hidden by the cloak. Though it hindered some of his movement and put some weight on him, it gave him the effects of the weapon.


    Due to this, his [Strength] and [Agility] stats were now at the level of a 2nd order clovist. Furthermore, his [Blood] element was now Level 2 with [Lightning] only needing one more point to get to Level 2 as well.


    After activating this effect for the first time in those 5 days, he instantly received an influx of information in his mind about the [Blood] element.


    Aside from his usual maniption speed increase and it bing easier to shape it, he could finally form blood into weapons.


    He could now properly shape blood into a sword or any other weapon as long as he perfectly imagined it.


    Not only that, but now the eleration of blood inside his body was rtively easier.


    It was no longer such arge risk.


    Pushing his thoughts back, Amon ducked onto the roof and efficiently traveled to its edge.


    There, he immediately saw the 2 guards who were guarding the small kid hidden in another


    building.


    However, he chose to do nothing.


    As much as he wanted to free every kid who was held as a ve, he knew it was impossible as


    well.


    In this way, let alone Lily, he doubted he woulde out alive from the confrontation. Additionally, he wanted to avoid as many guards as he could.


    He could beat 1st order clovists, but not that many.


    So, ignoring the kid, he quickly hopped from building to building, traveling through the


    streets.


    After 5 days of doing it, this had be normal for him.


    Finally, after 5 minutes, he arrived on a roof adjacent to the building.


    There it was.


    The building wasn''t thatrge as Amon had talked about it previously as well.


    Even the roof he was standing on right now, was higher than the Enve''s roof.


    The normal way right now would be to enter through the roof but of course, he knew how much security would be ced there.


    What''s more was that ording to the blueprint he received, the ves were probably stored


    in the basement.


    He didn''t want to take such a long path.


    And so he looked over at the entrance of the building, where 2 guards were stationed in formal


    suits.


    He kept looking at them for 2 minutes before checking his watch and looking back again.


    At that moment, both guards moved and he stretched his arms.


    "It''s time."

 Chapter 67: The Quest To Save Lily [9]

    Chapter 67: The Quest To Save Lily [9]


    ?


    ****


    The next day after Amon had received information from Cryptic Glories, he asked them if they could further dig into ckchain Enve.


    They told him that they could but the information wouldn''t be much about the ves or employees since all they could do for now was investigate their systems and devices.


    He told them to go ahead and after 1 day, he had received some reports of them.


    It detailed what weapons most of them used and which guard was assigned to which ce initially.


    But the most important detail in the reports was their guarding schedule.


    The report exined how the guards would switch ces every 10 minutes, making them do a rotation in the whole building.


    The time it would take for one switch to bepleted was 1-minute maximum.


    However, during that 1 minute nobody would be present at the entrance.


    Though it seemed kind of dumb from an outsider''s perspective, it wasn''t since as soon as you headed inside, whichever way you went, guards would be present doing their rotation.


    At one point, you woulde face-to-face with them for sure.


    Which was why Amon had instantly concluded that entering from the front was a suicidal charge.


    Coming back to the present, he smiled as the guards finally moved inside for the switch, leaving the entrance open.


    ''Keep guard around me on all sides please.'' Amon asked Zephyra.


    [Alright, I understand.] She responded in his head.


    He knew that Zephyra could look around him in a 5-meter radius so this was an advantage if someone was ever going to sneak attack him.


    Making a tform of blood, he lowered himself to the ground silently and rushed towards a narrow alley right between the Enve and another building.


    It was all or nothing now. He had to rush at full speed.


    And so he darted towards the middle of the alley, where he found a manhole cover.


    Yes. He was going to infiltrate the building through the sewers.


    And so, forming some thick strings of blood, he removed the cover and jumped down into the darkness, while also cing the cover back.


    He silentlynded on the ground and the disgusting stench of the sewers instantly invaded his nostrils.


    But after walking through this tunnel so many times in these days, he was used it by now.


    He upturned his palm and immediately sparks of lightning started to emanate from it, lightning up a certain radius around him.


    The circr sewer tunnel was ginormous and spacious. It had taken him by immense surprise the first time he visited it.


    Filthy rats scurried about on the metal floor while the circr metal walls were dirty and slimy.


    Right beside him to the right, was a calm river of sewage discharge.


    Focusing on this purpose, Amon bent his body and dashed at full speed through the tunnel.


    After exploring this once and so many times, he had confirmed that no guard was ever ced here or even traveled through here during the switch.


    After the [Lightning] affinity acquired another point, Amon considered using it like he had used [Blood] before.


    And so, he practiced using it again and again in the 5 days which resulted in this......


    He took a deep breath and concentrated on his [Lightning] element.


    At that moment, sparks of lightning started to regte around his legs, effervescently spreading throughout with each passing second.


    With one final push, he bent his body and shot at a speed multiple times higher than his former one.


    He blitzed through the tunnel, leaving yellow sparks in his wake.


    His eyes widened at the fast motion of the world around him.


    This was one of the major disadvantages he experienced first when using this move.


    He would not be able to match his vision with his speed and therefore would smash into random corners or walls.


    However, he found a fix for this overtime.


    And so instantly, his eyes glowed amethyst, an indigo me burning in them.


    The world around him immediately slowed down, returning to its normal motion.


    He used the effect of [Eyes of the Void] through which he could perceive the world around him in a slower motion.


    The faster and slower motions canceled each other out, making him see everything at a normal speed despite moving at the same pace.


    After some turns, he finally slowed down a distance away from thedder that led up to the main floor.


    This was because he instantly felt a burning feeling on his legs which indicated it was time to


    let go.


    This was the second major risk of this move.


    By regting electricity around him continuously, the respective part would start to heat up before starting to burnter on.


    If he continued it, the body part would eventually turn into a charred state and further continuation would make it blow up in a mushy mess.


    He quickly settled beside adder for a moment and retrieved a mana potion from his


    inventory.


    The aubergine liquid glowed in the sh before he took off the cork and quickly downed it.


    Instantly, he felt his mana being replenished to full.


    It was a mana potion. He had purchased 5 mana and 5 health potions from HOU beforeing


    here.


    He didn''t purchase more as he felt they would be unnecessary.


    After downing it whole, he threw the sk aside into the river and stood up before carefully starting to climb the stairs.


    Reaching the top, he carefully slid the manhole cover aside.


    To his knowledge, it had been roughly 2 minutes after he jumped down from the building.


    He slightly peeked his head out of the hiding and instantly saw darkness around him.


    Behind him was arge device that was constantly beeping with lights.


    It was a mana transformer.


    It was the device responsible for converting the mana stored inside mana cores into electricity


    that would power up a building.


    He smiled.


    He had arrived at the correct spot ording to the blueprint.


    He was in the electrical room of the building now. 4 floors above from where the ves were


    kept.


    Thanks for reading!

 Chapter 68: The Quest To Save Lily [10]

    Chapter 68: The Quest To Save Lily [10]


    ?


    (EXTRA CHAPTER FOR 15 GOLDEN TICKETS!!)


    ****


    As Amon looked ahead, he saw a wide path in front of him, stretching out to 10 meters before it reached a sharp left turn.


    The whole pathway was dark due to the gigantic sizes of mana transformers to his left side that made light unable to reach the path.


    However, light entered from the left turn of the pathway at the end, indicating that the area up ahead was illuminated.


    Covering his feet in a liquid coating of blood to prevent them from making a sound against the hard metal floor.


    Taking the turn, Amon found himself on a spacious floor, mana transformers all around him. In front of him, there were two staircases.


    One led to the upper floor while the second one led to the lower floor, both of them separated by a railing.


    A few meters ahead of him to his left and right were two more turns, leading to narrow pathways.


    ording to the map blueprint, they were the storage rooms for the wine and alcohol served on the first floor.


    He frowned. He was cornered now.


    As long as he even walked past the pathways, the guards standing in front of the wine cers would spot him.


    Furthermore, there were guards stationed midway on the staircases as well which made the normal travel method impossible.


    Which was why, he had to resort to another method.


    Fortunately, he had already nned this out beforeing.


    He bent his body and at that moment, activated the stealth mode of his cape, making him instantly go invisible.


    Without wasting a moment, he ran towards the railing that joined the two staircases together. He passed the two turns and fortunately, no guard noticed him.


    Focusing his attention upfront, he ced his hand on the railing and propelled himself into the air, jumping into the space between the two staircases.


    He started falling at a rapid pace but quickly used [Eye of the Void] to slow down the world around him.


    Where at one moment it was a rapid blur of motion, it transformed into an unrushed gentle motion in the next moment.


    He looked to his sides and instantly spotted guards stationed at various spots on the staircases.


    However, he quickly took off his gaze to not let them feel anything and looked below.


    There were roughly 10 seconds left before he wouldnd on the ground and create a noise loud enough to get spotted.


    However, he exerted more mana into his eyes after some seconds, slowing the world down


    even more.


    The world was moving so slowly now that Amon could see even the smallest movement around him. Fully clear.


    Just when there were about 3 seconds left for him tond, his gaze wandered around the ground floor, which was within his sight now.


    He saw various customers sitting on the bar stools in the bar corner.


    The barkeeper graciously poured drinks to the drunk people at every request.


    However, that wasn''t the purpose right now.


    Amon''s eyes quickly moved at a fast pace before settling into apletely dark and secluded corner of the floor.


    Without wasting a second, he retrieved a metal bell from his inventory before throwing it with full force toward the corner using his blood-coated hand.


    The bell went flying along with his body continuously falling towards the floor.


    And just when the bell was mere inches from hitting the wall and his body was an inch from touching the floor, he disappeared from his ce.


    In the next moment, he was standing with his back to a wall, the one which the bell was inches away from hitting.


    And the metal bell crashed into the spot where he was going tond a moment before.


    Arge ring resounded in the whole building, making everyone''s heads sharply turn towards it, their bodies alerted.


    And as soon as everyone''s attention was taken, he quietly slipped towards a chair on the bar corner while also looking at the bell to not make anyone suspicious.


    As he settled down on a seat, he noticed a guard immediately arrive at where the bell crashed and pick it up.


    The guard next to him instantly looked up, following the trajectory from where itnded.


    He quickly made some signs to the guard and both of them instantly rushed upstairs.


    The guards around also started moving.


    Fortunately, there wasn''t any suspicious nce at him yet.


    However, he was taken by surprise as he felt someone arrive in front of him.


    He looked up and saw the old barkeeper standing before him, his gaze fixed on his mask.


    "Wee to ckchain Enve, would you like a drink?" He respectfully asked, something surprising for a building near the ck Market.


    However, Amon respectfully shook his head without a word.


    Despite him being 18, he refused to drink.


    His father had told him multiple times to never drink when he would grow older, and he had always upheld by this rule.


    Especially so after he unfortunately died.


    Controlling some mounting feelings, he opened his mouth, his voiceing out deep.


    "No need. I''ll take a ss of water please." He requested the barkeeper and he nodded.


    Thetter quickly moved to the other side of the counter where he started to pour water in a


    ss.


    Meanwhile, Amon''s eyes quickly moved towards a dark narrow pathway in the corner of the


    floor, behind the bar counter.


    His eyes narrowed behind the mask.


    ''That''s the staircase to the floor below.''


    [Someone''sing towards you.] Zephyra warned and he nodded internally.


    ''Yeah, I know.'' He answered while still looking forward.


    He feigned ignorance of the presence until he finally heard someone settle beside him.


    Amon''s eyes moved to the corner, finding an old fat man staring at him.


    His cheeks were red and his eyes were dazing off, indicating he was probably drunk.


    At that moment, the barkeeper arrived in front of him and respectfully set the ss of water


    on the table.


    Ignoring the old man stares, Amon focused in front of him and reached out his hand for the


    ss.


    ''I hope I don''t get muc-'' His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the old man besides him took the ss before him.


    Before he could even say anything, the man sshed the water aside on the floor and set the ss back on the counter before throwing an arm around Amon.


    "What''s up man! Why don''t ya drink a little!"


    Thanks for reading!


    Hello. Author here. I wanted to make a brief announcement with you all.


    I''m very sorry for no chapters for the past 2 days as I was extremely sick but I''m better now. Second thing, unfortunately the golden ticket extra chapter target will remain no more and after I''m done with the other 3 extra chapters, the schedule will turn to 2 chapters per day


    normally.


    I''m sorry but this is because my colleges have started and I''m going to be very busy going


    forward.


    However, if on some days I miss my daily updates, I''llpensate for that with a mass


    release.


    Thank you.


    Join Discord for illustrations and more (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 69: The Quest To Save Lily [11]

    Chapter 69: The Quest To Save Lily [11]


    ?


    ***


    Amon sighed.


    He really didn''t want to do this right now.


    "Oi! You barman! Come and pour us a drink here!" The old drunkard raised his hand and called the barkeeper out.


    Thetter bowed to a customer at the far end of the bar corner and hurriedly walked up to them with a bottle in his hand.


    The drunk man gestured towards the now empty ss and the barkeeper graciously poured some alcohol into the ss.


    The old man smiled drunkenly and closed his arm more around Amon pulling him close. "Come here yad!" He eximed and picked up the ss that was filled with ss up. Amon''s mind worked at lightning speed, thinking of ways to get out of this situation. The old man was definitely an unawakened.


    And in some seconds, he finally found a way, a smile spreading across his masked features. The drunk man brought the ss close to his mask and with the other hand that was closed around him, tried to lift the mask.


    CRUCK!


    The mask moved a little.


    However, as soon as it moved, Amon reacted.


    Grabbing the arm that was wrapped around him from his hand, Amon applied some force on his grip and spun his arm.


    The unawakened old man''s weight was nothing in front of his strength as he was spun in the air before being hurled towards a wall on the other side.


    CRASH!


    The drunkard crashed into the wooden wall, alerting all the people in the bar as their heads sharply spun toward the man.


    Hended on the floor with a thud, his head and mouth bleeding.


    Their eyes widened with shock and quickly spun to the other side, following the trajectory of his crash.


    There, they saw Amon, who was now standing with his cane nted into the ground and his cloak covering his body.


    Silence ensued in the atmosphere as the drunk and cheery feeling vanished instantly.


    Contrary to people''s expectations that the masked man would speak, Amon chose to remain silent.


    And it wasn''t long before the guards arrived.


    "Unfortunately we require you to leave right now or we will have to use force." A guard informed and harshly gestured towards the door.


    Understanding his actions, Amon nodded and walked towards the door, leaving the shop while everyone stared at him with various expressions.


    Unfortunately, they failed to notice his smile behind the mask and the minuscule blood marble resting against the staircase wall.


    The staircase that led down to the first basement floor.


    They also failed to notice the tiny green blip nted at the edge of the stool where Amon sat before.


    ****


    The guards at the entrance door didn''t let him go until he wasn''t seen in the same street anymore.


    Taking a sharp turn, Amon settled into a secluded dark corner and quickly connected his vision to the camera he had ced on his stool.


    His vision blurred and he felt his senses distort.


    After two seconds, it finally cleared and he could see the area around the staircase leading to the basement.


    Then, he tried to see around as much as he could using his skill and fortunately, he found no guard around right now or any person looking towards the staircase.


    Disconnecting his vision, he came back to his present location 2 secondster.


    After the man tried to give him alcohol, Amon thought it was a good idea to make people''s suspicion go away from him.


    He knew that someone''s instincts might have still caused them to be suspicious about the bell incident.


    So, after he poured the alcohol into the ss, he secretly manipted a micro marble of blood and rolled it over to the staircase after marking it with his skill.


    And so, after a deep breath and activating his stealth skill again, he used [Voidteleport].


    His vision instantly distorted before clearing again and he found himself on the staircase where the marble was nted before.


    He peered down into the darkness and instantly saw two guards that were stationed in front of a locked door.


    They were looking forward, unaware of Amon who was standing a couple of meters above


    them.


    Thetter gulped.


    Not because he was scared, but because there was no way to go forward now without


    confronting the guards.


    After seeing their positions and theyout, he knew this would happen.


    ''Well, I guess I''m scared as well....''


    He wasn''t scared of fighting them.


    He had fought worse and more ferocious-looking beasts.


    He was afraid of killing them.


    He could try knocking them out but it would only result in a bigger result that would end up


    him being caught and then killed.


    He was weaker than them after all. They were 2nd order clovists.


    He took a deep breath again.


    His stealth ability was running out and he had to do it fast.


    [You have to face it, Amon.] Zephyra called him in his head.


    His body twitched.


    ''I know.....''


    [It''s about survival. It''s either you and Lily or them.]


    He nodded silently.


    It was true.


    Killing for no reason was pathetic. He agreed.


    However, killing for survival and other reasons was something he had to cope with in this


    world.


    Hadn''t he agreed to this from the start?


    When he made the deal with Zephyra?


    Then why was he backing down now?


    He had to do it. For his sake. For Lily''s sake.


    He took on stance, with his body bent and his hand on the hilt of the nodachi.


    Lightning coursed through his legs and right arm, covering the hilt of the nodachi


    Human life was something to be taken very seriously and he agreed. It was nothing


    something to be taken away without reason.


    However, survival was that exact reason. The reason that disregarded all rules why life should


    be appreciated.


    His eyes opened, resolute and determined.


    And with one forceful push, heunched at full speed towards the two guards.


    SHIIINNG!


    His nodachi unsheathed in a clean motion and was instantly coated in a metallic sheen of


    blood.


    And as he was a meter away from both guards, he shed his sword in a horizontal motion. The de shed through the air, producing a euphoric, clean, and silent pierce.


    And in the next moment, it connected with the neck of the guard, cutting through it in a single


    motion.


    Within the very next instant, two heads flew in the air along with a fountain of crimson,


    spraying on everything around it.


    Amon''s mask and attire were instantly covered in the bath of blood. However, his mind


    wasn''t on that topic right now.


    His mouth opened and closed fast, his breathsing out in deep gasps.


    At that moment, he barely, just faintly felt two soft hands sping his face and someone


    hugging him from behind.


    [You did good. There''s no need to worry.] He heard a voice in his head.


    However, his mind wasn''t on that right now.


    He had just killed two people.


    ''I....did that.''


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 70: The Quest To Save Lily [12]

    Chapter 70: The Quest To Save Lily [12]


    ?


    ****


    Amon kept panting, deeply and fastly. His eyes widened so much that they looked like they would fall out of their sockets any second.


    ''I shouldn''t look back. I shouldn''t look back.'' He kept repeating himself.


    But he knew that he had to. This wasn''t the first life that he would take in this world.


    This was just the reality. He couldn''t ignore it.


    And so if he needed to progress and take more lives, he had to first eradicate his fear of looking back at his actions.


    The consequences of what he had done.


    So, he turned back.


    And right there, in front of him were two headless bodies slumped to the ground, arge pool of blood forming around them.


    And right behind the bodies, were the heads of the two guards.


    Their expressions were distorted, almost at the edge of confusion and surprise.


    They had been taken by surprise,pletely unaware of what hit them.


    Amon''s soul trembled at the sight but he held it in and kept looking at the bodies.


    Suddenly, his eyes widened even further and moved towards his body.


    ''N-no....'' Amon thought.


    His hand which was holding the bloody nodachi, his chest, his whole body.


    They werepletely motionless. Unafraid.


    As if this was not the first kill they had done.


    ''H-has this body killed before?...'' Amon thought with surprise.


    He realized even further at the moment that there was no repulsive action from his body, which would be normal in such cases.


    His soul might have been afraid right now but his body was used to it. Also exining why his hand didn''t tremble even till thest second when he was taking the lives of the guards.


    ''Has the past Amon murdered before?'' The thought ran through Amon''s head.


    [We have a mission to aplish right now Amon.] Zephyra quickly brought him back to the present.


    He quickly shook his head to shake off such thoughts and quickly ran towards the bodies of the two guards.


    His expression was still repulsive but he controlled himself for the sake of the mission. He stored the blood inside his spatial ring while storing the bodies and heads in [Inventory].


    He silently closed the doors through which he entered.


    He was one floor away from reaching Lily now.


    Taking a deep breath to calm down his racing heart, he looked around and found himself on a floor made of concrete stone this time.


    A contrast to the upper floors that were made of wood.


    There were four doors on this floor now, two on each side.


    Out of 4, only one led to the lower floor where ves were kept.


    The other 3 stored various materials, such as equipment for the guards and mana cores for the building.


    As much as he wanted to hoard some things right now for his ns, he knew he was running on limited time.


    It was only a matter of time before the guards'' disappearance would be noticed and an rm would be issued in the whole building.


    However, there was another problem.


    The only staircase that led down to the lower floor had 3 pairs of guards that he could never avoid.


    Before teleporting himself to the staircase, he had marked another object.


    With [Voidteleport], he could mark 2 objects at most, and each mark wouldst for 5 minutes.


    In that way, he now only had 3 minutes before he needed to grab Lily and get out of this building.


    If he failed, then he needed to face every single guard to get her out of here.


    So without wasting a second, he shot toward the door and opened it, unveiling a lengthy and narrow staircase, shrouded in darkness.


    And within that darkness, he instantly spotted the three pairs of guards on the narrow step of stairs.


    His stealth ability was still in cooldown so he had no option but to face them head-on.


    And so, he shot forward towards the first pair of guards, who noticed him instantly.


    Both of the guards shot forward as well, one of them shrouding their arm in fire while the other quickly manipted wind tounch a gust.


    However, fighting them was not the n right now.


    Even if there was some way to defeat them in this narrow area, his time for the mark would


    end.


    So, his eyes instantly glowed in an aubergine color.


    ''[Eye of the Void]''


    The amethyst eyes contacted the guards'' eyes and instantly both of them were halted in their spots, disrupting their attacks and mana flow.


    With their bodies halted for a couple of seconds, Amon reached them instantly.


    His hands touched their bodies and immediately manipted the blood inside their bodies.


    It was nearly impossible to do it at a distance. Especially for a 2nd order clovist. But after touching them was another case.


    Bringing their body blood close to his hands, Amon sent jolts of electricity running through their bodies.


    Their bodies spasmed with pain as the blood inside their bodies revolted at such high


    voltages.


    It wasn''t enough to halt their movements, but [Eye of the Void] was already doing its job.


    With just a few seconds left, Amon pushed them back, sending their bodies crashing down toward the other pairs of guards that were hurrying up toward him.


    And before they could do anything, he extended his arm towards them.


    In the next moment, a river of blood formed and emerged in the space in front of him, crashing down towards the guards.


    Following that, he connected his hands with the blood and with as much mana he could muster, sent electricity coursing through the blood.


    The blood that just touched the guards and kept flowing down the stairs was electrified, and with it, so were the guards.


    [Eye of the Void] was now on cooldown but the guards were still unable to move toward Amon with the raging onught of the blood river and the electricity that continuously spasmed


    through their bodies.


    Taking his hands off the blood, he stopped channeling electricity and realized that it was his


    chance now.


    He immediately used [Voidstep], appearing 10 meters down on the set of stairs, near the


    guards.


    Without wasting any moment, he unsheathed his nodachi and shed towards their necks.


    However, they were just a bit faster as they slightly moved at the end, making the de only


    slightly graze their necks.


    Thought it wasn''t what Amon had nned, it was enough.


    He immediately used the first ability of his weapon.


    ''[Bloodborne Symphony]''


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 71: The Quest To Save Lily [13]

    Chapter 71: The Quest To Save Lily [13]


    ?


    (R18 CHAPTER: CONTAINS GORE AND EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SUCH TYPE OF CONTENT)


    ****


    The bodies of the guards twitched with an intensity harder than ever before.


    It was confirmed to them that it wasn''t [Lightning] as their bodies were immediately paralyzed.


    Their eyes were already widened from shock at the fact that this masked man could use dual elements.


    Anyhow, Amon used [Voidteleport] once more and arrived at the base of the stairs.


    On the final floor of the building.


    The blood river had died down since all blood had arrived on this floor from the stairs.


    As a result, the floor was now partially flooded with blood.


    However, that wasn''t the important thing right now and Amon quickly started to down 2 mana potions.


    His mana was almost rock bottom now with all those usage of skills.


    After being done with the potions, there were still 30 seconds before the guards would be free from the influence of the skill.


    So quickly, he headed towards the final door and opened it with force.


    However, what he say made his eyes widen.


    Yes, the ves were stored here.


    Instantly, he saw the room in which he had arrived almost filled with child ves as all of them sat down on the floor.


    There was freedom of space to move but that didn''t change the fact that so many of them were enved in this room.


    But that wasn''t the cruel and grueling part.


    ''I fucked up.....'' Amon blurted with his eyes surprised.


    All of them. Each one of them had a cor around their neck.


    However, it wasn''t just a normal ve cor.


    It was a mana bomb.


    And just as he thought that he heard pping resound from behind, making him turn sharply towards the source of the noise.


    His eyes widened.


    With dirty and messy brown hair and eyes having the color of dirt, Amon recognized him instantly.


    He was Norman Clove, the owner of ckchain Enclove.


    ''Shit.... why is he here?'' Amon cursed in his thoughts and his body instantly entered an alert mode.


    Ignoring his existence, his eyes activated [Eye of the Void] at full capacity again and quickly ran over all the children.


    And it wasn''t a few seconds in before he found Lily.


    She was standing at the corner of the room her hands sped together as she looked at him with tears in her eyes.


    It was obvious that she had recognized him and was looking at him.


    He could also sense that she was immensely scared right now.


    Whether it was because of him having a lot of blood on him or due to Norman, he didn''t know and that didn''t matter right now.


    Without wasting a single moment, he bent his body, ready to use [Voidstep] and [Voidteleport].


    The mana bombs were never mentioned in the report that came from Cryptic Glories.


    For all he knew, they could be fake.


    However, a line from Norman halted him.


    "I wouldn''t use mana right now if I were you."


    Amon''s body twitched, halting his motion.


    Before he could say anything, Norman continued, finding his chance.


    "I''m sure you recognize that those are mana bombs right?"


    Mana bombs were exactly as the name implied.


    They were bombs that exploded when the condition imposed on them was vited.


    However, for them to work, they only need a connection with mana for them to work.


    Which led to Amon assuming they were fake.


    However.....


    "One of the rooms on the upper floor is filled with mana cores. It serves as a direct connection to them." He exined with a devilish smile.


    "So. If any of the ves move from their position or you use mana near them, it would trigger the bomb and they would explode." His smile widened.


    Amon gritted his teeth.


    However, as soon he was about to speak something, Norman continued.


    "I''m sure you think that there''s a chance it might be fake right? Well, let me demonstrate it to


    you."


    He retrieved his spear and with a gentle whip sent it flying to the other end of the room.


    As itnded on the floor, a small whirlpool of wind was created around the weapon.


    And that wind. Touched a little girl right next to it.


    The circr cor that was attached to her neck instantly beeped red.


    Amon''s mouth opened with shock and his eyes widened.


    Before he could even raise an arm, the cor let out a final long beep before suddenly an explosion happened.


    BOOM!


    The girl exploded, her innards, pieces of brain, and blood sshing all over the room.


    However, she wasn''t the only one.


    2 more children, 1 boy, and 1 girl, around her were caught in the explosion, making half of


    their bodies explode as well.


    3 child ves died. Just like that.


    Amon''s head sharply turned towards the other children, to tell them not to move otherwise


    they would be blown up as well.


    However, there was no need as they didn''t move anyways.


    His expression froze.


    Had something like this happened before as well?


    Now that he focused on their expression and eyes, they were lifeless.


    As if they were dolls.


    ''They....'' He couldn''tplete the thought.


    But Zephyra did it for him.


    [They have already lost their will to live. How much torture have they suffered?] She


    questioned.


    All of them were soulless. Like living or dying didn''t matter to them anyway.


    But even so, as his head moved towards Lily, he saw tears trickling down her eyes.


    Eyes that were filled with sadness and fear rather than lifelessness.


    But before he could do anything, a sharp kicknded at his torso, sending him crashing back


    into the walls.


    "Who said you could look away?" He heard Norman question.


    As he went crashing into the walls, he collided with 3 more children, throwing them off of


    their ce.


    Blood sshed out of his mouth as he crashed into the wall, making a crater in it.


    Such was the power of a mere kick from a 4th-tier Armentist.


    But his attention was not on his wounds right now as he heard several beeps go off in front of


    him.


    And as he looked up, three more explosions carried out in the room, ending the lives of


    several more children.


    Blood, innards, and pieces of skin flew in the air, some of them evennding on Amon''s cape.


    His expression contorted into one filled with pain and suffering.


    This wasn''t just a mere killing. It was a child massacre.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)


    2 Extra Chapters After Some Hours.

 Chapter 72: The Quest To Save Lily [14] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 72: The Quest To Save Lily [14] [EXTRA]


    ?


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 30 GOLDEN TICKETS!)


    ****


    [At The Academy Entrance Gates]


    The guards stood at full attention, gazes wandering around for any strangeness.


    Some were taking rounds around the gate as well.


    It was a hot and humid day yet they did their duty with utmost sincerity.


    That was how much they loved and respected the academy.


    "I really wonder when the headmaster will be back from his expedition." A guard standing before the gates spoke to the guard next to him.


    The second guard sighed.


    "We can''t say anything, the headmaster has not been back for 2 years. He''s on a dangerous expedition that''s all we know. All we can do in turn is protect this ce with our full capacity to return our favor."


    The first guard nodded with exuberance.


    "Yeah! We shoul-" The guard''s voice was cut off as a deep, old voice resounded in his ears. "You guys missing me already?"


    Every guard that stood around the premises halted at the voice, their bodies instantly freezing at their spot.


    Their heads stutteringly turned towards the source of the voice, the one that they so easily recognized and missed so much.


    Their gazes which were filled with disbeliefnded upon the small shadow of the first guard.


    It was from where the voice had originated.


    But their gazes still didn''t move, as they knew what was going to happen.


    At that moment, the shadow moved.


    It started wriggling before molding and solidifying itself into a sculpture of a real person. And in the next instant, the ck shadow covering the sculpture fell, unveiling a real person. With a wide build and tall stature, the man exuded an air ofmand and authority.


    An air that instantly made every single person inside the academy tense up, let alone the guards.


    Chills crept up their spines as they felt the hair stand up on their sweat-drenched backs. The man looked to be in histe 20s, wearing a medieval formal suit along with a white regal cape that draped from his shoulders, covering his back.


    With high cheekbones and a refined jawline, his skin was without any blemish and his neatlybed ck hair gave him a sophisticated appearance along with his gentle smile.


    His crimson-red eyes shone like rubies with a golden monocle leisurely ced over his right eye that brightly shone in the embrace of sunlight.


    In his gloved hand was an exquisitely crafted wooden cane that was currently nted into the ground.


    Every guard''s jaw cked open.


    The person they were just talking about was finally back after 2 years.


    The headmaster was back. Arthur Milize, the strongest human alive, was back.


    Arthur''s head moved and his crimson eyes met the gazes of the guards.


    His gentle smile spread further and he raised his hand in the air.


    "Yo!"


    However, before the guards could say anything, several presences crashed down from the sky on the ground.


    Along with them, a purple spatial portal opened up beside Arthur.


    Sighing, he nted his cane on the ground and sat down on the wooden handle.


    In the next moment, all of the teachers thatnded down on the ground stood up and bowed at 90 degrees to Arthur along with the guards.


    "Wee back Headmaster!"


    Some of them were war veterans and people at the peak of society. Yet their bowing down to Arthur showed how much respect they had for him.


    Thetter sighed and waved his hand in the air.


    "Whatever whatever, stop with this. It isn''t like the world is being turned upside down."


    "You areing back after 2 years and the world would sit normally? What an underestimation." Arthur heard a familiar feminine voice from behind.


    He leaned back his head while sitting on the cane and saw Athenae out of her portal, wearing a casual dress.


    Out of everyone, she was the only one who didn''t bow to him.


    "Wee back Arthur." She smiled tiredly, something that couldn''t be seen by the others as their gazes were fixated on the ground.


    Arthur raised his hand with a smile.


    "Yo! Been a while eh?"


    He stood up and tapped his cane on the ground again.


    She nodded.


    He tilted his head and scratched it with an apologizing smile.


    "I hope the burden wasn''t too much?" He tried to apologize.


    Athena''s mouth twitched, but before she could say something, he quickly switched the topic. "Anyways, what are we standing here for? It''s hot here. Let''s move inside, stand up everyone." He waved his hand, telling them to get up.


    The teachers stood up and started to follow Arthur, their bodies still a little tense from the natural presence that came off of him.


    "Oh yeah, you guys as well. Take a break for a while. There''s no need to worry anymore since I''m here." Arthur looked back at the guards and pointed towards his back.


    He was assuring everyone that nobody would dare to cause any problem now that he was back.


    A cheerful expression formed on every guard''s face as they all bowed while Arthur started to move inside with the teachers.


    However, as soon as he was about to enter, he suddenly stopped and looked at the sky.


    Or more urately, far away into the academy.


    His expression contorted into an ''o'' shape and his smile widened.


    "This is going to be fun." He mumbled something that only Athena heard.


    Then he turned towards her and scratched his head again.


    "Something just popped up right? Be back soon. Handle everything here, please." He spoke


    before quickly starting to melt in her shadow.


    Her mouth twitched with annoyance again.


    "Get!-"


    "I owe you one, cya." He raised his hand as farewell and disappeared causing her to sigh.


    But nobody noticed the upward curl of her lips thatsted just a second.


    "That idiot...." She mumbled.


    ****


    Amon stood in front of Norman, his body bleeding from multiple ces.


    His equipment had suffered many tears and the only thing that remained intact till now was


    the mask.


    Multiple bones in body were now broken.


    The room was now shrouded in crimson, with blood and pieces of flesh being scattered all


    around.


    During their fight in which he was getting beaten up like a ragdoll, multiple children had moved from their ce, ending in them exploding like balloons.


    Their flesh, blood, and innardsnded on Amon throwing him further into a pit of trauma.


    It was his fault that every person was dying.


    Each time he tried to attack Norman, he would get thrown away and a new child would die.


    It was all his fault. He wasmitting a child massacre.


    He was deliberately making attacks that would throw him far from Lily, to not get her injured.


    He couldn''t afford to let her die. Though selfish, he bore with it.


    Any child could die here but not Lily. It pained him to the core at such a disgusting thought


    but he could do nothing.


    He couldn''t let someone close to him like a little sister die. Even if it meant he had to make


    hundreds of others die.


    Though looking at his beaten up and near-death condition now and Norman''s almost unharmed one, it was safe to say that he would die here.


    There was nothing he could do.


    His n, had failed. Very badly.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)

 Chapter 73: The Quest To Save Lily [14] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 73: The Quest To Save Lily [14] [EXTRA]


    ?


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 45 GOLDEN TICKETS!)


    ****


    From the start, Amon knew that the battle was futile.


    Even though armentists were generally weaker than clovists, the gap between a borderline 2nd-Order clovist and a 4th-Tier armentist was still veryrge.


    With each rank up in both sses, the gap between the previous and next rank would growrger andrger.


    And because of that, he knew that it was his loss here.


    Furthermore, it was only a matter of time before the guards at the staircase would wake up and join the battle.


    At one point, when there were only some seconds left for his mark timeout, he thought of escaping anding back another day.


    However, it was still going to be a problem.


    After this raid, the security was going to get even tighter and ces would be investigated, trying to find where he entered from.


    It would almost be impossible to ever rescue Lily if he did that.


    Additionally, the killing of so many child ves would also throw Norman into stresster.


    There was a chance that he would shift the ves and it would again be impossible to ever rescue Lily.


    Which was why, he dismissed the thought of escaping and his mark disappeared.


    At one point, just for a tiny moment, he thought about whether it was even worth it now to rescue Lily.


    He thought of her as his little sister. But was that really the case?


    Had meeting with her for 1 or 2 hours over the course of 2 weeks really been enough to get her this close to his heart that he was risking his life to rescue her?


    Maybe not. Since it did sound nonsensical from a normal point of view.


    But aside from his closeness to her, in the end, maybe it was just his personality to y the hero.


    To save those in need. After all, it had been the reason why he had grown so attached to The Hero''s Ascension.


    He loved Michael''s personality. To save those in need.


    It was quite simr to his personality. To help others.


    But in the end, it was his personality that had gotten him killed. No?


    His personality forced him to choose the old man over his young sister. Wasn''t that the case?


    It was his personality that forced him to jump into this mess of saving Lily.


    And what happened? He was going to die and he would fail his mission.


    Tens of children died because of just his futile attempt to save Lily. His constant heroic


    attempts to attack Norman ended him getting those children killed.


    If he had just resigned to his fate from the start and not attacked, wouldn''t the oue have been a little better?


    Those children would still be alive at least.


    His eyes widened at that moment.


    Yes. Wasn''t his personality still same to Michael right now as well?


    In all his bright and shine that he had been focused on so much in the novel, he had forgotten the sins he hadmitted.


    Hadn''t he trampled upon lives as well just to keep his loved ones safe?


    Weren''t those trampled ones loved ones of someone as well?


    And wasn''t he doing the same?


    Who knew that the children that died today, exploded today, just cause of him, had parents out there that were still crying to this day to get them back?


    He was doing the same shit.


    Deeming other people live''s insignificant just to save those close to him.


    And he thought that this was a heroic personality? Saving people when you didn''t even know them properly?


    Bullshit.


    What about the other ones? The ones that required saving as well?


    Were they not worth saving just cause he didn''t know them?


    It was all a facade. No one was a hero in this world.


    Rather the hero word didn''t exist. Either that or its definition wasplete and utter


    nonsense.


    Saving people? What about those that were killed in the process of saving?


    Did they not require saving?


    Amon visualized a pile of corpses underneath his feet. He was standing upon all of them.


    They were all those who had died to his actions. His actions to save someone.


    Was this what being a hero was like? No. Definitely not.


    The Hero''s Ascension. A bullshit book. A shit author.


    Suddenly, the pile of corpses started to move.


    The eyes of the buried started to move. They sharply locked with his gaze.


    His eyes trembled with fear and his body took a step back in response.


    Finding no tform to step back, he lost his bnce and fell.


    The corpses started to spread out and slowly crawl towards him.


    Fear crept up his being as he looked at each one of them in their eyes.


    They were the eyes of the dead. Eyes that were previously soulless but now filled with rage


    and hatred.


    Who was the cause of all this? Amon himself.


    He had killed them all for these selfish reasons.


    Before he knew it, he lost the energy to crawl back.


    He couldn''t run from his sins.


    The corpses crawled up to him.


    Their hands reached out and touched his chest.


    Cold and without life. Dead.


    Their hated faces neared up to him, wanting to devour him whole.


    The corpses slowly started to cover his whole body with theirrge number.


    The cold lifeless hands reached out to his cheeks, grabbing them hard and pulling him


    towards them.


    He wanted to scream but he couldn''t.


    Was there someone here to bear his sins?


    Someone to hold his bloody hands?


    Someone to embrace him?


    No one, he thought.


    The corpses were almost done, with their hands reaching out to finally cover his eyes.


    However, at that moment, he felt someone warmly embrace him from behind.


    The hands vanished into purple mes along with the corpses, returning light to his eyes.


    The cold ckndscape transformed into a natural one.


    The ck lifeless rough ground was reced with purple fountain grass and tibouchina flowers as far as he could see.


    A full moon brightly shone in the sky.


    He felt all emotions being sapped out of him as if an endless void was filling his being.


    The remorse and regretpletely vanished.


    However, this void didn''t feel bad. It brought warmth to his being.


    The world. It felt so wonderful right now.


    As if there was nothing in this world that could make him hate or love anyone.


    Nothing could harm him.


    His gaze moved to the corner. Finding Zephyra hugging him from behind.


    Her face was awfully close to his, her warm cheeks touching his.


    Her body was pressed to him with her long lc hair draping across her back.


    His onyx ck eyes met her aubergine ones and her lips curled into a gentle, charming smile.


    "Do not worry. I''ll be the one to embrace your sins." She said gently.


    Her warm hand sping his bloody one.


    And at that moment, the world around him shattered, sending him back to reality.


    Nothing had changed. Not even a second had passed from his visualization. As if it was


    nothing but a dream.


    But there was one change the he suddenly took notice of.


    His shadow. It suddenly started to wriggle and solidify.


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 Chapter 74: The Quest To Save Lily [16]

    Chapter 74: The Quest To Save Lily [16]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s eyes snapped towards his shadow and instantly found it wriggling and molding.


    They widened with shock and recognition at the phenomenon.


    There was only one person in the human continent that was capable of doing this.


    It was then that he realized the date of today.


    He couldn''t believe that he had forgotten it because of Lily''s situation.


    It made sense now why this was happening. He was supposed to arrive today after all.


    Suddenly, his instincts red up and his eyes sharply turned to his front, finding a storm of wind heading towards him.


    ''NOO!!'' Amon screamed in his head as he saw the storm being conjured around Norman.


    It would disrupt everyone''s location and the whole floor would blow up.


    Did this man not care about his guards or other people?


    His mouth twitched.


    There was no time to look at his shadow right now and wait for that person to manifest.


    He had to focus on Lily right now.


    His gaze moved towards the corner of the floor, finding Lily cuddled up at her spot, her face marred with tears streaming down her face constantly.


    He couldn''t even believe it at this point how she was able to hand it.


    The problem here was how to rescue her.


    His elements were an absolute no-go right now.


    As for his skills, Zephyra informed him that skills by themselves used such an urate amount of mana that no mana was leaked outside.


    Therefore, the mana bombs would probably be not triggered.


    However, the skills they were talking about right now were [Void] skills.


    And it was an element that his body still wasn''t ustomed to.


    As a result, she told him that before his second [Void Training], there was still a mana leak that resulted from his skills.


    Especially so when his mana control still wasn''t above that of an average clovist.


    And with that, there was literally no way of getting her out of this situation right now.


    He had decided.


    He didn''t know what was that visualization, but it made him realize how he naive he actually


    was.


    After his self-reflection, he didn''t want to be a hero anymore.


    That personality wasn''t suited to him. Michael could go ahead and be whatever hero he wants to be.


    But not him anymore. Enough of the blind following and trying to be him,


    Heroes were shitty. They weren''t what people assumed them to be.


    And after finding this out, he changed his ns.


    He didn''t care now.


    Saving or not, these children couldn''t be saved. No matter what.


    So what if they required saving? Was it his job to rescue them when he barely knew them?


    That was a hero''s job, not his.


    If this meant being selfish, then yes he would be selfish.


    If being the cause of the death of all these children was required of him to save Lily, then so be it. He was prepared to face the trauma.


    He only cared about Lily now and no one else.


    What mattered was the safety and survival of his loved ones.


    He was prepared to be cold and selfish if he had to for this to happen.


    Moving back to the present, the wind storm was finallypleted.


    And without a moment, the man hurled it toward Amon.


    Suppressing thest bits of hesitation left in him, he unleashed himself.


    Multiple blobs of blood appeared behind him while he regted lightning all around his body.


    Shaping the blobs into multiple swords, heunched them while immediately using his skill.


    ''[Voidstep]''


    He disappeared from his spot and appeared between the children.


    The floor wasrge so 10 meters wasn''t nearly enough to get him to Lily in just one


    teleportation.


    The wind des headed towards him were met with the blood swords that quickly started to counter them.


    As soon hended between the children, it finally went off.


    BEEP!


    BEEP!


    BEEP!


    BEEP!


    BEEP!


    The sounds of the mana bombs being activated around the room.


    Not bearing to look at the faces of the children around him, he suppressed his hesitation once


    more and ignored the noises.


    He used [Voidstep] once more.


    However, this time he limited his teleportation to 8 meters rather than using the full range and instantly appearing next to Lily.


    Appearing next to her would activate her mana bomb because of the mana being leaked


    through the skill.


    As hended, he again heard the sounds of mana bombs being activated.


    But he quickly ignored it and instantly let go of all his elements.


    He deactivated every single thing that was making him use mana.


    Following that, he bent his body and with force, leaped at full speed towards Lily.


    Unfortunately, deactivating the usage of mana also made his blood swords lose shape, making the windstorm proceed towards him.


    As he arrived near Lily, he quickly took her into his arms and shielded her with his body.


    At that moment, nearly 95% of the children that were left in the orphanage, exploded.


    B00000000000M


    Blood and innards flew into the air, being burnt in seconds under the sheer heat of the storm


    that raged on because of the explosion.


    The fire clouds collided with the windstorm, both of them engulfing Amon.


    His cloak started burning with an intense ferocity.


    And within seconds of being assaulted by the mes and the wind des, it turned into


    abyssal ashes that faded into the wind.


    His bare back was exposed now and even then, the storm had not yet subsided as the fire and des impacted upon his back.


    Pain shot up through his whole being, making him feel as ifva was being poured onto his


    back.


    The pale white back turned into apletely charred one, with blood seeping out of the


    injuries.


    The continuous assault of wind des worsened the situation as multiple of them impacted upon his back, tearing it apart with multiple cuts.


    Amon gritted his teeth with full force, holding back the tears that were trying to escape from


    his eyes.


    If it continued like this, his spinal cord would be shattered, leaving him crippled for eternity. [AMON STOP THIS!] Zephyra kept pleading in his head desperately multiple times.


    But he couldn''t. Not after he had arrived this far.


    He could easily escape right now using any of his skills along with Lily. However, it would trigger the mana bomb and this was a step he wasn''t willing to take.


    He would not teleport away until it was the only thing he could do to save his life.


    But he believed in his instincts. He believed that the attack would end before he could bepletely shattered.


    Until then, he would bear the torture.


    The wind des kept shing at his charred back now, making a bloody mess behind him.


    His body waspletely covered in blood from behind now and arge messy puddle had


    formed on the floor.


    Yet, he endured.


    Until finally, he felt it. He knew that the next couple of shes would destroy him and he had


    to run away.


    [AMON RUN AWAY, PLEASE!] Zephyra begged inside his head.


    And he had to. He refused to look at Lily''s face right now at the thing that he was about to do.


    ''[Voidtele-''


    Suddenly, his words were halted by a ticking sound that started resounding in the


    atmosphere.


    Like a clock ticking. Or more urately, a clock being reversed.


    And instantly, the windstorm, the fire, and everything behind Amon vanished.


    At that moment, the only thing he could hear was a deep and majestic voice break out near


    him.


    "Ah, shit. I''mte because of constantly trying to find this location in the area. I guess things turned messy didn''t they?"


    He felt relief and easiness fill up his being at the voice.


    At that moment, Amon instantly knew that they were safe. There was not a single person in


    the world where they could be more safe right now.


    "Welp, time to cleanse this ce of weak beings."


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 Chapter 75: The Quest To Save Lily [17]

    Chapter 75: The Quest To Save Lily [17]


    ?


    ****


    Arthur Milize.


    There was not a single person in the human domain that didn''t know about him.


    Although possessing many feats and titles, there were 2 things that he was best known for.


    First. He was the only 10-leaf clovist in the world.


    Second. He was the only person in the world that possessed an element that was never seen in history.


    And that was the element of [Shadow].


    However, this was only the general information that the public knew about his power.


    The thing that the public didn''t know was that just like Amon, he was a dual elemental clovist.


    Meaning, he possessed dual elements. Because of the public not knowing this information, it made them think that dual elementals never existed.


    However, it would all be changed from this point now that people like Amon, Ren, and Michael had appeared.


    Only a select few people in the human domain knew about him having a second element.


    The Emperor and Athena were included in them. Also, the reason why he was ced 1st on the Collective Ranking List.


    Because they knew about his second element.


    And it wasn''t that his second element was a normal one. If it was, then he would have probably been tied with Athena or maybe slightly stronger.


    But with his second element, the gap between him and Athena was astronomicallyrge.


    It was because his second element was [Time].


    Absolute control over [Time] that had been honed throughout the years.


    Moving back to the present, Amon had lost consciousness, slumping to the ground with Lily in his arms who had fainted due to heat as well.


    He was barely hanging on to thest threads of his life right now.


    Ignoring whatever was in front of him, Arthur looked back at the masked man and Lily.


    His gaze lingered for a few moments, but then his smirk turned into a gentle smile. "Dumbheads......but I guess that''s what I like about you guys heh." He remarked.


    Suddenly, a sharp whistling noise cut through the air before suddenly it disappeared.


    Or more urately, it halted.


    Arthur looked forward, finding a 1-meterrge wind de inches away from him,pletely stopped.


    It was encased in a golden transparent chronic shield that had several runes running around the shield horizontally and two watch dials moving clockwise.


    His gentle smile turned back into a cocky smirk.


    "Oh?" He moved forward, the circle moving away from him ordingly.


    He looked around him, finding various ashes and embers still lingering in the air with the stench of blood and flesh tinging the atmosphere in a gory light.


    Norman, who was sted away into a wall, stood up with his spear in hand.


    His expression was furious and in disbelief at the same time.


    He couldn''t believe how his attack had not only beenpletely disintegrated but the fire had also beenpletely extinguished.


    He had killed all of his ves just to kill the intruder but now his ns werepletely ruined with the arrival of this stranger.


    His head was steaming right now.


    And as if that humiliation wasn''t enough, the man waspletely ignoring him and looking around casually, as if he was nothing but a piece of trash.


    But it was then that suddenly, the wheels in his head started to click as he took a careful look at the shield encasing his attack.


    A chronic golden shield.


    And a young man with a golden monocle in his right eye.


    Instantly, horror enveloped hisplete being as he lost his strength and fell to the ground.


    He recognized this man now.


    The headmaster of this academy and the man who was missing for 2 years.


    Arthur Milize.


    And his terrible thoughts were confirmed as Arthur finally looked back at him. His eyes were now different, which confirmed to Norman that it was the real deal.


    The right eye, the one behind the golden monocle, was now a golden medieval clock.


    The abyssal ck watch hands inside the eye were constantly rotating, indicating that he was using his [Time] element right now.


    The golden watch eye perfectly fit in the outline of the monocle, as if it was a real pocket watch engraved into his eye.


    His previous look now waspletely gone. He was no longer cocky.


    Cold furious rage was bursting out of him as his mouth opened to speak, fatal and cold words


    coming out.


    "What happened here? You have 3 seconds to exin."


    Norman shrieked in horror, knowing that those 3 seconds were obviously visible to him in Arthur''s eye.


    It was then that he suddenly noticed theck of lighting and how ck it was, making him move his gaze to the floor.


    His eyes widened.


    The previously concrete purple floor was nowpletely pitch ck, with a creepy cold air emitting from it.


    Not caring anymore, Norman waved his spears, conjuring several wind des that wereunched again toward Arthur.


    Unfortunately, they didn''t even make it past 1 meter as suddenly, a knightly figure rose from the shadows.


    It waspletely ck and wearing a knightly armor, with blue mes shining from the slit


    in his helmet.


    The wind de connected with the armor andpletely disappeared, not affecting the figure in the least.


    At the same time, multiple figures rose from the shadows throwing Norman into a frenzy.


    Giving into his primal instincts, he startedunching wind des in every direction without a


    thought.


    Multiple of them connected with a weak shadow, making it start to disintegrate into ck


    mes.


    However, as soon as it happened, another chronic shield appeared around the shadow and a clock-reversing sound was heard.


    And in the next second, the shadow was back alive, in its healthy condition.


    Losing all his mana, Norman''s spear hand slumped to the ground, losing his will to live.


    With his regal wooden cane tapping hard against the shadow floor, Arthur walked back towards Amon and Lily.


    The only sound that could be currently heard was the faint crackle of embers and the hard tapping of his cane.


    As he reached both of them, a shadow lifted both of their bodies, carrying them in its arms.


    He then looked back at Norman, who had a shadow sword at his throat now by the previous knight, who stood beside his slumped body.


    Arthur took a single nce and then turned to leave.


    But suddenly, Norman couldn''t bear it anymore. He could not afford to let his business which


    had been built over multiple years crumble just like this.


    "WAIT! YOU FUCKER!" He shouted, making him turn slightly back with a tap of his cane,


    His right golden watch eye met the dirty brown ones of Norman, making a creepy chill run up


    his spine again.


    But he bore it.


    "YOU ALLOWED US TO OPERATE IN THIS AREA! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO FORMED THE


    CONTRACT AND ALLOWED US TO DO OUR BUSINESS HERE!"


    Arthur remained silent for a few seconds after his yelling.


    Then slightly tilted his head in confusion, his cold voiceing out.


    "And?"


    Norman''s mouth twitched in desperation.


    "IT WAS A CONTRACT YOU FUCKER. YOU ARE GOING AGAINST IT NOW, THIS ISN''T FAIR!!"


    Arthur instantly replied.


    "Yes. I made the contract with you guys and now I''m breaking it one of you. It''s as simple as that."


    Then he turnedpletely back.


    "I think you are mistaking it. It was I who allowed you to work here. If I wanted, I could


    eradicate each one of you slum rats in a single minute. You think they would dare to oppose


    me?"


    For a couple of seconds, there was silence in the room with Norman clenching his hands in anger, blood seeping out of them.


    "IT ISN''T FAIR. WHO ARE YOU TO GO AGAINST YOUR TERMS. WHY ARE YOU ALLOWED TO DO THIS? THIS IS COMPLETELY UNFAIR!" Norman shouted, tears streaming down his eyes.


    Without answering, Arthur turned back to the shadow that was carrying Amon and Lily''s


    body.


    He briefly turned to his other shadows.


    "Kill them all."


    After that, all of the shadows disappeared and he prepared to descend into the shadows.


    But just as the knight was about to slice the neck of Norman, Arthur turned back to meet his


    desperate gaze.


    "Cause I''m the strongest. And you just happen to be disgustingly weak."


    Then he disappeared into the shadows, and a sharp slice was heard in the air.


    SLICE!


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 Chapter 76: The Quest To Save Lily [18] [VOLUME END]

    Chapter 76: The Quest To Save Lily [18] [VOLUME END]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s eyes weakly fluttered open, his body aching considerably.


    He instantly felt the hard outline of the mask on his face, making him realize that it had not been taken off.


    But other than that, he felt himself wearing soft fluffy clothes, contrasting his equipment.


    It was then that the memories of the previous battle assaulted his brain.


    Everything from start to finish was refreshed in his brain as snippets shed in his vision.


    The blood, the screams, the flesh.


    It felt as if he was going through it all once more.


    He clenched his hands underneath the sheets and bit his lip, drawing out blood.


    ''I''m still weak....'' He gritted his teeth.


    He had made the n with the assumption that Norman wouldn''t be there.


    It was a major w in his n. But then again, there was barely any way he could beat the man with a n anyway.


    Like it had been said previously, a 4th-Tier armentist was no joke.


    It was a risky n he had made. One in which he knew he was done for if Norman arrived.


    But he still went through with it, trusting that he wouldn''t be there that day.


    At least that''s what was written on the schedule that Cryptic Glories sent him.


    If not for Arthur, he would have left Lily to die yesterday.


    ''I''m....still weak.''


    He thought after his knowledge of the novel and the perks the system had given him, he was stronger.


    But he was still awfully weakpared to the people in this world.


    Let alone the world, he was still nowhere among the top people in his year.


    If he and Elizabeth were to fight, he would undoubtedly lose. It would not take more than 5 minutes.


    He needed to get stronger, and fast.


    And one thing he had realized in all this time was that he couldn''t improve himself alone.


    He needed someone to guide him through the path. Someone to teach and train him.


    And fortunately, he had the exact person in mind.


    At that moment, he heard the sound of a cane tapping in the hallway, indicating someone was ing.


    It was quite obvious who so Amon quickly started to sit up.


    Instantly, pain shot up through his back making him halt for a second a grit his teeth.


    But bearing the pain, he sat up with his back against the bed frame.


    The person still wasn''t here yet so he quickly ran a gaze on his body.


    His eyes widened as he saw almost 90% of his body covered in bandages.


    That was how much he had been injured in just 15 minutes by a single person. He wanted to see his back right now but was unable to.


    But he could feel that it was perfectly fine now.


    At that moment, the door clicked and opened making Amon''s gaze travel over.


    From there, he saw Arthure in, wearing in casual clothes with his ck hair now messed up rather than his usual neatlybed style.


    Although there was no cane in his hand now, he still had his golden monocle leisurely ced over his right eye.


    ''Huh, where did his cane go?'' Amon questioned himself. He had literally heard it tapping in the hallway.


    Unfortunately, he was unable to ponder further as his gaze settled on him.


    Seeing Amon awake, he smiled gently.


    "Oh, you are awake. That''s good."


    A lie. Although he couldn''t feel it, he knew that he already had some shadows ced around him that were constantly keeping check on him.


    Amon smiled and tried to stand up to greet him but was stopped when Arthur quickly raised a hand to stop him.


    Then, he dragged over a chair from the corner and sat down.


    Before thetter could speak a word, however, the former quickly took off his mask.


    Surprise passed through Arthur''s crimson eyes before his gentle smile turned into an impressed one.


    "Oh? Why did you take off the mask?"


    Amon smiled slightly.


    "It would be disrespectful to not even show my face towards my headmaster, let alone savior."


    "Oh?" Arthur raised his eyebrows, his smirk widening.


    "Don''t try to butter me up brat. You can be honest with me." He adjusted his monocle.


    The ck-haired boy sighed.


    He knew this was his personality and rather than all formal people he preferred casual people


    more.


    That''s why he was talking like this. To make his n work, he had first to make a good


    impression.


    "I mean, you are the strongest man in the world. I would be dumb to think you can''t see beyond this mask wouldn''t I?"


    Arthur''s mouth opened, contorting into an ''o'' shape.


    "Heh. You are quite a cheeky brat, though I can''t say I hate it."


    Then, he raised one leg and put it over his.


    "Now, let''s move towards the main part. What were you doing in the ck Market?" He asked, his tone deeper and serious.


    Amon didn''t gulp in nervousness.


    There was no point in lying right now. That golden monocle wasn''t just for show after all.


    It could detect lies without a single percent chance of failure. It made sense since it was an


    8th-tier artifact.


    Amon then opened his mouth and started exining everything in sequence.


    There was nothing to be scared of anyway.


    There was another reason why ck Market, though still a little farther away from the City


    Centre, was allowed to operate in Eldergrove in the first ce.


    It was because Arthur himself allowed it. He formed a paper contract with them to allow them


    to operate in the city, as long as they would keep within their limits.


    As someone who grew up as an orphan in the slums, he never really cared much about life


    until yearster.


    What''s more was that he knew if there was no illegal market, the people of the city would still


    indulge in illegal activities anyway.


    So, he basically made it legal.


    But, even then, he remembered to impose limits on the ck Market.


    Such as no rape or sexual harassment of little children.


    Prostitutes, brothels, and child very were allowed but even that had a limit.


    And so, Amon exined everything till the end, with Arthur listening to him silently.


    Finally, at the end, thetter nodded with a yawn.


    "Yawn....I see, well I don''t find anything wrong with it so you are off the hook." He stood up.


    But before he could say anything further, Amon went ahead and asked him the thing that was


    bugging him the most.


    "Can you exin please what happened to Lily and where she is now?" He asked, his heart


    beating loudly.


    He hoped Lily was still alive. If not, then his efforts were all for naught.


    Arthur tilted his head in confusion before suddenly his head clicked.


    "Ahhhhh, her." He raised his head towards the ceiling.


    Amon gulped and nodded.


    And the headmaster looked back with a slight apologizing smile on his face.


    "Oh...well, how do I say this but........she died." He then averted his gaze, making Amon''s heart


    instantly sink.


    ''There''s no w-''


    "Just kidding." Arthur slightly mumbled before breaking out into a burst ofughter.


    "Hahahahahahahahahahaah."


    Annoyance welled up within Amon but he controlled.


    "You should have seen your expression kid hahaha, I won''t ever forget it." Arthur clutched his


    stomach.


    The ck-haired boy couldn''t help but sigh internally.


    Nobody would believe that this guy was actually the strongest guy in the world.


    Then, Arthur walked up to Amon and patted his head with a gentle smile.


    "She''s fine, brat. The medics are healing her in the next room and feeding her. You can take


    her afterward and do whatever you want to do."


    Then, he ruffled his hair.


    "You did a good thing kid. I''m proud of you."


    Then, he turned to leave and raised his hand to bid goodbye.


    "Welp, I''ll leave you alone now to heal. Take care of yourself next time. Also, because you


    were wearing a mask and hiding your identity, I didn''t tell any of your family or friends about


    this."


    He walked towards the door and opened it.


    However, at that moment, Amon suppressed in his nervousness and asked him.


    "Just a moment headmaster, can I ask something?"


    Arthur halted and looked back with a confused gaze.


    "Yeah?"


    "Can you please train me?"


    He saw the corners of the man''s mouth pull up into a smirk.


    "Oh? And why should I? From what I know, you are pathetically weak. There is no point in


    teaching you." He remarked.


    Amon clenched his hands.


    "That''s the exact reason why I want to grow stronger. I''m too weak to protect anyone I love


    and achieve what I want to achieve. So please, there is no person better in the world than you." He bowed, bearing the pain in his back.


    He felt silence ensue in the room for some seconds, as Arthur was pondering something.


    Then, as he looked up, he saw thetter''s crimson eye turn into a golden chronic watch again. The dials instantly started to spin at an insane speed.


    At that moment, Amon felt himself freeze as if his whole consciousness just disappeared.


    In the next second, he returned to reality where he saw the dials slow down to a halt.


    The golden chronic eye turned back to crimson and he saw Arthur''s smirk spread wider.


    "Interesting. I mistook you brat, you are something much more." He adjusted his monocle.


    Amon smiled in excitement. His n ha-


    "But still, it isn''t enough for me to train you." He shrugged.


    The ck-haired boy''s body froze. Fortunately, the headmaster wasn''t done yet.


    "But, just for the sake of it. I''ll give you a challenge. If youplete it, I''ll train you." He


    cockily smiled.


    Nervousness passed through Amon''s body at the challenge but he nodded, making Arthur


    raise up 2 fingers of his gloved hand.


    "It''s simple. First, you need to earn the 1st spot in the midterms. And it needs to be in


    fighting, no other field." He closed one finger.


    "And second....." "You need to pull a tier-5 familiar in the Familiar Summoning Ceremony 3 monthster." His


    smile widened.


    Thanks for reading!


    Join Discord for illustrations and more! (Link in Synopsis)


    IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.


    THE FIRST VOLUME (Volume I) of TIGER has finallye to an end. In the next volume, we


    will move on to the first main arc and Michael''s rtionship development with the other


    main cast.


    I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank all of you readers and all the support that has


    been given to me.


    Thank you so much!


    I hope you will continue to enjoy and support this novelter on in the future.


    Thank you :)

 Chapter 77: EPILOGUE

    Chapter 77: EPILOGUE


    ?


    ****


    [1 Month Later]


    A month had passed.


    During that time, various changes had taken ce.


    After getting discharged from the hospital that day, he had taken the sleeping Lily back home.


    It waste morning so by the time he arrived, Katherine had already left.


    Lily woke up an hourter and though she had fully recovered physically, there was still arge mental toll on her.


    She might have seen the deaths of ves like the other ones in the past, but such arge massacre and scene was something new for her.


    She kept shuddering with fear and held close to him, asionally breaking up in tears. Late night, when Katherine arrived, for some reason she didn''t even ask who she was but as soon as she saw her shuddering with fear and crying, she started to calm her down.


    As for his disappearance, it seems that she was already filled in by an excuse from Arthur.


    She even fed her food and put her to sleep, all the while not asking Amon a single thing. When thetter engaged her about it, she simply said that she trusted him.


    "I trust you. It''s not like you would bring a little stranger into our house for no reason would you?" She chuckled.


    "So? You want to adopt her?" She asked with a smile.


    Amon was taken by surprise at that time.


    He couldn''t believe how easily she trusted him and figured it all out.


    He had expected it to be much more difficult. Nevertheless, he nodded.


    After some talk with his sister about where he found her and what her name was, theypleted their decision to adopt her.


    Though Katherine suggested that Lily could stay in her room and sleep with her, thetter was very clingy to Amon.


    It was surprising because she had never seen his real face.


    Regardless, Amon safely put her to sleep on his bed before going to slumber as well.


    Even though many events happened on the sideline, the sses proceeded very smoothly and normally.


    There was only one surprise for the students which was the return of Arthur Milize, a man who wasn''t seen for 2 years.


    An assembly was held in the auditorium where he gave a speech and lecture to all the students.


    But even though he was the strongest, the students never felt that in his presence.


    It was because of the way how he spoke.


    As a person who declined the position in the Imperial Court because of how much formal work it was, he had a habit to walk and talk casually.


    He talked to a person as if he had known them for years and that was what put others at ease around him.


    Especially the students, whom Arthur considered as his children.


    During this time, Amon also further settled himself into this new world he had arrived in and immersed himself in it.


    His friendship with Michael and Ren developed further, with the trio taking several trips to the mall or in other casual activities.


    This also helped Michael settle into this casual atmosphere by changing his behavior and how he talked.


    That formal air in the Imperial Pce was not around him anymore.


    All of them could now talk and behave around each other freely, without any restrictions of formality.


    There weren''t any interactions with the female members of the main cast though.


    For their low ranks to interact with their high ranks, they needed a special event which didn''t happen.


    But even then, the biggest surprise for all of his friends and even his sister was his advancement.


    Yes. After the quest, a new clover leaf sprouted on his clover mark,


    He was now a 2nd order clovist.


    The advancement to a new leaf had made him go through a hell of pain as ck fluids were excreted from his body.


    They were the impurities in his body. They exuded such a foul stench that he quickly disposed of them as soon as he woke up.


    After ranking up, he instantly felt the changes in his body.


    He had grown stronger and taller physically, with muscle outlines showing on his body now and his height increasing by an inch.


    His mana control and output also improved considerably.


    Controlling blood and lightning to do menial tasks was now like the back of his hand.


    However, even though others were surprised and happy about it, Amon was still unsatisfied.


    Though for them it was a quick improvement, for him it was nothing but a simple


    achievement.


    Except him, everyone was already 2nd order so his reaching it was nothing special.


    It was like a man who learned to speak at the age of 5 and people apuded it when others


    already learned to do so at the age of 3.


    He needed to grow stronger. And fast.


    Not just his goals, it was needed to aplish Arthur''s goals as well.


    What''s more, was that the world also wasn''t patient at all.


    Since a month had passed, it was time for it now.


    For the second [Void Training] and also the first main arc of the novel.


    Personal training sessions were finally introduced into their sses.


    Athena informed them that over thisst month and the training that they had done, the teachers had taken several notes about students.


    Tomorrow, the teachers inform them about their final decision, as to which students to take


    in for their training.


    Each teacher could take in as many as 3 students.


    And Amon already knew the students that Daniel was going to pick.


    They were Elizabeth, Michael, and Aina, a random who used the same type of magic as him.


    He needed to ensure this arc proceeded normally before he could reveal his powers.


    It was only after this arc that Michael would start making his first interactions with the fourdies at the front.


    For his [Void Training], the notification to attempt had already appeared 5 days ago.


    ording to Zephyra, he had one week to enter the [Void Training] on his own otherwise after


    that it would forcibly drag him in whenever he would sleep.


    And there were only 2 days left.


    However, Amon doubted that he could do any of these 2 things.


    Moving back to the present, he made a big yawn, putting his hand over his mouth before


    falling to the table in front of him again.


    His eyes slowly closed, trying to drift him to sleep.


    However, he suddenly woke up again with a jolt, looking next to him at Michael and Ren.


    They both were looking at him as well, with worried gazes.


    He had deep and dark circles underneath his eyes.


    It was true. He couldn''t sleep properly for the whole month.


    And that was because he was having nightmares.


    Nightmares of his trauma.


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 Chapter 78: Shopping with Katherine [1]

    Chapter 78: Shopping with Katherine [1]


    ?


    ****


    Amon clutched his head, ruffling his hair to stop himself from going to sleep.


    Though over thisst month, he had made Lily slowly and steadily reduce her trauma, he was still inflicted by it.


    That day when he first put Lily to sleep and also went to slumberter was when it all started.


    The corpses and souls of the children who died that day haunted him in his sleep.


    Their bloodshot eyes, rotten hands and heads, cold touch, and harrowing screams made him wake up with a jolt in a couple of minutes.


    He carefully got out of bed and ran to the bathroom, throwing some cold water on his face quickly.


    But, it didn''t end there.


    The same nightmare would repeat whenever he went to sleep, intensifying each time. He couldn''t sleep for more than 5 minutes anymore before the nightmares grew to such a point that he instantly woke and threw up.


    It affected his mental strength as well and the toll kept increasing day by day.


    Initially, it wasn''t visible to others as he kept his attitude maintained, not letting the toll show outside.


    He didn''t want his friends or sister to unnecessarily worry about him.


    But, even though he didn''t show it with his expressions or behavior, it started to be more and more visible physically.


    Dark circles started to form under his eyes and he started to be more and more tired. His sister was the first to notice that fact and quickly called him out for it.


    And out of all the people whom Amon didn''t want to know was Katherine.


    As the strongest third-year and President of the Student Council, the former didn''t want to put anymore burden on her.


    So after giving an excuse that he didn''t have enough sleep for the first time, he started to increase his blood regtion underneath his eyes whenever he was with her.


    The blood regtion removed his dark circles. At least to the point that they were barely visible.


    However,pared to Katherine where he had to only do it for 1 or 2 hours, his friends were another case.


    He spent at least half his day with them where there were multiple sses in which he wasn''t allowed to use mana.


    They noticed it one day when he was practicing his mana maniption and tried to ask what was going on.


    Though he got away during the initial days with excuses and some blood maniption, they found out about it after some time.


    And so he had to tell them all about it.


    He omitted the children massacre part, faking it with just the death of someone random and him haunting his dreams.


    They suggested various fixes such as taking sleeping pills (Failed), getting tired before sleep (Failed), and taking a shower before sleep (Failed).


    Moving back to the present, Amon arrived back at his apartment after a long day of sses. Somehow, he relieved his friends by saying he would take a visit to the infirmary today. But, unfortunately, he had other ns.


    And so he entered the apartment while immediately turning on his blood maniption. Entering the apartment, he found his sister settled on a sofa, dressed in a casual sleeveless white blouse and a ck skirt.


    She had Lily in herp, who was ying with a toy, her concentration totally immersed in it. Noticing his presence, Katherine turned and smiled.


    "Wee back!" She waved.


    He smiled back and did a wave as well.


    Hearing her words, Lily looked up from her toy and found Amon at the door.


    Without wasting a second, she set her toy aside and came running into his arms, making him lift her.


    "Brother Amon!"


    Yes. This was what she had started to call him after spending a month with her.


    She was dressed in ck baby clothes and her short hair were neatlybed and set using hairpins by Katherine.


    He stretched her cheeks a little.


    "Has Lily been a good kid?" He asked and she nodded happily.


    After some talk with her, he handed her back to Katherine.


    "I''ll go take a shower and then we can leave."


    She nodded with a smile and he went into his room, locking the door.


    He immediately turned off the blood regtion, making the dark circles appear back.


    Without a word to Zephyra, he slumped into his bed without any intention.


    However, as soon as he closed his eyes, those cold bloodied hands reached out to his face


    again.


    Those rotten teeth dug into his flesh making him awake with a jolt again.


    [Amon! Are you okay!?] Zephyra kept asking him,


    He didn''t say anything. Only panted loudly and clutched his head to stop the headache from creeping up into his head.


    Retrieving some pills from his [Inventory], he poured a ss of water.


    [Amon! Stop this!] Zephyra tried to lecture him.


    ''I can''t, I''m sorry Zephyra.'' He answered her and gulped the pills.


    [How long are you going to y this out?] She asked worriedly.


    ''As long as I don''t have to forcibly reveal it to her.'' He answered and entered the shower.


    ****


    After 20 minutes, he came out of his room, dressed in a in ck t-shirt and blue jeans.


    His long ck hair were tied into a man bun.


    Coming out, he saw Katherine standing there along with Lily.


    "Shall we leave?"


    He smiled and nodded, his blood regtion already at work.


    Because of so much work on both their shoulders, he was never able to ask his sister to go


    somewhere with him.


    To spend quality sibling time.


    So, a few days back he had asked her if she wanted to go to the mall for shopping and such.


    This was also a good chance to take away any of her worries or suspicions that she might have


    for/on him.


    She was clearly taken aback. This was something that the previous Amon never used to do. Nevertheless, she thought it might be due to Lily and agreed, happy to spend some time with


    him.


    And so she had taken a short leave from her duties today.


    Both of them, along with Lily, were going to go to the City Centre today.


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 Chapter 79: Shopping With Katherine [2]

    Chapter 79: Shopping With Katherine [2]


    ?


    ****


    Amon exited from a carriage with Katherine in tow, who had Lily in her arms.


    He paid the driver some Exlor and then looked forward.


    They were at the City Centre now.


    He looked back, finding Katherine rotating around her position to show Lily the whole view.


    The girl herself had sparkles in her eyes as she looked at things she had never seen before.


    She kept pointing at things while his sister politely exined what they were.


    Removing his gaze, he looked ahead.


    "Shall we go?" He asked, looking back at them.


    Both of them nodded with exuberance.


    Katherine had been teaching Lily for the past month so thetter was able to understand some simple sentences now.


    The duo greeted the guards at the entrance and entered the City Centre.


    The Centre was bustling with activity, with most people being the first years.


    Clubs and Councils still hadn''t been introduced for them so they were mostly free after sses, unlike third years or second years.


    90% of them were devoted to clubs and councils hence why they were barely seen in shopping districts or the City Centre.


    Even right now, 60% of the third and second years in the mall belonged to the Disciplinary Committee.


    They were patrolling at regr intervals to prevent any fight from breaking out in the mall. Well, not like one did in the first ce.


    Fighting in the City Centre was a grave offence. The punishment enacted by Athena could not be fathomed so most people never fought.


    Their fear of the Vice-Principal was enough for them to stop.


    But the new first-years were unaware of this fact and so the Committee still had to be present here at all times.


    Just for the sake of it.


    Amon''s case was special as it happened the day the first years were inaugurated, something that no one expected.


    Stifling a sigh, he moved back to the present, where he noticed several stares being cast their way.


    Or more urately, at Katherine.


    "Isn''t that Miss Katherine, President of the Student Council?" Someone whispered.


    "Yeah, she''s also the strongest in her year." Someone followed.


    "Who''s that in her arms?"


    "Is it her sister? I never knew she had one."


    "She has a brother as well if I remember correctly right?"


    "Oh yeah, what was his name again? Amon?"


    "Yeah, look, he''s standing in front of her. I didn''t know she had a sister as well though."


    "Well not like we even knew about her brother, her life is pretty secretive. Her brother looks pretty averagepared to her though. I have heard nothing about him from the first years." "Yeah but look at her, she''s so beautiful and kind...." He heard a mumble.


    "I know right, I wish I had a chance with her..."


    A vein throbbed at Amon''s head but he quickly suppressed himself and looked back.


    Katherine was still smiling at him with Lily who was admiring the furniture, oblivious to the students.


    A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.


    Since even he could hear them, it was obvious that Katherine could as well.


    But she was ignoring them so perfectly as if they weren''t there at all.


    She was not letting their talks interrupt or ruin their outing.


    He felt like facepalming himself at his attitude.


    ''I should ignore them as well.'' He thought.


    "So? Where should we go first?" He asked her.


    "I want to get some clothes for the three of us. So shall we go shopping first?" she asked.


    He smiled and nodded, turning back to walk.


    But, at that moment, Lily started wriggling in Katherine''s arms.


    Thetter chuckled, understanding what the little girl wanted to do.


    She lowered herself and carefully ced Lily on the ground.


    The girl beamed and started running around on the floor with glee.


    The grand luxurious and magnificent architecture and lighting of the Centre had seemed to trigger a cheerful switch in her.


    She came running to Amon and started to grab his jeans.


    He looked down at her and stifled a chuckle from escaping her lips.


    She was trying to grab her hand for some reason.


    Grinning, he extended his pinky finger towards her which she grabbed and started to shake up


    and down.


    Patting her head, Amon started to walk towards the clothing stores.


    ****


    Katherine looked at the back of her brother, walking forward with Lily holding his finger.


    Her genuine smile then turned into a forced one.


    Over the past one and a half months, she had noticed a deep change in her brother.


    What once used to be a gloomy, anti-social, uninterested in everything, lifeless boy was now


    a confident, social, talented and cheerful adult.


    He had changed so suddenly that she was forced to doubt if the person in front of her was her actual brother.


    He smiled back at her and even became responsible, buying clothes for himself and even training usually to be stronger.


    He made friends and acquaintances and was usually out of home, a wide contrast to his


    previous self.


    He was talented in cooking, even inventing something tasty that made Katherine drool for it.


    It was better than many things that were served in the City Centre.


    She even wanted to learn cooking from him but was too shy to ask him.


    His busy schedule also made her not want to put any more burden on him.


    Unfortunately, the time differences in the siblings'' leaving and arrival made it difficult for


    them to even have lunch together, let alone have her eat his cooking.


    But nevertheless, it was something that made her heart fill with genuine warmth.


    It was as if he finally found a purpose in life.


    She didn''t know what caused this change in him. Whether it was an interaction or something


    else.


    All she knew that was she was happy for him. As happy as a sister could get.


    He was finally someone that she wanted him to be. To her, there was no one more important


    in this world than her brother.


    And seeing him change for the good was also something that made her beam with joy.


    But, it changed again some weeks ago.


    She noticed him having dark bags under his eyes one day and she questioned him for it.


    He avoided it by giving an excuse that he hadn''t slept well because of his friends.


    Afterwards, those bags were removed and she never saw them again.


    But that was all a facade he put on to not worry her.


    As someone who possessed a talent of 8th order and a high affinity to the [Ice] element, she


    was also smart enough to notice what her brother was trying to do.


    It was obvious that he was using his [Blood] element on himself to make those bags


    disappear.


    As someone who surprisingly advanced to 2nd order, she knew her brother was at least


    capable of this.


    Katherine didn''t know why he wasn''t sleeping much. She knew if she asked him he would


    never tell her.


    She checked his room several times if something was the cause for it, but just like always, it


    was clean and in.


    Day by day, his condition was getting more and more worse. When she asked Alice to help by asking Elizabeth, she found out that it had been more than a month since Amonst talked to


    thetter.


    But just when she was getting to confront him face to face, he came up to her for an outing. When he brought up the n to her yesterday, she agreed wholeheartedly.


    Both because she wanted to spend time with him and find out what was the cause of this.


    He was probably doing this to throw off her suspicion of him.


    She sighed with a smile.


    ''I hope you find the courage to tell me yourself....little brother.''


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 Chapter 80: Shopping With Katherine [3]

    Chapter 80: Shopping With Katherine [3]


    ?


    (THIS CHAPTER IS FROM YESTERDAY THAT I FORGOT TO UPLOAD, 2 CHAPTERS WILL STILL BE RELEASED TODAY)


    ****


    Amon resisted the urge to facepalm himself.


    ''How did I get myself into this situation....'' He thought, his palm covering his face.


    He opened a space between two fingers on his face, revealing his eye to look through. Right in front of him, Elizabeth was crouched down ying with Lily.


    Meanwhile, Katherine was happily talking with Alice.


    He brought his hand down and released a sigh.


    This was going to be a tiring outing.


    His almost silent sigh was heard by Elizabeth, who turned her gaze from Lily and looked at him.


    [She''s looking at you...] Zephyra told him, making him match her gaze.


    He tried to smile and push his emotions back so she couldn''t see them.


    It wasn''t known to him but he was fortunate that she couldn''t see his emotions because this measly attempt wasn''t enough to halt her skill.


    "Hey." He raised a hand in greeting.


    Surprise passed through her eyes at his sudden attempt at a greeting, but she also smiled and raised a hand.


    "Hey." She greeted back.


    It was apparent that she was feeling a little uneasy as well.


    A month of notmunicating with her had basically reset their friendship back to 0.


    As she was about to say something else, Lily ran back to Amon from her hands.


    Thetter bent a little and lifted her in his arms.


    "She''s such a sweet child," Elizabeth remarked with a smile.


    Amon looked at her and took this as a chance to continue the conversation since he wasn''t getting anything in his head at that moment.


    "She is, is this your first time meeting her?" He asked and she nodded.


    A silence settled between them again but it was broken by her.


    "Oh yes, It might bete now but congrattions on winning the FULLDIVE. That was a really great effort out there."


    "Yes, It was a little hard out there with them having an advantage over us but we managed to pull through. Congrattions on winning your FULLDIVE as well."


    She nodded with a smile.


    "It was nothing much since we had an overwhelming advantage over Liliana. But your performance took me by surprise. You improved so much and defeated Prince Michael as well." She apuded.


    She wasn''t sugarcoating it though.


    She was also included in therge crowd that had gaping mouths at his performance.


    As someone who witnessed his blood maniption multiple times, she knew this wasn''t just a steady growth.


    His mana control and elemental control spiked in an instant.


    Out of all the fights in the FULLDIVE, the one between Prince Michael and Amon was the most interesting.


    Even being the talk of a whole day in their ss.


    Not only Amon, but even Prince Michael had shown overwhelming growth.


    It wasn''t normal at all and it sparked many people''s interest in them, Elizabeth included.


    However, they were taken by surprise when the group at the back was mostly sleeping or goofing off.


    They barely trained. Or at least in the public''s eye.


    And at the end, the matter was shut down.


    Moving back to the present, Amon simply smiled and thanked Elizabeth for her praise.


    But suddenly, at the talk of FULLDIVE, she was reminded of his strength.


    And subconsciously, her eyes drifted towards his hand.


    But even she was unprepared for the shock that hit her when saw the 2-leaf clover mark on his palm.


    "Y-you advanced to the 2nd leaf?" She asked out of genuine surprise.


    He nodded with a nonchnt expression.


    "A while ago, yes." He answered.


    For some seconds, her mouth trembled, unable to say anything.


    Amon felt a little awkward, not knowing how to break the silence.


    Fortunately, they were saved as Katherine called out to them.


    "You guys! Let''s get something to eat."


    Seeing this as a chance, he nodded.


    "Let''s join them quickly." He broke the silence and joined the duo along with Lily in his arms.


    ****


    [I don''t like that girl.] Zephyra remarked inside Amon''s head.


    ''Hmm? Elizabeth?'' Thetter asked while taking a sip of his tea.


    [Yeah.]


    ''Why?''


    [I don''t know.]


    .....


    [.......]


    ''.....''


    [...What?] She asked, breaking theedic silence among them as Amon stopped sipping his


    tea.


    ''....You hate her without knowing the reason?'' He asked while looking at the 4 people in front of him, eating ice creams.


    [I don''t hate her, I just don''t like her.] She exined.


    Amon felt a need to massage his temples.


    ''How old are you? Why is a million-year-old hag having a problem with teenagers?'' He asked.


    Not even an instant passed before Zephyra fumed in his head.


    [Oi! Just because I''m a goddess doesn''t mean I''m a thousand years old!]


    ''Huh? So how old are you?'' His cup of tea halted in mid-air.


    [I''m 24.]


    ''....''


    [....]


    ''....''


    [I''m not lying!] She asked, irritated.


    ''How the fuck-'' But before his thoughts could continue, Alice interrupted the outward silence


    between them and him.


    "It''s the middle of August, how are you drinking tea in such hot weather Amon?" She asked, curiousness etched on her expression.


    It was true. Most people who would see him drinking tea in the middle of summer would instantly call him crazy.


    Rather than ice creams-which everyone in front of him was eating-, lemonades or anything


    else, he preferred tea.


    "Haha, I just love tea over anything else." He smiled and Alice''s expression contorted into an


    ''o'' shape.


    "Oh, so you are a teaholic?" Elizabeth asked and he nodded with a light smile.


    Lily, who was eating her small ice cream tried to reach out for his cup, prompting him to get it


    out of her way.


    "Chocte!"


    "That''s not chocte, that''s tea!" He spoke, trying to rify for her who was thinking it was


    the former because of it being the same color.


    But, the little girl didn''t listen and kept trying to reach out for his cup while the others


    laughed at the exchange between them both.


    In the end, Amon had to give her a real chocte so she could calm down.


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 Chapter 81: His Relief and Support [1]

    Chapter 81: His Relief and Support [1]


    ?


    ****


    Amon gulped.


    ''Why am I being cornered right now?'' He questioned Zephyra in his mind.


    [She''s your sister, what did you expect? She must have found out.] Thetter shrugged in his mind.


    The ck-haired boy''s attention moved back to the present, finding his sister calmly seated in front of him.


    "So? What''s troubling you?" she asked.


    After eating, they shopped some more before Elizabeth and Alice went their ways and he was forced to have one more cup of tea by her.


    He forced a genuine smile.


    "I don''t understand sis. Everything is fine."


    She narrowed her eyes.


    "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice mellow.


    He stifled a gulp and avoided giving any signs away.


    "Yeah, I''m exactly fine, nothing to worry about."


    Silence ensued between them for a few seconds.


    "Hmmm.." Katherine crossed her hands while Amon kept up his smile.


    "Then...." She rose a little from her seat, her arm reaching out towards his face.


    Amon tried to lean back in his seat.


    "S-sis, we are still at the mall..." He stutteringly excused.


    He wanted to make some distance, but the back of the seat rooted him in his ce.


    "It doesn''t matter," Katherine replied as her hand neared his face.


    He closed his eyes for whatever she was about to do.


    And in the next moment, he felt her smooth cold fingertips touch the skin under his eyes.


    A soothing and refreshing coldness started to spread on that spot, making him open his eyes in shock.


    Although his whole body was burning from what she had done just now, there was something more shocking at hand.


    The spot where she had touched was where he was constantly manipting blood to hide his bags.


    And by spreading ice over it, she clotted his blood maniption.


    It felt a little numb and painful but....


    ''H-how did she find out?''


    [Told you, she''s your sister.] Zephyra shrugged.


    "I knew it. You were manipting the blood weren''t you?" she asked him with a worried gaze.


    He averted her gaze.


    "Answer me, Amon." She demanded, a frown now marring her features.


    He kept his gaze averted but gave into the pressure and scratched his neck.


    "Yeah...." He mumbled.


    "How long? How long has it been like this?" She asked.


    ".....1 Month." He softly replied, guilt evident in his tone.


    "....why?" she asked, looking down and gripping the edges of the table.


    The edges slowly started to cover in frost.


    Lily, who was seated in Katherine''sp noticed and started to touch the ice, unknown to what was happening between the siblings.


    Amon didn''t say anything.


    "....why did you never tell me about this?" She asked, her voice almost hushed.


    "I....didn''t want to worry you. You already have a lot of burden on you" He answered with hesitation.


    The ice started to spread further but Amon quickly sped her cold hand, feeling some people start to stare at them.


    "Sister, we should discuss this at home...."


    At his words, the ice started to recede and she gave a subtle nod, still not looking up at him.


    Lifting Lily in one arm, Amon sped her hand and led her out of the City Centre before taking a carriage towards home.


    ****


    Entering his apartment, Amon put Lily on the ground where she started ying with her toys. Afterward, he carefully settled Katherine onto a sofa and retrieved a ss of water for her.


    Handing her the ss, he sat down beside her.


    "So...yeah, I''m sorry sis." He started the conversation.


    Her grip sharpened around the ss, the water inside it starting to turn cold.


    But before he could say anything further, she put the ss on the table in front of her and pulled him into a hug.


    Surprised by her action, Amon was unsure what to do.


    "You idiot......I''m your elder sister, who can you rely on except me?" she asked, her voice


    trembling.


    She pulled him more tightly, causing him to smile with guilt.


    He reciprocated her age by wrapping his arms around her as well and starting to caress her


    back.


    They stayed like this in silence for 1 minute, before they mutually broke the hug.


    But before he could lean, she pulled him forward again, making his eyes widen once more.


    But this time, his body turned sideways in the middle, making his headnd straight in her


    lap.


    Before he could say anything, her hand started to ruffle his hair.


    "Eh?" He blurted, surprised by what had just happened.


    "Now...." She started to massage his head.


    "Tell me what happened...."


    Amon resisted a sigh.


    ****


    Amon didn''t tell the true story. He never would.


    It wasn''t because he wanted his sister to not hate Lily.


    Far from it.


    In fact, he knew that even if he told her the truth she would never hate Lily in the slightest.


    That''s just how nice and kind-hearted she was.


    It was because he was afraid of his deeds.


    He didn''t want her to know that he killed a sentient human. And not just one but an entire


    massacre was carried out.


    She would never me or hate him for it, he knew that.


    After spending a month with her, Amon knew that Katherine was the type of sister who would never me or hate him even if he massacred the entire world.


    As long as it was for a reason.


    She would even stand by his side for that reason.


    But he didn''t want to tell her how much he got hurt and what lengths he went to, just to save


    Lily.


    So, he just told her about the nightmares and how many old-aged people appeared in his dreams and haunted him.


    He told her that this was the reason that he was never able to sleep more than an hour for the


    whole month.


    He lied by lengthening the duration but it was necessary.


    He also removed the part about him taking pills and medicine to calm himself down.


    After hearing his whole story, Katherine smiled slightly, sadness welling in her eyes.


    She pulled him into a hug once more before reminding him to always share his troubles with


    her.


    As his elder sister and the only family in this world, she would stand by and support him no


    matter what.


    He assured her that he would and then, she put him back in herp and started to ruffle his


    hair again.


    Silence ensued for a minute before she finally started to speak on how to solve this issue.


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 Chapter 82: His Relief and Support [2]

    Chapter 82: His Relief and Support [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s cane tapped against the ground in the cold rain.


    As he traversed through the streets of the City Centre, his mind traveled back to the conversation he had with Katherine.


    ***


    "I think that there is no definite fix for this. From your dreams, they aren''t particrly trying to hurt you right?" Katherine tried to confirm and looked down, matching his gaze.


    Looking into her eyes, he recalled his dreams.


    And it was true. In all those dreams, the children had never tried to hurt him.


    They only grabbed him and touched him, but never hurt him.


    But as soon as the first word, his name to be exact was spoken, he always woke up.


    He nodded at her words, making her look back up again.


    Her hand passed through his hair, each wave providing a soothing coolness to his head.


    "From what you told me, it seems as if you were present during what happened to them, or at least you are influenced or tied to them somehow." She spoke, her voice trailing off at the end. For a few moments, silence ensued between the siblings.


    The only sound was of Lily ying with her toys without a care in the world.


    Then, she looked down back at him, matching her gaze.


    At that moment, Amon saw an unexinable amount of sadness and sorrow in her eyes.


    It was hidden well but he could see it well.


    "I think you should visit the ce where youst saw them one more time, don''t you think so?" She asked him a question.


    Confusion welled up within him but he didn''t show it.


    He didn''t know the meaning behind her question.


    But nevertheless, if a visit to the ce could help, he was willing to take it.


    He nodded, making her smile slightly.


    "Then off you go, the sooner the better." She ruffled his hair and he stood up.


    Amon smiled apologetically.


    "Yeah, I understand, thanks for helping me out sis. And once again, I''m sorry for making you worry about me for this long."


    She looked at him for a second before pulling him into another hug.


    "Remember, I''m your elder sister. You can always lean on me with your worries or burdens, after all that''s what siblings are for."


    He pulled back and her lips curled up into a slight smile onest time before he bid her farewell and headed out of the door.


    ****


    Katherine watched her brother leave, a sorrowful smile on her face.


    She walked to the window and saw his back fading away in the fog that now settled in the atmosphere outside.


    Raindrops rattled against the ss window, leaving drops that trailed down slowly. "I wish...."


    She looked at Lily, who was still immersed in her toys.


    Then, she looked back through the window, finding Amon not there anymore.


    Her fingertips touched the surface of the window, making it slowly freeze along with the droplets.


    Before long the whole window was covered in ayer of frosts with detailed patterns.


    She could no longer see through the window.


    "I wish that someday you can tell me the truth brother..."


    Her smile then morphed into a guilty expression.


    "After all, you aren''t alone brother..."


    And she turned to leave, herst words trailing off in the atmosphere.


    "I once did the same thing..."


    ****


    Amon arrived on the rainy street where the ckchain Enve was located.


    Or, at least, formerly located.


    After he had woken up one month ago, he had asked Cryptic Glories about the information on ckchain Enve and what happened to them.


    It was soon reported that a day prior, the guards and the head of the building were assassinated by the headmaster of the Eldergrove Academy, Arthur Milize.


    The employees and customers were allowed to leave without any harm but were forbidden to evere back to the building.


    On the same day, a notice, or more precisely a warning had been issued by Arthur as well.


    It stated that the ck Market was allowed to do anything they wanted, however some things still need some limits.


    And one of them Arthur stated was attaching bombs to children.


    They had abused his 2 year absence to bring such acts into the ck Market and now they paid for it dearly.


    They were also warned that no student of the Eldergrove Academy should evere face to face with death, otherwise, the whole ck Market would be blown away.


    He further said that the ckchain Enve was just a warning.


    Any other unbearable act found that was associated with the ck Market would instantly be


    taken care of.


    It was apparent that he had broken the contract that Arthur and they made years back.


    But they also knew that he gained nothing from it. He simply made the contract with them because of his boredom and he wanted to add a dark side to the city.


    He was free to break the contract as he pleased and no one could question him about it.


    Moving back to the present, Amon now moved towards the building in the deserted and foggy


    street.


    Reaching the entrance, he headed in from the front door.


    What greeted his eyes was such a gory sight that made his stomach churn.


    The previously checkered floor was nowyered with blood marks all around.


    The bodies weren''t there anymore and the blood had dried out but the amount of sprays that


    he saw on the whole floor made him shiver.


    They were killed by Arthur''s shadows.


    A certain part of the floor at the edge had beenpletely blown off, with rain falling into the


    abyss it made.


    [It''s so silent that it feels eerie.] Zephyra remarked causing him to nod.


    The whole building waspletely ashen. As if no one had been here for ages.


    He walked on the dry floor with his cane tapping against it.


    There wasplete silence except for the constant tapping of his cane and the rattle of rain


    against the ceiling of the building.


    Coming near the irregr-shaped hole, he looked up into the gray sky from where raindrops continuously kept falling.


    His cape and equipment had been burnt in the fight so he was wearing some casual clothes


    right now that werepletely soaked.


    The only things that survived the fight were his cane and mask.


    Then he peered down into the abyss, finding the bottom two floors also sted, with the hole


    beingrger on each floor.


    It was a clear path to the bottom floor and so he jumped down.


    As hended on the concrete, he felt a strange sense of foreboding wash over him.


    He was finally back.


    The ce where they all died.


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 Chapter 83: His Relief and Support [3]

    Chapter 83: His Relief and Support [3]


    ?


    ****


    Amon looked around at the now bloodied and scorched floor.


    The disgusting odor in the atmosphere instantly assaulted his nostrils.


    The blood had dried out but the innards of the children were still there at the same spot.


    It seemed to be that no one had touched this building in a month despite maybe some people wanting toe here.


    It did house some supplies and treasures of course.


    But their fear of Arthur must have surpassed their desire for wealth.


    Due to the month-long time, the innards of the children had been dposed and mutted,pletely changing their structure.


    His expression distorted into disgust behind the mask as he was once again reminded of the scene.


    The scene that induced a trauma for him.


    Shaking his head, he snapped out of his thoughts and wondered what to do.


    ''She asked me to pay them a visit once again but I don''t even know what to do.''


    While wondering, he started walking to the dposed flesh and organs of the children.


    As he reached a spot, he crouched down and observed one of the mushed and dried organs that was resting against a wall.


    Above the organ was a small trail of blood indicating to Amon that when the child blew up, it had smashed against the wall and trailed down.


    At a closer inspection, he suddenly saw an army of insects walking on the organ.


    The disgusting odor amplified the more closely he observed.


    Making a blood hand, he chose to raise it to observe how it was.


    Lifting it, Amon observed it more closely as various thoughts traveled through his head.


    ''Who did this belong to?''


    ''Who was this child?''


    ''How did they end up here?''


    ''Who were their parents?''


    ''Did they know Lily?''


    And....


    ''What.....what was thest expression on their face before they blew up?''


    His hand trembled as he thought about those questions.


    A nobody, someone whom Amon didn''t even know.


    But they were innocent. This he knew and also knew it was his fault that they died.


    But.....


    He didn''t care anymore.


    Not in the sense that he didn''t care about their deaths.


    It would be a lie if he said he didn''t feel an ounce of regret after all.


    It was that he didn''t hold himself ountable anymore. It was his fault, yes.


    But, he learned to cope with the fact now that to protect and fight for what he loved, he was ready to make sacrifices.


    Sacrifices that even though innocent, needed to die for his selfish gains.


    That was just how this new world worked.


    He was no murderer. He would never ughter innocent people without a reason that amounted to their lives.


    He still had that much of rationality in his brain.


    He just learned to cope with their death.


    Or, at least he thought he did until the nightmares kicked in.


    ''Can I ask them for forgiveness?'' A random thought passed through his head.


    It was then that it clicked in his head.


    Katherine had hinted him to about what they were trying to do in his dreams.


    They weren''t trying to hurt him like he had thought. They were asking him to put them to rest.


    ''How should I do that?'' He thought as he looked around.


    [Maybe burn their organs and store their ashes?] Zephyra gave an idea.


    ''No, thank you.'' Amon instantly replied.


    After ramming about it in his head for 5 minutes, he finally arrived at an idea.


    ''Build a grave for them.'' He thought.


    And so he stood up.


    Blood appeared out of his storage ring and instantly he started picking any flesh or organs that were lying on the ground.


    After 10 minutes of sessfully picking up everything, he headed back on the first floor and outside the building, into the now-increasing rain.


    It had changed from a drizzle into a downpour now.


    Since this part was the backward area of the city, it wasn''t hard to find a path ofnd where the stone had been broken.


    It was arge patch of soil that was enough to bury them all even though thend was a little


    uneven.


    Carrying the parts in the air, he was about to manifest his [Blood] element to do the work when suddenly he stopped.


    ''The least I can do is properly put them to rest through my own work.]


    And so he rolled up his sleeves and made a hardened blood shovel before quickly starting to remove the soil.


    In roughly 20 minutes of digging, he made a graverge enough for the parts tofortably


    fit in.


    He crouched down and started to slowly ce each part in the grave with his own hands.


    His clothes were fully soaked in mud and rainwater now but he kept working.


    The streets were still deserted and so the only sound in the atmosphere was him cing the


    parts in and the rattle of raindrops against the ceiling and floor.


    After cing them all in, he covered back the grave with dirt before crouching back down.


    He joined his hands together and closed his eyes.


    "I do not know if my message ever reaches you or if what I''m doing is enough.."


    "But I do know that what I did might have been wrong and selfish."


    "I can spend my life atoning for my sins and it still wouldn''t be enough for the innocent lives


    that I had to take..."


    "I do not know how many of you had wished to be free or how many of you actually longed for


    love...."


    "I don''t intend for you to say that what I did that day was right or it wasn''t my fault..."


    "It was my fault and I bear my sins deep in my chest..."


    "But...."


    "If there''s the least bit of sympathy in your heart, I beg at your feet to free me of the curse


    that is ced upon me..."


    "Please, you may not forgive me but I do not wish for those that are dear to me, to see myself being burdened with this curse..."


    "In all hopes and honesty, I truly hope that you can forgive me one day." Amon ended his prayer by once more joining his hands, a single tear escaping from his eye.


    And at that moment, a refreshing breeze of air passed through the patch ofnd where he was crouched down.


    It soothingly grazed his cheek and refreshed his whole being, as if the cold air was embracing


    him.


    As he stood up, he slightly smiled and bowed before turning to leave in the misty fog.


    ****


    Arthur Milize stood atop a building in the dark streets of City Centre, seated upon his cane


    that was nted into the ground.


    Rain fell heavily around him but failed to even enter a meter around his space.


    As if it kept being reversed back to never reach him.


    But his focus wasn''t on that at the moment as he slightly adjusted his monocle to see the boy


    who finished his prayer just now.


    As the boy stood up and left, a slight smile marred Arthur''s features as he stood up as well and


    gazed at the boy''s back.


    "Gravedigger.." His deep voice escaped in a mumble before he turned and melted into the


    shadows along with his cane.


    And with his disappearance, the rain finally started to rattle at the spot where he was seated


    before.


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 Chapter 84: Selections

    Chapter 84: Selections


    ?


    ****


    That night Amon had his first peaceful sleep after the whole incident.


    [In the Morning]


    The bright rays of the sun entered through his window, making him twitch.


    His eyes fluttered open a little but out of tiredness, he closed them again.


    Unfortunately, the goddess inside his head was always there to stop him.


    [Wakey Wakey, time for school.]


    Amon covered his head in the sheets in an attempt to thwart the rays and her voice.


    ''Shut up.'' He asked in a tired voice.


    ''I''m sleeping so peacefully after so-''


    [The list for personal training sessions will be revealed today.] Zephyra interrupted.


    And the single line was enough to make his tired body freeze.


    Silence reigned for some seconds before he exhaled deeply, frustrated.


    ''Fuck...''


    ****


    Amon entered the ss and headed for his seat, ignoring the stares at him like always for being thest to arrive in ss.


    Normally, Ren and Michael would be with him but today he had slept a lot.


    Heading for his seat, he settled down and yawned.


    Michael and Ren looked at him.


    "Yo."


    "Sup."


    They greeted him and he looked back with a sleepy smile.


    "Yo." He greeted back.


    They didn''t remark on his sleepiness. It had be a normal urrence for them now.


    But as they were about to look forward and talk further, Michael suddenly noticed how the bags under his eyes were much dimmer now.


    "Wait, are you using blood maniption?" He asked and Amon slumped his head to the table while shaking it.


    It was then that Ren also noticed how his sleepiness currently gave more of a refreshing vibe than his previous traumatized one.


    "Wait did something happen?" He asked and Amon looked at both of them with a smirk.


    "I''m finally free of those darn nightmares." He gave a thumbs-up.


    Both of them looked at him with surprise.


    "Bro, stop sleeping and exin how?" Ren dragged him up from his table.


    And in the next 10 minutes, Amon quickly exined a shortened version of what happened.


    "Oh, well, in any case, it''s good that you are back to normal." Michael smiled.


    "Yeah, previously you looked as if you would die any second," Ren remarked.


    "Thanks, now shut up and let me get my remaining sleep." Amon slumped his head back to the table, burying it in his arms.


    Unfortunately, it hadn''t even been a minute before the ss door opened with a snap.


    Amon woke up with a snap, his eyes widened.


    Athena elegantly walked over to the podium.


    The ck-haired boy clicked his tongue and without removing his gaze from her, whispered to Ren.


    "Can''t your sistere a littlete for once?"


    The reply came instantly.


    "You think I have never asked her that?"


    ||


    "Fair enough." He whispered and focused his attention back forward where Athena handed Elizabeth some sheets.


    "These sheets will be handed to the students that have been selected for the personal training sessions."


    Then she asked her to distribute them.


    Amon knew he wasn''t going to get any but since Michael was going to get one, he could confirm it from his sheet.


    There was also the name of other disciples on the sheet so he could confirm that as well.


    Elizabeth handed Alya, Liliana, and Charlotte a sheet.


    She ced one on her seat as well before advancing upstairs.


    He saw her give a sheet to Adam and Klein which made surprise pass over his face because in


    the novel thetter wasn''t supposed to get a personal trainer.


    ''Maybe he got to shine in the FULLDIVE?'' Amon pondered.


    Regardless, he shrugged.


    It was to his advantage if Klein got stronger so he wasn''tining about this change.


    Next, he saw her handing some to random students before reaching thest row.


    Which was only upied by the trio.


    She handed a sheet to Ren which was quite expected since he was going to get personal training from his sister.


    He was probably getting it even before this but this form just legalized in a sort of way.


    Then, she handed a sheet to Michael as well which he graciously took from her hands.


    But before Amon could look towards his sheet, his attention was taken by another sheet that was still in Elizabeth''s hands.


    ''Huh?''


    ''Did she miss someone?''


    But to his surprise, she extended the sheet to him.


    "Here." She spoke.


    ||


    ||


    ||||


    ''Me? Someone chose me for personal training sessions?'' He thought.


    It wasn''t that he wasining.


    It was just surprising cause of how weak he was in the ss before FULLDIVE.


    He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as he saw the sheet still extended towards him.


    He had gotten lost in his thoughts.


    "Ah, sorry, I was involved in my thoughts." He apologized.


    Elizabeth nodded. She then went back to her seat.


    *


    Before he looked at his sheet, Amon had to first confirm his thoughts.


    He neared Michael and peered over his shoulder to his sheet.


    However, as soon as he looked at his sheet, his body went rigid.


    He quickly pulled back and opened his sheet to look.


    Personal Training Sessions


    Teacher: Daniel


    Subject: Mana Transitioning and Layering


    Chosen Students:


    Elizabeth Snowcrest


    Michael Von Lancaster


    Amon Ashford


    Taken by the surprise, Amon couldn''t help but curse.


    "The fuck..."


    Fortunately, the voice was low enough to be only heard by his friends and they didn''t mind it.


    Among their group, Ren already cursed a lot on the most normal of asions.


    Even Michael had gotten used to them despite being a royal.


    Well, he was already used it because of Alya who cursed a lot even beforeing to the


    academy.


    Amon''s jaw was hung open at the list.


    ''Wait, why am I selected!?'' He screamed in his thoughts.


    Wasn''t there supposed to be a random instead of him?


    It wasn''t that he hated it.


    He wanted to ensure that the first arc proceeded exactly like the plot so Michael and Ren could


    blend in with the main cast at the front.


    It was only after this that he could reveal his powers and take the spotlight.


    He scratched his head in frustration.


    But it seemed like that the plot had already been ruined for some reason.


    ''Was it because of our first interaction and how I behaved to him in the Michael incident?


    Does he want to get revenge?'' Amon''s thoughts raced.


    But in the end, all he could do was shrug.


    He just had to cope with it.


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 Chapter 85: Selection [2]

    Chapter 85: Selection [2]


    ?


    *


    Amon pondered on what to do.


    He looked at Michael who was excitedly looking at his sheet.


    He had just talked to the guy and was very excited to take sses with the teacher.


    He was even happy that Amon was there with him since he didn''t know how to talk with Elizabeth.


    Taking out how the plotline messed up, there wasn''t much of a problem with the session.


    It was even beneficial for Amon as he still had difficulty transitioning mana through his body duringbat.


    It was just that it would be a mad problem if Daniel switched targets from Michael to him.


    And from the potion incident, there was still a high possibility.


    Then, Athena spoke up from the podium.


    "These personal training sessions aren''tpulsory, you are free to reject them if you want. You cannot switch teachers. There was much debate over students that got their names in


    multiple lists so we had to sort them out."


    She rammed her hands slightly on the table.


    "The names in the lists are final. The only changes that will be made are if you reject and someone wants to take up your spot."


    Amon massaged his temples, sensing a headacheing.


    [Just ept it, what is the worst that''s going to happen?] Zephyra questioned.


    After pondering on her question for a long, Amon decided to just ept it.


    Though there was a chance that if he rejected, the original person was going to take up the spot, he went ahead and took the safer option.


    His being on the team was still better than apletely random being on it and not the original person.


    Besides, it was better since he was going to improve a lot till the time when he would finally make the attack.


    All he had to was act exactly like the original person and stay low while also putting more spotlight on Michael and Elizabeth.


    As someone who would be there during the training, he could solve any issues that would arise.


    After writing that he epted the training session on the sheet, he handed it back to Elizabeth.


    *


    Amon exited the academic building along with Michael after sses.


    They were supposed to have their first training session now and both of them decided to go together.


    Ren had already left with his sister a few minutes ago after bidding them farewell.


    As for Elizabeth, she would probably be there when they arrived.


    Though there was a ground for clovists and armentists, there were was apletely separate block for the personal training sessions.


    After taking a carriage, Amon and Michael arrived in front of arge building.


    It waspletely white, reflecting the golden-orange rays of the setting sun.


    It wasn''t the only one as there was a whole row extending to the side of the same building.


    The interior of the building was the same as they saw outside.


    Completely covered in white tiles all around.


    As they walked in, they saw Daniel casually wearing a bodysuit and leaning against a wall with bored eyes.


    He had a magazine in his hands and his appearance was haggard.


    His hair were messed up and he had dark circles under his eyes.


    ''The miasma must be affecting him...'' Amon instantly thought as he observed his appearance.


    Humans weren''t capable of handling demonic energy.


    Especially so if they awakened and their bodies were attuned to mana before their exposition to miasma.


    The energies would sh with each other, destroying the body of the person as a result. And this was just by being exposed to miasma, using it was an entirely different case. Your mana veins would slowly get corrupted and die because of the influence of miasma.


    And mostly you would end up dying or being crippled before the change in your body system and energy could take ce.


    There was only a slim chance that you would survive.


    And during this change and corruption, the user would slowly fall into madness and insanity.


    It could ur in various ways, hallucinations or nightmares, etc.


    And this was exactly what was happening to Daniel right now.


    Noticing their presence, he looked up and raised a hand.


    "Heya." He hoarsely greeted and both Michael and Amon bowed.


    For some reason, he showed no hostility towards Amon in his eyes.


    Didn''t he hate him for soiling his ns with Michael?


    He even thought that a certain percentage of the reason why he was selected was because Daniel wanted to have his revenge on him.


    Amon''s eyes spotted Elizabeth in the corner wearing a bodytight suit.


    The suit exposed the alluring and perfect curves of her body, highlighting her beauty.


    Her long white hair were tied into a ponytail, exposing her nape.


    Amon''s gaze was stuck for a moment on the scene before the goddess inside his head quickly


    woke him up.


    [Hey! Wake up!]


    Shaking his head, Amon stood up and greeted Elizabeth with a wave.


    She smiled and waved back.


    Afterward, he and Michael proceeded to a changing room in the corner.


    After 10 minutes, they both arrived outside, wearing bodysuits as well. Coming back to stand with Elizabeth, all three of them looked at Daniel. He put his magazine aside and slightly tapped the white tile beside him.


    A rippling sound resounded before instantly, and the whole interior of the building started


    glitching.


    Amon''s senses distorted as he felt himself losing all of them one by one.


    After a minute, they gradually started returning.


    But as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by apletely different scene.


    They were now standing in the clearing of a lush green forest.


    Fresh grass had reced the previously white floor andrge trees had sprouted out of the


    ground.


    The rippling sounds of a river could be heard from nearby and the walls and ceiling of the


    room hadpletely disappeared.


    The previous room was nowhere to be seen.


    All of them looked around with awe before their eyes settled in front of Daniel who had a


    toothpick in his mouth.


    For the barest moment, Amon saw his lips curl up into an intrigued smile.


    "Let''s begin the lesson shall we?"


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 Chapter 86: Void Training 2 [1]

    Chapter 86: Void Training 2 [1]


    ?


    *


    "Since you already know the subject of the lesson from the sheet, let''s not waste time and begin." Daniel started in his usual bored tone.


    The trio nodded.


    "Let''s start withyering first."


    "As you all know, mana is the main energy that we use to perform magic. We breathe it and store it in our mana pathways that exist in our bodies."


    Nod.


    "The clover mark that is present on a specific part of an individual''s body acts like a convertor. It converts the raw mana present in your body into elemental mana of the attribute that you have an affinity with."


    They nodded again.


    "That elemental mana can then be utilized in two different ways." He raised two fingers.


    "One, which is the normal way, you form the respective element or manipte it. For example, if you have fire maker type element, that elemental mana is then transformed into a fire. And if you have a maniptive type element, that mana is used to manipte the respective element around you." He closed one finger.


    They affirmed with a bob of their heads.


    It was basic knowledge till now.


    "But there''s another way. The second way. And that is toyer a respective part of your body with the elemental mana." He closed his second finger.


    Their eyes widened. They didn''t know about this fact.


    Elizabeth wasn''t as surprised as them but it was expected.


    She probably knew this from her sister or because of being a royal.


    "To showcase what I mean, let me demonstrate."


    Daniel moved to a tree and raised both of his arms.


    In the next moment, both of his arms were covered in a metallic gray hue.


    "This hue that you see right now is sound elemental mana."


    "Now the first way to use this mana is..." He pped his hands and a soundwave passed through the area in the next moment,pletely destroying a few trees in the process.


    "This was the basic way as you all know. I converted the elemental mana into sound." He remarked before moving to another tree.


    Their eyes followed.


    "Now here, I will not transform the elemental mana into sound. At least not yet." He said before punching the tree with his coated punch.


    Despite howzily he punched the tree, a boom resounded in the air as arge gaping hole was left in the tree.


    The spot where he punched and the area around it waspletely eradicated.


    Their expressions morphed into shock, not knowing what happened.


    Daniel smiled gently.


    "A normal punch and a mana-coated punch are different. Just coating your punch with elemental mana would enhance its strength and durability. But what I did here was use both methods at the same time." He pointed at the hole.


    Amon and Michael tilted their heads, not understanding what happened.


    But Elizabeth nodded with a frown on her face, raising her hand.


    "Oh, Elizabeth. You know what I did, please go ahead." He pped his hands.


    His previous bored demeanor was nowhere to be seen.


    He''s putting up an act, Amon thought.


    His eyes traveled to the corner to also see Elizabeth sporting a frown.


    ''She notices as well huh...''


    "At first, your mana-coated punch connected normally with the tree making a small impact, but not nearly enough to destroy it. But, what you did was that as soon as the fist connected, you utilized the collision to transform the mana into sound, making a concentrated soundwave erupt from your fist." She exined thoroughly.


    Daniel''s smile widened. He pped loudly.


    "Bravo. You are absolutely correct."


    "Now before you all start practicing this. Remember that your elements are always what they are in real life."


    All three of them tilted their head at the question.


    "What I mean here is..." He used two fingers to do a flick.


    A loud sound erupted in the air.


    "Though I may have used mana here, the end product was still sound, which exists around us in real life. The fire you create Michael is no different than the fire you see in real life. The


    same goes for Blood and Ice." He exined.


    Amon''s mouth contorted into an ''o'' shape.


    "What you are doing by using mana is nothing but changing the element''s properties. For fire, you change its size, temperature, or intensity using mana, that''s all. An icicle made using mana and one made from water are both the same, you just alter their properties."


    "I see. But why are you telling us all this professor?" Amon asked, trying to find any ulterior motives.


    "It''s because I want you to remember that you can utilize the nature of the elements to your advantage. If you have a water element, you need to remember that it can be taken down or it is effective against other things by thinking of its real-life applications. Most people tend to forget this."


    All three of them nodded.


    "I see." Michael voiced.


    Daniel pped then.


    "Well, that''s enough theory for now. Choose your trees and start practicing what I have taught you all. Since time is short for today, you will only practice for 1 hour and we will pick up the pace from tomorrow."


    Nodding, all three of them picked a tree and started practicing the manayering.


    *


    Amon came out of the training grounds an hourter along with Michael.


    If he had to be honest, for the whole hour, he had done nothing.


    He was too concentrated on keeping an eye on Daniel along with Zephyra.


    Even the smallest trace of miasma could prove dangerous in the long run.


    He didn''t n to do this initially but he had done so because of the plotline change.


    In the novel, the first lesson had been all about introductions and trying to familiarize himself with the three cadets.


    But now that he was involved, Daniel actually taught them and didn''t even try to do anything


    in the whole lesson.


    ''Did he not do the introductions cause he already had an encounter with each of us?'' Amon


    questioned.


    It was usible.


    Considering that the plotline had already been changed by his meeting all three of them, it made sense that there were no introductions.


    The introductions in the novel were also the first interaction of Michael and Elizabeth, which


    was ruined now.


    Because of that, he had nned to make Michael and Elizabeth meet by himself after the ss


    ended.


    But unfortunately, she had to leave early because of an urgent call from Alice on her band.


    Well, all he could do was notice how the future lessons would be carried out.


    "Well, I''ll see ya tomorrow." Amon bid farewell to Michael who raised his hand back.


    "Yup, meet you in ss." Then, he left.


    The future was uncertain because of all these plotline changes now.


    He ruffled his hair in frustration.


    ''Fuck it....I don''t even know if the battle would now carry out like how it was written in the


    novel.''


    He needed to be prepared for it.


    He needed to get stronger.


    And the best way for that right now was....


    [Void Training].


    ''I''ll do it today.'' Amon concluded.

 Chapter 87: Void Training 2 [2]

    Chapter 87: Void Training 2 [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon arrived back at his apartment.


    After quickly showering and changing into his nightclothes, he headed for the kitchen. Deciding to pamper himself for today, he made sandwiches and tea for himself and Katherine. After eating it all, he covered her food and left a note that he would be sleeping early today. Getting into his room, he locked it and quickly slumped into his bed.


    ''See you in the morning.'' Amon said goodbye to Zephyra.


    She wouldn''t be there in the training after all.


    [Yeah sure.]


    And it didn''t take long for sleep toe after that.


    *


    Amon''s eyes opened wide, finding himself in the familiar void expanse of a month ago.


    Just like before, a system notification popped up.


    Initiating [Void Training 2]


    Please Get Ready.


    It was just likest time.


    Without even needing the second window, his head already turned to the left.


    Immediately, the weapon rack came into view and the second system interface also popped


    up.


    Please choose one weapon.


    The chosen weapon shall be the only one avable throughout the training, so choose carefully.


    Unlikest time, he didn''t need to ponder on his weapon choice.


    Without wasting a moment, he quickly picked his trusted ¨­dachi.


    Though one could say he used a nodachi outside and should do the same here, he disagreed.


    His stats outside and here were different so picking a nodachi here was like picking a dagger outside.


    Though the length was indeed longer, what mattered was the weight right now.


    That''s why he picked the ¨­dachi.


    The interface instantly popped up.


    The Weapon [Odachi] has been selected.


    Do you wish to confirm it as your weapon of choice?


    Yes/No


    ''Yes.''


    The system interface disappeared and he looked forward.


    Just likest time, the void expanse shook with a powerful tremor.


    But this time he didn''t have his bnce thrown off.


    As the earthquake continued, Amon saw trees and grass sprout out of the starless floor.


    Within minutes, the whole starless void was now a deep forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.


    It wasn''t a destroyed city likest time.


    This was a problem as well since, unlikest time, he was unable to see the beasts.


    It was a starless sky without a moon as well, which provided him with no light source to see them.


    Before he could ponder further, the starting screen popped up.


    Commencing [Void Training 2], please get ready.


    For the training, use of the following is not allowed:


    -Blood


    -Lightning -Zephyra


    At least the screen was the same.


    Taking on a stance, as soon as he heard the initiation sound in his head, Amon shot into the forest.


    It wasn''t long before he was attacked.


    After a minute of passing through thick trees, the hair on his back stood up as his instincts screamed danger from the side.


    Maneuvering his body, he unsheathed his odachi in an attempt to sh the beast.


    Sharp fangs of the void beast collided with his de as it finally came into view.


    Its structure was more like a cheetah, lean and athletic. But its jaws were much sharper with


    two long fangs protruding out of his mouth.


    It was abination of a sabertooth and a cheetah.


    Before the cheetah could propel back, Amon delivered a knee kick to its body, sending it crashing back into the bark of a tree.


    Unfortunately, before he could kill it, his danger sense red up again as three goris


    jumped out of the trees.


    Their bodies were muchrger than the normal goris and they had elongated nails that had the length of a shortsword.


    As multiple sets of nailsunched at him, Amon found it difficult to counter them with just his odachi alone.


    Without an ounce of hesitation, he used [Voidstep], appearing next to the bark of the tree where the cheetah had crashed.


    It was just getting ready to pounce back into action when a clean slice hit its neck, severing its head from the now lifeless body.


    Grabbing its head, Amon threw it toward the three goris that were charging towards him. Theypletely ignored the head, letting it drift past them without any care. However, it proved to be a fatal mistake since as soon as it passed their bodies, their target disappeared again.


    And this time, they were unable to respond as a sharp de hit their torso,pletely slicing


    it for all three of them.


    The goris fell to the ground, dark blood pouring out of their mouths as their bodies turned


    lifeless.


    At that moment, a series of notifications popped up in Amon''s view.


    [The Void inside you growsrger..]


    [The Void inside you growsrger..]


    [The Void inside you growsrger..]


    [The Void inside you growsrger..]


    Immediately, he felt a certain part of himself being taken away. As if something had just died


    in his body.


    It was the same feeling asst time.


    The feeling of beingpletely hollow.


    He also noticed that if there was even an ounce of hesitation in killing the beasts first, it hadpletely disappeared now.


    Just as Amon thought to head further into the forest, he was taken aback as a clean de shed his shoulder.


    The heavy impact of the de threw off his bnce, sending him flying to the tree where previously the cheetah had crashed.


    If the tree was barely holding itself before, after Amon''s impact it waspletely uprooted.


    Blood trailed down Amon''s arm, staining his equipment crimson.


    Gritting his teeth, he looked at the attacker, finding it to be a gigantic mantis.


    Its starless eyes met the inky ck re of Amon.


    The mantis didn''t waste the opportunity and shed again with its de, but was caught unaware as the eyes of its target glowed aubergine.


    It was enveloped in shock as its body waspletely frozen, unable to advance its attack


    further.


    Without wasting his chance, Amon slid under the de and sliced his odachi at the joints of


    the mantis arm.


    With a clean sound, the statue arm waspletely severed from the body.


    It crashed onto the ground with arge thud.


    Lost in its pain, the mantis freed itself from the control of the skill and shrieked loudly, its


    sharp noise transmitting throughout the whole jungle.


    In the next moment, the odachi was thrusted in its open mouth, drawing out heaps of ck blood that sshed over Amon''s body.


    The mantis painful re met the cold indifferent eyes of Amon, sending a shiver down its


    spine.


    And before it could do anything else, its head waspletely sliced off.


    Its body lifelessly slumped to the ground with a thud and Amonnded beside it.


    His eyes were cold now, devoid of any emotion. In fact, if one looked closely they could even


    see madness and insanity hidden inside them, threatening to spill at any moment.


    A new notification popped up.


    [The Void inside you growsrger..] ''The same feeling again...'' Amon thought.


    But right now, there were other matters to worry about.


    Matters such as the shriek being broadcasted in the whole forest, making all beasts aware of


    his location.


    ''Fuck...'' Amon cursed as he shot further into the forest.

 Chapter 88: Void Training 2 [3]

    Chapter 88: Void Training 2 [3]


    ?


    ****


    Amon rushed through the forest at imperceptible speeds.


    As he jumped to the next branch of a nearby tree, he heard a hiss resound to his side.


    Instinctively, his left hand shot towards the sound. He felt a slimy body impact his palm. Capturing it, he looked to his side, finding it to be a thin void snake.


    Without a hint of mercy in his eyes, he clenched his fist, making the snake blow up.


    The ck blood sshed on his face. But, he didn''t remove it.


    As he was about to jump to the next tree, two notifications opened in front of him.


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    It was the usual.


    But the next notification made his brows rise up.


    [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    Confusion etched on his face.


    ''Hmm? It levels up from these beasts as well?'' He questioned to himself.


    Like his other 2 elements, he thought the only way to advance his [Void] element was by using his skills.


    They were the only way he could utilize his element right now after all.


    He looked at his gloved palm, the ck blood dripping from it onto the grass.


    ''If I have to make an estimation, so far I have killed 50 of these beasts...''


    ording to Zephyra, the [Void Training]''s main purpose was to make his body attuned to the void.


    This was precisely the reason why he couldn''t use his element right now as it would break under the pressure.


    So the void inside him growingrger probably meant that his body got more and more ustomed to the element.


    There was also the part about that weird feeling.


    After this level-up, he only needed one more point to advance his [Void] element to level 2. He should be able to use it after that happened considering he didn''t get any influx yet.


    There was also the matter of those 2 locked skills...


    Regardless, only time would tell the future.


    Pushing back the thoughts, Amon jumped out of the tree, to the next branch. However, a frown creased his brows as he instantly felt somethinging by his side. As expected, a body rammed into him in mid-air as he tried to maneuver sideways. The sudden weight threw off his bnce, sending him flying over the tops of the trees. Fortunately, he was still able to mark the body of what had attacked him.


    He gritted his teeth when his bodynded among some branches.


    ''I wasted too much time on the branch..''


    He immediately used [Voidteleport] and appeared right above the tree where he hadnded.


    Without hesitation, he unsheathed his odachi and shed to his right.


    He felt the de connect cleanly as the beast came into his view.


    It was a crane. The same one from his previous training, butrger and more ferocious.


    It wasn''t surprising.


    He had expected the monsters to grow stronger andrger with each training.


    The bird screamed as the de connected with it. Its lengthy beak reached out to snap his neck.


    Amon''s face twitched.


    The force behind one hand wasn''t enough to sever its body.


    Grabbing the hilt of the odachi with his second hand, he applied more force, cleanly cleaving the body in half.


    The beak stopped mere inches from his face before both halves of the body fell among the trees.


    He fastly used [Voidstep], appearing a considerable distance away from where he was in the


    air.


    He didn''t want tond near the crash of the body.


    It increased his chances of getting ambushed.


    And as he fell into the trees from his new location, he subtly smiled.


    It was because of the three leopards and goris he saw traversing through the forest to where the crane had crashed.


    Landing into the trees, his eyes immediately shed purple, causing the three cheetahs to halt.


    The sudden stop threw off their momentum in the air, sending their bodies crashing to the ground.


    Unfortunately, a gruesome death awaited them below as Amon brutally sliced two open with his nodachi.


    The third one was able to escape bare moments before the de reached it by instinctively diving to the side.


    A frown marred Amon''s features as he quickly shot to the third cheetah.


    But his charge was stopped as the three gorisnded on the ground, noticing themotion.


    They bared their sharp nails and jaws at him, instantly beginning to attack him.


    Each gori has 10 sharp long nails on both hands. And taking three of them into ount, he had to contend with 30 nails in total.


    His long odachi was barely able to keep up as he kept countering them all, trying to find a


    chance to separate them.


    It would do much better to take them one on one.


    He could have used his [Void] skills likest time. Not only would it kill them efficiently, but it


    also sped up his progress to the next level.


    But he didn''t want to waste a lot of mana yet.


    And also the fact that he wanted to beat them without any skills this time.


    It would be a problem if he relied too much on his skills.


    Due to his sharp attention to the battle with goris, he was unable to notice the final cheetah


    get back up.


    It leaped at Amon from behind, digging his jaws into his shoulder.


    Pain welled up in his whole being causing him to bite his tongue to not lose focus.


    As the next set of shes arrived from the feral beasts, Amon took a backward leap while


    grabbing the starless cheetah on his shoulder.


    With all the strength he could muster, he tried to squash its head.


    As someone who had reached the 2nd order and with strength being his top stat along with another one, his force wasn''t to be underestimated.


    There was also the fact that his passive skill [Blessing of the Void] was active right now,


    granting him a boost in all stats and fields.


    His fingers dug into the head of the cheetah but unfortunately, his palm was still shorter to


    squash its full head.


    The jaw dug deeper into his skin, drawing out more blood.


    Amon bit his lip, contending with the pain.


    The goris also leaped at him once more.


    Gritting his teeth, he thrust the edge of the nodachi into the jaw of the cheetah before digging


    it further into its brain, ending its life.


    The jaw disconnected from his shoulder and the lifeless body of the beast slumped to the


    ground.


    A clean, deep, and fleshy gash was revealed on Amon''s shoulder as its body fell.


    But the ck-haired body didn''t care.


    Pain...


    It was something he was getting used to by now.


    He understood now...


    If he fought with clean movements in this training, he was undoubtedly going to fail it...


    That''s why...


    He would fight these feral beasts like a beast.


    Not digging his odachi out, Amon leaped towards the nearest gori bare-handedly.


    It''s five thin ws shed at him but this time something unexpected happened.


    Amon grabbed three of its ws in one hand and two of its ws in the other. And in the next moment, with all his strength, he ripped them apart.

 Chapter 89: Void Training [4]

    Chapter 89: Void Training [4]


    ?


    ****


    Amon walked to a nearby tree with a stumbling gait.


    Near him, three dead bodies of starless gorisy, their eyes lifeless.


    As he slumped against a tree, he panted fastly and loudly.


    "§¯§Ñ§Ñ....§¯§Ñ§Ñ....§¯§Ñ...."


    His equipment had lots of cuts now with his shoulder would still dripping fresh blood and exposing his flesh.


    His mouth twitched as he touched one of his wounds.


    As he was about to do something further, 4 notifications arrived in front of him.


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    Taking one look at them, he then looked at his palms, which both had several deep cuts in them.


    He had grabbed those des with bare hands, letting them seep into his skill.


    He winced in pain every now and then.


    Ignoring them, Amon tore several pieces of clean cloth from his equipment and used them to dress the cuts on his palm and body.


    For a while, heid back against the tree for some rest but was unable to properly close his eyes in fear of beasts and the pain of his wound.


    Fortunately, just 5 minutes into his rest, he heard a deep gushing sound from nearby.


    Grabbing the tree for support, Amon stumblingly walked amidst the trees to where the sound wasing from.


    He was hoping he would be correct.


    On his way, he was lucky that he didn''t see any monsters.


    ''They probably headed towards where the crane had crashed or are present near the mantis.''


    As he finally crossed the remaining trees, his face pulled up into a smile as he saw a gushing river passing in the forest.


    It was surprising.


    Finding a river in a starless void expanse.


    Nevertheless, he was grateful for this discovery.


    Settling near the edge of the river, where he could hide among some trees, Amon started to clean his palms.


    Afterward, he used the water to clear his shoulder wound of any debris or thing that might infect the wound.


    It was obviously still going to get infectedter on but he would like to prolong it as much as he could.


    He tore off arge piece of his equipment and started dressing his shoulder wound as well.


    At that moment, he had never felt more grateful that he had taken those survival and wilderness lessons.


    Following that, heid against the tree to get some rest.


    But even he wasn''t expecting that as soon as his back touched the tree, roots sprouted out of the ground.


    They coiled around his body in a second and attached him to the bark of three.


    Instinctively, he quickly grabbed his odachi.


    As soon as his back waspletely attached to the tree, something unexpected happened. The bark...


    It started burning up in purple mes.


    The heat scorched his back, making him scream in the process.


    Pain...


    It was so much that his mind lost all process to think rationally at the moment.


    He shed his odachi without a thought, cleaving the roots in two.


    But to his dismay, they grew back again, holding him to the tree.


    His equipment burnt up and he felt as if moltenva was being poured onto his back.


    His voice died down.


    His mind drowned into his consciousness.


    He tried to bite his lip to stay awake.


    His heart throbbed and the sound in his ears died down.


    All he could hear was the crackle of mes that impacted his back at the moment.


    The pain continued forever,pletely burning his back and exposing his sh.


    But at that moment, it turned numb.


    His mindpletely shut down into a void of nothingness.


    His inky ck eyes turned pitch hollow.


    His body moved on his own as he grabbed the odachi and thrust it toward his own neck.


    But at thest moment, he snapped his neck to the side, making the de''s edge effortlessly


    pass through.


    The de dug into the bark of the tree, emerging from the other side.


    And at that moment, the mes werepletely extinguished.


    His body slumped sideways, falling on the grass.


    He was teetering at the edge of his consciousness.


    He couldn''t feel his body anymore.


    It all felt like jelly. Amon doubted he could even move it.


    There existed a pitch-ck hazyness inside his mind at the moment, enabling him to think


    nothing.


    At that moment, he thought to just sh himself with his own sword and end himself.


    It was alright. It was just a [Void Training]. He could fail it.


    Not like he was going to die.


    He could just do it againter.


    But as he was about to close his eyes, all the reasons not to fail came into his mind.


    He couldn''t afford to lose here.


    He needed to see the first arc through. He needed to get stronger to handle the problems if


    they arose with Daniel.


    Heined about being weak after all.


    And now that he had the chance to grow stronger, he was chickening out.


    And the final reason....


    Amon needed to get that [Void] element.


    And at that moment, all the rity inside his brain returned and he gasped loudly.


    "Haaa....haaa..Haa"


    Sweat trickled down his forehead as he stumblingly stood up.


    He suddenly realized something.


    The pain....


    It had be numb.


    All the pain he could feel before...


    It wasn''t there anymore. His back, his shoulder...


    Totally numb.


    Before he could ponder further, he heard several growls erupting through the trees from the


    forests behind him.


    The beasts...


    They were close. And they wereing in a horde.


    He grabbed his odachi. Pain, had be numb to him now. Better to utilize it the best way he


    could, he thought.


    It was arge wave of monsters that was attracted by his screams and the me.


    ''I hope this is thest wave of monsters...''


    And all at once, they jumped out of the trees while he leaped back into the river.


    ''Come. Let me get the final point for the element.''

 Chapter 90: Void Training [5]

    Chapter 90: Void Training [5]


    ?


    ****


    Amon panted loudly, sitting upon the branch of a tree.


    "§¯§Ñ§Ñ§Ñ... §¯§Ñ§Ñ§Ñ§Ñ..... §¯§Ñ§Ñ§Ñ."


    He had done it.


    After a whole night of ruthlessly fighting and hiding like a feral beast, he had defeated the 150 Void Beasts.


    His arms were covered in bandages that were stained crimson and his back was pitch ck, a reminder of the burning sensation he had experienced.


    His equipment was totally battered, littered with cuts and shes.


    Blood trailed down his face from the numerous cuts that now ruined his features.


    Some of his hair was also burnt as a result of being captured in the void mes of some creatures.


    But regardless of all the injuries, Amon satpletely motionless, his body not even wincing from the amount of pain.


    All he showed were signs of exhaustion but except for that, there was no sign of hurt on his face.


    It was because pain was something he had grown ustomed to now.


    Rather, all he felt in his body was numbness.


    He couldn''t feel anything.


    Just a numbing sensation at every spot where he was hurt.


    Pain....


    It was just an ephemeral feeling for him now.


    His stoic expression broke with a curl of his lips when a series of notifications appeared in his vision.


    [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    He felt something change within his body.


    As if it was being restructured and rebuilt into something new.


    It started with a mere warm sensation inside his chest.


    But gradually, it started to grow hotter.


    His breathing grewborious.


    "Haaaa....Haaaa....Haaaa"


    His vision went from clear to a blur.


    He clenched his chest as he felt the mere warmth turn into a sensation of having moltenva being poured into you.


    His whole body....


    It was on fire...


    Not just his body, but his soul as well....


    His head started to throb with an unimaginable amount of pain.


    His legs felt wobbly and jelly-like and he dropped from the branch where he was sitting.


    The sound in his ears died down and his vision turned ck.


    He tried to keep his consciousness afloat but that proved to be a challenging task as he felt himself drowning into the bottomless abyss of pain.


    He clenched his fists and tried to curl up his body but to his dismay, he couldn''t feel anything anymore.


    All he felt was a vicious melting feeling in his body.


    This...


    "Haaaa.....Haaaa....Haaaa!" Amon screamed and wailed, pain surmounting any amount he had ever seen or experienced before.


    His head felt like it was about to explode.


    But....


    He bore through.


    If it was only pain....


    He could handle it.


    Bring it on.


    He embraced the smoldering sensation that threatened to rip him apart.


    All of a sudden, the heat exploded up to new levels as he felt a scorching ball of magma being forced into his soul.


    He held through all the pain, keeping it in.


    Not like he could scream or wail if he wanted to.


    He had long lost his voice in this endless expanse of nothingness.


    He was just a mere drifting speck of nothingness that was being reformed into something


    new.


    ''I don''t want to die...'' Was all he could think of at that moment.


    His sister and his life were the only two things that kept him hanging onto this mere thought of bearing through the pain.


    He kept repeating the same thought every second to him.


    Even as he felt his mind and mouth burn he didn''t stop.


    The pain continued for an endless amount of time.


    Amon had long lost count of how long it had been.


    It might have been only a few seconds or an entire eternity. He might have died countless


    times over and over.


    He didn''t know.


    All he kept in mind was the thought to survive.


    And finally, after eons of pain for him, it ended.


    The smoldering me that ripped and stitched him disappeared into the nothingness in an


    instant.


    At that moment, he felt nothing.


    Completely hollow.


    Nothing existed for him inside the ever-stretching expanse.


    He couldn''t even feel his body or thoughts anymore.


    He felt as if everything was being removed from him.


    As if he was being a part of this space. This void.


    He was slowly losing his thoughts and memories. His iden-


    ''Wake up!'' A voice echoed.


    From his thoughts or the expanse? He didn''t know.


    As he drifted further into losi-


    ''Stop losing yourself!'' It echoed again.


    It felt a little familiar this time. Just a bit.


    As if he had heard it somewhere before.


    But not enough for him to linger on it further as his thoughts were cleared once more.


    ''Remember yourself *#$%!'' The voice echoed again.


    More loudly this time.


    And...


    More familiar.


    The end of the voice glitched out, echoing within him as a series of tones.


    He couldn''t help.


    He didn''t know what was happening or who it was.


    His consciousness was slowly fadin-


    ''WAKE UP A*%N''


    The voice rumbled within him, pulling his consciousness back.


    More and more familiar.


    And this time....


    Familial.


    Was there someone rted to him?


    There was. He could remember them a little.


    Their face appeared in his vision. In the ck expanse.


    It was a blur. Arge blur.


    But he could deduce it a little.


    The rtive. They were a female.


    No...


    Not rtive.


    More familial.


    A family.


    Mother?


    The blur cleared a little, revealing some of her features.


    The female...


    Her features resembled a lot like him. They were also beautiful.


    ''YOU CAN DO IT AM*N'' The voice resounded once more.


    The glitched part was now bing more clearer.


    He could more or less make out the part.


    But who was the voice calling out to?


    Him?


    Was that his name?


    Ah, yes.


    He remembered now. The pieces...


    They all started joining together in his brain.


    The person...


    And the voice....


    They were the same.


    And the one they were calling out to was him. They were making him remember who he was.


    The blur cleared more at that moment, almost revealing all her features.


    Yes. She wasn''t his mother.


    She was...


    His sister...


    His beloved sister.


    The blurpletely disappeared, revealing all her face-the face of his sister.


    Katherine Ashford. That was the name of his sister.


    And he was...


    Her brother. Her younger brother.


    His body started to form back in the void in the form of motes of light that joined together.


    Yes. And his name was...


    Amon Ashford.


    ''WAKE UP AMON!''


    And at that precise moment, the expanse of nothingness around him started to crumble into


    pieces.

 Chapter 91: Constitution Change And Rewards [1]

    Chapter 91: Constitution Change And Rewards [1]


    ?


    ****


    The all-ck expanse shattered into pieces.


    In its ce, the previous starless void expanse formed back.


    Amon found himself sitting on the starless floor again, his eyes widened.


    His breaths came out in deep gasps as he stared at the floor.


    "Haaa....haaaa...haaa"


    His thoughts were scattered and he quickly raised his pale-skinned arms, turning them over continuously.


    He touched them over his body, finding them to be solid along with it as well.


    It was then that he deeply sighed in relief.


    His scattered thoughts finally came to a halt, his expression turning as calm as ake.


    ''I''m alive.'' He thought for the first time.


    ''So it wasn''t a dream.''


    He stared at his body.


    Amidst his observation, a pleasant and crisp voice came into his ear.


    "Good job!"


    His gaze moved up at the familiar voice.


    It had been a while since he heard it like this....


    And right there, at a certain distance away from him, was the exact same throne he had seen 2 months back.


    A beautifully crafted cosmic throne that was adorned with stars.


    But just likest time, the person sitting on the thronepletely outssed the beauty of the craft.


    She was the center of attraction in this ever-stretching expanse.


    Wearing an ebony regal ball gown that cascaded to the floor, her lustrous purple hair adorned with stars draped across her back.


    Her capturing amethyst eyes glowed like never-ending voids, that seemed to drown anyone who stared into them.


    She elegantly walked down the steps of the throne, walking towards him.


    A beautiful smile marred her features as her gaze locked with him.


    "Zephyra..." Amon''s voice echoed deeply in the void.


    "We meet again in person huh, no warm wee?" She tilted her head, spreading out her


    arms.


    ||


    ||


    Not responding to her, Amon stood up from the ground, facing her.


    His brows raised by a little as he noticed something.


    When he arrived herest time, he was considerably smaller than her in height.


    Especially so with those high heels she wore.


    But now, her head just slightly higher than her if one excluded her heels.


    If he had to estimate, only 1 inch.


    ''I really improved by a lot huh?'' Amon thought.


    "Looking at your expression, it seems like the reformation was sessful." Her charming voice resounded in his ears.


    ''Reformation?'' He slightly tilted his head.


    But it immediately clicked in his head in the next second.


    ''Oh...that.''


    By which he meant the pain he had just experienced and that expanse where he was just minutes ago.


    He looked at her and she subtly nodded, affirming his thoughts.


    Considering she was the master of this ce, she could probably hear his thoughts.


    "What was it?" He asked, his tone neutral.


    Her expression drooped a little at his question.


    "Not even some talk after seeing each other in person after this long?"


    She was going to sigh but stopped when he gave her the gaze that seemed to say ''So long? As


    if., referencing how much she talked with him in his head.


    She raised her hands in submission.


    "Well, I can''t me your seriousness after what just happened."


    Before he could ask her once again, she raised a finger to stop him and continued.


    "Like I said, what you just underwent was your main assimtion."


    She waved her hand in the void, making a tea table and two seats rise up from the ground.


    She took one seat and gestured to Amon to take the one in front but was surprised when he was already seated even before her.


    Her voice halted in her mouth and he gave her the look saying ''What?''


    She coughed.


    He was quite amused by this exchange. It was nice to break herposure and tease her after what she had done to him.


    "Anyways..." She started pouring tea in two cups.


    "The main point is, your body constitution waspletely reformed. As in, your body


    structure and organs." She said, making his eyes widen a little.


    "What do you mean and what is the purpose of this?" He asked, even though he already had an inkling of why it had been done.


    "It means that your body is now a Void Constitution. You don''t have blood in your body anymore. This was a necessary step for you to use [Void]." She answered.


    His stoic expression crumbled.


    "Wait, no blood in my body anymore?" He asked with shock and she nodded, raising a finger


    once more.


    A knife appeared next to him and without hesitation, he broke his skin open.


    Yes, broke it.


    To his surprise, as he plunged the knife into his arm, rather than a normal cut, cracks spread


    on his arm.


    A barely small hole was created in his skin, through which no blood poured out.


    The only thing he noticed was the mana pathways or veins that traveled through his body


    now.


    He looked back at her with a furious expression.


    "Wait! No! My [Blood] ele-" His voice was halted by Zephyra who raised her hand as she took


    another sip of her tea.


    "Hold your horses, Amon I haven''t finished yet."


    His rage died down and he clicked his tongue.


    "Due to this constitution change, it was the reason why you underwent such pain. Your organs and brain were also restructured to function without blood. This was the reason why you were unable to sense who you were and where you were." She exined further.


    "It was why I had to use your sister''s voice to remind you of who you were. I couldn''t forcibly mess in since your mind was in a really tense condition at the moment." She lightly smiled.


    "I see. Why use my sister''s voice?" He asked.


    "Because she''s the closest person to you. And the more emotional weightage a person held, the more easy it was for me to make you remember your identity."


    "I see. But what did you mean by ''looking at your expression'' and ''can''t me your seriousness'' at the start?" He took a sip of his tea.


    She nodded.


    "It''s because your constitution change is the reason why you feel a suppression of emotions


    now and also why you have a stoic expression on your face." She answered.


    His brows rose up.


    It was true. For some reason, ever since he woke up, there was a suppression of his natural


    emotions that he felt before.


    Such as joy, nervousness, or shyness. He barely felt them.


    His head was totally clear right now.


    "But don''t mistake them for being eradicated. They are just suppressed, but that doesn''t


    mean they don''t exist deep down in you.


    Rather, the more time passes, your natural emotions such as anger or fear will start to pile up. Any emotional event that triggers them can be really dangerous for your mental state, especially with how delicate it is right now after the Void Training.


    You need to be careful." She warned, setting down her empty cup.


    He nodded again without a word.


    Then, she stood up with him and smiled lightly.


    "Speaking of Void Training, now that we are done with the exnations, let''s move toward


    your rewards."


    Amon nodded.

 Chapter 92: Constitution Change And Rewards [2]

    Chapter 92: Constitution Change And Rewards [2]


    ?


    ***


    As Zephyra pped her hands, a system interface opened up in front of him.


    [Main Assimtion Completed!]


    Another screen opened in front of him.


    Elemental Points: 2


    Choose Elements:


    1 Point Elements:


    - Sound (Maker)


    - Ice (Maniption)


    - Crystal (Maker)


    2 Point Elements:


    - Energy (Maniption)


    - Gravity (Maniption)


    - Nature (Maniption)


    Amon''s brows raised a little in surprise.


    He wasn''t expecting this in the least.


    His head lifted from the screen and looked at Zephyra.


    ''So this was why she told me to wait when I was about to rage on my blood element...'' He thought, already knowing she could listen to them.


    She subtly nodded.


    Looking at the elements, his curiosity piqued a little.


    He looked up again and asked her something.


    "Are these rewards and points given to me by you?" He asked.


    Considering that she knew about these things, were they given to him by her?


    If so, didn''t that make the system her creation? Does that mean she could give anything to him?


    A part of him hoped that was the case but a part also knew that it certainly wasn''t.


    And contrary to his hopes, she shook her head.


    "No. These elements and quests given to you arepletely under the system''s decision. All I have is partial control over the system. I can see some things at a certain time before the system gives them and can also give you some minor quests. But...."


    "The system by itself is something higher than us ''gods''."


    That was a surprising bit of information.


    Amon raised his brows. It was also interesting.


    By her words, was it correct to assume that the system was an entitypletely above Zephyra and Sran?


    It was terrifying to think about considering that Zephyra and Sran by themselves were gods.


    But it made sense.


    Now that he thought about it, this was something also stated in the book in a conversation between Michael and Sran.


    Unfortunately, before the system''s mysteries could be revealed, thatst volume incident happened.


    He was about to ponder further when she interrupted further in.


    "Even what you have right now isn''t theplete system. It''s simply a fragment granted to us ''gods'' that can be passed down to our herald."


    Amon''s expression contorted to an ''o'' shape.


    It was simply a fragment of theplete system yet she still only had partial ess to it.


    It was terrifying to think what theplete system was.


    He focused on another word in her answer.


    Heralds...


    Though he already had an idea of what they were from the novel, it didn''t hurt to listen to a better exnation from Zephyra.


    Unlike Sran, who exined it with a carefree attitude in a novel, it was better to listen to her.


    "What are Heralds?" He asked and she nodded, probably expecting such a question from him. "Herald is basically a being that bes a ''god''s'' servant in exchange for a fragment of a ''god''s'' power. Like how you are my herald." She exined.


    "The system fragment that I told you about before is also granted to our herald. Each ''fragment'' is mostly simr with some changes that differ with each ''god''."


    Amon nodded.


    It was making sense till now. He had noticed it before but even though his and Michael''s system matched, there were still some differences.


    One such difference was ''Void Training'' which was something only avable to him.


    He had never seen it on Michael''s system.


    To sum it up, the system he had was called ''Fragment of the Void''. And Michael''s system was ''Fragment of the Sun''.


    These bits of pieces of information were interesting. They were never mentioned by Sran. ''Probably because Michael never met another god or herald other than himself in the novel...'' Amon concluded.


    Or maybe he would meet after the end of ghouls. The ending was never shown after all.


    "As my herald, you carry the title of ''The Herald of Nothingness." She pointed it out to him


    and he nodded.


    But then, reying her information in his mind, he brought up a question.


    "Can you have more than one herald?" He asked.


    He asked this question since she was always referring to herald in singr form.


    And also...


    To confirm if Athena was a herald.


    Though she didn''t have [Void], she certainly had [Space]. It might have been possible in some


    way.


    But contrary to his thoughts, she shook her head.


    "No. A ''god'' can''t have more than one herald. Though a herald can be reced, there''s no


    point in doing that."


    He nodded.


    "As for your thoughts about Athena that if she''s a herald, she isn''t. Time and Space are reality elements but the elements of ''gods'' are far above them. They aren''t included with us."


    He nodded.


    And then, he was about to ask the final question on his mind.


    During their conversation, she kept saying ''gods''.


    Were there more than just Zephyra and Sran? Or was she just referring to both of them?


    But as his mouth opened, it froze as he looked at her gaze.


    She had read his thoughts. And her gaze was clearly saying.


    ''Your mind will blow up with the information on this question.''


    His mouth closed. In the end, he didn''t ask.


    But at least, it did confirm there were more gods than just 2 as she had mentioned Sran and


    herself before to him.


    Dropping the topic, he was about to further ask some questions on his reincarnation when she


    pped.


    "Alright, let''s just get on with your rewards. This conversation has made me bored." She


    started pouring tea again.


    He narrowed his eyes, locking his inky ck ones with her amethyst ones.


    It was apparent that she had sensed his thoughts.


    ''She''s trying to avoid the topic and answers...'' He concluded.


    Sensing his thoughts, she winked with a subtle nod.


    Amon''s face twitched.


    ''This grape goddess...'' His gaze drifted to her neck.


    It looked to be very fine. Fine enough to have her blood manipted.


    Sensing his insult, she looked at her hair.


    Flick.


    Then back at him.


    Flick. Then her hair and back at him.


    "Did you just call me a grape goddess?.." She questioned mumblingly, horrified.


    He ignored her and looked back at his screen.


    "No, I didn''t" He answered with a stoic expression on his face.


    She kept starting at him in shock for a whole minute while she caressed her hair.


    But as she opened her mouth to retort, he locked his gaze back with her.


    "Alright, I made my choice."

 Chapter 93: Constitution Change And Rewards [3]

    Chapter 93: Constitution Change And Rewards [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon pondered hard on which element to choose.


    Considering he had 2 elemental points, he could choose Sound and Crystal together.


    Crystal was a good choice for his defense because he was beaten up a lot of times for not having enough defense.


    There was also Sound.


    Sound was a perfect element for countering hard state elements like Earth and Ice as demonstrated by Daniel before.


    Using his element, he hadpletely shattered the ice spikes of Elizabeth.


    It was also very good for surprise attacks in closebat, especially so now that Daniel demonstrated using elemental mana to coat your fists.


    He could deliver sonic booms to a person''s body by just punching them, making them feel the force multiple times.


    Ice maniption was basically a useless choice as there was barely any ce you could find it.


    The only scenario where this would be useful was in cold ces but that was a grave limitationpared to other good elements.


    So that was a no.


    But then, there were also 2-point elements.


    The first option was Energy.


    It was one of the most versatile elements out there.


    Initially allowing him to control the energy in his and his opponents attacks, it would allow him to stack and even release itter on.


    It was basically an extremely advanced version of mana maniption.


    Last time, the only reason he hadn''t picked the element was because he felt his [Void] element would ovep with the Energy element, which was to destroy anything, even energy.


    But this confusion waster cleared to him by Zephyra that he could use them both separately, and with enough mastery, the energies wouldn''t ovep.


    The only downside of the Energy element was that it consumed a lot of mana and it was extremely hard to control for the current him.


    So, this time it was a very good choice.


    Next was Gravity Maniption.


    Gravity maniption didn''t really appeal to him whenpared with Energy.


    Sure, it would make his enemies heavier and he could also make himself lighter as well using the element.


    It was basically push and pull and though it was a very good element for him to pickter, he couldn''t do it right now because of ''that''.


    With the blood element being 50% useless right now, he needed an extremely good element to survive what was about toe ahead.


    In the end, he let go of this option as well.


    Thest choice was Nature maniption, which overall was a good element when standing in a natural botanical environment.


    After studying it a little further, he came to know that the element basically allowed him to control the nts and nature around him.


    They could be used to make vines or even cast natural illusions and effects upon the opponent. It was a versatile element for sure. But just like Ice, it was useless if he wasn''t in its attributed environment.


    In the first ce, it didn''t even make sense for it to cost 2 points.


    But he could only helplessly shrug at the system''s decision.


    After pondering on it for long, he finally made his decision.


    "I''m done." He told Zephyra but before she could say something, he brought up a question.


    "Will I be able to pick elements again in the future?" He asked.


    ording to his observations till now, the system only granted him the ability to choose elements after an assimtion.


    So, if he ever got the chance to pick elements again it would be after another assimtion.


    Assimtion was probably a body constitution change if he had to guess.


    He looked back at her and she shrugged.


    "Like I said before Amon, I only have partial control over the system. But if I had to make a guess, your body is still not enough to handle Void which means you will get another assimtion."


    She raised a finger and smiled.


    "So you should probably get an element choice, though remember I''m not sure."


    He nodded.


    If he had to be honest, Energy and Gravity were the best elements on the list to pick right now.


    However, he couldn''t pick them up.


    This was because of the uing main arc.


    He wasn''t sure of aplishing it at first. And after losing 50% of his blood element now, he


    was sure that he would get obliterated.


    Daniel was a 5th-order clovist with a Sound element of the maker type.


    As someone who was involved in his lessons now, Amon was sure that he would have to interfere in the attack.


    After this Void Training and Zephyra''s exnation, he was made sure of one thing.


    It was that he wasn''t an Extra anymore in this world anymore. People were noticing him and


    he was also getting involved in schemes.


    Just cause he wasn''t from this world didn''t mean he was safe.


    And because of that, he knew now that he would also have to act in Daniel''s defeat.


    He needed to fight and expose his powers. He needed to climb the ranks and get stronger.


    He needed to ept being a part of this world now. He wasn''t an orphan anymore.


    He was Amon Ashford.


    Daniel had him as a target in his eyes now. And to survive against him, he needed an element.


    He was in desperate need of defense. Without it, he was getting obliterated. Gravity and Energy were going to be unable to counter his Sound element.


    The former was especially useless because of the disparity in their strengths.


    As such, he needed an element that would protect him against his sound element.


    A defensive element.


    And that was Crystal.


    So, he had to let go of Energy and Gravity for now. He hoped they would be avable in the


    next choices.


    He turned to Zephyra again.


    "Can I stock my points?"


    She shook his head causing him to click his tongue.


    Well if he couldn''t then...


    That only left him with [Sound].


    "Alright."


    He turned to her.


    "I''m done with my decision."


    And he selected [Sound] and [Crystal].

 Chapter 94: Lessons And Trip [1]

    Chapter 94: Lessons And Trip [1]


    ?


    ****


    Confirming his choice, the system interface disappeared.


    Instantly, arge influx of information assaulted his brain.


    He clutched his head at the sudden hit.


    This continued for several minutes as Amon''s visionpletely nked out.


    Finally, the lightheadedness receded and he let out a deep sigh.


    He clenched his fists and opened them multiple times, to get used to the new feeling.


    Zephyra was looking at him but he didn''t match her gaze and kept looking at his fingers.


    Then, he did a flick using his thumb and middle finger.


    The clover mark on the back side of his palm glowed in a gray hue.


    A symphonic ripple resounded in the air, making his lips curl up into a slight smile.


    ''Nice..''


    He had just tested his Sound element.


    He could sense that Zephyra was looking at him intriguingly but he ignored her.


    Now..


    Time for the next element, he thought.


    He closed his eyes and channeled his mana again.


    Like before, his clover mark glowed in a cyan hue.


    He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his two fingers, which were now covered in a gray- turquoish diamond coating.


    Using the knife that he used earlier, he tapped it a few times in the coating, an ear-piercing noise echoing with each tap.


    A smile pulled at his lips.


    It was good in terms of hardness. The crystal was just as if not more hard than a diamond.


    Expending some more mana, he shaped the edges of the crystal at his fingertips into an arched nail.


    It looked more like a monster w.


    Without an ounce of hesitation, he shed the two fingers at his other arm.


    A cracking sound urred in the expanse as if a sharp sword was shing with concrete or stone.


    He looked at his arm, noticing two minuscule shes at the spot where he attacked, with some cracks spreading outward.


    It was good. The sharpness of the element was exceptional,parable to a tungsten needle from his previous world.


    But then, his slight smile disappeared and his brows creased into a small frown.


    There were just some problems with this.


    One was that the part that was coated by the element would be really heavy while also restricting the freedom of movement.


    This was because while keeping his part coated with the element, he had to continuously transition his elemental mana with each movement to keep his movements seamless.


    Otherwise, the body part would be rigid because of the disruption of mana in his body. This was something that was supposed to be taught by Daniel in theter sses so he wasn''t quite worried about that.


    It could also be fixed by just using Crystal as an offensive element with spikes and spears rather than coating his body.


    He wanted to do that but for now, the defense aspect was his main focus.


    Another problem was his mana expenditure.


    To coat his body continuously and keep the crystal hard, he had to continuously supply mana to it.


    Though this issue would be resolved atter levels of the element or by having arge mana pool, it was a disadvantage for him right now.


    But overall, he wasn''t regretful about his choices.


    Rather, he was quite satisfied. Both elements'' advantages overpowered their current problems for him.


    Especially so because of the uing situation. After seeing their capabilities, both of them were perfect for what he wanted to do.


    Amon stopped supplying mana to the crystals and within a few seconds, they shattered.


    Looking back at Zephyra, he nodded.


    "Well, anything else?" she asked.


    Amon shook his head.


    There were still the [Void Training] rewards but he could just check them after he got back.


    "That''s everything, I can leave now?" He asked with a tilt of his head and she nodded.


    She gave a slight smile to him which he didn''t return and pped her hands.


    "I''ll meet you in the real world then." She yfully winked and a flicker of confusion passed through his stoic expression.


    But just before he cked out, it hit him...


    ''Oh.....fuck'' He cursed as his vision darkened.


    *


    Amon woke up with a sh.


    As he seated up, his eyes wandered to the window.


    It was already light outside.


    His body was refreshed because of a good night''s sleep but his mind wasn''t.


    After all that hard work, it was strained.


    "It''s so nice to see your room in person now." He heard a crisp and pleasant voice from beside


    him.


    Recognizing it, he sighed and looked to the side.


    At a meter away from him, Zephyra was looking at his table, observing the vase and things


    ced on it.


    Surprisingly, unlike in her domain, she was wearing casual clothes right now, with a summer


    white blouse, ck skirt, and stockings.


    His mouth twitched.


    "My life is fucked." He mumbled.


    Noticing the tiny movement, her gaze moved towards him, locking with his inky ck eyes.


    "Did you say something?"


    "No, I didn''t. You are imagining things."


    "You did, didn''t you?"


    "No."


    "You did."


    He sighed.


    "Leave it, where did you get these clothes from?" He asked.


    She looked at her clothes and her mouth contorted to an ''o''.


    "Oh, this. I just flicked my fingers and they changed to this."


    "Huh?"


    "Despite being in front of you now, I can still do things to myself." She flicked her finger.


    Her dress changed to apletely new one and then she flicked again, reverting to her


    previous one.


    "Oh yeah, never mind." Amon felt like facepalming himself.


    "Anyways, stay here. I need to go to my sses otherwise I''ll bete." He got out of bed.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I mean, people would question me if I had a beautiful woman walking and sitting next to me


    everywhere." He exined.


    "Oh that, you don''t have to worry about it."


    "Hmm?" Amon tilted his head.


    "No one can see me besides you." She answered making his brows rise up.


    As if to demonstrate, she reached her hand out for the table.


    But to Amon''s surprise, it passed through it.


    "I can neither be seen nor touched by anyone except you. Even you can only interact with me


    ''cause you are my herald." She exined.


    "Oh, I see." He answered.


    "Though I can be seen and interact atter stages." She exined causing him to nod.


    "I see." He concluded and turned to go to the shower.


    She followed him but just as he reached the door, he looked back at her with an obvious look.


    "Stay outside." He said bluntly and she tilted her head.


    "Why?" she asked and he headed inside and shut the door.


    "I said stay outside and no passing through the door."


    She spoke from outside.


    "But why??" she asked.


    "What do you mean why? Even though others can''t see you, I still can. Have some basic


    manners." He answered from inside.


    "What is there to even hide when I have seen every nook and cranny of you? I saw it so many


    times so why are you stopping me now?" She retorted.


    He instantly answered.


    "Because previously it was because of the circumstances!"


    Zephyra''s face twitched.


    "You humans and your manners, we gods never shied away."


    "I don''t care, now stay outside and no peeking." He answered before turning silent.


    She clicked her tongue and went back to his bed.


    At the end, she did end up peeking but Amon never found out.

 Chapter 95: Lessons and Trip [2]

    Chapter 95: Lessons and Trip [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon headed out his door.


    It was cloudy today.


    Chances were that there was going to be rain.


    ''That''s surprising.''


    He remembered that when he had woken up, it was sunny outside.


    He shrugged.


    Not like he wasining.


    Amon started to walk towards his school.


    On the way, hepletely ignored the purple goddess by his side who kept wandering off and there.


    She was observing the flowers and the scenery.


    "Didn''t you ever see these types of things before?" He asked.


    "Not from up close before meeting you, no. My expanse waspletely empty." She answered.


    "Oh."


    Suddenly, he took notice of some people staring at him weirdly.


    He stared at them stoically, unable to express what he was feeling at the moment.


    They were probably thinking he was insane for talking to flowers.


    After staring silently at him for a few seconds, they started to walk again.


    This time, keeping their distance from him.


    He looked at Zephyra who wasughing with her hand on her mouth. "Pfft."


    "You can still talk telepathically to me, you know." Sheughed.


    Amon gazed incredulously.


    ''You could have told me before.''


    [You never asked.] She shrugged and started staring at the flowers again.


    ''I swear, this grape goddess...''


    *


    Amon was seated beside Michael and Ren.


    He was currently listening to Athena who was exining magical theories.


    Zephyra was seated on a magical chair she created for herself to his right.


    It was surprising that she could do these things and nobody could see her.


    She was literally seated in the middle of the stairs.


    Looking back at Athena, he focused on the lecture.


    Magical theories weren''t something umon in this world.


    Just like in his previous world, there were also magical scientists and engineers here who proposed different theories.


    These were people, who despite being a talented clovist or armenist, chose not to risk their lives.


    They didn''t want to join the Guilds that were headed by the 4 Dukedoms.


    Nor did they want to join the Imperial Army, which was further broken down into the Armenist Forces and the Clovist Tower.


    They wanted to rest safe and dedicate their talent to something else.


    Just like it had been previously stated, the world of Exloria wasn''tpletely medieval.


    Despite it carrying such a theme, there were still modern touches here and there.


    Things like the watch Amon wore right now or the mana transformers he had seen in ckchain Enve were proof of that.


    They were all devices that were first represented as theories.


    This was just the starting.


    There were still many theories and modern devices toe in the novel.


    He could actually steal them and publish them in his name, making money for himself.


    Heck, there were even some things that he could make by himself and earn money.


    As a person who rotted away in a bookstore, he knew his fair share of stuff and how to make it.


    The only problem was...


    He didn''t have the time nor mind to devote it to such stuff.


    He wasn''t even short on money right now so he didn''t see the purpose in doing so as well.


    Just the HOU had given him so much money, not to mention the money that cameter from Cryptic Glories.


    He had 126M Exlor on his watch right now.


    If not for the fact that these watches werepletely anonymous to value the cadet''s safety, it would surely earn him some suspicious nces.


    Lost in his own thoughts, he was jolted when Athena mmed her book lightly on the table.


    It was only a light tap but her maniption of space made it seem like arge boom had resounded in the ss.


    He looked at her.


    "After today''s lesson about magic theories, I have important news to tell you all."


    Amon racked his brain trying to think what the news was about.


    If he remembered correctly, the first main arc''s climax would be in a week and a half.


    After that, it was...


    Ah.


    Yes.


    His brain clicked.


    It was...


    "A trip to a mana research institute. You will learn about various mana theories and how they are implemented along with how they came to be."


    Yes. A trip to Acroxia Mana Research Institute located in the small city of Axcrotia.


    The city by itself wasn''t veryrge and it was located at the edge of Eldoria Kingdom, which was the kingdom they were residing in.


    "It''s going to be a good work experience for you cadets who willter choose to take different paths after graduating from the academy. We don''t just value our fighting forces. It''s about


    our workforce as well."


    All of the students nodded.


    "Different missions and assignments will be given to you people over there. Especially so for the people who have already decided to enter the fighting force. We won''t burden you with


    work assignments." She exined.


    It made sense.


    It was a good experience for those who were entering the workforce but cadets from the noble families, who were already set on being the g of their families had no use of it.


    They were better to be given real-life fighting experience.


    And this trip was perfect, a smile pulled on Amon''s lips.


    "The trip will take ce 3 weeks from now. It''s a rather cold ce so be sure to prepare well,


    for the missions as well. We will put you in teams of two for the trip."


    Amon nodded. It was alright.


    Due to the city being at the edge of the kingdom, thend there was a little backward and


    neglected.


    There were also some issues with the nearby kingdom due to which there weren''t many


    normal citizens there.


    Anything could happen at any moment.


    The only reason why some of the best mana institutes were there was because of the mana


    density in that ce.


    It was abnormally high. This was one of the reasons for the tension between the two kingdoms. Nevertheless, despite theck of attention and backwardness of thend, the kingdom still


    made sure to provide the best facilities and security to the research institutes.


    But the second arc would change all that...


    How would hising into this world affect this arc, Amon thought in his head.


    His stoic expression remained still until Athena delivered the news and left the room.


    Ren also left after bidding them farewell before Michael started leaving in a few minutes as


    well.


    As he stood up, Amon noticed him sneakily clicking the air as if to not let anyone notice his


    weird actions.


    He was essing his system.


    Ignoring it, Amon started to pack his stuff as well. The ss was almost deserted now.


    But then, he suddenly remembered that he hadn''t checked his training rewards yet. And in the quiet ssroom, he quickly opened his system interface.

 Chapter 96: Basics of Void [1] [EXTRA]

    Chapter 96: Basics of Void [1] [EXTRA]


    ?


    (BONUS CHAPTER FOR 60 GOLDEN TICKETS LAST MONTH. SORRY FOR IT BEING LATE, HOPE


    YOU UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT YOU GUYS GIVE ME!!)


    *


    Sitting alone in the deserted ss, Amon opened up his status.


    The familiar interface appeared in front of his eyes.


    His eyes wandered to his body stats first.


    ====[STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    Leaves: 0000000


    VIT: ? ? ? ?


    STR:????


    AGI: ? ? ? ?


    END:????¡Ö


    INT: ? ? ? ?


    He raised his brows a little, surprised by what was in front of him.


    After reaching the second leaf, it was much harder to get a body stat increase in his stats than before.


    Especially so when the points required to move to the next rank had raised by one.


    In the whole month of his training after ranking up, he hadn''t been able to raise a single stat.


    So it was a little surprising to see all of them rise by 1 point now.


    ''Does [Void Training] always raise all of my stats by one point?''


    He pondered because this same change had happened in the previous training.


    But, the answer came quickly from his side.


    [Nope.] Zephyra answered him telepathically.


    His head turned to look at her.


    ''Hmm?'' He questioned her.


    Even though they couldmunicate verbally, Amon didn''t want to take the risk of someone finding him out acting weird again.


    Zephyra was still seated in her seat, twirling some strands of her hair using her finger.


    She had a lollipop in her mouth that Amon didn''t question, already knowing how she got it.


    [Your Endurance, Agility, and Vitality stats were raised by you going through that pain and torture in the training, yes.]


    He nodded and watched her take the lollipop out of her mouth.


    [This thing is quite tasty now that I can taste it...]


    ''Just get to the point...'' Amon urged.


    [Yeah, but your Intelligence and Strength stats were only raised because of your assimtion. Your whole body was rebuilt so it induced a change in your constitution, which also includes your mana pathways.] She answered.


    ''I see.'' He nodded.


    Intelligence stat was basically his mana power and capacitybined into one stat.


    And as for Strength, it was pretty obvious.


    Waving his hand dismissively, he moved to his elemental screen next.


    [VOID]: Level 2? ? ? ? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 2? ? ? ?


    [LGHTNG]: Level 2? ? ? ?


    [SOUND]: Level 1? ? ? ?


    [CRYSTAL]: Level 1? ? ? ?


    The screen wasn''t surprising.


    He had seen it before throughout the month after all.


    But he did feel a little satisfied after reaching [VOID Level 2].


    He couldn''t wait to learn itter from Zephyra on the training grounds.


    The elemental levels were the same as his body stats.


    As soon as one of his elements reached Level 2, the requirement points to reach the next level would increase by 1.


    He expected it to be the same in the future levels.


    This was a visible indicator of how it would get progressively difficult to advance his body


    stats and elements.


    Dismissing his Level screen, he then moved to the awaited part.


    The [Void Training] tab.


    There was no need to check [Skills] since he hadn''t unlocked any new ones in the training.


    As soon as he clicked on the tab, the familiar interface opened up.


    Current Void Trainings:


    NONE


    [Next Void Training: 3 Months]


    [Rewards A]


    ''Oh..'' Amon blurted in his thoughts.


    It was a disheartening ''Oh''.


    And that was because of the [Void Training] time.


    3 months for the next one.


    It was a long time for him who was really eager to take the training, despite the suffering he


    went through this time.


    It was because the payoff was really good.


    But in a sense, the time made sense because he knew how much he struggled in this one.


    If the 3rd one were to ur in a month, he would undoubtedly get obliterated.


    Taking his eyes off the timer, he tapped the [Rewards] tab.


    [Congrattions onpleting Void Training 1!!]


    [Reward 1: Kill 50 Void Beasts] [ Completed!]


    [Reward 2:Kill 100 Void Beasts] [Completed!]


    [Reward 3:Kill 150 Void Beasts] [Completed!]


    ''Hmmm..'' Amon looked at the screen with an intrigued expression.


    It had already been clear to him since thest time that he could fail [Void Training].


    The reward screen was a proof of that.


    Where he would for example die after beating only 100 beasts and would fail the third reward.


    Back then, he was actually quite close to dying after the second reward criteria.


    The only reason he persevered was because he wanted to unlock the [Void] element.


    Also because he was fueling with determination at the end.


    But supposedly, if he died back then, what would have happened?


    Would his body still go through the assimtion?


    Probably not. The assimtion was done because he unlocked the [Void] element at the end.


    If he had failed, he wouldn''t have been able to unlock the [Void] element.


    Due to this, he wondered if he would be allowed to take the second training again or just wait


    for the third one 3 monthster.


    It would be cruel if he failed and had to wait 3 months to unlock [Void] again.


    He was satisfied that he had persevered.


    He also looked at Zephyra, who was now seated by the window, looking out at the scenery.


    It was no use to ask her about it. She would probably reply that she only had partial control so


    she didn''t know


    ''Come to think of it, she did say that she would be able to materialize after the second [Void Training] but I doubt that''s the case...''


    ording to his assumptions, it wasn''t specifically required that he had to do the second


    training for her to materialize.


    Rather, the requirement was the assimtion, he thought.


    That his body would be strong enough for her to materialize in the world.


    And for that assimtion, he needed to unlock the [Void] element.


    ''So, she believed that I would be able toplete the training and unlock the element...'' He


    realized as he stared at her back.


    He was unable to see what expression she was making from his current spot.


    His lips slowly pulled up into a small smile that she was unable to see as well.


    Well, it didn''t matter now. After all, he hadpleted the training. Pushing back those insignificant thoughts, his gaze moved towards the new reward interface.

 Chapter 97: Basics of Void [2]

    Chapter 97: Basics of Void [2]


    ?


    **


    Amon stared at the interface in front of him.


    Choose 1 of the 3 Rewards:


    [1 Stat Points Increase In Any Stat Of Choice]


    [2 Stat Points Increase In Any Element Level 0/1 Point Increase in Any Element Level 1]


    [Elemental Integration]


    ''Hmm'' He intriguingly looked at the choices.


    ''What is [Elemental Integration]?'' He questioned.


    He was going to ask Zephyra but subconsciously, he focused his thoughts on the option in an attempt if it would exin.


    And to his surprise, a new interface opened up.


    System Reward: Elemental Integration


    Reward Rank: ???


    Reward Description:


    Merges two elements to produce apletely new element.


    The Level of the new element will be set to the higher element between the two merging elements.


    The Element Type (Maker or Maniption) will be set to the type of the higher leveled element in the two merging elements.


    * Elements of different categories cannot be merged with each other. For example, a primordial element such as Fire cannot be merged with a derivant element such as Sound.


    Uses: 1


    Amon raised his brows.


    This was something surprising. He had never seen it in the novel or Michael''s system.


    ''Probably because Michael never had this [Void Training] type option...'' He concluded before looking at Zephyra.


    She confirmed his thoughts with a nod.


    [Probably.]


    ''I see.''


    He didn''t know if Michael had any changes to his system or anything after his involvement in this world.


    Zephyra couldn''t check this as well since she didn''t have a bit of control over his system. Even now, it was strange to experience that Zephyra even knew some things about the world. In the novel, whenever Michael asked something to Sran, he always replied that he doesn''t know everything just because he''s a god.


    And though Amon believed it was true to some extent after spending time with Zephyra, he also knew that it was mostly just his bored and careless personality at y.


    Either both of them knew some things about the world, or Zephyra was more knowledgeable than that brain-dead idiot.


    ''If only I knew this earlier so I could ask her some things about the world.'' He sighed.


    Moving back to the choices, Amon ponded upon [Elemental Integration].


    It was a perfect reward for him.


    Especially so now that he knew half of his [Blood] element usage was gone after his constitution change.


    Since [Blood] was a derivant element, he could merge with [Sound], [Crystal], or [Lightning].


    Though if he wanted to do with the first two, he would have to wait a long time until he could get them both higher leveled than [Blood].


    He didn''t want to end up with a maniptive type element.


    [Blood] and [Lightning] were a very goodbo now that he thought about their uses.


    But it was going to be a problem if he did it now before the 1st main arc ended.


    If he had to use [Blood] somewhere then he would undoubtedly get exposed and the spotlight would be on him.


    Thus, forwarding Daniel''splete attention to him.


    And he didn''t want to do that, at least not yet.


    Another problem was....


    He looked at the other choices. Especially the second one.


    He pondered on it for a long before looking at Zephyra.


    ''Say, can I hold off my reward choice tillter?'' He asked, looking down at the podium where


    she was standing.


    [Yeah sure, it won''t expire.] She confirmed.


    He sighed in relief.


    He tried to close the [Reward] tab.


    Fortunately, it did.


    There wasn''t anything to check anymore.


    He looked out of the window to his left.


    It was close to sunset.


    It was Saturday today so there was no personal training session.


    Packing up his things, Amon stepped out of the ssroom.


    However, as soon as he took a step outside, he collided with someone.


    He was able to quickly stabilize himself but unfortunately, the other person couldn''t and fell


    on the ground.


    He heard a small shriek and looked to his side.


    Right there on the ground, was a female cadet with long emerald hair and piercing meadow


    green eyes that were currently ring at him.


    He stared at her with a stoic expression not feeling any need to help her.


    ''She is the one who collided with me, not the other way around.'' He shrugged in his thoughts.


    "You bastard.." Liliana red at him and got up.


    It was clear that her pride was hurt and she was teetering at the edges of her control.


    "Do you have any manners?" She growled but he stared back without any sympathy.


    "You were the one who collided, not me." He replied neutrally.


    In a way, he was purposefully trying to get her to attack.


    With his current strength, he could more or less hold her for quite a while.


    That and also because he hated her for her personality.


    She was the character he hated the most in the novel among the ones on the good side.


    "What did you say?" She clenched her fists, the wind starting to twirl around her.


    "Did I stutter?" He tilted his head.


    Though the corridors for empty at the moment, he and she both knew that there were still members of the Disciplinary Committee on the round.


    Unfortunately for her, this reply tore off her elegance, throwing her mind into disgust.


    The wind twirling around her arm solidified into two solid wind des,unching at him.


    He was a meter away from her so any unprepared person would probably get hit.


    But since he was expecting this kind of move from her, his storage ring glowed and a blood shield instantly formed in front of him.


    The des collided with the shield, eliciting some small cracks and ripples.


    But the shield still stood.


    Liliana''s eyes widened in shock.


    She must have not been expecting him to respond to the attack, let alonepletely block it.


    Her eyes were about to wander to his palm before voices were heard from behind her.


    "You! Cadets, stop!"


    She clicked her tongue before straightening andposing herself.


    Two male third-year students came to them.


    "What was happening here? Why are you two fighting?" One of them with a burly stature,


    brown hair and ck eyes questioned.


    Amon didn''t say anything, only looking at Liliana.


    He didn''t need to. She would exin what she did by herself.


    Her pride made her unable to lie in such situations.


    And just like he expected, she exined the whole situation to the two students.


    But to no one''s surprise, in the end, she was still allowed to go free with just a warning.


    Both of them knew who she was and no one wanted to get on her bad side.


    Well, Amon had already gotten on her bad side now.


    But it wasn''t like he was on her good side before.


    As she walked past him, she muttered into his ears.


    "You fucking bastard, I''ll deal with you..." She cursed which was something normal in the


    novel.


    Amon started at her departing back and shrugged.


    He was expecting something like this to happen and he had done it all purposefully.


    After all, he had noticed all those stares that she gave him at every ce she saw him.


    He had ns for her. ns to crush her.


    Just that it wasn''t the right time yet.


    As everyone left, his eyes moved to the corner where he spotted Zephyra sitting on the


    window sill, eating popcorn.


    ''You were enjoying this weren''t you?'' He asked with a sigh.


    [Sure were. I was getting bored sitting in the ss before.] She hopped off the window, the


    popcorn bag disappearing into thin air.


    He sighed and then moved back to his apartment with her.

 Chapter 98: Basics of Void [3]

    Chapter 98: Basics of Void [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon headed out of his apartment at 9 AM, wearing a casual sporty dress.


    He looked up at the sky to gauge the cloudy weather.


    ''It might rain today again...'' He concluded.


    Fortunately, he already had an umbre stored.


    It was mid-August right now so monsoon season was at its peak.


    asional rains were to be expected.


    It was Sunday today so Amon didn''t have any sses to attend.


    Katherine had left the apartment a little earlier with Lily to visit the amusement park today.


    He was invited as well but he had to decline with a bit of reluctance.


    This was because today he would finally learn [Void].


    He wasn''t going to let this chance pass.


    Taking a carriage, he quickly headed towards the Cadet Training Grounds.


    *


    Arriving there, Amon quickly headed inside the behemothic ck stadium-shaped building.


    He was quickly greeted by a manager on the counter.


    "Wee to the Cadet Training Grounds. How many I help you?"


    Amon nodded.


    Except for the Clovist and Armentist Grounds, this was where the majority of the cadets came to train.


    This was because the former two were only allowed for training if you were under a teacher''s supervision or a high-ranked student.


    Therge densities of mana inside those grounds weren''t cheap and they couldn''t make it avable for every normal student.


    The Cadet Training Grounds were avable for everyone to train for a small fee.


    It was easily affordable by even the lowest-ranked cadet in the academy.


    The academy provided a monthly allowance to every student, and Amon being the lowest- ranked student received only 5k Exlor.


    For an hourly session on the grounds, it only costed around 20 Exlor.


    "I would like to enter the Special Training Grounds." He answered.


    The manager nodded.


    Aside from the normal training grounds, there was another privilege here.


    They were the Special Training Grounds.


    These were only avable to the top-ranked cadets of second year and third year.


    They were specially tailored training rooms with adjustable mana densities and difficulties for the training dummies etc.


    Of course, this wasn''t the only reason why Amon was here.


    The main reason was that the rooms allowed him to anonymously train without anything recording his data or such.


    This type of service wasn''t avable anywhere.


    "May I ask for your training room card?" He asked.


    Nodding, Amon quickly retrieved Katherine''s card and handed it to him.


    The man looked at the card and then at him, trying to make some sort of connection first.


    "May I ask your name sir?" He asked.


    "Amon Ashford," Amon replied and the man''s head clicked.


    He quickly pulled up his information in the files.


    "Miss Katherine is your elder sister, I see." He noted before looking back,


    "I''m sorry sir but even with this, we will need to first confirm your identity and get permission from her first."


    "No problem, you can ask her."


    Amon was expecting this to happen.


    After all, even though he was her brother, there was a possibility that he could just steal the card.


    The room''s services weren''t cheap at all.


    They quickly asked her through her watchband and the reply was quick toe.


    He had already discussed this with her beforeing here.


    The manager looked at the reply before smiling at him.


    He handed him a small ck and white striped card.


    "Thank you for cooperating with us. You can get your name card aftering out. Your room is 301, please head this way..." He exined the directions.


    Nodding, Amon took the right corridor from the counter.


    The left one probably headed to the public grounds.


    He looked at the card which had a faded ''301'' imprinted on it.


    3 probably meant the third year and 01 meant her rank, as in the strongest in her year.


    Following the manager''s direction, Amon arrived in arge corridor withrge doors, heading up to the ceiling.


    The doors lined the end of the corridor with faded numbers imprinted all over them.


    Amon looked at the one nearest to him which had arge ''10'' inscribed upon it.


    The next one had ''9'' and the numbers continued till the end.


    ''Each of this room is assigned for one rank.'' He noticed.


    With each rank-up, the services in the room increased.


    This was what was written in the novel.


    In any case, this was the corridor of the second year so Amon quickly headed to the end of the


    corridor and headed up the stairs.


    There, he entered a same-looking corridor.


    Following the doors, he arrived in front of the door with arge ''01'' inscribed on it.


    There was a ck terminal with a blue crystalline screen made of mana crystals.


    Without hesitation, he pressed the card against the crystal.


    Thetter glowed in a blue light for a few seconds before it abated.


    Arge click resounded in the area before the door opened, releasing arge heap of cold


    steam that hit his body.


    Just as he was about to step into the room, he suddenly heard another click one room away


    from him.


    His gaze moved to the room which had a ''03'' inscribed upon it.


    He knew they were important in the story but couldn''t remember who they were.


    Therge doors opened, separating both of the doors.


    Just like how it had happened with him, arge heap of steam released from the room.


    But rather than cold, it was hot. Hot enough to make Amon''s skin prickle with irritation in just


    a second.


    However, he didn''t move his gaze and in the next moment, the person inside the room came


    out.


    With red winish magenta hair that clung to her face because of the sweat or steam and golden amber eyes that were detailed with circles in them, she was a female.


    She was wearing a tight wet bodysuit dripping with sweat or steam. One that entuated the bewitching curves of her body.


    Amon''s stoic gaze had a flicker of recognition pass through them.


    His mouth contorted into an ''o'' shape as her amber gaze locked with his inky ck one.


    He instantly recognized her now.


    "Oh, I know you..." He blurted out his thoughts by ident only realizing a momentter.


    Before she could say anything or disy any reaction, he headed inside the room, not having


    anything to do with her now that he saw her face.


    He''d rather not face that person right now and focus on his training.


    Thanks for reading!


    This was a chapter from tomorrow that wasn''t uploaded for some reason. I guess the auto-


    upload failed.


    Here it is. I published it as soon as I woke up.


    Hope you forgive me.

 Chapter 99: Basics of Void [4]

    Chapter 99: Basics of Void [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon walked over to the room control wall and tapped the panel.


    A number of switches and adjustable bars emerged, disying themselves to him.


    Without doing anything, his gaze first wandered off to the anonymity switch at the top left corner.


    Not hesitating, he turned on the white switch.


    Instantly he heard a defusing sound in the whole room.


    All the data records, mana trackers, and cameras had turned off now.


    There was a bar for the mana density.


    It had numbers from 1 to 10, disyed from the bottom to the highest.


    Currently, the room was at 1 mana density.


    This meant that a Tier 1 Armentist or 1st Order Clovist would be normal in this density of


    mana.


    For Amon, who was now a 2nd leaf clovist, it was quite low.


    If he adjusted the mana density to 2.5, then that would be high density for him.


    It was a good number for practicing and also absorbing mana to train your breathing and release.


    However, if he went any higher then he would start to suffocate.


    A number like 3 wasn''t made for him.


    So, he adjusted the density to three.


    Immediately, he felt a certain pressure descend upon the room.


    It wasn''t something that made you feel ufortable though.


    It felt refreshing.


    As if his whole body was invigorated and brimming with energy.


    The mana pores in his body opened up, eager to absorb the mana in the atmosphere.


    For someone of his talent, training in this density for 2 months without anything special was enough to rank him up.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to do that.


    He then moved to the training dummies and ordered 5 of them with a strength level of 2.5.


    The numbers on this bar meant the same as the density numbers.


    As soon as he pressed his confirmation, 5 dummies emerged from the floor as the tiles slid


    away.


    Each of them had a mana core embedded in their heads, the rank respective to the one he had selected.


    Each core had a different color to it, representing the different elements of each dummy.


    If Amon wanted, he could enable the fight feature of these dummies.


    That feature would enable them to fight him based on the different records that had ever been recorded in these rooms.


    The mana and elements the dummies used originated from the core embedded in their heads.


    Heading back from the panels to the middle of the ground, Amon looked at Zephyra.


    She was sitting on her chair waiting for him to finish.


    She stood up and walked to a spot opposite to where he was standing.


    [Alright. Let''s begin.] She spoke for the first time.


    He nodded.


    [Try to channel your mana and use the element like you usually do.]


    Nodding, he started to channel his ma-


    [Oh, but beware. It isn''t easy.] She smiled bewitchingly.


    Something that Amon couldn''t see because of what was happening to him.


    His whole body...


    It was on fire as soon as he channeled the mana onto the element.


    His heart felt as if it was being torn apart.


    As if moltenva was being poured onto it.


    His head became lightheaded as a throbbing pain assaulted his mind.


    Purple glowing cracks spread on his face and arms as if his whole body was going to crumble at any second.


    His eyes became bloodshot as a searing pain assaulted them.


    He fell to the ground, taking deep breaths, his sanity teetering at the edges of going insane.


    Someone kept ripping apart his body.


    A magmatic fire was burning his soul into ashes.


    He clutched his head to try to let it go, trying to rip apart his hair to make it stop.


    Fortunately, he heard a flick sound in the air.


    Instantly all the pain and cracks faded away.


    It was as if they were never there.


    He folded up on the ground, his breathing out in shallow and quick gasps.


    His eyes were still bloodshot and his hands were still clutching his head.


    The expression on his face was as if his mind was still reying that feeling.


    Silence ensued in the room before Amon finally calmed down.


    With a little stumbling, he finally stood up, looking at Zephyra who was smiling.


    ''She was definitely enjoying this...'' He gritted his teeth.


    [So how was the feeling?]


    ''Again...''


    [Hmm?]


    ''I''ll go through it again if I can get stronger..'' He repeated his words.


    Her gaze widened a little, not expecting this kind of answer.


    [Did you not feel what happened?]


    ''I did.''


    [....]


    ''.....''


    [..And you are still willing to do it again?]


    He nodded.


    She disappeared from her spot and appeared before him, grabbing his face.


    She observed his face and eyes, looking deep into them with her amethyst ones.


    However, his expression remained stoic even when she was so close.


    [...There''s no sign of madness or insanity. That''s good. It''s an impressive feat that you even


    lasted this long.]


    She concluded and appeared back at her previous spot.


    ''So?'' He tilted his head.


    [In any case, we are not doing that again. It was just to show how dangerous and unstable the


    Void element is. It''s not to be used like the other elements.]


    Amon nodded, finding himself to agree with her statement.


    If it was him from back then on the first day in this world.


    He would have undoubtedly died and fallen mad to this feeling.


    Never...


    Never did he want someone to experience what he had just done.


    As if his body was being burnt and torn apart alive...


    It was a horrifying experience.


    And as if to confirm his statement, Zephyra said in a grave tone.


    [You were like that with just 5 seconds of usage. Do that again for a half minute, and you will


    fall insane. 1 minute, and you are dead.]


    She was settling in the consequences of his element in his mind.


    He nodded.


    He understood how dangerous the element was now.


    It wasn''t that didn''t expect it.


    He had seen Michael get close to death several times in the novel.


    All because of how much raw power the Sun element held.


    While there wasn''t the consequence of falling insane, the chances of getting your body


    destroyed were much higher.


    His gaze focused back on Zephyra who raised a finger.


    [Now...let''s learn the correct way to use the element.] She smiled charmingly

 Chapter 100: Basics of Void [5]

    Chapter 100: Basics of Void [5]


    ?


    ***


    [Do you remember what that bored teacher taught you?]


    Zephyra questioned.


    Amon tilted his head.


    ''Daniel?''


    She nodded.


    [Yes, him. The method to coat your body in elemental mana.]


    He nodded.


    [Do that.]


    He didn''t know what she wanted him to do with that.


    But, he stillplied.


    Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed his mana into the element this time.


    In some seconds, his arms were coated in a thin coating of purple and ck energy.


    Amon felt a slight pinch on his arms, which were coated in energy.


    [This purple coating you see is Void Energy. Void energy is basically the erasure and decay of everything.


    Unless it considers you as your own, it will eat away at everything, leaving them to wither away until they werepletely erased from existence


    This is what Void is. Or what you call it, nothingness.] She exined.


    And as if serving as a demonstration of her words, Amon instantly felt that pinch grow into a warm feeling.


    That warm feeling started to turn into a slight burning sensation as he kept his arms coated for longer.


    It wasn''t much to him though as his expression kept impassive.


    He stared at his hands as he felt the pain grow.


    Before long, purple cracks started to spread on his arms as the burning sensation grew into one of a fire eating away at his arms.


    He felt as if his arms were being scorched by each passing second as the pain didn''t just stop there.


    The cracks started to appear more and more while also spreading out.


    [Alright, stop.] Zephyra instructed and he receded the energy.


    He felt the burning sensation go away and he stared back at his arms.


    Right in front of him, those cracks started to seal up.


    Within a minute, his arms were perfectly fine as they were before.


    ''Is this rted to my constitution change?'' He asked.


    She nodded.


    [This is because of your constitution change and also your passive skill. As long as your body isn''t destroyed into small bits, you can regenerate back with time.] She exined.


    ''Oh..''


    [Now call back your energy.]


    Complying, he coated back his arms with the energy.


    [Come here.] She gestured to a dummy.


    Amon walked up to it.


    [Grab its arm.]


    The dummy was motionless as it hadn''t been activated yet.


    Listening to her instructions, he grabbed its metallic white arm.


    Immediately, as his Void-coated arm grabbed the arm, a change urred.


    The metallic arm....


    Started to decay.


    The energy on his arm started to transfer to the arm, making his cracks recede and the rust elerate.


    Within seconds, the part which he grabbed had gone from rusting topletely disintegrating.


    [Void Skill Unlocked!]


    ''Wait..'' Amon thought as he saw the system notification.


    He recognized this window.


    After all, it was the same window Michael got in the novel.


    After the middle of the arm waspletely disintegrated, the remaining arm was cut off and


    fell to the ground.


    Ignoring it, he retracted the energy and opened his system.


    Leaves:????????¦Á


    Elements:Void BloodLightning SoundCrystal


    Elemental Info:Levels Skills ||


    Talent: 10th Order]


    He opened the [Skills] tab and a new screen opened up.


    [Void Decay]


    [???]


    [???]


    Amon looked at the skills and nodded.


    It was just like the novel.


    If he remembered correctly, the skills with ??? needed to be unlocked by him experimenting


    with his element.


    In the novel, Michael would unlock a new skill every time his [Sun] element advanced a level.


    His previous skills would also upgrade, adding new effects to his skills.


    So most probably it was the same for him.


    The only two questions he had on his mind right now were...


    He looked at Zephyra.


    [What you are thinking is correct.] She confirmed and he tilted his head.


    "I didn''t even ask my question yet though."


    [I''m talking about your thoughts.] She put a lollipop in her mouth.


    Amon was baffled.


    ''Can you still hear my thoughts after materializing?'' He asked.


    She shook her head.


    [No, I just know you enough. You were thinking about the upgrades and new skills weren''t


    you?] She asked.


    ||||


    [I''ll take that as a yes.] She smiled at her win.


    Amon shook his head to push back his baffled thoughts at her crazy intuition.


    "In any case, what I wanted to ask right now is if these are my [Void Skills] then what are


    those?" He asked, hinting towards his previous skills.


    She nodded, understanding his question.


    [Those are your Herald Skills. Each Herald has 5 skills that pertain to their element.] She


    exined.


    "Huh?" Amon tilted his head at her answer.


    If so, then why did he never see these types of skills for Michael in the novel?


    Wasn''t he the Herald of Sun?


    He asked this to Zephyra.


    [It''s because the skills and the time they are bestowed to Heralds are chosen by the gods.


    Sran must have had his reasons that I don''t know.


    As for me, I chose to integrate your skills with the Training so they will be unlocked with your progress to not overwhelm you. Thest 2 skills are locked because of me.]


    Amon pondered upon her words for a moment before nodding.


    "I understand."


    He chose to trust her for this. At least a little..


    Void was a dangerous and unpredictable element.


    He had just witnessed it moments before so he could partially understand why there locked.


    In any case, he moved to the next question.


    "How do I unlock my other two abilities?" He asked and she shrugged.


    [I''m not going to help you with that. You have the energy. Get ustomed to it and try to


    figure it out by yourself] She shrugged.


    He sighed and then turned away to the dummies.


    Considering he had minimal control over the energy right now and was also at the first phase


    in his skills, he doubted the other 2 skills could affect arge area.


    That would take too much mana and corrupt his body as well.


    And seeing the system which did its best to provide things ording to his level, he doubted


    it would do that.


    He coated his arms with the Void energy again.


    Focusing on the energy, he closed his eyes.


    God elements were elements that could be both manipted and made.


    They weren''t restricted to a type.


    Cracks spread on his arms and he ignored the burning sensation that was traveling through his


    body.


    It was just pain.


    He could bear that.


    Sweat trickled down his face, dripping down on the floor continuously as he tried to


    manipte the energy.


    He wanted to give it shape.


    A low mana consumption skill that would allow him a versatile range.


    What could it be?


    He racked his brain while the cracks spread more and more, evening up on his face.


    The pain was at an unfathomable level now but he had pushed it to the back of his mind.


    He didn''t care about it right now. If he was in danger, Zephyra would save him anyways. She was surely keeping an eye on him right now.


    The scorching ck and purple energy swirled on his arms, trying to take shape.


    It was then that it finally hit him.


    The violent swirls of energy calmed down and it started to now spread out.


    As if doing a dance.


    It got thinner and thinner as it spread out.


    The cracks kept spreading and the pain kept increasing.


    His heart clenched and burned, with his face covered in sweat now.


    It was then that suddenly the energy separated with a violent tug.


    Amon''s eyes opened with a snap as a tearing sound echoed in the air.


    Right in front of him, twirled around his fingers and spread throughout the whole room in


    multiple pathways were...


    His eyes widened as Zephyra gave him a relieved smile from the side that he couldn''t see.


    They were...


    "Threads..." The word came out of his mouth.


    100 Chapters huh.


    I honestly never thought we would make it this far in such a short span of time.


    Thank you all so much for support and love you have shown to this novel!


    I''m truly happy we made it this far.

 Chapter 101: Sound, Void and Sun [1]

    Chapter 101: Sound, Void and Sun [1]


    ?


    ***


    "Greetings Prince Michael, it''s an honor to meet you again here." Elizabeth bowed a little.


    Michael raised his hand to stop her.


    "Please there''s no need to be formal, we are both students here."


    Elizabeth looked up at him, surprise in her eyes.


    It was a little surprising to see members of the royal family suggesting to be informal with each other.


    Rather it was quite unprecedented even with Michael''s personality.


    Her eyes moved over to Amon who simply stood staring at both of them stoically.


    He was leaning against a tree, watching their conversation.


    Her gaze seemed to say, ''You also influenced him in this.''


    But Amon simply shrugged back and she got back to talking with Michael.


    It had been 2 days now that they were training under Daniel.


    Amon had finally been able to make a proper interaction between them.


    Daniel wasn''t simply letting them talk in peace and kept giving them practices.


    Fortunately, he stopped today finally to not make himself suspicious.


    Unfortunately for him, Amon had already seen through him.


    After making himself a littlefortable with them and letting them let down their guards a little, he started his n.


    Surprisingly, even Elizabeth wasn''t able to notice something off of him this time.


    But it was to be expected from him since his n had failed two times just because of her.


    He must have figured out that it was caused by her passive ability.


    His facial expressions and the madness in his eyes were now perfectly sealed.


    So much that Amon would have beenpletely fooled like them if he didn''t know what the plot was.


    Now, throughout his demonstration, whenever Daniel used Sound Magic, it had miasma mixed in.


    It was subtle, very subtle.


    This was why Michael and Elizabeth failed to notice it initially.


    However, Amon could see the effects on them now.


    The spontaneous twitch of their muscles and their pupils dting for a split moment before returning to normal.


    The time-to-time irritation on their arms.


    They were minor cues but were noticeable to Amon who kept observing them.


    He wasn''t using the magic to mix miasma in their mana pathways or bloodstream, no.


    If he did that then over time, their symptoms would grow and it would undoubtedly be figured out what he was doing.


    What he was doing was sending small packets of miasma to build up a miasma virus.


    This miasma virus would enter through the blood vessels, transfer to the mana pathways through the heart, where both of them met, and ultimately end up where the stigmata was.


    After reaching its destination the virus would settle down and the symptoms would also disappear.


    Though it would slowly nt soft luring whispers in their mind from time to time at night. This would make them further lower down their guard against Daniel.


    However, all it needed was a minor activation from the person who sent the virus and it would activate.


    After activation, it would either corrupt the mind and soul of the target orpletely kill them.


    Daniel was hoping for thetter and this was his mission.


    As for Amon himself, he wasn''t affected by the virus.


    There was no blood in his body. And there were no blood vessels.


    So there was simply no way for the miasma to enter his body and affect him.


    And though this way only became avable to him after his constitution change, he could have handled it previously as well.


    All he needed was to manipte his blood.


    In any case, even though he wasn''t affected, he still needed to act.


    He made sure to show the exact same symptoms after certain intervals to keep Daniel at ease.


    There were only 5 days left till Daniel would make his move.


    He would host a drinking party to celebrate their 1 week of training.


    Due to the virus, their guards would be down and they would almost be done for.


    But at thest moment, Michael would be saved by Sran.


    He would perfectly use the [Sun] element for the first time.


    Amon sighed while scratching his neck to pretend irritation.


    He could only hope the plotline continued without problem even if that hope was little.


    As his eyes opened, they were pure cold and stoic.


    If it didn''t work, then he still had a n. A fail-safe n.


    Especially now that he had to meddle because of the quest that was given to him.


    ***


    Amon exited the building along with Michael and Elizabeth.


    "We should totally visit the karaoke sometime!" Elizabeth eagerly answered.


    "Yeah!" Michael agreed.


    Amon looked at the duo from the corner of his eye.


    The whole lesson Amon had pushed both of them together to converse.


    Even when he would sometimes be involved in it, he would give a subtle reply or gesture to


    one of them.


    This would shift back the conversation between the two.


    Having known both of their personalities and pasts, it was easy to do it.


    It was also easy for him because they both were happy talking to each other.


    Michael who always wanted a friend to talk to informally without any bounds finally had a


    new addition.


    Especially since Elizabeth was really warm and kind to him.


    Even if Amon had some kind of jealousy envy or something within him, Michael had nothing


    but purepassion.


    Pure kindness, generosity, andpassion. Something that Elizabeth loved seeing and it


    warmed her.


    Just within some hours, both of them looked to be great friends.


    Amon sighed a little in relief. Well, at least he had aplished the main task of this lesson.


    Finally, it was time for them to separate.


    "I''ll meet you two both tomorrow then again. It was great talking to you Michael, hope we can meet outside lessons sometimes to hang out and know each other better." She smiled.


    Michael exuberatingly nodded.


    "Yes! It would be great for us three to hang out." He smiled back.


    She nodded and gave a final wave and smile to both of them before leaving.


    Then, Michael turned to Amon.


    "Welp, see you in ss tomorrow bud." Amon raised a hand.


    "Yeah, I''ll see you there." Michael smiled and high-fived.


    Then, he left as well.


    Being left on therge white staircase, Amon released a tired sigh.


    He looked up at the crimson-orange sky, the flooding sun setting on the horizon.


    ''Well..'' He opened his eyes and found Zephyra standing at the bottom of the staircase.


    She was gesturing for him toe down.


    ''I''ll make sure it goes the way I nned.'' He stared at the interface in front of him.


    ======[QUEST]======


    Objective: Kill Daniel


    Time Limit: 7 Days


    Reward: [2 Elemental Points Increase in Any Element of Choice]


    Penalty: [1 Whole Rank Decrease]


    Status: epted

 Chapter 102: Sound, Void and Sun [2]

    Chapter 102: Sound, Void and Sun [2]


    ?


    ***


    It was finally the day.


    ss soon came to an end, and it was time for the three to report for the training session again.


    It was now a week since they had started training.


    Amon packed his stuff and looked at Michael.


    "Can you report to the teacher that I''ll be a few minuteste? I''ll see you there."


    Michael nodded with a smile.


    "Sure, I''ll report it to Daniel so you don''t have to worry." He gave a thumbs up.


    Amon squinted his eyes.


    Even though the symptoms had died down, the signs were still there.


    The way he referred to ''Daniel'' so casually showed his trust and easiness around him now.


    It was a subtle cue that he was able to notice.


    As Michael left the ss, Amon rushed towards the bathrooms.


    Entering them, he quickly got into one of them and opened his mouth wide.


    Taking out a hand mirror, he quickly observed his upper jaw, finding two pills embedded in a tooth on each side.


    He nodded and put back the mirror.


    Coming out, he adjusted himself and took a look through everything he had prepared.


    He couldn''t fail this.


    A 5th order clovist wasn''t an easy foe.


    Finding himself ready, he exited the bathrooms and left the academic block.


    It waste afternoon right now. The Sun was going to set in a few hours.


    He exhaled a deep sigh. He had epted the quest from the system.


    Amon needed to y his cards right.


    Not just in defeating Daniel, but in other aspects as well.


    If all went well, then it was going to be a major advantage for him.


    He was now on his way to the personal training rooms.


    **


    Amon entered the rooms, finding it to be a cozy party environment already.


    There were couches and tables and the lights were set to dim already.


    Daniel had of course set this using the room''s settings.


    He looked at Elizabeth and Michael who were seated at the couches, already engaging in talks.


    Then he saw Danieling from the side, setting drinks on the tables in front of them.


    Noticing Amon''s presence, he turned and smiled at him.


    "Oh Amon, you are finally here. Michael had notified me about yourteness."


    The former nodded.


    He could see signs of suspicion in Daniel''s eyes.


    It was to be expected.


    This was the final day of his n. He couldn''t afford anything to go wrong.


    Especially so by the only person who had obliterated his ns the previous 2 times.


    The whole week Amon had been on time. So histeness on the final day was definitely suspicious.


    Regardless, Amon stayed calm.


    The Void suppressed his negative feelings and if there was any chance Daniel could sense his erratic heartbeat, then he couldn''t.


    Because his heart didn''t beat. Not after the constitution change.


    Regardless, he smiled back at Daniel, bringing up a sense of haziness in his eyes.


    "Yes Daniel! I apologize for beingte, hope you understand."


    He answered in a casual tone like the other two.


    Seeing his signs were working, Daniel''s suspicions dissipated a little.


    "No problem, go ahead and take a seat on the opposite couch. We are celebrating one week of


    our training." He gestured to a couch opposite the duo.


    Nodding, he happily went and took a seat on the couch.


    He rxed himself totally.


    As Daniel served the other two some drinks and engaged in small talk, he observed them.


    So far, everything was ording to the plot except for some minor changes.


    In any case, it was beneficial for Amon to be seated away from the two.


    If he remembered correctly, Daniel would settle in between them.


    Then, slowly but surely, he would use his Sound Magic in arger intensity this time.


    Along with the drinks that were mixed with miasma, Michael and Elizabeth would slowly start to corrupt.


    It was only after Michael got several wake up calls from the system and Sran that he snapped back.


    Right now, Amon was seated exactly where the third person in the novel was seated.


    If all went ording to n, Daniel would ignore him and focus his attention on the two.


    And preferably, if possible, he wanted to stay behind in the fight and just steal thest hit on


    Daniel.


    After all, he only needed to kill Daniel which could be done with thest strike.


    Of course, it didn''t mean that he believed this would happen.


    He wasn''t an Extra, that he knew. Especially not with those cheats...


    And the plotline was surely fucked the moment he was brought into the first mini-arc.


    So...


    He was already nning for something to go wrong.


    And fortunately, he was prepared.


    He looked at Zephyra from the corner of his eye, taking off his attention for a second.


    She was seated on a starless couch a certain distance away from him, sipping a ss of wine.


    Her aubergine hair were pulled up into a bun and she was wearing a regal ck ball gown, with stars etched on the dress.


    Her eyes met his and she winked.


    He simply stared at her, not saying a word.


    ''...What are you doing?'' He finally asked.


    [Guess, Sherlock.] She shrugged.


    Amon didn''t say anything.


    ''...''


    [I''m drinking and enjoying it, can''t you see?] She asked.


    ''...''


    [...]


    ''....What?''


    [What?] She questioned back.


    ''Don''t ''what?'' me, you know what we are here for and what is about to happen right?''


    She shrugged.


    [I know and I trust you to handle it. It''s not like I can beat them or anything.]


    ''...''


    [Don''t worry, I''ll still help you in a lot of ways except for fighting them.] She did a thumbs up.


    He sighed.


    ''Whatever.''


    Suddenly, he felt a presenceing toward him.


    He looked up and saw Daniel walking in his direction.


    He had two sses of wine in his hand and a wide smile was stered on his face.


    Settling beside him on the couch, he extended a ss toward him.


    "How is it going Amon? Let''s enjoy this evening shall we?"


    Amon resisted a deep and tired sigh.


    ''Of course, what was I thinking? It was never going to be this easy for me.''

 Chapter 103: Sound, Void and Sun [3]

    Chapter 103: Sound, Void and Sun [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon looked at Daniel and smiled apologetically.


    "Forgive me Daniel, but I have alcohol intolerance."


    Daniel squinted his eyes a little but then, he relented.


    "Oh. That''s disappointing. And here I thought we could share some tales of our lives.''


    He set one ss in front of him and started to drink the other.


    "You know Amon, I have taken quite a liking to you." He sipped his wine.


    "I''m so d to hear that Daniel!" Amon eximed in turn.


    He chuckled and raised his ss.


    "It''s no big thing, we are quite simr after all." His voice started toyer. It had started.


    He was infusing his voice with miasma now and in a much higher density.


    In the novel, it was described that the deeper andyered the voice got, the more miasma he was infusing.


    Of course, he was doing it extremely carefully in order to not trigger the miasma sensors.


    They were still in experimentation so they were still not perfect.


    It was also described that the voice would echo multiple times in the target''s mind.


    It would start to settle and take over them by each second.


    Fortunately for Amon, he felt none of those things.


    An indicator that his voice had no effect on him.


    Nevertheless, Amon still mimicked the effects that Michael got in the novel.


    The past 2 weeks, he had been training continuously to mimic the expressions and the effects that Michael got in the novel.


    Trying his best to observe from the current time, remember from the novel and put it on his face.


    And though he seeded in mimicking the initial expressions and gestures, he had no doubt The would be caughtter on.


    Hopefully, the situation would be solved by then.


    "I also once used to be an orphan and a bottom ranker at the academy. No matter how hard I tried, I failed to push through." Daniel spoke further.


    Amon nodded subtly, his eyes turning more hazy.


    "I see.."


    He didn''t know if Daniel was telling these stories because he wanted to or because the wine was making him do it.


    Though, if he had to go for one, it would be the former.


    "I thought it was the end of the road for me. I was such an elegant and hardworking cadet. I tried my best." He rubbed his hands.


    Mimicking what Michael did in the novel, Amon brought his hands to his head.


    "That must have been so hard..... on you Daniel..." He said, his voicezy and also tinged with frustration.


    Daniel smirked, something that Amon wasn''t able to see but was informed by Zephyra.


    "But you see, it wasn''t the end of the line for me. God smiled down at me and granted me power like none other. And now here I am, among the top 20 teachers here." His voice reverberated deep in the atmosphere.


    It was so deep that even Michael and Elizabeth were able to hear it.


    Amon''s eyes werepletely misty now, as if a veil had descended upon them.


    His body was limping, like he had no control over it anymore.


    Unbeknownst to Daniel though, there were two minor threads that were currently coiled around Amon''s fingers.


    Both were so thin that he was unable to see them and even if he did sense them, he must have ignored them.


    The mana energy that the [Void] element gave off was very simr to [Space].


    After all [Void] was essentially, at its core, maniption and making of space.


    Just that you could also corrupt space using [Void] and also use it, something that [Space] was unable to do.


    In any case, the spatial energy blended in with the energy of the room, which normally made it impossible for Daniel to detect.


    And even if he did, he could never suspect Amon of it, considering he only had [Blood].


    He didn''t notice the single thread that was slowly coiling around his ankle.


    The other thread had slid under the sofa and reached the location of Michael.


    It wasn''t that hard to control them.


    Through a week of training, Amon could now at least control 6 threads consecutively.


    Though his focus would decrease because of the increasing pain, which disrupted his ability to simultaneously control them.


    Daniel looked at Amon, smirking at hisplete control over him.


    "Now drink the wine..." He ordered.


    There was no way to escape it now. Amon refused to ever drink any sort of alcohol in wine.


    It was because this shit was the cause why his family died in that car crash.


    His parents were both drunk...


    If he was disgusted before the deaths, he absolutely loathed it after.


    Nodding, Amon extended his hand to grab the ss.


    But at that moment, Daniel''s voice echoed in his ear.


    "You know, you can drop the act. There''s no need to continue."


    It was a chilling cold voice.


    However, despite the horrifying words, Amon waspletely calm and turned to face him.


    It wasn''t like he hadn''t expected it.


    His expression was stoic.


    "How? How did you manage to evade the effects of my magic?" He asked, his face intrigued.


    Amon didn''t say anything.


    He kept staring at him wordlessly. Or more urately, controlled his threads.


    "I wasn''t able to notice it before because of your perfect mimicking but midway through, it


    all became clear to me." His voice resounded.


    From his expression, he looked quite amused and intrigued.


    "But how did you know of this and why were you mimicking? Did you know from the start?"


    He asked.


    He took a small pause to see if Amon would speak but thetter said nothing.


    "But then again, I should have expected it. From the start, every n of mine has failed


    because of you."


    His tone was growing more chilly now.


    Daniel sighed.


    "It''s really surprising why you aren''t affected by magic. But in any case, I''m quite


    disappointed Amon." He stared at him.


    Amon kept looking at him with a nk face, still not saying anything.


    "You were such a great prospect..." For a moment, disappointment flickered in his eyes.


    Then, his amusement started to turn cold and his gaze turned icy.


    And the next words that came out of him werepletely merciless, andcking any emotion.


    "But I''m afraid I''ll have to kill you now..." He brought his hand near Amon''s brain.


    Thetter waspletely calm till the next moment.


    And just as Daniel was about to flick his fingers, suddenly in the same hand, a device appeared


    out of thin air.


    A mana bomb...


    Before the man could elicit any reaction, Amon grabbed his hand from his own hand, which


    was glowing in a purple hue.


    Or more urately...


    He grabbed the mana bomb.


    "I apologize but I still have my life to live." His neutral words came out of his mouth.


    Daniel, who''s eyes were wide open at the sudden move, recovered and tried to punch Amon in


    the face with the same hand.


    Unfortunately for him and to his immense surprise, in the next moment, Amon vanished from


    his spot.


    Just like before, thetter was unable to show any reaction before the mana bomb in his hand


    exploded.


    And along with that, a sharp slicing pain was delivered to his ankle.

 Chapter 104: Sound, Void and Sun [4]

    Chapter 104: Sound, Void and Sun [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon appeared beside Elizabeth and Michael.


    His gaze was fixated on the explosion which had just engulfed Daniel whole.


    Of course, it was not that big of an explosion. And he was sure that Daniel was still fine.


    This was why the emergency sensors had still not gone off.


    Small idents like these happened in lessons.


    Keeping his gaze on the smoke, Amon tugged the void thread that was coiled around Michael''s ankle.


    The thread perfectly coiled around and a tiny searing sound was heard as soon as it connected. Michael snapped back to his senses and he immediately disintegrated the thread.


    It was necessary.


    Since Daniel chose him as his target rather than Michael this time, Sran wouldn''t wake him up.


    His herald was perfectly safe so he had no reason to.


    But this was why Amon created the thread.


    Not only did Void react violently to the Sun element, but also that Sran must have immediately panicked when the thread neared Michael.


    He had purposefully done it in a threatening way.


    Fortunately, the pain and Sran''s yell were enough to wake him up.


    He looked at Zephyra who winked back at him.


    It was she who had given this idea to him.


    He didn''t know what type of rtionship they had to make him react this badly but it worked.


    ''I''ll just ask herte-'' Amon''s thoughts were abruptly stopped.


    The smoke instantly cleared in a swirl when a piercing shockwave emerged from the explosion.


    Not wasting any time, he clenched the right side of his jaw.


    A crunching and cracking sound was heard inside his mouth before he swallowed whatever it


    was.


    Instantly, his body started to overflow with mana. It was as if a dam had just broken inside him.


    If he didn''t release whatever was overflowing inside him, he would crack and burst.


    His heart spasmed and clenched with pain as if magma was being poured inside it.


    He bit down on his tongue to not lose focus and swung his right arm to the left.


    The clothes covering the arm instantly tattered into bits as thick crystalline walls formed and raised on both sides of his arm.


    The arm was covered in a cyan-colored crystalline sheen.


    The wall spread out a meter on all sides in an instant and he covered all three of them.


    Within the very next moment, a rumbling pain hit Amon''s arm.


    It reverberated and cracks spread on the walls as the shockwave directly hit the barrier.


    Fortunately, the walls were able to hold on despite the overwhelming initial difference between them.


    It was because of what Amon had just ingested.


    A drug.


    It was called Eldorium. It was something illegal that was instantly banned as soon as the idea was presented.


    However, the producer moved to the ck Market and it wasn''t hard to find a pill there.


    And, Amon had done just that.


    He had ordered 10 of them using the Cryptic Glories.


    When ingested, the pill pushes your body functions over the limits and breaks the limiters on your mana flow.


    The mana in your body started to produce and flow at insane speeds.


    Right now, Amon''s mana and strength were one of a 3rd order clovist. However, along with the overwhelming power also came severe consequences.


    For one, itpletely messed up your mana pathways. This was a guarantee to happen.


    And the pain that Amon was going through was a sign of that. His body was trying to push back the limiters but it was unable to.


    And if you couldn''t control and release your mana perfectly, then the mana pathways that were barely holding on might burst.


    The same could be said for his body which would in turn leave him a cripple.


    Or in the worst case...


    Dead.


    Moving back to the situation, Amon stopped pouring his mana into the walls and they shattered.


    However, both of his arms were still covered in a crystal shield.


    The sudden reaction caused the rms to finally go off.


    The furniture and the settingpletely disappeared as all the services and the sensors turned off.


    CCTVs came out of the walls but were instantly destroyed by a flick of Daniel''s fingers.


    Amon took a quick look to the side to confirm that both of them were okay.


    And what he saw made his brows raise with surprise.


    Right beside him, Michael stood confidently.


    His previously golden blonde hair were nowhere to be seen as they were now reced with glowing fiery red hair that swirled in the air, producing cinders at every motion.


    His crimson eyes were glowing, matching the color of the sirens.


    The clothes on both his arms werepletely torn as one of them was covered in multiple


    rocks.


    The other was ming with a crimson zing fire that reached up to his shoulder, encasing his whole arm.


    Air twirled around his legs which were both covered in a thickyer of water.


    Beside him, Elizabeth stood in a frozen position as she stared at both Amon with shocked


    eyes.


    It was to be expected.


    Just finding a dual elemental was able to make the whole kingdom go in an uproar much less a


    dual elemental and a quadra elemental alongside.


    Ignoring her for the moment, he looked at Michael with widened eyes.


    ''I didn''t expect him to use Arcane Convergence.''


    It was something that was bestowed to only Michael by the system.


    It allowed him topletely manipte or make his 4 elements at a whole level above his


    rank for 5 minutes.


    However, it also had severe consequences such as making him unable to use 3 of those


    elements for a whole week.


    It also made him very tired.


    In the novel, the first time Michael used this was in the mid-terms, where he revealed his rank


    and power to the whole world.


    It was a little surprising.


    Regardless, it wasn''t like anyone would know. The sensors and cameras had been destroyed


    by Daniel.


    Only Elizabeth would know but she wouldn''t tell anyone without their permission. That''s


    how she was.


    And also Arthur. But he was the type of person to let you go as long as it didn''t harm him and


    his people.


    He wouldn''t expose his powers if Michael didn''t want him to. He knew how nosy those royals


    could be.


    At that moment, Michael''s crimson eyes turned and met his inky ck ones.


    "Don''t worry, ''he'' already exined the situation to me." His deep voice echoed,pletely


    serious.


    This was how Michael was. And this authority and confidence were what also made him a


    force to be reckoned with.


    Amon nodded. By ''he'', he probably meant Sran.


    "As for your powers, don''t worry I already knew." He smiled slightly.


    "Oh..." Amon blurted but then shrugged with a sigh.


    Well, it was to be expected.


    After all, he had Sran.


    Then he probably knew about Zephyra as well.


    It wasn''t a surprise that he never asked or talked about it. He wasn''t nosy in other people''s


    business.


    He probably hoped that Amon would reveal it himself and he did.


    Both of them simultaneously turned to Daniel who also had his eyes frozen in shock.


    This was probably the reason why they hadn''t been attacked yet.


    He was too taken aback.


    "Well, let''s take care of this guy first..." Michael pointed.


    Amon nodded.


    "Also, this is going to be our first collective battle so..." Michael took a step forward toward


    Daniel who now calmed down.


    As Amon watched his back, he turned and smirked lightly.


    "Don''t fall behind..."


    Amon''s eyebrows raised in disbelief.


    ''This guy...'' He was apletely different person now.


    Nevertheless, Amon smirked back and stepped forward as well, his pitch-ck nodachi


    appearing in his hand.


    He unsheathed it slowly.


    SHEEN~


    "Yeah sure, we''ll see about that bud."

 Chapter 105: Sound, Void and Sun [5]

    Chapter 105: Sound, Void and Sun [5]


    ?


    ***


    **


    Amon and Michael rushed forward.


    Unsheathing his nodachi, he shed it toward Daniel.


    However, at that moment, thetter''s ring finger shone and a spear appeared in his hand. Without a moment''s waste, he countered the nodachi with the shaft of the spear.


    However, he didn''t stop just there as he coated his spear in his elemental mana.


    The violent shed of the weapons, made Amon''s nodachi vibrate violently which in turn made his arm spasm.


    He gritted his teeth as he lost his bnce mid-air.


    Finding his opportunity to strike, he tried to thrust his spear at Amon.


    Unfortunately, he was taken by surprise as he sensed the violent st of fire heading toward


    him.


    Redirecting his strike, he swung his spear in the fire, the emerging sound making the fire vanish into the air.


    Michael, who was taken by surprise tried to quickly step back and dodge the iing hand of Daniel.


    It was coated in miasma and he immediately knew how bad it would be from the irritation he was getting by being near the energy.


    To his dismay, the hand was faster and was just about to touch him when suddenly, it stopped in mid-air.


    No.


    As Michael squinted his eyes, he saw a multitude of threads that were coiled around the arm, stopping its movement.


    The sharp threads bore into Daniel''s arm, drawing not only blood but searing his skin. He retracted his hand with a pained expression while doing a flick to shatter the threads.


    Unfortunately, nothing happened as the threads were made of energy rather than matter making his eyes widen as the threads neared again.


    Swinging his spear violently to ward them off, he was unable to sense the jaw-shattering fist thatnded on his face, coated in rocks.


    A handful of blood gushed out of Daniel''s mouth as he was sent crashing back into the walls.


    Amon retracted his threads in order to stop therge cracks on his arms and quickly came to stand near Michael.


    Michael looked at his cracked arms and then back at him.


    His gaze seemed to ask if he was okay and Amon subtly nodded.


    Suddenly, they felt a pool of overwhelming demonic energy emerge from Daniel.


    Their gazes sharply moved to his location, finding him standing up with a demonic glint in his eye.


    "You bitches..." He cursed.


    He waved his hand in the air and instantly a flood of weapons made from sound mana formed in the air.


    Amon''s eyes widened at the sheer number of weapons.


    Daniel was using his full strength now along with Miasma.


    Even though it was corrupting his body and mind, he was ready to pay the price.


    At this moment, all he wanted was to see the blood of Michael, Amon and Elizabeth.


    His strength was now that of a 6th order clovist.


    Immediately, the weaponsunched forward.


    Amon gritted his teeth and immediately shrouded his body in a crystalline armor.


    He couldn''t afford to make a shield right now. It would undoubtedly get destroyed from his new strength.


    "I only have two minutes left for my transformation!" Michael screamed as he raised earthen walls to protect them both.


    Amon nodded.


    But suddenly, just as the wall was about to rise, Daniel thrust his spear into the ground.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    "DODGE THEM!" He warned, asking him to not raise a wall.


    However, it was toote as the ground suddenly quaked with a terrifying tremor.


    The rising earth wall suddenly shattered and the weapons passed through, heading for Michael and Amon.


    Unable to react quickly, they both had to dodge and defend against some of them using their


    armor.


    Unfortunately for Amon, his element was still not at a high enough level and the weapons pushed through his armor.


    Cracks spread on his right shoulder, legs, mouth and arms as a number of weapons thrust in his body.


    His body spasmed with pain as suddenly they reverberated with a shocking intensity, sending him crashing back into the walls.


    His chin started to crumble into pieces but he ignored it and quickly looked at the more iing swords.


    Without hesitation, he raised a crystal wall from his broken arm in order to stop the swords.


    It was a futile attempt yes but it would help to slow down the swords and lower their


    durability.


    He really didn''t regret [Crystal] back then. If not for it till now, he would have undoubtedly


    died.


    As expected, the swords broke through the walls difficulty.


    Unfortunately, his element was still not at that level to make crystal out of the ground.


    He coated his broken arms in crystal again, in an attempt to lower the impact more.


    But to his surprise, just as the swords were a meter away from him, an ice wall emerged from


    the ground,pletely shattering the swords.


    Amon''s cracked eyes moved to the corner, to find Elizabeth standing there, coughing blood with her back to the wall.


    His face twitched. Therge amount of miasma was brutally affecting her.


    Especially, since it was her first time.


    Suddenly, Daniel appeared before Elizabeth, his hand reaching to grab her neck.


    It was apparent that he waspletely mad now. All he wanted to see was blood.


    Elizabeth conjured some ice attacks but unfortunately all were decimated with a useless flick


    of his hand.


    Amon gritted his teeth.


    He couldn''t let her die here. She was a part of the main cast.


    Someone he couldn''t afford to die.


    He didn''t know why she epted this ss even though she knew how Daniel was, which was something she didn''t know in the novel.


    Nevertheless, he couldn''t let her die here. And so, just as Daniel''s hand was inches away from her neck, a mumble escaped Amon''s lips.


    [Voidteleport]


    Instantly, Amon and Elizabeth both vanished from their spots.


    And in the next moment, the former andtter had switched ces resulting in a sharp gripnding on Amon''s neck in the next moment, pinning him to the wall.


    Daniel''s mad eyes widened a little.


    "Oh look who it is, the prince charming himself. I''ll make sure to torture everyst bit of you


    before your death" His demonic voice echoed.


    Then, he reached out towards one of Amon''s fingers and clutched it tight, making a


    shockwave pass through his finger.


    His bones started to rattle vigorously and cracking sounds were heard as they started to break


    one by one.


    Nevertheless, Amon gritted his teeth and didn''t elicit a single scream.


    Compared to what he had endured in the [Void Training], this was nothing.


    Ignoring Daniel, he looked at Michael who was now rushing toward him to help.


    Amon''s cracked ck irises met the crimson furious gaze of Michael and suddenly thetter


    stopped.


    The former justmunicated something to him with his eyes and thetter gritted his teeth


    before sighing.


    Ignoring Amon, he rushed back to Elizabeth who was now slumped against the wall, unconscious with blood leaking out of multiple ces.


    He quickly started to tend to her using [Water].


    Fixing his gaze back on Daniel, Amon endured the pain as each one of his bones broke.


    Half of his arms had crumbled into dust by now along with his legs but his gaze remained


    stoic.


    He felt his heart burn and his gaze turn hazy but each time he bit on his tongue and tried to remain conscious.


    His mind throbbed as if thousand swords were being thrusted into it and his body spasmed


    with the pain.


    Mana was overflowing inside of him and his mana pathways vibrated with a sheer intensity, threatening to leak out at any second.


    His head turned light and he felt his vision blur and crack...


    Zephyra wasn''t there anymore. She had returned back to his body to help his body as much as


    he could by controlling the rumbling and shing energies inside of him. Finally, Daniel was done with the bones as he didn''t hear a single crack in his body.


    His mouth twitched as he found out that his amusement was gone. Grabbing a potion from his pocket, he tried to quickly feed it to Amon to heal him and then


    break him again.


    At this point, he had no semnce of sanity left inside of him.


    He even forgot what he was supposed to do and this was indicated by how he forgot that the


    potion he was trying to feed right now had miasma infused in it.


    As he brought the potion to Amon''s lips, thetter smiled wickedly. The potion poured inside of his mouth and if it got in him, then this was surely his death.


    But Amon''s cracked iris glinted with madness as he brought the left side of his upper jaw down.


    A cracking sound was heard in his mouth as suddenly a searing pain assaulted inside of him.


    He felt his mouth, tongue, teeth and everything decay as the searing sensation turned into


    moltenva.


    But, his smile was still on as the potion that was being poured in his mouth, alsopletely decayed, resulting in nothing being poured inside his mouth.


    Half of his mouth crumbled, making his smile vanish alongside but nevertheless, his


    madness-filled irises were still locked to Daniel.


    Or more precisely, his fingers....


    The fingers neared his brain to finally end him with a flick.


    And just as they reached his brain and the two fingers joined each other, a purple translucent


    ball encased his hand.


    The fingers flicked....


    However, nothing happened.


    No sound came out....


    Daniel''s eyes widened in realization of what just happened but before he could do something,


    a thin bundle of threads passed through his head.


    A clean hole was made in the middle of his brain.


    Daniel. He was finally dead.


    And alongside, Amon''s half body fell to the ground.


    I apologize for any grammar mistakes or left out things in this chapter. It was a long one and I


    wrote it in a rush.


    I''ll edit itter so I hope you understand.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 106: Sound, Void and Sun [6]

    Chapter 106: Sound, Void and Sun [6]


    ?


    ***


    Amon cked out and his half-obliterated body fell to the ground.


    Right beside him, Daniel''s body also fell, blood leaking out to form a pool from his cleanly cut head.


    With Elizabeth unconscious as well, only Michael was left staring at the scene.


    And his whole expression was filled with shock.


    He couldn''t believe it.


    ''He had nned it all...'' He realized.


    Amon had orchestrated this whole from the start. From the moment, the fight had started.


    Even though he knew he would get in a near-death state, he still went on with the n.


    Even right now, his remaining body was only being stopped from crumbling because of the purple cracks that held it together.


    Suddenly, a piercing pain traveled through his body.


    He puked andrge amounts of blood coupled with some bits of his innards gushed out.


    His fiery crimson hair faded back to their usual golden and his glowing eyes dimmed back to their usual red.


    A wave of exhaustion hit his body as all of his elements crumbled down and he fell to the ground.


    His whole body was messed up now. He couldn''t feel any control over his other 3 elements


    anymore.


    But even then, he gritted his teeth and started to crawl toward Amon.


    [No.] Sran ordered inside him.


    ''You can''t be serious! Even tho-'' Michael''s retort was abruptly stopped again.


    [Not that, he''s here.] Sran spoke in a solemn voice.


    Michael was about to open his mouth again but he suddenly caught something in his peripheral vision.


    Therge shadows cast by Amon''s body due to the ring crimson lights suddenly started to wriggle.


    They started to mold and take shape under his very eyes.


    He almost believed that it was an illusion until the shadows fell.


    Dressed in an unbuttoned blue beach shirt and shorts, the academy principal, Arthur Milize appeared.


    His well-toned muscles and abs were in front of Michael to see and his ck hair were dripping wet.


    With his crimson eyes that still had a golden monocle on one of them, he surveyed the surroundings.


    His eyes first settled on Michael and Elizabeth.


    Before thetter could exin anything, Arthur removed his gaze from both of them.


    His eyes then settled on Amon.


    Then, his face twitched in annoyance.


    Michael''s body froze in horror.


    He was the principal and they were done for.


    However, the next words that came out of Arthur''s mouth left him baffled to the core.


    "This brat...I can''t even enjoy my first run from the academy to the beach."


    ||||


    Michael didn''t know what toment on it.


    Then, Arthur sighed before a scheming smile appeared on his face.


    "I can''t believe you lured me out here with a gamble....what a clever brat..." He put his finger to the chin.


    Then, Michael saw shadows covering Amon''s body before swallowing it whole.


    Arthur''s gaze then moved to Michael, his gaze intrigued.


    "You, yes youd, you areing with me as well..."


    "...hu-" Michael couldn''t say anything as his body got swallowed by the shadows as well.


    Looking at the remaining mess, Arthur ruffled his hair before looking at Elizabeth.


    "Yeah, that is good enough..."


    Putting both hands in his shorts, he then turned to Daniel''s dead body.


    He still had that final look of madness in his eyes.


    Looking at it, Arthur chuckled before kicking his body, sending it crashing into the wall.


    "What a weak ass, couldn''t even give me an entertaining fight..."


    "Ruined my escape tch." He clicked his tongue before disappearing into the shadows as well.


    Leaving Daniel and Elizabeth''s body alone.


    But before he left, he did a flick using his fingers.


    And at that, the sound of a clock ticking was heard in the room.


    ***


    Amon''s eyes weakly fluttered open, finding light entering through the windows into his eyes.


    His whole body felt extremely tired and weak.


    Irritated by the light, he buried his head in the sheets again with a groan.


    However...


    "Oi! Get up you brat, I know you are awake."


    Amon''s body jolted to a sitting position, making a piercing pain travel up his spine.


    Before he could do or say anything, a slippernded on his face pushing him back down on the


    bed again.


    The person removed their leg and Amon was able to see who it was.


    It was...


    Arthur.


    "You owe me a vacation mate, it isn''t the time to be sleeping." He annoyingly said.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    "You know, you can get reported for disrespectful behavior towards your students."


    Arthur smirked.


    "Let them try, they can take their whole family to the Emperor and I wouldn''t care."


    "Tsk."


    Arthur ignored his click and then widened his smirk.


    "That was a clever lure brat.."


    Looking at his crimson eyes that bored into him, Amon sighed and nodded.


    It was true.


    Though his original n was to use his system reward and take Daniel by surprise to kill him


    or use sound, he changed it midway.


    When Daniel had used his sound earthquake, it was then that he noticed something.


    And it was that a part of the room waspletely fine from his attacks.


    It was not damaged at all.


    And though he noticed it before and thought it was a coincidence, he changed his mind when


    he didn''t see that part shake from the earthquake.


    And that was when he realized...


    It was Arthur...


    He had frozen the time outside of a certain radius in their room.


    It was also the reason why nobody wasing to their rescue.


    The sirens were of no use.


    But it also made him realize that Arthur was watching their battle through his shadows.


    And the reason why he had stopped the time was to push Amon and Michael to their limits.


    To see what they were capable of and what did they have up their sleeves. And that was when he thought to take advantage of this.


    No matter how much he pushed and made his students suffer, Arthur never let them die.


    And this was why he purposefully pushed himself to the brink of death.


    Not only did that loosen Daniel''s guard, but it also made Arthure and save them.


    Not just because of how much potential and power Michael and Amon had, but also because


    they were students.


    He had killed two birds with one stone. But of course, he also knew Arthur would know about


    this.


    And so...


    That''s how he ended up like this.


    Just when Amon opened his mouth to speak again, the door handle of the room turned, and


    then, Michael walked in.


    Only to find Amonid on the bed with Arthur standing above him with his slipper right next


    to his head.


    11

 Chapter 107: Sound, Void and Sun [7]

    Chapter 107: Sound, Void and Sun [7]


    ?


    ***


    "Yo." Arthur waved his hand with a smile to Michael.


    Thetter gulped, still not used to seeing this side of the principal.


    Arthur jumped down from Amon''s bed and settled down on a couch.


    He invited Michael on the opposite one and he respectfully settled down. "There''s no need to act formal, we all here are males no?"


    Amon looked at Arthur bafflingly.


    He then looked at Michael who had a confused expression on his face.


    He probably didn''t understand what he meant by that but he still obliged with a nod.


    pping, Arthur settled back on the couch.


    "Good. In any case, brat I won''t forget your debt." He pointed a finger at Amon who nodded.


    "Michael woke up a day before you so I had given him a rundown on the situation."


    Michael nodded.


    "I''m sure you are well aware that I know about your element boy." He looked at Amon. Thetter subtly nodded.


    It wasn''t surprising. This was one of the reasons why Arthur didn''t rescue them just yet. He wanted to see all their powers.


    "Besides your [Crystal] element and [Blood] element, that new element of yours..." He pondered with a hand on his chin.


    "I can''t put quite a thought on it...it''s [Space] yet something far above it at the same ti-" "It''s [Void]." Amon answered it tantly.


    He saw Michael''s head turn sharply toward him, baffled.


    His gaze seemed to ask ''Are you stupid?''


    But Michael didn''t know.


    He needed to gain this man''s trust and strength.


    Amon needed Arthur Milize as an ally. As a friend and as a teacher.


    This was the only way he could cement himself in this world and grow stronger.


    Arthur Milize.


    Despite being the strongest person in humanity and the principal of the 3rdrgest academy on all continents, he was the person who had the most mystery around him in the novel.


    Not a single person in humanity could kill him.


    Yet, he died 4 years before the awakening of the Ghoul Emperor.


    The Imperiac had stated the cause of his death as old age, but Michael in the novel knew it was a tant lie.


    He was never able to find out the real cause of death of Arthur.


    People even used to say that if Arthur was alive at the time of the awakening of the Ghoul Emperor, then thetter was surely done for.


    And looking at Arthur''s power, Amon himself could testify to that.


    But looking at his power and age right now, he could also not find himself believing that a man of this caliber died to old age.


    It was impossible. Never.


    Even though his [Time] element sped up his aging process, it was literally a delusion to believe that this man would die in 4 years.


    Regardless, Amon would just find outter.


    The best way to do that was by bing close to Arthur.


    And now that the opportunity had presented itself, he was going to make full use of it.


    Not only was he going to find the real truth to it, but he was also going to learn a lot and get stronger.


    And if his reason for death was actually old age, well, then that was that.


    "It''s space but advanced at the same time. More like a corrupted version of it." He exined. Arthur stared silently for a second before nodding.


    "I see."


    He had probably confirmed it with the monocle that he was telling the truth.


    "So you are a tri-elemental clovist?" He questioned and Amon shook his head.


    A flicker of shock passed through his eyes.


    "You have more elements and you are trusting me with this information?" He questioned.


    Amon nodded before shrugging.


    "It isn''t you didn''t know this information already."


    Arthur squinted his eyes.


    "Come out with the truth boy."


    A smirkyered on Amon''s lips.


    "I''m sure you know my purpose."


    The principal''s brows raised for a second before a smirk came back on his lips.


    "You brat....you still need to aplish what I asked first."


    "I know."


    Arthur then got back to the topic.


    "You have more elements then?"


    "I do. One more. And that is [Sound]." Amon answered before flicking his fingers making an


    echo resound in the room.


    Arthur nodded intriguingly.


    "That''s it?"


    Amon clicked his tongue before nodding.


    This man was continuously using questions to probe out the secrets from him.


    If only Amon wasn''t in such desperation of him.


    Then, Arthur turned to Michael.


    "You have 4 elements."


    At his statement, Michael was about to nod before the man continued.


    "That''s what an observer would think and say at least."


    Michael''s expression froze.


    "Just like this brat here, you have a unique element, one that has never been seen before. And


    just like this brat''s element, your element rtes with an element as well."


    Arthur adjusted his monocle as Michael kept looking at him bafflingly.


    Amon felt the need to facepalm himself.


    ''This guy really doesn''t know how to control his facial expressions...''


    "Though that fire on your arm in the fight may have been normal fire to a normal observer, it


    had a deeper shade of red and much more mana refinement in it," Arthur stated.


    Michael, who couldn''t take it anymore, blurted out.


    "H-how do you know this?"


    At his question, Arthur flicked at his monocle.


    "This thing isn''t just for show boy."


    Amon subtly nodded from the side.


    The artifact wasn''t just for detecting if things were a truth or lie.


    It could do much more than that. And one such thing was to check the quality, quantity, and


    refinement of mana in an individual.


    He could also see the elements in that person''s mana.


    This was why Amon was already convinced that he knew of his elements since the time he had


    met him in the hospital.


    But to Michael''s surprise, Arthur didn''t press upon it and leaned back on the couch.


    "In any case, I''m not going to press you about them. In fact, the reason why you people are


    here and not the infirmary is because I know you don''t want the outside world to know about


    them right?"


    Amon looked at Michael who looked back at the same time.


    They both nodded at each other after some seconds before turning back to Arthur.


    They nodded at him, expressing they didn''t want him to spread this about them.


    Arthur nodded back.


    "Understandable. Just a duo elemental is enough to cause an uproar in the kingdom, not to mention two quadra elementals." He massaged his temples.


    "I can''t image what those royals would do. Especially the Emperor, he can be a di*khead at


    times." He cursed freely.


    Amon''s jaw dropped as he looked at Michael.


    But contrary to his expectations, he had a neutral expression on his face.


    Then he looked back at Arthur who kept ranting bad things about the Emperor.


    Taking note of his gaze, he looked up.


    "What?"


    Amon gestured towards his eyes to Michael.


    Arthur kept staring for a second before his mouth suddenly contorted into an ''o'' shape.


    Amon sighed.


    ''I''m d this man finally under-''


    "Yo brat, go tell your father for me that Arthur said you are a coc*su*ker would you?"


    Amon facepalmed.


    ''Of course, what was I expecting?''


    Fortunately, Michael said nothing but nodded with a chuckle.


    "Good chap." Arthur was about to stand up before Michael and Amon looked at each other


    again and spoke back.


    ""We will reveal our power ourselves.""


    Arthur turned back.


    "Huh?"


    "We''ll reveal our power to the world by ourselves at the mid-terms. In the matches." Amon


    answered and Michael nodded back.


    Arthur kept gazing silently before a wide smirkyered on his lips.


    "I guess these mid-terms are going to be a st."


    They both nodded.


    "Whatever brats, do what you want. It''s up to you. Though our deal still stands, and now I''m


    saying it the same for Michael as well." He looked back at Amon and Michael.


    "Both of you chaps have interesting powers. Pull a tier-5 familiar and ce 1st and second at


    the mid-terms and then we''ll talk."


    Amon nodded while Michael was left baffled.


    "Surely you can do that, ''quadra-elementals''." He emphasized thest word.


    Amon smirked.


    Then, he waved his hand and started to leave.


    But just as he was about to finally melt in the shadows, he looked at Amon.


    "To help you out, I''ll tell ''her'' about your [Void] element."


    ''Oh....fuck.'' Amon cursed in his thoughts as Arthur finally melted into the shadows, not giving


    him any chance to respond.


    But even then, he wasn''t done yet.


    "Also, check your mana pathways. You made a mess of them." His voice echoed in Amon''s


    mind.


    A horrified expression came on his face as he quickly checked his pathways.


    Instantly, he felt pain travel in his body at an unimaginable speed.


    Yup.


    They were messed up. Totally.


    The First Main Arc of the Story has finallye to an end!


    The Next Arc will be the Trip!


    Thank you for supporting the story and reading it!

 Chapter 108: Meeting With Athena [1]

    Chapter 108: Meeting With Athena [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon headed out of the door after bidding farewell to Katherine and Lily.


    It had been 2 days now since the talk with Arthur and Michael.


    He looked at himself.


    His arms, legs, and neck were covered in white bandages.


    These were the parts that were still recovering and had cracks on them.


    To hide them, he had to use bandages. Other than that, he was wearing casual blue jeans with a ck jersey.


    He sighed, his breathing out in a thin white puff.


    It had just rained so it was a little cold.


    Aftering back, he got to know that it was revealed from the academy that Daniel was a ghoul contractor.


    He had targeted Michael and Amon for their weak minds which ended up in both of them getting kidnapped right after sses.


    Unfortunately, he was seen through by Elizabeth using her passive ability.


    But even then, she was unable to beat him and the sirens went off because of their confrontation.


    This led to swift action from Arthur who killed Daniel instantly and then disappeared to rescue Michael and Amon.


    The incident caused quite some uproar within the academy.


    Arthur had to report to the Imperiac.


    Or more urately, the furious Emperor and Empress for what happened to Michael.


    They were furious and demanded him to search for their son quickly which the former promised with all his heart.


    With his shadows and power of time, it wasn''t so difficult to search the whole continent so they trusted him.


    Of course, he ended up with nothing much of a punishment.


    Even though Michael was their son, they couldn''t afford to piss off the strongest man.


    Some parents wanted to withdraw their children over what happened.


    But Arthur quickly saved the day by stating Daniel had converted after several years and the academy.


    To make the parents calm down, he conducted a thorough search of all the teachers.


    Only then, did they calm down to a certain degree.


    Elizabeth was given a badge of honor and a leave to return to her parents.


    Arthur also had to calm down the raging Snowcrest Matriarch.


    Fortunately, Amon wasn''t there for any of this as he was missing for 2 whole days after the incident.


    He returnedter with Michael and Amon, making up an excuse that they were hidden in a secret bunker with devices that halted his mana search.


    Amon came walking home to a crying Lily and Katherine which took him several hours to calm them down.


    Though the public was still skeptical, they chose to let it go since the 2 cadets had returned without any injuries.


    Well, at least in their eyes, the cadets did.


    Amon was pretty much fucked.


    It wasn''t just the body injuries with all the cracks and the pain.


    For one, his mana pathways were messed up.


    As if the drug wasn''t enough to weaken and disrupt their flow, the excessive use of [Void Energy] had clotted his pathways with the energy.


    Due to that, any element he tried to use would be weak and disruptive because of the sh between opposite-natured mana.


    He unwrapped one of the bandages on his arm, revealing a web of small andrge cracks traveling over the length of his arm.


    They were shining purple as crystal clear purple energy coursed through them, holding them together.


    A pained expression appeared on his face and he quickly wrapped them back.


    This was the thing that hurt him the most in the aftermath.


    And it was that....


    Zephyra wasn''t there anymore.


    The only exnation for this was the purple cracks.


    They were there even during the fight with Daniel and Zephyra returned to his body to hold him together.


    Due to the drug, the [Void Energy] had run rampant inside his body.


    So she went in his body and even till this moment, she was holding the energy from breaking


    out.


    If not for her, his body would have surely broken into bits by now.


    He sighed, a sting of sadness piercing through his chest.


    He didn''t know if she could hear him now that she was inside his body or if she was


    hibernating.


    He just wanted her to know...


    He missed her. He really did.


    He really fucking missed her.


    Even taking apart the amount he was grateful to her and owed her, he really missed her antics.


    Those jokes and jabs at each other made himugh more than anything in a day.


    She and he were different from this world after all. He resonated with her.


    So these past 3 days of not seeing her really made him feel lonely.


    Moving back to the present situation, he had to report to Athena''s office right now.


    Not HOU but her personal office.


    His mind drifted back to the line Arthur had said to him before leaving.


    To tell him about his powers to ''her''.


    He probably meant Athena.


    Though he wasn''t against it.


    In fact, this was one of the reasons he had approached HOU and tried to build connections


    with Athena.


    Arthur doing it had just speeded up his process. Especially so since they both were...


    Amon coughed.


    In any case, the only problem was why he did that.


    The person that Amon found the most unpredictable in the whole novel was Arthur.


    He could do anything in the world.


    And on top of it, his reason for doing that could range from an actual reason to just simple


    boredom or nothing at all.


    Amon sighed for the umpteenth time.


    All he could do now was visit her and hopefully, she would take him in.


    Getting on the foggy road, he quickly took a carriage to the teacher''s block.


    As the hooves of the horses tapped against the cold wet cobblestone, Amon''s mind moved


    towards the worst problem in the aftermath.


    And it was that...


    He didn''t remember anymore.


    He forgot what was supposed to happen on the trip arcpletely.


    Not just that, many other parts of his future memories of the novel were now missing.


    They werepletely nk without a hint.


    And how did all of this happen?


    Because he used [Void Decay] on himself.


    Or more precisely, on his head in the fight.

 Chapter 109: Meeting With Athena [2]

    Chapter 109: Meeting With Athena [2]


    ?


    ***


    The corrosive energy had messed with the brain after he used [Void Decay] on himself in the battle.


    It was the only exnation for it.


    And the only exnation to get those memories back was to remove those clots from his brain.


    And the only person who could do that was...


    Zephyra.


    He had to wait now. Until she could finally piece his body back together.


    The carriage stopped and Amon got off.


    He handed the money to the driver and quietly approached the behemothic building in the distance.


    It stood tall and wide withrge window panes covering every inch of the building.


    Coming near the entrance, Amon saw two guards stationed at the entrance.


    "Halt. Identify yourself." The guard demanded.


    Stopping, Amon looked up and matched his gaze.


    "Amon Ashford. Rank 2413. Here for an appointment with Athena Silvermoon."


    The guard who asked stared for some seconds in silence.


    Then, he gestured inward to the guard standing next to him.


    The other guard nodded and quickly ran in.


    Amon and the first guard kept eye contact for a few minutes before the guard came outside.


    "He''s allowed." He reported to the first guard.


    Thetter nodded and quickly gave him a card.


    "Take this inside with you. After you are done ande outside, you have to give this back to us." He exined.


    Nodding, Amon took the card and headed inside the building.


    He stored it inside his ring as soon as he stepped in and approached the receptionist.


    She was a fairly youthful youngdy in her mid-20s.


    "Greetings, how may I help you?"


    "I want to ask where Ms. Athena''s office is," Amon asked.


    Though he already knew where it was because of the novel, he still had to ask to not look suspicious.


    "Sure. Please head up to the top floor and the only office there is Ma''am Athena''s." She exined.


    Amon nodded and she shed him a farewell smile.


    Heading to the elevator, he stepped inside.


    The building had a total of 80 floors and the highest floor was obviously Athena''s, who was the vice-principal of the academy.


    Clicking on the respective button, Amon leaned back on the wall of the elevator.


    Immediately, the elevator started to move upward at a fast pace.


    This was different from the speed back in his world. It was because this elevator operated on [Gravity] magic.


    It had mana cores that were filled with gravitational mana embedded into its interior that activated with a button.


    Depending upon the property embedded into the core, it used that to function.


    In just 10 minutes of stopping, getting more people, and letting them off on other floors, Amon was finally up at the top floor.


    Coming out of the elevator, he entered a vast space.


    It waspletely empty except for the purple carpet that followed up to an exquisitely crafted dark brown wooden door.


    Walking up to the door, he knocked.


    A light tap resounded in the space 3 times.


    Instantly, Athena''s monotonous crisp voice resounded in his ears.


    "Come in."


    Her instant reaction was attributed to the fact that she hadplete control over the space on


    this floor.


    Sensing his presence was just a menial task for her.


    Amon opened the wooden door lightly.


    CREAK~


    Entering the room, he turned back and quietly closed the door.


    He turned back again and observed the room.


    It was a ssical medieval-style office with bookshelves made of dark oak.


    The walls were painted light brown and the books were neatly arranged.


    The pungent smell of ink was in the air as many scriptures were neatly ordered on his side.


    In front of him, a few meters away, was arge dark oak table with a quill and many papers disyed on it.


    The room gave off a very schrly and studious vibe and smell which was expected from Athena.


    However, what captured the most attention in the room was thedy sitting on the chair behind the table.


    With long amethyst hair that cascaded down her back and were neatly set using hair ornaments and inky ck eyes, Athena had a nk look on her face.


    She was wearing a casual white regal blouse with a purple shawl draped over her shoulders.


    As she looked up at him, her inky ck eyes locked with his abyssal ck ones.


    They seemed to capture him whole in them as if they were a spatial rupture that sucked him


    in.


    Despite her monotonous attitude, Amon couldn''t help but ept the fact that she was more beautiful than the whole main cast except Elizabeth.


    She was simply otherworldly.


    "Take a seat." She gestured to a seat in front of her.


    Nodding, Amon quietly settled down on the seat in front of her.


    "I''m sure Arthur already filled you in on why I called you here?" She asked.


    Amon nodded.


    He noticed that she was referring to Arthur in a casual tone.


    She probably knew that he had experienced his casual side and gotten used to it.


    "Can you use [Void] right now?" She asked.


    "Yes, I can." He answered and spoke for the first time.


    "Go ahead. Show me what you can do." She asked before flicking her fingers.


    Immediately, a training dummy appeared next to his chair.


    "Use everything that you can on this dummy." She ordered.


    Nodding, Amon grabbed the arm of the dummy with his hand, which was coated purple now.


    Instantly, the metallic arm started to rust before disintegrating in a few seconds.


    Cracks started to spread fast on his hand and he quickly stopped as a piercing pain went


    through his body.


    He coughed hard on the side with pain. He would have definitely spouted blood if he had it.


    But what terrified him more was the sudden feminine scream he heard at the back of his mind.


    It was subtle. Not something he could hear without focus.


    And at the same time, it was filled with pain, as if the person was being burnt alive.


    And the worst part was...


    He recognized the scream.


    It was Zephyra. She was suffering because of him using [Void] in this form.

 Chapter 110: Talk with Elizabeth [1]

    Chapter 110: Talk with Elizabeth [1]


    ?


    ***


    "Alright, that''s enough." Athena''smand came from the side.


    Turning back to her, Amon saw her nod.


    "It is as Arthur said. Your body is falling apart and your pathways are jumbled up." Athena''s brows creased into a frown.


    However, Amon''s mind wasn''t there at the moment.


    All he could do was stare at the cracks on his hand and the scream of Zephyra.


    He understood now.


    His body at the moment was like the torn pieces of a cloth.


    Zephyra was the threads that were holding him together. If not for her, he would fall apart.


    And [Void] at the moment was like a fire to those threads.


    The moment he used it, those threads would start to burn.


    "But by some miracle, something inside your body is holding you together. I can''t sense what it is." Athena continued.


    Amon snapped back to the conversation.


    He saw her left eye shine in an amethyst glow, revealing a slightly ck 9-leaf clover.


    Its shade started to get darker by each second.


    Yes. Just like Arthur who had his clover mark on his right eye, Athena had her clover mark on her right eye.


    "Yes, your whole inner body is in turmoil right now." Her left eye faded back to normal ck.


    "Though, just like Arthur said, your [Void] is just like [Space]." She crossed her hands.


    She gazed at him intently. At the stoic face of his.


    For a moment, Amon saw her mouth twitch.


    "Okay, you want to get stronger and increase your mastery?" she asked.


    Again, he saw her mouth twitch.


    Ignoring it, he nodded.


    "Fine, report to my office once a week for your progress. You will be my research student now for the public." She reported to him.


    Amon tilted his head in confusion.


    "Though yes, we will start our training back when you are training, you will report once a week to me to show your progress and for me to check on you."


    Understanding her words, he subtly nodded.


    "I understand."


    Her mouth twitched again.


    "Good, to let youe here and not make others suspicious, you will now be my research student because of your low grades." She informed him.


    Athena took a card out from her drawer and handed it to him.


    "Here, just hand it to any guard and he will let you go."


    Taking the purple card, Amon nodded.


    "Thank you." He thanked her.


    Athena shook her head.


    "That doesn''t mean I''m going to let you get this for free."


    "Hm?" Amon questioned.


    Her mouth twitched once more.


    "I want you to help Ren with his training and element. You are close to him right?" she asked. He nodded.


    "So..."


    "Not just as a teacher, but as his older sister, I ask you to please help him in his training and be friends with him." She looked down just an inch, as if bowing to him.


    Amon raised his hand in retortion.


    "There''s no need. Ren is my good friend. I would help him with whatever he needs regardless whether you ask or not Miss Athena."


    She looked up and nodded.


    For a moment, Amon saw a faint relieved smile on her lips.


    Then, concluding their discussion, Amon stood up to leave.


    "You can report this weekend to me." Athena informed and he affirmed.


    Again, he saw her face twitch.


    This time, Amon didn''t hide him, noticing it.


    She noticed him staring but didn''t say anything.


    Seeing her give no reason for it, Amon shrugged internally and turned to leave.


    As he opened the door to leave, Athena''s voice suddenly came again.


    "Do..."


    He looked back and found her hesitating to ask further.


    "Hmm?" He tilted his head, waiting for her to finish.


    And she did.


    "Do you have any gum?"


    ||


    || ||


    Amon''s shoulders trembled.


    She stared at him incredulously before a frown creased her brows.


    "No, don''t you dare."


    But he couldn''t hold it in as his eyes became bloodshot.


    "Pffft."


    He broke outughing, not caring for who he was standing in front of.


    And with his next line, Athena''s eyes widened and her worst fear came true.


    "You and Ren are exactly the same in everything."


    **


    Amon came out of the building, with his heavy heart somewhat light now.


    He handed the card back to the guards and left the block.


    As he walked on the road to find another carriage, he suddenly saw someone very familiar.


    Someone who was involved with him in the recent ident.


    With her long white hair tied into a long ponytail that exposed her nape, she was wearing a tight ck spot outfit that clung to her body.


    It was wet and she was sweating.


    Amon looked to where she came from and noticed the Clovist Training Grounds in the far


    distance.


    As he was about to ignore her and move in another condition, her head snapped in his


    direction.


    Whether she sensed him or just did it instinctually, he didn''t know.


    Her silver gaze locked with his abyssal ck eyes.


    Pretending to not have noticed her, Amon tried to walk further.


    He didn''t want to face her right now. At least not in this condition.


    However...


    "Amon! Wait." She called him out.


    He pretended to still not hear her.


    However, he had just taken a step when a handnded on her shoulder.


    He looked behind and saw Elizabeth staring at him with a neutral gaze.


    He stared at her stoically.


    "You didn''t hear me?" She asked.


    "No." He tly replied.


    Amon was really grateful to her for saving his life, yes. And he wasn''t really trying to ignore


    her.


    It was just that, his emotions were in a turmoil right now and his body condition was messed


    up.


    "Can we talk?" She asked.


    Amon hesitated internally.


    But after some seconds of thought, he chose to just relent.


    Whatever.


    He would just get done with it.


    "Sure." He replied.


    Contrary to his thoughts of her taking him to a shop, she took him to a secluded alley.


    Coming to stand where no one could see us, Amon stared at her without a word.


    She had asked for him, so she needed to be the one to start.


    "So..." Elizabeth averted her gaze for a second before looking him in the eye and bowing


    down.


    "Thank you so much for saving my life."


    Amon tilted his head in confusion.


    It wasn''t like he was doing it for her.


    If he fucked up, then he was dead as well anyways.


    Nevertheless, he epted and nodded.


    "It''s nothing. Is that all?" He asked.


    Then she averted her gaze again before looking at him again after a few seconds.


    "And well, about your true power..."

 Chapter 111: Talk With Elizabeth [2]

    Chapter 111: Talk With Elizabeth [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon stared at her.


    "Yes?" He asked, his voicepletely normal.


    "Is there a reason you are hiding it?" She asked.


    He nodded.


    "Yes."


    "I see."


    It seemed to be that she was having a problem asking what she really wanted to ask.


    But Amon couldn''t do anything about it.


    It wasn''t like they were that close to reveal all their secrets.


    He was already a little aggressive on her asking about his powers.


    He had just saved her life so why was she questioning it?


    However, her next question made him freeze.


    "Does your sister know about it?" she asked.


    He didn''t know what to answer with this type of question.


    From the past, he knew that she had helped him at the Clovist Training and other scenarios because her sister asked her to.


    Every trouble he got into would be reported to Katherine, earning him an earful.


    If he said yes here, then he might be able to avert the scenario of him getting his powers snitched on to Katherine.


    He pondered on it for a moment before answering.


    "No, she doesn''t." He answered, awaiting her response.


    She was silent for a few seconds.


    "I see. I won''t do anything about it. It''s your powers and you must have a secret for hiding them. But..."


    Amon kept silent.


    "I hope you can find the courage to tell her someday. She really worries about you, you know." She shed him a smile.


    His eyes widened.


    "Well, I''ll be off then. See you in ss soon, and I hope all three of us can still develop our friendship." She shed a slight smile and waved her hand.


    But Amon wasn''t focusing on any of that.


    He finally realized now.


    He had always wondered why Elizabeth joined the personal training sessions.


    It made sense that she joined in the original novel because she knew nothing about Daniel at that time.


    But this time, she knew of his intentions way back.


    But then, why did she join?


    Finally, it was clear now.


    She didn''t join the club because of herself.


    She joined the club because of him.


    Because Katherine had asked her to keep an eye out for him. From the start, she had been trying to keep him away from things because of Katherine.


    He couldn''t help but chuckle in sadness.


    He sighed as he brought a hand to his face.


    Katherine. If Amon had to be honest, as much as he loved her, he still knew at the back of his mind that she was never his real sister.


    Maybe he never got to ept her as that. Just as someone who was very dear to him.


    But how foolish he was. When she always saw him as her younger brother and kept looking out for him.


    From the start, it had been him looking out for the others, until he was looked after by others.


    The clouds started to part and he looked at the clear sky.


    The emotional turmoil inside him cleared and his mind finally felt clear for the first time since the incident.


    Walking out of the alley, he called out to Elizabeth, who hadn''t walked that far.


    "Yes?"


    He apologized.


    "I''m sorry for being aggressive."


    For a moment, she was surprised before showing a polite smile.


    "It''s nothing." She waved her hand dismissively and started to walk away.


    Amon smiled and also headed back to his apartment.


    That day, he spent it all with Katherine and Lily.


    ***


    Elizabeth didn''t want to confront Amon as well.


    When she noticed him, she was about to head off as well.


    She didn''t know how to respond to his powers and all.


    It was too big of a reveal and too much for her to take in.


    She needed time to digest it all and finally face him.


    However, when she saw the mess inside him, she was forced to stop.


    If what she saw was a hollow ck void instead of his emotions before, what she now


    horrified her.


    It was the same hollow void as her. And after seeing his powers, she had more or less of an idea of why it was there.


    However, what terrified her was what she was inside the Void.


    She saw different colors shing with each other. They were minor and subtle in the Void but


    she noticed them well after she focused.


    The colors all represented a different emotion.


    Frustration, Self-loathing, Hatred, Grief and most of all, Sadness.


    They were all negative emotions.


    And from what she knew from years of her using this ability, it was called an emotional


    turmoil.


    He was in a difficult and aggressive stage right now.


    She didn''t know what it was for. Probably because of the battle but she didn''t understand the


    reason behind those emotions.


    Did he hate himself for getting them hurt?


    She didn''t know.


    But if it was, then as a person who he saved, she felt it as her responsibility to confront him


    about it.


    Not just as a friend and someone who was helping his older sister.


    And that was why against her will, she took him in an alley.


    Amon didn''t show it but she could see he was pretty aggressive about it from the inside.


    He had gotten really better at managing his facial expressions.


    She tried various questions to get him to talk out what was happening with him.


    It wasn''t the powers that were causing this it seems.


    Nor was he telling them.


    But after she asked him about hiding his powers, she finally got the answer.


    The widening of his eyes was enough for her to confirm it.


    Then, she left him alone to gather his thoughts.


    And as he came outside, she was d to see that his emotional mess had finally cleared.


    Amon looked to be his normal self again. And she was d to have repaid her debt to him.


    It was something that made her...


    Happy.


    Happy to have helped someone in need. Especially someone who was a friend.


    ***


    "Sis, why are you breaking so many pencils?" Ren questioned, sitting on the couch.


    "Can''t you see?" She asked, turning her head toward him in a furious manner.


    "Nope, am blind. I apologize for being a liability." He tly replied.


    Athena clicked her tongue, breaking another pencil.


    "Whatever, get me gum you dipshit."


    Ren shrugged.


    "Nope. Get it yourself."


    Athena gritted her teeth and was about to stand from her seat when Ren brought out a piece of


    gum.


    Her ck eyes suddenly sparkled with warmth.


    But then...


    He popped it into his mouth.


    "Sike, get one yourself sis." He threw a middle finger at her.


    "You...!"

 Chapter 112: The Trip [1]

    Chapter 112: The Trip [1]


    ?


    ***


    The next day, Amon settled into his seat along with Michael and Ren.


    At the same moment, the ssroom door opened.


    Athena entered the ssroom, wearing a beautiful enticing dress that highlighted the curves of her body.


    Walking with an elegant gait, she stepped up to the podium.


    Amon''s eyes were fixated on her.


    She was going to make an announcement about the trip today.


    Considering there was only one week left, it wasn''t unusual.


    And just like he thought, Athena started the conversation about the trip. "Greetings. Today, I''ll exin to you in detail on what you have to do on the trip."


    The bodies of the students tensed with excitement and anticipation.


    Their previous boredom had all vanished.


    Amon''s eyes were fixated on her.


    "But before that..."


    He tilted his head in confusion.


    Was there something else he was missing?


    Athena looked up, her gaze locking with Amon.


    Or more urately, all three of them.


    Her next action made his eyes widen.


    "Amon Ashford, Michael Von Lancaster, and Ren Silvermoon. From this day forth, you will sit in the front row. Right here." Her eyes gestured next to the girls.


    All three of them had an aghast expression on their faces.


    And just as Ren was about to refute, her next words made the three shudder in horror.


    "The orders have arrived directly from The Principal. So you have no chance but to oblige." Her monotonous voice echoed.


    In this way, she also shut down the refusals of the three sitting at the front, whose seats they were about to take.


    The trio closed their mouths and sighed simultaneously.


    In truth, they didn''t lose anything by going to the front.


    No power or wealth or something was getting stolen from them.


    At least that was what it may seem like from an outsider''s perspective.


    Because for the trio, they had just lost their entire freedom.


    Their entire lives had been stolen from them.


    Being the ssical backbenchers for so long, they used to do many things at the end that the teacher was unable to see.


    One of these things was to rate people from the ss based on looks, personality, and strength.


    This was impossible for them now.


    Another was to tease the girls at the front by throwing things or making fun of them.


    This was also impossible now.


    The golden backbencher era hade to an end for them now.


    As the boys gloomily headed down and crossed the other three people, they were the target of many gazes.


    Amon shuddered a little as he felt a lot of stares at his back.


    He sighed internally.


    It wasn''t something new for him.


    Ever since the constitution change, Amon''s height had increased drastically.


    He was easilyparable or an inch shorter than the 4dies at the front.


    Not only that, but his body build was now lean and athletic.


    The outlines of his muscles were almost clearly seen in his battlesuit.


    His facial features improved by a lot as well.


    The gaze of his eye had turned moremanding and deeper.


    His jawline had gotten finer and his blemishes had been removed by a lot.


    He was easily among the top 15 people in the ss now, in the looks category.


    Settling down beside the girls, Amon was quickly greeted by a chuckle.


    His eyes moved to the side and locked with two sapphire pearls.


    Charlotte had a bright smile on her face.


    "We meet after a long time Amon." She extended her hand.


    shing a slight smile, he shook her hand.


    "It really has been a time. d to see you again, Miss Charlotte."


    At thest part, he saw her pout.


    "You can drop the ''Miss'', I said this before as well. We are table buddies now."


    He scratched his head andughed a little.


    "Haha, I''ll try Charlotte."


    She nodded.


    Leaning onto the table, Amon tried to look past Charlotte at the other three girls.


    Right beside Charlotte, was Liliana and after her, was Alya, with Elizabeth being next to her and at the start of the row.


    As he was about to get back on his seat, Liliana''s eyes suddenly moved.


    They locked with him.


    Staring at her for a second, he ignored her and tried to again lean back.


    Liliana clicked her tongue at his attitude.


    "You fucking bastard." She cursed


    It wasn''t loud enough to be heard by anyone else, but the whole row heard it.


    Everyone''s head snapped to Liliana, finding her gazing at Amon.


    Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Alya''s eyes widened at her indecent attitude.


    Amon''s brows creased into a frown.


    But as soon as he opened his mouth to reply, another voice came from behind him.


    "Oi, oi, you bitch. The fuck you on about?" Ren cursed back in a casual tone.


    "Just cause your hair looks the color of vomit doesn''t mean your attitude needs to be like that.


    Learn some fucking manners." He cursed again.


    Liliana''s eyes widened and her hand moved to her emerald hair.


    A flicker of rage passed in her eyes as she clenched her fist.


    Noticing her movements, Ren started to rile her up more.


    "What? You wanna pull up prick?" He tried to stand up alongside her.


    Fortunately, Amon and Michael quickly pulled him down while Charlotte and Alya pulled


    Liliana down.


    "Stop." Both duo simultaneously said to them.


    "But that bitch is insul-" Ren tried to retort but was stopped by a silent headshake of Amon.


    He gestured silently upward.


    Following his gesture, Ren gazed up, finding Athena standing above him on the podium.


    She had the usual monotonous look on her face.


    But one could easily see a vein throbbing on her head.


    It was certain that Ren was don-.


    Something tossed through the air,nding in Athena''s hand.


    It was tiny so no one except the trio was able to see it.


    The girls trio were still calming down Liliana.


    Looking at the object thatnded in Athena''s hand, Amon instantly facepalmed.


    A pleased smileyered on Athena''s face that only the trio were able to see.


    She tossed the object inside her mouth and started chewing.


    Meanwhile...


    "This fucking bitch had the guts to insult him while we are here..." Ren kept going on and on.


    And...


    Athena didn''t mind at all and continued her lecture.


    The whole front row looked at her in bafflement.


    What was this kind of favoritism?


    If only they knew, Amon thought.

 Chapter 113: The Trip [2]

    Chapter 113: The Trip [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon stepped out of his home. It was finally the day of the trip.


    He bid farewell to Katherine and Lily for thest time.


    The next time he would see them would be one weekter.


    He was wearing a pitch-ck overcoat with a ck turtleneck right now.


    Along with blue jeans and white sneakers. Though he was wearing too much ck, he didn''t mind it.


    It was his favorite color. And ck was also a good absorber of heat so that was good for him. Heading to the entrance gates, Amon found his whole ss assembled at the gates.


    He looked at his watch. It was early 8 in the morning.


    The students rushed here and there, trying to find their pair.


    Amon looked at his watch, confirming his pair onest time.


    They had already confirmed a meeting point so Amon was currently waiting for her to arrive.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t long before she came.


    "Good Morning." He heard a crisp, elegant voice from behind.


    Turning around, Amon saw Alya standing with a slight smile.


    She was dressed in a thick brown coat with a white turtleneck and brown winter boots. He nodded.


    "Greetings, Alya." He greeted in a casual tone.


    Yes, over the week, except Liliana, all of them had gotten along well and started to converse casually with each other.


    They still weren''t at the point of being close friends but it was a good in their friendship.


    Ren and Liliana could often be seen beefing with each other.


    Nevertheless, all of them were getting along well.


    Amon was satisfied. This was his main goal all along and the only reason he was following the plot.


    He had to unite the back two quickly with the front four. The faster he did, the better.


    And fortunately, he did it long before they actually got together.


    The person who had asked Arthur to do this was actually him.


    He asked for this favor for beating Daniel and the man easily agreed.


    He didn''t care about rules or ranks so there wasn''t any problem on his part.


    A cold wind passed through their area, making Amon''s hair fly.


    It was early September and the start of Autumn.


    The cold was starting to kick in, even at the academy.


    He looked at the clear grey sky.


    ''I still miss her, if only she was here...'' It had been 2 weeks since Zephyra ever appeared.


    He felt nostalgic looking at this clear grey sky.


    He almost used to see this with her when heading out of home with her.


    Amon really missed her.


    Focusing his attention back to Alya, he suggested.


    "Shall we go?" He asked and she nodded.


    Yes, she was his partner for this trip.


    Though it was someone else in the novel, he didn''t particrly care.


    Fuck the plotline now. If he didn''t intend to follow it before, he couldn''t even do it now. Amon literally remembered nothing about what would happen in this arc.


    He shrugged internally, He would just make his own plot now that they were all together.


    They arrived in arge space near the entrance gates, they were all standing there. Murmurs and talks kept breaking out between kids.


    "Hey!"


    "Yo!"


    Amon and Alya looked to the side, finding Elizabeth, Charlotte, Ren, and Michaeling toward them.


    Alya smiled and greeted them.


    "Yo, good morning!" She waved her hand with enthusiasm.


    Because of her true jolly personality, she got a lot better with Ren than anyone else.


    So both of them called each other like pals.


    "You guys excited for the trip?" Charlotte asked.


    Michael nodded.


    "I''m excited for the missions that they will give us!"


    Elizabeth nodded as well.


    "I really want to learn how they operate in that cold environment."


    Ren shrugged.


    "I don''t particrly care about the missions and all but..."


    He smirked.


    "Since it''s a trip, I brought cards to y."


    He brought out a pack of cards.


    "Nice! Let''s go!" Alya cheered as she patted him on his back.


    "Hehe." They started to show each other cards.


    The remaining trio sighed tiringly at their exuberance.


    "Well, do you guys want to meet up for an outing?" Elizabeth asked.


    She was partnered with Michael and Amon could see how relieved she was.


    Not only was he good-natured and had pure intentions, but Elizabeth also couldn''t handle


    the casual cursing attitude of Ren.


    All of them nodded. There wasn''t much of a problem with it.


    While others talked, Amon''s eyes traveled to the other side of the crowd.


    There, he found the striking green hair beauty, emitting her usual cold attitude as usual.


    However, Amon could tell from the constant twitch of her mouth that she was pissed.


    She was paired with Adam. And though he was a noble, he was sozy that it made her puke at


    his attitude.


    In any case, it wasn''t his issue.


    His eyes focused forward, where Athena suddenly appeared.


    "Greetings everyone, as you all know, we are all gathered here today to proceed with the trip,


    so let''s not waste time."


    She pped, garnering everyone''s attention.


    "The details of the trip were already given that day in the lecture, however, further details


    and the areas of the location will be exined when we arrive there." She exined.


    Everyone nodded.


    Nodding back, she pped her hands one more time.


    "Good, let''s get on with it then."


    Suddenly, the circr area where they all were standing lit up in a purple-grey light, covering


    them all.


    ''A mass teleportation array.'' Amon noticed.


    It was simr to the one he had seen in Dungeon Dreamers, but muchrger and more


    complex.


    In the next moment, all of them disappeared.


    ***


    Amon opened his eyes, and found himself standing at the end of the crowd which was now


    standing in front ofrge medieval gates.


    They were the gates of the town nearby the research institute.


    A chilling wind passed through the area, making everyone shudder.


    The whole area was nketed in snow, showing how cold it was.


    Inside, the town was bustling with activity as everyone headed to their daily jobs with some


    of them weing the students.


    Everyone started to move forward, following Athena.


    Alya also moved forward, throwing him a nce with a smile.


    "Let''s go." She reminded him.


    Nodding, he stepped forward.


    However, suddenly, his vision blurred and glitched.


    The purple cracks shone through his bandages.


    Fortunately, they weren''t seen by Alya because of the overcoat sleeves.


    Amon massaged his temples as his head throbbed with a terrifying pain.


    His vision blurred and his surroundings changed as they turnedpletely dark.


    Fast visions started to pass through his eyes as he heard various voices inside his head.


    "Re-surr-ect the great god-"


    He saw a group of people d in cloaks, chanting something.


    The vision changed.


    "Run!"


    The same cloaked people started to run from something.


    Though he couldn''t see what it was.


    Horrifying, glitched, and muffled deep voices entered his ear as he saw flesh being torn apart


    and crunched down.


    It made his whole body shudder and sweat with a terrifying intensity.


    An echoing and harrowing chuckle entered his ear as every hair on his body stood up.


    And then, a blurring and horrifying voice entered his ears.


    "I''ll t-tear t-hat smile off of your face!"


    His eyes widened as his body started to convulse with fear at the voice.


    Before suddenly, the dark surroundings faded away and he found himself back in the area.


    He was sweating buckets with his turtleneck and overcoat fully drenched in sweat.


    He saw Alya looking at him with confusion and a tinge of worriedness.


    However, he couldn''t worry about that right now.


    "Amon.." She pointed out, gesturing at his body.


    "Your body..."


    His eyes widened and he looked at his body.


    "It''s trembling."


    It was. His body shivered fast and he couldn''t even control it.


    The voice kept echoing inside his head and he shivered more.


    Amon shivered from fear.

 Chapter 114: A Smile Lost In Time [1]

    Chapter 114: A Smile Lost In Time [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s whole being was shivering with fear.


    His thick clothes were drenched in sweat, and his eyes were widened.


    He looked at himself, engulfed in uncontroble trembling.


    "Amon? Are you good?" she asked.


    He flinched at her voice and quickly looked up.


    Composing himself to some degree, he nodded with a slight smile.


    "I''m sorry, the spatial travel is affecting my body. Go ahead, I''ll catch up in some minutes." He apologized.


    She looked at him for a few seconds before nodding.


    It wasn''t umon to feel unusual after spatial travel so she didn''t think anything of it.


    "I''ll wait for you ahead of where the students are assembled." She informed before starting to walk away.


    He stood still, watching her departing back while biting his lip to suppress the shivering.


    As soon as her silhouette faded away from view, he exhaled heavily before taking several more gasps.


    After some seconds, he finally calmed down before settling down on a cobblestone bench in the wooden shelter.


    ''The fuck happened?'' He questioned himself.


    But he more or less had an idea of what happened.


    Rolling up his sleeves, he secretly unwrapped the bandages on his arms.


    As they came off, his eyes widened more.


    The cracks on his arms...


    They had reduced by arge amount.


    There were only somerge and minor ones left now.


    However, the purple energy that held them together was much fainter now.


    He knew what happened.


    All this time that Zephyra had spent trying to patch up his body, it finally worked.


    The cracks had sealed up and his memories returned to some extent.


    The visions he saw were the memories that he lost of this arc.


    Of what was going to happen in this arc.


    But after patching up his body and memories, the energy had turned into a fainter shade. Zephyra had probably gone into a hibernation or tired state.


    Which meant that the next time his body would be fixed, it was going to be after a long time.


    He sighed. It seems that he was going to need to do this arc without any knowledge.


    Even if he didn''t intend to follow the plot, the future knowledge helped him in many ways.


    In any case, he couldn''t do anything about it.


    He had nothing to start with as of right now.


    For the memories he just got...


    They were more or less close to useless.


    They gave him nothing but just a bunch of outfits and creepy voices. Yes, they were hints.


    But very vague.


    All he could do was work his way around and hope to find some clues.


    Taking a final exhale, he stood up and headed out of the shelter.


    As he stepped out of the shelter, he opened his system interface.


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    Leaves:?0000000¡Á


    VIT: ? ? ?¡Ö


    STR: ? ? ? ?


    AGI: ? ? ?


    END:???


    INT: << ? ? ?¡Ö


    He was surprised.


    After the Daniel incident, all his stats except [VIT] and [STR] had increased by one point.


    This was also a reason why all that torture and self-harm was worth it.


    If he could get stronger by inflicting pain on himself, then he was all in for it.


    In fact, before the incident, he used the threads and decay on himself.


    And to his surprise, they actually increased his [Endurance] and [Vitality].


    But it was such a minor increase that he didn''t pay much mind to it.


    He didn''t have enough time anyway.


    And after that incident, he never used [Void] because of Zephyra.


    He never used that element after learning it hurt her.


    But his surprise right now was because the sealing of cracks had just increased his [Vitality].


    And if he focused on it, yes, it did increase. He could feel that his body and spirit were


    invigorated.


    He failed to notice before because of the deep fear that was etched in his body.


    Next, he opened up his [Levels] screen.


    [VOID]: Level 2**? ? ? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ?


    [LGHTNG]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ?


    [SOUND]: Level 1? ? ?


    [CRYSTAL]: Level 1 ? ?


    There wasn''t any change in it.


    [Void] and [Crystal] had increased by one point during the Daniel fight.


    As for the other elements, he leveled them up in the personal training room of her sister.


    He still wasn''t ready to use his [System Reward] and integrate Lightning with Blood.


    After further analysis, he got to know that the loss in his [Blood] element was only about


    20%.


    Yes, it was quite weak right now. But after leveling it enough, he could do many things with it.


    However, if he ever got into a pinch, he wouldn''t mind using the integration.


    He just wanted to see the best output he could get from the elements.


    Done with the changes in his body, he closed the system.


    It was surprising that he got no quests from the system for this arc.


    Were the quests only given because he knew about the future?


    It was surely possible.


    Considering he knew nothing about the fut-


    An interface opened up in front of him.


    ======[QUEST]======


    Objective: Resolve the ??? incident


    Time Limit: 7 Days


    Reward: [Body Curation] [Curation of Zephyra]


    Penalty: [Death of Zephyra] [Removal of Void]


    Status: [Do you ept? Y/N]


    Amon looked at the quest in disbelief.


    ''The fuck?''


    ''Resolve ???, !?''


    How was he supposed to resolve something when he didn''t even know what it was?


    Seeing the time limit of the quest, it was certain that the incident would take ce in the 7


    days of this trip.


    The system never gave a quest that was supposed to ur outside of the time limit.


    He didn''t know what he was supposed to do.


    He wasn''t sure he could resolve it in the 7 days without a single clue.


    But...


    The rewards were tempting.


    He didn''t know how long it would take for him to get his body back in shape.


    But even more than that, he wanted to see Zephyra again.


    He didn''t want to meet her after a long time.


    But...


    The rewards were cruel as well. If he failed, then he was done for.


    At least without epting, he could see her after some months.


    Thinking about it while standing in the same spot for a long, Amon made his decision.


    [ept]...


    [Quest epted!] The interface closed and another one popped up.


    He sighed.


    The rewards...he needed them.


    With the condition his body was in currently, he was going to die in the future months


    anyway.


    So in both ways, he was dying. Much better to choose the path where he actually had a chance.


    And also because he wanted to see her again but that was something that he thought


    emotionally not logically.


    He sighed for the umpteenth time that day.


    This day had just started out and it was already tiring for him.


    Composing his thoughts, he dashed towards where the students were gathered.


    ***


    Coming to where they were gathered, he saw them all listening to Athena who was standing


    on a small tform.


    It didn''t take him long to find Alya.


    She was standing with Elizabeth and the other people.


    "I''m back." He said, walking toward them.


    Their heads snapped toward him.


    Ren raised a hand.


    "Yo, bro! I heard you got a little sick from the teleportation."


    Amon nodded.


    "Are you good now?" He saw Charlotte ask.


    "Yeah, I only needed to calm down for some minutes."


    Charlotte and Elizabeth nodded after confirming he was okay.


    "We are d that you are ba-"


    "But bro, weren''t you fine in the FULL-" Ren interrupted Alya''s sentence but was quickly shot


    down by a punch on his face from Amon.


    Hey on the ground, holding his cheek.


    "What was that for!?" He asked, massaging his cheek.


    Amon ignored him and nodded to Alya.


    They all then got engrossed in Athena''s lecture,pletely forgetting Ren on the ground.


    Fortunately, Charlotte quickly bent down to help him.


    Amon''s eye moved to the corner, finding Ren basking in the warm care of Charlotte.


    "What a yboy." He mumbled silently as his mouth twitched.


    It wasn''t heard by any of them except Ren, who was lying just beside him.


    Ren, hearing his words, looked at him and winked secretly.


    Amon was baffled at his response.


    He was about to look back when suddenly an earthen tform erupted from beneath him.


    It was extremely small but was enough to throw off the bnce of Amon.


    He fell to the ground face t.


    All of them looked at him as hey there t in the snow.


    Ren erupted inughter and pushed Amon''s head further into the snow,


    "Hahahahaha, suck this dirt you rotten fucker." He cursed.


    Amon clenched his fists and grabbed his head, burying it back in the snow.


    He shoved it in hard.


    Suddenly, he realized that everything had gone silent around him.


    He stuttered, seeing a shadow behind him.


    As he turned, he saw a monotonous Athena standing over them both with a vein throbbing on


    her head.


    Both of them stiffened.


    Ren looked at her with a mockingugh.


    "Come on sis, no need to be mad. I''ll get you a gumter."


    Amon''s jaw dropped as he quickly got away from Ren.


    It was fortunate because, in the next moment, Athena grabbed Ren''s hair and disappeared.


    But everyone could see that she was mad.


    And Ren...


    Well, he was done for.


    Every student broke out inughter.


    Even Amon couldn''t help butugh while sitting in the snow.


    As he was about to stand up, his gaze passed through all the students who were currently


    laughing beside him.


    They were all grabbing their stomachs and chuckling orughing.


    However, his gaze suddenly stopped.


    Far off into the distance, was a female student that stood still, staring at him.


    She was wearing the academy uniform andpletely separated from the others.


    She was standing all alone. However, that wasn''t the point.


    She was staring directly at him through the small space between the bodies of the students.


    And her face...


    Had a smile.


    A smile widened to the point that it gave Amon chills and creeps.


    Every hair on his body stood on end as he stared at the horrifying smile.


    The girl''s body started to rot into a ck mushy mess and her eyeballs popped out.


    Her skin started to rot and fall off, revealing her grotesque ck insides.


    However, that smile never faded away.


    It kept locked to him..


    All of a sudden, his body started to shiver as everything withered away except the smile.


    It was a harrowing smile...


    Sorry, but only one chapter today.


    College was extremely tiring and I was unable to find the time to write 2 chapters.


    So I wrote an extremely long chapter.


    I hope you guys understand and this satisfies you.


    Thank you for reading this novel.

 Chapter 115: Walk Through The Town [1]

    Chapter 115: Walk Through The Town [1]


    ?


    Chills traveled through Amon''s body.


    He retreated back a few steps in fear.


    "Amon? You good?" He heard a familiar voice from the side.


    It was Michael.


    His face turned to see him.


    A scream came out of his mouth as his expression turned more horrified.


    Michael, Alya, Elizabeth and everyone.


    They were smiling widely at him just like the girl.


    Amon quickly shot back into the snow to escape them. "Amon!"


    The sudden shout made him flinch and his eyes blinked.


    He looked back at Elizabeth, who shouted his name a second ago.


    She was looking at him with worry.


    No, all of them were looking at him with worry.


    Those smiles...


    They had vanished.


    His head sharply turned back, ignoring Elizabeth.


    That girl...


    She wasn''t there anymore.


    Then he immediately cocked his head back to the students.


    The one''s that didn''t know him looked at him weirdly, as if they thought he had gone insane.


    Amon stared at them with widened eyes, words unable toe out of his mouth.


    "Your face....You like you have seen a ghost." Alya pointed out.


    Yes.


    He had seen a ghost...


    Surely, it was just a hallucination...


    But he knew it wasn''t.


    He wished it was but he knew it wasn''t.


    "And your body is trembling..." Charlotte continued.


    Amon''s gaze wandered to his body.


    He looked at his hands, that trembled harder than even before.


    His teeth ttered against each other as he was unable to utter out a word.


    There was not an ounce of blood in his body...


    Yet he felt his heart hammering against his chest so hard that it felt like it would break out.


    These were the same symptoms from before...


    "You good?" Michael asked, once more.


    Amon suppressed his trembling to some extent.


    He looked back at them and forced a smile.


    "Yeah, I''m good. I just felt my leg being grabbed in the snow so it freaked me out."


    He raised it from the pile of snow, showing he was fine.


    Elizabeth and Michael frowned.


    It was evident that they didn''t seem to buy it.


    But before they could say anything, Charlotte chuckled.


    "You really had me worried..."


    Alya sighed.


    "The spatial travel might still be messing with your brain."


    Amonughed and scratched his head.


    "Yeah, it seems like that." He stood up.


    "But-" Elizabeth was about to say something when Athena came back.


    All eyes focused back on her.


    "In any case, you guys can wander around for now..further details shall be given tomorrow where we will visit the center."


    Everyone nodded.


    "As for your aodations, this town doesn''t have many good ces for you to stay considering not manye here." She pointed out.


    "For that, there are 4 Imperial Units stationed here around the perimeter of the camp. You will be distributed ordingly among them in an hour."


    She exined.


    "The list will arrive on your watches in an hour."


    "And as for the Practical students, your missions shall be sent to your watches soon."


    Amon nodded.


    He understood now what the practical students were supposed to do while the theoretical


    students were being briefed on the research center.


    The missions were supposed to be held in this town.


    Because for town that was old and this tiny, there were certainly some shady activities going


    on.


    Especially so because the Imperiac hadpletely given up on this town.


    Many conflicts usually brewed up at the border which also harmed this town.


    Not many people visited it for this reason.


    So rather than constructing a damaged old town again and again, they chose to focus their


    efforts on the


    tute instead


    Especially so, when the Institute wasn''t far from the ck Tear.


    The ck Tear was a sea of shadow monsters that separated The Exloria Kingdom from its


    neighbors.


    Because of that trade andmunication was difficult between the East Continent and West, which only had Exloria.


    It was also because of this that many minor conflicts arose between the neighbors.


    It was called ''The ck Tear'' because from an aerial point of view, it looked to be arge ck sh that tore through the continent.


    It was created 200 years ago by the then ck Star, a position in this Kingdom, currently held


    by Lilith Ravencroft.


    Moving back to the present situation, the students dispersed in the form of groups.


    He looked around and instantly found Alya, who was headed toward him.


    "Hey." He waved.


    She waved back.


    "Hey. I hope you are doing well now." Alya asked.


    He nodded.


    "Yeah, it was only temporarily messing with my head. I think it''s good now."


    She shed a small smile.


    "That''s good. Want to scout the town?" she asked.


    Amon nodded.


    "Sure."


    Both of them started to walk through the streets.


    They appeared to be bustling with activity.


    But this ''bustling'' was the bustling you''d see in the ck Market.


    There were obvious tiny hints of distrust, greed, and envy in their eyes.


    It was minor enough so nobody would notice but for someone who had been enough times in


    the ck Market, Amon could see it clearly.


    All of a sudden, a child collided with Alya from the side.


    She was about to trip but Amon quickly bnced her by grabbing her shoulder.


    The child didn''t pay any mind and ran past the duo.


    ''Not today kid.''


    A blob of blood manifested beside Amon that quickly shot toward the boy in the form of two


    threads.


    Before he could run far, they wrapped around his ankles and yanked him back through the air.


    Alya stared at what Amon was doing, wide-eyed.


    "Amon, I''m good. There''s no nee-"


    He cut her off.


    "There is."


    The boy was brought back to them, suspended mid-air, his body upside down.


    Alya red at Amon now.


    "Amon! That''s-" He ignored her and started bobbing the boy up and down in the air.


    Alya was about to say something again when suddenly, she saw something falling in her


    peripheral vision.


    As her head turned, she saw her royal ring and several other artifacts fall on the surface of a


    hand made of blood.


    Amon brought the hand near Alya where she picked them up into her hand.


    "This isn''t a town of innocent people, Alya." He started.


    He delivered a small cut to the boy''s ankles and threw him forward.


    "This is a den of vipers." He reminded her.

 Chapter 116: Walk Through The Town [2]

    Chapter 116: Walk Through The Town [2]


    ?


    ***


    "I-" Alya was unable to say anything.


    It was understandable.


    For someone who had grown up in an advanced and developed society, this must be quite a shocker to her.


    Especially so, when this was a town under the reign of her family.


    She, who thought that the whole continent was developed and happy under the reign of Lancasters, was having a major revtion right now.


    And this was good.


    As someone who was going to be the future queen of the Kingdom, she needed to understand this.


    There was no fully developed society where everyone was happy and rich.


    There was always a dark and poverty stricken part of it.


    Where there is light, there will always be a shadow cast by it.


    The only rulers who reign sessfully are the ones that are able to see both parts. The light and the shadow.


    And this was what Alya was seeing right now.


    She was 18. If there was ever a time for her to see these cruel things, it was now.


    Composing her shock, she looked at Amon and nodded.


    "I understand." She clutched her things.


    Amon was satisfied that his n worked when he saw her new resolute eyes.


    She was still a little conflicted but that would fade over time.


    As they explored the town further, they came across arge wooden building.


    Nino''s Casino. A sign hanging by the roof said.


    They both looked at it with intrigue.


    He wasn''t surprised that casinos existed in this world.


    Amon had alreadye to terms with the fact that this world was a mix of medievalism and modernism.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t much of a gambling person so he wasn''t interested.


    Well, he knew one person who was an addict at it.


    His eyes moved to the corner where Alya stood, an excited look on her face.


    Despite being a princess, due to her jolly and fun loving attitude, she often used to go to the big casinos in the capital city.


    Most nobles used to go there and she was included with them.


    Though there was an age limit of 18 and 21 in his past world, this world was quite lenient in its rules andws.


    Just the legalization of ve trading was enough to give an idea to a person.


    As Alya was about to say something, both of their watches vibrated with a ping.


    It was probably the mission notice.


    He quickly opened up his watch to see.


    And there it was.


    Team: Amon Ashford: Alya Von Lancaster


    Mission: Assassinate the Head of Nino Casinos.


    Amon stifled a chuckle.


    ''Welp, there goes her excitement...''


    Jokes aside, the mission notification was verypact.


    There were no specific methods or details that would make it overwhelming.


    However, just the first word spoke miles about how cruel the academy was. They needed to kill.


    And not just a monster, but an actual human being.


    He needed to remind himself again of how cruel this world could be.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t much of a problem for both of them.


    Amon had already gotten used to killing humans. It wasn''t much of a problem for him as long as the reason was enough for them to earn it.


    He looked at Alya, who had a disappointed look on her face.


    She was probablymenting over the fact that she couldn''t gamble rather than killing the


    head.


    For a royal princess that had to take the throne one day, the Imperiac made sure that she wouldn''t hesitate in killing.


    They made her kill captured criminals in the royal prison countless times as a kid.


    So many times that she had probably grown numb to killing them now.


    The Imperiac was ruthless through and through.


    Amon sighed.


    "When are we going to do this mission then?" He asked Alya.


    Alya turned to look at him, surprised.


    "You don''t have a problem with killing someone?" She asked.


    Amon shook his head.


    "Well, my parents work as high ranking prison guards in the capital, so I had to kill criminals


    many times." He exined.


    "Oh...I see." She nodded.


    He had bullshitted all that.


    But he never knew about his background as he never had the time to investigate.


    And he doubted Alya ever had the time to investigate a random boy''s background as well.


    But considering the expensive clothes he wore, and his sister''s high ranking, she would surely


    buy his bluff.


    And she did.


    Thankfully.


    "How about at night?" she asked.


    Amon nodded.


    "Sure, we should scout the location and investigate the target first."


    Alya nodded back.


    There was a small attachment file with the mission notification.


    It had all the data records of the target they were supposed to kill.


    Apparently, his name was Nino Sherman.


    He was a burly man in his mid thirties with shaggy brown hair and dirty brown eyes to match


    them.


    Nino was also a 3rd order Earth Clovist.


    He managed his gambling den all day long before going to a prostitution center at night.


    He would stay there from 11PM to 2AM beforeing back home to sleep.


    "What do you think we should do?" Alya asked.


    "We should hunt him down at the prostitution club."


    Alya raised her brows.


    "Not at home?"


    Amon shook his head.


    "As someone who owns arge gambling den, he would also certainly be rich enough to hire some guards at his home. This would just make our job more difficult and we have a higher


    risk of getting caught."


    He exined.


    Pondering on it, Alya subtly nodded.


    "That''s true. There''s also the fact that his guard would be lowered at the prostitution center because he would be enveloped in pleasure." She pointed out.


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah, exactly."


    It was a little weird to see her talk about ''that'' so easily but he ignored it. "While yes, the guards would also be at the prostitution center, but we have a much better chance there considering that they are quite low ranked." He exined.


    The prostitution center he went to wasn''t arge one so the security was pretty weak.


    It didn''t have to do with the fact that he couldn''t or didn''t want to go to a bigger one.


    It was because the center he went to was the best the town had to offer.


    Alya bobbed her head up and down, agreeing with him.


    "Alright, let''s go with this. Let''s scout the location first." She mmed her first on her palm.


    She had a bright and excited smile on her face.


    Alya was showing her true self to Amon right now.


    Thetter nodded.


    "Sure, let''s go."

 Chapter 117: The Camp and Institute [1]

    Chapter 117: The Camp and Institute [1]


    ?


    After taking their walk through the city, they arrived back at the location where they had previously gathered.


    Alya and Amon soon met up with Elizabeth and Michael.


    Charlotte and Ren were nowhere to be seen yet.


    "Yo, you got a mission?" Amon greeted Michael.


    Alya also started talking with Elizabeth on the side.


    Despite them getting acquainted with each other for over a week, there was still awkwardness between Michael and Alya.


    Both were unable tomunicate without stammers and pauses.


    Amon sighed internally looking at Alya sneaking some nces at Michael from the corner of her eye.


    It was evident that they both wanted to talk to each other freely but that years of distance prevented them from doing so.


    "Yeah, need to k-kill someone." Michael informed, hiding his forced smile and stammer. Amon nodded.


    Unlike Alya, Michael was still not used to the idea of killing.


    As a Prince who was meant to seed the throne at first, he too had to kill many criminals.


    But each time he either passed out or was unable to.


    This became a big headache for the Imperiac.


    Fortunately, they were saved by the high ranked talent of Alya which put her as the one to seed the throne.


    Of course Michael''s parents still loved him, but they had to do this for the sake of the empire.


    And the former wasn''t against it either like Amon said before.


    His whole life, he had been pushing Alya to the spotlight.


    But...


    Michael''s mindset would change with this mission hopefully.


    Amon didn''t know what would happen to him in this arc.


    But in the other memories of the future, there was an obvious change in his mindset after this


    arc.


    And seeing that he had to kill the head of a ve trading house, Amon could pretty much guess the cause of his change.


    Executing criminals who you didn''t see doing their things and executing them after seeing what they are doing are two different things.


    And this was what would help Michael to change himself.


    "I see. Goodluck." Amon patted his back.


    It wasn''t long before Charlotte and Ren came back as well.


    Apparently, they had to destroy some drug operation so it took longer for them to scout.


    It wasn''t anything major though.


    After everyone had assembled, Athena quickly appeared with 4 other people.


    "Here, I have 4 guides from each camp. The one who calls out your name, please proceed to that person."


    Everyone nodded.


    "Also, being in a group doesn''t mean you and they will end up in the same camp. Please remember that." She reminded everyone.


    Nodding, the guides soon began to call out the names of everyone.


    "Reba Stetson..." The first guide called out and a frail girl with brown hair quickly headed


    over.


    Then every guide started calling out names.


    It wasn''t long before Amon was called out as well.


    He headed over to the man that called him out.


    He was wearing a ck uniform with a golden badge strapped on the right arm.


    The badge had a small ck spear engraved on it with the head of it in gold.


    "You are under the care of the Spearhead Unit now." The man informed Amon.


    He had a proud look on his youthful but pimpled face with brown hair.


    It seemed to be that he was expecting some sort of surprised or happy reaction from him.


    Unfortunately, Amon just nodded.


    The man''s mouth twitched subtly.


    "In any case, my name is Dn Jones. I''ll be your guide around the research camp and unit buildings when we go for a tour. Please stand behind me."


    He gestured behind him with a pencil.


    Amon nodded and quickly headed there.


    With some stroke of luck, there were Elizabeth and Alya in his group.


    He thought to head over to where they were conversing but then stopped.


    He had more important things to think of currently.


    Such as...


    What was ''that''.


    He couldn''t describe what it was as he simply had no idea.


    All he knew was the deeply etched image in his mind.


    The image...


    Of that smile.


    The girl. Her face. That stretched out smile.


    It gave him such an eerie feeling and made shivers go down his spine.


    Her eyes were there but Amon felt them to bepletely hollow. Devoid of control.


    He shivered at his spot by just thinking about it.


    The same three words kept echoing in his mind after that incident.


    Those words were...


    The Harrowing Smile.


    He couldn''t get them out of his head no matter how hard he tried.


    They kept haunting him with that picture.


    Amon sighed.


    He didn''t know what to think of it right now.


    He had no information or clue about the situation.


    There was one hope though...


    The libraries at the institute and camp.


    They were the only ces that could give a shred of help to him.


    It wasn''t long before Dn was done.


    He came back to address them for a few seconds and then asked to follow them.


    The other groups also started to move along with them, following their guide.


    As they got out of town and headed inside a forest, Amon saw arge wall in the distance after


    5 minutes.


    At that point, the guides stopped.


    "Some small level creatures tend to escape somehow from the ck Tear. Then they end up in this forest and over the years it has be a base of sorts for them." Dn exined to


    them. "Even the weakest creature here is mid-3rd order and can harm the research facility or camp. This is why you see therge wall in the distance." He gestured toward it.


    "If we go any further in this forest, we will get attacked by those monsters. So, for that


    reason, we will now teleport." He informed them and took out a stone.


    It looked to be a small sharp piece of rock but it was glowing purple.


    Amon knew what it was.


    They were Spatial Travel Stones.


    You could usually find them in dungeons where they were loaded with the spatial energy.


    You could set coordinates to those stones and then by breaking the rock, you would teleport


    to that location.


    The more spatial mana was infused in the rock, the more people could simultaneously


    teleport.


    The rock he currently held in his hand was shining so brightly that Amon knew it wasn''t


    obtained in the dungeon.


    These types of rocks were so rare that they only belonged to the higher ups.


    Because of that, Amon knew it was Athena who made them.


    Throwing the rock on the ground, it broke in half with a snap.


    Instantly, a magic array appeared on the ground before purple magic energy started to swirl


    around the student body.


    And within some seconds, they all disappeared into thin air with a snap.

 Chapter 118: The Camp and Institute [2]

    Chapter 118: The Camp and Institute [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s senses distorted as his vision blurred.


    His body felt weird.


    After some seconds, the feeling finally faded and he opened his eyes.


    Right in front of him, was a vast circr expanse.


    Several buildings lined up along with therge circr perimeter of the stone walls.


    His gaze moved to the walls.


    They stretched up to 10 meters in the air.


    However, the main attention was in the front.


    In the snowy expanse, r paths separated from each direction of the parameter and stretched toward the center of the circle.


    Between the paths was dark murky ck water that headed toward the center.


    Arge translucent colored barrier covered the whole center, its boundary starting from middle of the pathways.


    If there was pure cold snowy atmosphere before the barrier, then inside it was a weather straight out of a horror movie.


    Dark ck murky waters, withered away trees, toxic green fog, and dark clouds.


    The transition of atmosphere outside and inside, was shocking to say the least.


    But even in that seemingly pollution filled atmosphere, a grand white building stood tall.


    Shaped like arge footfall dome, its giant white majestic walls stood tall without a crack or wither.


    Its presence stood out from everything in the area.


    Breaking all of them, out of their reverie, was the guide''s voice.


    "Alright, we are all here." He pped.


    Everyone looked at Dn.


    From the corner of his eye, Amon also noticed the other groups that appeared far away from them.


    Amon''s group had spawned right in the south of the perimeter.


    The other groups spawned in the west, east, and north of the perimeter respectively.


    "Every Unit upies one direction of the perimeter. We upy the south." Dn exined and everyone nodded.


    "There are 3 parts to every Unit area. To your left, is your amodations. Where you are standing right now, in the middle, is the facilitation area. And to your right, is the Unit administration area." Dn gestured in all three directions.


    "No cadet is allowed to step in the administration area except a member of the Unit. It''s strictly prohibited. Remember that." He raised a finger.


    Everyone nodded.


    "And to your center, is the research facility. It''s where the main tour will take ce. Because of the influence of the ck Tear and many usage of mana cores, there is a lot of infectious air emitted by the facility that can harm even clovists and armenists."


    Everyone''s gaze moved to the facility.


    This was something new for Amon.


    So that''s why it''s enclosed within a barrier, Amon thought.


    And the next words from Dn confirmed his thoughts.


    "The air enclosed within that barrier is enough to dry out your mana within minutes and kill you afterwards. The water and the trees are evidence of this fact. And so, the barrier is here for that purpose."


    Amon nodded.


    This was going to be quite a major problem for him.


    Because despite his elements and their good levels, his mana capacity was stillcking.


    If not careful, then was done for as well.


    Or maybe not.


    It depended on whether the air affected you through your bloodstream or mana pathways.


    If it was the former, then he had nothing to worry about.


    But iftter, then yes, he was fucked.


    "You can visit other Units, that''s not a problem. Take those small pathways for that." He gestured.


    They nodded for the umpteenth time.


    "In any case, I won''t take much of your time now. Remember to never go to the administration area. Do not go past the barrier in any case whatsoever."


    Amon''s brows raised at his final sentence.


    So the barrier was only capable of blocking the gas but not people.


    At least that''s what it seemed like from his words.


    "The tour will take ce tomorrow afternoon. You can rest or do whatever for today. Those who have their missions can take their leaving stones from me."


    Everyone nodded.


    "The training to not get affected by the air will take ce tomorrow morning. Remember to


    be awake at 7."


    "Any more questions?" He asked.


    Everyone remained silent.


    He had pretty much exined what needed to be told.


    Amon was silent as well.


    There was nothing he wanted to-


    He suddenly remembered something.


    "Okay, I guess no one-" Dn was about to p his hands again when he saw a hand raised at


    the far end of the group.


    He tilted his head to get a better view.


    "Yes?" He asked, looking at Amon.


    "Excuse me, yes, thank you for looking."


    "Hmmm?"


    Everyone also looked at him.


    "Can I ask if there is a library?" Amon questioned.


    Dn''s expression contorted into an ''o'' shape.


    "Oh, yes. There are."


    He gestured to a medium sized building in the distance.


    "There, that is the general library. Every Unit area has an exact same one in the facilitation area."


    Amon nodded.


    "I see."


    There are more advanced ones in the administration areas but for that, you need the


    permission of the Unitmander.


    And then there is the head library in the research center, though for that, you need the permission of the Head Imperial Researcher." He exined.


    Amon nodded.


    "Okay, I got it."


    Affirming with a nod that he exined everything, Dn pped his hands once more.


    "Okay! Now that we are done-"


    He was abruptly cut off by a shrill scream.


    It was so loud that it resounded in everyone''s ear.


    Everyone''s heads turned sharply to the source.


    There, they saw a frail looking girl with ck hair and sses, stepping backwards in fear.


    Her gaze was directed towards her right and everyone followed it.


    And at that moment, everyone''s gazes were also reced with horror and fear as they quickly


    stepped back, creating some distance between the two girls.


    Amon''s eyes also widened.


    The girl in question was a normal cadet with a thin body.


    Her name was...


    Reba Stetson. Maybe.


    But it was her expression.


    Or more urately...


    Her smile.


    It was stretched wide and far.


    Her eyes werepletely hollow.


    Drip...


    drip...


    drip...


    The sound of a liquid falling on the ground was heard in the tense silence.


    And it was...


    The girl''s blood.


    A knife was stabbed in her head and blood gushed out of her head relentlessly.


    For just a subtle moment, her eyes moved.


    They connected directly with Amon''s gaze.


    But. Blink.


    And her gaze was back at front.


    Amon took a step back in fear and everyone screamed, retreating further back.


    His heart hammered against his chest and his body started shivering uncontrobly.


    His knees buckled as he stumbled because of the ever increasing fear inside him.


    All of a sudden, the girl moved.


    Her right hand...


    It slowly rose into the air.


    And she grabbed the handle of the knife.


    Right in front of everyone''s eyes, she started pulling down on the knife.


    Squelch...Squelch...Squelch


    Everyone screamed and closed their eyes.


    They wanted to do something but their bodies refused to do so in fear.


    The knife slowly started dragging down her ear, cutting it.


    Large amounts of blood and pieces or flesh fell on the ground.


    It went down to her cheek where she further dragged it down from her chin to the neck.


    Squelch...Squelch...Squelch


    Everything was being cut apart as the sound of flesh cutting was heard in the air.


    Drip....drip....drip


    The knife traveled down to her corbone, where she took it down to the middle of her chest.


    Innards and flesh kept falling out.


    Squelch....Drip...Squelch


    And then shepletely cut herself to the bottom of her belly.


    Sshhh....Squelch...Drip...drip


    Large amounts of blood and innards gushed out.


    Her hand left the handle.


    The knife was still embedded deep in the spot of her body which was now cut apart.


    Her smile then morphed into something more sinister...


    Evil and demonic as it spread to the far corners of her cut face.


    And then...


    She fell to the ground, lifeless.

 Chapter 119: The Death [1]

    Chapter 119: The Death [1]


    ?


    Amon stood underneath a lightpole at night.


    The town was eerie silent and dark, with the street only partly illuminated by the soft light of the pole.


    Amon sighed, a white puffing out of his mouth.


    It was bone chilling cold.


    He was waiting for Alya as she had yet to arrive.


    Amon''s mind wandered off to what happened few hours ago.


    He took several deep breaths as he remembered the scene to remain calm.


    Just one second was enough to make him shiver uncontrobly.


    After the girl''s body fell to the ground, everyone were unable to hold in their screams.


    They dispersed in fear and chaos broke out at the Southern Unit.


    The only ones who remained at their spots were Alya, Elizabeth, Amon and a few other nobles.


    But even Amon was unable to control his shivering.


    That meeting of their eyes.


    It sent fear sparking through his body.


    He felt as if every pain that girl inflicted on herself was being sent to him as well.


    His knees buckled and he had barely kept himself standing.


    The girl was quickly taken to the infirmary and the one she smiled at was taken for interrogation.


    Minutes after, it was confirmed that the girl was dead.


    Reba Stetson, someone he never knew but was someone''s life and joy, was dead. Just like that.


    This was the first death in their batch since the start.


    And for some reason, Amon wasn''t affected by it that much.


    It was something he didn''t expect as well.


    Maybe because he knew in the back of his mind that this was just the starting.


    A starting to an endless amount of deaths.


    But there was something else that made Amon''s heart drop.


    After a person''s death, their limbs and muscles would rx after some minutes.


    However, that didn''t happen for the girl.


    Her eyes...


    They never closed.


    They remained open and hollow.


    Her harrowing smile...


    It never faded.


    It remained rigid as ever.


    No matter how much they tried to let it settle down.


    The report had been quickly sent to Athena who would further take care of the matter.


    It was a pretty big matter...


    The death of a student.


    Fortunately, Reba was from a normal family and not a noble one.


    So the Academy wouldn''t face much uproar or bacsh.


    Especially so when the Academy didn''t even have much to do with the trip anyways.


    It wasn''t like the death had happened inside the academy.


    In any case, the trip still wasn''t canceled and it would proceed like it was supposed to.


    There was no visible cause to Reba''s death or any proof that it was the trip that caused that death.


    Because of that, the students calmed down a little and they were told to go rest now and take this off their heads.


    In any case, Amon''s trip to the library was quickly ruined because of this.


    He basically had no idea what it was and why it was happening.


    The Harrowing Smile, he thought.


    That was the only clue he had till now.


    Before he could think further, he heard the subtle sound of footsteps from the side.


    His body immediately tensed, his senses rmed.


    Amon''s head cocked to the respective direction slightly, waiting for the person toe out.


    And then, they did...


    He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a streak of blonde hair.


    It was only Alya.


    But then his expression morphed into fear as she fully came into view.


    She...


    Had a wide smile on her face.


    ***


    Darkness.


    Pure eternal darkness.


    That was all that Zephyra could see at the start.


    After Amon seriously injured herself, she panicked.


    Panicked because she couldn''t afford to lose him.


    She couldn''t afford to lose her Heral-


    No.


    She was being unhonest to herself.


    It wasn''t because she couldn''t afford to lose her herald.


    No.


    Even though that was a part of the matter, no.


    It was because she couldn''t afford to lose Amon.


    That was the honest truth.


    She panicked not because she was going to lose her Herald of Nothingness. No.


    It was because she didn''t want to lose Amon.


    Amon as an actual person and friend rather than her Herald.


    From the moment of her birth, all that repeated inside her head was to kill the Herald of Sun.


    That was literally the only thing that system kept screaming at her.


    She knew who the system was.


    The One Who Must Not Be Named.


    The one who birthed her 24 years ago.


    Aside from the main reason, this was the only reason she existed.


    Did she want to kill the Herald of Sun?


    No.


    Why would she want to kill the herald of her twin brother?


    But did she have to?


    Yes.


    Why did she have to?


    She herself didn''t know. The One Who Defies Almighty had many secrets.


    She wasn''t supposed to ask him anything.


    Of course, she couldn''t kill the herald herself.


    Higher Beings aren''t allowed to interact with Lower Beings.


    There was a grave punishment for doing so.


    Because of that, she had to choose a herald.


    A herald to eliminate to kill the Herald of Sun, something she didn''t want to do.


    Was Amon the first herald?


    No. He wasn''t.


    There were 3 other Heralds before him.


    What happened to them?


    Dead.


    Dead from injuries.


    Dead from madness.


    Dead from insanity.


    They couldn''t handle [Void].


    It never happened.


    And then, he came in...


    The third herald died from insanity and did suicide.


    And the fourth one arrived in her boring life.


    She had grown used to it by now.


    They were all the same. Her life would go like always.


    Even if she wanted them to not kill, they''d either kill at the end or die before it, not listening


    to her.


    It was basically an endless loop for her by now.


    A world of gray and hollow. A Void.


    But from the moment he arrived, something sparked within her.


    He was different. Different from everyone.


    His choices were different. He treated her like an actual person.


    She learnt something from the time that passed with him.


    She learnt to feel something as her gray world was covered in colors.


    Everyday was augh with him as she learnt emotions in her life. That rapid beating of her heart when he chose her...


    It was something new. Her body was doing everything on its own.


    She didn''t even know as it waspletely foreign to her.


    And so gradually, she started to be ''friends'' with him.


    She liked him. He was the reason why she was enjoying it so much.


    So that''s why she couldn''t afford to lose him.


    He was important to her.


    And also...


    Maybe...


    Just maybe...


    He could do it.


    This is chapter from yesterday.

 Chapter 120: The Death [2]

    Chapter 120: The Death [2]


    ?


    ***


    There was a wide smile on Alya''s face.


    Amon took a step back in fear as he saw what happened.


    "Human..." A ripped and wretched voice came out of her mouth, echoing in the cold silence.


    Amon''s heart hammered against his chest as if it was on fire.


    "S-stop b-being so..." Its horrifying voice trailed off at the end as it reached its hand out.


    Or, Alya''s hand out.


    Amon''s head throbbed with a mind breaking pain as he clutched it.


    Pain shot up through his whole body as his vision blurred.


    His breath became haggard as he gasped several times.


    The pain became more and more unbearable as Amon started to lose control of his body.


    His vision started to be white and...


    It was then that it happened.


    His lips twitched without his control.


    And the lips...


    Started to curl upwards.


    Amon''s body became tense as he tried to control himself but all to no avail.


    His lips twitched continuously before they finally curled up into a slight smile.


    But it still didn''t stop there.


    Amon''s body jolted up as he finally got the control back on his arms.


    Alyaughed demonically, her voice glitching.


    His hands brought up to his lips where they started scratching down at them, trying to pull them down.


    But no matter how hard he tried, it didn''t work.


    They curled upwards and upwards until.


    The control on him suddenly vanished.


    The whiteness in front of his eyes disappeared and his mouth finally opened.


    He gasped uncontrobly as he finally got control over his facial muscles.


    The veins on his arms and chests glowed in a mesmerizing amethyst glow, threatening to run rampant.


    His body jolted as pain traveled through every inch of his being.


    He heard a clicking sound from the horrifying entity.


    His head jolted to the source and his eyes blinked.


    And there, in front of him stood Alya, smiling.


    His body tensed again before he suddenly realized that...


    Her cheeks were a little red.


    So, it was a drunken smile.


    Her eyes were also dozing off.


    Amon sighed.


    She was drunk, he realized.


    "Hey A-amon, gurp is it you?" she asked.


    But Amon''s focus wasn''t on that at the moment.


    What was it that he had just experienced?


    Was it an illusion?


    Or did it really happen?


    He felt a shiver crawl down his spine as sweat beaded on his forehead.


    What the fuck had actually happened?


    Amon couldn''t feel pain in his body anymore so it might have been an illusion.


    He was almost tempted to unwrap those bandages and check.


    Unfortunately, Alya was still here.


    He looked up and found her staring at him with embarrassment.


    It seemed that she was fully sober now.


    She scratched her cheek, averting her gaze.


    "Uhh, I apologize. I was too stressed ou-"


    "I don''t mind." Amon stood up.


    She finally looked at him, her crimson eyes glimmering.


    "Oh really?" She beamed.


    "That''s great! Everyone acts awkward around me just cause I''m such a heavy drinker."


    Amon nodded.


    "It''s good. I don''t think it''s bad."


    Alya smiled widely and patted his back.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Nice! Want to go out for drinki-"


    "No." He rejected her t out.


    "Oh." She said, her previous excitement all reced with disappointment.


    He shrugged internally.


    Well, he couldn''t do anything about that.


    It was impossible for him to drink.


    He would never ever do that.


    It was something that he despised from the core of his heart. The reason why his parents died


    in the past life.


    "In any case, shall we leave?" He asked Alya.


    Her body suddenly jolted at his voice as she looked at him.


    She was probably thinking something.


    "Yeah?" she asked, having not heard what he asked.


    "I asked if we should leave?"


    "Oh. Yeah, why not? Let''s go." She gestured in front.


    He nodded back and then both of them simultaneously jumped atop a building.


    ***


    Amon and Alya took the final leap to arge building in front of them.


    Theynded on its roof and stealthily walked to its edge.


    From there, they quickly surveyed the small building below them.


    They had already scouted it before but it didn''t hurt to be precautious.


    It was a two-storey building.


    Several colored lights shone from its windows, indicating what was happening inside.


    There were four guards stationed at each corner of the roof, peering down on the streets.


    One stood on the balcony of the second floor while two guards were positioned in front of the


    entrance door.


    "As we nned?" He asked Alya, who nodded.


    She had a body tight suit on right now, that entuated the curves and assets of her body.


    A mask covered her mouth while two crimson eyes gazed at him from the only visible space of


    the suit.


    "You take the two guards on the roof closest to us and I take the ones on the back." She


    revised the n.


    He nodded.


    Swirl..Swirl


    Suddenly, arge mass of blood manifested beside him.


    In a second, it morphed and shaped into a lengthy and hard crimson longbow.


    A thin sharp thread of blood curled around both its ends, acting as the bowstring.


    From there, some other blobs appeared that shaped into some arrows.


    He looked at Alya, who had her eyes widened in surprise.


    "W-when did you advance this much in your control?" she asked.


    He shrugged.


    "A long time ago."


    It was true.


    Smiling, Alya gave a thumbs up to him before also knocking arrows in her bow.


    Amon looked at her with a pleasant surprise.


    The FULLDIVE had really changed her attitude toward teammates.


    Nocking two arrows in his bow, Amon aimed as well.


    He wasn''t a professional in using bows.


    But he did know the basics in his past life.


    And for a building that was only several meters away from him, he could do pretty well.


    Especially since he could manipte those arrows.


    Taking aim, he breathed and calmed himself before releasing at the signal of Alya.


    The two arrows whizzed through the air at lightning speed.


    And along with them, two other arrows followed as well. Suddenly, the guards looked up a second before the arrows impacted them.


    Fortunately, Amon had nned this as his eyes glowed purple.


    A purple hue surrounded their bodies as they lost control and became rigid.


    And the arrows cleanly pierced their heads.


    A momentter, their bodies slumped to the ground, lifelessly.


    That''s right.


    His elements weren''t the only things that improved.


    From now on, there''s a system for extra chapters.


    One Dragon = 1 Chapter


    One Castle = 3 Chapters


    One Spacecraft = 6 Chapters


    One Gachapon 10 Chapters


    If you send a gift, the chapters will pile up and then be published at the start of next month


    ordingly.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 121: The Mission [1]

    Chapter 121: The Mission [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon jumped down,nding silently on the balcony.


    Unfortunately, the guard was sharp and quickly looked to his right.


    But to his dismay, there was no one.


    And in the next second, his eyes widened.


    He swerved back but wasn''t quick enough as the sharp edge of a crimson dagger thrust in his eye.


    His hands shot to the neck of the attacker.


    But they limped down as the dagger passed through his brain, ending his life.


    The guard''s lifeless body was about to slump down but Amon quickly grabbed him. Then he silently set him down into a dark corner.


    As he looked into the distance from the balcony, he saw Alya doing a thumbs up at him.


    She was currently looking at him from a window in the second floor of the building they were previously standing at.


    He peered down below from the balcony.


    And as he expected, two lifeless bodies of the guards rested against the wall, a single arrow embedded in each forehead.


    They had taken out the guards outside the building.


    Now, they had to act fast.


    Again, Amon was surprised by how calm andposed his body was.


    If there was like the tiniest bit of guilt still in his soul right now, his body had none.


    As if it was used to it.


    He jumped down andnded silently in front of the entrance door.


    To enter, you had to obviously tell a password to the guards.


    Which...


    They didn''t bother to get.


    They were going to storm the building anyways.


    Not like the prostitutes could do anything and Amon was pretty sure he could handle some guards.


    Especially with Alya having his back.


    They were a pretty good duo.


    He saw Alya move into another abandoned building a few meters away.


    Repositioning herself into a better window on the second floor, she set her bow ready.


    Amon soon received a message on his watch.


    [Alya: I can''t locate him through this window. Should I move to another location.] Amon pondered on it for a second.


    He then messaged her to try and get an angle on him while he clears the first floor.


    [Alya: Alright. Will you be okay or need any sort of help?]


    He smiled at her message and looked at her in the far distance.


    [Amon: Nah, I''d win.]


    ***


    Michael tapped the body of a guard.


    In the next second, a torrent of mes poured out from his hand.


    They engulfed the guard whole for a few seconds before dying out.


    The clothes and multiple parts on the guard''s body had beenpletely turned into ashes.


    He fell to the ground and Michael kicked him, sending him crashing into the wall.


    Thetter currently had a disgusted look on his face.


    Just a glimpse...


    A glimpse from the window of the building.


    And it was enough to make disgust well up in every inch of his being.


    ve Trading.


    It was a gut wrenching thing to do.


    All he wanted right now was to burn this building to the ground.


    The mes on his hand swerved left and right, reflecting the inner turmoil of his emotions.


    But despite his hatred, he couldn''t find himself to kill the people responsible for this.


    He just couldn''t.


    It was immoral and pathetic.


    Michael didn''t know what to do as his thoughts were a mess right now.


    All of a sudden, a fist swung at him from his peripheral vision.


    [OI WATCH OUT!] Sran warned.


    His eyes widened as he quickly raised his arms to defend himself.


    But to his surprise, the punch never came as ice erupted from the ground, encapsting the


    guard whole.


    His expression stood frozen in the ice as his body becamepletely frozen.


    Michael looked to his side where Elizabeth calmly walked up to him.


    She had a worried look on her half covered face.


    Michael forced a grateful smile.


    "Thanks Elizabeth, you saved my face right there."


    She nodded but her next question took him by surprise.


    "Are you feeling well Michael? You seem out of it."


    She neared him, her silver eyes peering into his crimson ones.


    He was taken aback.


    How was she able to know about his inner emotions?


    He thought he did a really good job at hiding them.


    Regardless, he quickly nodded his head several times.


    "Oh, yeah yeah, don''t worry about it. It''s just nervousness because it''s my first mission."


    "I see." Elizabeth replied after a few seconds.


    From the look on her face, she didn''t seem to buy it so he quickly changed the topic.


    "Well, in any case, shall we head inside?" He asked as he turned back.


    Michael walked to the door while Elizabeth''s answer came from behind.


    "Suuure..." Her answer dragged out before her voice trailed off at the end.


    ***


    Amon''s nodachi shed against the halberds of two guards.


    The colorful lights of the ceiling reflected on their weapons.


    The moment he crashed through the metal door, the prostitutes and their clients had been


    thrown into chaos.


    The first thing he did was quickly take out the D.J and crank up the music to max volume.


    The rise in volume quickly shrouded the screams and running noises of the prostitutes and


    clients as they zipped their trousers.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He preferred to not let the second floor guards and the targete down.


    Moving back to the present situation, he parried the tip of the halberd and ducked down.


    The obsidian de severed the knees of the guard.


    Screaming in pain, he fell down and was quickly treated by a quick punch to the face.


    He crashed into the nearby wall and Amon quickly focused his attention upward.


    He found a katana and a dagger inches away from his neck.


    But he still remained calm andposed as he quickly clenched his fingers.


    Suddenly, the weapon arms of the guards twisted 360 degrees and their weapons were thrown


    off trajectory.


    Blood poured out of their arms that quickly formed into thin sharp threads.


    Amon grabbed those threads and pulled their faces close to eye level.


    As he prepared to punch them in the face, his expression suddenly morphed into fear.


    He recoiled back in fear into the wall as he pushed the guards away.


    The guards that had wide smiles stretched on their faces now.

 Chapter 122: The Mission [2]

    Chapter 122: The Mission [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes widened as he felt his facial muscles twitch again.


    His breathing quickened as the guards'' hands reached out.


    Their cold bloody fingers brushed against his cheek as his heart hammered against his chest.


    His vision blurred and morphed into white.


    His face pulled up into...


    A smile.


    The control on Amon''s body was almost gone before suddenly he stomped his feet on the ground.


    Crystals erupted from his feet as they pierced through the faces of the guards, tearing off their smiles.


    Control finally returned to his body as he copsed on the ground.


    He panted heavily for breath as his body trembled.


    His clothes were drenched in sweat.


    He looked up and saw the two bloodied, torn up bodies.


    His eyes widened.


    The guards...


    He had just killed them.


    B-but-but wasn''t it an illusion?


    He choked on his breath as reality hit him hard.


    He had just killed them without a reason.


    Unfortunately, this wasn''t the time or ce for this.


    He quickly wiped off the sweat on his face using his arm.


    Taking a deep breath topose himself, Amon stood up with the support of the wall.


    He controlled his slightly stumbling steps and looked around.


    The floor was aplete mess now.


    The bloodied bodies of the two guards.


    Shattered crystals scattered all over the ce.


    The bleeding bodies of the unconscious guards.


    The smashed up furniture and walls.


    It wasplete silence except the glitching loud music that was still going on.


    All of a sudden, he heard sounds on the stairs as a client and a prostitute ran down the stairs. Their eyes widened as they saw the floor.


    But just as they were about to scream, two blood daggers pinched on both of their necks.


    A trickle of blood traveled down their necks.


    Their expressions morphed into fear and horror as they met the cold ck gaze of Amon.


    He held up a finger to his lips, indicating them to be silent.


    Then, he gestured toward the door with the same finger.


    They slowly nodded.


    Without letting out a sound, they quickly hurried out of the door.


    Dismissing the des, Amon took quick strides up the stairs.


    As he arrived upstairs, he quickly saw why nobody interrupted in the fight on the first floor.


    It was because Alya already had them upied with her constant streak of arrows.


    It was also why the couple ran down the stairs.


    She was truly a menace.


    But...


    He unsheathed his nodachi and quickly interrupted a guard that was countering an arrow.


    He appeared to be a water clovist.


    He hit the hilt of the de hard on his neck, eliciting a sharp thud.


    The guard fell down on the ground, unconscious.


    Amon''s gaze swept through the floor next.


    The onught of arrows slowed down a little, a sign to Alya acknowledging his arrival.


    It didn''t take him long to find the target.


    He was hunched up in the corner of the window with an earth shield around him.


    The shield was defending himpletely against the arrows while he shot back several spears.


    He quickly message Alya after retreating into a corner.


    [Amon: I''ll handle the target. Deal with the guards.]


    It was a straightforward request.


    There was a one second silence before the reply came.


    [Alya: Are you sure?]


    He smiled subtly.


    She didn''t point out any reasons or any rejection.


    It was an indication to her acknowledging his strength.


    It was a simple confirmation question to if he can handle a 3rd order clovist.


    And...


    [Amon: Yes.]


    Yes. He could.


    The answer came instantly.


    Alya: Take him.]


    He nodded and closed his watch.


    At that moment, the arrows at the target instantly stopped.


    And the rate of the arrows on the guards increased by much.


    This was an artifact of Alya that allowed her to shoot from multiple points.


    Something given to her by the Lancasters.


    Coming out of his secluded spot, Amon shot at full speed to the target.


    Reaching him, Amon threw a blood coated punch at the earth shield.


    The punch cleanly connected with the shield, making major cracks spread on it.


    But in the next moment, suddenly, the whole shield cracked before blowing up into tiny rocks.


    Amon smiled.


    Unbeknownst to everyone, he had coated the punch in sound mana a second before impact.


    It was enough to amplify the collision and destroy the shieldpletely.


    Twisting his body, Amon tried to deliver a kick to Nino''s chin.


    Unfortunately, the ground beneath him suddenly erupted and arge pir of earth shot out.


    It connected right on with his body, sending him crashing into the roof.


    He choked as he was pinned down on the roof.


    As he looked up, he saw several earth spears a meter away from crashing into his face.


    Gritting his teeth, he covered his face in a crystal thick coating.


    The spears thrust into the coating, throwing it into the verge of breaking.


    However, that was enough for Amon as he threw several blood tridents at Nino, who was


    completely shocked in ce.


    Breaking the pir with a kick, Amon slid toward him.


    Getting under him, delivered a clean punch to his stomach as he was trying to defend from


    the tridents above.


    Blood gushed out of Nino''s mouth that Amon instantly shaped into threads and looped them


    around his neck.


    He quickly pulled them hard and they severed through his thick skin.


    But before they could slice it offpletely,rge des of earth erupted from the walls


    around Amon.


    He clicked his tongue in annoyance before quickly using [Voidstep] and teleporting behind


    Nino.


    It was fine.


    Alya couldn''t see most of these things anyways because of the limited view from the


    windows.


    This was why he had used [Crystal] before as well.


    As Nino looked left and right in confusion, a sudden knee kick was delivered right to his back.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Grabbing his shoulders, Amon pushed him onto the floor before looping threads around his


    whole body.


    Amon pinned down with a step on his back while pulling the threads with a sharp tug.


    They dug deep into his skin before severing off both his arms.


    Nino screamed in pain.


    "YOU NI-"


    Amon pulled again, severing off his legs.


    Slowly, he severed off every limb before slicing off his head as he heard his dying screams.


    Grabbing his head, Amon threw it on the wall, smashing it.


    Nino Sherman...


    Was dead.

 Chapter 123: The Change of Mindset [1]

    Chapter 123: The Change of Mindset [1]


    ?


    ***


    "Huff...Huff" Michael huffed.


    How did ite to this?


    He wiped off therge amount of blood on his face.


    No.


    It wasn''t someone elses blood.


    It was his own.


    ***


    [20 Minutes Earlier]


    Elizabeth and Michael sessfully infiltrated the building.


    And what Michael saw made his eyes widen in disgust.


    ves chained to poles that stood erect by the sides of the walls.


    Some walking through the floor, their toes chained to each other in a line.


    Hatred and disrespect welled up in Michael''s being.


    Small cinders started to ignite on his arm.


    But he was quickly stopped as he felt a cold hand on his shoulder.


    The cold helped him calm down and he turned back to look at Elizabeth.


    She shook her head.


    Yes.


    It wasn''t the time for this.


    They had to act quickly and swiftly.


    Nodding in agreement, both of them ignored the ves and hurried to the stairs.


    As much as he wanted to save them right now, it wasn''t the time right now.


    He gritted his teeth and looked them in the eye.


    His gaze seemed to say.


    ''I''lle back for you guys, just wait.''


    Without waiting for their reaction, his feet caught fire and he shot upstairs with Elizabeth. They arrived at the second floor.


    It didn''t take long for them to find guards waiting for them.


    Fortunately, they fell quickly under thebined teamwork of the duo.


    They were only second order or tier, people even Michael could handle in multiple.


    And for Elizabeth, who was at the brink of reaching the 4th order in a week or two, they were a piece of cake.


    They opened doors to find even more ves locked up in the rooms.


    The next floor was thest floor of the building.


    Clearing the rooms, they ran to the corner of the corridor.


    But just as Elizabeth, who was in front turned, Michael saw arge first strike straight to her chin.


    She came crashing back toward him but quickly stabilized herself with an ice wall.


    "You okay?" Michael asked as he kept his attention at front.


    A tall man with a wide stature entered their view.


    He was bearing a dirty white vest with ck trousers.


    With shaggy ck hair and dirty brown eyes, he looked at them with a smirk.


    ording to the information provided, his name was Richard James.


    He was a 3rd order Nature elemental clovist.


    "Yeah, I''m fine." Elizabeth assured.


    Richard pointed at her.


    "You..."


    "You will be a nice dirty ve in my collection, bitch."


    Michael''s face twitched at the offensive remark.


    Fire coated his arm as he leaned in, ready to pounce.


    Elizabeth also bent down before raising her hand in a single motion.


    Arge mass of ice erupted from the floor, engulfing Richard whole.


    Following up, Michael encased the ice in an earth coating.


    He had already talked with Elizabeth about his elements.


    She had seen them so there was no way to hide them.


    Fortunately, she understood everything and why he hid them.


    But since she had seen them, there was no problem in using those elements here.


    And just as expected, Elizabeth said nothing and clenched her hand into a fist.


    A sharp cracking sound was heard in the air as the ice broke into a million tiny shards along with the earth.


    But to their surprise, what came out was a cocoon made of frozen vines, probably affected byn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    the ice.


    The vines slowly receded to show an almost unharmed Richard with only some scratches and


    cuts.


    He smiled widely.


    "Oh, you shrimps are actually strong." He remarked before waving his hand forward.


    Vines crawled out of the walls with multiple blooms on them.


    They shot toward Elizabeth and Michael who barely dodged them by diving into the nearby


    room.


    They were at an enormous disadvantage i narrow hallway.


    Unfortunately, even the room wasn''t enough as multiple vines broke out from the floor.


    They coiled around Elizabeth and Michael, stringing them tight.


    A small sound of pain erupted from jboth of them as the needles dug into their body.


    Blood seeped out and suddenly, the blooms popped.


    A glittering yellow powder soiled the dirty air, but Michael was quick to respond.


    He clenched his hand underneath the vines and instantly, a cerulean green ball of air covered


    their heads.


    It regted around it at fast speeds, keeping the powder away.


    Richard, who previously had his eyes widened because of Michael, shot towards Elizabeth


    with his arm covered in thin needles.


    But thetter wasn''t just going to take it as multiple frozen swords formed in the air.


    They sliced through the air at Richard.


    Michael was finally able to somehow sneak his hand out of the vines.


    A torrent of mes devoured Michael and Elizabeth, burning away the vines.


    As Michael came out of the smoke, he noticed that the ves had fallen asleep because of the


    powder.


    In the distance, Richard clenched his hands and the vines instantly disintegrated the swords.


    He was still in a slight state of shock after seeing Michael manipte so many elements.


    Michael huffed.


    He had exhaused quite a bit of mana with those mes and multiple elements.


    Though he was 2nd order, he still wasn''t proficient enough to do that.


    He bent his knees and shot across the floor at Richard along with Elizabeth. But just as he pulled back his punch, he lost bnce as he stumbled to ground.


    He looked down and saw multiple thin vines looped around his toes.


    It was then that his suspicion that something was wrong became true. Elizabeth rushed at Richard, where she struck him with a whip made of frost. The whip collided with a thick branch of tree and was shattered shortly after.


    Regardless, Elizabeth smiled subtly.


    Her n wasn''t to fight Richard head on in the first ce.


    All of a sudden, frost started to form on every part of Richard''s body, keeping him in ce.


    Elizabeth grabbed his shoulder where a torrent of icicles dug deep, severing his arm


    completely.


    "ELIZABETH NO-" Michael words were abruptly halted as his eyes widened.


    Elizabeth''s arm shot out to Richard''s neck, aiming to end him off finally.


    But suddenly, her body faltered midair as she fell to ground, her mouth gushing out blood in


    large amounts.


    A footnded on her head as it pushed her head deep into the ground.


    Her head shook as more blood gushed out, blurring her vision.


    She barely brought her hand to her cheek where she touched something veiny.


    As she saw a shard of ice in the distance, she saw her reflection in it.


    Her cheek...


    It was purple with her veins throbbing on the surface with pain.


    She was poisoned.


    But when?....


    Ah.


    When the fist struck her at the start.


    It slowly built up inside her body before blooming forth.


    As for why she didn''t realize it...


    She knew now.


    The man.


    He wasn''t a 3rd order but rather a 4th order clovist.


    He was much stronger than her. The academy was testing them by seeing what would they do


    when given the wrong information.


    A kick hit her straight in the face, sending her crashing into the wall.


    ***


    Michael fell to the ground on his knees, blood gushing out of his mouth.


    His gaze tremblingly traveled down his body where he saw a knifeing out of his body.


    Or more precisely...


    His heart.


    He choked.


    Dark blood and some of his innards came out.


    His vision blurred as he looked back, finding a ve standing behind him.


    The ve plunged the knife out of Michael''s body.


    It was tainted crimson red and was dripping with blood.


    The ve looked at Michael with fear before running back into the corner with the other


    ves.


    "Hahahahahaha, good boy." Richard smirked from the front.


    Michael saw him kicking Elizabeth into the wall from his blurred vision.


    "Eli..za-" He choked again, dropping to the ground.


    A pool of blood formed around his body.


    His heart was faltering...


    He was going to die soon.


    He clenched his fists as hatred and anger welled up within him.


    Those ves...


    Those wretched bastard ves...


    If only Michael had went full out from the start without caring about them...


    In the end, all he got was betrayed.


    He gritted his teeth as tears welled up within his eyes.


    These fucking bastards...


    He hated killing and thought it as disgusting.


    But he failed to see the cruelty of the world.


    In an attempt to act heroic and save some unknowns, he had gotten himself and his close


    friend killed.


    Heughed hoarsely, no sounding out.


    How despicable.


    Amon wouldugh at this right now.


    If only he could be like him.


    Michael''s life started to fade in front of his eyes.


    He hated killing for no reason.


    But for once...


    Just for once.


    He wanted to kill all these fucking wretches here without remorse.


    He looked into the far distance of the room.


    A muscly man with fiery red hair and golden eyes stood there, his gaze unreadable.


    He donned a regal red and golden outfit.


    "Sran..." Michael weakly called out.


    He stretched his fingers with thest bit of life he had.


    "Help me."


    "Help me.....kill them and save her...please."


    Michael''s eyes closed.


    Sran''s face pulled up into a smirk after some seconds of silence.


    "Finally brat....took you long enough to fix your head."


    He put his hand to Michael''s body.


    And in the next moment, it red up with an intense glow.

 Chapter 124: Alone In His Room [1]

    Chapter 124: Alone In His Room [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon took a picture of Nino.


    He looked back where Alya was quietly surveying the messy floor.


    She looked up from the dead bodies of the guards.


    "We really messed it up." She spoke for the first time.


    He turned.


    "Yeah." Amon nodded.


    It wasn''t just him who had made a mess of Nino''s body.


    The bodies of the guards were riddled with clean small holes, a reminder on how precise and sharp her arrows were.


    "Leaving that aside, I have to say, you are pretty strong."


    Amon looked at her crimson eyes in the dim lighting.


    "Well, I can say the same for you."


    She put a hand to her chin.


    "True I guess, but you have gotten way stronger than thest time I saw you. Even your maniption of blood is excellent."


    Amon shrugged but didn''t say anything.


    Rather, he changed the topic.


    "Shall we go back?"


    She nodded.


    Both of them stood up and started to leave.


    But suddenly, Alya''s crimson eyes caught to some sharp shards scattered in one corner of the


    room.


    "Hmm?" She picked one up.


    "[Crystal] element? I can''t remember any guard having one."


    "There was one." Amon replied from behind.


    She matched his stoic gaze.


    "I took him out before our switch of targets."


    "Oh, I see." She put the shard back down and stood up.


    "Well, it''s quite surprising to find such a rare element in such a remote town." She walked to the door before looking back at him.


    "For a moment, my mind suddenly wandered to the possibility of you having two elements, hahahaha." Sheughed before massaging after her temples.


    "What an idiot I am. Another duo-elemental clovist in the world, hah, as if." She walked out the room.


    || ||


    ***


    Amon and Alya arrived back at the Camps, only to find amotion going on in the center. Heading to the front through the crowd, they both arrived at the main target of attention.


    It was Ren.


    He stood in the small space provided by the crowd, looking around while wearing his casual purple jacket.


    But that wasn''t why he was getting attention.


    It was because of the girl in his arms.


    Elizabeth.


    Amon''s eyes widened as he saw the purple scaly skin on her face that reached up to her eyes.


    At that moment, Ren''s gaze caught to him and he quickly headed over.


    "Yo, Amon!" He quickly ran over.


    He extended Elizabeth to him.


    "I just arrived here 10 seconds ago and was waiting for your guide to arrive so he can take her. Somebody went to call her." He exined.


    Amon looked at Alya by his side, who shook her head.


    ''Fuck with these royal manners...'' He cursed in his mind before taking Elizabeth in his arms.


    Why couldn''t a princess carry someone in their arms!?


    Amon looked at her exhausted body.


    Her clothes were sweaty and her breathing was getting slower and slower.


    It was obvious that she was going to be in a critical condition soon.


    Seeing the clothes that clung to her body and exposed much of it, Amon clicked his tongue.


    Half of those guys in the crowd were looking at her with those gazes.


    Without hesitation, he materialized arge amount of blood before quickly covering them all in a veil.


    The guy soon arrived that went to call the guide.


    "I tried to reach them.... huff but they are all in a meeting right now....huff...huff" He panted.


    It was obvious that he ran quickly.


    "Didn''t you tell them that it''s a princess of a dukedom that''s suffering right now!?" Alya asked furiously from behind the veil.


    "They gave me no chance to and throwed me out...huff"


    Alya clicked her tongue,


    "What should we do now?"


    "There''s no need." Amon replied and looked back at Elizabeth.


    He extended his hand and touched her purple cheek, his warm fingers brushing against her


    cold skin.


    "I can handle it. But I''ll need to go to my room." He looked at both of them and exined.


    Both of them looked at him for a second before nodding.


    He could see that they trusted him.


    He was thankful for that.


    "I''ll exin the full details to you bothter. I need to hurry back to my camp to Michael and also get ready before curfew." Ren told both of them.


    Ah, yes.


    Michael and Elizabeth were assigned to a mission.


    And since Michael and Ren were in the same camp, he must have appeared on the other side


    where he handed Elizabeth to Ren.


    The only way it made sense was...


    That Michael was injured badly. And Ren''s previous words only amplified his belief in his


    theory.


    Amon was tempted to ask what happened to him but knew it wasn''t the time for it.


    He would get the full detailster anyways.


    He and Alya both nodded.


    "I''ll handle the crowd outside. You can go to your dormitory. Though, get it done quickly,


    there''s only 1 hour before curfew." She reminded him.


    Amon nodded before making the veil smaller, only enough to fit both of them.


    And in the next moment, he disappeared in full speed from the crowd while Alya distracted


    them.


    ***


    Amon arrived in his room and quickly locked it, before gentlyying Elizabeth on the bed.


    Taking off his coat, he put it on the chair before rolling up his sleeves.


    He sat on the bed, beside her body and closed his eyes.


    His hand gently reached out and touched her cheek.


    He could feel herbored breathing on his palm at that moment.


    Silence ensued in the room for a couple of seconds before his hand was slowly coated in a


    metallic gray hue.


    But he still kept his eyes closed and concentrated his efforts on his hand and her body.


    Silence reigned in the slightly cold room as the only sound that could be heard was her


    breathing with the rise and fall of her chest.


    But then, he opened his eyes in a sh.


    He found it.


    What he just did was use a simr technique to Sound Resonance.


    In reality, what poison inflicted by the [Nature] element did was inject poisonous [Nature]


    mana into the target''s body.


    Or more precisely, their mana pathways.


    Not only would that opposite natured mana in the pathways violently oppose and react in the


    target''s body, but it would get way worse with time.


    That mana would start to settle down in the form of clots in the pathways.


    Slowly but eventually, the target''s mana flow and power would get destroyed before their pathways getpletely blocked, hindering them from using any magic.


    And if the caster was proficient enough, he could even inject this mana further into the pathways where it would transfer into the bloodstream through the heart.


    It was truly a slow kill move in the [Nature] element. A reason why you had to be so careful


    around their users.


    By coating her body in [Sound] mana, he was able to then convert that mana into waves that traveled through her body.


    But they would get blocked in the ces of the clots which helped him identify their


    locations.


    And he was correct.


    The clots in her body.


    They weren''t sent in her mana pathways.


    They were directly sent to her bloodstream which was why the poison was quick to activate.


    It was a straightforward attempt to kill her.


    The only downside of this was that it took a longer time to kill the target and also that it was


    much harder to directly send it into the bloodstream.


    And...


    Their target had done just that.


    But this was good. Since it was in the bloodstream, he could remove the clots which was what he had suspected it


    to be.


    On the off chance that it wasn''t, then there wasn''t any way for him to help her.


    Except that he could maybe insert [Void Threads] inside her mana pathways to destroy the


    clots.


    But no. He would never do that except if Elizabeth was in herst minutes of dying.


    He would never hurt Zephyra over her.


    Leaving everything aside, Amon took his hand off her cheek before taking his gaze down on


    her body.


    Without wasting a second, he pressed his palm on her right thigh.


    This was the lowest point in her body where one of the clots was.


    He would slowly resolve them from lower to higher in her body. Channeling mana through his body, Amon quickly activated his blood maniption.


    All he had to do was safely separate and push those clots out of her body.


    Amon pressed his hand a little firmer and immediately, he saw her body twitch.


    Good.


    It was working.


    Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his efforts.


    Sweat beaded down on his forehead from the intense focus he had right now.


    Taking deep breaths, he safely removed the first block point in her body before pushing up.


    His fingers then brushed on her body, moving to the left thigh.


    It was embarrassing to be touching these spots like this but he couldn''t do anything but this


    to save her.


    The clots were deep so he couldn''t take his hand off as it would sever the connection.


    In a minute, he was done with the left thigh as well.


    Thereafter, he moved to her belly where he spent another minute before focusing on her left


    hand.


    It was working.


    He could feel the cold temperature of her body reduce and her breathing ease a little, even


    though he saw her sweat and her face scrunch up alot.


    She was in pain, he knew. ''Please, just bear through it...''


    His fingers traveled to her right hand.


    Her skin was a lot healthier and warmer now.


    Then, he moved to her shoulders before moving to her neck.


    Time passed slowly and agonizingly.


    Even Amon''s clothes were drenched in sweat now because of the intense concentration.


    Silence still reigned in the room but was asionally broken by Elizabeth''s soft moans of


    pain as a clot was removed and pushed up.


    As he was done with her neck, he then sped both of her cheeks.


    They werepletely red and warm to the core because of her condition.


    The scales had disappeard now.


    He stayed focused.


    All this time, he didn''t open his eyes for a single second as even a second of distraction could


    be fatal.


    Especially now where all the clots were piled up.


    He gulped as he was finally done with her cheeks.


    Finally, his fingers moved to her soft moist lips.


    His body tensed as he poured all his efforts on this moment.


    Elizabeth softly moaned and her lips opened.


    In the next moment, a small blobby purple and crimson mess poured out of her mouth.


    He opened his eyes with a gasp, taking deep breaths.


    Amon looked at the stinky purple mass that hovered in the air.


    Nearing it near his hand, he covered it in crystals before storing it in his inventory to dispose


    ofter.


    Embracing the silence in the room, Amon sighed.


    His lips slowly pulled up into a tired smile.


    He was actually able to do it.


    And at the same time, he saw a notification in front of his eyes.


    [Your [Blood] element has leveled up!]


    Good.


    Even he got something out of it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Composing his thoughts, he looked at Elizabeth who had a calm, peaceful expression on her


    face now.


    Her breathing was also back to normal.


    But then.


    Why hadn''t she woken up yet?


    He hoped she didn''t catch a fever as it was normal to catch these normal diseases after poison


    removal.


    His face neared hers as he tried to observe her condition andplexion.


    Amon''s hand touched her forehead, his cold fingers settling on her warm forehead.


    Their warm breaths mingled with each other.


    It was good. She didn''t have a fever, thankfully.


    But just as he was about to pull back, all of a sudden, her eyes opened.


    Her silver lustrous eyes met his abysall ck ones, their faces awfully close to each other with


    their breaths brushing against their skin.

 Chapter 125: Alone In His Room [2]

    Chapter 125: Alone In His Room [2]


    ?


    ***


    Elizabeth and Amon locked gazes, their hot breaths brushing against each other.


    His long ck hair were loosened right now, with some streaks of hair touching her cheek.


    A moment of silence passed between them as they kept still.


    But then, Amon''s head took a sharp turn to the right, averting his gaze from her.


    A deep shade of red-something that Amon couldn''t see - came upon Elizabeth''s cheeks as her eyes widened.


    Amon felt her sit up on the bed.


    Seconds of silence passed between them as he felt Elizabeth move behind him, trying to make sense of the situation.


    Eventually, he was the first to break the confusing silence.


    "You can use the bathroom here."


    "Huh?" He heard Elizabeth voice out her confusion.


    "Why aren''t you meeting my gaze?" she asked, her faceing to his side and trying to match his gaze.


    "This is why I said to use my bathroom. You should get changed, look at yourself."


    It was then that he felt Elizabeth look at her clothes from the side.


    Her face turned into a crimson pink as she finally realized the sweaty clothes that clung to her body.


    He heard a squeal from his side before she quicklyposed herself.


    "I''ll go to the balcony till then." Amon stood up and walked over to the door of the balcony.


    Heading out on the railing, he closed the door, leaving Elizabeth to her own thoughts.


    ***


    Elizabeth wanted to bury her face in a pillow right now with embarrassment right now.


    She turned on the shower, letting the hot water drip over her body.


    But even the hot steam was unable to hide how red she was right now.


    Last she remembered was fainting in the battle against Richard with Michael.


    She knew that she was going to die right there from the poison and fainted there.


    But next thing she knew, she woke up with Amon right in front of her face.


    Even though it had been minutes since that scene, she still remembered it as clear as day.


    His hot breath tingled against her skin and the long streaks of hair that brushed against her cheek.


    Her body red up as she grabbed her cheeks in embarrassment.


    Now that she remembered the scene, she realized that it was the first time she had seen his face up this close.


    And she couldn''t help but remark...


    That he was quite handsome.


    His sharp facial features, well shaped nose, long hair that were tied into a ponytail and the clear ck eyes...


    It was difficult to notice these things since he usually chose to remain quite distant when talking or in other matters.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But now that she observed them closely...


    He actually resembled the exact person she read in those books as a child.


    The person whom she thought to be the one to woo her heart.


    The person to grab the female lead''s heart in those ys and novels.


    Elizabeth''s skin kept getting hotter and redder and it was definitely not from the water.


    Most people would kill themselves if they ever saw this side of hers.


    It was something she had never shown to anyone besides her family.


    Who would imagine that the top 2nd beauty of the academy, only losing to Katherine, would have a childish fantasy side to her cold demeanor.


    She loved reading those kinds of novels and watching those ys and then fantasizing about them.


    This was the childish Elizabeth.


    But a spark of idental cold water from the shower was all it took to drag her back to reality.


    She coughed lightly andposed her irrational thoughts.


    But, then she suddenly remembered something.


    Why was she in Amon''s room anyways?


    Last she remembered was that she fainted with Michael, then how?


    ''Wait, the poison!'' Elizabeth remembered as her gaze trembled down to her body.


    But to her shocking surprise, she was healthy and fine as ever.


    Her mana pathways and the bloodstream was also clean as ever.


    ''The poison...'' Elizabeth realized.


    It was gone.


    ''But who could ha- '' Her thoughts halted abruptly as she already got the answer to it.


    Amon.


    That was the only logical answer.


    And all things started to make sense as the wheels inside her head started to spin.


    Michael was either able to aplish the mission or run away, rescuing both of them. Stumbling into his camp, he must have handed her over to someone to carry her back to her camp.


    And there, something must have urred which made her end up in Amon''s room instead of the infirmary.


    Now that she remembered it, she could still remember some murmurs and some moments in


    that time.


    Something about..the people being in a meeting, she can''t end up in the infirmary and...


    Someone saying he can heal her to two other people.


    And then the same person carried her at a fast speed to somewhere.


    Her cheeks turned red again in shyness.


    It was obvious who it was.


    Amon. He was the one who carried her to this room as well.


    She looked at herself.


    ''I was carried... by him.'' Elizabeth said in her thoughts.


    The same thought kept repeating itself in her mind as she red up again.


    Afterposing herself, she looked at her body.


    And her face pulled up into a grateful happy smile.


    She realized that she owed her life to him.


    ''He was the one who saved me...'' Elizabeth thought warmly.


    ***


    Amon stood on the balcony.


    The previous interaction was a little...embarrassing?


    He didn''t know.


    And he didn''t care much.


    He just wanted to help her and he did.


    If there were any misunderstandings, then he would just clear them when he would see her


    again.


    Elizabeth was a precious friend to her. One of the first people he met in this world.


    He didn''t want her to hate him or think of him wrongly.


    Before he could think further, the door behind him softly opened.


    "Amon?" Elizabeth asked from behind.


    "Yeah. I''m here." He answered, not looking back.


    His gaze remained fixated on the darkness below.


    Amon saw here stand by his side on the railing.


    Her silver lustrous gaze stood out in the darkness.


    Her eyes met his and a moment of blissful silence passed between them.


    Then, Amon opened his mouth.


    "Listen, I don-"


    "Thank you." Elizabeth''s soft voice entered his ears, abruptly halting his sentence.


    Amon raised his eyes.


    The words were taken out of his mouth, throwing him into silence.


    But eventually, he replied.


    "It was nothing."


    Elizabeth smiled warmly.


    "You really like to care for your friends." She pointed out as she looked far into golden lights


    that shone on the camps.


    Amon didn''t say anything but just subtly nodded.


    Because he had to.


    The plot wasn''t like it was in the novel.


    It was fucked up.


    And it was his duty to ensure the lives of the main cast.


    He couldn''t afford their deaths.


    Not just as friends, but also as the members of the main cast.


    They all had roles to fulfill in his story and future. "What happened back there?" Amon tried to ask first now.


    His eyes moved to the corner where he saw Elizabeth purse her lips.


    He was about to change the topic but then, she started telling him what happened.


    She told him what happened, from the start to the end.


    He heard her voice grow weak and trail off at the part where she failed to damage Richard even


    a little.


    "And that''s all that I remember before fainting. I saw a bright red light cover the whole area."


    She exined, her voice growing faint.


    ''I see.'' Amon nodded in his thoughts.


    From what he heard, it looked like Michael finally asked for help from Sran.


    This was good.


    Another step to make him stronger.


    "I''m sorry." Amon heard Elizabeth apologize from the side.


    He looked at her.


    "What for?" He asked.


    "For being this strong yet unable to do anything. It''s always you and Michael risking your


    lives and getting hurt to fight. Meanwhile I can''t do anything, despite being the strongest." Elizabeth poured it all out.


    He listened to her without a word as she talked further.


    "I feel so helpless. So weak. In that personal training session, I was unable to help even a


    single bit. It was you and Michael all the way. Even now..." Her voice trailed off again.


    He saw her hands grip the railing tightly, a little frost spreading on the surface.


    "You are right." Amon said.


    She looked at him.


    "You are useless Elizabeth. So much power yet all for trash." He turned his body to her,


    locking his gaze with her.


    He saw her gaze tremble, her body shiver.


    Her will and mental state was breaking down.


    "Look at you, the first ranker of our year. Yet what are you in the truth? A weak girl that was


    unable to do anything while the two lowest rankers risked their lives." He said coldly,


    stepping toward her.


    She stepped back, a tear leaking from her eye.


    Her form started trembling even more.


    Her back touched the boundary as he stepped further, nearing her.


    "The second daughter of the Snowcrests, the daughter of one of the strongest people in the


    world, a person at the brink of 4th order, a person that everyone admires. Yet what are you in the end, a fucking piece of trash." Amon spoke those words out loud close to her ear, his voice full of coldness.

 Chapter 126: Michael and Amon [1]

    Chapter 126: Michael and Amon [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon let out a tired sigh into the cold air of the night, ignoring the sharp shutting of the door by Elizabeth.


    She headed out of his room into the hallway, tears streaming down her eyes.


    He peered down into the seemingly endless darkness.


    He didn''t regret his decision.


    It was necessary. He had other things to worry about first.


    Letting out another exhale into the cold hair, he turned and left the cold balcony.


    ***


    [The Next Morning]


    Amon woke up to a normal morning in the camp.


    He headed to the cafeteria where he quickly met Alya.


    She had a tray of food in her hand.


    "Want to have breakfast together?" She asked.


    Not finding any problem in it, Amon nodded.


    "Sure. Let me just get my tray of food."


    "I''ll get us a table then."


    He nodded and quickly headed to the counter.


    Coming out of the queue minutester, he saw Alya lightly waving her hand on a table in the distance.


    Sitting in front of her, he quietly started to eat his food along with Alya while observing his surroundings.


    To his surprise, no one was looking at him with weird stares or anything.


    Nor did any staffe to call or talk to him.


    ''Seems like she wasn''t seen or heard by anyone.'' Amon thought.


    With therge bang she created with the door, he thought for sure that he would be caught.


    Fortunately, either he was lucky or she didn''t create a noise.


    Maybe for his sake or her own image so that no one saw her tears. He didn''t know.


    As he put a spoonful of porridge inside his mouth, he thought to start first.


    "You don''t have to be nervous, you can just ask me normally." He said, not looking up from his bowl.


    He ate another spoonful.


    Alya, who was lost in her thoughts and fidgeting with her fingers, suddenly shook,ing back to reality.


    She wasn''t even eating her food properly.


    "Huh?" She looked at Amon, trying to hide the emotions in her eyes.


    But he could see them clearly.


    "Come on, you know what I mean. You can ask me without any hesitation." He said, looking into her eyes.


    He knew what she wanted to ask. But he didn''t point it out.


    It was better that she let go of the nervousness and asked him by her own ord.


    Amon wanted her to develop the trust between them.


    This was what he had tried inst night''s mission as well.


    She looked at him for a second, her lips pursing multiple times.


    Before finally, she let go of the hesitation and came clean.


    "Okay Amon, have you heard anything about Michael?" she asked.


    Amon''s lips pulled up into a slight smile for a second before it faded away. He nodded.


    "Yes, I have. You are worried about him aren''t you?" He asked.


    "I-.... Yes, I am." She said, telling him the truth.


    He nodded with a smile.


    "It''s good that you worry about him and trust me enough to tell me this."


    "Well?"


    "Yes, I have."


    Her eyes filled with concern as she almost stood up straight from her seat, leaning into him.


    "What happened!?"


    Amon didn''t reply and opened the messages on his watch, where he showed his DM''s with Ren.


    He showed the message where Ren told him about Michael an hour ago.


    [Ren: He''s good. He had some major injuries but surprisingly, even taking aside the potions and care for him, bro healed really quickly. Doctors said his regeneration speed is monstrous. In any case, he woke up some hours ago and ispletely fine. I just talked to him a few moments ago.


    In any case, gotta catch my breakfast. Talk to yater bro, stay safe.]


    Alya mumbled the message.


    It was only then that she settled down into her seat, taking a deep breath of relief.


    She put a hand to her chest and closed her eyes, calming herself finally.


    "Thanks Amon, I''m sorry to ask you-"


    "It''s fine." Amon interrupted her sentence.


    Alya looked with confused eyes.


    "But I didn''t even say anythi-"


    "You want to get constant updates about Michael, don''t you?" He said and Alya looked back


    with widened eyes now.


    "Don''t worry, I got you. I''ll message you on the watch."


    "In fact, there''s an hour before the morning training starts. I''ll take a visit to the infirmary."


    He exined.


    Alya''s mouth opened and closed for some seconds before her lips pulled up into arge smile.


    "Thanks a bunch bro!" She said, in a casual tone now.


    Amon noticed the change and smiled.


    "No problem."


    "Hehe, you really understand me. You should go drinking with me sometime buddy."


    Her regal attitude hadpletely changed in a second.


    Even Amon was a little shocked at the sudden change.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But still...


    "No." He rejected tly.


    "Oh,e on..." She stretched her request, disappointment on her face.


    He pushed her face back.


    "No means no. Control your addictions."


    Alya clicked her tongue.


    "What a spoilsport."


    It was then that she suddenly remembered something and her head sharply looked around


    multiple times.


    She looked back at him with widened eyes.


    "Oh wait, I almost forgot, what happened to Elizabeth?" She asked, her head turning around


    to find her again.


    Unfortunately, she hadn''te to the cafeteria.


    Amon had already noticed that.


    He sipped on his tea.


    "I healed her. She''s fine now." He said.


    Amon looked at him dumbfoundedly.


    "Even I know that! I saw her from afar in the bathroom, dumbass!"


    He shrugged at her response.


    "Well, I don''t know after that. I healed her and then she left my room. Even I, haven''t seen her


    since this morning."


    "Oh. Now that I remember, she looked quite gloomy in the showers. Or maybe I''m just wrong


    because I saw her from afar." She pondered, her hand on her chin.


    "Did something happen between you two?" she asked, squinting her eyes.


    He remained silent and sipped his tea.


    Noticing hisck of response, she leaned back and shrugged.


    "Alright. I won''t ask anything about it. It''s your own matter." She crossed her arms.


    Not giving any answer, Amon gathered his stuff and stood up.


    "Welp, I''ll give you an updateter in the training room then." He told her and she nodded.


    He waved his hand and bid farewell to her.


    But before leaving, he made sure to send a message to her ears.


    "Stop being such a shy twin-con and face him directly."


    ***


    Amon came out of the cafeteria and quickly pulled his DM''s with Michael.


    [Amon: Yo bro, I heard from Ren. You okay?]


    He was about to close the app, expecting a replyter but surprisingly, it came in a minute.


    [Michael: Yeah, I''m perfectly good. Just some injuries, nothing major.]


    Nodding, he messaged back.


    [Amon: That''s good. I still have an hour before training, can I visit you?] He asked.


    After some minutes, the reply came.


    [Michael: Sure, I''ll be waiting.]


    Smiling, Amon closed his watch and quickly headed over to the neighbor camp.


    ***


    Michael sat on his bed, his mind in a haze.


    He had just woken up from another sleep when he got a message from Amon.


    And though he was really tired right now, he agreed to talk to him.


    His mental state was fucked up right now.


    He looked at his pale hand with some fading signs of scars on them.


    "I really killed them all, didn''t I?" He murmured.


    There was no one in the infirmary room right now.


    Except, one person.


    [Yes, you did.]


    "I see."


    Michael opened and closed his hand, not looking at Sran.


    "Strangely, I don''t remember anything." He said.


    [Of course you don''t dumbhead, it was our first integration.] Sran instantly replied.


    Michael nodded.


    It made sense.


    Suddenly, his face scrunched up into a pained expression as he grabbed his head.


    His mind throbbed with pain, as if an endless amount of needles were digging into his head.


    His memory. It was foggy.


    He only remembered snippets of them.


    They were only clear till the moment he asked Sran for help.


    After that, all he could remember was...


    Heads.


    Heads flying off wherever he waved his arm.


    Screams of pain, blood on his face, pleads to spare them....


    All mattered nothing.


    That betrayal.


    He made sure to avenge it properly by killing every single one of them.


    Or more urately...


    Sran.


    It was him who was mostly in control of his body considering that it was their first


    ''integration''.


    The time was short and he was responsible for maintaining the correct amount of energy. Anymore and the body would blow up.


    What''s more was that Michael was barely awake during that. A major reason why he barely


    remembered anything.


    Moving back to the present, his face suddenly twitched at the mention of ''killing'' but he


    quickly shook his head.


    It might have disgusted him in the past but he controlled himself.


    Killing was something he had to get used to.


    Not only for the world''s future, but also his survival.


    This was something he envied Amon for as he saw barely any emotion on his face when


    killing.


    Sran said it was because of his [Void] element but nevertheless, he was still jealous at his ability to maintainposure.


    Looking back at it, Amon was pretty intriguing.


    After the Daniel battle, Sran told him about how there wasplete chaos inside Amon''s


    body.


    Not only he, but also Zephyra was suffering badly.


    And even Michael could see those cracks.


    He wanted to talk to Amon about it and how he could help but Sran told him to not


    interfere.


    It was something that he would ovee by himself.


    Truth be told, he didn''t understand the dynamic between Sran and Zephyra.


    Nor did the former ever tell him about it.


    After knowing who Amon was after FULLDIVE, Michael couldn''t lie that he did have someplex thoughts about it.


    Amon was such a good friend of his and even their battle had been all but friendly.


    Soing to know from Sran that the same man was supposed to kill himter on in the future was a little disturbing about him.


    He almost wanted to confront Amon about it but chose to sit back and watch.


    And to his hopeful expectations, Amon never showed any hostility or any intention to kill


    Michael.


    Even when thetter was pretty sure that the former knew about his mission to kill him.


    In the fight with Daniel, both had used their real powers and worked together to defeat him.


    Was it like enemiesing together? Michael wouldn''t say so. He couldn''t call Amon an enemy of his.


    Especially when thetter never showed any intent to kill him.


    Michael would like to believe that Amon was his friend. This earned him a lot of scoldings


    from Sran but he still chose to believe in this.


    He just refused to see Amon as a viin. Especially his own killer in the future.


    Just when he was done with his thoughts, Michael felt the infirmary door open.


    And in walked Amon, d in thick ck clothes. ''Speak of the devil...this man really loves ck doesn''t he?'' Michael thought.


    "Yo bro, you good?" Amon extended his hand, which the man shook.


    He sat down on the chair beside the bed.


    Michael forced a smile to hide the inner turmoil of emotions inside him.


    "Yeah, what about you? Everything went wellst night?" He asked.


    Amon nodded, scratching his head.


    "Yeah, it waspletely fine on my side. Though it was a little surprising to see Elizabeth


    coming injured in the hands of Ren."


    It was then that Michael suddenly remembered Elizabeth and he perked up.


    "Wait, is she okay!?" He asked, his voice coated with concern.


    In all his thoughts and reflections, he hadpletely forgotten Elizabeth.


    To his relief, Amon nodded.


    "Yeah she''s good, she was quickly healed at the camp." He told the blonde-haired body.


    Michael put a hand to his chest.


    "That''s good."


    Silence ensued between both of them for a few seconds as they looked around.


    But then, Michael noticed the bandages around Amon''s arm and thought to finally ask.


    "How is ''she''?" He asked, his eyes gesturing to the bandages.


    Amon tilted his head in confusion.


    "She?"


    Michael tried to force a chuckle.


    "You know bro who I''m ta-"


    Suddenly, his watch buzzed on his arm.


    He quickly opened it up, and found that there was notification on the message app.


    He opened it up and confusion filled his eyes as he saw the sender.


    It was Amon.


    But what''s worse was...


    [Amon: Bro what''s your room number?]


    ''Wait, actually how did he- '' Michael turned around to ask about the stupid joke.


    But just as he turned around, his eyes widened in shock and fear as he found Amon''s face a


    centimeter away from him.


    His facial expression was pulled up into a wide smile that stretched ear to ear.


    And not just one but....


    5 Amons, awfully close to his face, smiling harrowingly.

 Chapter 127: Michael and Amon [2]

    Chapter 127: Michael and Amon [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon looked at his watch and clicked his tongue.


    ''This fucker...''


    It had been minutes since he sent that message to Michael.


    But he needed to reply to what his room number was.


    Amon paced in the corridor, looking through various doors with many patients lying on the bed inside.


    Fuck...


    His n would be ruined if it went to that.


    Suddenly, a familiar scream resounded in Amon''s ears.


    His body immediately perked up.


    On the lower floor, he recognized the location.


    But he was sure he had checked it before.


    Nevertheless, he ran at full speed through the corridor, throwing off even some doctors.


    Reaching the staircase, he jumped across the railing,nding straight down.


    He immediately saw amotion in front of a door in the distance.


    He quickly ran there and passed through the onlookers to see what was happening.


    What greeted his eyes was a destroyed infirmary room, with burnt walls.


    Small fires still swayed lightly on some furniture.


    Everything was destroyed.


    In the middle of the room, Amon saw Michael sitting on the ground, his clothes half burnt into ashes.


    He was clutching his head as if trying to pull out his hair.


    Not wasting a second, Amon quickly ran into the room toward Michael.


    But as soon as he took a step in, Michael looked up at him.


    His eyes locked with him and Amon saw them trembling with fear and trauma.


    "Michael..." Amon reached out his hand.


    He heard several shouts from behind toe back and not head into the fire but he ignored them.


    "No, no, no..." Michael raised his arm, pointing his palm at him to stay away.


    Michael started crawling back in fear, his body trembling.


    Amon took a step forward.


    "Bro, you-"


    "NO! NO! NO! STAY AWAY DON''T COME NEAR ME." Michael neared the edge of the wall.


    Amon tried to take another step to calm him down but suddenly, two arms looped around his shoulder.


    "Get out kid! Don''t you know he''s retreating because of you?"


    Amon clicked his tongue.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I''ll see youter.....Michael."


    "Get out!" Michael buried his face in his arms.


    Amon stepped out of the room after several pushes from the staff.


    "You aren''t from this camp, are you? Get back to your camp. This is our matter, do not


    interfere." One of them looked at him sternly.


    Ignoring him, Amon slowly walked out of the building.


    ***


    Amon came out of the building, a satisfied expression on his face.


    His suspicions were proven correct.


    He breathed a sigh of relief.


    The n was working.


    Now, only the final part was left topletely prove his theory.


    With that in mind, Amon headed back to his camp, entering the training room.


    ***


    Fortunately, Amon was able to arrive a minute before the training started.


    Entering the building, he felt a multitude of stares at him for being thest to enter.


    Ignoring them, he swept his gaze around.


    He soc saw Alya and Elizabeth in the distance, conversing with each other.


    Elizabeth was conversing with a smile on her face.


    As if she wasn''t affected byst night at all.


    But she was.


    Alya, being a dumbhead, was unable to notice those subtle cues.


    The forced smile.


    The tense stance and the asional trembling of her body or gaze that she excused for the


    influence of cold.


    It was tantly obvious for Amon.


    Good.


    He quickly headed over to the duo, who also noticed his presence.


    Alya turned to look at him and waved.


    Meanwhile, Elizabeth averted her gaze, her body shifting and trembling even more.


    Just as he was about to speak though, the guide came in.


    He pped his hands to get everyone''s attention.


    "Okay, your first-day trip is due in 5 hours. So we need to make sure you can handle the fog


    inside."


    "Everyone, quickly stand apart 6 feet from each other and take your positions."


    At his words, the students quickly started getting into their positions.


    Amon looked at Alya, ignoring Elizabeth as well.


    "Let''s talkter."


    She nodded and he also moved to take his position.


    And to Elizabeth''s surprise, he came to stand right beside her, between Alya and her.


    No word was exchanged between the two and Alya noticed this.


    But she only shrugged and focused forward.


    "Okay, let''s start." He pped once again and Amon saw Imperial Mages enter the room.


    There were a total of 6 mages and all of them came to stand at the corners of the room.


    Amon eyed them intently.


    In sync, all of them sped their hands together.


    And immediately, Amon felt the air around them change.


    It turned oppressive, dirty, and most of all...


    Suffocating.


    Everyone started coughing, clutching their chests.


    Their faces turned pale with an urgent expression on their face, their eyes looking as if they


    would bulge out any second.


    Amon also felt the changes.


    The air had turned a shade of murky green and the smell it exuded vited his nostrils.


    His face twitched at the disgusting nature of the air.


    Even his mana started dropping at a fast pace.


    But...


    That was all.


    He felt no suffocation or coughing as the other cadets did.


    Even Elizabeth and Alya, the top 2 cadets of their year were having trouble holding their


    breaths as they clutched their chests.


    Their clothes werepletely drenched in sweat.


    Amon noticed the rapid decrease of mana in his body, and how his throat and skin were


    quickly drying up.


    But yes, because of his constitution, he felt no suffocation or coughing.


    Nevertheless, he still acted to be affected by it.


    Amon knew that those mages were nature-elemental clovists.


    And his guess was proven to be correct as the guide pped his hand to get their attention.


    "What you are experiencing right now, is the air inside the dome. This is still not perfect as we are trying to replicate it using nature mages, but still, the purpose is for you people to know


    how harsh it is in there."


    He exined. Everyone clutched their throats, even their previous tears unable toe out now.


    "The polluted air grips at your throat, reduces your mana slowly, suffocates you, makes you


    unable to breathe, blurs your vision, makes you see hallucinations, and slowly pushes you to death. That''s what the mana-polluted air does." He exined as he walked among the


    students.


    Everyone was now writhing on the ground now.


    Amon noticed that even though Elizabeth was the strongest, she was suffering the most right


    now.


    Her eyes were bloodshot and his condition was like that of a person extremely near death.


    "The past night must be affecting her in those hallucinations...'' He thought and focused in


    front.


    It was beginning now.


    Dn came to stand near Amon.


    Coughing and writhing on the ground continuously, Amon didn''t lift up his gaze.


    "But...."


    "There''s a simple solution to all of this." He exined.


    "And that''s to circte your elemental mana as a coating to your body so the air doesn''t affect your pathways. It repels the air from entering your body." Focusing on his words, everyone immediately started to circte their mana.


    And it was after that, that life finally returned to their bodies as they rxed on the ground,


    gasping quickly and loudly.


    Their mana was still getting reduced but they knew they were fine.


    After all, in the dome, all they needed to do was circte the mana until they got inside the


    building.


    Here, the mages would just stop.


    Amon saw Dne to stand just in front of him, an inch away from Elizabeth who was still


    suffering on the ground.


    And the same for Amon as he hadn''t circted his mana yet.


    "But..." He said.


    "There''s another way."


    His voice turned deep and glitchy a little, echoing in Amon''s ears.


    It was so subtle that no one was able to notice except him.


    "And that way is..." It grew more deeper and horrifying, this time even the other students


    noticed.


    At that moment, Amon swiftly looked up, his gaze locking with Dn, who had an eerie smile


    on his face that stretched from ear to ear.


    "And that is for all of you to die."


    Now. Amon lunged.


    This is the second chapter from yesterday. Sorry, I was busy with college and there was a


    storm in my country, so I had problems writing.


    I hope you understand.


    The 2 chapters of today might be dyed by a few hours but will be published ording to


    the usual time.


    I hope you understand.

 Chapter 128: Pouring Blood On His Hands [1]

    Chapter 128: Pouring Blood On His Hands [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    This was something he didn''t want to do but he had to.


    For him and everyone else''s sake. For their lives.


    He dropped his act and looked up where he saw Dn smiling harrowingly, his expression sending chills down Amon''s spine.


    But right now, Dn''s gaze was fixed on Elizabeth, who shivered under his smile.


    Amon saw electric currents start to travel up Dn''s arm as it neared his head.


    He heard the students scream and try to get away as even the nature mages were disrupted.


    But, Amon waited, and as soon as the arm was some inches away from his head, he clenched on his hand.


    And the near invisible crimson red strings thaty on the ground snapped alive with a zipping sound.


    They coiled around Dn''s body halting his arm before looping tightly around his neck. Amon stood up and pulled them, quickly averting his gaze from Elizabeth.


    He didn''t know how sharp this entity''s perception was but his guess proved to be correct.


    Either it had very low perception, or the dispersing fog and his skills did a wonderful job hiding the threads.


    Tackling Dn to the ground, Amon pulled on the threads, moving his gaze to the ground. And under everyone''s eyes...


    He pulled the threads looped around his fingers and they dug deep in Dn''s skin. Before in the next moment, they cleanly sliced through, tearing off his head from his body. Silence permeated every inch of the surroundings as they were only broken by the light thud of the head against the ground.


    It rolled over the blood strings, only stopping as it collided with Amon''s leg and its face turned upright.


    Dn...


    His face still had a smile that stretched from one side to the other.


    His eyes werepletely hollow.


    The threads disintegrated and Amon slumped on the ground, sitting on Dn''s headless body.


    He crossed his arms and buried his head in them.


    He had just killed an Imperial Army Officer. One that was probably a Major in ranks.


    Amon perfectly stood the consequences of that.


    And as the weight and reality of the situation finally settled in...


    The students also started to speak up.


    "H-he...h-he just k-killed him didn''t he?" One boy pointed at Amon.


    "A-an Imperial Army Officer."


    Some vomited right at the sight as blood pooled around Dn''s body, soaking Amon''s feet.


    Everyone covered their mouths with Elizabeth also failing to understand the situation.


    Nobody was still able to understand what just happened.


    But, the experienced ones were quick topose themselves.


    Amon felt a kick on his leg.


    "Hey. What did you just fucking do?" The person asked, his voice fueling with rage and disbelief.


    Amon didn''t answer, his head was still buried in his arms.


    As the silence continued, the man couldn''t take it anymore and pulled Amon up close by his cor.


    "THE FUCK, DID YOU JUST DO!?"


    Amon kept silent.


    A punch hit his face, knocking his face to the right.


    Another one was about to hit when a guy quickly stopped him.


    "Gunkan, we still have to interrogate him." He tried to calm him down.


    The soldier, or Gunkan, gritted his teeth and punched Amon another time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But at the veryst second, he changed the trajectory and the punchnded straight in the wall.


    He threw Amon to the guard who had spoken before giving the former a death re.


    "I''ll deal with you in prison fucker." He spat and left.


    Amon said nothing and kept watching the scene with stoic eyes.


    nk!


    He looked down, where he saw two metal cufflinks on his arms.


    He immediately recognized them.


    They were mana cufflinks.


    He couldn''t ess mana anymore.


    But...


    He could still ess [Void] and his skills.


    Amon felt himself being pushed as the guy beside him nudged forward.


    "Walk forward. Don''t try anything funny, I won''t hesitate to kill you if you do."


    Obeying his orders silently, Amon walked through the silent room, his clothes soaked with


    blood.


    He could see the disbelieving stares of Alya and Elizabeth while everyone stared in horror.


    For a spare moment, his eyes connected with Alya, and his gaze seemed to say.


    ''Everything will be alright. Trust me.''


    And he hoped it would.


    Because he had done the first part of the n.


    And he knew that...


    That entity.


    It was still alive.


    And possibly in some higher-up now.


    Which meant there was now a traitor or killer among the camp authorities.


    ***


    Alya stared in disbelief as Amon was escorted out of the building by the Imperial Officers.


    She still could not believe what happened despite the passing minutes of silence.


    Amon...


    He had just killed an Imperial Officer, hadn''t he?


    She could still see the headless body sprawled out on the ground, the blood fountain finally


    starting to cease.


    Murmurs started to spread through the area, with some people specting the reasons for


    what he did.


    Some averted their gazes to control themselves.


    "What if he was a murderer all along?"


    "That could be possible, considering he is thest ranked person." Another whisper.


    Theories started to spread through the area.


    Alya looked at Elizabeth who was also looking at the headless body with aplex expression


    on your face.


    For a moment, she saw immense rage and sadness on her face.


    But she quickly let it go.


    Right now, her focus was on Amon.


    Thatst-second eye lock with her.


    She knew what it said.


    To trust him. That everything was okay.


    And did she believe him?


    Did she believe he wasn''t a murderer?


    She did.


    Not just because he was a friend of Michael. Maybe she would have done that before but...


    She trusted him as a friend on top of all reasons.


    After having many interactions with him, Alya knew that everything Amon did was calcted.


    Every action of his and every thought.


    He was a hard man to read with that stoic face of his. But beneath that, she knew he cared for


    each of his friends.


    He wouldn''t murder anyone for any reason.


    And because of that, Alya would support him wholeheartedly.


    Though she wasn''t able to exert much importance on her status due to being in the academy,


    she could still help Amon.


    It was then that her mind focused back on what actually happened.


    The people were focusing too much on Amon right now that they had forgotten what


    happened previously.


    That smile.


    The same thing happened a day ago when the girl killed herself.


    And Dn was going to do the same thing minutes ago before Amon killed him himself.


    Was there a connection between those two cases?


    She pondered on it and examined the head lying in the distance.


    It was still smiling eerily.


    Did Amon know something about it?


    He probably did. That was the only exnation for his actions.


    ''I need to dig further into this...'' Alya said.


    Unfortunately, she wouldn''t be able to do much as the trip was only two hours away.


    And in that time, Amon was being interrogated.

 Chapter 129: Pouring Blood On His Hands [2]

    Chapter 129: Pouring Blood On His Hands [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon sat on a metallic chair, his arms tied to the chair arms.


    His mana was currently sealed.


    It was a small square-shaped room with grey walls all around.


    It had been 1 hour since he was locked up here.


    As soon as he had stepped out of the building, there was a sharp thud to his neck, which dropped him unconscious.


    The next thing he knew, he woke up in this cell, not knowing where he was.


    He only hoped that Alya had gotten his message.


    It wasn''t long before the door of the room opened and 4 people walked in.


    Amon immediately felt an oppressive aura descend on his body, halting his breathing a little.


    He looked at them without any emotion.


    He knew who they were.


    The Unit Commanders.


    People who were at least ranked Colonel in the Imperial Military.


    Each one of them was a 6th order clovist and Amon could tell that from just a nce.


    There were three men and 1 woman.


    One of them, with a brutish body, a brown mustache, and hair walked up to Amon.


    Without hesitation, he grabbed his cor and raised him in the air, even lifting the chair with him.


    The four leaders behind him said nothing, only watching with nk looks.


    "You, fucking, punk." He said slowly, emphasizing each word.


    But as if not giving him what he wanted, Amon kept silent, his indifferent gaze locked with the man.


    Several seconds passed in silence before the man hurled Amon in rage at the wall behind him.


    Colliding with the wall, Amon felt pain pass through his whole body.


    He dropped down on the chair, before limping down on the floor.


    All the while, his gaze kept locked with the leaders.


    The man who had hurled him clicked his tongue.


    "If you weren''t a student of Eldergrove, believe me, I would have torn your body into shreds." The man spat.


    Then, the woman spoke.


    "Calm down James. We only need to wait for orders from the Imperiac and Eldergrove, after that, you can kill him as many times as you want."


    The third man also nodded.


    "Shina is right. Considering how weak he is, I doubt they would give a care over his life." Amon kept silent.


    His gaze was still locked with the man, or James if that was his name.


    It seemed to be that he was the Unit Commander of the unit that he was in.


    Coming close to him, the man stomped hisrge foot on Amon''s back before spitting in his face.


    "Make sure to give the worst time of his life here in this cell before we get the orders." He barked before leaving the room along with the other leaders.


    As the oppressive air finally disappeared, Amon sighed.


    With some struggle, he was finally able to sit back on his chair.


    He looked at the cufflinks.


    If he wanted to do so, he could easily escape out of this chair and room right now.


    But currently, it wasn''t the time yet.


    Amon reflected on what just happened before.


    He had an idea of what The Harrowing Smile was now.


    It was an Eldritch Horror. Or so was the name given to the creatures that resided in the ck Tear.


    It wasn''t just a normal horror.


    From what Amon concluded, it was at least a tier 6th horror.


    It was a formless horror. And something like this was enough to speak about its strength.


    It was only after recounting the previous events and what happened so far that Amon found out what it did.


    The Harrowing Smile...


    It fed upon people''s negative emotions and memories.


    That day, when they were going on the trip, Amon had found Reba Scarlett in a sullen and


    down mood.


    She looked as if she was going through a difficult phase.


    These negative emotions were what led her to be the first prey of the Smile.


    From what he observed, it would try to take on its target mind.


    If the target seeded in saving himself, then that was that.


    But if they didn''t, then the target was simply a subject of the Smile.


    After entering the territory, the Smile quickly attempted to take over Reba''s mind.


    And being weak-heard at that moment, it didn''t take long for her toe under its control. After the subject was under their control, the Smile would find the next weak-hearted target. And at that moment, Reba''s friend was the weak-hearted target.


    Most probably, they had gotten into a fight.


    Targeting her friend, the Smile killed Reba, inflicting a deep sense of fear and stirring the emotions inside her friend.


    After that, her friend was taken into interrogation while the Smile had found its next target.


    Of course, Amon didn''t know all of this from the start.


    It was only because of that time on the balcony that day, that Amon connected all the dots.


    That day...


    When Elizabeth was taking a shower, Amon was standing on the balcony, peering far into the


    administration block.


    And it was only then, that he saw...


    Two people emerging from behind the main administration building.


    They were carrying a body in arge white body cover.


    And he saw them, dumping the body into the trees that lined up against the boundary of the


    wall.


    And at thatst moment...


    The cover on her face came off and Amon was able to see the person.


    It was Reba''s friend.


    A normal person would have been unable to see that clearly from so far but Amon was able to.


    Ever since his constitution change, his eyesight was much sharper.


    Reba''s friend was dead. And by seeing the exact wound as Reba had on her head, Amon


    was able to know whose work it was.


    Just after they dumped the body, he also saw one of the two people reveal their faces before heading into the building.


    It was Dn. And he had aplicated look on his face as if he was contemting.


    That was when it all made sense for Amon.


    It almost made him shudder again by remembering how formidable this horror was.


    By just taking over a target''s mind and then killing it to infect the other person, it was able to


    continue its chain of killing.


    A whole empire could crumble down from just this single horror.


    All it needed to do was inflict fear and horror into their minds.


    In any case, that was when Amon connected all the dots.


    And also when...


    He chose to use Elizabeth as bait.


    Because of their previous interaction and them being alone in his room, Amon knew that


    Elizabeth was in a feeling of tion.


    And the higher a person was in the emotion of happiness, the easier it was to break them


    down.


    And that was exactly what he did as he tore up Elizabeth''s heart.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It might have been cruel but he didn''t care at that moment.


    She was the only way for him to test his theory.


    And it proved to be correct as he saw Dn sumbing to the Smile as well.


    But before he could kill himself and inflict fear on Elizabeth, Amon, who was feigning


    ignorance, quickly leaped in for the kill.


    Nevertheless, even with Dn''s death, the Smile wasn''t dead yet.


    It was still there, in the minds of a target.


    And it was Amon''s duty to find them now.


    And for that, he had to first get out of this cell.


    But there was another question...


    And it was that how did an Eldritch Horror invade the walls.


    And there were two possibilities for that...


    One was it entering through the mind of a target which was what Amon hoped it to be.


    Or...


    That it was already in the walls, waiting for a weak-hearted target.


    But there was still the part about how it ended up inside the walls.


    And for that...


    The only other theory that made sense was.


    That there was a leak in the walls.


    And the entrance of Smile from the forest was just the starting.


    This was what Amon knew it was going to be.


    ''Fuck.''

 Chapter 130: Pouring Blood On His Hands [3]

    Chapter 130: Pouring Blood On His Hands [3]


    ?


    ***


    Alya looked at the guide in front of their group.


    All the camps had now collectively assembled into one ce for the trip.


    The guide was currently briefing them on what they would do and what they had to watch out for during the trip.


    But it was obvious that no one was paying attention to his words because of the solemnity in the air.


    Everyone''s minds were still fixed on the incident that happened a few hours ago.


    The news of an Eldergrove Cadet killing an Imperial Officer didn''t take long to spread.


    In one hour, everyone knew about what happened.


    Despite the heavy air and the unmotivated attitude of the students, the officers still hadn''t been briefed on what happened to Amon.


    Some people were spectating that he was dead while others thought he would be jailed in Impestus Recordia, the most secured prison in the Empire.


    Their high theories of what was going to happen were enough to make even the dumbest of people realize what he had done.


    After all, even killing a moderately-ranked officer was enough to earn you a life sentence in jail.


    Even Ren and Charlotte caught wind of the news as they quickly came to inquire about it. And as expected, they too were shocked to the core.


    None, not a single person in their group thought of Amon as a person to kill someone.


    Ren even broke into an outrage in front of her sister, who hade to inquire about the situation minutes ago.


    Fortunately, everyone in their group was put to relief as Arthur Milize, the principal of Eldergrove, ensured them that no harm woulde to Amon.


    Of course, Alya never thought for a second that something happened to him.


    She knew...


    Thatst gaze of his.


    It waspletely stoic, without any surprise or sign of horror at what was happening to him.


    As if he had already nned out all the events.


    But getting assurance from the strongest human in the world put them to rest.


    All of them were currently getting ready to go on the trip now, and their group assembled together.


    There was only one problem...


    And it was Elizabeth.


    She hadn''t spoken a single word after the incident, keeping to herself in her thoughts.


    ***


    Elizabeth''s mind was currently a mess.


    She was unable to grasp her mind on what happened an hour ago.


    While others might have been unable to see it in the heat of the moment, Elizabeth saw it as clear as day.


    Amon...


    He didn''t kill on his own without a reason.


    She knew this fact without a doubt in her heart.


    After all, she was the target of the person he had killed.


    That wretched smile she saw in her blurred vision as he struggled on the ground.


    At that moment, the scene of the previous night had rpsed for her with that smile. Amon telling her that she was useless and a failure, with that same smile on his face. Coming close and whispering in her ears, how worthless she was with that smile. It shattered her heart into pieces.


    As the torment of emotions gripped at her heart and she felt herself losing her consciousness...


    She saw a clean crimson sh clear her vision.


    As the fear and pain vanished from her heart, she finally saw what happened.


    Amon...


    Strangling and killing Dn, an Imperial Officer.


    The same person who hated her...


    Killed for her.


    The shock that enveloped her body at that moment made her unable to process what was happening around her.


    She was unable to think.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    How?


    How did Amon know of this?


    Why?


    Why did Amon kill Dn, fully understanding the consequences?


    She didn''t know the answers to any of those questions.


    And when she snapped out of that shock, she saw Amon''s hands cuffed.


    The guard in front of her nudged him to move forward.


    At that moment, she examined his face.


    There was no remorse or guilt on his features. No regrets or anything.


    Complete stoess.


    As if he had expected everything that was happening rn.


    Questions sprouted in Elizabeth''s mind again at his expression.


    Why?


    Just why was he doing this? Why was he intentionally sending himself to jail, risking a life


    sentence?


    And as he moved, his gaze moved for the subtlest of moments.


    His abyssal ck eyes met her lustrous silver ones for the first time sincest night.


    Those eyes...


    They always carried a bottomless depth to them that Elizabeth was never able to read.


    At that subtle moment of connection, Elizabeth passed all her questions to him through her


    gaze.


    She felt an urge to avert her gaze again recounting thest night''s incident was found herself


    unable to.


    Her eyes kept glued to those ck ones as if attracted by them.


    And then, Elizabeth was sure, in that tiny fraction of a second that everyone was unable to


    notice, she saw him smile.


    An apologetic smile.


    A smile that apologized for what he didst night.


    A trustful smile.


    A smile that asked her to trust him on what happened.


    And then his gaze moved, focusing forward as he moved through the room silently.


    Her eyes didn''t move from him, focusing on his departing back as he walked out of the room.


    As it got smaller and smaller, she saw several students get away from him when he neared


    them.


    Like they were looking at a psychopath and murderer rather than a student anymore.


    His back...


    It felt lonely to her at that moment.


    ***


    Amon stared without any change in his expression at the door of the room.


    It had been another hour after they left the cell.


    And till then, nobody had entered his room.


    But then, the door opened and he saw a man enter the room.


    He had a tall and lean build, wearing a ck imperial army coat that signified he was a doctor.


    With maniacal eyes behind his square-shaped sses, the man spat at him.


    "The Imperiac and Eldergrove have yet to decide on what to do with you, but till then...I''ll


    make sure you won''t see the light of the day kid."


    He set out his tools on the table in front of him while letting his hair loose from the ponytail.


    They fell down on his shoulders.


    Coming up to Amon, he crouched down, matching his ck gaze with Amon.


    A moment of silence passed between them before...


    Thud!


    A punch connected cleanly with Amon''s jaw, turning his head sharply to the side.


    The man opened and clenched his hand.


    "Your body, it''s quite tough. I''ll give you that."


    Amon tried to turn his head back to the front.


    "But..."


    He punched hard on his face again, knocking Amon''s head back.


    "I might just be a 4th Tier Armentist but..." He brought Amon''s head to his knee, cracking it


    hard.


    "I''ll break you hard."


    His head limped down on the chair, the chains rattling.


    Still, no sound of pain came out of his mouth.


    The man, who was rubbing his knuckles, noticed something and looked down at Amon''s head.


    "Three hits and no blood from your mouth..."


    Grabbing his hair, the man pulled Amon up.


    And in that moment, a cry of shock and fear escaped the man''s lips as he stepped back.


    Amon''s face...


    It was covered in cracks that spread all over his stoic expression.


    Purple energy ran through the cracks, illuminating his expression.


    The cracked ck irises of Amon locked with the ones of the man enveloped in fear.


    This was his chance now.


    And instantly, Amon disappeared from view.


    The man, who was caught off guard in his shock, stumbled topose himself and figure out


    what happened.


    And just as he found out, two sharp threads of blood coiled around his neck, digging into his


    skin.


    The man turned back sharply, only to find two fingers pressed against his forehead.


    Amon looked at him without any change in his expression before his mouth opened.


    "Sorry but..."


    "Die for me, would you?"


    And the two fingers recoiled upward in a gun motion as a bullet made of blood passed through


    the man''s skull, ending his life.


    His body dropped lifelessly to the ground with a thud.


    Amon''s expression twitched a little with remorse but it couldn''t be helped.


    He had to do this otherwise everyone would die.


    Amon looked at the unlocked door.


    He could escape right now and he was free from his mana lock as well.


    Unfortunately, that would be a dumb decision.


    If, hopefully, he was right, then he was probably on the underground floor of the research


    center right now.


    And going outside was like a death sentence to himself right now.


    Which was why...


    He looked at the dead body of the man.


    Then, he unwrapped his bandages, revealing the purple glowing cracks that spread through


    his arms.


    Silence permeated through the air for several seconds as he gazed at the cracks with regret.


    What he was going to do right now...


    He was going to regret it his whole life.


    But, it had to be done.


    And he crouched down on the ground, bringing his hands to the face of the man in front of


    him.


    Before, he muttered.


    [Void Decay].


    And instantly, screams started to echo in his head.

 Chapter 131: Die Smiling or Die Trying [1]

    Chapter 131: Die Smiling or Die Trying [1]


    ?


    ***


    "Huff...Huff" Amon panted continuously, wiping the sweat off of his head.


    He almost slumped down to the floor but controlled himself.


    His mind currently was on the brink of going insane as he continuously heard Zephyra''s screams inside his head.


    They got more painful and crazy as he used [Void] more and more.


    But...


    He had gotten his answer now.


    Amon stood up, casting a nce at his arms which were on the edge of crumbling.


    Zephyra also seemed to have gone silent, as if she was saved minutes before her death inside him.


    Returning to the present, he coated his arms in crystal to hold them together.


    Dressed in the imperial clothes of the man, Amon headed out of the door.


    They were thick andrge which almost covered his features.


    As for their height, the man was a little taller than Amon but had created a thick crystal covering inside his shoes to cover the difference.


    Undoing his ponytail, he let the hair fall on his face, covering his features.


    He quickly looked left and right, finding no one to be in the dark corridor illuminated by blue coral lights.


    It was confirmed.


    He was in the basement of the research institute now.


    And his goal right now?


    It was the surface.


    There was only one problem...


    And it was that he had no idea of the structure of the research institute.


    The only clue he had were the snippets of future memories from the novel. And currently, he was 6 floors underneath the base floor.


    Taking the right turn, Amon quickly ran to the next turn, where he turned left.


    He heard footsteps from the right turn, indicating that two people were nearby.


    Clicking his tongue silently, he ran in the narrow corridor to the left where he arrived before the door.


    Grabbing the handle, he muttered.


    [Void Decay.]


    And instantly, the lock and handle started to decay.


    Screams also started to echo in his mind, making his expression crumble for a second.


    Unfortunately, as soon as they snapped to pieces, he heard footsteps behind him.


    "Doctor Matthew?" He heard a yful voice from behind.


    Amon resisted clicking his tongue.


    He didn''t know how Matthew talked and acted, so he didn''t turn back and only tried to imitate his voice.


    "What?" Amon said.


    From the small interaction that Matthew and Amon had, thetter knew that his personality was quite simr to Daniel''s.


    But even that wasn''t enough as the voice was enough to make them suspicious.


    "Are you okay? Your voice is a little different?" A crisp voice of a male echoed in Amon''s ears. Amon coughed.


    "Yes, I got some gas in my eyes while trying to torture that kid. I''d also rather not show my face right now."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I see." The female immediately replied.


    Amon was hiding the crumbled pieces of the lock and door handle in his hands right now.


    "Well, goodbye." She bid farewell yfully.


    Unfortunately, Amon wasn''t about to fall for it.


    As a sound clovist himself, he had enough experience with sound illusions.


    Even though the voice seemed toe from the same position as before, he knew both of them were a meter away from him now.


    "How?" He simply asked.


    "Is something wrong Dr.Matthew?" The male asked.


    "Don''t y with me."


    Both of them chuckled behind Amon.


    "Well you see, Dr.Matthew despises us both so much to the point that he never even gazes at us, let alone talk to us. You literally gave yourself away from the first interaction." The female


    exined.


    There was silence from Amon for a second as if he was contemting something.


    Then, his stoic normal voice echoed.


    "I see."


    Amon dropped the pieces of the door on the floor.


    They nked against the tiles.


    "Then..."


    He turned to face them, finding them both smiling widely.


    "Forgive me."


    Amon disappeared from his spot and their eyes widened in shock as they were caught


    completely off guard.


    And the next moment, they felt two cold hands against their head.


    And instantly, the two heads exploded in a bloody mess.


    ***


    In a finely furnished room that was illuminated in a golden light, 4 figures sat around arge


    round table.


    "That fucker!" James leaned back in his chair, mming his legs on the table.


    "It''s annoying how nonchnt Sir Arthur and Athena are about this situation, not to mention the Imperiac as well," Shina muttered, her hand on her chin.


    James shot up, leaning on the table.


    "I''m telling you! Migar is right! That old geezer has the whole royal council under his


    thumb!" He mmed the table.


    The third man, Migar, crossed his hands on the table and nodded.


    "As I said before, Arthur''s strength as the strongest human makes even the Lancasters bow to him. If not for him, our kingdom would have been long destroyed by the other kingdoms or if


    The so wanted, by him as well."


    Shina nodded at Migar''s words.


    "Sir Arthur is very protective over his students in Eldergrove. And offending him is probably thest thing the Imperiac wants to do right now.


    Especially right now that there are signs of riots from the neighboring kingdoms and the


    ghouls."


    James clicked his tongue, settling back in his chair without a word.


    "I want to shred that little kid into pieces! How dare he kill Dn..." He gripped the chair arm,


    shattering it.


    Shina looked at the fourth man who had beenpletely silent throughout the whole ordeal.


    He simply had a smile on his face as he sat in the dark part of the room.


    "You have been unusually silent Alex, is there something on your mind?" she asked.


    Alex, lightly shook his head, crossing his arms.


    "There''s nothing much to say about it right now. We all know that we can''t do anything until


    we get the Imperiac''s orders."


    Everyone looked at him as he spoke for the first time.


    James leaned toward him.


    "Hey, listen up you oldie, I don''t care about the Imperiac orders or that Dn was involved in


    that smiling shit. If they refuse to do something with the kid at the end, I''m killing him.


    Even if it earns me a life sentence. End of story."


    Shina and Migar looked at James with widened eyes.


    However, Alex simply chuckled.


    "You see, that''s what I have been wondering about." He put a hand to his chin, propping his


    elbow on his knee.


    He stared at everyone with a smile as they stared back skeptically.


    "What do you mean punk?"


    "It''s that. Do you really expect a 4th order clovist to be able to hold a kid who killed a 5th


    order clovist?"


    At that moment, the door mmed open as a guy rushed in.


    "The prisoner...." He panted hard as he tried to catch his breath.


    The heads of the three leaders snapped toward him in urgency.


    "He has escaped."


    And at that moment, arge siren red far off into the distance.

 Chapter 132: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [2]

    Chapter 132: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [2]


    ?


    ***


    The headless bodies of the two researchers fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming around them.


    Amon quickly extracted it and stored it inside his ring.


    He quickly headed through the door, entering a new wide corridor that stretched out for as far as the eye could see.


    Wasting no moment, Amon sealed the door shut, sealing it with crystals.


    He ran through the wide space before facing another three turns.


    Finding himself in a difficult situation, he immediately spread out his blood threads.


    On the thread that went in the front direction, he quickly attached a small dart to it by summoning his cane.


    As the threads spread out, he closed his eyes.


    Immediately his vision blurred and another view entered his vision.


    It was the view from the thread that crawled on the floor.


    He examined the surroundings of the thread as they passed through.


    Unfortunately, no familiarity urred to him as he tried to span his vision as far as he could.


    And it didn''t take long before he felt one thread of his reach a dead end.


    He clicked his tongue as he further increased the speed of the thread that carried his vision.


    But it too wasn''t able to go far as immediately three guards entered his vision.


    He also the sound of a siren in the distance.


    As soon as the guards matched his gaze, he cut off the vision.


    As he returned back to his normal view, he suddenly lost connection with the third thread as well.


    It meant that there were guards in that direction as well.


    He knew which thread was correct now.


    It was the one from which he was looking.


    The sound of the siren was something that confirmed his doubt.


    The unfamiliarity with the surroundings was also cause he wasn''t that deep in the center yet.


    He was at the outer edge of it.


    The only problem was the guards.


    Gritting his teeth, he made up his mind and quickly ran through the wide corridor.


    There was no time.


    The guards from the other direction were also currently headed his way.


    As he sprinted, it didn''t take long for the guards toe into his vision.


    If he had to gauge their strength, they were probably around initial to midway through 3rd order/tier.


    There were currently 5 of them.


    Immediately, one of the guards responded.


    "Stop right there!"


    His voice came like a booming echo in the metallic corridor.


    Reacting quickly, Amon raised up a wall of crystal from his arm.


    The sound connected with the wall and resulted in arge boom.


    Fortunately, the wall was able to hold with only some cracks on its exterior.


    As it disintegrated, the crystal guard found himself in shock as Amon wasn''t there anymore. "Behind you!" A guard called from behind.


    Unfortunately, it was already toote as a bullet passed through the guard''s head, darkening his vision.


    The other guards found themselves in a moment of shock at Amon''s sudden teleportation. Exploiting the opportunity he got, he disappeared once more and appeared behind a second guard.


    Amon touched the back of his head before making a shooting motion again.


    A bullet passed through his head again, ending his life as well.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The other guards finallyposed themselves and gritted their teeth.


    "You fucker!" A guard waved his spear and a wall of mesunched in Amon''s direction.


    His gaze unwavering, Amon stretched out both his arms before pping them with full force.


    Arge boom urred that made the metallic walls shudder and the wall of mespletely dissipated.


    Only a few embers touched Amon''s clothes burning them.


    Not wasting a moment, he touched the floor.


    Immediately, crackles started to sound in the air as the metal floor was charged up with lightning.


    The bodies of the guards twitched a little from the shock.


    Fortunately, their clothes were able to protect them from major damage.


    But even that single second of paralyzation proved to be fatal for them, as three spears of


    blood passed through their heads.


    Their bodies crashed back into the walls.


    Amon looked at all the guards that were dead.


    There was quite a difference between their strengths but his surprise reveals and many


    elements were enough to take them down, regardless of their experience.


    The only problem was that he had expended quite a bit of mana.


    Going forward, he had to limit it.


    Especially since he had to venture into that polluted air.


    Suddenly, footsteps echoed in his ears from behind as he turned to look.


    And immediately, he saw 6 guards running his way.


    ''Fuck...''


    Amon cursed in his mind and immediately took a turn and ran off into the corridors.


    Eventually, he was able to find a staircase that led him to a floor above.


    ***


    Alya, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Ren looked up at the ceiling in confusion as they heard sirens


    going off.


    They had just entered through the entrance into the facility right now through the air when sirens went off all around.


    Their guides immediately ran to the researchers and guards to confirm the situation.


    Everyone in their ss except their group was currently hunched together in fear.


    After all, everyone remembered those smiling incidents and what just happened 2 hours ago.


    "What do you think it could be?" Charlotte asked the other three.


    Alya shrugged.


    "No idea. Maybe some experiment of theirs went off?" She told them.


    But she knew that wasn''t the case.


    Remembering that final gaze of his, she knew something was happening rted to him.


    And in her heart, there could be only one exnation.


    And looking at the other three, she knew they were thinking the same.


    They were only trying to refrain from bringing that sad topic up.


    But...


    Elizabeth finally spoke up, her voice confident which betrayed her previous expressions.


    "What are the chances that it''s ''him''?" she asked everyone else.


    Charlotte and Alya exchanged nces, not knowing what to say at the sudden question.


    The only one who shrugged nonchntly without a care in the world was Ren.


    "Who else could it be? Of course, it''s my bro."


    It was true. Out of all three of them, only Ren was calm and did not care after he heard about


    the situation.


    He simply said that thest thing he expected in the world was that ''shit'' meaning Amon to


    die.


    And as if confirming his words, the guides came back.


    "It seems to be that your fellow ssmate has resisted capture and thus escaped from his cell. Because of that, we have to unfortunately cancel this trip until he is caught."


    Everyone immediately had a horrified expression on their faces as they heard about Amon.


    The guides quickly tried to calm them down.


    "Do not worry. You are safe on this floor and nothing will happen. Our people have already gone to ry the news to the Unit Commanders who will swiftly take action."


    Hearing those words, the three exchanged nces and Ren smirked.


    "I knew they couldn''t hold that fucker."


    At that moment, the three of them saw Athena enter into the building with Arthur from the


    entrance.


    Athena''s gaze immediately locked with Ren while Arthur nudged slightly toward the door


    from the back.


    It was a clear sign to the guy who knew the man long enough.


    And without wasting a moment, Ren separated from the ss and ran up to Athena.


    "Well, I can''t leave a homie do all those things alone can I?" He told the other 3 people before


    running off.


    At his words, the three looked in the direction of where Ren was running.


    And in the next moment, Alya and Elizabeth ran off as well, leaving Charlotte standing there


    confused.


    Reaching Athena who was looking at Ren with surprise, he grasped her hand, sliding


    something in it.


    "Forgive me for this sis. Take this as an apology."


    And then, he passed her before nudging Arthur with his elbow.


    "Take care of this for me pops."


    Thetter gave a hidden wink to the purple-haired boy as he passed through the door,


    heading out into the air.


    The same happened with Alya and Elizabeth, as they slid something into Athena''s hand while


    she looked in surprise.


    Thereafter, they ran through the door as well while the guides and everyone looked in shock


    at the two pairs that stood at the entrance.


    Ignoring them, Athena cast her gaze into what was put in her hand.


    And then, her mouth twitched under everyone''s gazes.


    Taking one of them into her hand, she tore off the wrapper before throwing it into her mouth.


    The imperial officers looked at the duo with horrified expressions as both of them then


    whistled before walking forward.


    As if nothing happened at all.


    "Now, until I give the order, nobody passes out of this door or goes anywhere." Arthur''s crisp


    voice echoed in the surroundings.


    He nted his cane into the ground where he leisurely sat down, propping his chin on his fist.

 Chapter 133: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [3]

    Chapter 133: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon finally arrived on the floor above.


    ''Only 5 floors..'' He huffed.


    He heard the sound of rushing footsteps from below.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon started running again.


    Their heavy equipment and weapons were enough to keep them at a certain distance from Amon.


    However, due to the difference in ranks, it was inevitable that Amon would run out of stamina first.


    Or so they thought...


    Taking out a mana potion he had from Daniel and Lily back then, he gulped it down.


    His mana instantly started replenishing as his body felt reinvigorated again.


    Considering he had no blood in his body anymore, most of his physical stats and conditions were dependent upon mana.


    Without looking back, Amon started running again.


    Slowly and slowly, the corridors were starting to get familiar to him.


    As he ran, he eventually reached a circr clearing in the floor.


    From there, the paths diverged in 4 directions and a water fountain stood in the middle of the clearing.


    But the worst part was...


    Amon saw guards appearing from all directions.


    He looked back, where he also saw the previous squad catching up.


    Taking a single sweep of gaze around him, he counted them all.


    There were 36 of them.


    His gaze cast up where he saw another circr corridor that ran along the perimeter of the clearing.


    There were also 4 paths there.


    As Amon found himself cornered from all directions, he coated one of his arms in crystal.


    Then, he further coated it in sound elemental mana.


    Suddenly, multiple attacks were hurled at him from the guards.


    But without hesitation, he used [Voidstep].


    He appeared on the other end of the fountain and without wasting a single second, he hurled his fist at the fountain.


    It cleanly connected with its outer boundary, casting multiple webs of cracks on them.


    But if that wasn''t enough, Amon then applied the sound mana, and the minor cracks turnedrge.


    It was on the brink of destruction now as it vibrated with sheer intensity.


    The water rippled and went chaotic, turning faster and extending its range further.


    Amon ducked, dodging multiple wind des at him.


    Without wasting a moment, he struck the fountain again.


    This time it broke with arge boom, as the pieces of earth scattered all around, covering the area in dust.


    The cold water also went haywire as it started rampaging with an even greater intensity. Amidst the clouds of dust, many attacks were fired off randomly at Amon that he barely dodged.


    Some grazed or burned his clothes, eliciting a grit of teeth from him.


    But regardless of the injuries, he kept his mind calm and raised a dome of crystal around him.


    As the walls started to cover him, a tiny crimson marble shot in the air that none were able to


    see.


    As the dust cleared, the guards saw the crystalline dome.


    It was the only thing that remained intact.


    They werepletely soaked now which enraged them further.


    They immediately started hurling attacks at it which caused it to break within a few seconds.


    However as it shattered into pieces, they saw no one inside it.


    And then, their bodies suddenly twitched as their gazes turned up in a sh.


    And immediately, their eyes widened as they tried to take a step back to dodge.


    But it was toote as therge electrical cobweb fell on them.


    Immediately, shocks started to pass through their bodies, paralyzing them in their ce.


    And then, 37 blood spearsnded from above, right onto their heads.


    They pierced through, ending each guard''s life as they were pinned to the ground.


    ***


    Amon sat in a secluded corner of the upper boundary.


    He panted hard as he took another mana potion and gulped it down.


    He had to be careful.


    Large groups of guards like this would force him to use more mana to kill them.


    This prompted him to use a mana potion which he only had 4 left now.


    He had to try and take the smaller groups out on the way.


    Standing up, he stumbled a little with tiredness but quicklyposed himself.


    He knew where to go from here.


    Without wasting a moment, he headed in the left direction.


    And after just running a short distance, he saw another boundary.


    This was it.


    He was in the right ce.


    But unlike the previous circr area, this one was muchrger.


    And by much, he meant muchrger as the path around the vast circr area ran for


    kilometers.


    And in that vast circr space over the railing, hovered a gigantic translucent device in the shape of an apricot seed.


    It covered the whole area in a neon blue glow with its honeyb shaped patterns that covered the whole device.


    Hundreds of researchers stood along the boundary, still enveloped in their research despite themotion Amon was causing.


    It was so loud that it could probably he heard in the upper floors as well, which he could see from the floor to ceiling windows that functioned as walls of the area.


    And as his gaze looked up, he saw it.


    Right on the top floor.


    The whole ss stood along the windows, along with Athena and Arthur.


    And all of their gazes...


    Were currently fixated on him.


    ***


    "WHAT!? THAT FUCKER ESCAPED!?" James shot up from his chair.


    And so did the other 2 leaders as well.


    All except the smiling old man.


    "You better not be joking about this officer." Shina red at the officer.


    Even though the sirens could be heard, they often went off by ident in the institute or just


    some prank by the officers.


    After all, no leader could still believe a mana-locked guy of the 2nd order could escape from


    the grasp of Matthew.


    The officer panted hard.


    "P-please huff huff...I''m not j-jok-"


    Before the soldier couldplete his sentence, James hurled him at the wall.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Shut the crap. I swear I''ll kill that fucker this time." James roared in anger before smirking.


    "Yes, if he escaped. We should quickl-" Migar''s words were interrupted as the door opened


    with a bang.


    Ren barged in with a cigarette in his hand under the shocked gazes of everyone.


    He slumped down into James'' chair.


    "Ain''t any of you bitches going anywhere." His sound ured in the silence of the room.


    "Who the fuck are you to or-" James was about to grab Ren when another crisp regal voice


    sounded in the room.


    "Yes, nobody steps out of this room until I say so."


    Everyone''s head turned sharply where they saw Elizabeth standing with Alya, elegantly.


    "This is the order of an Imperial Princess." Alya reinforced Elizabeth''s order.

 Chapter 134: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [4]

    Chapter 134: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon averted his gaze from the ss, his eyes meeting Arthur and Athena.


    They made contact for a few seconds before he saw Arthur''s lips move.


    He made sense of the words by his lip movements.


    ''Show. Me. All. You. Can. Do. And. Your. Safety. Is. My. Promise."


    As hepleted the sentence, Amon was almost tempted tough in this grave situation.


    ''This old geezer...'' Amon smirked and nodded.


    He looked right and left where the researchers were now looking at him, finally noticing his presence.


    And immediately, they fled inside from the doors behind them.


    Amon didn''t do anything. He had no intention to harm the people that were doing nothing to him.


    But just as they left, Amon saw a group of guards appear on his right and left.


    He clicked his tongue.


    ''Well, since he asked for it, might as well give it my all.'' Amon concluded as he unsheathed his nodachi.


    The distance between the groups was quiterge so he couldn''t be bothered to use [Voidstep] right now.


    Immediately, he saw the guards fire all kinds of spells they could at him.


    Keeping his calm, he raised a crystal wall to his right, blocking the group in that direction.


    And quickly strode toward the attacksing in his direction from the left.


    Creating a blood shield that covered his body, he slid on the floor, evading 90% of the attacks in the air.


    As his eyes locked with the nearest guard, he saw him having an arrow already nocked to his bow.


    But before he could release the string, Amon''s eyes glowed purple.


    Immediately, the guard''s body froze for a second.


    But that second was enough to make his head fly in the air.


    Not giving them any chance to retaliate back, Amon stomped his foot on the metallic floor.


    It shook with arge rumble because of the sound mana that coated his foot.


    Throw off bnce, their attacks were disrupted and they tried to stabilize themselves.


    However, that proved to be a fatal mistake as various blood spikes erupted from the floor.


    They tore through their uniforms, inflicting deep cuts.


    As they fell, bleeding profusely, Amon swung his sword at all of them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And immediately, heads started to fly into the air.


    Unfortunately, that wasn''t able tost long as his crystal wall shattered, not being able to support itself anymore.


    The attacks passed through, hitting Amon''s back directly.


    Large amounts of pain shot up in his body as he stumbled on the ground, his uniform searing away to reveal his back.


    As he looked back, he noticed that every guard in the facility was there now, all of them informed of his location.


    He waspletely cornered from every side with nowhere to run.


    But, he smirked lightly.


    His n worked.


    Without any fear of the iing volley of attacks at him, he threw his nodachi like a javelin to the other side of the area.


    The nodachi was coated in sharp crystal, making it cut through the air cleanly.


    It pierced through one of the windows on a floor above the one Amon was currently at.


    And just as the attacks were inches away from his body, he disappeared from his spot.


    And in the next moment,nded atop the nodachi that pierced the window.


    The guards looked at him with undeniable shock, not able toprehend what he had just done.


    But they quicklyposed themselves.


    Ignoring them, Amon dug out the nodachi from the window and jumped down into the abyss below.


    "DON''T LET HIM GET AWAY." The guards screamed.


    Peering over the railing, theyunched a volley of attacks at Amon, who sent blood spears back at them.


    They quickly retreated, letting the spears pass harmlessly to the roof.


    Peering once more, they weren''t able to see Amon there anymore.


    Only darkness.


    He had fallen down into the deepest floor of the institute.


    "Quick, hurry down! Don''t let him escape in any way!" A guard roared and at his words, everyone hurried back inside through the doors.


    ***


    Arthur peered through the window, seeing Amon fight all the guards without an expression of


    fear.


    He waspletely stoic.


    ''I was right about him...what a strong brat.''


    As he saw him take out and kill the guards, Arthur saw no remorse in his eyes.


    He even took him by surprise with that nodachi move.


    And as he saw the guards lose themselves because of his jump into the abyss, he was almost


    tempted to break intoughter.


    "What''s wrong?" Athena asked, seeing the tremble of his shoulders.


    He shook his head with a smile.


    "Nothing much..."


    He looked up to the roof of the institute with a smile, which was followed by Athena.


    "Just that we have a cunning chap on our hands."


    ***


    "With all due respect Princess Alya, are you suggesting us to stop the arrest of a criminal?"


    Migar questioned.


    Normally, they wouldn''t be able to talk back to her like this no matter what she requested, let


    alone stand and protest against her.


    It was because she was currently an Eldergrove Student.


    The authority she held was only about 10% right now.


    Alya gulped inwardly.


    She knew this wasn''t about to be easy.


    Especially because they had an advantage over her right now.


    "Are you suggesting that you won''t follow my orders just because I''m a student right now?"


    Alya asserted her tone.


    She didn''t like to do these things. She even hated using her background power.


    Yet, just for this once, she would give in.


    ''Hopefully, I can help you for a little while.'' She spoke in her thoughts, referring to Amon.


    She took a step forward.


    "You do know who my father is right? And who I am?" She stepped further into James'' face.


    "It doesn''t matter right now princess. You are a student right now in Eldergrove, not a


    princess-"


    James tried to retort but was abruptly stopped as Elizabeth replied in a cold monotonous


    voice.


    "Do you really think that matters? Would our parents obey the rules over the wishes of their children?" She sat down in Shina''s chair.


    "That''s favoritism!-" Shina tried to reply back in anger but was interrupted as well by Ren


    who took a puff of his cigarette.


    "So what? Cry about it bitch." Heughed.


    "You!!"


    "There''s also the fact that you fail to consider about the future. Let''s say you get off the hook


    this time, do you really think the people here would let you live in the future when they sit over the thrones?" Elizabeth looked at Migar with a cold re.


    The only person who was silent till now was the old man who simply leaned back in his chair.


    Just as James was about to retort back in anger, a spatial sound was heard in the air. The eyes of the leaders widened as they turned sharply to Ren who smirked. "Spatial Lock,pleted. Now sit here and cry for 20 minutes bitches before you can leave."


    He showed his hand, indicating how he copied [Space] from Athena when he handed her the


    gum.


    He then leaned back in his chair,ughing.


    "Dumbass people." He sneered.

 Chapter 135: Die Smiling or Die Trying [5]

    Chapter 135: Die Smiling or Die Trying [5]


    ?


    ***


    Amon exhaled deeply, sweat pouring out from his forehead.


    He was currently hanging with the support of a blood spear that was engraved on the roof. Taking a deep breath, he propelled himself to a nearby tform, right under the roof.


    His spear disintegrated and he fell down on the floor, his back to the ball.


    His face scrunched up in pain as his burnt back touched the wall.


    If not for the [Void Training], which also trained him to fight multiple groups of opponents stronger than him at the same time, he would have been dead right now.


    It was that experience that made him able to take decisions in short periods and how to act on them.


    Taking out two mana potions, he quickly gulped them, recovering his mana back to full.


    He was finally here, under the roof of the institute.


    It was impossible to go outside from the first floor after he saw the ss so this was his only choice.


    Despite his mana capacity being full, Amon felt a huge mental stress in his mind right now.


    Using so many elements consecutively took a lot of work.


    Not to mention the physical stress that he was taking.


    Gritting his teeth, he stood up with the support of the wall.


    Looking at the honeb-shaped translucent blue roof, Amon covered his arm in blood and crystal.


    Then, he coated it in lightning and sound before finally applying [Void Decay] to it.


    His whole arm got heavy but he stood still.


    Biting his lip, he hurled the arm at the roof where it connected cleanly.


    A thud resounded as the fist connected.


    Thud!


    But slowly, as the elements applied, cracks started to appear on the thick ss.


    And they suddenly covered the whole frame of the dome-shaped roof window.


    It still wasn''t enough.


    Amon gritted his teeth once more as he hurled the fist again.


    And this time, the sspletely shattered with a sharp noise.


    Covering himself with his arms, Amon saw the shattered pieces fall down below.


    He knew that at this moment everyone had found his location.


    ''I need to hurry...'' Amon clicked his tongue as he grabbed the edge of the roof and jumped out.


    Instantly, he felt the pungent polluted air invade his nostrils.


    It was much more gut-wrenching and mana-consuming than the one those nature clovists produced.


    Fortunately, he still felt no suffocation or hallucination.


    He looked into the distance, finding it to be green murky air everywhere he saw.


    It covered his viewpletely, not letting where was where.


    ''Shit...'' Amon cursed.


    This was going to be a little problem.


    The only advantage was that the boundary from here wasn''t far away.


    Only about 1 to 1.2 km.


    Sliding down the curved roof, Amon jumped onto the ground.


    He immediately heard footsteps inside, indicating that the guards were close.


    No.


    He couldn''t bear to fight them right now.


    Not only was the air consuming his mana, but he also had to save it for outside.


    He ran in the foggy air, towards the best direction he could remember from his memories.


    Multiple times, he came close to guards but eventually, he was able to dodge them by hiding in the trees or creating sound illusions.


    But just as he saw the boundary in the distance, he had to stop.


    There was an 8 squad group right in front of him.


    He gritted his teeth, trying to find any way to dodge them.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to find any way to dodge them.


    He could go in a separate direction and avoid them that way, but there was no guarantee that The wouldn''t find a group there.


    There was also the fact that he was almost low on mana so running again would throw him in a difficult situation.


    He clicked his tongue silently.


    This was going to make it difficult for him but he''d have to do it.


    Changing directions to his approach, heunched several spears in their direction, trying to provoke them.


    They quickly noticed his presence and without any moment of waste, they gave chase to him.


    To avoid the previous mistake, they also left 4 people to follow the spears he sent far into the


    woods.


    Noticing that his n was working, Amon leaped from tree to tree, hiding from them.


    Survival Wilderness lessons wereing in use right now.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And just as he got behind a tree, hiding from their view, he muttered.


    [Voidteleport]


    Immediately, he disappeareding back to his original position where his storage ring was


    lying.


    Picking it up, he put it on and saw the path ahead of himpletely clear.


    Not wasting any moment, he took wide strides, leaping out of the barrier.


    As soon as hended outside, he didn''t waste any time and quickly downed the remaining 2


    mana potions he had.


    His mana waspletely recovered now.


    But...


    He had no potions to recover himself now.


    If he lost it here, then he was done for.


    Either die smiling or die trying.


    But just as he got on the paths that led to different paths, his danger sense went off.


    His instincts pushed to the extreme as he turned his neck at thest moment.


    A ming arrows passed through the spot where his neck was before.


    His gaze quickly moved, following the trajectory of the attack.


    There they were.


    The four Unit Commanders of each camp.


    He was surprised to see them here.


    Amon thought that they would have jumped to find him at the slightest sound of an rm.


    In any case, he was grateful.


    His gaze moved, locking on one of the leaders.


    What he wanted to find...


    He found it a lot easily.


    James growled.


    "YOU BITCH!"


    He leaped at Amon, his arms coated in crystal.


    Keeping calm, Amon threw a blood marble at James.


    And just as he hurled his arm at Amon, he disappeared and reappeared behind James, where


    the blood marble was.


    Catching the marble, Amon touched the face of James, beforepletely covering it in


    crystal.


    Then, he disappeared again, under the shocked eyes of everyone.


    Before reappearing once more, right in front of the 4th leader.


    Or...


    The old man, who was smiling.


    Smiling much more widely than he usually did.


    Smiling harrowingly...


    Grabbing his eerie smile, Amon looked at him with a stoic cold gaze.


    "Let''s y a game you bitch ass horror."


    Immediately, a crystal-shaped dome covered them which was further reinforced by blood.


    And at the same time, arge boom resounded in the vicinity.


    Amon knew what it was.


    He stared coldly at the scary smile that the old man was still giving.


    The walls that protected the camp. They had just been broken through.

 Chapter 136: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [6]

    Chapter 136: Die Smiling Or Die Trying [6]


    ?


    ***


    Amon immediately used [Void Decay] on the old man''s face who kept smiling widely.


    He wasn''t trying to attack in any way whatsoever.


    As the skin of the old man started to sizzle and melt, he heard the cries of Zephyra inside his head.


    "Human.." The old man spoke, his voiceing out deep and hoarse.


    The flesh and bones of the man started to expose themselves as Amon kept his hands on the face.


    Regardless, the smile didn''t move.


    It kept at its position.


    The purple cracks on Amon''s arms also started to rage with intensity, spreading further.


    Slowly, the old man raised his hand.


    "It''s futile to...resist." His wrinkled old hand extended to touch Amon''s face.


    By now, the whole skin of the man had decayed, revealing the flesh and muscle tissues of his face.


    But the only thing that remained was his smile and the yellow decay teeth of the man.


    Amon didn''t even know how this was happening as it didn''t make any sense at all.


    Even the eyeballs of the man bulged, before falling out on the ground and rolling around.


    The yellow golden teeth and that smile made Amon shudder.


    Even the muscle tissues and the flesh of the man started to exploded under the touch of Amon.


    But that smile, it never faded.


    The cold wrinkled hand touched Amons face, covering it whole with the palm.


    "You cannot get rid of me..." His hoarse deep voice echoed in the crystal dome.


    Screams were going off everywhere but Amon''s focus waspletely on the front. Suddenly, a notification appeared in Amon''s vision, indicating his sess.


    [Your [Void] Element has leveled up!]


    As the hand of the man imprinted itself deeply on Amon''s face, he also started to lose his sense of identity.


    His vision blurred as his heart pounded against his chest in pain.


    In his mind, he only focused on one thing right now.


    ''[Void Training Reward]'' He muttered.


    [Select Reward 2]


    Immediately, a confirmation screen popped up in his vision.


    ''[Yes]''


    ''[Select Element: Void]'' He confirmed once more.


    Immediately, three more screens came up.


    [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    [Congrattions! Your [Void] element has reached level 3!]


    At that moment, Zephyra''s words echoed inside his mind.


    ''Remember, your [Void Skills] will always result in what you will them to be.''


    This was why he had threads and decay and spatial lock, something needed the most in the fight with Daniel.


    Amon chuckled lifelessly.


    His cold gaze matched the smile of the old man from between the gaps in his fingers.


    "Maybe not physically..."


    The smile of the now dirty sack of meat wavered.


    "But I can definitely beat you mentally." Amon said as he asserted his grip on the old man.


    And at that moment, his hands started to glow in a purple shimmering color.


    And he closed his eyes...


    ***


    Amon opened his eyes, finding himself in a vast clearing.


    Houses made of mud and y could be seen in the far distance.


    He looked at his pale hands, that were almost transparent currently.


    It meant that he was probably unable to interact with anything right now.


    As he looked around, he also saw vast fields of crops in the distance where he saw various


    people working.


    Children could be seen ying in the streets.


    He realized now that he was in a vige.


    A vige far older in time than their current era.


    "Papa! Papa! I got one!" Amon heard a cry from beside him.


    Turning, he saw a child with invigorated ck eyes and hair, running in a direction.


    "Hey! Marcus! Wait up!"


    A child like cry came from behind the boy Marcus.


    It was that of a girl.


    Turning to look, Amon saw a girl of the same age as the boy running in his direction.


    Following their direction, Amon''s gaze moved to a tree nearby.


    However, that wasn''t the exnation for their charge.


    It was the man who effortlessly hurled his axe at the tree, trying to cut the bark.


    Sporting a white sweaty vest and ck underpants, the man''s long sweaty hair clung to his


    face.


    Noting the presence of the two small kids, he turned in their direction.


    His face waspletely expressionless, without any sign of emotion.


    It was..


    Completely stoic.


    "You are here." He talked, his voice deep.


    Both of the children handed him two small pieces of wood.


    "Look at this! I cut it!" The boy eximed with joy.


    "Hey! The bigger one was mine!" The girl retorted.


    As they bickered, the man observed the two pieces of wood before tossing them aside on the


    grass.


    "Both are useless. Let''s go home." He said without any hesitation.


    Immediately, the expressions of both the children dropped into sadness.


    But the man didn''t show any sympathy on his face as picked up the logs.


    And then, he took both of the kids back home.


    Amon observed all of this with a thoughtful expression.


    He knew he used that new 4th ability on the entity but didn''t know how it was rted to all


    this.


    And then, the scene started to swirl before shifting into another scene.


    The previous two kids, a young woman and a man sat on a wooden table, eating.


    "I heard they are increasing the tax price for the taxes next month." The man''s wife said,


    taking his attention.


    He looked at her stoically.


    "I''ll handle it all." He said before digging back into his rice.


    asionally, the kids tried to show him a drawing that they made on their food.


    But as always, the man showed no reaction at all.


    The scene shifted again and Amon found himself in the forest clearing again.


    There he saw the man, knelt down, hugging something.


    As Amon looked closely, they were the two pieces that those children gave to him.


    Looking around to see that no one was looking, the man stored both of them inside hisn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    trouser.


    At that moment, Amon understood.


    The man...


    It wasn''t that he didn''t have emotions.


    He just found it difficult to express them.


    As the day passed of the happy family where the father did several things in secret.


    He truly loved his children.


    For a while, it seemed to be that everything was going well.


    Until that day came...


    The day it all started.

 Chapter 137: Die Smiling or Die Trying [7]

    Chapter 137: Die Smiling or Die Trying [7]


    ?


    ***


    The scene changed once more.


    Amon found himself standing in front of the usual forest.


    Daily, the man used to cut wood here before taking it home.


    They used to sell it to pay their taxes and also purchase their needs.


    That was the only thing they could do after all.


    The family was too poor to do anything else.


    As usual, the man cut the wood with an expressionless face while his two children yed around.


    In the past few days of observing the man, Amon noticed that he never showed an expression.


    His face was just...


    Indifferent. It never changed no matter what you did.


    But he also understood that he had problems showing emotions or showing his feelings in the form of expressions to his family.


    He was too shy.


    His name was Derek.


    His wife''s name was ra while his two children were named Tyler and Emily respectively.


    As he cut another tree, Derek wiped off the sweat from his forehead.


    He was finally done.


    Last month, Derek and his family were unable to pay the taxes because of the sudden increase in them.


    Everyone knew how corrupt the Vige Chief was.


    Because of that, the taxes of Derek''s family have been overdue for a long now.


    To pay it off all today, he had worked overtime to cut more trees.


    It was close to sunset now.


    Amon watched his childrene running to him, handing him another 2 pieces of wood.


    They did that every day.


    "Papa! Look! I got a good one!" Emily eximed in joy.


    "Mine is better!" Tyler refuted and also extended his piece of wood.


    Derek took the pieces of wood from them expressionlessly like always.


    He stared at the small unrefined pieces.


    Amon also observed them.


    Though they were kids and it was expected for their wood pieces to be useless and without any pattern, he was surprised to see their shape and skill improve every day.


    They were truly talented in this field.


    But like always, Derek would throw them-


    Amon''s eyes widened in surprise.


    Derek raised his arm, stopping multiple times in hesitation and averting his gaze.


    But eventually, after many seconds, he put both his hands on his children''s heads.


    "G-good work." He averted his gaze.


    Just like Amon, even the children were momentarily baffled.


    ''T-this man is actually improving...'' Amon muttered in disbelief.


    Even though he still had no idea where he was or what was happening, he had gotten used to the family around him.


    And he had never seen any change happen in this scene.


    He saw Emily and Tyler''s faces brighten up with joy as they happily danced in the clearing.


    They were dying with happiness when Derek actually stored them inside his pocket in front of them.


    This was the first time he had done that.


    Standing up, Derek picked up the logs and started to travel back to his home, with his dancing children in tow.


    ***


    Amon walked beside the trio, keeping an eye on them as they walked through the vige.


    He still had not a single idea of where he was and what was happening.


    All he remembered was grabbing the head of the old man and after that his memory was hazy.


    But...


    After spending a few days here, Amon had noticed something.


    For one, either this whole kingdom or world right now was very old from his current world.


    Or just this single vige was very outdated.


    This was because even after spending so many days here, Amon had yet to see any modern technology.


    The whole vige carried an air of medievalness to it with the mud houses and professions of


    everyone.


    It wasn''t a big vige though. And neither was it too small.


    But the biggest thing that he noticed in this vige was that...


    There was no mana user. No clovist or armenist.


    They were all unawakened.


    Suddenly, Amon was snapped back from his thoughts as he heard crackles of fire ahead.


    The same happened with Derek as a sense of urgency appeared in his body.


    Dropping the logs in his hand on the ground, he ran at full speed ahead.


    Tyler and Emily who were left behind also soon gave chase to Derek along with Amon.


    One thing he noticed was that the people in the vige tended to sleep early, right after


    sunset.


    It was some sort of routine or ritual for them.


    Because of that, there was no one except the trio and some people who had gathered in a circle


    ahead.


    Reaching the location, Amon''s eyes widened with shock.


    Derek''s house...


    It was on fire.


    Crackles of the fire could be heard in the air as smoke rose in the air.


    The mud walls of the house had beenpletely broken down into pieces and the hay that


    covered the ceiling along with bamboo was burnt.


    Burnt and broken remains of the furniture were scattered around outside of the house.


    Burnt pieces of drawings drawn by the kids...


    Torn and scorched clothes...


    And...


    The ashes of the children''s wood pieces that were given to Derek.


    All burnt to the ground.


    But that wasn''t the main focus.


    It was the two spears that were nted outside the house, in a cross position.


    But what held those two spears together wasn''t rope...


    It was his wife''s body.


    As one of the spears passed through her head from underneath, holding her in the air, the


    other passed through her arms that were stretched out.


    Derek''s eyes trembled for the first time in his life as he saw the scene.


    All his memories and times with his family...


    Burnt to ashes.


    He fell on his knees, unable to control his bloodshot eyes and pounding heart as he watched


    the scorched body of his wife.


    Amon watched the scene with disbelieving eyes, not knowing what happened.


    All of it...


    Just gone like that.


    As the children of Derek finally reached the scene, one of the viges quickly covered their


    eyes and started to take them away.


    Amon looked at the horrified and scared expressions on their faces.


    What were they scare-


    The body of the viger that was taking the kids away shot past Amon''s eyes, a fire arrow


    embedded in his brain.


    Amon''s gaze trembled as it moved to the side, finding the viger crashed on the ground,


    lifeless.


    His head turned sharply to the trajectory of the arrow and there, he saw a group of 5 people.


    There were two men and two women and...


    A little girl?


    Except for the girl, everyone had their faces uncovered.


    As soon as they showed up, the vigers instantly retreated several steps back.


    A burly man with a scarred face came forward, smiling wide.


    He grabbed the two kids that were on the ground, trembling now as they finally saw the scene.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Raising them in the air from their heads, he turned to the little girl in the hood, ignoring the


    cries of the two children.


    "May I have some fun?" He asked, bowing.


    The little girl looked at the man, not revealing her face.


    And then...


    She slowly nodded.


    Immediately, the man pinned the two kids to the ground in joy.


    And in the next moment, sounds of bones breaking and flesh twisting were heard.


    Even Amon had to avert his gaze from this amount of brutality.


    All of a sudden, a cry of pain was heard from the side as Amon turned, finding Derek charging


    at the group with bare hands.


    He had dropped his axe behind, so he had nothing to fight right now.


    A woman came in front of the hooded girl, grabbing Derek by his arm.


    And then she twisted it, making sounds of bones breaking be heard in the air.


    Taking out several daggers, she immediately started thrusting them into Derek''s body,


    pinning him to the ground.


    The viges averted their gazes, acting as if they had watched nothing while Amon watched it


    all in pain.


    What...


    What the fuck kind of torture was this.


    He heard the children''s screams and pleads as their ears were cut and the man touched their


    arms, burning them.


    Amon realized.


    All of them...


    They were clovists.


    Shocks of electricity were sent through Derek''s body, as each of his bones was broken down


    slowly and efficiently.


    One of the men sneered.


    "This is what happens when you don''t pay your tax on time fucker." He kicked Derek in the


    face.


    Blood formed in arge pool on the ground, from all of their bodies.


    Amon''s blood boiled.


    Unfortunately, he could do nothing.


    The burly man started to y their skin with a knife and the woman started to twist her


    daggers inside Derek''s body.


    All that could be heard in the air right now were the screams of the family and the crackles of


    the fire.


    The vigers had long since returned to their homes.


    But...


    Amon finally understood now.


    Why there were no clovists in the vige?


    Clovists and Armenists in this era were a taboo.


    They couldn''t be allowed to live and the humans despised them for how minor they were in


    poption.


    They called them witches and goblins.


    But, rather than letting the poption kill them, the vige chief exploited this by providing


    shelter to these always-migrating mages.


    He used their powers to his own advantage by making them owe him.


    This was how he held his reign in the vige.


    And though the group of clovists could easily ovee another group, their ranks were still


    too low to take on a whole vige.


    Even Amon could take on this whole group.


    Except...


    The girl.


    She gave him some different vibes.


    For a moment, her hood fluttered in the air, revealing her features.


    Short ck hair and pearly obsidian ck eyes...


    And a look of indifference.


    Suddenly, the dying screams of the two children were heard as they finally turned lifeless.


    The man licked his lips in ecstasy as he stood up.


    As Derek''s pleading gaze matched his children''s lifeless grey, he erupted in a pained scream.


    "NOOO-"


    His head was grabbed and mmed into the ground, blood erupting from his face.


    Tears spilled from his eyes as he looked at the lifeless bodies of his wife and his children...


    All of a sudden, something popped out of his pocket.


    It was...


    The rough wooden piece that he stored.


    The final one.


    As he barely reached his hand to grab it, the man beside him grabbed it first.


    He scrutinized it for some seconds, before finding a text written on it that made Amon''s


    expression morph into horror.


    "One day..." The man read.


    "I''ll definitely smile for you....guys."


    Silence remained in the air for a few seconds before the whole group broke into loudughter


    except the girl.


    "Smile...Smile for you guys..." The burly man smiled.


    "That said, we have never seen this guy smile have we?" The woman said yfully and the


    other guy nodded. "Yeah. You know what, we will let you smile at your children''s death buddy."


    Grabbing his face, the burly man instantly ignited Derek''s lips while the woman started


    making cuts in his face.


    And as they turned back, Amon''s gaze trembled.


    Derek''s face.


    His lips werepletely burnt ck, even igniting the blood that poured out of them.


    And the cuts on his cheeks and facepletely messed up his mouth. Derek tried to cry but the tears had already dried up, unable toe out.


    His hand pulled on the dirt as he tried to scream but no scream came out.


    He looked at the dead bodies of his children and all that came to his mind at that moment was


    the note on the back of that piece.


    Smile.


    Smile for his family.


    He tried to smile.


    Tried to fulfill hisst wish to his family.


    But...


    No smile came out from his messed-up face.


    No matter how hard he tried.


    He was...


    Never able to smile.


    And then, Derek''s ck eyes turned into lifeless gray as well, marking the ending of his life.

 Chapter 138: A Smile Lost In Time [2]

    Chapter 138: A Smile Lost In Time [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s vision darkened, taking away that gruesome scene from his sight.


    Darkness enveloped him whole, leaving him alone in the ck space.


    But right now, his mind was a mess.


    The Smile....


    That eldritch horror...


    Was Derek-a human.


    He couldn''t wrap his head around this new information.


    "At that time, the only thing that coursed through my head was my wish for them." A hoarse echoing voice resounded in the space.


    Amon''s head turned, finding the horror standing there.


    With long emaciated legs, its arms stretched out far, with multiple ws protruding.


    Arge jaw that stretched into a wide smile, showing off its dirty bloody long teeth.


    "You are..." Amon''s voice trailed off.


    "Yes human, I''m Derek." He said, looking straight into Amon''s gaze with its hollow pearly white eyes.


    "Or....as you may know me"


    "The Smile."


    "B-but h-how>?" Amon''s voice stammered, not knowing how to ask his thoughts.


    "I don''t think you are in the position to ask me any questions, human." It said.


    Amon''s eyes widened as he realized he had no control over the mana inside his body right


    now.


    "I can kill you if I so want." It told him.


    Amon gulped.


    He had to find a way to get out of this situation.


    The only things he could use right now were his Herald and Void skills.


    He was about to take a stance when the Smile spoke, surprising him with its question.


    "But before I do that, how?" It asked, looking at Amon with its maniacal smile.


    Amon tilted his head.


    "How did you figure it out?"


    Huh?


    What was he talk-


    Ah.


    About that.


    "It was easy," Amon answered. He had to be honest right now.


    After all, this was a 6th tier horror.


    And it was easy if he had to be honest.


    After he was arrested and the horror escaped, Amon knew it was the best chance for it to ce him in his grasp.


    And it confirmed it for him when he was knocked out whening outside.


    When Amon woke up, he was about 90% sure that he was in an illusion.


    And this was why he used [Void Decay] on Matthew after killing him.


    He knew that his [Void] element was very close to reaching the next point.


    And so after using [Void Decay] on Matthew for 2 minutes and taking the risk, it was the final stroke on the nail for Amon.


    After all, if he wasn''t in an illusion, the system would reward him for using that skill on someone right?


    But there was no notification from the system as well.


    The illusion was unable to replicate the system window, that much was sure for Amon.


    This was also the reason why he didn''t hesitate to kill the guards.


    Because he knew.


    All those screams of Zephyra.


    Those guards.


    The ss he saw...


    Everything after he woke up was an illusion created by the horror.


    He exined this all to the entity, who listened to him, intrigued.


    Of course, he excluded the system part and everything, not expecting it to be understood, and changed it to some other excuse.


    After Amon was done, the eldritch horror was silent for a few seconds.


    Then, it looked up at Amon, its voice creaking.


    "Three."


    "You have three questions human. Ask me anything before I kill you."


    It raised its 3 long ws, also indicating to Amon that he chooses his words carefully.


    Amon suppressed a gulp.


    He knew that after these 3 questions, he was as sure as dead.


    So the only chance he had right now was to find some way to strike a deal with this horror.


    Pondering on it for some seconds, Amon asked the first question on his mind.


    "Why were you targeting us students?" He asked.


    The smile looked far off into the boundless darkness for a few seconds before turning to


    Amon.


    "To learn what it means to smile." Its hoarse voice echoed in the void.


    Amon remained silent, expecting it to continue.


    "Long since I became this horror, I yearned to feel what it means to smile." It started walking


    in the darkness.


    Amon followed behind.


    "Despite my smiling appearance, I feel nothing inside. No joy, no emotion."


    For a moment, Amon almost felt as if the smile on the horror entity wavered.


    "You youths are energetic and full of life..." Its harsh voice trailed off as if reminiscing about


    something.


    It was probably his children.


    "You smile every day in the shine of life. That smile unwavering and full of joy."


    "Looking at you people, I longed to see what you humans felt when you smiled. It was something that could only be seen in you bright youths." It exined.


    "But..."


    "It never worked." It stopped walking.


    "No matter how many young people I took over, I never felt anything while smiling. Not a


    single speck of emotion." Its deep voice cried in the void.


    "I- I even tried inflicting pain on myself like in my death to feel something, feel the power of


    a smile. That joy!" It roared.


    This exined the death of cadets.


    "But to this day, I was never able to feel a single emotion while possessing people. Countless


    tries...."


    "Yet no sess." It finished the topic there, not wishing to speak on it further.


    Obliging with its wish, Amon moved to his second question.


    "Why was I put under the illusion? Why target me?"


    He asked and for a moment, he saw the entity''s expression scrunch up in pain.


    "Because of your mental resistance." It said.


    "Out of all the youths out there, you were the most hardest for me to control."


    "Your mental state was like a void."


    It raised its w.


    "Nothing affected it."


    "No illusions, no possession, no nothing."


    Amon looked at the entity with aplex expression.


    Was it because of his [Void] element?


    Well even taking that aside, his mental resistance was pretty high because of the pain he


    usually had to endure.


    "You were the only variable in my n... The reason why it all failed." Its voice turned deeper


    and more cold.


    It looked at Amon, its smile widening.


    "Which is why you have to die."


    It extended its ws. "What about the third question?" Amon asked, staying right in his position.


    He had a n.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This was the only way he could currently get out of this situation.


    "It was my gift to you for making it this far. And now I take it back." It hissed.


    And its ws inched further.


    But just as they were about to strike Amon, he talked up once more.


    "Let''s strike a deal."


    Silence ensued in the void before the furious entity raged.


    "Do you really think you are in a position to deal with me human?"


    It shed its ws at Amon.


    But suddenly, the next words made it pause in its ce.


    "You want to learn how to feel joy right? How to feel emotions?"


    The Smile raged harshly.


    "Where are you going with this human?"


    But Amon didn''t care and continued.


    "Three Years." He raised three fingers.


    "Let me go and stay with me for 3 years. In those 3 years, I''ll make you feel true joy. What it


    means to really smile..." Amon proposed.


    Silence ensued at his words, as the previously raging entity turnedpletely silent.


    It would ept...


    Surely.


    "You can betray me human."


    Amon nodded.


    It was a reasonable argument.


    "Yes. I can. The humans are known for this quality of theirs."


    But just as it was about to rage, Amon continued.


    "This is why we will make a mana contract."


    "What is that?"


    Amon nodded, and quickly started to exin to it what it was.


    Mana contracts, as the name suggested, were contracts made between two parties A and B using mana as a foundation.


    Conditions would be set between the two parties and a time limit would be set for the


    contract.


    Both parties had to abide by the rules of the contract until the time limit was over.


    Failure to do so would result in a mana-rted penalty that would be set between the two


    parties.


    Amon exined it all to the entity.


    Listening to his words, the Smile pondered on it for long before opening its mouth.


    "Very well. I shall take this offer of yours human."


    It voiced its agreement, sending a wave of relief in Amon''s body.


    But then it hissed.


    "However..."


    "If you fail toply by what you promise..."


    "The penalty would be the first thing you would wish for."


    Amon nodded. He understood it all.


    "I understand. Do not worry, I don''t intend to go back on my promise."


    Then, he extended his hand and the entity looked at it.


    "What?" It questioned.


    "For us to set the contract and the terms, we have to link our mana by shaking hands." He


    exined.


    "I see." It nodded, staring at the end momentarily.


    Then, its whole structure suddenly started to change.


    All its facial features and body size quickly started morphing.


    And in a minute, it was finally done, making Amon''s eyes widen.


    ''Derek...'' Amon muttered inside his mind.


    Yes.


    The smile had just turned into its human form. Derek extended his hand.


    "Hurry up human, I can''t hold this for long." It exined.


    Composing himself, Amon nodded and shook his hand.


    Instantly, he felt a locking sensation on his heart.


    As if someone was gripping it.


    And within a few seconds, the mana contract was finally done and their hands separated. Derek turned back into its horror form.


    "I need to break this illusion now." The horror entity exined.


    "I''ll meet you again human." It said before Amon''s vision cracked.


    As his vision started to shatter and darken, Amon looked at the wide smile on the monster''s


    face.


    The smile that he had always tried to give his children.


    The smile that he longed for so long...


    Yet now that it had it, it felt nothing.


    It was nothing but a simple smile that his kids were unable to see their whole lives.


    A Smile Lost in Time.


    Thank you for reading!


    This Smile Arc is finallypleted! I know for some of you it might be a little dragged out and


    lengthy, but this was very necessary for future buildups and lore of the world.


    I hope you guys understand and are enjoying the story.


    The next arc of the story will begin tomorrow, right after the epilogue of this arc.


    Thank you one more for giving this book a chance and reading it!

 Chapter 139: Weavers Smile [1]

    Chapter 139: Weaver''s Smile [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes opened with a sh as he felt something cold settle on his skin.


    A cloudless gray sky entered his vision and he finally regained control over himself.


    He quickly sat up and found himself in the same spot where he had first appeared after they teleported inside.


    All the students from his camp were currently lying on the ground, sleeping peacefully.


    He could even see Elizabeth and Alya in the distance.


    And also...


    Dn.


    it was an illusion from the moment they entered the boundaries...


    He thought it was only the prison but he seemed to be wrong.


    Even that girl Reba was lying peacefully in the distance.


    Suddenly, Amon heard a hiss in the air, as he felt something slithering on his arm.


    His gaze quickly traveled down, where he saw a purple and ck scaled snake the length of Amon''s arm.


    Its crimson eyes peered into Amon''s ck ones.


    "You are awake, human."


    "Yeah." Amon nodded.


    "So it was an illusion from the moment we entered the camp?" He asked.


    And he saw the snake hiss in response, its tongueing out.


    "Yes, for several years, I waited for my moment. All while corrupting the minds of the humans that resided inside the walls."


    "I see."


    It was fair enough.


    After all, they were the first ss or group to travel to this location.


    Most academies wouldn''t send their sses to a dangerous ce like this.


    A ce where the ck Tear was just a few miles away.


    But Arthur....


    He was just wrong in his head.


    Suddenly, the sound of a portal opening was heard behind him.


    And from it, Athena emerged with several batches of soldiers.


    As soon as her eyesnded on Amon, instantly a portal opened beneath him.


    And with it, Amon fell into therge hole, saving him from the multiple eyes of the guards behind him.


    ***


    Amon emerged in the room where he had once been hospitalized with Michael.


    It surprised him a little but he realized it must have been the only room that came to Athena''s mind at that moment.


    After all, she couldn''t teleport him to his room without entering it first.


    As hended on the bed, Amon scanned the room.


    It was neatly kept, with all the things arranged beautifully.


    There was a bright sky outside and he could hear the seagulls chirping beside the blue sea.


    He quickly moved back to the present situation after finding no one to be in the room with him.


    "That woman..." The snake hissed on his arm.


    "She''s strong." He said.


    Amon nodded.


    "If not for the years that took the spell to strengthen itself, she would have pierced through it in an instant." It exined.


    "Oh."


    This was why as soon as the spells ended, the portals opened up.


    Athena probably wasn''t able to enter the space because of the spell, also cutting off their connection from the outside world.


    As he was about to move forward, Amon''s eyes suddenly widened.


    Wait but...


    He turned to the snake, shocked.


    "Didn''t you just say that you didn''t know that woman from before?" He asked.


    And the snake hissed in agreement.


    "But the people I saw in the illusion... They were all those people sleeping beside me weren''t they?" He asked.


    The snake hissed in agreement again.


    But then...


    "That woman, she was in the illusion." He told the snake and immediately saw it re at him.


    "Impossible. No one could enter or leave that illusion and I''m positive that she wasn''t in the illusion." It exined.


    "Yes, if she was a little stronger, she would be able to pierce through the spell. But with the strength I saw, it''s impossible."


    Amon''s eyes widened at its next dialogue.


    ''A little stronger.''


    Those words rang inside his mind.


    In his illusion, it wasn''t just two people.


    There was also someone next to her.


    A person who wasn''t just ''a little stronger'' than her.


    Arthur...


    Amon shuddered in fear.


    His title ''The Strongest'' made just a lot more sense to Amon now.


    A spell that took years for the horror to make...


    Yet Arthur broke through it so easily.


    In any case, Amon didn''t mention it to the snake.


    He suddenly remembered something.


    "Was she able to see you?" He asked.


    It lightly shook his head.


    "No. I can only be seen by you or someone you wish to see me. I''m basically a mana spirit


    inside your body, I can go inside your body as well." It exined.


    For some reason, it was very talkative now.


    But as the word ''mana spirit'' resounded in Amon''s head, he suddenly jumped up.


    Because a mana spirit was actually a familiar.


    Familiars were amalgamations of mana basically that took the shape of an animal or monster.


    The animal or monster that emerged would depend on the user''s elemental affinities andn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    their mana properties.


    It was something that could only be done when a person was at the pinnacle of 2nd order.


    This was a reason why it was held a quarter of a year into the academy, a time when it was expected for almost everyone to be of that rank.


    ''So this is my familiar...'' Amon realized.


    Suddenly, he remembered something.


    And without any wait, he quickly opened up his status screen.


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    Leaves:¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á???????*


    VIT: ? ? ? ?


    STR: ????*


    AGI: ????


    END:? ? ? ?¡Ö INT: ? ? ? ?


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    He had finally broken into the 3rd order...


    He had taken such a big leap just from one familiar materialization...


    It was truly shocking.


    But that wasn''t all. Amon was about to open another screen when he saw the snake staring at him with confusion.


    ||


    ||||


    "Wait..." Amon finally spoke up.


    His finger trembled as he pointed to the screen in front of him.


    "T-There''s no way you can see this right?" He asked.


    "Human, what is this?" The snake hissed, and its curiosity peaked.


    ''What the fuck?'' Amon cursed.


    He couldn''t wrap his head around all the unusual events that were urring today.


    But, Amon ignored the snake and chose to let it observe for itself.


    He then opened up his elemental level screen.


    [VOID]: Level 3000000


    [BLOOD]: Level 2¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ? ?


    [LGHTNG]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ? [SOUND]: Level 1¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á [CRYSTAL]: Level 1¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Familiar Arts


    It was satisfying.


    Amon nodded, happy.


    His elements were at a really good level, with Sound and Crystal about to reach Level 2.


    He looked at [Void] which was his highest leveled element now.


    Although losing [Elemental Integration] was painful, Amon was happy he hadn''t chosen the


    quest reward back then.


    If not for that, then he would have been royally fucked.


    As it was that reward that helped him level up [Void] and unlock another slot for his skills.


    Which was [Void Extraction] now.


    But right now, Amon''s curiosity was peaked by the Familiar Arts.


    He quickly opened it and a new screen opened up.


    [Weaver''s Smile]


    There was only one skill currently.


    He quickly turned to the snake.


    "How do I use this?" He asked.


    "It''s simple human." The snake slithered and got on the ground.


    Immediately, Amon felt his lips curving up into a smile.


    "If you use this skill while looking at a person directly for a certain period, you can mess with


    their brain or cast illusions for them." It exined.


    "The higher ranked you are, the shorter it will take for you to take them under their control,


    and more effects will be avable to you."


    Amon raised his brows in surprise. This was truly a broken skill.


    Just the thought of how many people he could influence using this was unimaginable.


    "Furthermore, as a passive, this skill allows you full control over your facial expressions."


    "Ah..."


    Yes, there was also a passive included with a familiar.


    And as the snake said, Amon could currently feel full control over even the smallest facial


    muscle.


    Suddenly, Amon remembered something he wanted to ask.


    "The ones that were caught under the effect of your illusion, do they remember what


    happened?" He asked.


    But to his dismay, the snake shook its head.


    "No, they won''t. This is a downside of such arge-scale spell of mine. However, I can return


    the memories to any person you tell me." It said.


    Fair enough. Amon nodded.


    After all, no way would he be able to remember everyone''s names.


    And although it was better for the people to not know about the illusion, Amon wanted the


    main cast to remember the memories.


    Yes, even though he manipted a lot of them and broke their mentality.


    It would bring some issues as well but this was what he wanted to do.


    And the main reason for this was the development of their group.


    It was only on this trip that he was able to further develop his rtionship with characters he


    hadn''t talked to before.


    Like Alya.


    They were very close friends now.


    The same could be said for the other characters as Ren familiarized himself with Charlotte


    and Michael got closer to Elizabeth.


    There was also the development between him and Elizabeth...


    But yes, this was what he wanted to do.


    Even though it would make Elizabeth remember that conversation and make Michael have


    that mental pressure again.


    Before this trip, even though they were a group, they weren''t particrly close to each other.


    They were just a pack of strangers that decided to sit together.


    But now, they seemed like actual friends.


    Something he wanted to do before revealing his power to the world.


    This was also crucial because of the mid-terms, familiar ceremony, and the cultural festival


    that wasing up ahead.


    For all this, he needed the main cast to band together.


    Something that was done on this trip. Except for Liliana of course.


    ''That bitch should just die in a ditch.''


    He quickly told all their names to the snake, who nodded after a second.


    "I''m done, human. They should be able to remember now."


    Amon''s face suddenly twitched at the fact that they were calling each other human and snake


    all this time.


    "Don''t you have a name? Or should I just call you Derek?" Amon asked.


    The snake shook its head.


    "I don''t care, you can call me whatever you want." It said.


    At its words, Amon started to ponder.


    He wasn''t particrly good with names but...


    He tried to think hard.


    Eventually, he came up with a goofy name from his previous life of a flop game.


    "Okay, I''ll name you Vainglory." He said.


    It just resonated with the personality of the snake for him.


    The snake paused for a second.


    "..."


    "What? Don''t you like the name?" Amon asked.


    "No, I couldn''t care less about the name. But, what''s your name?" The snake asked,


    embarrassed as if it had forgotten to ask the most obvious thing in the world.


    "It''s Amon. Amon Ashford." He said.


    "Very well." Vain slithered up his arm.


    "Let''s see the ques-"


    Amon''s eyes widened with shock.


    He hadpletely forgotten about the most important thing of this whole drama.


    The quest...


    With worried eyes, he quickly tried to open up the tab.


    But just as he was about to, the door of the cottage opened.


    And in entered a wet Arthur, wearing casual shorts with his abs exposed.


    "Amelia..." He called out, rubbing his eyes before suddenly stopping.


    His eyes locked with Amon.


    "Oh wait, brat, when did you get here?" He asked.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    As if this geezer found out just now.


    "Don''t act like you don''t know geezer." He pointed at the shadow on the ground.


    Arthur broke intoughter before settling down on the sofa.


    "Seriously, youngsters these days." He rubbed his hair to throw out the water and dirt in


    them.


    Amon suddenly felt a strong grip on its arm.


    "H-Huma-..A-amon..." Vain called him out.


    Amon looked down into its crimson eyes, which were filled with shock and fear.


    He tilted his head.


    "Who is that abomination?" It pointed.


    Amon looked up.


    "Ah..."


    A smile pulled on Amon''s lips as he saw the snake also feel fear.


    "That''s a man you should never mess with. Even in your wildest ''illusions''."

 Chapter 140: smile

    Chapter 140: smile


    ?


    ***


    Arthur stood up and looked around.


    "Looks like Athena isn''t back yet and nor is Amelia here." He put his hands to the waist.


    Suddenly, his gaze moved to Amon''s hand and thetter saw his eyes widen in shock for a second.


    But they returned to normal a secondter.


    "That''s quite a big leap, Amon. I''m impressed." He said, leaving Amon baffled.


    ''Did this geezer just call me by my name for the first time?''


    He was unable to reply back with anything.


    Then, Arthur yawned.


    "Anyways, I''m gonna go find her, you stay here. They should be back any second." He waved and disappeared.


    Vain pulled on Amon''s arm.


    "Who is that?" It asked, its gaze shivering.


    "That human....he''s a monster, an abomination." It hissed.


    Amon shrugged.


    "Like I said, you never want to go against him. Even in a million timelines."


    He would exin more, but currently, he had a more important thing to focus on.


    Shaving off the distraction, he returned back to the main point and quickly opened the [Quests] tab.


    ======[QUEST]======


    Objective: Resolve the Smile incident.


    Time Limit: 7 Days


    Reward: [Body Curation] [Revival of Zephyra]


    Penalty: [Death of Zephyra] [Removal of Void]


    Status: [Completed!]


    Amon looked at it with a satisfied gaze.


    He noticed that the ??? part of the previous version had been removed and changed to Smile


    now.


    But now that it waspleted...


    He gulped, his gaze moving to his arms where he unwrapped the bandages.


    And his eyes widened.


    The cracks...


    They were gone.


    His arms...


    They werepletely back to normal.


    He wanted to almost scream in joy but then he remembered the main part.


    Where was Zephyra?


    Why hadn''t she appeared yet if the rewards were given?


    He turned anxious and worried as he wasn''t able to see any sign of Zephyra.


    But then, an idea came to his mind.


    He quickly turned to Vainglory.


    "Can you go inside my body?" He asked. He knew that the snake had told him this before but he wanted to confirm it.


    And it nodded.


    "Hooo..." Amon inhaled.


    He could only hope that this would work.


    Since Vain could go inside his body and Zephyra was previously inside his body...


    Then.


    "Please go inside my body." He requested the snake and with a hiss, the snake passed through his chest.


    A swirling sound echoed in Amon''s ears as it passed through.


    Swirl!


    "Okay huma- Amon, I''m inside your chest now."


    Amon gulped.


    Here goes...


    "Can you feel another presence inside my body? Like an entity or any kind of organism?" He


    asked.


    "Hmm."


    Amon''s heart thumped against his chest loudly as each second passed.


    It felt as if an eternity had passed when Vain finally replied.


    And his reply...


    "Yes, I do."


    Brought life back to his chest.


    "It''s an individual. They look to be in a hibernation state. Though they look human, I know


    I''ll be dead in a second if I head closer." Vain exined.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    From his words, it was confirmed that it was Zephyra.


    Amon exhaled loudly in relief.


    So she was okay.


    That was good to know.


    The hibernation part brought a little sadness to him considering he didn''t know when she was


    going to wake up, but he was happy nheless.


    That she was out of danger now.


    He just had to wait for her to wake up.


    Just then, the door of the room opened and Arthur finally came back.


    But behind him were 2 more people.


    One was Athena.


    And looking at the other one, Amon''s eyes widened again.


    With looks that were even above Elizabeth, she had long but tied red-winish colored magenta


    hair that draped across her shoulders and amber-golden eyes that had a circr pattern in


    them.


    She was dressed in a rose-patterned ck dress with a small white overcoat on top, that was


    hanging below her shoulders.


    Of course, he knew her.


    After all, he had seen her once.


    She was Amelia Milize, the adopted daughter of Arthur Milize.


    And also the currently third strongest third-year in Eldergrove, while also being the President


    of Cultural Society.


    Amon was quite surprised to see her again, not expecting for it to be like this.


    "Yo, I''m back." Arthur waved, settling back into the sofa.


    "That was a close call there," Athena said, looking at Amon.


    She was referring to the part where she saw him awake in the area.


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah, it was."


    It would have been a problem if those guards saw him as the only awake person out of all the


    kids.


    And he would be taken into interrogation which was something he didn''t prefer after all this


    drama.


    Athena also settled down on the sofa beside Arthur.


    Amon''s gaze then moved to Amelia, who also noticed him.


    Her golden eyes peered into him.


    Suddenly, the lollipop in her mouth broke.


    Amon saw a smile spread across her face as she raised her hand and waved.


    "Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Amelia-!" She greeted Amon.


    Amon nodded, smiling a little.


    "Same here, my name is Am-"


    "I know." Her pleasant voice resounded in his ears as she settled down on the bed beside him.


    She wasn''t able to find any other spot to sit.


    Amon looked at her questioningly, trying not to remember that previous incident.


    After all, the reason why he headed inside at that time was because of her appearance.


    She was too...


    But to his horror, the next reply of hers was even worse than his expectations.


    "After all, you are the handsome junior from before~" She put another lollipop into her


    mouth while winking.


    Amon restricted a cough at that moment from her words.


    ''Thisdy...''


    Her personality was too bad for him.


    "Huh? Have you two met before?" Arthur asked.


    "Oh yes, you see-" Amelia was about to answer but she was unable to as Amon quickly


    brought a finger to his lips in haste.


    He signaled to Amelia to don''t say it from his pleading gaze.


    Fortunately, she just chuckled and pointed her gaze to his finger, which was on her lips.


    Amon quickly retreated it back.


    There was a little red on it now, probably from her lipstick.


    Well, he shouldn''t have done that.


    But he didn''t regret it.


    It would be much worse for him if Arthur got to know from her lips that he saw her in those


    clothes.


    That geezer would y him alive.


    In any case, why was she doing this anyway?


    The Amelia he knew from the novel was cold and reserved to strangers she didn''t know.


    Even tantly rejecting the boys who confessed to her without a thought?


    Something that earned her the nickname of ''The Untouchable Rose''.


    Both because she loved roses and the fact that despite being the second most beautiful person


    in Eldergrove, she was only supposed to be admired from afar.


    Not to be touched.


    It was then that he realized.


    Yeah. It was because of his sister, Katherine.


    Just like Amon, Michael, and Ren, they were also a group consisting of Alice, Katherine, and


    Amelia.


    All of them were leaders of their respectivemittees and best friends, often seen hanging


    around.


    The only reason why he only saw Alice and Katherine near his apartment was because Amelia


    lived with Arthur.


    Not in the student block.


    She probably already knew about him even before their first meeting with Katherine.


    Which also partially exined her attitude towards him.


    After all, in the novel, Michael was aplete stranger to her.


    "Huh?" Arthur questioned and raised his brows at their interaction.


    Amon suppressed a shudder.


    ''Fuck, take this daughter-con away from me.''


    Fortunately, Athena was quick to change the topic.


    "You are healed?" She questioned and Amon noticed her gaze on his arm.


    The sleeve had fallen back when he reached out to stop Amelia.


    But it wasn''t anything secretive so he nodded.


    "Yeah, It was healed after I woke up." He told her.


    "I see-" She was also about to move on when she saw the 3-leaves mark on his wrist.


    Her eyes widened just like Arthur''s, unable to utter a word from her mouth.


    Amon even thought he heard her mumble.


    ''Monster...''


    But sheposed herself a minute after.


    "I can see that you advanced to 3rd order. That''s a monstrous growth for your age." She


    praised him and he nodded.


    "Anyways, let''s get back to the matter." Arthur leaned in.


    "I''m sure you know what happened inside that dungeon?" He asked, looking deep into


    Amon''s eyes.


    For a moment, Amon telepathically asked Vain if he could tell them the story.


    And to his surprise, he agreed.


    [Go ahead. I don''t see any harm in that.]


    And yes, there wasn''t.


    It was already contracted to Amon so there was no way those guys could harm it anyway.


    And so, he quickly exined the whole story from start to finish to the trio.


    Even Amelia listened attentively, her eyes asionally widened at his disy of strength and


    the reveal of elements.


    This confirmed for Amon that except for Athena, he told about his elements to no one.


    Just like he had expected it.


    Of course, Amon omitted some parts and changed them, not wanting to tell them about it.


    Parts that Arthur easily knew were lies using his monocle but chose to say nothing about


    them.


    Even he knew that people had their secrets.


    And when he was finally finished, Athena and Arthur leaned back on the sofa, as if pondering


    about something.


    Before eventually, Arthur''s serious voice came through, something Amon never heard.


    "Good job kid."


    He stood up and walked over.


    "Knowing about this, I don''t regret picking you up back then." He was referring to the Daniel


    incident.


    Then, his hand reached out and affectionately ruffled Amon''s hair.


    "You''ve been through a lot haven''t you?" He asked, subtly hinting to Amon that he knew


    about the pain that he went through back there. Pain that he didn''t tell in the story he narrated to them.


    And in that subtle moment of silence, Amon felt as if Arthur was the only person able to


    understand his pain.


    He hung his head low and silently muttered.


    "Yeah." A reply that could only be heard by Arthur and Amelia, who were near him.


    I forgot to mention this before but this arc was inspired from the horror movie, The Smile. If you want, feel free to check it out.

 Chapter 141: Never Hate You

    Chapter 141: Never Hate You


    ?


    ***


    Elizabeth''s eyes opened with a snap.


    She found herself in a white room with the curtains draped over the windows.


    It was then that she realized what the ce was.


    It was the Infirmary.


    She tried to sit up while weakly grabbing her head.


    ''What...am I doing here?'' She looked around and saw Charlotte, Lilianna, and Alya in nearby beds.


    ''What happened?'' She tried to concentrate hard on her hazy memories.


    And it was then that the lock opened.


    A flood of memories assaulted her brain.


    Of all that happened on the trip.


    The mission.


    The time with Amon in his room.


    The conversation on the balcony.


    The next day.


    Amon getting jailed.


    Everything overwhelmed her brain all at once.


    It took several minutes for her to calm down and finally understand what happened.


    ''So it was all an illusion...'' She realized.


    She looked at her pale white hands and her mind drifted to Amon.


    It seemed to be that he had known that it was all an illusion from the start.


    From all the nning that he did and how he was killing them...


    He was doing it all on his own.


    Yet again, Elizabeth not only failed to hold her promise to Katherine but also her responsibility as a friend.


    And also as...


    Someone whom she...


    She ignored such thoughts for the moment.


    The fact was that she was useless.


    Useless to do anything.


    Ah.


    It was then that she realized.


    Her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Amon that night.


    Alone on the balcony.


    Where he insulted her by calling her useless, trash, and everything.


    But insulted?


    Thinking back on it, she found herself admitting that maybe what he said was true.


    Despite how harsh they were.


    They carried a certain truth to it.


    She looked at her hands.


    Even though she was the strongest first year, she was incapable of doing anything useful.


    Meanwhile, Amon, the weakest first year, was always doing everything by himself.


    She clenched her hands into fists.


    No.


    It irked her.


    She wouldn''t let him do everything by himself.


    She needed to get stronger.


    Strong enough to help him with these types of problems rather than just standing idly by.


    She was the second daughter of the Snowcrest Matriarch and the strongest first year.


    She was Elizabeth Snowcrest.


    With a newfound resolve, Elizabeth hurried out of bed.


    She was quickly discharged by the doctors after a quick checkup.


    They asked her about the memories which made her realize that not everyone got them.


    Regardless, she denied their question and got out of the infirmary.


    It was then that she realized that she had yet to clear it up with Amon after that incident.


    She didn''t want him to hate her.


    It was too painful for her heart who considered him the closest friend she had in the academy.


    Despite her having spent a lot more time with the girls, he was still the first person she held a normal conversation with.


    And also a person who helped her learn a lot of things.


    So she couldn''t bear him hating her.


    Not knowing where he was, she quickly messaged him.


    And to her surprise, he messaged back quickly indicating that he had also woken up.


    Indicating that she wished to meet him, he epted her request.


    And the two set up a meeting spot in a nearby park.


    As she walked down the set of stairs, she wondered if breaking her down to make her realize


    all this was also his n.


    She quickly denied the possibility.


    There was no way. He could have never guessed this far into the future.


    But...


    Could he?


    Unfortunately, she was never able to fully reject this random thought of hers.


    ***


    Amon appeared nearby the park he had set as a ce for meeting up with Elizabeth.


    With Athena''s help, he was able to open up a portal in a secluded location and arrive here.


    Arthur assured him that he would be able to handle the problem now that he knew what


    happened.


    It irked Amon a little since he knew that both of them already knew the story.


    They had been in the vision after all.


    They were just pretending that they weren''t there now.


    After settling everything with them, Amon quickly freshened up while talking to Amelia.


    That girl...


    Her personality was aplete bomb for him as every action of hers made it seem as if his


    heart would burst out any moment.


    She was too dangerous.


    It was also then that he got a message from Elizabeth to meet up.


    He wasn''t against it.


    For one, he could finally return back to his apartment and meet his sister.


    He wanted to get away from whatever beachside home it was.


    And secondly, he had to fix Elizabeth back.


    As someone who had broken her with those words.


    He had to bring her back up as well.


    Otherwise, that emotional turmoil brewing inside her would just take the wrong turn.


    She was a member of the main cast.


    An important one at that.


    But most of all...


    She was his friend.


    He didn''t want to say those words to her at that time but it was the only way to lure the horror


    out.


    And though he could have done it using else, Elizabeth was the easiest.


    Why?


    Because she liked him.


    He wasn''t dense or oblivious to not notice that.


    And it was precisely because of that fact that he used it against his own will.


    After all, if he had to be honest with himself, he also had an attraction towards Elizabeth.


    He remembered the first day he met her. Something that was still engraved into his mind.


    And also the fact of how she helped him and saved his life so many times.


    He liked her.


    As a close friend? Yes.


    As someone in love with her? No.


    But as someone who had feelings for her?


    Maybe? He didn''t know himself as he was unsure of them.


    Nevertheless, Amon didn''t n to let Elizabeth fall down into that pit.


    ***


    Amon arrived in the park, his body covered in bandages.


    ording to Arthur and Athena, he had to do this and walk a little limply to not get suspicion


    on himself.


    When he disappeared from the institute, they had given the excuse that he was gravely injured


    and taken somewhere else.


    And now, he had to act by that excuse.


    As he walked through the park, he saw various couples and children roaming through andn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ying.


    It was a bright day and the breeze made Amon''s hair flutter.


    After some walking, he finally saw Elizabeth.


    She was sitting elegantly on a bench with her head hung low.


    Despite just waking up, she was wearing beautiful white clothes that provided a pleasant


    boost to her beauty.


    As he arrived close to her, she finally noticed his presence and looked up.


    And instantly, her lustrous silver gaze met his ck eyes.


    She didn''t say anything and gestured for him to sit beside her which he did.


    "Hey." Amon greeted first.


    Instantly, Elizabeth greeted as well.


    "Hey."


    But before he could say anything further, she followed up with another question.


    "Are you hurt?"


    Amon chuckled.


    "Nope. I''m good as you can see."


    She finally turned to look at him and her gaze traveled over his bandages.


    "But your bandages tell that you badly-"


    Amon put a finger to her lips, instantly shutting her.


    "When I say I''m good, you should trust me you know."


    A faint shade of red spread on her cheeks as she nodded.


    He took the finger back and she struggled to form her next words.


    But Amon quicklypleted it for them.


    "Is it about the trip?" He asked.


    She looked at him with a surprised gaze, not expecting that he would remember as well.


    But she nodded.


    "Yeah..."


    Amon sighed and leaned back into his chair.


    "About that night..." Elizabeth looked down, not meeting his gaze.


    "I understand."


    "Elizabeth. I''m sorry for everything I said to you that night-" He was about to apologize


    sincerely when Elizabeth interrupted.


    "Yeah, I know that. I know you did that to lure the entity out." She still looked down and


    clenched her fists.


    "I know that even in the vision you killed the guide for me and solved everything by


    yourself..." She said, her voice trailing off at the end.


    "Yes. I''m sorry for that." He answered.


    Elizabeth nodded.


    "It''s okay. I know you didn''t do it intentionally but..."


    She struggled to articte her next words.


    "Can you answer one question for me?" Elizabeth fidgeted with her fingers.


    Amon tilted his head.


    Without meeting his gaze, she finally said it.


    "That night, on the balcony, the words you said..."


    "I know it wasn''t intentional but do you truthfully hate me?" She poured it all out.


    "Do you think I''m someone useless?" She asked, still looking down.


    Amon looked at her with a soft gaze.


    He almost stifled a chuckle.


    Despite being 18, she could act a little immaturish sometimes because of all the stories she


    read.


    Looking at her flushed face looking down, Amon thought she even looked cute.


    But on a serious note, Amon knew that whatever he did or said next would determine if he


    could bring Elizabeth back.


    And for that, he was ready to do whatever it took.


    Even...


    "Elizabeth." He said, raising his hand.


    His cold fingers touched her warm chin and lifted her face, making his gaze meet hers again.


    "Like I said..."


    His face inched closer to her as he cupped her cheeks in both hands.


    And in the next moment, he closed his eyes and brushed past her hair.


    And two warm lips touched her forehead.


    "I could never hate you."

 Chapter 142: Preparations [1]

    Chapter 142: Preparations [1]


    ?


    ***


    [After 1 Month]


    Amon stood in arge training field with his group of friends.


    It had been a whole month after the trip incident and till now, things were proceeding smoothly.


    Of course, there had been quite many changes.


    For one, his training sessions with Athena had finally started.


    They hadn''t really started on the main stuff yet as she was still teaching the basics of spatial -control.


    After all, it was difficult and even one mess-up could throw the whole area around you into chaos.


    To his pleasant surprise, Ren was also included in the training.


    Athena told him that he wouldn''t train with her otherwise and was always goofing off.


    Using Amon as a motivational catalyst would do him good.


    And it did as Ren always came to training to try and get one up on Amon.


    Of course, the [Void] training was held two hours before Ren''s arrival which was why Amon always arrived early.


    There were still 3 weeks before the mid-terms so Amon wanted to keep it under wraps for


    now.


    Moving on, the second change was the surprise of everyone to find that he was a 3rd order


    now.


    It wasn''t that big of an achievement if you looked at it from an ordinary person''s perspective.


    However, achieving 3rd order from 1st order in just 3 months was phenomenal.


    A person might just call him a prodigy now.


    It even raised some suspicions from people about this unprecedented growth.


    He was on 1st order for 3 years but suddenly leaped to 3rd order in 3 months?


    Yes, it was quite suspicious and he was even used of using some illegal drugs.


    However, they never spread that far because just one testament from his friend group was enough to shut them all up.


    And if that wasn''t enough, the monthly physical and mana evaluation of the cadets was also enough.


    If Amon used drugs, his mana pathways would be clogged and messed up.


    But to their shock, he was perfectly fine without a single fault.


    In the end, they just had to swallow and ept this fact.


    Everybody knew that thest person ranking on his name was just for disy now.


    With that rank, he was among the top 10 of the year.


    But he wasn''t the only one that caught the people''s surprise.


    Ren and Michael also followed after him soon enough.


    Michael also reached tier 3, 3 weeks after Amon''s rank up while Ren was at the edge of ranking up.


    Although he didn''t have the system, Amon felt that Ren was a person who couldn''t be judged from his rank.


    Despite his being 2nd order, he could copy seven elements consecutively for 1 minute.


    Something that even Michael and Amon couldn''t do.


    Amon''s thoughts moved back to the present as he saw the professor exin the task of the day.


    His name was Ray Artorius, the martial arts professor who had been away in the early months.


    He had finallye back a few weeks ago.


    "Today''s lesson is just sparring in pairs. Form a pair of two and get into one of the circles on the ground." He instructed.


    Everyone nodded.


    Amon quickly looked around for a pair.


    His eyes locked with Elizabeth but thetter quickly averted her gaze.


    For some reason, ever since ''that'', she was acting awkward around him.


    Even running away sometimes.


    Sighing, he chose to leave her alone for now and tried to look for someone else.


    Eventually, his gaze locked with Ren, who also looked back.


    "Yo bro, wanna pair up?" He waved his hand.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Sure."


    They quickly headed over to one circle, standing opposite each other.


    As everyone took their ces, Ray''s voice boomed inside the grounds.


    "You aren''t allowed to shoot your magic, though you can use it to reinforce your body to


    some extent. This is just a pure hand-to-handbat session. Don''t take it over the line." He


    cautioned.


    Nodding, Amon looked at Ren.


    "Ready to get smoked?" He asked, grinning.


    Amon scoffed.


    "As if lil bro." He rolled up his sleeves.


    "The dual will end if one forfeit or one pushes the other to the ground. With that, you may


    begin."


    Amon quickly took on a stance and coated his arms in blood.


    Though one could say there were grave limitations on Ren in his [Copy] element, he was just


    as dangerous in that regard as well.


    For one, Ren was the only person in the world known to the public that could be both an Armentist and Clovist.


    He could be both at the same time as well.


    Not only that but one could never be ready for how he would fight.


    The future Ren was able to touch people and even store their elements for a certain period.


    Amon suppressed a gulp. He was truly a force to be reckoned with.


    As the dual began, Ren leaped at Amon immediately.


    Thetter focused on the present and quickly grabbed the wrist of Ren who was trying to grab


    his shirt.


    Amon tried to twist it but was taken by surprise when the wrist refused to budge.


    He looked back and his eyes widened.


    The wrist...


    It was coated in crystal now.


    In the next moment, a crystal-coated palm connected with Amon''s stomach.


    Fortunately, he was able to quickly coat it in blood and reduce the impact, taking Ren by


    surprise.


    Ducking, he did a clean leg sweep, knocking Ren off bnce.


    But twisting his body in the air, Ren put one hand on the ground before pushing himself in the


    air.


    Hended on the ground perfectly fine but was taken aback as Amon was already an inch away from his face.


    Fortunately, his quick reflexes quickly kicked in as he arched his body back, letting the punch


    pass harmlessly.


    Thereafter, he coiled his legs around Amon and grabbed his head with his arms.


    And then...


    Roll!


    Ren rolled back, pinning Amon to the ground.


    But it was only for a split moment as Amon quickly maneuvered his body and escaped out of


    his grip.


    They wrestled on the ground for quite a few moments before finally, Amon pulled Ren into a


    lock and pinned him down.


    Ren wriggled but was unable to escape no matter how hard he tried.


    And then...


    Ray whistled.


    "Amon Ashford wins."


    2nd Chapter might bete by a few hours.


    I''m not feeling well today.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 143: Preparations [2]

    Chapter 143: Preparations [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon headed straight to the personal training rooms after the lessons.


    He entered thergest one at the end of the row, unlike Daniel''s normal-sized one.


    There, Athena was already waiting for him.


    Like always, she had her long purple hair tied into a high ponytail and was wearing a tight ck bodysuit that entuated the curves of her body.


    Though most people never took her into consideration because of how unapproachable and cold she was, Athena was one of the most beautiful people at the academy.


    Only beaten by Amelia and Katherine.


    Those two were just on another level.


    "You are here," Athena said and Amon nodded.


    After training continuously for one month, Amon felt like she had gotten used to him.


    A sign of this was the informal speech between them now.


    And unlike before, she would scold and rage at Ren freely before him now, not caring about her image.


    "Yeah."


    "With weapon or without weapon?" He asked.


    "Let''s go with the former today," Athena said.


    Amon nodded and quickly retrieved the nodachi from his inventory.


    There was no look of surprise from Athena.


    It was because Amon had exined the Inventory to her as an application of his [Void] element.


    Because of this, he could ess it freely in front of her and Arthur now.


    Taking a stance, Amon got ready.


    But just as the battle was about to start, Athena paused.


    "That reminds me, your reward for the incident should be given today or tomorrow."


    Amon''s body sparked up.


    That was right.


    With some string pulling of Arthur and Athena, they were able to guarantee him a reward for the smile incident.


    This was because the former didn''t want to let him go without any reward.


    Amon felt a being slithering up his neck.


    His gaze tilted down where the coiled Vain was yawning.


    [yawn....What''s the reward, Amon?] He asked him telepathically.


    Like Athena, the snake familiar with his had also gotten used to him now.


    They no longer used to call each other ''human'' or ''snake'' anymore.


    [Okay.] He replied and turned to Athena.


    "Any idea on what it might be?"


    "Hmm?" Athena pondered with a hand on her chin.


    "As far as I know, it might be a weapon manual or mana tome, though I''m not sure which one."


    Amon''s eyes started shimmering.


    He didn''t care.


    He was fine with both as both of them were perfect.


    Mana tomes or Weapon manuals were basically the same as familiar arts.


    Mana tomes would grant you a skill that might or might not be associated with your element.


    However, after learning the skill, you could get it stronger by learning it and unlocking different phases of it.


    It all depended on your mastery of the art.


    You couldn''t learn more than 5 mana tomes as any more would make your mana pathways burst under stress.


    These manuals were usually written by the founders or a sessor of those skills.


    Or dungeons.


    As for Weapon Manuals, they werepletely different from tomes.


    For one, they were restricted to a certain weapon.


    A sword manual couldn''t be applied to a spear or shield.


    However, a sword manual can be applied to all its sub-types.


    And the same for the other weapons as well.


    And unlike tomes, a weapon manual was based on various categories.


    Footwork, form, stance, movement, etc.


    This was why weapon manuals were much rarer and expensive than mana tomes.


    They also had a slow progression and mastery ratepared to the tomes.


    For weapon manuals, you can''t learn more than 5 weapon manuals as well.


    But for the same weapon, you can''t learn more than 3.


    If you learn 3 sword manuals, you can''t learn more and have to fill the other 2 spots with different weapons if you want to.


    There was only one downside for the weapon manuals that made them even affordable for middle-ss people.


    And that was that nobody really bought them except Armenists, who were much lower in poption aspared to Clovists.


    However, both of them were still ranked on the same basis.


    And that was Tier 1-9, just like weapons.


    And like he said, Amon was in dire need of both of them so he wasn''tining about what


    he would get.


    Either was fine.


    As long as it was a useful and high-ranked one.


    He asked Athena on what rank it could be but she said it depended on the Lancasters.


    And pondering upon it, Amon knew that Lancasters, although greedy, never forget to repay


    their debts in full.


    Since Alya got her memories back, there was a slim chance that she might have talked about it


    to her parents.


    Of course that would only be the case if they discussed the matter to her first.


    Amon couldn''t imagine Alya doing that by herself.


    But by any chance, if this happened, then he could expect a good reward from the royal family.


    "Let''s get back to the lesson now," Athena said and Amon nodded.


    The lesson nowadays was simple.


    Athena would create spatial ripples in the air, and Amon had to familiarize himself with them.


    Familiarize and Manipte. These were the two things she instructed him to do.


    He had to counter space and find ways to bend it to its will.


    And with that, Athena brought down her hand.


    "Let''s begin,"


    Instantly, the air started to wriggle in the constant symphonious ripples that stretched out


    from Athena''s hand.


    Amon stood still, grasping his nodachi with his eyes closed.


    Immediately, he felt a strange sensation at a certain spot and leaped towards it.


    He shed his nodachi which was faintly coated in [Void] mana.


    A strange shock passed through Amon''s body as his nodachi connected with the space.


    The space ruptured and a metallic ringing sound.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This was the nature of [Void]. Complete destruction.


    It even ruptured the space mana that it came into contact with.


    But Amon kept his sword still, bearing the shock, and instantly leapt towards the next


    sensation.


    And continued on and on, until he was fully dripping with sweat.


    No.


    It still didn''t happen.


    Zephyra still hadn''t woken up. Even after a month.

 Chapter 144: Preparations [3]

    Chapter 144: Preparations [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon walked out of training, exhausted.


    Yes.


    Even after a month, Zephyra was still missing.


    Maybe it was because of this reason that his [Void] element became unstable at certain times.


    He needed more control over the element.


    Probably because of her.


    Heading back home, Amon opened the door where Katherine and Lily were waiting for him once again.


    That''s right.


    They were supposed to go for an outing today.


    "You are here." Katherine smiled.


    She walked up to him with Lily beside her.


    "Yup, just let me get ready quickly." Amon took off his zer and threw it on the sofa.


    He loosened his tie as well.


    Katherine nodded.


    "Sure, we''ll be here in the lounge."


    Amon affirmed with a smile and turned to Lily who was looking at him with pleading eyes.


    Her arms raised in the air as if asking for him to pick her up.


    Chuckling, Amon picked her up and rummaged through his pockets where he found a lollipop.


    He didn''t remember how he got it but it seemed to be that he was in luck.


    Taking it out, he unwrapped it and gave it to Lily.


    But as soon as she put it in her mouth, she took it out, her eyes closed as if she was in pain. "Bitter..." Her tongue stuck out.


    But Amon wasn''t hearing any of her excuses.


    He grabbed her hand and put the lollipop back into her mouth.


    "You still have to eat it, mister. No more choctes for a week."


    Lily''s face looked as if she was about to cry at any moment upon hearing those words.


    But Amon ignored it and patted her head before handing her back to Katherine. There was no way he was continuously giving this girl choctes...


    Ignoring her muffled pleads, Amon headed to his room and quickly entered the shower.


    ***


    [After 20 Minutes]


    Amon left his room, dressed in a ck turtleneck and overcoat that were coupled with blue jeans and white sneakers.


    His long ck hair were tied into a small ponytail that touched just below his neck.


    Coming out, he smiled subtly at the duo who were sitting on the sofa, ying with some toys. "I''m ready, let''s go."


    Katherine nodded and stood up.


    Together, they left the apartment.


    But they didn''t just take a carriage yet.


    Rather, they turned to their right and walked on the balcony corridor to another room.


    That''s right.


    They still had two people to pick up first.


    ***


    Amon stepped out of the carriage, on the City Centre entrance.


    Katherine and Alice stepped out after him before he carefully picked up Lily and put her down as well.


    His gaze moved to thest person in the carriage.


    Elizabeth.


    She was dressed in an oversized white jersey and blue jeans, just like him.


    She stood up and was about toe outside as well when she felt Amon''s gaze on her.


    Her eyes met his and a slight shade of red appeared on her cheeks again as she quickly averted her sight.


    Amon looked at her silently for a second before sighing and turning back to Lily, who was insistent on holding his hand.


    He almost stifled a chuckle as he saw Lily step away from Elizabeth.


    For some reason, she always stepped away or ran into Amon''s arm as she tried to y or talk with her.


    It was funny since she waspletely fine with Alice.


    He gave the little girl his hand and quickly caught up with the two best friends at the front, leaving Elizabeth behind alone.


    ***


    Amon stepped into the City Centre with the trio and instantly, the two girls started their shopping spree.


    He exhaled in tiredness at one of the shops.


    Girls...


    They were never to be left alone in a shopping mall with cash.


    It was a nightmare to imagine what would happen if Amon wasn''t there with the two girls.


    It made sense to him why Katherine had so many clothes in their home for herself now.


    As they were shopping, Amon saw Alice turn to him.


    "Amon, your familiar ceremony is after 2 days right?" She asked and he nodded.


    Yeah. That''s what was on his mind right now.


    The Familiar Ceremony was 2 days away and it was a very crucial event for Amon.


    This was because of the condition that Arthur imposed on him.


    To summon a Tier-V familiar.


    Amon looked at his palm, clenching it.


    He wondered if he would be able to do it.


    It has never been confirmed but there were many theories about the familiar pulling ranks.


    The most famous one was that the familiar rank of the familiar that a person pulled was thebination of his talent and current rank.


    And sure enough, many cases supported this theory which was why it was widely epted. And if he were to follow it, there was a 60 to 70% chance in Amon''s eyes that he could pull


    through.


    His talent was the highest it could go and his current rank though lower than the rank he wanted to pull, could bepensated by his talent rank.


    It was all a matter of luck then.


    "Good luck to you both for it." She wished them luck with a smile before turning to Katherine.


    "I know you can be quite nervous on that day. Me and Kath were the same, remember?" She asked her and Amon''s sister nodded.


    "Yeah, but fortunately, our results were even higher than our expectations so don''t worry."


    She smiled.


    "Yeah, it''s a total piece of cake. They exaggerate it too much." Alice said.


    Amon almost wanted to scream to both of them that they were prodigies with high rank and


    talent but he held it in.


    But then suddenly, he got a question.


    "Wait, do you two still have your familiars?" He asked and both of them nodded.


    "Yup, though we can just interact with them mentally and don''t take them out much except


    for work," Alice exined.


    It exined the reason why he never saw them.


    He almost assumed them to be dead, something if which they were, he shouldn''t have asked.


    And yes.


    Familiars could die just like normal humans.


    However, as long as they were hanging to life by even a thread, you could return them to your


    body and heal them.


    "I''d show you guys here but we aren''t allowed to release familiars in the City Centre,"


    Katherine said.


    "Yeah, can''t have the President of the Student and Disciplinary Committee breaking rules


    themselves can we?"


    Amonughed and they continued shopping.


    But before they turned, his eyes turned to the corner where Elizabeth was standing quietly.


    If he had to be honest, he didn''t understand her problem. Many times he tried to ask her but she would run away or won''t reply at all.


    He wasn''t dense. If she was shy or something, he would definitely see it.


    But there was no exnation for her attitude so all he could do was shrug and wait for her to


    ovee it on her own.


    Or just confront him about it.


    He had done the best that he could.


    Done with their personal shopping, Amon noticed that the two were now talking to the


    shopkeepers rather than purchasing items.


    They were even purchasing props and such.


    So he quickly asked Alice about it.


    "Oh, it''s for the Cultural Festival."


    "Ah." Amon understood now.


    He had forgotten for a second there.


    The Cultural Festival was a yearly festival always done right after the mid-terms.


    It was done to wee the winter and also showcase various cultural activities of then/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    academy.


    Stalls would be set up and many other activities would take ce in the Eldergrove Campus


    for 7 days.


    Sometimes, even Imperial Military Officials and members of the royal families woulde to


    attend it.


    He didn''t know if he would participate in any activity.


    He had the mid-terms to worry about first which would be held 2 weeks before the festival.


    Or...


    Just one and a half weeks from now.


    He needed to be prepared for all the tests.


    They would determine the new rankings and Amon didn''t intend in the least to best rank


    again.


    It was also where his power reveal would take ce.


    But not only that but the mid-terms were also a mini-arc in the original novel.


    It was because every 5 years, the Exlorian Educational Administration would hold collective


    mid-terms.


    What that meant was that the mid-terms of the top 5 academies would be held together in


    Eldergrove.


    And luckily and plotly enough, this year was that year.


    Amon stifled a sigh.


    This month was going to be a big hassle.


    As they entered another shop, Amon saw the duo start to converse with the shopkeeper again.


    They were probably asking if they wanted to set up a stall at the festival.


    While they conversed, Amon started to roam around the shop with Lily.


    It seemed to be a clothing shop.


    As he wandered to the edge of the store, he suddenly caught a streak of magenta hair.


    They were familiar.


    His curiosity piqued, Amon headed behind the disyed set of female clothes.


    And as he turned, he finally recognized the person.


    Wearing a fairly tight white turtleneck- that outlined her upper body- and a ck skirt, she


    was wearing over-the-knee tights that highlighted her legs.


    Only one person in Amon''s mind could have that kind of perfect fashion sense...


    The girl in question suddenly noticed his presence and looked up from the clothes, her


    amber-golden eyes locking with Amon''s.


    She smiled and waved her hand.


    "Hey, it''s Amon. What are you doing here?" Her crisp melodious voice rang in his ears as she


    ran up to him.


    Amon also waved back.


    "Hello, it''s nice to see you here again as well," He smiled.


    "Amelia."

 Chapter 145: Amon and Amelia [1]

    Chapter 145: Amon and Amelia [1]


    ?


    ***


    "What''s up? Here to shop for clothes?" She asked, smiling.


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah, we were just shopping." He said casually.


    From the moment he met Amelia, she had never used a formal tone with him so he did the


    same.


    "I see. Oh, wait, since you are here, Kath should be here as well right?" she asked and looked past him.


    She immediately saw Katherine and waved, who also noticed her gaze and waved back.


    As they were about to walk toward the trio, Amon narrowed his eyes.


    "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked in response to her previous question.


    She chuckled.


    "You never shop on your own, I know that."


    Amon''s eyes widened a little.


    He did know that the previous Amon hated shopping but it was surprising to see that Amelia was also aware of it.


    "It''s saddening to know that you still don''t remember me you know." She sarcastically said, looking at his surprised look.


    "Am I supposed to know you from before?" He asked.


    Amelia stifled another chuckle.


    "I have known you since when Kath was in the first year."


    "Oh..."


    How was he supposed to know this?


    The novel did state that they were best friends but never stated when they were.


    But looking at this, it seemed to be that they were friends from the first day like their group.


    "I gave you time to remember that other day but it seems that you really forgot." She tried to act sad.


    "Oh...my bad, I don''t remember much of my past." He said.


    She smiled,ughing slightly.


    "Hehe, it''s good, don''t worry about it. I was just teasing you." She patted his shoulder.


    "It''s not surprising that you don''t remember, you used to be quite a gloomy kid back then after all." She exined as both of them finally reached the group.


    Amon hid his little surprise.


    The previous Amon used to be a gloomy kid?


    He didn''t know that. It was a new piece of information for him.


    Katherine had never mentioned it as well.


    He was once again reminded of how he needed to dig into his past quickly.


    Unfortunately, he was never given the chance to with all the rush of arcs that kepting up.


    Looking at Amelia''s back, he almost wanted to ask if she knew why he was so gloomy back then.


    He felt that it was easier to ask her rather than Alice or Katherine.


    Her personality made it easier for both of them to converse about topics without hesitation, unlike Katherine who might hide it from him.


    For some reason, Amelia used to know more about him than Alice due to which he thought she knew Katherine longer than Alice.


    Surely enough, he knew that Amelia was a key to his past now.


    Someone he needed to get close to.


    "Thinking about it, you have changed quite a lot as well." She turned back to him before smiling.


    "It''s a good change. Don''t let it slip." She winked before focusing her attention on her friends.


    Amon just simply stared at her back without saying anything, his thoughts hidden.


    ***


    After some minutes of catching up with each other, Amelia chose to join the group for their shopping.


    She didn''t have any problem when Katherine and Alice asked about it since she was here for the same purpose.


    Yes.


    As stated before, she was the President of the Cultural Committee.


    And as the president of a club rted to that, she was also the overseer of the whole festival.


    In a sense, she had even more duties than Katherine or Alice so she was here to ensure everything would be perfect.


    After all, it was stated in the novel that whether it be fashion or just simple cleanliness, Amelia liked everything organized.


    A truly prim-proper student.


    But what was truly surprising for Amon was the reaction of Lily to Amelia.


    She, the child who never took a liking to anyone except Amon and Katherine, loved Amelia.


    Even with Alice, Lily only liked her to a certain extent which was nothingpared to the brother and sister.


    However, in terms of Amelia, the little child liked her even more than her two guardians forn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    some reason.


    It was baffling to Amon how she yed with Amelia and thetter also yed back with a


    smile.


    She even ran from her hands to Amelia, ignoring him.


    Amon clicked his tongue silently, something that no one was able to hear.


    The thought that Lily liked someone else more than him irritated him for some reason.


    After some hours, when they were finally done with everything, they settled down outside a


    shop to eat something.


    The waiter quickly arrived to take their order.


    Everyone ordered what they wanted to while Amon ordered his tea like always.


    From the side, he almost felt as if he heard a mumble.


    "You never change."


    But when he looked up, everyone was engrossed with someone else.


    Staring at it for a second, he shrugged and got back to leaning back in his chair.


    The waiter quickly arrived, handing everyone their order.


    For some reason, everyone had ordered something spicy or normal but Amelia was the only


    one who ordered only sweet things.


    She was also the only one who ordered tea alongside Amon while everyone else ordered


    coffee.


    As they got back into their conversations, Amon found himself sipping his tea alone.


    Except for Lily, who too was now clinging to Amelia, there was no one for him to talk to.


    Of course, there was asional talk with all three of them but so far, they were pretty much talking between themselves.


    Then, there was Elizabeth who talked sometimes with the group but so far waspletely


    silent to him.


    As he took another sip of his tea, Amon suddenly found Amelia staring at him from the corner


    of his eye.


    "Hmm?" He asked and her face turned over to him.


    "You aren''t talking with anyone?" She asked and he looked around.


    "Does it look like I have anyone to talk to?" He rebutted back and a smallugh escaped from


    her lips.


    She looked at Elizabeth, who was silent till now.


    "Haha, my bad." She said, before prodding her chin on her palm.


    Amon stared at her nkly.


    "So, do you want to talk to me?" She asked and Amon shrugged.


    "I mean, I''m fine by myself but I don''t mind. Though, you should talk to the other two no?"


    He answered.


    She gestured to her right and Amon''s gaze followed and to his surprise, Katherine and Alice


    weren''t there anymore.


    His eyes widened as he looked around.


    And he saw them in front of the entrance of a shop meters away with Lily beside them.


    These girls....


    They really had no control over themselves.


    He turned back to Amelia and nodded.


    "Sure, we can talk." He said. He didn''t mind talking to someone right now.


    Rather it would make this trip somewhat good for him.


    Amelia was also a keyholder of his past so he wanted to see if she had any new stories.


    And with that, the only ones left at the spot now were Amelia, Amon, and Elizabeth.

 Chapter 146: Amon and Amelia [2]

    Chapter 146: Amon and Amelia [2]


    ?


    ***


    "I just remembered but, it''s your familiar ceremony the day after tomorrow isn''t it?" Amelia asked.


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah, it is."


    "Take it easy, don''t worry about it and good luck." She wished him luck and he subtly smiled.


    "Thanks, though I hope my luck pays off." He sipped his tea.


    Amelia smiled and leaned closer.


    "Hehe - Don''t worry about it, you can beat Dad''s requirement."


    Amon''s eyes widened as he stumbled to control himself.


    This girl...


    He knew she was getting close so that Elizabeth wouldn''t know about the deal but still...


    What''s more surprising and not surprising at the same time was Arthur telling Amelia.


    The surprising part was that Arthur hadn''t expected it to tell anyone.


    But the non surprising part was then again that it was Amelia, his daughter that he treasured with his life.


    it made sense that she''d know about it.


    Amon controlled himself.


    "Welp, only time will tell."


    Amelia nodded.


    "Yup, also speaking about events, you know about the cultural festivaling up right?"


    Amon nodded, looking at Amelia who had a spark in her golden eyes.


    She really loved culture and fashion.


    "Nice, do you intend to participate in it?" she asked and Amon looked at his tea, pondering.


    In all honesty, he didn''t really have problems participating in any activity.


    "How many can a person do at max?" He asked her and she replied back instantly. "4."


    Hmmm...


    It was easy enough to choose.


    He could take part in cooking, music, maybe some sports and another one...


    "Yeah, I''ll participate." He told her. There was no downside in it so why not?


    Amelia nodded with a smile.


    "Great, our club will also do a circus and magical show, so if you want to, feel free to check it out." She told him and he nodded.


    He was reminded that Amelia''s element was [Blood], just like him.


    But her element was a [Maker] type rather than him.


    Not only that, but she was probably the strongest [Blood] user student on the campus right


    now.


    Because of that element, it wasn''t surprising to imagine her doing tricks with it.


    He would check it out if he had time.


    If he could find ways to better utilize [Blood] from her then he was all in.


    Just as Amelia was about to continue, a voice was finally heard beside them.


    "Excuse me."


    Amon turned along with Amelia, his eyes filled with surprise.


    It was Elizabeth. She had finally spoken.


    "Aren''t you too close?" She said to Amelia.


    Amon finally snapped into focus and also saw that Amelia was quite close to him.


    It was probably because of the excitement in the uing festival.


    ***


    Elizabeth couldn''t get the scene of that day out of her head.


    The warm touch of his lips on her forehead...


    The light breeze and his face.


    It was all engraved in her mind like paint on a canvas.


    At that time, she had been so shocked that she found herself unable to say anything for a whole minute.


    It felt so unreal to her.


    But at the same time, she felt as if a part of her exploded in happiness.


    She couldn''t describe it but it was like a me was burning inside her, burning away any semnce of rationality within her.


    It was because of this that she ran away from there.


    It wasn''t something she wanted to do.


    It was something that her body subconsciously did, afraid that she might just run wild if her inner emotions were to leak there.


    And running away from there...


    Was something she regretted afterwards the whole day.


    She wanted to run back. Back to that moment to fix it.


    But it was impossible...


    So she built up her mind to confront him the next day.


    But when she met him in the academic block the next day, she was left shocked at something.


    Even when her eyes met his, to her, it was like the previous day was repeating again.


    The world stopped moving for her, as if they were the only two standing there.


    Heat rose to her cheeks.


    But fortunately, this time she managed to keep herself straight.


    Which was why she realized something.


    Even when her emotions were a mess when she saw him, his emotions...


    They werepletely calm, standstill.


    She knew that she couldn''t see his emotions because of the void.


    But even so, when he experienced a rise in emotions or anything rted, she could see the


    conflict waves in his emotional sea.


    But this time...


    They were normal, no change or rise in them.


    A certain part of her was even disheartened.


    Did what he did yesterday have no effect on him?


    She didn''t make useless assumptions about him.


    She wasn''t someone to doubt him for it or hold it for long as well.


    But for someone who was used to reading those fantasy stories, it left her a little...


    Disheartened?


    She didn''t know.


    Just that every time she saw his calm sea of emotions, it threw her into a messy array that she


    was never able toe out of.


    It was because of this that she was unable to control her actions around him.


    She was unable to sort out her thoughts and even though Amon asked her about it multiple times, that stoic gaze always reyed that memory back in her head.


    Because of that, the only way for her was to seal her interactions with him until she could sort


    it out.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But today, she was left surprised once again.


    It was the interaction between Amelia and Amon.


    When they were walking toward them from the corner of the shop...


    She saw it.


    That surprised look on his face and that rise in emotions.


    She couldn''t remember how long it had been since she hadst seen it.


    But not only that but also their further interactions.


    She saw Amelia elicit more reactions out of him than she saw him disying towards her in a


    month.


    That irritated nce.


    And even when talking, how Amelia and he were so engrossed in their conversation.


    How he even subtly smiled at her questions and responses.


    How she was getting close to him.


    It just felt...


    ufortable.


    Hell with it, she thought.


    She finally caved into herself.


    She wanted him to notice him as well.


    Wasn''t she sitting there as well?


    Yes, it was her fault for running away but she wanted him to give her more attention.


    It felt ufortable to her. That distance between Amelia and Amon.


    And not being able to bear it anymore, she spoke up.


    "Aren''t you too close to him?" She gestured with her eyes.

 Chapter 147: Amon and Amelia [3]

    Chapter 147: Amon and Amelia [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon looked at Elizabeth''s face, which had a subtle shade of red on her cheeks.


    Just from a nce he could confirm her emotions.


    She was feeling jealous deep down. But that jealousy was something she herself didn''t know about.


    Amon wasn''t dense in these matters. He knew the source of that emotion.


    He knew for a long time that Elizabeth seemed to have some type of crush on him.


    That much he was quite sure of.


    The only problem here and the sole reason why he hadn''t given her a reply yet was...


    He didn''t find himself having feelings for her currently.


    As stated before, yes, he liked her for sure.


    But he didn''t know if those feelings of liking her were to the point of loving or having a crush on her.


    He was still unsure of how he felt toward her.


    He didn''t want to love her or get together with her half-heartedly just to satisfy her feelings.


    That wasn''t the definition of love in his dictionary.


    But even leaving that all aside, Amon didn''t have any time to be involved in these love entanglements.


    He had to worry about his survival first.


    He was barely moving along with the world at the current moment.


    And for that, Amon needed to advance further.


    Otherwise the world would swallow him up whole.


    In his heart, Elizabeth was like a close friend right now that he would do anything for. Anything above that?


    He wasn''t sure.


    "Oh, my bad, I guess I got too excited while talking to him." Amelia winked and retreated back.


    "I-" Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something but hesitated.


    And at the same second, Alice and Katherine also returned back.


    After that, the meal proceeded normally without any drama.


    ***


    It was close to sunset now.


    Amon and the group exited the City Centre, with Lily in his hands.


    The little gremlin was currently being fed a chocte bar from over his shoulders by Amelia behind him.


    Amon sighed.


    "Please don''t give her many chocte bars, she''ll consider you as her vending machine." She chuckled behind him.


    "It''s fine, she''s such a cute little angel." She caressed the little girl''s cheeks with her gloved hand.


    Now that Amon saw it, he remembered that Amelia never took off her gloves in front of the public.


    For what reason? He didn''t know.


    Even in the novel, it was never revealed why.


    That revealed just how careful and secretive she was with them.


    Katherine chuckled from the side.


    "These two make a really good pair." She referred to Amelia and Lily.


    Alice nodded.


    "For real, they almost look the same in their habits as well. Eating sweet things and all."


    Amonughed.


    "That''s true."


    From behind, he felt the chocte bar finally finish.


    But as soon as it finished, Lily begged for more.


    "More.." She reached her hand out to Amelia who grabbed them.


    Amon gave her a nce from behind Lily, shaking his head.


    Amelia gave him an understanding gaze back.


    "I''m sorry Li-"


    "More, sister Amelia..." She said once more, trying to break free from Amon''s grasp.


    But their minds weren''t on that for the moment.


    It was the two words she had just spoken...


    Everyone''s eyes were widened, even Elizabeth''s.


    It was a well-known fact amongst all of them that the only two people she referred to with family names were Amon and Katherine.


    For Amon, it was uncle initially before it changed to brother and then to daddy.


    And for Katherine, it was mommy as well after some time.


    And even though it had been 2 months with Alice and Elizabeth, Lily had never called them with any family names.


    But...


    For the first time, she called Amelia with a family name after just spending one day with her.


    A new one at that as well. Sister.


    The one to break theughter was Katherine, who broke out inughter.


    Even Amelia, who was usually yful and ready to respond to anything, was left


    bbergasted.


    "I was right, she really does like you a lot."


    Even Alice chuckled.


    "That''s so true hahaha."


    At their words, Ameliaposed herself and smiled back, hiding the red on her cheeks.


    She rummaged through her pockets from where she took out another chocte bar.


    "Forgive me Amon, but this sister needs to show her love to this blob of cuteness."


    She started feeding her the bar.


    Amon resisted a sigh and looked at Amelia incredulously.


    "You actually had another bar?" He asked and Ameliaughed.


    "I have a pile of them in my ring. I love sweet things." She said,


    "Ah.." Amon suddenly remembered her habits and nodded.


    After walking to the road, they finally decided to split up as Amelia had to head back home.


    "Welp, I''ll see you guys some other time." She waved, smiling.


    She patted Lily''s head and looked at Amon.


    "Good luck with your familiar ceremony, you can surely do it."


    Amon was surprised by her belief in him but chose to say nothing.


    "Welp, take care and if you ever want to participate in the festival, you can meet me in the


    club office." She smiled before walking away.


    ***


    [After 1 Hour]


    They stepped off the carriage and headed up the stairs to their apartment corridor.


    Amon and Katherine stood in front of Elizabeth and Alice''s apartment door.


    Katherine and Alice were talking amongst themselves right now.


    Amon turned to Elizabeth.


    He chose to ask her once again.


    "You good?"


    She averted his gaze for a couple of seconds, as if hesitating to say something.


    But then she finally came out with it.


    "I-"


    "I just didn''t like seeing her that close to you."


    She averted her gaze again, rubbing her arm and trying to hide her flushed cheeks.


    "It was just..."


    "I don''t know, annoying."


    Amon looked at her shy face and couldn''t help but break out into slightughter.


    She looked at him with her whole face red.


    "Hey, it''s not that funny."


    He patted her head.


    "Yeah, I know. My bad."


    Elizabeth looked down, as if she was hesitating for something.


    But then..


    She took a step forward, getting closer to him.


    Amon noticed it but chose to say nothing.


    But then...


    He heard a voice from the side.


    "Amon, let''s go home." Katherine said and he immediately turned, along with Elizabeth.


    Amon''s sister stifled a chuckle.


    She grabbed his hand.


    "Let''s go dummy. It''s gettingte."


    I nned to make a new uploading schedule of uploading 2 chaps right after Reset and also


    increasing word count of each chap to 2k today.


    But due to an ident on my bike early in the morning, I got some injuries on my body whichn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    also hinder my speed of writing.


    Because of this, I''ll need you guys to bear with irregr updates and word count for a few


    days till I''m healed.


    Thank you and I hope you understand.

 Chapter 148: Amon and Katherine Bonding

    Chapter 148: Amon and Katherine Bonding


    ?


    ***


    Katherine shed Amon a smile as they entered through the door.


    It was the first time he had seen that kind of smile from her.


    The kind that brightened up her whole face.


    At moments like these, he actually realized how beautiful his sister was.


    No wonder she was the second student in the beauty rankings of the campus.


    "Thank you Amon." She thanked him.


    He smiled back as he put Lily on the ground, who ran to her toys.


    "What for?" He asked and she stepped forward, inching closer to him.


    And then...


    Her arms wrapped around him and pulled him close into a...


    Hug.


    He was surprised at such different kind of attitude from Katherine.


    "You okay?"


    "No, it''s just..."


    She ruffled his hair.


    "This was the first time I was able to rx and enjoy so much with my friends."


    She pulled back.


    "And it was all because of you." She giggled.


    Amon smiled back.


    Yes.


    The n for the trip with the friends was Amon''s idea.


    It was both a way to ease up Katherine who was under a lot of workload and also get closer to her.


    And it was also a way to understand Elizabeth''s problem.


    And he had to say.


    The trip was a perfect sess.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    In fact, it was good that he met Amelia in that store with them.


    The trio was able to finally catch up and y like friends,.


    Something he doubted they had been able to do with all their duties.


    He looked at Katherine.


    Or Kath, as he used to call her now.


    Though she wasn''t his true sister, he still loved her as someone close to him.


    Someone for whom he would risk his life for.


    And someone who could make his brain flip with just an ounce of pain inflicted on her by


    someone.


    Currently, at this point in the story, Katherine and Lily were his only two weaknesses.


    He couldn''t bear them seeing unhappy or hurt.


    Who knew what would happen if his only source of peace and the anchor of his mental sanity was taken from him.


    Even he didn''t know.


    But whatever it would be, he at least knew he wouldn''t remember his true self anymore.


    He pulled Katherine back into a hug and patted her back.


    "It was no problem. I''m d you are fine now."


    And Katherine...


    Reciprocated the hug.


    They both shared a sibling bonding moment at that time.


    ***


    Elizabeth walked out of the shower, half naked with a towel wrapped around her.


    However, her eyes widened as she saw Alice sitting there on her bed.


    Her chin was prodded on her palm as she smiled teasingly at Elizabeth.


    "You like him don''t you Lizzy?" She said, her crisp voice resounding in the room.


    Elizabeth felt unreal as she heard her question.


    Heat almost rose to her cheeks but sheposed herself.


    "W-who are you talking about Allie?" She asked, her voice trying to remain calm.


    But Alice wasn''t going to buy it.


    "Come on, I saw that moment between you two at the balcony." She said, her grin widening. Elizabeth''s cheeks flushed as the towel almost fell from her hand.


    "P-p-please stop sis!" She begged.


    But Alice casually leaned back against the bedframe, stretching her pale legs.


    "Are you kidding? My little pie likes someone and I won''t do anything about it?"


    Elizabeth instantly answered with a trembling voice.


    "I-In-never said t-that I 1-liked him!"


    Alice stared at her increduously.


    "Are you serious? Even a blind person can tell that you have a mad crush on him."


    Elizabeth was unable to say anything, words unable toe out of her mouth.


    Eventually, she was finally able to answer.


    "Y-yes, I do."


    Alice smiled at her honest answer and mmed her fist against the other palm.


    "That''s


    w you say it."


    Suddenly, her face turned into a questioning expression as if she suddenly remembered


    something.


    "Wait, does he like you back?" She asked.


    Elizabeth averted her gaze, brushing some wet strands of hair behind her ear.


    "I-I don''t know."


    Alice put her fingers on her chin in a pondering expression.


    "Does it look like that though?"


    "It-think. His face never shows his true emotions." She answered.


    "Hmmm, true."


    It was true.


    For some reason, Amon was a hard man to read.


    His facial expressions never expressed his true emotions.


    He was like a closed hard book. Too hard to open and elicit a reaction from him.


    Then there was the emotional void problem.


    Yes, even Alice knew about that.


    But as someone who had seen Amon before the campus as well, she knew it wasn''t there


    before.


    His attitude had taken a significant change as well at the same time.


    It was quite suspicious so Alice had tried her best to investigate it on her own.


    She didn''t want to unnecessarily worry Katherine.


    But unfortunately, she was unable to find anything rted to it.


    She was still contemting if she should tell about it to Kath.


    But currently, she was against it.


    Her friend was finally enjoying herself and rxing after a long time so she didn''t want to


    ruin it.


    And besides, it wasn''t like the current Amon was a bad person.


    In fact, he was much better than she could have ever imagined him to be in the future.


    Making the heart of a cold girl like Elizabeth fall for him was enough of a proof for that.


    She looked at Elizabeth, who still had her face red.


    She was truly a hopeless girl in mad love.


    Alice stood up, brushing her hair back.


    "Well, it''s a matter between you two so I won''t interfere. But..."


    She walked to the door and looked back at Elizabeth, her blue eyes locking with her crimson


    red ones.


    "Sort out your feelings for him quickly and confess girl. Because, if you don''t...."


    She opened the door and stepped through.


    "It might just be toote for you."


    She closed the door.


    "He might be gone before you know."


    Herst words echoed, leaving Elizabeth standing there, staring.


    ***


    It was finally the day.


    The day for the familiar ceremony.

 Chapter 149: Familiar Ceremony [1]

    ?


    ***


    It was finally the day.


    The day of the familiar ceremony.


    Amon woke up early to Lily climbing on his chest and pounding it.


    Ever since Zephyra had disappeared, it was Lily who usually woke him up.


    He quickly took a shower and got dressed.


    Thereafter, he cooked himself and Lily breakfast before leaving the house and locking the door.


    Lily, though had some problems with being left alone in the initial days, waspletely fine


    now.


    She had her toys and she knew how to do most of the stuff to not have any problems.


    As Amon stepped outside in the cold air, he walked down the stairs and quickly headed to the academy gates.


    ***


    As Amon arrived at the location, he immediately noticed therge group of students likest time.


    It surfaced some unwanted memories for him but he quickly pushed them down.


    He quickly met up with the usual group.


    Alya waved at him.


    "Here!" She said, smiling.


    All of the group members were close to each other now, so everyone spoke informally.


    It was only because he had returned those memories to the cast.


    He reached them and also raised his hand to greet them.


    "Sup."


    "Yo." Ren greeted him first, throwing the cigarette stub to the ground.


    Amon''s eyes followed it from the corner and for a split moment, his face scrunched up in disgust.


    He hated these types of things like always.


    They were the cause of his parent''s death after all.


    And Ren knew that he hated them which was why he finished it early.


    "You woke upte like always?" Michael questioned, leaning back against the railing.


    Amon nodded.


    In all of their group, he was the one to sleep the most.


    But he rolled with it.


    Just because they had bodies capable of making them not feel tired for 2 whole days, it didn''t mean Amon didn''t like to sleep.


    Even 6 hours was barely enough for him.


    From the side, Charlotte chuckled.


    "It''s good that you woke up at least."


    Elizabeth alsoughed, surprising Amon for a moment at such a sharp contrast.


    "True."


    "How disgraceful..." Then he heard a venomous voice from behind him.


    He looked up and his ck eyes locked with two emerald green ones.


    It was Liliana.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She was the only one in the group whose rtionship with him was rock bottom.


    No, even in the negative.


    But he couldn''t do anything or care less about that.


    She was an NPC in the trip arc anyway so there was no development at all.


    And not like he liked her.


    "Your acts disgust me, you filthy bastard." She said it clearly.


    Amon shrugged back, waving off her usual attitude towards him.


    "Cry about it, bi**h." He cursed casually.


    Nobody minded it.


    With how much Ren and Alya cursed, this was normal.


    As for the rtionship matter, the other 3 girls had given up on it.


    All 3 of the boys had a beef with Liliana to the core.


    Like always, a p resounded in the area that took everyone''s attention.


    Their heads turned and they saw Athena standing at the center again.


    The scene was just like the previous time.


    "Wee students. I know you have been here once already so I won''t waste any time and get


    straight to the point."


    She took a breath.


    "Today is your Familiar Ceremony, In some moments, a transportation array will cover you all again and transport you to the Familiar Grounds."


    She exined.


    "It is advised to stay close and not get out of the array. In case of being left behind, you yourself are responsible. In such case, you will also take the ceremony next year so be


    careful."


    Everyone nodded, preparing themselves.


    "Then, I''ll start." She sped her hands.


    Just likest time, a circr diagram etched itself on the ground with various runes and


    inscriptions on it.


    It started shining in a ck and purplish hue, illuminating all the students.


    And in the next moment, everyone disappeared.


    But just before his view faded away, Amon noticed a shadow wriggle behind Athena.


    And from it, arose Arthur and Amelia.


    ***


    Amon''s senses distorted as he felt his breath being taken away from him.


    It onlysted a moment though.


    As in the next moment, they all returned to him one by one with his vision being thest one.


    However, even before he opened his eyes, he felt suffocated.


    Not by air. He couldn''t be suffocated by air.


    But by the density of mana in the atmosphere.


    It was so much that he felt it being weighed down upon his body.


    Something very rare as a person''s body was continuously sucking mana.


    He felt as if his body would be instantly back to full mana after using a spell seconds ago.


    He opened his eyes, and immediately a vast lush green clearing entered his view.


    It waspletely circr, therge majority of trees being the border of the area.


    And in the absolute middle of the clearing, was arge circr clear pond.


    Every student was currently aligned along with the tree border.


    Right beside the pond in the distance, stood Athena and Arthur.


    ''Huh?'' He was surprised.


    He was sure that he had seen Amelia before being transported as well.


    Whatever, he shrugged.


    "As you can see, you are currently standing the familiar grounds." Athena gestured around


    her.


    "I''m sure you all know what is the process for getting your familiar as it was exined in the


    sses."


    "The Familiar Grounds are a sacred and secret location that no one knows the location of."


    "The whole area that you see ispletely engulfed inrge and pure densities of mana


    which I''m sure you can feel."


    Everyone nodded.


    "However, what you feel is just the start of the density."


    She gestured to the pond beside her.


    "This is the source of all mana in this area. The closer you step to the pond, the higher the


    density you experience will be."


    Then, Arthur finally spoke up.


    "You can get as close as you want to the pond. The speed with which you form the familiar


    will increase with this as well." He said and everyone perked up.


    But he tapped his cane on the ground, signaling a warning.


    "However, the higher the pressure that weighs down on you will be as well. If you aren''t careful, you will blow up your mana pathways and end up as a cripple."


    "The Academy will never be responsible if something like that happens. It''s on your own


    ord if you decide to do so." He warned them all, sending a shiver down their spine.


    Everyone nodded again.


    "With that, you are free to start your familiar process. You have 4 hours to do so, failure will result in the person having to take it next year." Arthur exined.


    Then, he started to talk about other things but Amon didn''t waste time on any of that.


    This old geezer...


    He knew that what he was saying now was useless and just wasting the student''s time.


    The time had started the moment he dered the students free to start the process.


    Amon quickly sat down and closed his eyes.


    The group looked at him with surprise since Arthur hadn''t finished his words yet.


    But contrary to their thoughts, he said nothing...


    It was then that it clicked in their minds and they also sat down with a certain distance to each


    other.


    Familiar awakenings could be terrifying with some creatures being veryrge so it was


    advised to keep a certain distance.


    Amon concentrated on the mana around him.


    As exined before, Familiars were just the embodiment of your mana nature in the form of


    an animal.


    They were like the amalgamation of your mana.


    The process of awakening them was also like a game. Except the game was much serious.


    Because when forming a familiar, the more mana you used in the process, the better andrger your animal could be.


    But at the same time you were taking the risk of getting your mana pathways exploding under


    the pressure.


    So it was like go big or go home.


    You could summon a small squirrel or a gigantic hawk. It all depended on the amount of mana


    you inputted.


    But yes, the rank of the creature didn''t depend on the mana you use.


    The rank was just a measurement of how far the familiar could go after all.


    The rank from which all familiars started was Order I.


    Several minutes passed before Amon finally opened his eyes, he noticed other students also


    sitting down and focusing on themselves.


    It waspletely quiet.


    Some students like Klein, Elizabeth, Adam, Charlotte, and others were trying to step further,


    carefully.


    They carefully checked each spot, trying to find the best one for them.


    Even Ren was included in them.


    As Amon stood up, he noticed Arthur''s and Athena''s stare on him, waiting to see what he


    would do.


    Looking to the side, he also noticed Michael standing up, a few meters away from him.


    Good.


    Amon had an idea.


    It was a do-or-die idea.


    A maniacal slight smile came on his lips.


    "Let''s do a gamble..."

 Chapter 150: Familiar Ceremony [2]

    ?


    ***


    Amon stepped forward.


    And just as his body moved to a new spot, he felt a change.


    A tremendous change in the atmosphere around him.


    The mana density just tripled to the one where he stood before.


    But still...


    It wasn''t anywhere to the point Amon would start to feel disturbed.


    Releasing a small breath, he stepped forward again.


    And again the mana density tripled to that of before.


    Another step.


    Another change.


    And then another step.


    Another change again.


    He kept doing this for several steps before stopping.


    It had started to disturb him now.


    As if a thick nket was weighing him down.


    Amon looked back, finding Michael a few steps away from him.


    Looking forward, he noticed that he had passed quite a few students behind.


    All of them were looking at the duo with surprise-filled gazes.


    Or rather...


    The trio.


    Yes.


    Amon also noticed Ren, who was just a few steps behind Michael.


    He would have been surprised if it was the first time considering that Ren never cared much about this stuff in the novel.


    But ever since he had involved himself in the plot, the friendly rivalry between the three had sparked a me in Ren.


    And it was good.


    Amon focused forward, finding Elizabeth and other students belonging to the top 50s ahead of him.


    ''Okay.''


    It was time now.


    Amon manifested some blood from his ring, making everyone''s head turn toward him.


    The blood turned into a cylinder that ced him in the middle and covered him from the outsiders.


    Everyone looked at Athena and Arthur, waiting to see if they would object.


    But they didn''t.


    And Amon knew they wouldn''t. There was nothing said against using mana in the rules after all.


    After several seconds of looking and finding him doing nothing, they focused back on themselves.


    The time was short and they didn''t have time for all these tricks.


    And just as they looked back, Amon manifested [Void Extraction].


    It was just a theory but...


    Since Void Extraction was capable of extracting anything, it might be able to extract the mana from the atmosphere.


    And thus...


    Lowering the density.


    Amon''s pale hands immediately changed into ck starless hands that looked like a Void.


    He waited with bated breath.


    And as he concentrated on pulling the mana on his hands...


    His eyes widened.


    The mana...


    It was disappearing.


    He immediately felt the suffocating density around him plummet.


    It was working.


    A smile spread across Amon''s lips as he stepped forward again.


    The mana sucked like a whirlpool toward his hands, making him feel as if the density was nothing.


    Of course, he manipted the element on a minor scale.


    It was to both not make the students feel it and also keep his body safe.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The spatial mana in the air wouldpletely shroud his [Void] mana but it was good.


    As Amon looked up, Amon saw Arthur and Athena staring at him, wide-eyed.


    Of course, he wasn''t able to hide it from them.


    Eventually, a grin spread across Arthur''s features as a voice resounded in Amon''s ears.


    ''Show me what you got brat.''


    Nodding subconsciously, Amon took another step.


    And another step.


    He wasn''t even facing any disturbance or pressure.


    He walked as if it was a walk in the park.


    As he walked some steps further, he saw Liliana sitting on the ground, panting.


    She was even behind Charlotte.


    But it was to be expected.


    Even though Liliana was better in terms of mana maniption and control, Charlotte was still


    miles better in physical aspects.


    It was currently about the pressure on their bodies, not the control.


    Liliana was very weak in her physical aspects.


    But it was to be expected considering she didn''t even touch the grass, considering it dirty to


    be in her presence.


    When you stay holed up in a castle all day, this type of condition is to be expected.


    Amon stared at her coldly as she gave up and was about to get into her meditation pose.


    She noticed his gaze and also stared up.


    "You filthy bastard..." She spat but before she could say anything else, a stter of blood


    landed on her face.


    It smeared all over it and also her clothes.


    Every student stared at Amon, wide-eyed.


    While only Ren cheered in the silence.


    "Way to go bro!" He threw his hands in the air.


    "Womp womp, cry about it bitch." He replied and started to walk forward again.


    Ren was rubbing on him too much, Amon noticed.


    He heard Liliana grit her teeth from behind and immediatelyunch several wind constructs


    at him.


    They collided with his blood shield, forming some cracks on it.


    But just as it cracked, it healed back to its prime instantly as well.


    The students watched with gaping mouths at how strong Amon had gotten.


    Liliana''s attack...


    Couldn''t even break his shield.


    "Nice!" Renmented from behind.


    Amon ignored her and walked forward again.


    Liliana, feeling humiliated, stood up again and manifested wind around her.


    Several grass strands uprooted from the floor and immediately Athena''s voice boomed.


    "You can interfere in other''s people progress but damaging the grounds isn''t allowed." She


    warned.


    Liliana clenched her hands in furiousness, her nails digging into her skin, making blood drip


    on the grass.


    "Just you watch you disgusting wretch..." She cursed in a mumbling tone.


    But just as she opened to say something else, somethingnded straight on her chin.


    As she looked below, they were the blood droplets that were being manipted by Amon.


    They hadpletely soiled her dress.


    Liliana, mad in fury but also unable to do anything, barely controlled herself.


    Amon however, didn''t give her even a second of attention.


    Eventually, even Ren and Michael passed her making her eyes widen at how pathetic it was to


    be left behind.


    The reason why Ren was better than Liliana even taking aside the physical aspects was his


    element.


    It was a fact that whichever element you had, the elemental particles in the air would naturally pull towards you.


    Which was why mana breathing was so efficient in the first ce.


    But for Ren, who didn''t even have a specific element but [Copy], he disobeyed the rule


    completely.


    And since no mana was attracted toward him, he was faring much better than the students


    who were even stronger than him.


    Amon passed Charlotte as well who looked at him with surprise before chuckling and patting


    him on the back.


    Unable to continue anymore, Charlotte also settled down on the grass.


    She was joined by Ren momentster who also couldn''t continue anymore.


    The only ones who were still walking now were Elizabeth Amon and Michael.


    And the pressure was increasing step by step.


    Even with [Void Extraction], Amon had started to feel it now.


    Looking back at Michael, he saw that the guy was stumbling.


    He would also settle down sometime soon as unlike Amon, he didn''t have any good technique


    to nullify the pressure continuously.


    Rather, being the holder of all 4 primordial elements, he was being weighed down the most.


    But even then, he would be able to overtake Elizabeth.


    Looking forward, Amon took another step,ing side to side with Elizabeth.


    She stared at him, panting with clothes drenched in sweat.


    "H-how are youpletely fine?" She asked.


    Amon shrugged.


    "Because I''m Amon." He said. He couldn''t be bothered to think of an answer right now.


    He ced a hand on her shoulder and applied some pressure, making her knees buckle.


    She slumped on the ground.


    "Settle down. Any further, not only would you be in danger, but you would also not look


    nice." He said, gesturing to her clothes.


    At his words, Elizabeth also looked at herself.


    Her cheeks immediately reddened as she saw her state but she was quick topose herself.


    "O-okay." She nodded, catching her breath.


    Amon nodded back.


    "Then, I''ll leave." He said, turning forward again.


    "Amon," Elizabeth called him and he looked back.


    She was smiling. "Good luck."


    Amon looked at her nkly for a few seconds before nodding without any expression.


    "Thanks, then I''ll be off."


    Now, only Amon and Michael were left standing.


    Michael was several meters behind Amon now while thetter was several meters away from


    the pond.


    The pressure weighed like several 100kgs dumbbells on Amon now.


    But he persevered and gritted his teeth.


    A step.


    Micahel also took a step.


    Nobody was watching them right now except Athena and Arthur.


    Everyone else were focused on their familiars.


    Another step.


    Amon''s eyes locked with Athena and Arthur, who looked at him with worried eyes.


    They were wondering if he would actually be able to make it.


    He had already beaten all the records in the Eldergrove history though.


    Same for Michael.


    The duo''s pair had been the farthest toe to this date.


    But eventually...


    Even Michael sat down, several meters ahead of Elizabeth.


    Only Amon was left standing now. Amon gritted his teeth with each step.


    The pressure weighed down upon him like crazy.


    He bit his tongue to keep himself conscious.


    A step.


    Another step.


    He was close.


    He could feel it through his blurred vision.


    Another step.


    And there, he also saw Amelia appear from behind Arthur.


    She looked at him with an expectant gaze, telling him that he could do it.


    Another step.


    Just 5 meters left-


    Amon was taken by surprise as several red threads dug in his back like needles.


    Following them, his eyes locked with Amelia who was currently being stared at by Arthur and


    Athena.


    She winked at Amon.


    "A little help won''t hurt would it?" she said.


    And immediately, Amon lost control of his body as he was pulled towards Amelia, who caught


    him in her arms and settled him down.


    Amon panted deeply, struggling to maintain consciousness.


    His brain throbbed and his heart felt as if it was on fire.


    He stared at Amelia who smiled and winked at him.


    She put a hand on his back. "Go, there isn''t much time left." She said.


    Amon took a deep breath and nodded.


    It was true.


    He bore the crazy pressure on his body and looked at the clear translucent pond in front of


    him.


    He was finally here.


    Now it should better be worth it.


    And in the next moment, Amon dove into the pond.

 Chapter 151: Nultharia [1]

    ?


    ***


    Amon felt every tissue in his body press tight as he plunged into the river.


    It was as if everything in his body had been knocked out of him.


    As if he was standing in the center of a vacuum.


    That''s just how dense the mana was.


    It felt like a hydraulicpressor squeezing his mana veins tight, threatening to bust them with overload at any moment.


    Pain engulfed his whole body as he felt his consciousness blur.


    The strongpression was too much for his brain to handle.


    He felt his heart thump against his chest as if it was burning. Amon''s eyes became bloodshot.


    He was drowning in the sea of his own consciousness.


    Slowly fading away, part by part.


    ''What...''


    The light at the surface started growing further as his vision narrowed.


    He kept drowning deeper and deeper.


    ''What am I doing here?'' He asked himself.


    He didn''t know.


    He didn''t remember.


    ''What is this peaceful ce?'' He looked at his palms through his narrowed eyes.


    They felt so heavy.


    Amon wanted to sleep.


    Badly.


    ''This ce....''


    ''It''s so quiet.'' The light went further and further, throwing him into a deeper corner of darkness.


    Amon''s eyelids drooped as he felt his eyes grow even more heavier.


    He didn''t remember anything.


    ''And...''


    Except for the fact that....


    ''It''s sofortable here.''


    Amon closed his eyes and let himself go, wanting to finally sleep.


    ''I just want to rest after this long...''


    He was tired.


    Tired of it all.


    Amon''s speed elerated as darkness started to engulf him and the light turned into a bleak dot far away.


    He just wanted to...


    Let it all g-


    ''AMON!'' He heard a voice.


    A voice from far away.


    It only echoed numbly inside his ear because of the sea.


    For some reason, it felt a little familiar.


    But...


    ''Just let me sle-''


    ''Wake up! Don''t lose yourself!'' A shout came again.


    Amon''s eyes opened a little, finding the tiny speck of light far away.


    ''Wha-''


    ''You are going to die! Wake up!''


    Louder this time.


    And more familiar.


    More...


    ''Who-''


    ''THIS IS ME! REMEMBER ME? DON''T LOSE YOUR IDENTITY.'' More louder.


    Closer.


    And more familiar.


    More...


    ''Familiar''.


    ''Vani-'' Amon struggled to remember the name.


    ''HARDER, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AMON!''


    Amon rocked his head inside the deep sea to remember who he was.


    He could remember some faint memories.


    A ck-haired girl.


    Older than him and she resembled him.


    A little girl. Short ck hair and eyes.


    One with the brightest smile in the world.


    A white-haired girl.


    About his age. Quite familiar.


    But who was the one calling him?


    A faint image came into his mind.


    A man.


    Older than him with handsome features.


    ck hair and eyes.


    A smile on his face.


    At the same time, a snake.


    Someone familiar to him.


    Someone...


    Amon''s eyes opened.


    Not far away.


    But within him.


    Someone known as Vainglory.


    His familiar.


    Amon finally remembered who he was.


    He was Amon Ashford. The Herald of Nothingness.


    The Herald of Zephyra.


    As memories flushed back to Amon, he fought to maintain himself in the rushing sea now.


    This pond...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It wasn''t water.


    It was mana. Condensed mana.


    To such a point that it felt like a liquid.


    It was consuming every part of his being.


    Amon called upon all of his [Void] powers.


    What he was doing was essentially the same thing he did with Daniel.


    But this time...


    He would do it slowly.


    Not a sudden rush of energy like the pill.


    He spread [Void] inside his whole body, making it eat away at every inch of mana around him.


    He strengthened his body with [Crystal], making it hold out as much as possible.


    Amon instantly felt the sudden tightness in him decrease.


    But it still wasn''t enough as the mana kept rushing on and on inside his body.


    The speed of [Void] was still lesser than the speed of mana.


    But suddenly.


    A notification shed in Amon''s vision.


    [Your [Void] element has just leveled up!]


    His eyes widened before it clicked in his mind.


    He had expected such a possibility before but never thought it was true.


    The Void...


    It was eating away at the mana and strengthening itself.


    As soon as the element leveled up, Amon felt both speeds equalize again.


    Considering both were equal right now, he was sure that nobody would be able to sense his


    element outside.


    Now...


    For the main process.


    Amon concentrated on the mana around him before the [Void] ate it whole.


    He started to pull it inside him, concentrating on a single position.


    All of a sudden.


    An idea shed inside his mind as he was picking up a location.


    It was worth a shot. Immediately, he started to concentrate and umte the [Void] element and mana in his


    chest.


    Right in the center.


    Pushing himself to limits, he tried to swirl it around.


    Amon gritted his teeth as he bit his tongue to keep himself focused.


    Just...


    Just a little more.


    All of a sudden, it moved.


    It started to circte on the location.


    Amon felt like shouting in joy but controlled himself and then started the next step.


    He used [Void] at full capacity, making it eat away while he swirled the mana at that spot.


    Slowly but surely, the ratio of [Void] mana inside his body started to increase.


    He felt it.


    It was happening.


    The swirling of the mana turned into a whirlpool as Amon pulled more mana in.


    More.


    And more.


    The whole sea of mana started to drain as it surged towards Amon.


    Amon felt the crystal encasing inside his body start to break under the pressure of Void and


    mana but he pushed himself more.


    He couldn''t let it go now.


    He was too far in to debate giving up.


    His mana heart would burst if he chose to let go now.


    He pushed everything at max capacity as he drained out thest bits of his mana.


    Amon''s vision started to blur as the mana and the [Void] started to condense into a single


    spot.


    They started topress now.


    Into a single ball that went inside his heart.


    And in the next moment.


    It burst inside Amon''s body.


    But contrary to what was supposed to happen, Amon saw two notifications in front of him.


    [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    He smiled.


    But the second one made him want to pour out tears of joy.


    [Your familiar [Zephyra] has woken up.]


    And instantly, arge body collided with Amon from underneath.


    Thank you for reading!


    All the familiar arts of every main character can be found in my discord server. (Link in


    Synopsis)

 Chapter 152: Nultharia [2]

    Chapter 152: Nultharia [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amelia stood in front of the pond with Arthur and Athena.


    She was currently trying to look deep inside where Amon had plunged into.


    But unfortunately, the thickness of the sea made it impossible for her to look past the surface.


    It had been over 3 hours now with only 1 hour left for Amon to seed.


    Some students had already formed their familiars and had left the area.


    She looked at Arthur and Athena.


    If she was right, then the time for it had already passed by.


    But then again, changes could have happened in the time.


    Arthur looked back at her.


    "I want him to seed but if 1 hour passes by, then I can do nothing." He said.


    Athena spoke up.


    "You are gonna pull him out as soon as 4 hours pass by?" She asked and he nodded.


    Amelia quickly spoke up.


    "He''s gonna die if you do that. He''s too deep in now, just let him- " "No."


    Amelia emphasized the first part to him again.


    "He''s. Gonna. Die-"


    "Exactly, what I said. No."


    Amelia tilted her head in confusion.


    "No, he won''t die."


    Athena and she both looked at him with a surprised look. "But you ju-"


    "The Amon I know wouldn''t fail." He said with a scheming light smile.


    Amelia looked at him for a second before breaking into lightughter.


    "You have always been like this. But true, I have hopes for him as much as you do." Arthur smiled.


    "Of course. That boy is like me after all."


    Athena rolled her eyes.


    "And from where are you so sure that he won''t die?" She asked and Arthur winked. "Source: trust me bro."


    ***


    Elizabeth sat on the ground, her clothes drenched in sweat.


    But she had a smile on her face.


    She had seeded.


    Her familiar.


    It was here.


    A tier 7 familiar.


    She looked behind her and there it was.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A gigantic dragon that spanned over arge area around her.


    Its whole body was adorned with jagged scales of midnight ck and various shades of blue.


    Its expansive bat-like wings stretched out in the area, disying a gradient from a dark blue at the edges to a lighter icy blue near the body.


    It''s piercing vertical slits glowed with a shade of electric blue.


    Sharp silvery white ws protruded from its arms and legs while two magnificent white horns protruded from its head.


    It was Elizabeth''s familiar. A dragon.


    It was a male and his name was Borealith. Familiars already had their own consciousness and


    name.


    But mostly, their personality and nature were based off their master''s personality considering they were an offspring of their mana.


    As her silver eyes locked with their blue ones, she suddenly saw him move.


    It had been sleeping till now since it had just been born.


    It rubbed his scaly head affectionately against Elizabeth''s arm.


    Elizabeth smiled tiredly and leaned back against its body.


    She patted its scaly head.


    It was truly simr to her.


    Just an hour ago, it was emitting such an oppressive aura that made everyone unable toe


    near her.


    But he was soft to her and her friends.


    Speaking of her friends...


    Elizabeth looked around.


    Right now, only they were left on the grounds.


    Elizabeth, Charlotte, Alya, Michael, and Ren.


    Liliana had already left with her familiar.


    And it wasn''t that they had failed their ceremony or had yet to summon one.


    It was because they were waiting for someone.


    Her gaze moved to the pond in the far distance.


    That someone was Amon as they all patiently waited to see what would happen.


    She couldn''t see the top surface of the pond anymore from this distance.


    She didn''t know what happened but after she opened her eyes, the mana sea had drained.


    Whether by a certain amount or fully she didn''t know.


    All of them were too weak to currently stand.


    Elizabeth looked at the pond with a worried gaze.


    There was only one hour left.


    Various thoughts passed through her head, all being negative.


    For some reason, when it came to Amon, she was always pessimistic.


    Maybe it was because of the constant dangers he was getting himself into and how insane he


    was.


    Who would have thought that not only would he walk the whole distance, but also lunge into


    the pond?


    Borealithforted Elizabeth with its tail but she couldn''t help but keep looking.


    She wanted to ask Amelia who was standing in the far distance but refrained from doing so.


    She didn''t like her. At all.


    ''Would Am-''


    Suddenly, the ground started to rumble.


    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!


    It rumbled with such intensity that it instantly turned into an earthquake.


    Elizabeth and everyone weakly stood up with the support of their familiars who now stood up


    alert as well.


    The whole ground quaked as they struggled to maintain their bnce.


    Fortunately, they were quickly saved by Arthur''s shadows as they made them stick to one


    ce.


    But even then...


    Elizabeth''s head sharply turned to Borealith as she noticed something odd.


    And it was her hand. It was shaking.


    But then, she noticed.


    It wasn''t her hand.


    Her face turned up to the electric blue eyes of the beast that were now peering off in the


    distance.


    Borealith...


    A behemoth-sized dragon...


    Was shaking.


    Shaking in fear.


    Elizabeth''s head turned around and a look of shock came on her face.


    Not just Borealith...


    But every familiar in the ground was currently shaking in fear.


    Elizabeth followed the trajectory of their eyes...


    And itnded straight on the pond in which Amon was currently in.


    Immediately, the ground around the pond broke into tiny pieces as a silhouette, several times


    larger than even Borealith, shot into the sky.


    And in the next instant,nded on the ground right in front of the pond, which now resembled


    arge crater.


    Elizabeth''s eyes widened in shock.


    Humungous.


    That was the only thing that coulde to Elizabeth''s mind as she stared at its body.


    Borealith, who was thergest familiar among the ones in her friends, looked like a child in


    front of it.


    With a ck and grey primordial-looking elongated body, the familiar seemed to drip and dissolve at every moment in a purple and ck mist.


    With a long neck, it''s two glowing purple vertical slits stared at everyone present in the area.


    From its dragon-like head, protrudedrge branching antlers that stretched in the air in a beautiful pattern.


    Its neck and tail were covered in shaggy fur that kept transitioning from purple to ck, resembling a me.


    Its skeletal long legs were thin and ferocious, ending in sharp silver ws.


    The creature''s whole form appeared to be fluid and unstable as if constantly transitioning


    from mist to shadow.


    The shivering of Borealith grew to new heights as the beast stared at it.


    No.


    Everyone''s did.


    But what made Elizabeth even more shocked was the person who jumped down on the ground


    from the beast''s back.


    With disheveled long hair, he was wearing a ck overcoat that was torn at its edges now.


    His ck eyes stared forward stoically, without any expression.


    He stepped forward, taking a step.


    And as soon as he did, Elizabeth saw her familiar move.


    It lowered its body. Everyone''s familiar did.


    Then he took another step towards Arthur.


    And Borealith and the familiars lowered their body further.


    And with each step, they lowered themselves more and more until...


    Amon stepped in front of Arthur and extended his hand.


    At the same time, every familiar on the ground lowered themselves to their knees.


    And...


    Bowed to Amon.


    Elizabeth looked in surprise at what was happening around her, confusion filling in her heart.


    But it was then that she eventually realized it.


    Her eyes locked with the purple slits of the ferocious familiar in the distance.


    The beasts...


    They were not bowing because of Amon.


    They were bowing because of his familiar.


    Because if one thing was certain to her by staring in its eyes.


    It was that his familiar was in a league of its own.


    Something far above their familiars. Matter of fact, every familiar here could team up against


    that.


    And they would lose.


    Brutally at that.


    Thank you for reading!


    Sorry for the 1 chap updatesst 2 days but now my injuries are healed. Chapters will resume to


    normal schedule now.


    2 chaps per day.


    Thank you for understanding.


    I''ll try to do a mass release if I find time.

 Chapter 153: Nultharia [3]

    Chapter 153: Nultharia [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon sat on the couch, his eyes fixed on Kath and Lily ying on the carpet.


    He had aplex expression on his face currently.


    And it wasn''t because they were ying with each other...


    It was because of the ''someone'' they were ying with.


    Suddenly, that ''someone'' noticed his expression and ran towards him, jumping and crashing into him.


    But unlike what was normally supposed to happen, Amon didn''t move an inch.


    Rather his gaze traveled down to hisp, where that ''someone'' was lying peacefully.


    With a furry short and thick tail and a small body covered in thick white fur, it looked up, its purple eyes meeting his ck ones.


    It was a baby wolf. Though its colors were questionable.


    But that wasn''t the most weird part about it.


    It was...


    ''So....''


    Amon didn''t know how to put it.


    ''You are my familiar now?'' He asked.


    The wolf rolled its eyes.


    [Do you need me to write it for you?] A feminine crisp voice resounded in his head.


    Amon felt like facepalming himself but it would only make the duo think of him as weird.


    [You can''t do anything about it now. Get used to it.] Zephyra said in his head.


    Yes.


    The wolf was ''Zephyra''.


    Even Amon was surprised until he heard her voice for the first time in his head.


    He almost felt like dying from joy at that moment back then at her voice.


    But it was only till he figured out where the voice wasing from.


    It wasn''t from inside him like always.


    But from the little wolf below him, which was the mini-version of Nultharia.


    It was back then that he realized it as well.


    The notification he saw in the mana sea.


    [Your "familiar" Zephyra...]


    ''Fuck'' Amon cursed again.


    He couldn''t deny that he had umted the mana in the center in an attempt to wake up Zephyra.


    And it worked which resulted in him being happy.


    The only problem was her form.


    Since he considered her to be a ''goddess'', he expected her to ovee the familiar body process.


    The one where she would turn into a beast.


    But to his surprise, she wasn''t able to.


    And was now stuck as his familiar and goddess at the same time.


    But if he took everything aside, it was funny as well.


    He looked at her, stifling hisughter.


    ''A thousand-year-old goddess, one that reigns over [Void]. One that would make any mortal bow to her...'' He repeated it to her.


    She instantly retorted.


    [I''m not a thousand years old!]


    ''Reduced to such a form. Pitiful.'' He burst outughing in his hand.


    Zephyra gritted her teeth and tried to bite him but he quickly defended herself.


    The good thing was.


    She could now interact with his world.


    Like objects and everyone. Her ''status'' as a familiar allowed that to her.


    She could also be seen by others, even in her human form which she could always turn to in private.


    Of course, she couldn''t use her goddess powers.


    She said that if she tried to do so and interfered with the world, she would automatically get punished.


    When asked what kind of punishment, she told him that it was something unimaginable.


    But she could use her ''familiar'' power.


    Yes, familiar powers.


    Having the status of a ''familiar'', it was only fair that Amon got the familiar art from her.


    And he did.


    He quickly opened up his status window.


    [VOID]: Level 3¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 2¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ? ?


    [LGHTNG]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ?


    [SOUND]: Level 1¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á


    [CRYSTAL]: Level 1¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á


    Familiar Arts


    Yes.


    His [Void] element also leveled up by 2 points.


    But it was something he had already seen.


    With excitement, he quickly opened up his [Familiar Arts] section.


    [Weaver''s Smile]


    [Smokesoul Mirage]


    He didn''t need to ask Zephyra again about it as she had already exined it to him.


    Smokesoul Mirage, it was the skill he had gotten from Nultharia.


    There were two effects to the skill.


    One.


    He could dissolve himself whole or any part of his body into smoke.


    He could also travel in that form and any physical attack to him in that form would have no


    effect, even if it was coated in mana.


    They would just pass through him.


    However, purely magical attacks could still hit him.


    The amount of smoke he wanted to produce and how long he wanted to stay in that form was proportional to how much mana he''d use.


    Amon could also reform back to his original state at will. It would take no longer than a split


    second.


    It was a really versatile skill if Amon thought about it.


    Besides from just a good evasive and confusion skill, Amon could use the smoke to blind his


    opponents and much more.


    Combined with [Weaver''s Smile], it was a deadlybo.


    What was more exciting was that the more Zephyra would rank up, the more effects would be


    added to the art.


    So it was a really good effect.


    But what was even more deadly was the second part of the art.


    He could create clones of himself.


    And not just a simple clone, they were perfect versions of him that had their thoughts andn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    consciousness.


    They would also be able to use all of his abilities to some extent.


    The only downside of this was that for every clone he created, his elemental skill levels and


    his body stats would be halved for the clone and himself.


    And for the next clone, it would be halved further for him and both the clones.


    And the process went on and on.


    Nevertheless, it was still a deadly effect that he could utilize in many scenarios.


    Especially in the future where he would need to create multiple personas.


    For now, he could only create one more clone of himself.


    But as Zephyra would rank up, he hoped that he would be able to create more and the


    limitations on him would start to lessen as well.


    Moving back to the present, he noticed two presences below him, fighting. [AND 1, 2, 3! VAINGLORY NAILS IT!] He heard Vain screaming as he pinned Zephyra on the


    ground while being coiled around her neck.


    She was trying to free herself.


    Amon looked at both of them with confusion.


    ''The fuck are you two doing?'' He asked and both of them replied.


    [Wrestling.]


    [Wrestling.]


    Amon wanted to smack his head.


    Fortunately, they couldn''t be seen by Kath and Lily as they were in spiritual form right now.


    That meant that only Amon could see them.


    ''What?'' He asked, still not believing what he heard.


    [We are wrestling like I said, I just won the first round.]


    [I''ll beat you the next round, just see.] Zephyra gritted her teeth.


    Amon still couldn''t wrap his head around it.


    ''Sooooooo...a snake and a baby wolf are wrestling?'' He tried to confirm again.


    [Yup.]


    [Yup.]


    ''What the fuck.''


    ''In the first ce, how was a snake even able to win against a wolf?'' He asked Vain, who was


    getting ready for the second round.


    Even if he epted, they were wrestling, how was a snake able to beat a fucking wolf?


    Vain, looked at him in the eyes.


    [Amon, are you dumb?] He asked.


    Amon tilted his head.


    ''No?''


    [Then you should know the reason.]


    ''What do you mean kn-''


    [She''s a woman.]


    ''...''


    Vain hissed, shrugging.


    ''Fair enough.'' Amon said.


    [OI! That''s mean.] Zephyrained.


    ''I mean, he is speaking facts I can''t lie.'' Amon gestured to Vain.


    [Fuck you mean by that?] Zephyra retorted.


    [What I said, forget about wrestling, you would lose in anything.]


    Amon was a little surprised by how quickly Vain had gotten used to Zephyra.


    And how he was talking to her so casually.


    It was something that was a little hard for Amon to ept after seeing his grumpy self in that


    shback.


    But after a month, he had gotten used to it.


    [N-no.]


    [See, you are unsure.]


    Zephyra gritted her sharp teeth.


    [Okay, let''s race then.] She said, trying to smug in her form.


    Vain shrugged.


    [Sure.]


    Amon was a little unsure about this as he saw them both take their positions.


    Forget about how slow snakes were, wolves were really fast.


    It was a pipe dream if Vain thought he''d-


    Vain won.


    Right in front of Amon''s eyes, he saw Zephyra tumble right and left while Vain passed the


    finishing line.


    ''What the fuck?'' Amon cursed again.


    Vain looked back at him, smudging.


    [See? Imagine losing to a snake.] He tried tough.


    ''How can you mess this up a second time? Especially as a wolf?'' Amon asked Zephyra who was


    gritting her teeth.


    [I''m still not used to this body okay! It''s hard getting used to four feet. If not for that, I would


    have won.] Sheined.


    From the side, Amon heard Vainugh.


    [Meh, cry about it whamen.] He said while Amon looked at him in shock.


    Zephyra clenched her ws as she tried to pounce on Vain but failed miserably again.


    ''Ren is rubbing on you too much.'' Amon said to Vain.


    [Hah, I like the boy and his personality.] It said while dodging Zephyra.


    [And as if you are the one to talk.] He said back, referencing to the Liliana incident in the


    ceremony.


    Amon exhaled hard.


    True.


    Ren was rubbing off on all of them too much.


    Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading.


    I made this chapter a little long as the second one might bete by a few hours.


    Something came up so I have to attend to it. Thank you for understanding.

 Chapter 154: Written Exams [1]

    Chapter 154: Written Exams [1]


    ?


    ****


    It was finally the day.


    The day for the mid-terms to start.


    They wouldst for a week, starting from today.


    For today, only written tests would be held.


    At night, the other academies would arrive in Eldergrove as well, where they would be led to their dorms.


    And from tomorrow, they would kick in full throttle.


    The schedule went like this.


    Monday: Written Tests


    Tuesday: 1v1 Matches


    Wednesday: 1v1 Matches (Quarter, Semi, Finals)


    Thursday: Team Battles


    Friday: Team Battles (Quarter, Semi, Finals)


    Saturday: Battle Royale


    Sunday: Rest


    Monday: Catbs Exploration and Final Ceremony


    It was a good schedule. Amon did not have many problems with it.


    The only biggest problem he could see was the timing of 1v1 matches.


    These were the matches where he was supposed to finally reveal his power against Michael.


    And because of that, with the reveal of both of their powers, Amon knew that the kingdom would be thrown into shambles.


    The mid-terms wouldn''t be cancelled but there would be heaps of attention on him.


    Journalists and everyone.


    Which meant that for the rest of the matches, he would be a major target of all academies. He sighed.


    ''I should be able to handle it...'' He tried to assure himself.


    For now, he had the written tests to worry about first.


    Getting out of his home, Amon exhaled in the cold air.


    It was November and the cold was at its peak.


    [It''s been so long since Ist saw this scene.] He heard a crisp voice from the side.


    Looking towards the source, he saw Zephyra looking around and reminiscing.


    Heughed.


    ''True.''


    Amon felt Vain coil around his neck.


    [I wish I could turn into a human.] He said.


    Zephyraughed at him.


    He hissed back in contempt at her.


    ''Okay, okay, calm down you two. I''m going to bete.'' He said.


    Unfortunately, their bickering still didn''t stop as he walked to the campus.


    It wasn''t hateful bickering. Rather, he knew that both of them liked each other.


    The fact that they always kept talking about nonsense was proof of that.


    Zephyra turned back to her wolf form and climbed upon his shoulder where she was arguing with Vain.


    It was allowed to have your familiar in mini-forms on the campus streets.


    But Amon didn''t want the others to see a baby wolf arguing mindlessly with his neck.


    As he reached the campus, he heard a familiar voice from the side.


    "Yoo!"


    Looking to the side, Amon saw Ren running towards him to catch up.


    But there was someone else with him.


    Or rather, sticking to his neck.


    It was a lizard. Or more like a mechanical white lizard, with two horns protruding from its


    head.


    "Sup." Amon raised his hand.


    Ren put an arm around him.


    "So, fuc*er, did you study for the exams?" He asked.


    "Nope, not at all."


    ||


    ||


    "Fu*ker..."


    "...What?"


    "Are you the type of person to say you didn''t study at all but get full marks?" He asked.


    Amon shrugged.


    Ren looked horrified.


    "But genuinely though, you didn''t study at all?"


    Amon shook his head and Ren clutched his with horror.


    "Nah bi*ch, I''m so cooked. What am I gonna do if I sit next to you? I haven''t studied sh*t."


    "Well..." Amon said.


    Ren looked at him with hope, expecting him to give good news.


    But Amon simply raised a middle finger.


    "Womp womp lil bro."


    "..." Ren looked at him increduously.


    He didn''t expect his technique to backfire on him.


    "You co*ksuc*er, you are cooked as well." He put Amon in a half-Nelson.


    ***


    Amon walked into ss, his body aching from Ren''s antics.


    ''That bi*ch.'' He cursed while Zephyra and Vain bothughed at him.


    Just because he didn''t study at all didn''t mean he was cooked.


    As a loyal reader of the novel, he knew everything that woulde in the exam.


    But even in case of backup, he had a little help from Arthur so he had nothing to worry about


    that.


    ''That geezer can be useful at times.''


    Walking into ss, Amon finally asked about the lizard on Ren''s neck.


    "So, that''s your familiar?"


    Ren looked at his neck from above and nodded.


    "Yup." He brought its finger near it and the lizard slithered onto it.


    "What''s the name?" Amon asked.


    "Athraxius." He said.


    "That''s a cold name," Amon remarked and Ren smirked.


    "I know right, though your familiar''s name is cooler. Nultharia. Nice." He said.


    Amon coughed. Well, it was at least better than the nd Zephyra.


    "All of the familiars bowing to yours legit had me shocked haha. That scene was cold as hell."


    Ren said.


    "I didn''t even know what was happening," Amonmented as they walked forward.


    "Though, that reminds me, where is your familiar anyways?" He asked.


    Amon remained silent for a second,ing up with an excuse.


    Their bickering had still not ended yet after all.


    "It''s too shy hahaha." Amon finally answered and Ren burst outughing.


    [What do you mean by shy?] Zephyra asked in disbelief while Vainughed at her.


    ''Shut up for a second.''


    Amon brought its finger near Athraxius and the lizard climbed on, trusting him.


    "So you call him by its full name?" He asked and Ren shook his head.


    "Nah, I can''t remember it for more than 2 days. I just call it Athex." He said.


    Amon stifled a cough. For some reason, that name was worse.


    But he rolled with it.


    "He loved it though," Ren said and the lizard hissed in agreement.


    Amon nodded.


    Unlike Zephyra, other familiars could onlymunicate with their masters with actions.


    And their feelings could be felt by the master as well.


    But they couldn''t talk.


    So that was that. "Welp, let''s talkter with all the friend groups then." Amon returned the lizard to his hand.


    Ren nodded before patting him on the back.


    "Sure, Imma go and cram what I can in 30 minutes." He said before running off.


    Amon looked at his departing back with a smile.


    ''That guy never changes.'' He shook his head before also taking his seat.


    And after 30 minutes, a teacher finally entered the room.


    And the written exams for the mid-terms finally began.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Get a lifedy.]


    [Shut up you reptilian bastard.]


    But the bickering of two animals still didn''t stop.

 Chapter 155: Out of Time [1]

    Chapter 155: Out of Time [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon walked out of the ss, stretching his arms in the hallway.


    He was finally done with the written exams of all subjects.


    It was hell considering he had to attempt them continuously without any breaks.


    But at least he was done.


    As for how he did, he thought he had done pretty good.


    Though he didn''t remember every question in all exams from the novel, he still knew about 80% of the material.


    He knew that the answers to menial tasks like these weren''t written or never exined in most novels.


    But surprisingly, for the novel he read, everything was written and exined in detail in a side volume.


    And being the loyal fan he was, he read that volume as well.


    Probably, he would be able toe in the top 10s. That, he knew for sure.


    He quickly opened up his watch and went to the chat group that was created a week ago by Alya.


    [Alya: Sorry guys got something to attend to! :(]


    [Charlotte: It''s alright, we can schedule our meeting for sometimeter. I got somewhere to go as well.]


    [Ren: Sure, Imma hit up a club then. See yall tmr then]


    The meeting of their group was canceled since all of them had to go somewhere.


    It wasn''t like Amon minded it.


    Rather, he preferred it as he waspletely tired from the exams.


    Looking at the chat, he found himself analyzing their typing patterns again.


    It was something he had done over the week by chatting with them all.


    Alya was thepletely casual type of chatter, often using symbols and emojis to express herself.


    Charlotte was kind and generous like always, while also using punctuation for everything in the sentence.


    And Ren, like the person he was, just messaged straight up without anything.


    It often made a person misunderstand his message considering he didn''t even bother to put


    commas.


    As for Amon himself, he was just a dry chatter. It didn''t mean that he often ignored the messages or just gave one-word replies.


    It was more like that his messages didn''t have any soul in them.


    Especially since he didn''t bother to put punctuations or any emojis as well.


    ''Whatever.'' He shrugged.


    He wanted to go home and just slump in bed.


    Fuck the academy''s arrival and everything.


    With that thought, he quickly walked toward his apartment.


    ***


    As Amon arrived in front of his apartment door, he quickly rummaged through his pockets for keys.


    But...


    He couldn''t feel them.


    ''What?'' He tapped his body all over, trying to find the keys.


    But no, he had apparently forgotten the keys today.


    In cases like these, there were mana scanners on the side of the door.


    A person could scan their ID there which had the specific mana signature of that person. Unfortunately, Amon couldn''t use that option since the apartment was under Katherine''s


    name.


    As the strongest third year, she was obviously given avish and spacious space.


    So rather than letting Amon rot in a small apartment for being the weakest, they were both living together in her apartment.


    And because of that, only she could open the door through her mana signature and he had to enter through the keys.


    Stuck in a pinch, Amon quickly called up Katherine on his smartwatch.


    [Amon: Stuck outside the apartment. Forgot the keys inside.]


    [Kath: ...]


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    [Amon: Hey, it wasn''t my intention okay?]


    [Kath: Do you have Alzheimer lil bro?]


    Amon instantly replied back.


    [Amon: No sis.]


    [He does.] Vain and Zephyra simultaneously replied in his head.


    ''Shut up.''


    [Kath: How can you forget the keys then?]


    [Amon: I don''t know :sob: Just tell me what do I do now.]


    He added a crying emoji.


    Yes, his sister was the only one he used emojis with.


    [Kath: Okay, listen up lil bro. There are two options. One, you wait for me there till Ie


    back.]


    [Amon: No, never the first one, I''m not rotting here till youe back. I''ll go for the second.]


    [Kath: Second, you go to Alice''s apartment. Elizabeth should be there already so wait there


    until Ie back.]


    ''Wait.''


    [Amon: Isn''t Lily inside?] He asked her, horrified.


    Usually, Lily would be at the door before he even opened it but today she wasn''t there.


    Was she sleeping or gone somewhere?


    Katherine quickly answered him.


    [Katherine: She''s with us right now. We had to buy some more things for the festival so I came


    back to change and took Lily along with me lol.]


    Amon cursed in his head.


    ''Guess I''ll just take the second option.''


    [Amon: Aight, I''ll just go to Elizabeth then.]


    He concluded and Katherine sent a thumbs-up emoji as confirmation.


    [Katherine: Alice will notify her that you areing then.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon reacted with a thumbs up as well and closed his smartwatch.


    Walking to her apartment, Amon promptly knocked on the door.


    Then, he waited.


    [Bro''s going to be alone in a room with a girl who crushes on him.] Vainughed.


    Zephyra looked baffled.


    [Crush!? When did that happen?]


    [Oh right, you weren''t awake when all that happened.]


    Amon, however, quickly shut the snake down.


    ''Stop overthinking it.''


    Unfortunately, the snake ignored him as he was busy telling the story to Zephyra, who in turn


    was pressing him to tell everything.


    Amon looked at the door again. There was still no response.


    He knocked again, a little harder.


    Then, he waited again.


    But unfortunately, there was still no response.


    He did it again and harder but then again, no response.


    After waiting another minute, he contacted Katherine again.


    [Amon: Elizabeth isn''t opening the door.]


    He didn''t say that no one was home since he could see faint signs of light from inside,


    indicating that she was still there.


    After some minutes, Katherine responded again.


    [Kath: Alice tells me that she has already informed Elizabeth and she has opened the door in


    turn. So you can go inside, she might be busy with something you know.]


    Amon saw her message and twisted the door handle and to his surprise, it opened up.


    So the door was open all along.


    [Amon: Yeah it''s open, I''ll head inside then.]


    Katherine reacted back with a thumbs-up emoji and he closed his app again.


    Then, he twisted the door handle again and headed inside.


    And as soon as he entered, his gaze traveled down to a cat that stared at him with its diamond-like blue eyes.


    He instantly understood who the cat was.


    It was Elizabeth''s familiar. Borealith should have been its name if he was correct.


    Even previously, he knew Ren''s familiar name but asked it to confirm if anything had


    changed.


    But hearing his answer, he knew that nothing changed.


    The same should be for Elizabeth as well but he won''t be surprised if something changes with


    her.


    His interference had interrupted with her character and story the most after all.


    Looking at the familiar, Amon knew that it was the one who had opened the door for him.


    But where was Elizabeth then?


    He took off his shoes and quickly walked into the lounge.


    But just as he was about to settle down on the sofa, the door to his right opened.


    His eyes traveled to the source of the sound but instantly regretted doing so.


    His eyes widened as he saw Elizabeth standing there with her hair wet and water dripping


    down on the floor.


    There was a towel wrapped around her whole body but even that was dripping wet.


    At that moment, her crimson red eyes met his ck ones and both of them forgot what they


    were supposed to do.


    It wasn''t until Amon heard screaming inside his mind from Vain as he sharply turned his head


    in embarrassment and Elizabeth rushed back inside with a red face.


    A face that Amon was unable to see.


    ""My bad!"".

 Chapter 156: Out of Time [2]

    Chapter 156: Out of Time [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon didn''t move his face back to her even after the door of the bathroom opened again.


    He knew that she had changed now. But he still wasn''t supposed to look.


    "I-I changed back." She said and Amon nodded while looking at her.


    It was because of her ey-


    "T-There''s nothing to look away from now." She said,


    Letting out a sigh, Amon finally turned to look back at her.


    However the instant he looked, her crimson eyes met his ck ones and he looked away again.


    "Your eye-" He was interrupted as Elizabeth spoke up again.


    "There''s no reason to look away. Look at me." She said,posed now.


    Amon''s eyes were filled with surprise as he looked back at her.


    Her crimson red eyes wereposed and unwavering, not shying away in the least.


    If Amon was still a little bit unsure before, he waspletely sure now.


    This girl...


    Elizabeth.


    Waspletely head-over-heels for him.


    It was all because of her eye color.


    As exined before, the special trait of the Snowcrests was undoubtedly their eyes.


    The eyes that could see emotions. Those silver crystalline eyes that marked them as a pure- blooded Snowcrest.


    However, that wasn''t their true eye color.


    The silver color was simply an effect of their ability to see emotions.


    In reality, all of them possessed their own distinguishing eye colors.


    However, a Snowcrest, never to ever reveal their true eyes in public.


    Their ability to see emotions was always active when they were in public.


    Revealing your true eyes to someone other than a Snowcrest was equivalent to revealing your heart and soul to them.


    Especially when they were the first person you did that to.


    And Amon was sure that at this point in the story, she had never shown her eyes to anyone yet.


    Especially since in her thoughts in the novel, it was revealed that Elizabeth had decided to show her eyes to the first she would love.


    And that was...


    Amon.


    Staring into her blood ruby eyes, he found himself momentarily lost in them beforeposing himself.


    "My bad, I thought you might arrive a littleter so I rushed out to change." Elizabeth apologized but Amon bowed as well.


    "Nah, It was my fault for entering without asking first."


    Elizabeth smiled and quickly asked him.


    "Would you like to take anything?"


    Amon didn''t have to think a second before answering.


    "A cup of tea please." His stress relief at times like these for real.


    He could take an entire jug of tea in these times. The exams made him so sleepy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He yawned.


    He leaned back on the frame of the sofa, sitting on the carpet.


    Amon closed his eyes, to take a moment''s rest.


    And in that small span of time, Elizabeth quickly came back with the tea.


    "Here, your cup of tea."


    Amon opened his eyes and stared into her crimson ones again.


    ''She still hasn''t changed her eyes...'' He noticed as he took the cup of tea from her hands.


    Looking at her, she was wearing an oversized white night suit.


    He noticed her hair were still somewhat wet, indicating how hurriedly she changed and dressed herself up.


    Taking a sip of the tea, he asked her the question he wanted to ask.


    "So, how were the exams?"


    Being the top 1st, Elizabeth was obviously at the top in studies as well.


    So he was hoping that nothing changed in that aspect.


    Elizabeth nodded.


    "Mhm, they were pretty easy. Didn''t take long for me to solve them all."


    "Nice to hear that." He took another sip of his tea along with her.


    His eyes moved to her cat.


    Or more precisely her familiar.


    "If I''m not wrong, that''s your familiar?" He asked.


    "Mhm." She stretched out her right arm and the cat ran straight into it.


    It rubbed its head affectionately against Elizabeth''s thigh.


    "What''s the name?"


    "Borealith."


    Amon nodded.


    ''Good.'' It was exactly like how he expected.


    "Have the academies arrived yet?" He asked Elizabeth.


    "Probably so. My sister and yours were also present at the gate to ensure orderly


    between both parties."


    "I see."


    "The midterms are going to finally start tomorrow huh." Elizabeth said and Amon nodded.


    "Are you taking part in the individual matches?" she asked.


    A cadet could avoid individual battles and fight in team battles as a must.


    Of course, by doing that, he had to give exceptionally high grades in that aspect to avoid


    expulsion.


    But Amon didn''t care about that.


    Because he was participating in both.


    "I''m participating in both." He answered and Elizabeth looked surprised.


    But she quicklyposed herself by reminding herself of the new Amon.


    His new strength wasn''t normal after all. It was a far cry from the Amon she saw at the


    academy gates on the first day.


    As Amon took another sip along with Elizabeth, he felt too hot in the attire while also taking


    tea.


    "It''s a little hot here." He grabbed his tie to loosen it but it suddenly stuck at a spot.


    But as he was about to exert more force, Elizabeth quickly moved forward.


    "Let me help."


    Her two soft pale hands suddenly touched his cold ones, warmth traveling between them.


    Her eyes locked with Amon''s and thetter how noticed how close she was right now.


    Too close.


    He could perfectly see every feature of her face at that moment.


    Her bright ruby-like eyes.


    Perfectly shaped nose and pale skin.


    And...


    Those sulent soft red lips.


    Her warm breath brushed against his cold skin as time seemed toe to a halt.


    Amon could see her cheeks redden up and her eyes grow hazy indicating how she was losing


    herself right now.


    Was it because she had tea as well and felt hot?


    In her attempt to untie his tie, her hand on his chest suddenly slipped and she fell on the carpet, with Amon''s face right over her.


    Looking into her hazy ruby eyes, Amon knew she was enveloped in the feelings of her heart


    right now.


    Even Amon was affected as he felt his mind grow hazy by staring into her eyes.


    Her breath brushed against his skin again and he felt his whole body act up.


    The room waspletely enveloped in a hot silence right now as Elizabeth''s hands moved


    from her necktie.


    Her hands softly traced down his chest where she started unbuttoning his shirt.


    All while Amon kept staring into her ruby eyes, leaning close, almost pressing against her.


    "I''m sorry Amon." Her trembling and panting voice sounded in the silence of the room.


    Her hands moved hurriedly, attempting to unbutton the rest of his shirt now as his bare chest


    was revealed.


    As the shirt waspletely unbuttoned, Elizabeth''s hands traced down his chest and abs.


    Her eyes traveled all over his body and her panting increased.


    Amon knew what her gaze was like at the moment.


    A girl who was hopelessly in love. Someone who wanted to take the person they loved for only


    themselves.


    Someone who wanted to confess their love to the other person.


    And as her hands traveled down, they moved to his back, reaching his untied ck hair.


    Both of them wrapped around his back, reaching into his ck hair.


    And their eyes met again. And this time, Elizabeth was finally able toe out with it.


    "I''m sorry Amon but....I can''t bear this feeling anymore. I. I-"


    Her arms wrapped tighter as she leaned closer, her panting hot breathnding on his cheeks.


    "I love you." She said it.


    At that moment, the time seemed to stop as Amon stared into Elizabeth''s eyes.


    He still wasn''t sure as he said earlier.


    About his feelings for Elizabeth.


    Like he said, she might be hopelessly in love with him.


    But...


    It was useless if he wasn''t able to reciprocate that very love.


    It would not only hurt him but also her.


    And this was why putting their rtionship on hold for now was the best thing he could do.


    To hold off his feelings until he actually found out how he felt about her.


    Because it wasn''t even about himself.


    He didn''t want to see Elizabeth, such a close person to him, be so hurt like that.


    Which was why it was logical to put it on hold for now.


    However....


    There were some major repercussions to that.


    Especially since an event like this of Elizabeth falling in love with him wasn''t supposed to


    happen at all.


    She was in a really delicate state at this moment right now. Amon knew that.


    His next words would either bring her immense joy and break her like never before.


    Break her and turn her into something...


    Someone that this world would never want to face in the future.


    He couldn''t afford it.


    Amon couldn''t afford Elizabeth getting hurt, let alone turning into a viiness.


    Which was why, despite his decision to go against it and feel that it was wrong. Amon had to do it. For the sake of her and everyone''s safety.


    He had to calm her down for the time being. Calm enough that she wouldn''t break.


    All things couldeter.


    And the best way to do that right now was...


    "Elizabeth." He stared into her eyes and he inched closer as well, his cold breath prickling


    against her warm skin.


    His arm raised and her cold handnded on her soft pale and warm cheek, caressing it.


    ''I''m sorry that I can''t say ''I love you back'' but...''


    He leaned in, their faces just an inch from each other.


    Elizabeth''s face reddened as she closed her eyes along with Amon.


    And in the next moment, his soft lips grazed her sulent ones.


    Before, pressing against them.


    The two entangled in a soft fleeting kiss as the time in the room came to a halt.


    Elizabeth''s arm pulled Amon closer, wrapping around his neck.


    As the two finally separated after some seconds, Amon bit her lip softly eliciting a soft moan


    from her.


    "Hngh!"


    ''I hope this makes up for your honest confession. I''m sorry.''


    And at the same moment, there was a knock on the door. ''I''m out of time.''

 Chapter 157: Single Battles [1]

    Chapter 157: Single Battles [1]


    ?


    ***


    The faint light rays entered Amon''s room, making his eyes twitch.


    They fluttered open and he weakly got up, stretching his body.


    [You''re up early today...] Zephyra noted, surprised.


    ''Yeah, of course. It''s the day of the single matches.'' He said with a yawn.


    As he rubbed his eyes, the memories ofst night flooded his brain.


    The touch and kiss...


    [My boy was making some movesst night.] Vain said to remind him further.


    Even Zephyra spoke up.


    [For real. That girl, Elizabeth. Her personality took quite a leap while I was gone...] She said. Ignoring both of them, Amon entered the shower and closed the door behind him.


    Another advantage of having Zephyra as a familiar now was that she couldn''t peek at him without him noticing.


    She said that it was abnormal for Amon to be against it but he retaliated that it was she who wasn''t normal.


    Even Vain supported him in this regard.


    Coming out of his room 20 minutester, Amon sported a buttoned crisp white shirt with a tie.


    Getting his ck overcoat on top, he sat on the table for breakfast.


    Just like always, Katherine had already left before him.


    "Da-Daddy!" Lily came running toward him from her room.


    She hugged his legs and Amon ruffled her hair back with a smile.


    "Where is wolfie?" She asked, her eyes sparkling.


    From his shoulder, Amon saw Zephyra smile as she made herself be seen.


    Lily squealed in joy as Zephyranded in her arms.


    Both of them started ying with each other and Amon quickly cooked dinner.


    As he was eating, Vain spoke up.


    [Confident about today?] He asked.


    Amon nodded internally.


    ''Yeah. I don''t see myself having many problems in the single matches.''


    It was true.


    Since he was going to reveal his power anyway, he would blitz through the students.


    He watched Lily eat her own food while also petting Zephyra with a smile.


    The other academies wouldn''t be much of an issue.


    Though.


    ''If Elizabeth utilizes her power to the full, it might be a little problematic.'' He said to Vain. [I see.] Vain replied.


    As Amon was about to take another spoonful, Vain asked again.


    [But what would you lose?] He asked.


    Amon''s hand stopped for a split second before he put the spoon inside his mouth like nothing happened.


    ''Nah, I''d win.''


    ***


    Arriving in the block where the matches were supposed to be held, Amon suddenly felt his watch ring.


    Opening it up, he saw that it was the matchups.


    Venue: Stadium C


    Cadet Name: Amon Ashford


    Start of Matches: 8:00 AM


    Matches:


    Adam Ravenfield VS Miller Cyrus (AA)


    Rihanna Skr VS Klein Sinire


    Nathan Bryman (AA) VS Desmond Doss (AA)


    Nadia Alneith VS Sarah Reinhardt (AA)


    Cleenah Troy (AA) VS Amon Ashford


    It was a good matchup schedule.


    He preferred to gost anyway as he wanted to analyze the cadet''s fights. The (AA) tag meant Another Academy cadet. He knew that from the novel. His eyes were quick to pick up three interesting names on the list.


    Adam Ravenfield.


    Klein Sinire.


    And...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Nadia Alneith, someone from the neighbor ss.


    Adam and Klein were already in his eyes from before and he even had ns for them.


    Unfortunately, because of so many things on his shoulders, he had been unable to do


    anything.


    Then, there was also Nadia, someone whom he couldn''t see till now.


    She was an [Energy] elemental clovist. A rare element indeed.


    And someone who ould be very useful to


    the future.


    It was a blessing in disguise for him that they were all on the location.


    He could finally interact further with them.


    Looking up, his eyes traveled over the number of stadiums in the block.


    It was the Stadium Block of the academy, a block that was only utilized in times like these.


    There were a total of 10 stadiums but only 5 were being used right now.


    And that''s how many were usually needed as well.


    The other 5 were built just in case of emergencies or mishaps.


    They were named based on letters.


    His eyes moved to the left, where there was a stadium multiple timesrger than the other


    ones at the start of the row.


    It was called Stadium o and was only used in royal and very big situations.


    The facilities in that stadium were also a lot better than the other ones.


    Looking at the time, Amon saw it was currently 7:40 AM.


    ''I should probably get seated down by now to get a closer seat.'' He concluded and headed towards the stadium right in front of him.


    Stadium C.


    ***


    As Amon headed inside the stadium, he noticed how the people were also starting toe in


    by now.


    After several minutes of trying to find a good seat, he finally settled down.


    It was close to the railing and gave him a good view of the fight below.


    As he was observing things around him, he heard a voice from the side.


    "Amon?"


    Recognizing the kind familiar voice, Amon''s head moved.


    It was Charlotte.


    Meeting her sapphire blue eyes, he nodded and gestured to a seat beside him.


    She was wearing a ck turtleneck and a white skirt with various ornaments in her hair and on


    her neck.


    "Thanks, I appreciate you saving a seat for me."


    Amon looked at her in misunderstanding.


    "Wait, I didn''t save it-"


    She raised a finger to her lips.


    "Sshh, just learn to ept apliment from ady when she gives you one."


    Amon didn''t say anything and nodded.


    Their focus turned back to the battle.


    "The first one is Adam Ravenfield VS Rihanna Skr right?" She confirmed, revising the


    names.


    Amon had even forgotten the second persons the name by now.


    She was truly the studious type.


    "Yup." He nodded.


    Then he remembered something.


    "Wait, you have fought Adam before right?" He asked and Charlotte nodded.


    "Yeah, it was a bit of a difficult fight because I was low on mana but thankfully, I was able to


    pull through." She winked.


    Amon nodded.


    "I see."


    Well, he would just see Adam''s power in the uing battle now.


    And just like that, the minutes passed swiftly and the battle finally started.

 Chapter 158: Single Battles [2]

    Chapter 158: Single Battles [2]


    ?


    ****


    Finally, the match was about to begin as the twopetitors entered the stage.


    Amon saw Adam enter from the other side of the stage.


    He was wearing a ck bodysuit with a helmet that covered his head.


    It was the same suit as the FULLDIVE, a ssic for almost all the fighting events in the academy.


    Like always, he saw Adam''s unkempt hair while he looked forward with a bored expression.


    Even the crowd, which hadpletely filled the Stadium C by now, could not think what to do.


    They knew he was a noble and a high-ranked student at Eldergrove but his stature and face just made them unable to do anything.


    He waspletely rxed, not even caring about the people watching him from above. From the other side, Amon saw the secondpetitore up.


    With cleanlybed orange hair and a bright smile on his face, he walked forward on the stage.


    Miller Cyrus.


    He looked up at the cheering crowd and waved his hand, probably students from the other academy.


    Amon looked at his attitude and way of walking.


    Within just a second of observing him, Amon knew what kind of person he was.


    A person to actsposed and kind on the outside while being arrogant and full of himself on the inside.


    Amon didn''t know who he was.


    Adam''s battle was never exined in the novel as he came prettyte to attention.


    His attitude just kept him out of the public''s radar even though he was a high-ranked noble.


    Looking at Miller, Amon concluded that he was a pretty high ranked student from the academy.


    The number of students from that academy that came to watch him was proof of that.


    But looking at his strength, Amon knew he could easily beat him.


    Maybe the academy itself was low-ranked.


    As he observed Miller, even Charlottemented from the side.


    "That guy...his attitude is all an act." She said, without looking at Amon.


    Turning to her, Amon raised his brows.


    He wanted to see how she came to this conclusion.


    "Oh, why is that?"


    "It''s easy." She looked at him with a slight smile.


    Then she gestured back to him with her eyes.


    "Because the way he acts is how 80% of the nobles do." She said.


    Hearing this, Amon looked back at Miller.


    Indeed.


    Now that hepared his attitude and his bodynguage to nobles, it was simr.


    "And as someone who has spent a lot of time with nobles and studying them, It''s easy for me to see through him." She smiled.


    For some reason, that smile felt cold.


    Amon suppressed a shudder.


    This girl... He thought.


    Even though she was kind mostly, sometimes she could be really scary.


    As he watched both thepetitors, a question came to his mind.


    "Between Adam and that guy, who do you think will win?" He said.


    "Oh." Charlotte perked up.


    She wasn''t expecting him to ask a question like this.


    He quickly rified himself.


    "I mean you have fought against Adam after all."


    Charlotte nodded, understanding his intention.


    "Well..." She said, putting her chin on her palm.


    "I think Miller would win." Her eyes gazed below.


    Oh.


    Amon wasn''t surprised by her answer. It didn''t mean she was right.


    She waspletely wrong.


    He just wanted to see how high did she think of Adam.


    But looking at her reaction, he knew that Adam was probably unable to even fight her properly


    at that time.


    "Hmm, why?" He feigned surprise.


    "It''s because even though I think Adam is strong, that Miller person just gives off a


    completely different vibe." She said.


    "Even if he''s able to beat Miller, it would be a really hard match."


    "I see," Amon said, looking forward again.


    Well, only time would tell who was going to be the victor.


    And in just a minute of silence, the referee arrived for the start of the match.


    Therge four screens that hung down from the ceiling of the stadium suddenly started up.


    All of them showcased Adam and Miller with different angles and such.


    Adam was still looking indifferently at what was happening.


    Despite the loud cheers of the crowd, he yawned, as if bored.


    Meanwhile, Miller simply stared ahead with a confident smile.


    As the match was finally about to begin, even the sound down below could be heard.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And what Adam said made the whole crowd silent for a second.


    "yawn...I want to sleep...why am I even here?"


    Everyone stared at him incredulously, except Amon.


    They couldn''t believe he was taking it all so nonchntly.


    Amon even saw a vein throb on Miller''s forehead though he was quick to calm down.


    "Okay. Please be quiet everyone." The referee in the middle raised his arms, signaling


    everyone.


    Instantly everyone turned silent.


    "This is the first match of the Single Matchups in Stadium C. We have two participants here."


    He said normally.


    But the loud receptor made the voice boom in the stadium.


    "On the left side, we have Adam Ravenfield from Eldergrove!" He gestured to the left.


    However, no cheers came out of the crowd.


    Not letting it interrupt him, the referee gestured to his right.


    "And on the right side, we have Miller Cyrus from Brawnfield!" He gestured.


    Instantly, the crowd broke into cheers.


    "The match will continue until one party forfeits or turns unconscious. Do you understand?"


    He said.


    Miller nodded and Adamn just kept staring without a word.


    Taking his silence as a nod, the referee stepped back and raised one of his hands.


    "With that, get ready for your match please...."


    Miller immediately took a stance.


    But to everyone''s surprise again, Adam only yawned.


    "And begin!"


    As soon as the match started, Miller turned into a blur.


    A gust of wind erupted at his spot indicating that he was a wind clovist.


    The stronger ones were able to follow his movements as he dashed across the ground in a


    second.


    To others, he simply appeared as a wind bullet arcing across the field.


    But again, Adam simply stood there without even making a simple movement.


    Miller reached Adam and Amon saw his kind smile turn into a wide scheming grin.


    Bringing back his arm, Millerunched it toward Adam who hadn''t even moved till now.


    His eyes weren''t even locked with Miller.


    The arm, which was covered in wind des neared Adam''s face.


    But to Charlotte''s and everyone''s immense surprise, when there was only an inch left...


    Adam moved.


    Or more urately.


    Only his face moved by an inch.


    But that single movement was enough as the arm cleanly whizzed through the air, without


    touching anything.


    As his face moved, Adam''s bored golden eyes finally locked with Miller.


    And his mouth opened.


    "Are you strong?" He asked.


    Miller gritted his teeth at his question.


    And without answering it, he spun on his feet with the power of the wind.


    A clean axe kickunched toward Adam.


    But again, Adam simply took a step back, resulting in the kick fly by harmlessly.


    Giving into his anger, Millerunched a series of consecutive attacks at Adam.


    But...


    Like always, they were cleanly dodged by Adam, throwing the audience into a frenzy.


    They couldn''t believe what was happening right now.


    And same could be said for Charlotte as she saw the match with widened eyes.


    As another kickunched toward Adam, this time he finally stopped dodging.


    He raised his hand and cleanly caught the foot of Miller.


    His bored eyes met Miller.


    "You. Are awfully weak." He said.


    And with that, he finally moved forward.


    A panicked Miller, tried to quickly step back but wasn''t fast enough as Adam''s palm cleanly


    landed on his face.


    "What a waste of time," Adam remarked without any emotion as in the next second, bolts of


    lightning erupted in the area from his palm.


    Miller''s face, which waspletely caught in the st, was smashed into the ground by


    Adam in the next moment.


    His blood and teeth broke out on the ground and Adam simply stared from above, not a single


    speck of care in his gaze.


    "Pathetic." He kicked Miller''s face.


    And then, left the ground while the audience was leftpletely baffled.

 Chapter 159: Single Battles [3]

    Chapter 159: Single Battles [3]


    ?


    ****


    Amon stayed seated in his seat as he watched Adam leave.


    He had the same bored expression as always as he left the stadium.


    The whole stadium was currently in an uproar as they rushed to the railings.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They wanted a better view of Adam now that they had just seen that wild disy of power.


    Even Charlotte was included in them as she had a look of surprise and acknowledgment on her face.


    She also found it hard to believe what Adam had just done.


    But Amon didn''t do anything but just remain seated.


    It wasn''t the time to meet him yet.


    They would eventually encounter each other in matches anyway.


    At least if Adam didn''t get disqualified.


    Considering he was the one to emerge at the top of Stadium C, Amon doubted he would lose before Amon''s match with him.


    The only problem Amon could currently see to Adam was Klein.


    They were roughly equal in strength.


    However, the bad elemental matchup made Klein slightly weaker.


    The only hope Amon could see of Klein winning was the FULLDIVE.


    That expression of defeat and continuing to work harder after beating Alya couldn''t get out of Amon''s mind.


    If he was right then Klein should be significantly stronger thanst time.


    That motivation, Adam was unable to get from FULLDIVE.


    In any case, Amon didn''t care about any of that right now.


    They both were interesting pieces in his eyes and he would eventually meet them as well.


    He couldn''t let them go to waste after all.


    As he organized his thoughts, he stood up and went outside for a fresh breath of air.


    After all, there was still 20 minutes before the next match started.


    ***


    In a dimly lit room of a hospital, a boy was currently sitting beside someone on the bed.


    His hand was tightly interlocked with the hand of the person on the bed.


    His grip tightened as he saw the woman on the bed smile reassuringly at him.


    But the boy knew.


    Behind the gratefulness and assurance, there was an unmistakable tiredness in that smile.


    That smile on that beautiful but currently aging face.


    "I''m sorry Mom." He spoke, his voice weak and full of sadness.


    The woman''s moist eyes softened further as she saw tears threatening to leak out of the boy''s eyes.


    With some effort, she tiredly brought her hand up and caressed the boy''s cheeks.


    "Klein....that''s not how you act in front of a mother." She said, her voice hoarse and barely clinging to life.


    Klein''s grip tightened as he avoided looking into his mother''s eyes.


    He knew.


    He knew that if he did then the trembling sea of emotions inside him would break out.


    He couldn''t bear to do so.


    Not today. On the day of the mid-terms.


    Not right now. Just half an hour away from his match.


    "Klein." She said again, trying to make her voice sound strong.


    She tightened her grip on his hand to the best she could do.


    "Listen to me." She said, hardening her eyes.


    "Mo-"


    "Go out there, don''t wait here for me."


    Klein tried to object.


    "But!-"


    "No objections. I''m perfectly fine, you need to stop worrying a-about me."


    Klein gritted his teeth silently.


    He knew his mother was lying.


    There was no way she was fine.


    After all, it had been one month since they ran out of money for her recovery.


    But she still wanted him to go and enjoy the event the most he could.


    Even right now...


    A tear trickled down his cheek but he couldn''t find himself objecting to his mother.


    How could he now...


    Klein hid his face and spoke in a low voice, to hide his emotions from his mother.


    "I swear..."


    "I''ll find the money for your recovery Mother, I won''t let you die like this."


    His mother quickly tried to speak up.


    "Klei-!"


    "Please trust on me." He interrupted her for the first time and kissed the aging hand that he


    was currently holding.


    His bangs covered the face he was making.


    "Please..." He said, his voice pleading.


    "Just hold on."


    His interlocked hand finally freed itself as he stood up.


    And without a word, he left the hospital room. Afraid that if he stayed there any longer, then


    he would be there for the whole day.


    Something he knew his mother wouldn''t like.


    As he closed the hospital room door, his mind raced to find ways of earning more money for


    the recovery of his mother.


    How could he..?


    Suddenly, his body perked up as something came to his mind.


    The same person who once gave him so much money for just a simple reason.


    His money was the reason why they were even able to give his mother recovery till this long.


    Klein clenched his fists.


    It was going to be humiliating but...


    That person was his only hope right now.


    Klein quickly opened up his smartwatch to check where he was.


    And to his surprise, he was in the same stadium as his.


    It saved him a lot of time.


    Hardening his resolve and heart, Klein rushed out of the hospital for his uing match.


    As he ran, a single name ran through his mind.


    ''Amon Ashford...''


    ''I want to meet you again.''


    ***


    Amon sneezed as he stepped outside of the stadium.


    ''Am I getting a cold?'' He wondered.


    But then again.


    Was that even possible with his new constitution?


    He didn''t know.


    Burying his thoughts, he walked to a nearby shop to buy something to eat.


    Fortunately, there was only one person in the line so it wouldn''t take long.


    As Amon got in the queue, his gaze started to wander around.


    There wasn''t much crowd outside of the stadiums except for some couples from Stadium C.


    ''It seems like our stadium was the first to finish.'' He said.


    Looking forward again, Amon found the person still standing in front.


    ''Fuck, I''m gettingte.'' He thought.


    In that case, he wouldn''t be able to get back in time.


    Annoyed, he tapped the shoulder of the woman in front.


    But as soon as his hand settled on her shoulder, Amon''s danger sense went off.


    He quickly retracted his hand and at the same moment, a streak of lightning shot out from the


    front.


    Taking a step back to get some distance, Amon saw the woman turn.


    With long ck hair that draped over her shoulders sleekly, her clear sapphire blue eyes


    locked with him.


    Her pale unblemished skin shone in the sun, highlighting her natural and impable beauty.


    Her face waspletely cold, without a hint of remorse.


    As her eyes locked with him, Amon finally recognized her.


    It didn''t even take an instant.


    Anne ckwood, the second daughter and the 3rd child of the ckwoods.


    "Do you not have an-" She spoke up but suddenly stopped.


    Suddenly, her eyes widened and her pupils trembled.


    The bag in her hand trembled as she struggled to control herself.


    "It can''t be...." She mumbled.


    Her face turned down and she gritted her teeth.


    Amon was confused. Was she supposed to know him?


    Maybe because of his sister?


    But she was in the second year, not third year.


    She could still have some kind of beef with Katherine over some position maybe.


    As he wondered, Anne''s mouth opened again.


    "You fucking bastard." She cursed, something extremely rare for a ckwood.


    The people that carried themselves with even more pride and nobility than Evangelines.


    As Amon was about to speak again though, Anne clenched her fists, her nails digging into the


    paper of the bag.


    And then without a word, she strode away, not sparing him a nce.


    However, some words could be still heard from her mouth before she left.


    "This was the biggest mistake of your life."


    Unable to make any sense of it, Amon just stared at her back stoically as she left.


    But before he could ponder on it, he just realized the time.


    There were only 5 minutes left before the match of Klein started.


    ''Fuck, I got no time for this shit.''


    Without a word to the public that was staring at him now, he rushed back into the stadium.


    Completely forgetting the purpose he was in front of the shop in the first ce...


    ***


    Amon arrived in front of Charlotte, panting hard.


    "I''m here..huff...huff, sorry for beingte."


    Charlotte looked at him with concern.


    "Where were you? I kept the seat for so long I was getting worried that you might have gotten


    lost somewhere." She said.


    Amon had given Charlotte the duty to keep his seat.


    This was why he was worried that he might bete and she would be forced to give it up.


    Fortunately, he arrived on time.


    "Huff....huff...yeah, my bad. Just got caught up on a shop." He said and sat down.


    Looking down, he saw Klein and his opponent, Miller entering the stage to fight.


    Amon exhaled in relief.


    Fortunately, he was right on time for the fight.


    ''Alright, let''s settle down.''


    He ducked his hand into his armpit but it touched nothing.


    His expression, which was a relieved one slowly morphed into horror.


    ''Wait...''


    Charlotte looked at him.


    "Oh nice, the match is starting. Did you get the food you wanted?" she asked.


    ''My food...'' Amon realized.


    "I forgot to buy anything from the shop."


    All that drama.


    Just to return empty-handed.

 Chapter 160: Single Battles [4]

    Chapter 160: Single Battles [4]


    ?


    ***


    Klein walked on the stage, his steps silently resounding in his ears.


    Currently, all the cheers and jeers inside his head had died down.


    He didn''t care about the midterms.


    Sure, 300 cadets would be expelled but he knew he wouldn''t fail that far anyway.


    He only had one girl in his mind right now.


    And it was his mother, Samantha''s recovery.


    Everything else in the world could go to hell right now.


    Years ago, when they were stripped of their barony status, his parents were forcibly fed a poison as well.


    It was a slow acting virus.


    Which meant that it would devour the person slowly.


    The poison was known as Mana Poisoning.


    A concept that worked on the same basis as Daniel''s Wraith Poisoning.


    Both were supposed to corrupt the target''s mana pathways, however the mana poisoning was a little bit weaker.


    In any case, slowly and slowly the condition of his parents worsened.


    Especially his father.


    And so, by using the little funds they had left, they were able to cure him.


    But unfortunately, there was nothing left for his mother.


    Due to that, he and his siblings were daily trying to scrape off any money for his mother''s recovery.


    Their father was still in a wheelchair, so it made him incapable of doing anybor.


    Klein clenched his fists.


    Thest thing he would ept in this world was to let his mother die.


    As he walked up to his opponent, Kleinpletely ignored her.


    And let his gaze roam over in all the stands.


    Since he was scheduled to fightter...


    Then he should be....


    Ah.


    There.


    Klein found him.


    Amon Ashford, his only hope right now.


    Just like everyone in their ss, even Klein had noticed the glow up of Amon.


    His facial features had gotten sharper and he had also grown taller.


    The tied up hair into a manbun gave him a clean and sleek look.


    Klein could even feel some girls trying to sneak some nces at him.


    But they were all stopped by the beautiful blue-haireddy next to him.


    Shepletely outssed every other woman.


    Burying those thoughts with a shake, Klein looked at Amon again.


    That man...


    He was the only one here who could help him recover his mother.


    And to prove his worth and wealth to him...


    All of a sudden, Amon''s ck eyes moved and locked with Klein.


    Both of them stared into each other''s eyes as if knowing what the other wanted to say.


    And slowly, Amon''s face pulled up into a small smile.


    Klein turned back to his opponent, staring her coldly in the face.


    He was going to crush his opponent right here and now.


    ***


    Amon stared at Klein from hard with a hint of incredulity on his face.


    ''Well damn..'' He thought.


    He hadn''t expected this kind of development.


    Who knew that the person whom he wanted to go to, wanted toe to him himself.


    Not like Amon was against it.


    It saved him a lot of time and effort.


    But...


    The cogs inside Amon''s head started to spin. He was trying to figure out the reason.


    The reason why he wanted to meet him.


    [He probably wants to ask for more money.] Zephyra pointed out.


    Amon nodded.


    True. That was a possibility.


    But from what Amon remembered, he mostly needed the money for his mother''s recovery.


    ''This makes no sense at all..'' Amon said.


    The money he gave Klein previously was enough tost him quite a while.


    And if he remembered correctly, Klein''s mother''s condition wasn''t supposed to decay this


    quickly.


    But it was then that he realized.


    It was Amon''s fault.


    The interference with Klein''s plotline early on had triggered some change in it.


    ''Whatever.'' Amon concluded.


    For now, he would only wait and see.


    His mind focused back on the fight, where the referee was starting it.


    "Begin!" He shouted.


    Immediately, Klein dived to the side. All the while conjuring several water spears around him.


    Without hesitation, he fired them at his opponent who tried her best to avoid the water.


    She was a fire elemental clovis after all.


    As Rihanna, the fire mage raised her hand to block the water spears, she was assaulted by


    Klein.


    He zoomed through the ground in a steak of bubbles,unching an arm toward Rihanna. Having no experience in physical defense, she tried her best to maintain her distance.


    But Klein wasn''t having any of that as the whole ground around him was suddenly covered in


    water.


    But before he could do anything, his danger sense went off and he turned to the side,


    A whizzing fire arrow cut through the air, slicing his cheek open.


    But that wasn''t all.


    It was a whole barrage


    Klein could condense water into ice but that took over a half minute to make.


    And he didn''t know if he could stop the arrows using just a water shield.


    But, rather than being frustrated, he smirked.


    Just as the arrows were a meter away, Klein slid at the slipper wet ground.


    Dashing out of the arrows, Klein didn''t waste any time.


    He blocked the relentless barrage of Rihanna to try and get closer to her.


    It left him with scratches and some asional wounds.


    But at the end, it was in his favor as he finally neared Rihanna.


    Thetter, noticing this, tried to leap back but was surprised when two chains made of water


    erupted from the ground.


    Theypletely locked around her legs, keeping her in ce and throwing her off bnce.


    As she stumbled, Klein also inserted a leg from underneath to help herpletely fall.


    And as she fell, multiple water spears impaled her arms and legs.


    Klein arrived before her.


    He knew that she could heal instantly in the infirmary.


    This is why things like this were allowed in the midterms.


    Klein started coldly into Rihanna''s eyes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He didn''t want to do it like this.


    But anything to save his mother.


    Anything to gain his attention again.


    Klein looked into Rihanna''s eyes, bringing his water sword near her neck.


    "Forfeit or do you want to continue."


    The girl, Rihana, tried to hide her pain from the injuries and looked at Klein with pleading


    eyes.


    "Please, please! Do not injure me more! I forfeit."


    "I forfeit!" She shouted again, crawling back on her arms before standing up.


    At her words, the referee looked at Klein, confirming his condition.


    And then, he raised his hand.


    "The winner is Klein Sinire!"


    And just like Adam''s time, the whole stadium went silent for a couple of moments again.


    It was because of his overwhelming disy of control and power.


    And as he stared forward in the silent arena, suddenly, Klein heard the sound of pping in


    the stands.


    Only a single person.


    And as he looked up to see who it was, his eyes widened.


    It was Amon Ashford, sporting a genuine smile on his face.

 Chapter 161: Kleins Relief

    Chapter 161: Klein''s Relief


    ?


    ***


    Amon pped in the silent stadium, giving his praise for Klein.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    While also giving him a smile...


    Not genuine or kind.


    Just...


    A smile.


    As Klein''s locked with Amon, they shed in a shade of light pink for a second.


    But it faded right away.


    Klein gave Amon a slight smile, wiping the sweat off his forehead.


    And as Amon pped, Charlotte also joined him.


    After all, Klein was also her teammate back then.


    Arade.


    And as the two pped, slowly, the whole stadium joined in.


    It was something very new for Klein as Amon saw his smile widen.


    His eyes also brightened up with joy.


    With the result being finally dered, Klein started to walk out of the stadium.


    But while he was walking, Amon took out his watch and messaged him.


    [Amon: Do you want to meet me?]


    No assumptions or any sort of greeting.


    It was a straight-up yes or no question.


    And the reply came back instantly with Klein pausing a second to see his watch.


    [Klein: Yes]


    His reply was also curt and a single word.


    Amon smiled.


    So far, his n was working.


    He turned to Charlotte and scratched his head.


    "Sorry but I gotta go and prepare for my fight now, so you''ll need to watch the rest of the matches without me." He exined.


    But Charlotte being herself, smiled, understanding his situation.


    "It''s no problem, go and do your best. I''ll be here to watch your match at that time." She said, waving him off.


    Amon smiled in relief and waved back.


    And without wasting any second, he also ushered out of the stadium.


    ***


    Coming outside, Amon took a sharp turn and arrived at the backside of the stadium.


    And as his eyes locked with his target, he smiled.


    He walked up to Klein in the shade of the stadium.


    The light breeze made their ck hair flutter in the wind.


    "Yo." Amon waved casually.


    Surprised by his tone, Klein stuttered for a second but quickly adjusted himself to it.


    He raised his hand and waved as well.


    "Sup." Klein raised his hand.


    Shaking it, Amon spoke up.


    "So you need something from me?" He asked.


    Klein looked into Amon''s eyes, hesitating if he should say it.


    He was averting his gaze as if he was embarrassed to ask such a thing.


    But since he wasn''t asking.


    Amon took the initiative.


    "Let me guess, you need money?"


    Klein''s body perked up, his eyes widening.


    But Amon simply smiled at him.


    Stepping forward, he put a hand to his shoulder.


    "It''s good bro, why you hesitating?"


    He locked his eyes with him.


    Klein''s eyes again shed a shade of pink.


    But then it was gone.


    "I-I don''t know." He stuttered.


    Amon''s smile grew more reassuring.


    "Don''t worry bro, I gave you once, why would I mind it now?" He questioned.


    Again, a shade of pink shed in Klein''s eyes.


    But this time it was slightly darker.


    And alsosted longer.


    "What do you need it before?" Amon asked, leaning a little closer.


    "It''s-, It''s for my m-mother," He said, revealing his deepest secret to Amon.


    ''As expected.'' Amon thought internally.


    Though his lips were smiling right now, his eyes told apletely different story.


    They were detached from reality.


    And calcting.


    Widening his smile, Amon put his arm over Klein''s shoulder and pulled him closer.


    "It''s good bro, you just need to ask me once and I''m ready."


    And then without asking for anything, Amon locked his watch with Klein''s, transferring 300k


    Exlor to him.


    ''A necessary investment.''


    ***


    Klein looked at Amon''s smile.


    That reassuring and rxing smile.


    He didn''t know what was happening to him right now.


    How did he even end up here?


    All he knew was that Amon was helping him cure his mother.


    When he had no one...


    The guy in front was helping him simply out of sympathy.


    Klein wasn''t dumb.


    He knew that nothing in the world came cost-free.


    But at that moment, he found himself lost in Amon''s smile.


    He was even unable to control his thoughts.


    Klein felt as if his head was turning hazy by the second.


    Everything around him was bing out of focus as well, only leaving Amon as the main


    focus.


    "Here''s 300k Exlor for your mother. Don''t mind it." Amon said, his voice turning more


    layered and majestic.


    From the start, his voice was growing deeper and more melodic.


    It echoed in his mind every second in a resonating tone.


    It was...


    Peaceful.


    At that moment, Klein felt as if Amon was his only friend in the world.


    And it wasn''t a lie.


    After being stripped of their status, everyone had avoided them.


    His friends, their connections.


    Everyone.


    And when left with nothing and in a pinch, Klein was finally able to see a light in the darkness.


    It was Amon.


    As Amon pulled Klein closer, he brought his lips close to his ears, his voiceing out even


    moreyered.


    "I just want you to do me a simple favor Klein." He said.


    The dialogue resonated in Klein''s mind multiple times.


    And lost in his gratefulness for the Amon, Klein nodded.


    He was ready to do anything for Amon.


    "I want you to stay away from your mother."


    Klein''s body almost perked up at thement, something raging inside him.


    But instantly, it was shot down as the bliss returned back to him.


    Amon quickly continued.


    "I''m not asking you to stay away from her forever." He said, whispering in his ear.


    "Just stay away for the whole mid-terms. And I guarantee you, she will never suffer any more


    pain. I promise you."


    The words resonated in Klein''s mind like a melody, making him believe it.


    It was a tempting promise.


    And Klein of course epted it. The man was his savior after all.


    Why would he do something bad to his mother?


    "Okay," Klein said, losing more control of himself.


    "Good. Very good." Amon said, patting his back.


    "Then let''s meet after the mid-terms shall we? When your mother ispletely healed." He


    said.


    Klein, unable to make sense of himself, nodded.


    "Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much." He thanked Amon but the man simply patted his


    back.


    "It''s no problem. Go and watch your mother be healed. You just need to deposit the money to


    the hospital and stay away from her." He said, repeating his order.


    Klein nodded, smiling.


    "Yes, thank you. I''ll be off then." He waved and started walking off.


    ***


    As Klein walked off, Amon stared at his back.


    His smile finally morphed back into his stoic expression and his eyes were still cold.


    ''Let''s begin.''

 Chapter 162: Kleins Relief [2]

    Chapter 162: Klein''s Relief [2]


    ?


    ***


    As Amon came to the front of the stadium, he looked at the time.


    The match after Klein''s match had just ended minutes ago.


    But he didn''t really care.


    Both of the participants were from other academies and mere extras.


    There was no use wasting his time on them.


    The next match was...


    Nadia Alneith VS Sarah Reinhardt (AA)


    He was intrigued by this match like he had said before.


    But it wasn''t because of the other academy student.


    Just like the other two before, she was an extra as well.


    It was because of her opponent or rather a student from their academy.


    Nadia Alneith, the only daughter and second child of the Alneiths.


    A high-ranked noble family famous for their technological advancements with mana.


    The watches they were actually wearing and the mana transformers Amon saw back then.


    Both of them were products of Alneiths. Their whole family was also well famous for their [Energy] element.


    It was one of the main reasons why they outssed every otherpetitor in that industry. [Energy] was a very versatile and strong element. But at the same time, it was very rare. And the Alneiths being a family of Energy users spoke well enough for their worth. Nadia''s element was also [Energy), which was why he wanted to see her in the first ce.


    Amon had never seen [Energy] elements before so he wanted to experience it.


    But just as he was about to head inside the stadium, his watch dinged.


    DING~!


    ''Hmm?'' Curious, he opened the messenger app.


    But his eyes widened as he saw the name of the sender.


    Athena Silvermoon.


    It wasn''t like it was the first time she was messaging him.


    But the contents of her message made his body perk up from excitement.


    [Athena: Your reward has been received from the Kingdom. You can take it after your match or right now?] She asked him.


    What did she mean after the match?


    Of course, Amon wanted it right now.


    He had been waiting for it for so long after all.


    He quickly replied back.


    [Amon: Yeah, I''ll take it right now.]


    Fuck Nadia.


    He could still see her in action a littleter. It wasn''t like this was going to be thest time he would see her.


    Looking at the time, Amon nodded.


    ''I should be back 10 mins before my match.'' He assumed.


    But the ping of the watch was quick to break him out of his dreams.


    [Athena; Tsk, impatient brat]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Itsted for just a second before Athena deleted it.


    But for him, it was enough to recognize it.


    [Amon: Did you say something?] He asked.


    But Athena was quick to reply back.


    [Athena: No.]


    [Amon: I see]


    Then, Athena replied.


    [Athena: Anyways, the sooner youe to my office and take it off our hands, the better it


    would be.]


    Amon was surprised.


    [Amon: "Our"?] He asked.


    [Athena: Arthur is also here with me.] She said,


    [Amon: Oh okay, alright. I''ll be there then] He said and Athena reacted to his reply with a thumbs-up emoji.


    Amon sighed.


    Welp, better to go and get it quick.


    And then, he quickly headed to her office without wasting a moment.


    ***


    Amon knocked at Athena''s door.


    [Come in.] Athena''s voice came from inside.


    "Alright." He said and opened the door.


    However as soon as he did, he regretted doing it.


    It was because of the flying ball that came hurling at him.


    Fortunately, he was able to dodge at thest second and stop it in his hands.


    As he peeked from the side of the ball in his hands, Amon had a furious expression on his face.


    "What''s that for?"


    "For being 20 minuteste brat."


    "It''s not fucking easy to get here from the stadium block you know." Amon said.


    But Arthur quickly replied.


    "That sounds like a skill issue on your part." He said, crossing his legs.


    Amon gritted his teeth.


    ''This man...'' He said.


    Fortunately, Athena quickly pped her hands to gain both of their attention.


    "Okay, stop with the jokes now and let''s get down to business." She said,


    Amon also turned serious, his body brimming with anticipation.


    Going behind her table, Athena retrieved a thick ck book, locked in quite some straps.


    As he looked at it, Amon instantly knew that it wasn''t a weapon manual.


    They were thinner and longer than this.


    It was a mana tome.


    But Amon wasn''tining. As long as it was good.


    Stepping toward him, Athena extended her hands toward him, she showed the mana tome.


    "Amon Ashford..."


    "Upon recognition of your brave and valiant actions during the ss Trip, you are hereby


    awarded with this mana tome at the blessing of the Imperiac." Athena said.


    Amon smiled at her smile and also extended his hands forward to retrieve it.


    "Boooo." Arthur teased from the side and Amon''s mouth twitched.


    "You fucking oldy." He said.


    But he ignored it.


    Right now was a precious moment as he took the mana tome in hands.


    With his body brimming with excitement, Amon tried to open up the system interface of the


    tome.


    And to match his expectations, it did have one.


    As the holographic screen opened, Amon''s eyes wasted no momenta as they scoured over the


    document.


    But as he finished, his mouth was left gaping.


    "How the fuck is this a tome?" He asked himself.


    ***


    Nadia''s match was finally over.


    And just like Charlotte had expected, Sarah was beaten to a pulp.


    Now, it was Amon''s match.


    And she was currently waiting for him toe on the stage as she looked around.


    She didn''t know how strong he had gotten after the FULLDIVE, their first proper fight.


    And even then, they had been separated as soon as the fight began,


    He was an anomaly in her eyes as not once had she seen him use his full power.


    Which was why she was so excited to see this match.


    But if there was one thing she knew, it was that in the new rankings Amon wouldn''t be thest


    anymore.


    Rather, he wouldpletely obliterate his way through.


    And just as Charlotte was wondering, amotion broke out on the railing as people surged


    to see what was happening.


    And Charlotte, being one of these type of people also looked over.


    And that was when her eyes widened as saw the familiar man walk up on stage for his fight.


    Amon Ashford.


    He was here for his fight.

 Chapter 163: One-Hit Defeat

    Chapter 163: One-Hit Defeat


    ?


    ***


    Amon stepped forward on the stage, his gaze stoic.


    Immediately, a wave of cheers broke out in the stand.


    He didn''t have to look up to know who they were.


    Of course, they were the people from his ss.


    The other people from other sses gazed with confusion at his ss


    As if they were wondering if his ss had lost their mind.


    After all, they didn''t know about hisplete power yet.


    For them, he was still thest-ranked student of the academy.


    But Amon couldn''t care less.


    This fight would already cement him as one of the people to ace these mid-terms.


    As he walked, his watch suddenly dinged.


    His eyes moved to the corner, where a message notification was disyed.


    [Charlotte: Good luck, I''ll be cheering from above :)]


    Amon stifled a chuckle and smiled lightly.


    Looking up for the first time to where they were previously sitting, he found her standing at the ceiling.


    She had a notebook in her hand, ready to take notes.


    Amon almostughed but controlled himself and gave her a small thumbs-up.


    She nodded with a smile and Amon looked in front again.


    As he started walking again, all the sound around him died out with only the rhythmic beating of his steps resounding in his ears.


    Coming to a stop right beside the referee, Amon gauged his opponent.


    She was a tad bit shorter than him and had an above-average appearance.


    No, she was actually beautiful.


    Butpared to the likes of Amelia, Zephyra, and others he had seen she was barely above average.


    With short brown hair and emerald green eyes, she stared at him with hostility.


    "What you lookin'' at bitch?" she asked rudely.


    Amon didn''t pay any mind to her though.


    Compared to a certain someone he had to go through every day, she was nothing.


    Rather, looking into her green eyes, she kind of reminded him of her.


    Amon remained silent and gazed at the referee.


    "Can we start?"


    The referee looked startled. He had almost expected Amon to say something at her insult.


    "Y-yeah." He said and stepped back.


    "And now, we will begin the final match of round 1 at Stadium C!!" He raged.


    His [Sound] affinity transmitted the sound to all over in the stadium.


    "The Final Match between Amon Ashford and Cleenah Troy!"


    "Begins now!" He brought down his hand.


    As soon as the round began, Cleenah didn''t waste any time.


    The ground beneath Amon instantly erupted and a barrage of spikes shot out.


    But rather than doing what was expected of him...


    Amon kept standing there with an aloof expression, not moving from his spot.


    And the barrage of spikes.


    Hit him perfectly in the center as arge cloud of dust formed in the stadium.


    The audience tensed, not expecting Amon to be like this.


    Was it a loss for Amon right at the start?


    After all, he had taken a direct hit, and that barrage looked deadly.


    Even Cleenah sported a smirk on her face, looking at the referee to dere her win.


    But thetter was still looking at the cloud, needing to see the proof directly for the win. And as the cloud started to clear, everyone in the stadium saw shes of red in the dust. It was only after squinting their eyes that they realized what it was.


    Blood.


    But why was it hovering in the air if it was from Amon''s bleeding body?


    Unfortunately, they couldn''t be more wrong as the cloud finally cleared.


    And their eyes widened from shock.


    That gigantic barrage of earth shards at Amon...


    They were all hovering in the air, held by bright crimson red strings that were looped around


    his hand.


    Not a single one had hit Amon.


    He kept standing at the same spot as before, without any expression on his face.


    The whole stadium was silent at his mastery over blood.


    Cleenah gritted her teeth.


    "Don''t get cocky you fucker!" She raged and brought her hands forward.


    The shattered ground around Amon immediately put itself to action again.


    Multiplerge pirs of earth raised from the ground,unching toward Amon.


    To crush him without hesitation.


    Keeping calm, Amon finally moved from his position.


    Just as the first pir was about to hit him, he jumped andnded on it.


    Before it couldnd on the ground and break, Amon started running.


    From pir to pir, he started jumping and running getting close to Cleenah.


    Noticing his actions, Cleenah crushed some pirs, forming them into spikes and des.


    Andunched them at Amon.


    But thetter didn''t stop his charge.


    Summoning his nodachi, he unsheathed it and started shing away at the spikes.


    But as he continued to get forward, Cleenah smiled.


    And by the time Amon noticed it, it was toote.


    His nodachi broke another 4 spikes.


    But unlike every other spike, as soon as they broke down a blend of glittering purple and


    golden powder sprang out.


    It didn''t even take a second for Amon to realize what they were.


    Mana poisoning and and crystalium powder, a powder that would burn like acid on a person if


    they were caught in its reach.


    ''It must be her familiar art...'' He realized.


    But Amon still didn''t lose his calm.


    Manipting his threads again, he quickly wrapped them around another pir and started


    pulling himself.


    The acid burned away a little at his clothes but Amon was quick to escape from its reach.


    But he knew that it wasn''t the end of it.


    Almost every pir that woulde his way now would be filled by those powders.


    And he didn''t want to get stuck in them right now in mid-air.


    The current escape was just a stroke of luck on his part.


    Fortunately, Amon didn''t even need to dodge more as he was insanely close to Cleenah.


    Trying to evade and block the spears to the best of his ability, he ran through the barrage.


    Just one hit.


    And he got it when he finally jumped under a pir while running.


    Therge cloud of dust was enough to provide him a little color.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And without wasting a moment, he leaped at Cleenah with his blood strings.


    And arrived right in front of her feet.


    But as if expecting his move, Cleenah smirked.


    "Dumb move fucker. You are caught in my trap now." She said as she clenched her hand in a


    closing motion.


    But Amon didn''t give her any moment as he snapped his fingers.


    And just like his expectations, Cleenah''s widened from shock.


    Why?


    She just lost control of her mana. Or more like elemental mana.


    Before she couldpose herself, Amon clenched both his hands like a puppeteer.


    Cleenah''s expression morphed as she found herself losing control of her body in that spare moment when she was out of focus.


    Manipting the blood in her body, Amon turned her around, grabbed her arms, and pulled


    them back.


    All while pushing his foot on her back and mming her into the ground.


    The referee, who was watching their match waspletely baffled by how the match was


    over in an instant.


    He quicklyposed himself and announced the results as the cloud of smoke cleared.


    "The Winner is Amon Ashford!"


    But...


    There were no cheers or a sign of sound.


    Because all of them were too shocked to understand what was happening around them.


    Amon Ashford, someone whom they knew to be the weakest in the academy...


    Had just defeated a person far stronger than him.


    And not just that...


    He had defeated them in one hit.


    One single hit.

 Chapter 164: One-Hit Defeat [2]

    Chapter 164: One-Hit Defeat [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon had won in just one hit.


    The crowd, which had been silent till now broke into cheers.


    But, Amon wasn''t done yet.


    Keeping the arms of the unconscious Cleenah in his hand, he manipted the blood in them.


    And then...


    Crack~!


    Cleenah''s eyes shot wide open as she screamed loudly in the stadium.


    Her arms...


    They had just beenpletely twisted 360 degrees along with the bones in thempletely broken into pieces.


    "Cadet, that''s enough. The fight has ended." The referee came to interfere.


    Amon didn''t object.


    He had done what he wanted to do.


    Letting go of her arms, he kicked her back once again, letting her crash into the ground.


    Screams erupted out of her mouth again.


    Amon''s gaze was stoic, no sign of rage or furiousness, which he previously disyed, in them.


    The stadium had turned silent once again with what he just did.


    But it didn''t take long enough for some of them to erupt in cheers again as Amon turned to leave.


    The majority of them were boys with some girls, who were screaming at his looks and moves.


    Yes.


    Amon had just gained a fan club with one match.


    Even when he disappeared, the cheers didn''t stop.


    ***


    Amon walked in the hallway of the stadium, about to get outside.


    But his eyes suddenly caught a familiar face standing at the entrance.


    With blonde messy hair and golden eyes, he was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on his face.


    Amon looked at him.


    Adam Ravenfield.


    Why was he here?


    Did he want to talk about something-


    "You were pretty strong back there." He said first, his voice subtly intrigued.


    Something abnormal for him.


    Amon shrugged.


    "Thanks for thepliment I guess."


    Adam nodded, finally turning and locking eyes with him.


    "I''m looking forward to my fight with you." He said, already confirming their fight.


    Amon tilted his head.


    "What if you get eliminated first?"


    A subtle smile spread across Adam''s features.


    "The day I lose to someone I don''t recognise as strong, I''ll drop out of the academy."


    Amon acted surprised.


    "You are pretty confident."


    In truth, he already knew about this side of him from the novel.


    "I am. And that''s why..." Adam spoke up, turning to leave.


    "When you fight me, use everything that you have." He started walking out, leaving a subtle warning in the air.


    Amon''s expression didn''t change.


    "Depends if you are even strong enough for me to do that." Amon provoked him back.


    And it seemed to work, as Adam turned back, a wide smirk on his features.


    "Ha, you are giving me a threat?" He asked, lightning crackling around his arms.


    Amon replied back, unfazed by his move.


    "Yes."


    Then, a subtle cold smile came on his features.


    Adam almost stuttered for a moment butposed him.


    And the lightning around his palms died out.


    "I like you." He said with a smile.


    He then waved his hand before starting to walk out.


    But Amon didn''t stop there.


    "I apologize but I''m not gay."


    "..."


    || ||


    "...Fucker." Adam cursed, ruffling his hair.


    ****


    Arriving outside of the stadium after Adam, Amon sighed.


    The second round of the battles was scheduled to start an hourter.


    He didn''t look for Charlotte.


    She must have realized that she was gettingte for her match mid-fight.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That girl was too excited watching other battles...


    Fortunately, her physical abilities would be enough for her to reach on time.


    As he walked, his eyes suddenly caught blonde hair in the distance.


    Her crimson eyes locked with him and a smile spread across her features as she walked toward


    him.


    "Yo." She raised a hand, waving at him.


    "Yo." He waved back as she arrived before him.


    He realized that it had been quite some time since he had seen Alya.


    And if there was one thing different about her it was the white falcon perched on her shoulder.


    He didn''t need to ask her to know what it was.


    It was her familiar of course.


    "Done with your battles?" She asked and he nodded, gesturing to his clothes.


    "My bad, I''m dumb." Alyaughed, seeing the minor cuts and scratches on his clothes.


    "Did you win?"


    Amon nodded.


    "Yup, obliterated."


    Alya raised a brow at his confident answer.


    "I guess the screamsing from inside are from your fight then." She smirked.


    Amonughed.


    He liked talking with Alya. She gave off the same casual vibes as Ren.


    Noticing hisck of reaction, Alya made a fake pout.


    "Aren''t you going to ask me about my fight?"


    "Is there a reason to Ms. Rank 2?"


    || ||


    "Fair enough." She said, trying to whistle in the air.


    It was obvious that the girl wasn''t going to lose anyone except maybe Charlotte or Elizabeth.


    "Soooo.."


    "Hmm?"


    "You fixed things with Michael?" He said.


    Amon knew that he was the only one Alya couldfortably talk to about Michael.


    So as a person in that spot, he had the responsibility to connect them together sessfully as


    well.


    But to his surprise, Alya wasn''t surprised at all about his question.


    "Yup."


    "Huh?" Amon blurted out.


    Had he heard that correctly?


    So easily?


    "Yeah, we made up." She said, smiling brightly.


    ''So that''s why she was so happy nowadays.''


    He didn''t know how it happened so easily though. Amon wasn''t expecting it to be like this.


    "How and when though?" He asked.


    "After the familiar ceremony. Michael, he passed out on the ground so I took him to the


    infirmary. There we fixed everything up." She exined.


    ''Oh.''


    He didn''t know that.


    In any case, he was happy for them.


    Returning the memories to the main cast had been a good idea after all.


    Speaking of memories.


    "Thanks by the way." He thanked her with a smile.


    "What for?" she asked.


    "For ''that''." He said, not saying it out loud considering there were still people around them


    now.


    Alya''s brows raised, understanding what he meant.


    But then, she feigned ignorance and whistled in the air.


    "I don''t know what are you talking about though?"


    Amonughed and raised a middle finger.


    "Fuck you then."


    Alya''s widened at the sudden tone change but then, she raised a finger back.


    "Fuck you as well." She cursed, not minding the public around them at all.


    At the interaction, both of them startedughing.


    This was how they conversed now after all.


    As Amon was about to speak again, he heard a call from the side.


    "Amon!"


    Smiling, he turned to the side and saw Katherineing toward him.


    He knew she had student council duties to maintain the mid-terms today.


    Yet despite that, she came to check on his match.


    It brought genuine warmth to his heart.


    ''I''m blessed to have a sis like you.''

 Chapter 165: One-Hit Defeat [3]

    Chapter 165: One-Hit Defeat [3]


    ?


    ****


    "Greetings, Princess Alya." Katherine was about to bow to Alya.


    "Please stop, there''s no need." Alya stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.


    She smiled at Katherine.


    "You are the sister of my friend, it would be disrespectful to make you bow."


    "In fact, I should be the one bowing right now." She apologized, referring to how she was only a student in the academy.


    Meanwhile, Katherine was the Student Council President.


    Katherine chuckled.


    "There''s no need to do that as well. Any friend of Amon is a friend of mine."


    "Thank you for taking care of Amon. I know how rude and reckless he can be at times." Katherine thanked Alya.


    Amon, who was watching the conversation silently, spoke up.


    "Hey, what do you mean rude?"


    Instantly, both of them stared at him silently, as if asking him if they seemed to be dumb. "Well..."


    Amon started whistling.


    "I understand it though, he is rude a lot of times, even among our fri-"


    "Hey, fuck you mean rude?" Amon turned, staring incredulously at Alya.


    "You, shut." Katherine instantly shut him down.


    "But-" Amon stopped when he saw his sister''s stare.


    From behind Katherine, he saw Alya wink at him while sticking out her tongue.


    ''You fucker...'' He mouthed to her.


    Katherine, ignoring him, turned back to Alya with a smile.


    "What were you saying again?"


    Amon, realizing theing hell at him, made the zipping mouth gesture to Alya from behind.


    ''No, No, NO, NOOOOOOO'' He mouthed to her.


    But Alya ignored him and then for the next 10 minutes, kept voicingints about him to Katherine.


    After she was done, Katherine gave Amon a kind smile.


    But Amon knew it wasn''t kind.


    It definitely wasn''t.


    It was the smile that said ''Let''s sit down for a chat at night today.''


    And he also knew it wasn''t a normal sibling-to-sibling chat.


    Alya, from behind him gave a middle finger while mouthing again.


    ''Revenge for that curse.''


    "Welp, enjoy guys, I need to maintain the decorum all around." Katherine waved.


    Alya smiled and waved back.


    "Good luck and take care, Senior Katherine."


    "Bye, and call me Katherine next time."


    "Wait sis-" Amon tried to stop her but there she went running.


    ''She forgot to even ask about my match...''


    Disappointed, Amon turned to walk.


    But then his eyes met Alya''s.


    The one who was responsible for all of this.


    "You bitch." He cursed, clicking his tongue.


    Alya neared him, pressing her hand near her ear.


    "What was that? I didn''t hear you rude guy."


    Amon gritted his teeth but then, he suddenly realized an opportunity.


    Without hesitation, he raised his hand and clenched it.


    And immediately, Alya''s expression morphed into pain and horror as her ear twisted.


    "Oiiii, ow, ow, this is unfair."


    "Cry about it bitch."


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do it for long as he saw Charlotte, Elizabeth, and the other grouping towards them.


    "I''ll remember this..." Alya repeated to him while massaging her ear.


    "Womp womp." He teased while finally joining the group.


    ****


    As Amon walked alongside the group to eat, he repeated the information he had just gathered. ''Fortunately, all of them won their matches.'' Was the first good news.


    If any one of them lost, though it would help them gain a spirit to improve, the loss would be much worse.


    They wouldn''t be able to gain any significant experience in fighting different styles.


    Suddenly, he noticed someone staring at him from the side.


    "Hmm?" He turned to look and he saw Elizabeth, locking her silver eyes with him.


    Staring into them, a familiar memory reying in his mind.


    Those crimson bright red eyes...


    "Yeah?" He asked.


    "I forgot to ask but..."


    ''Huh?''


    ''Was it something important that I missed?''


    "Did you win?"


    11?11


    "Y-Yeah, I did." He replied back and instantly her expression morphed into surprise.


    "Oh, that''s great."


    But Amon wasn''t buying her praise.


    "You expected me to lose didn''t you?"


    "That''s not it!" She tried to give an excuse.


    "Then?"


    "Well, I guess I did." She confessed.


    "Why? I''m not that weak you know."


    Elizabeth shook her head, signaling that it wasn''t that.


    "No, I know you are strong. Pretty strong in this group in fact. It''s just that I thought your


    chances were lower against Cleenah Troy." She exined.


    "Why is that?" He was confused.


    Elizabeth started at him dumbfoundedly.


    "Seriously?" she asked.


    "Do you know not who Cleenah ''Troy'' is?" She emphasized ''Troy''.


    ""


    "..No? Am I supposed to know who randoms are?" He tilted his head in confusion.


    At that, the whole group turned to stare at him with surprise.


    "Wait, don''t tell me you don''t know who the Troys are?" Elizabeth asked him in horror.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "No? I don''t." He answered back and even Ren spoke in, who was usually the densest guy in


    the group.


    "Nah dude, you have to be kidding me. You don''t know who Troys are?"


    Everyone stared at him as if he was dumb.


    "No, I seriously don''t."


    "..." Everyone turned silent before Ren spoke up.


    "Well, here is some general knowledge for one, the Troys are..."


    Amon listened carefully to him.


    He had to listen closely to know if he offended someone important.


    "Well, matter of fact, even I don''t know who Troys are. Who are they?"


    ||||


    Ren turned to the group and everyone shrugged.


    "No idea as well."


    "What. The. Fuck?" Amon stared at all of them, who were nowughing at his response.


    It was only after Elizabeth cleaned the tears from her eyes that she spoke up. "Hahahaha, well genuinely, the Troys are the second most talented and strongest family in


    the ''Earth'' family, only beaten by the Sullivans." She told him.


    "Oh..." Amon said.


    He didn''t know that information.


    But it made sense considering how strong and proficient Cleenah was with the element.


    "She''s also high ranked in her academy, so you, a nobody in their eyes, defeating her must


    have been an eye opener for them," Charlotte informed him.


    Oh...


    It was then that Amon realized that.


    After these mid-terms...


    His days of peace and not being bothered were going to be long gone...


    I know this Troy joke and all might look like a word count filler to you, but trust me this is


    important for the future.


    I don''t just randomly type in words.

 Chapter 166: Nadia Alneith [1]

    Chapter 166: Nadia Alneith [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon returned to the stadium after 2 hours.


    ''Fuck.'' He cursed due to histeness.


    The group had held him for so long that he had no choice but to relent.


    And in that walking around, he had missed the Klein VS Adam match.


    Even though he already knew the results, it would have still been better to see their interactions.


    ''Whatever, I guess I know the winner at least.'' He could only shrug it off.


    As for the winner, he knew it was Adam.


    It would be a close call, but Adam would have won.


    At least that''s what should have been.


    He was a little unsure because he had just witnessed a plot change an hour ago.


    And it was in the matchups of other stadiums.


    Elizabeth, who was supposed to be paired with Charlotte, was now up against Liliana in the next match.


    And Alya was against Charlotte.


    And finally, Ren against Michael.


    Though, Amon wasn''t against it.


    He was grateful that Elizabeth was against Liliana.


    Because he knew that mid-terms were the best chance to fix that shitty bitch Liliana.


    And the best way to fix that pride of hers was to break her down.


    To crush and build her back up.


    This was why he asked Elizabeth to defeat her in the most humiliating way possible.


    Elizabeth had some questions for him, but she eventually decided to do it when he told her to trust him.


    As for Alya and Charlotte, even though Alya was stronger, in a clean and wide stadium, it was evident that Alya had a big disadvantage.


    She had no obstacles or things to utilize.


    Which was why he was betting on Charlotte to win.


    However if there was one thing that might help Alya win, it was her familiar.


    She could use it for aerial advantage.


    But then again, there was Charlotte''s familiar as well so he didn''t know.


    Then there was Ren and Michael.


    If he had to be honest, Ren was considered one of the weakest characters in a 1v1.


    But only in the early stages of the novel.


    Because if you looked at it, for him to use an element, he had to touch the person.


    And if the opponent didn''t let him do that, then Ren was nothing but useless.


    Sure, there was his element-storing ability.


    But that''s why he was weak in the early stages. He could only hold those elements for 7 minutes.


    So if you were able to hold out for 7 minutes, then Ren was done for again.


    Though, just like Alya, there was still his familiar.


    It was a familiar that even Amon didn''t know anything about since it wasn''t showcased explicitly in the novel.


    But it was stated that after Michael, Ren had the most formidable familiar.


    However, if Amon had to pick a winner, it would undoubtedly be Michael.


    Just him being the MC was enough of a reason to shut down the wholeparison.


    Coming back to the present, Amon sighed in relief once more at their matchups being the


    same.


    Since Adam won against Klein, he had proceeded to the finals of the Stadium.


    Which left one final match between Amon and Nadia.


    And whoever won would proceed to the finals, considering the third match had ended in a draw.


    A draw meant that both participants would be eliminated.


    As he stepped out of the hallway into the stadium, a wave of cheers erupted throughout the arena again.


    It was kind of unreal for Amon, who had never gotten this kind of attention in his past life.


    But now, everyone''s focus was on him.


    Walking up the stairs, Amon finally saw her.


    Nadia Alneith.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With extended ck hair that cascaded down her shoulders to her waist and oceanic sea blue


    eyes, she stared at him with pride-filled eyes.


    In a way, she wasn''t that different from Liliana in some minor ways.


    But at the same time, her personality was much better.


    Both of them had pride, but Nadia''s pride was more of apetitive and rival pride.


    And Liliana''s pride was based on other people''s lineage and their power.


    Obviously, the former was much better and bearable.


    Coming before her, she smiled at him, in a cocking way.


    "You don''t look strong." She said.


    But just like always, Amon kept silent to her provocations.


    For him, it was better to shut them up with a p rather than yap.


    He looked at the referee and thetter nodded back.


    He was probably used to the silence by now.


    "And now, the final match of round 2, the match that would decide the second finalist for this


    stadium, will begin!" He roared.


    "The match between Nadia Alneith and Amon Ashford will beginnnn.."


    "NOW!" He brought his hand down before taking a step back.


    Nadia, seemingly wanting to end this quickly, waved her hand.


    And immediately, a celestial glitter started to appear wherever her hand went.


    Energy element...


    It was one of the most formidable elements out there.


    And Nadia Alneith, the 8th ranked first year would be a monster in the future with this.


    If fire and water elements were converted into the respective elemental mana from pure


    mana.


    Then Energy was actually made out of pure mana.


    There was no elemental mana in its case.


    But here was the twist.


    Using the Energy element, you could form different elemental manas.


    In simpler words, you could use different elements.


    But of course, there were limitations to this.


    One, it consumed arge portion of your mana just trying to convert energy into a respective


    element''s mana.


    This was why at the starting stages, an Energy clovist would automatically be considered the


    weakest by the society.


    They couldn''t even fight properly in the starting ranks.


    Due to this, most of the energy clovists already gave up on a fighting path, choosing to go


    towards the social sector instead.


    And the second was the conversion rate.


    Every element had a different conversion rate on how much energy they would consume.


    Fire being the easiest out of primordial elements and Earth being the hardest.


    They couldn''t form Derivant elements though. This was another limitation.


    If you were a normal energy clovist with average talent, you would only be able to convert one


    element per 2 ranks.


    In simpler words, it meant that you could only convert into Fire in the 2nd order and then


    water in the 4th order, and so on.


    But of course, that was for an average talent.


    For Nadia...


    It waspletely different.


    All because of her mana capacity and power. They were so high that she was able to convert 2


    elements already in the 2nd order.


    She was considered once in a century genius among the Alneiths.


    3 Chaps done today because the second chapter of yesterday wasn''t uploaded.


    Enjoy.

 Chapter 167: Nadia Alneith [2]

    Chapter 167: Nadia Alneith [2]


    ?


    ****


    As Amon kept his gaze focused on Nadia, he saw the silver glitter turn into a crimson and red shade.


    And in the next second, a wave of water and a ball of fire shot out toward him.


    But he didn''t back off.


    Even if he wanted to, the stair was the only ce to back off to.


    Summoning his nodachi, he gripped it in his hand and shot forward.


    A wave of blood also appeared behind him, which was quickly manipted into multiple threads that looped around his arm.


    Coming before the ball of fire, he did a quick sh at the ball, slicing it in half.


    Clenching his hand, he weaved his blood threads into a web of blood that collided with the wave of water.


    Passing through the wave of water, his eyes widened as he saw a sword of fire inches away from him.


    Twisting his torso, he quickly reflected the sword using his nodachi.


    But it wasn''t over just yet as he saw a barrage of tridents heading his way.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    Manifesting blood swords as well, heunched them forward.


    He knew what Nadia was trying to do.


    She was using more and more mana to make more projectiles.


    This would in turn make him use the same amount of mana.


    And in terms of a mana battle, Amon would undoubtedly lose.


    At least as long as kept using blood.


    She was still stronger than him in terms of rank.


    But there was still a way to win. A guaranteed win.


    He just needed to get close.


    Manifesting blood chains around his hand, Amon wasted no timeunching himself forward again.


    There wasn''t much distance left between them now.


    He just needed one hit.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    One single hit.


    But unlikest time, Nadia seemed to have learned her lesson from his fight with Cleenah as she leaped backward.


    Amon grits his teeth.


    A wave of fire hit him from the side, burning his bodysuit a little.


    Clenching his fist, he manifested two more blood swords, throwing them at Nadia.


    But they were quickly sliced by two more water tridents.


    Fortunately, Amon had expected that from the start.


    The true purpose of the swords was.


    Ssh-!


    They exploded into blood, blocking his view from Nadia.


    ''Now!''


    Shooting his threads forward, Amon looped them around two of his blood swords in the air.


    He pulled himself up in the air, away from the ground.


    And it worked as Nadia was left confused when the blood fell, not showing Amon there anymore.


    But it was then that her eyes widened and she snapped her body to the right, barely evading two blood daggers.


    They pierced into the ground, right where her chest was previously.


    Looking at him, Nadia smirked and said something along the lines of.


    ''Let me see you dodge in mid-air.''


    All of a sudden, her water tridents and fire swords changed their trajectory, facing toward him.


    And simultaneously, they shot forward.


    Fortunately, Amon was able to throw his chains forward in time toward the ground.


    As they nted in the ground, he pulled the chains in his hand.


    He crashed into the ground but wasted no time rolling to his right.


    Pierce! Pierce!


    It was a life-saving decision by him as multiple tridents and swords crashed at his previous


    spot.


    Pulling himself up on the ground, he quickly raised a shield of blood around him.


    He didn''t want to show this too quickly but...


    Nadia had earned it.


    Locking his eyes with her, he smiled.


    A simple but cold smile.


    And immediately, the effects kicked in as Nadia''s movements halted for a second.


    Amon didn''t waste any second as he quickly ran forward while also blocking her swords and


    tridents.


    Nadia''s eyes subtly shed pink but returned to normal in the next second.


    She gritted her teeth, manifesting multiple whips of fire and whipping them at him.


    Fortunately, it was quite easy to dodge them as she was missing by herself.


    The ability was working.


    ''Just a little more...'' Amon thought, closing more distance.


    "What....is....happening?" She muttered, grabbing her head.


    Amon kept his eyes locked with her.


    There were two limitations to this art of his.


    One, he couldn''t break his gaze from her. If he did, then he needed to lock it back in 3 seconds


    or the whole time would go to waste.


    Second, he couldn''t take off his smile.


    And he couldn''t allow her to take her eyes off of him.


    As another whip came close to him, he sliced at it with his sword.


    He ducked as two more tridents passed through the spot where his head was.


    Then, twisted his body to evade three more swords.


    ''Almost...!''


    Unfortunately, his gaze was disrupted as suddenly the iing fire spear burst into a ball of


    mes.


    His bodysuit was incinerated from some parts as he closed his eyes to guard himself against


    the mes.


    ''NO!'' He screamed as he pushed through the mes.


    He couldn''t fail and get pushed back aftering so far now.


    Letting go of his nodachi, he looped multiple threads around his fingers before shooting


    them through the mes.


    Nadia, who was confused after just getting out of the ability, was taken aback as threads


    looped around her body.


    With full force, Amon pulled her toward him while shooting forward as well.


    The threads dug into her suit, making blood trickle down her arms and waist.


    Gritting her teeth, she put her arms to me, burning the threads.


    But it was enough.


    The threads had served their purpose of pulling him close to him.


    But Nadia didn''t back off as well, as if she had expected it.


    She smirked as she clenched her hand before opening it.


    A glittering ball of pure energy was on top of her palm.


    It was tiny but ready to burst like an explosion.


    And immediately, the ball started to turn crimson.


    Amon''s expression, however, didn''t change.


    Rather, he smirked back.


    "You think I haven''t been through something like this before?" He asked.


    Of course, he had been.


    How could he forget Michael''s final move in the FULLDIVE?


    And it was much more power-packed than this as well.


    But this time, he was prepared.


    He brought back his arm, covering it in a solid sheet of blood.


    And then, he smiled again.


    He knew Nadia was much prepared this time but he only needed a subtle moment.


    And it worked as her eyes suddenly shed pink again, making her lose focus.


    But due to her losing focus, the energy ball in her hand wavered, and almost lost control.


    ''Now!'' Amon clenched his hand and immediately the destructive energy-packed ball in her


    hand wavered.


    And then, disappeared into nothingness.


    Nadia''s eyes widened but Amon gave her no time as he manipted her blood again,


    snapping her face hard to the right.


    Before in the next second,nding a clean punch to the side of her face, coated in a sheen of


    blood.


    CRACK~! SPLATTER~!


    The sound of blood sshing and bones cracking was heard as Nadia shot across the stadium,


    crashing into the wall, and leaving rings of air in her wake.


    Blood gushed out of her mouth and she lost unconsciousness, leaving the crowd in the


    railingspletely silent again.


    Just like before...


    Amon had won, once again, with a single hit.

 Chapter 168: Nadia Alneith [3]

    Chapter 168: Nadia Alneith [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon exhaled, the coating of blood breaking down.


    Nadia, who mmed against the wall creating a small crater, fell on the ground, unconscious.


    The referee looked at her with bulging eyes.


    It was understandable.


    Nobody had expected for this to happen.


    Not only was Nadia an extremely talented and strong energy clovist, she was winning the whole time in the battle.


    So...


    How did a Blood elemental clovist defeat her?


    Nobody knew but it was right in front of their eyes but they weren''t able to believe it.


    The referee, realizing the silence, quicklyposed himself and raised his hand.


    "THE WINNER AND SECOND FINALIST IS AMON ASHFORD!!"


    Silence. Nobody was still able to speak.


    Amon didn''t mind it though.


    He preferred it like that.


    His gaze wandered to his hand and he opened and clenched it.


    ''This is so broken...'' He thought, recalling the moment when Nadia''s energy ball dissipated into nothingness.


    This was a question that was still on everyone''s mind.


    How was he able to cancel out such a strong attack? Especially using Blood.


    Was it his familiar art?


    But they must have previously thought that his eye ability was his familiar art.


    And it actually was.


    The reason why her energy ball broke down was....


    Because of his mana art.


    His mana art was called [Mana Scatter].


    It was an art that allowed him to intercept, interrupt and scatter the flow of mana in any attack or being.


    In this way, he could cancel any attack or being from making an attack which made it an ultimate surprise move.


    Something that enabled him to defeat Nadia in one hit.


    Just canceling one move and taking the opponent by surprise at a crucial movement could result in their death.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Of course, the art also had its fair share of limitations.


    For one, the more focused the user was on their attack or mana, the harder it was to disrupt the flow.


    This was why, if he hadn''t destroyed Nadia''s focus for a subtle moment there then [Mana Scatter] wouldn''t have worked.


    Definitely not in the early stages of the art.


    The second limitation was of course the range in which you could disrupt an attack.


    For now, in the early stage, he could only disrupt when he was in the distance of at least 5 meters of his target.


    Another reason why he had to get close to her.


    There was also the high mana consumption of the art.


    And therger and moreplex the attack was, the more focus it would need for him to disrupt as well.


    This could also result in migraines and headaches to himself in battles which was why it was a dangerous art.


    He needed to utilize it carefully.


    Suddenly, a p in the stadium brought him back to his senses.


    And then, the audience followed the lead as the whole stadium erupted into a wave of cheers.


    After all, they had witnessed something almost unreal today in the history of midterms in Eldergrove.


    A cadet winning all of his battles.


    With just a single hit to his opponent.


    But Amon didn''t pay any attention to them, thinking it would die down soon and left the stadium.


    Unfortunately, if he only knew how wrong he was.


    ***


    Coming out of the stadium, Amon knew he only had 20 minutes for his final fight today with Adam.


    ''Should I eat something? I didn''t eat before as well?''


    And so he eventually decided to go and finally get something to eat.


    All these fights were making him hungry as hell. To the point he felt like dying.


    As he walked to a nearby stall, he realized that Vain and Zephyra had been silent today for the


    whole day.


    He was still able to utilize their powers but was unable to talk with them.


    All he knew was that they were inside his body still.


    Reaching a stall, Amon was about to enter the queue as suddenly his watch dinged.


    Opening it, he saw it was a personal message from Elizabeth.


    [Elizabeth: Request Completed hehe.]


    Seeing the message, Amon raised his brows.


    From the message, she sounded very confident.


    ''Did she do what I said?'' He thought.


    There wasn''t any way to see how she beat her up.


    But looking up at the matchups on his watch, indeed, Liliana had been beaten by Elizabeth.


    In 5 minutes as well.


    "I''ll just ask when I see her next time," He said.


    Suddenly, a familiar, crisp and charming voice entered his ears.


    "Ask who?"


    Amon looked to the side and found familiar golden amber eyes locking with him.


    The beautiful circr pattern in them almost made them feel hypnotic.


    It was Amelia.


    She smiled at him, walking toward him.


    Currently, she was wearing a white coat with a beautiful ck rose patterned dress that


    entuated the curves of her body.


    Looking at her smile, he instantly knew that it was a tired smile.


    Someone like him was able to instantly recognize it.


    "Hey, long time no see." He smiled and raised a hand back.


    "Indeed." She came before him.


    Thest time they talked was during the familiar ceremony after all.


    Even though they were the same height, she was a little taller because of her heels.


    "I enjoyed the battles, you were great out there." She praised him with a genuine smile.


    Amon reciprocated but raised his brows.


    "You were there?"


    She nodded.


    "I was there during a walk so I thought to check it out. This is the first time I saw you fighting


    though."


    "Oh, nice."


    "And I never expected you to be this strong, it betrays your current rank." She said with a


    surprised face.


    Amonughed.


    "It''s nothing much. Thanks for watching my fight though." He thanked her.


    "Mhm." She nodded with a cheerful face.


    "Oh, are you here to eat something?" she asked, noticing the stall.


    "Yeah, I have my final battle in a few minutes, I thought of eating something. Want to join?"


    He asked.


    "Sure, I was here for the same thing."


    Amon smiled and got into the queue with her behind him.


    "I can see that you are tired."


    She raised her brows but eventually gave him a subtle tired smile.


    "Just...this cultural festival, it''s a little hectic."


    "I''m sure you''ll do just fine." Amon answered instantly, before turning to finally order


    something.


    Amelia, who was a little down raised her brows at his answer.


    She looked surprised.


    "Oh, you think so?"


    "Yeah, don''t worry about it." He gave her a thumbs-up.


    "You..." Amelia stared at his back with surprise as he ordered.


    "Thanks.." She thanked him, a subtle smile on her face.


    "No problem."

 Chapter 169: Adam VS Amon [1]

    Chapter 169: Adam VS Amon [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon finished eating with Amelia on a bench and stood up.


    "That was a good meal." He said, stretching his arms.


    Amelia did the same, doing the same action.


    It was evident that both of them were tired.


    "Yeah.."


    He looked at the watch and found out that there were only 5 minutes left.


    "Welp, I''ll catch youter then. Need to leave for my match now." He said.


    Amelia nodded.


    "I should get going as well. Let''s meet up sometime again." She smiled and waved.


    Amon reciprocated the smile and waved back.


    "Sure, see you."


    "See you."


    As Amon stared at her departing back, he sighed.


    ''Welp, let''s get going now, don''t wanna bete-'' His thoughts were stopped abruptly as he collided with someone while turning.


    Retreating a step, Amon massaged his head.


    "My ba-" He opened his eyes, only to find Arthur staring deep into his eyes from above.


    ''Huh?'' He stared at him with surprise.


    "Why the fuck are you star-" Amon was asking when the cogs in his mind suddenly clicked. ''Oh.''


    ''Wait.''


    ''I forgot that this geezer is a daughter-con. If there are those like that.''


    "What were you doing with Amelia kiddo?" He asked, leaning close to his face.


    Amon rolled his eyes.


    "Couldn''t you see? You got three eyes old man." He replied, referring to his monocle as an eye as well.


    "No, I saw you were eating. But why were you twoughing like close friends?" He asked and Amon stared back incredulously.


    "What the hell is wrong with that?"


    "..."


    "I don-"


    "Listen, old man, don''t worry, I wasn''t doing anything with your precious daughter. We were just having a normal lunch like friends." Amon rified.


    "Hmmm..." Arthur retreated back his face, putting a hand on his chin as if wondering about something.


    "Okay."


    "Good, now let me go I''m gettingte for my match."


    "Wait." Arthur grabbed his shoulder, staring at him skeptically.


    "What now?" Amon felt like crying because of how insecure this man was.


    "Why should I trust you?"


    Amon instantly spun back his words, not bothering to think of an answer. "Source: Trust me bro."


    "Okay," He said.


    "Finally!" Amon started to rush off at full speed.


    But before he could get far away from Arthur, he heard a voice that made his eyes widen. "Though thinking about it, you and Amelia do look good together. I''m not that against it." Amon clicked his tongue at his inability to answer back because of how far he was now. ''I''ll just answer him next time.''


    ***


    Amon ran out of the stadium hallway to the stage, barely making it on time.


    He wasn''t out of breath, but he was sweating a little.


    ''Thankfully, I''m on time.'' He thought as he walked up the stairs.


    Therge crowd erupted in cheers once more.


    And unlike previous times, almost 95% of the stadium was cheering for him.


    All because his opponent was Adam.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    To them, he was much more entertaining and known than Adam, who was a boring individual.


    "Amon!"


    "GO BEAT HIM!"


    The guys were cheering while even some screams and shrieks of good luck were heard from


    the girls in the stand.


    After all, even taking aside his strength, he was very handsome now.


    Coming before Adam, Amon''s eyes locked with him.


    The bored expression of the former brightened up a little.


    A subtle smile reced his features.


    "I''ve been waiting for this the whole day," Adam said silently.


    Amon smiled coldly.


    "I can''t say that I wasn''t the same." He took out his hands from his pockets.


    At that gesture,


    audience ned silent for a split seco


    shock.


    It had to be noted that in all of his battles, Amon had never taken out his hands in the first


    minutes of the battle.


    But here, he had taken them out even before the fight began.


    This didn''t even happen for Nadia, which led them to assume that Adam was stronger than


    her.


    But then why was he so low in the rankings?


    Both of them simultaneously looked at the referee, who nodded back.


    He raised his arm in the air.


    "AND NOW FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF TODAY IN STADIUM C!"


    "TWO FINALISTS, AMON ASHFORD AND ADAM RAVENFIELD WILL BE GOING HEAD TO


    HEAD!"


    For the first time, Amon took his stance even before the match.


    And the same was said for Adam as well, as he bent his knees.


    "AND THE MATCH!!!"


    Blood manifested around Amon while lightning started to crack around Adam''s body.


    Amon bent his knees, slightly unsheathing his nodachi.


    "BEGINS NOW!" He brought down his arm.


    And instantly, the ground beneath both of them gave way to a cobweb of cracks.


    Before it turned into a small crater in the next second as both of them shot off.


    Reaching each other, Amon instantly saw a punch of lightning inches away from his face.


    ''This fucker...''


    It was evident that Adam was giving it all.


    He was applying lightning to his body currently even though it was going to be harmful for


    him in the long stage as well.


    But that just showed how serious he was.


    Manipting the blood around him into threads, Amon dodged the punch with a sharp tilt of


    his face.


    He bore the pain that came with it and looped his threads around Adam''s arm.


    With a sharp tug, Amon pulled him in his direction while the sharp threads also dug into his


    skin.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t that easy as the lightning around Adam burst out violently, instantly


    tearing the threads.


    A shock of lightning came to Amon.


    However, he barely felt a shock except for the pain part.


    All because he didn''t have blood in his body anymore.


    Adam''s eyes widened at theck of reaction from Amon.


    Taking opportunity of his reaction, Amon conjured a barrage of blood spears,unching them


    at him.


    Adam, able topose himself in time, quickly raised a lightning barrier.


    The spears collided with the barrier, bursting instantly.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    It was evident that blood was a bad matchup against lightning. Nevertheless, unsheathing his nodachipletely Amon shot at Adam.


    And just as he came in front of the barrier, he smiled subtly.


    That subtleck of focus from Adam was enough to disintegrate the barrier.


    And Amon passed through harmlessly,ing before him and shing his nodachi at him.


    Fortunately for Adam, he was able to quickly raise a coating of electricity around his arm, nullifying most of the damage from the sword.


    However, a sh was still inflicted on his arms as he was sent dragging back by the force of


    the impact.


    Drip...Drip....Drip...Drip


    Adam suddenly turned silent, his eyes widening as they traveled to the floor.


    Where a pool of blood was forming from his arms.


    Amon knew why he was so surprised.


    Because it was the first time someone had inflicted him this much damage.


    And his reaction to it?


    Adam gave a wide smile.


    "Great! Great! Let''s take it further!~" He shouted like a madman.


    But if he looked deep within Adam''s eyes, it was obvious that he was enjoying it.


    It was the first time he was having this much fun even though he was bleeding.

 Chapter 170: Adam VS Amon [2]

    Chapter 170: Adam VS Amon [2]


    ?


    ***


    Sliding underneath an electric whip conjured by Adam, Amon stepped near him.


    With his hand on the hilt of nodachi, he did a vertical sh at Adam.


    Of course, Adam wasn''t slow.


    He quickly countered by conjuring a makeshift electric sword of his own.


    But Amon didn''t move back.


    Rather, he smiled.


    "Sike." He said as suddenly sharp threads coiled around Adam''s ankles.


    Before gruesomely tearing through his flesh and digging into it.


    Adam''s face scrunched up in pain as his knees buckled.


    But he kept himself upright by gritting his teeth and immediately released a multitude of electric chains at Amon.


    Thetter, who was in close distance, hacked away at the chains.


    But it was impossible to destroy them all at such a close distance.


    Two chains wrapped around Amon''s arm, sending shocks of lightning through his body. Clicking his tongue, Amon quickly cut down the chain with his blood daggers.


    Currently, the stage they were fighting on was a mess.


    Cracks and craters here and there with continuous destruction wherever the pair went.


    Even Nadia''s fight with him wasn''t this intense.


    With every attack, ever sh, the ground rumbled under the weight of their attacks.


    But the pair were too lost in the excitement of their fight to even notice.


    Destroying the chains, Amon spread the blood around Adam, before forming it into spikes thatunched at him.


    Smirking with his sweaty face, thetter rolled on the ground with bloody ankles.


    Barely evading the spikes.


    But then suddenly, the ground rumbled with such a tremor that even Amon noticed it this time.


    His gaze wandered to Adam who was smiling.


    It meant that he knew something about it.


    And suddenly, threerge dragons, each the size of Amon, spawned near Adam.


    They were made ofplete and pure lightning, glowing golden in the dark atmosphere.


    Amon knew what it was though.


    It was his familiar art.


    And as if understanding his expression, Adam talked up.


    "Bingo."


    "WIth my familiar, I can control three dragons currently for anything, sport, offensive or anything." Adam exined.


    "I see," Amon said as he took on a stance.


    Adam raised his brows.


    "You...you aren''t going to use your familiar art?" He asked.


    "No," Amon replied tly.


    Adam seemed to be confused but Amon answered it for him.


    With a cocky smile on his face.


    "It''s simple."


    "It''s because you just aren''t worthy enough for me to use it," He answered.


    Adam''s eyes widened before he clicked on tongue.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Not worthy enough huh..." He muttered before the three dragons around him finally turned offensive.


    What was even annoying was that these dragons couldn''t be destroyed.


    As long as the user had enough mana to sustain them.


    A dragonunched at Amon with full-speed, arriving before him in an instant.


    Keeping his gaze calm, Amon blocked its fanged jaw with his nodachi.


    As it''s jaws were stuck on the metal, Amon duckled before delivering a quick kick to the dragon.


    However, it proved to be futile as a crashing forcended on Amon''s body.


    He skidded on the ground, his mouth opening wide as if he was about to throw up.


    "I told you, you can''t win against me with that kind of strength." Adam said.


    Helping himself to his feet quickly, Amonunched forward again.


    Blood threads poured out from his hand that he threw forward. Understanding his intention, Adam quickly reacted by moving his dragons.


    But Amon''s target wasn''t them from the get go anyways.


    It was Adam himself as his features turned into a cold smile.


    There was one way to cancel those dragons without just mana expenditure.


    And it wasn''t taking down the dragons since as they discussed before, his body was fucked.


    But rather...


    It was to take down the source of the attack.


    The one that was manipting all the dragons.


    Adam''s eyes shed pink as he suddenly lost control of his body.


    The dragon''s and his attacks wavered at his iplete mana control.


    But that subtle moment was enough for Amon as a clean blownded to Adam''s jaw in the


    next second.


    Blood gushed out of his mouth as he was mmed into the ground.


    But Amon wasn''t done just yet.


    Manipting the blood into threads that came out of Adam, he quickly grasped his arms with threads.


    They dug into his skin again, with his face scrunching up in pain again.


    "Who was being cocky just now?" Amon questioned as the threads hacked away at Adam''s


    body.


    But like always, Adam wasn''t going to just lose like that.


    And immediately, the ground around Adam shook and broke into a small crater as Amon was


    pushed back from the shock.


    The three dragons spawned again as well.


    But Amon wasn''t going to give them any time as he quickly shot forward.


    He reached out his hand toward Adam who had his own arm pointed at him.


    And then, Amon clenched his fist, using Blood maniption at the arm.


    Adam''s eyes widened his his arm suddenly moved, the trajectory of his attack shifting.


    ''Not yet.''


    Amon said.


    He was getting low on mana and dizzying as well.


    He knew that he wouldn''tst long if thissted a few more minutes.


    That''s why. It was time to end this thought.


    As he moved forward more, the 3 dragons caught up with him again.


    He knew that he couldn''t do the same thing again so..


    Amon clenched his first, gritting his teeth as he bore through the pain in his body.


    But...


    It was enough.


    The three dragons of Adam instantly disappeared into think air as the whole audience was left


    baffled once more.


    There it was.


    The famous ability that was responsible for Nadia''s downfall.


    The crowd erupted in a wave of cheers but Amon ignored them.


    He knew he was on time so he needed to do everything quickly. Stepping on the shattered again, Amon applied his full force as he shot forward.


    It was time to end this.


    Amon felt his sight blur at therge expenditure of mana.


    Due to that, an electric whip from Adamnded right on his shoulder, searing him.


    Amon however, bore through it.


    And as he got close to Adam, he clenched his fist for the final time of the day.


    ''Blood Obliteration.''


    Not a secondter, all the blood that was currentlyid out in the stadium moved.


    It didn''t even take a second for them to form into weapons.


    And...


    Launch themselves at Adam with no escape for him, leaving him impaled with every weapon.


    It was Amon''s new tactic.


    A strategy where he tried to force as much blood as he could from Adam.


    And the result...?


    He won.

 Chapter 171: Adam VS Amon [3]

    Chapter 171: Adam VS Amon [3]


    ?


    ****


    Amon coughed and stumblingly walked out of the stadium.


    He was covered in injuries all around.


    And it was all because of Adam, who had been carried to the infirmary shortly after he fell unconscious as well.


    The medical staff had asked him as well but he respectfully denied it.


    There were definitely cracks underneath the bodysuit armor.


    And they were not to be shown to the public.


    At least not yet. He had to wait until tomorrow for his match against Michael.


    Looking at his state, it was fair to say that his injuries against Adam were more than all his 3 matchesbined.


    As he focused ahead in the night light, his vision blurred subtly.


    ''Fuck, I can''t pass out right here.''


    There was still public around him.


    As he tried to grab hold of a street railing, suddenly, his hand slipped.


    And he lost his bnce...


    Amon closed his eyes to embrace the fall and tiredness but was taken aback when someone took his arm.


    And then hung it over his shoulder.


    Barely opening his eyes, Amon was able to take a subtle nce at the person before falling to exhaustion.


    Blonde hair and crimson eyes locked with him and filled with worry.


    ''Michael...''


    He was at least in safe and trustworthy hands.


    ***


    Inside a dimly lit room, multiple people sat around a round table, which wasden with burning candles.


    They were wearing red robes, with their faces covered.


    Even the illumination of the candles in front of them didn''t reveal even a subtle part of their features.


    The robes were adorned with golden stripes that connected from all around to form a symbol of rain.


    Only that the direction of the drops was tilted in an upward direction, making it seem as if the rain was inverted.


    Currently, there were 12 figures in the room, or more urately a cave room.


    The walls around them were made of rock and the room by itself wasn''t veryrge.


    It was fair enough to assume that the party might have been in a cave.


    As a light wind made the mes of the candles sway to the right, the person sitting in the respective direction finally opened their mouth.


    "The time hase." His hoarse voice echoed in the area.


    A second of silence passed before a figure sitting to his next spoke up.


    "Do we have the target ready?" A female voice asked.


    At her question, another figure sitting in front of her spoke up.


    "We do. The operation should start in a few days."


    Everyone nodded at his answer in agreement.


    But suddenly, another figure sitting at the far end spoke up.


    "But..."


    "What about ''him''?" He asked, not calling the person''s name.


    At the mention of ''him'', everyone grew wary.


    The question was correct.


    How were they supposed to execute their ns when ''he'' was there?


    They might as well do suicide than do that when ''he'' was there.


    Whispers broke out as a major issue highlighted in the gathering.


    But then...


    The female figure from before spoke up.


    "Silence." She said, gesturing to the person sitting beside her, apparently the leader of the meeting.


    And as everyone turned to look in the direction, they were taken aback as they did something for the first time.


    The leader''s features were subtly revealed through the candle''s illumination.


    Or more specifically, only the mouth.


    And....


    It was smiling.


    Widely and manically.


    And in the whole meeting, the leader spoke up again, for the second time.


    "Do not worry about ''him''." He said, his grin growing wider.


    "Proceed with the ns. I''ll be the one to handle him. The one to kill him."


    ***


    Amon''s eyes subtly opened, tired.


    ''Where am I?''


    He tried to look around, squinting his eyes to adjust to the bright light in the room.


    [Heaven, wake up bro. We need to see those jade beauties.] A familiar voice resounded in his


    mind.


    Amon instantly recognized it.


    ''Vain?''


    [Yes, now wake up doofus.]


    Amon rubbed his eyes, finally looking at the room.


    ''This isn''t heaven.''


    [Of course, it isn''t.] A female voice came inside his head now.


    ''Zephyra?'' He asked.


    [Yes, idiot.]


    [Of course, it isn''t, otherwise, you wouldn''t be here. They don''t keep rainbow-colored


    retarded whamen there.] Vain replied to Zephyra.


    [Fuck off, you insect-looking bastard.]


    And like always, their bickering started again.


    "Oh, you are up." Amon heard a friendly voice again.


    But this time, not in his head.


    But from ahead, he looked up, finding Michael carrying a bowl of soup to him.


    He bent down and handed it to him.


    "Here."


    Taking it from his hands, Amon looked at Michael and thanked him with a smile.


    "Thanks for the help."


    Michael nodded back with a smile.


    "No problem. It was fortunate that I was passing through that street at that time."


    "Yeah, I was lucky or I might have been busted." Amon took a spoon of the soup in his mouth.


    "Damn, this is delicious."


    Michael scratched his head in embarrassment.


    "Haha, thanks. I appreciate it."


    Amon looked at Michael once more.


    There was something that had changed in Michael ever since that trip arc.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And it was that he no longer knew that Amon was supposed to kill him.


    Amon knew that he previously knew that as it had been told to him by Sran.


    But now, Michael didn''t remember that fact, even after every single one of his memories was


    returned to him.


    And he did remember everything. Even the trauma from that hospital for which he took weeks


    to recover.


    But even then, he had PTSD from Amon at certain times now.


    Amon didn''t know what happened to his memories.


    Zephyra didn''t know as well as she was asleep at that time and there was no way to know if


    Sran was telling him or not.


    But Amon wasn''t against it.


    Rather, he liked that he didn''t know.


    That guy already had a trauma about him.


    There was no need for him to know that his future killer was his friend.


    That he was the person he was currently taking care of.


    That would be another trauma for him.


    Even though he didn''t know that Amon nned to...


    Nevermind.


    Amon quickly changed the topic.


    "Won against that fucker?" He asked.


    At that question, Michael''s face immediately brightened up into a smirk.


    "You bet."


    "Nice."


    ''I''ll fuck that guy over this loss for his whole life, I swear to god.''


    But now, Michael asked a question.


    "Ready for tomorrow?"


    He was referencing their battle tomorrow.


    Not only did the two want to fight and see who was better again after that FULLDIVE draw.


    But...


    It was also time for them to reveal their powers.


    "Of course."


    To the world.

 Chapter 172: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [1]

    Chapter 172: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [1]


    ?


    ***


    "Thanks again, I''ll see you tomorrow then." Amon waved at Michael with a smile.


    "Yeah, sure. At the stadium?" Michael smirked.


    Amon let out augh.


    "Sure, at the stadium." He said, leaving his apartment.


    ***


    Rattle Click! ng!


    Amon opened the door, arriving inside his apartment.


    Zephyra and Vain were both silent, apparently resting inside him.


    Turning on the lights, Amon saw Katherine sleeping on the couch, her arm limply hanging down from the sofa.


    She hadn''t even changed and it was quite visible how tired she was.


    A nket was loosely hanging off her legs.


    Amon smiled sympathetically and sadly.


    It was truly surprising how Katherine was able to work this long.


    She left so early and arrived sote.


    All of it to do her duties and maintain an image of regality in the public.


    And to maintain their survival in the world.


    It was quite obvious to Amon that if there was any social standing of the Ashford Siblings, it was because of his sister.


    From their lifestyle to their wealth, all of it were the results of hard work of Katherine.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    If not for that, then the pair of siblings were no different from any normal average siblings.


    Because if there was one thing that Amon knew for sure, it was that the original Amon never did anything noteworthy.


    It was evident by how many people didn''t even know that Katherine had a brother.


    This showed how unsocial the previous him was.


    Before his arrival, the talent and strength of Amon was also below average.


    A true rotten extra that was never shown in the novel.


    Even his room was simple and clean, with no photos or diaries that held their memories. Amon knew that Katherine''s room had some things but she had a mana signature lock on it.


    So without her permission or her knowing, there was almost 0% chance of going in.


    There was also a basement to their apartment but Amon had never paid it a visit.


    It was locked anyway.


    Snapping back to reality, Amon walked to Katherine with a smile.


    There was no sign of Lily around the house.


    ''Is she already sleeping in Sis'' room?'' He thought.


    It was the only exnation.


    But then-


    He was taken aback.


    Katherine had been here to wait for him to arrive back.


    She was probably worried and waiting for him on that sofa.


    And the exhaustion must have lulled her into sleep.


    The sadness in Amon''s heart heightened further.


    He couldn''t have asked for a better sister than Katherine.


    Rather he felt that the original Amon was a stupid moron for always disrespecting a sister like that.


    As he looked at her face, he suddenly noticed the line of drool trickling down on her face.


    Taking out his handkerchief, he quickly wiped it off her mouth.


    ''This posture...'' Amon noticed.


    She was going to hurt her back if she slept like this.


    Grabbing her arms and legs, Amon slowly adjusted her into a better andfortable position to sleep.


    Finally, he took the nket from her legs andid it gently on her.


    Confirming that she was finally good, Amon headed into his room.


    It was then that he had an idea.


    ''Tomorrow, I''ll cook for you and leave first.''


    ***


    Waking up to the dull lights of the sun the next day, Amon quickly got up.


    Fortunately, he was up an hour before Katherine usually woke up.


    Taking a shower and getting dressed, he quickly headed into the kitchen.


    Cooking her favorite type of sandwiches, he made her some cold sses of juice, as she


    preferred it in winter.


    After he had eaten his share, he stored Katherine and Lily''s share on the counter with a small note saying ''Thank you for everything.''


    He was truly thankful he had two siblings like them.


    ***


    Coming out of his home, Amon quickly checked his schedule.


    After the matches of yesterday had concluded, one winner was concluded from each stadium.


    From Stadium A, it was Elizabeth winning every round.


    From Stadium B, it was Michael, winning against Ren.


    From Stadium C, of course, it was Amon.


    And from Stadium D, it was Charlotte.


    The battles were Michael VS Amon first before Charlotte VS Elizabeth.


    And the winner of both rounds wouldpete for the finals.


    If they would even exist in the first ce after their reveals.


    As he closed the app, he noticed several messages directed at him.


    They were Charlotte, Elizabeth, Alya, Ren etc etc.


    And even Amelia had.


    All of them said two main words.


    [Good luck.]


    [Alright, let''s go beat that blonde guy.] Vain said in his mind.


    [His name is Michael, not too hard you know.] Zephyra said back.


    [Michel- what? Whatever, I''ll just call him Mikey.]


    From the back, he almost heard Zephyra snicker.


    [Hmph, useless reptilian.]


    ''Oh, nah.'' Amon turned silent again as he felt another round of bickering start.


    Ignoring them both, he quickly made his way to the main stadium.


    ***


    Arriving in the main stadium, Amon instantly noticed the change.


    Not only was it 4x bigger, but it was also much more organized and facilitated.


    Walking through the now spacious hallway, Amon repeated on what he needed to do in the


    fight.


    It was a crucial part for his future n.


    But as Amon walked out of the hallway, immediately, the stampede of people against the


    railing started cheering.


    And shouting.


    "AMON!"


    "GO, BEAT HIM!"


    And various other shouts.


    But Amonpletely ignored them, focusing ahead on the blonde boy that stood in the


    distance.


    Both of them stared at each other with a smile.


    It brought down those memories of the fight in FULLDIVE


    Hopefully, this time, they wouldn''t let it end with a draw.


    Walking up to Michael, Amon opened his mouth first.


    "Sup, nice to see you again, on the other side of battle especially.:


    Michael let out augh.


    "Hopefully, this time will be different. Won''t let this end in a draw." Michael grinned.


    Amon nodded at his spirit.


    And at that moment, the referee finally arrived, looking at both of them for confirmation.


    And the two nodded back, causing the referee to raise his hand.


    "AND NOW, THE FIRST SEMIFINAL OF THE SINGLE BATTLES IN ELDERGROVE WILL BE


    HELD."


    The crowd bursted into screams.


    "THE BATTLE BETWEEN AMON ASHFORD AND MICHAEL VON LANCASTER!!!"


    "BEGINS NOW!!"

 Chapter 173: The Battle Of Creation and Destruction [2]

    Chapter 173: The Battle Of Creation and Destruction [2]


    ?


    ****


    As soon as the match started, Michael waved his hand in the air.


    And instantly, a wave of heat and mes headed toward Amon with multiple ming spears conjuring in the sky.


    But it wasn''t like Amon was unprepared.


    Covering his body in a sheet of blood, he raised a thick wall in front of him.


    The wave of mes collided with the wall, breaking it into pieces within a few seconds.


    But it had weakened to the point that Amon didn''t receive any damage from it.


    Especially since he was covered in blood, which was mostlyposed of water.


    But as the heatwave disappeared, Amon was taken aback when he couldn''t find Michael there anymore.


    It was then that his danger senses went on full alert and he leaped back.


    Fortunately, that was a life-saving decision for him as a zing kick of fire impacted down from above.


    On the spot where he was before.


    Arge crater formed at the spot where Michael crashed, pieces of rocks flying in the air.


    Amon grinned, sweat beading down his face because of the immense heat.


    ''This fucker isn''t ying...'' He noticed.


    But he was enjoying it.


    This was truly what he wanted since the day he came into this world.


    When he saw that system, the first thought he had in his mind was...


    ''How would I fare against Michael?''


    And today, he would finally get his answer.


    Because FULLDIVE wasn''t aplete answer.


    They hadn''t even used their full powers at that time.


    And the same case used to be for Michael as he looked up, locking eyes with Amon.


    He had a wide grin on his face as well.


    Because at this moment, both of them were fighting with a different mindset.


    Not as friends.


    Not as the Herald of Creation and Nothingness...


    Not for their gods...


    But as an Extra vs MC...


    Or rather, MC VS MC.


    And as if both were having the same thoughts, their fighting spirit just boosted up by a mile.


    As Michael....


    Finally took the irreversible step.


    Suddenly, the ground beneath Amon exploded, with two shackles made of earth locking around his feet.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    ''This guy...''


    Immediately, the whole crowd was thrown into an uproar as roars escaped through the


    stadium.


    "WHAT!!"


    "THAT ARE TWO ELEMENTS!"


    Screams and shrieks escaped at the sudden reveal of Michael.


    The academy''s second weakest person...


    Was a double elemental clovist all along?


    Something never seen before in the world?


    Impossible. Unbelievable.


    Of course, some people couldn''t ept the fact.


    And so, screams of cheating also broke out in the stadium.


    After all, you could also use elements through other devices and artifacts as well.


    Something which was illegal.


    The referee was thrown into a dilemma.


    But then, a hand was ced on his shoulder.


    Looking back, his eyes widened.


    Long ck hair tied into a ponytail, crimson red eyes, golden monocle, and a cane in his mind.


    It was Arthur Milize.


    The Principal of Eldergrove and the strongest person in the world had personally came to watch the match.


    And as he locked eyes with the referee, he gave him a simple message to not stop the match.


    "There''s no cheating. Those boys...."


    "Are the academy''s and world''s first penta-elemental clovists."


    The referee, who was scared out of his wits hurriedly nodded, not focusing on the words.


    He quickly announced it in the stadium.


    "THE PRINCIPAL ARTHUR MILIZE HAS SAID IT!"


    "THERE IS NO CHEATING BY THE PARTICIPANT! THE MATCH WILL CONTINUE!"


    But it was then that thetter part of his message registered in his mind.


    ''Wait....''


    ''P-p-penta-elementals?'' He thought, wide-eyed.


    ***


    As the shackles restrained Amon to one spot, Michael punched him cleanly in the face with a


    fist of fire.


    Amon''s head nocked back, minor cracks spreading on his face.


    Yet, he grinned and clenched his hand as well.


    And just like him, crystals suddenly erupted from the ground, encasing Michael as well.


    At the reveal of another elemental, the crowd went wild.


    But both of them didn''t care.


    They werepletely transfixed on each other, ignoring the public.


    On their battle.


    As Michael encased, Amon nocked his head forward, back to the normal position.


    And then, punched the crystal with a blood-coated fist.


    But it didn''t end there as suddenly, the crystal broke into tiny micro splinters with arge


    echoing boom in the ground.


    The ground erupted into a million tiny pieces of rocks as Michael gushed out blood.


    He was sent crashing back on the battlefield.


    But before he could get off the stage, suddenly a gust of air halted his motion, lightly setting


    him on the ground.


    The crowd hadpletely gone silent by now.


    Not just a duo elemental but....


    Triple-elemental.


    But they were once again takenpletely by shock as Michael conjured multiple weapons of


    fire and water around him.


    And as if to respond in kind, Amon formed a barrage of weapons as well.


    Made of blood and...


    Lightning, both elements made to counter his elements.


    The stadium''s roars blewpletely off the roof.


    This was a moment never scene before in the history of mankind as everyone stared at the duo


    in disbelief.


    At this point, they didn''t even make a noise on the reveal of another element.


    They knew both of them were still not yet.


    Michael wiped the trickling blood from his mouth using his arm, looking at the seared spot on


    his bodysuit.


    "Heh, that hurt a lot."


    Amon smiled slightly.


    A simple smile. "Welp, I''m not done just yet." He said, disappearing from his spot as Michael''s eyes suddenly


    shed pink.


    And then...


    Appeared before Michael, his hand on the spot where Michael was just hurt.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Michael was hit with a clean palm fist to his stomach, whichpletely knocked the wind out


    of him.


    Multiple jolts of electricity traveled through his body as Amon grabbed his head, smashing it


    on the ground.


    A wide ssh of blood spread on the ground as a cobweb of cracks etched on the surface.


    Everyone turned silent at the brutality of it all.


    Yet, Amon and Arthur were still smiling.


    It was because...


    ''This fucker hasn''t even started yet.'' Amon stared in disbelief as suddenly, Michael''s fingers


    turned.


    They pulled back, held by a thumb, a red micro ball rotating at the tip of his fingers.


    And then, the fingers released, the ball impacting right at the abdomen of Amon, as he was


    sent crashing upward into the sky along with the ball.


    And then....


    The ball burst in arge explosion, engulfing Amon whole.


    BOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 174: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [3]

    Chapter 174: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s body skidded on the broken and cracked skidded floor, multiple areas of his bodysuit burning.


    ''That was a close one...'' He thought.


    Fortunately, he had been able to use [Voidstep] just before the ball exploded, so he was safe.


    Combined with lightning, he was able to get out of the explosion radius at thest second.


    Amon panted hard.


    ''Huff...Huff...That [Sun] affinity. It''s broken and annoying as hell.'' He wiped the blood from his mouth.


    The stadium floor around them was a chaotic mess now.


    Craters and cracks everywhere with multiple edgespletely destroyed.


    It was safe to say that this was the most destructive and chaotic battle till now in the midterms.


    And the fight had just started....


    But out of this the fact that was even more insane were the ranks of the two participants.


    Thest ranked and the secondst ranked.


    And yet, their powers showed somethingpletely different.


    That continuous rumble and destruction of the stadium wasn''t something capable by their level.


    As Amon looked up, his eyes locked with Michael in the far distance, who smiled.


    His face waspletely smeared in blood and also...


    Burning?


    It waspletely covered in mes.


    But Amon knew what it was.


    They were mes from his [Sun] element, an ability that also healed if used upon himself.


    And that was exactly what Michael was doing right now.


    ''The [Sun] element...'' Amon thought.


    His mind reyed the words Zephyra had told him that day.


    She told him that if [Void] represented Nothingness, then... Sun represented Creation.


    Of course, not absolute creation, Zephyra had rified.


    That was something not avable to gods like her and Adam, she said.


    In simpler words, the element of [Sun] was the [Energy] element.


    But, without all the restrictions Amon had discussed earlier.


    This was the reason for why he was able to use all elements as well, Amon thought.


    But even beside Energy, the [Sun] was the most explosive and healing element as well.


    As Michael took a stance, Amon also unsheathed his nodachi.


    Then, without a word to each other, both of them shot off.


    Reaching Amon, Michael knocked his arm back before trying to hit Amon in the face again.


    But thetter was faster as suddenly, his face blurred before disappearing into gray ck smoke.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Michael''s eyes widened as he looked around in confusion.


    But all he saw was a trail of smoke around him.


    But before Michael could think of using mes, something happened.


    The smoke...


    It started giving away to another person.


    ''Huh Are more than two people allowed in the stadium?'' He thought, assuming someone else arrived on the screen.


    But if only Michael knew how gravely he was mistaken as his eyes looked as if they were going bulge.


    The person...


    It was Amon.


    He smiled at Michael. A simple smile.


    "Hello Michael."


    "Hello Michael,"


    Two familiar voices registered around him.


    Michael perked up, leaping from his spot.


    But it was when hended that he realized.


    He was cornered.


    All around him, were multiple variants of Amon, smiling at him.


    Looking into those cold eyes and that simple smile, Michael felt a chill travel up his spine. Memories of that day reyed in his mind but he quickly shook his head.


    Clicking his tongue, Michael gritted his teeth.


    And then, covered both of his arms in me before leaping at one of the Amon''s.


    But Amon was faster, quickly dodging the iing fist of fire by safely tilting his head to the


    right.


    Manipting the threads of his [Void], he quickly grabbed Michael''s ankle, throwing him off bnce.


    The threads seeped into Michael''s skin, and his face scrunched up in pain.


    Gritting his teeth in pain, Michael ignited his legs in mes, eradicating them all at once.


    Forming multiple whips of lightning, he whipped them at full speed.


    Michael, however, remained calm and quickly raised a wall of earth, blocking the whips.


    Unfortunately, that proved to be a great mistake as when the wall broke down, Amon was nowhere to be seen.


    Michael''s danger sense immediately kicked in as he looked to the side.


    But he waste as the fist of Amon cleanly against his face.


    To Amon''s shock though, Michael didn''t even move back from the punch.


    Rather, he grabbed Amon''s head, wiping off the blood on his face.


    He grinned and Amon sensed a wave of unease traveling through his body.


    And then...


    A gust of wind suddenly pushed Amon back along the lines of the stadium. Pirs of fire and magma formed in the air at the wave of Michel''s hand.


    ''This fucker...''


    He was going full on from now.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon shot himself at therge pirs of earth.


    Manipting his threads, he quickly leaped pir to pir.


    Unfortunately, of course that wasn''t so easy.


    Michael suddenly clenched his hands and a gale of wind erupted in the stadium.


    Amon, who sliced another pir, quickly jumped below the pirs.


    And fortunately, that saved him as the pirs suddenly exploded into tiny splinters.


    Amon''s eyes widened. But as he looked forward Michael was right there in front of him.


    Anda a clean punch connected with his jaw, sending him skidding back on the stadium as the


    cracks srp


    But MIchael wasn''t done just yet.


    The wind around Amon suddenly warped, as if it was something spatial.


    And then, it exploded into a vacuum,


    Even Amon was unable to escape its grasp normally as the pulling force was too great to get


    out.


    And at the end, he had to use [Voidstep].


    Appearing right in front of MIchael, Amon immediately encased his feet in crystal before


    speaking up.


    "st away!" He shouted and immediately booms were left in the area, as Michael shot back.


    But thetter quickly stabilized himself using wind.


    As he looked at Amon, his smile widened.


    "Let''s take this to the next level shall we?" He asked.


    Amon nodded.


    For now, they had just been ying along.


    But now...


    Michael walked forward, his gaze turning cold for the first time as a giant familiar spawned


    behind him.


    But the current focus of audience wasn''t on that.


    It was only on his two words.


    "Elemental Integration.." He said, his voicecking any emotion.


    Immediately, it felt as if every bit of mana in the stadium was now moving toward Michael.


    As if he was their home.


    But Amon wasn''t going to lose his battle just like this.


    After all, even he had ns in case this happened.


    A n that involved him using his skill as well.


    Something he had been keeping on hold ever since after the trip ident.


    Following Michael, Amon walked slowly as well, his eyes reflectingplete stoess.


    And eventually, the name of the skill left his mouth.


    "[Void Bond.]"


    Sorry if the quality of this chapter is a little low or there are mistakes. I apologize, I had an


    exam and I was so sleepy.


    Forgive me. Thank you.

 Chapter 175: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [4]

    Chapter 175: The Battle Of Creation And Destruction [4]


    ?


    ***


    A zing firepletely enveloped his arm as Michael stepped forward, the other being covered in multiple rocks.


    His hair started to swirl and sway in a crimson fiery rage while his legs were encased in pristine water armor.


    Elemental Integration.


    A phenomenon a clovist acquired when they were perfectly in sync with their elements.


    It wasn''t the first time Amon had seen it, referring to the Daniel incident.


    But for the audience above, it was their first time and they wentpletely ballistic.


    After all, his elemental integrationbined all 5 of his elements, or more urately, 4 in the public''s eye.


    They were still not able to differentiate between the [Fire] on his arms and the [Sun] on his hair.


    But even then...


    Michael''s transformation was nothingpared to what was happening now.


    Even the audience turned their eyes toward Amon as they felt the air ripple.


    It rippled and swayed, making tearing noises as if it were a cloth that was being shredded apart.


    And it was true in a certain sense.


    Because that was just what [Void Bond] was.


    Amon took a step forward as well, his right arm starting to ze in fiery purple and amethyst mes.


    A starless night translucent cloak appeared around his left arm, which was currently glowing in an aubergine color.


    His legs were encased in pristine light purple armor while a mirror-like crown made of amethyst prisms appeared on his head.


    Amon''s hair swirled in the air, ckish purple mes igniting at the tips with his right eye glowing in an indigo light.


    With every step he took, it was like everything was being broken apart in the area around him.


    The rocks, the air, the sound...


    The mana.


    Amon exhaled, his eyes locking with Michael''s crimson ones.


    This was [Void Bond], his third skill in his Herald Skills.


    Having a cooldown of 1 week, the skill allowed him to use all of his Herald unlocked abilities and [Void Skills], whether unlocked or locked without restrictions.


    There was no cooldown or range.


    He had the Authority of Nothingness.


    The essence of Zephyra was infused with his whole being.


    Amon took a step forward, the ground beneath him instantly being crushed into splinters.


    Minor cracks were already starting to spread on his neck, indicating how stressful and dangerous this skill was.


    At maximum, he only had 10 minutes.


    But...


    ''That''s enough for me to win.''


    Immediately, Amon disappeared from his ce, appearing in front of Michael.


    A nodachi, made of pure purple destructive energy formed in his hand as he tried to strike.


    But of course, Michael wasn''t just a weak show as well as he immediately raised several pirs of earth from the ground.


    Yet, Amon waspletely unfazed as theyunched at him.


    And just when they were inches away from hitting him, all the pirs stopped in the air a few meters away from him.


    No, they didn''t stop.


    If one looked closely, one would see millions of tiny threads looped around each pir, keeping them in the air.


    And in the next second, they broke with a sharp noise into millions of pieces.


    Amon''s void pressure was just too much.


    Without wasting a moment, Amon disappeared from the view again, arriving before Michael


    once more.


    Michael, however, was prepared this time as his body started to burn in a blue fiery me.


    Or so he thought as Amon''s lips slowly curled up.


    Into a subtle but charming smile.


    Michael''s mana flow was interrupted as he suddenly lost focus, and that was enough for Amon.


    Immediately, the cyan mes on Michael''s hand disappeared into the air.


    And the amethyst nodachi shed at him, inflicting arge gash in his chest, only being saved because of his earthen armor.


    Michael gushed out blood but quickly got back to his senses, erupting multiple water spikes from the ground.


    While simultaneously manifesting arge gale of wind to throw off Amon.


    Of course, this didn''t faze Amon in the least as he immediately raised blood spikes as well, counting water.


    It was surprising for the whole audience how the tables had turned so quickly.


    Before their transformations, both of them looked to be equal in fighting strength and everything.


    However, as soon as Amon changed, the whole tables turned.


    There seemed to be no way Michael could win this right now.


    And why was that?


    Because a normal mana concept can''tpare to a Herald Skill.


    Simple as that.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Elemental Integration was the only transformation for the current Michael.


    But not for the future Michael.


    Taking another step toward him, Amon suddenly felt arge pressure boring down on him.


    It wasn''t much for the current him but it was quite a lot.


    Of course, he knew what it was.


    It was Michael''s familiar art.


    Arge pressure was being set on an area around him. An assumption could be increase of


    gravity.


    But Amon didn''t care. After all, it wasn''t doing anything to him.


    When Amon was about to take another step though, the crushed ground beneath him


    suddenly rumbled.


    And multiple barrages of weapons rushed at him.


    He was quite surprised but not worried.


    ''He''s thinking smart now...''


    Amon''s body disappeared into a trail of ck smoke in the air.


    Appearing before Michael, Amon stomped his foot lightly on the ground.


    And immediately, a cerulean-colored avnche of crystals erupted from the ground.


    Countering it with his Earth, Michael suddenly disappeared from his spot as well.


    Blue and crimson mes flew through the air as he traversed through the whole stadium.


    Amon grinned, disappearing into a line of smoke as well.


    Both of them collided with each other, but as expected, it ended up badly for Michael.


    Michael clenched his hand and raised it, willing for a torrent of mes to burst forth.


    Unfortunately, [Mana Scatter] had already done its job.


    And before Michael could even retreat, a clean punchnded on his face, throwing him far


    away on the crushed stage.


    Amon looked at his eyes and arms, which were covered in a whole web of cracks.


    ''I don''t have much time...'' He noticed.


    And he looked at Michael, who looked back at him and nodded.


    They both didn''t.


    And so, they came to an agreement.


    To end it all in one move.


    And as if in sync, both of them took their stance pulling back their hands.


    A tiny crimson ball started to swirl on Michael''s hand as before,


    And the same could be said for Amon as well.


    But...


    His amethyst ball wasn''t just energy-packed and destructive.


    The eyes of the audience widened as the already decimated ground started to get destroyed


    even further.


    Pieces of rocks and the stadium started to flow into Amon''s attack, making itrger and


    larger.


    And before they could hold their breaths correctly, both of them released their fingers.


    "Sanguine Decimation," Michael spoke.


    [Hollow Voidre.] Amon spoke silently, unleashing destruction upon the whole area.


    The whole sky was tinged crimson and amethyst in the next second at the violent sh of energies, sending rippling waves of destruction throughout the whole area.


    BOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 176: The Battle Of Creation and Destruction [5]

    Chapter 176: The Battle Of Creation and Destruction [5]


    ?


    ***


    Arge rumbling boom carried out in the stadium, shaking everyone to the core.


    The two opposing energies destroyed everything around them.


    Fortunately, Arthur was there to easily protect the audience.


    While the participants...


    Amon felt a blinding white light assault his vision as he was swept away in the st.


    Pain shot up through his whole body as he was unable to make sense of where he was.


    It felt as if every muscle fiber of his body was being ripped apart.


    His skin burnt and his heart pounded against his chest in pain as he felt his head throb in pain.


    It felt as if it would burst right out.


    The pain that carried throughout his body at that moment felt like an eternity.


    Amon couldn''t make sense of anything.


    Where was he?


    Who was around him?


    He couldn''t even feel the stadium''s floor anymore, knowing the whole stage had been converted into particles with the sheer power of the st.


    Fortunately, the pain inside him started to die out when the blinding light started to settle down.


    Barely opening his eyes, Amon squinted at the light, unable to see what happened.


    As they finally adjusted though, what Amon saw that moment was pure and utter destruction. The entire stadium stage had been obliterated into pieces with only two exceptions.


    One was the spot where Amon was standing...


    And the second was where Michael was currently leaning against the stadium wall, his head leaning down.


    Blood continuously came out of his mouth, dripping and staining the fresh grass.


    Amon looked at himself.


    Or more precisely at his body, which was also covered in cracks.


    Looking up, there was no need for Amon to confirm it with someone.


    The winner of the sh was Amon.


    He had clearly overpowered Mikey, who was now unconscious outside of the stadium with his back to the wall.


    Amon saw the medics rushing toward him as well, something he didn''t want to do.


    Despite how tired and exhausted he was.


    Fortunately for Amon, there was a man who came to quickly save him.


    "I''ll see to it, you guys can go back." Arthur waved his cane and the medic staff left the area.


    Looking into Arthur''s eyes, Amon saw his lips pull up into a crazy smile, something unable to be seen from above.


    "You crazy bastard...." Three words left his lips.


    Amon didn''t say anything though.


    He had put on a show enough for the cadets and the audience alike to see.


    And so now, he wasn''t afraid of the bacsh.


    But even then. Amon looked at Arthur with a side-eye.


    "Can we go somewhere else?" Amon asked Arthur.


    "Yeah, sure." Arthur replied, cing his hand on his shoulder.


    And then, both of them melted into the shadows.


    Completely missing the congrattions shout of the referee.


    ***


    Liliana stared below at the grounds with shocked eyes.


    She couldn''t find herself to believe it.


    At all.


    No matter how many times a certain person would repeat it to her, she found herself refusing


    to believe it.


    But she had to ept it.


    Because it didn''t matter if she wanted to refuse it.


    The fact was that everything was right in front of her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    To ept it.


    To understand that, the two, most low life creatures of society...


    Were penta-elementals.


    Bullshit. Liliana cursed internally.


    It was impossible for someone to be this strong as what he was despite being amoner.


    How?


    Why?


    Liliana gritted her teeth in disgust.


    The previous taste of her defeat where Elizabeth hadpletely honored her by going all out still lingered on her tongue.


    She hated it.


    But as if that wasn''t enough dirt on her face, the man she hated with every fiber of her being...


    Was the world''s first penta-elemental?"


    ''No. It must have been nned all along.''


    ''It was a cheat or someone coborated all along.'' Liliana was put into denial.


    "No, fucking, way, is that trash a duo elemental clovist, let alone penta elements.


    She did like Michael and Amon''s hard work.


    But their attitudes...


    Liliana ground her teeth in disgust and anger.


    Especially that bastard...


    She would make sure topletely eradicate his face off the earth when she would fight him.


    ''Amon Ashford, you bastard.''


    ***


    Arriving at the usual house of Arthur, Amon sneezed.


    "Who is talking about me?" He asked jokingly and Arthur turned back.


    "Must be a woman. Your performance did throw them into a frenzy."


    Amon couldn''t refute that.


    After all, even he heard the screams and shrieks while fighting Michael.


    But of course, he ignored them.


    Entering a room for now, Amons stumbling walked into the bathroom.


    Removing his dress, he immediately noticed the cracks spreading on his body.


    Fortunately, Zephyra quickly spoke up to calm him.


    [It''s fine. Just wait it out and they will heal by himself.]


    Amon nodded.


    ''Okay.''


    He looked at himself in the mirror.


    After the [Void Training] and multiple rank ups, Amon''s face was...


    No, the whole beauty of Amon was boosted.


    He often spotted girls trying to sneak nces at him. Or sometimes confessing at him straight


    up.


    Of course, he had denied them all.


    He didn;t have any time for love or sight.


    He had more things to worry about. On how to survive in this world, he looked at the dark bags


    under his eyes.


    He was stressed.


    Rather, thest time he even slept properly was a month ago.


    But Amon didn''t care.


    As long as he could aplish what he wanted.


    The prism crown and [Void Bond] had also faded away.


    Throwing some water on his face, Amon quickly fixed his hair and tried to conceal the bags


    under his eyes.


    Like always.


    ''Perfect'' He thought.


    Then, he heard out of the bathroom and walked into the living room to find Athena and


    Amelia also on the couch.


    Athena spoke up first.


    "That was one reveal you did back there." SHe said calmly, a subtle smile on her face.


    Amon scratched his head in embarrassment.


    "Thanks."


    "Truly. What a great fight it was." Amelia joined in.


    It was then that Arthur entered the room and Amon turned to him as well.


    After all, there was one question that kept guing his mind.


    Especially after ''that''.


    And so he asked Arthur.


    "What happened to Michael? Is he good?"

 Chapter 177: Aftermath of the Battle [1]

    Chapter 177: Aftermath of the Battle [1]


    ?


    ***


    Arthur nodded.


    "He''s fine but..."


    Arthur thrust his cane at Amon, throwing him back a few steps as it hit his shoulder.


    "You need to be careful with that power brat."


    His face was grave right now.


    Looking at it, Amon wondered if anything had gone wrong.


    "Why? Did something bad happen?"


    Arthur shook his head.


    "No, but it would have if not for my barrier and that boy''s element."


    "What do you mean?"


    "That boy was fine without any injuries cause of his element and that energy st. But..."


    "If that move of yours hit anyone else directly, they would be evaporated into bits," Arthur said, looking directly into Amon''s eyes.


    He emphasized thetter part as if to make Amon understand the implications of this strong power.


    From the side, Athena nodded as well.


    "I know how tempting that power seems, but you must understand the consequences and responsibilities thate with it, Amon,"


    She said, standing up from the sofa and walking to him.


    Amon remained silent as she put a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.


    "The power to destroy and erase everything from existence... That''s [Space], that''s [Void]."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "But to lose yourself in the greed of these powers is the worst thing you can do in the world. Because at a certain point..."


    "Your mind and heart will be hollow. That''s the danger we reality maniption users live with."


    Amon remained silent, taking in the weight of their words.


    "And trust me, it''s better to heed to them right now. Because when it''s toote, you will remember this conversation and realize how foolish you were."


    Averting his eyes silently from the depth of Athena''s, he nodded looking down.


    He understood what they were trying to say.


    And they were not wrong.


    With each [Void Training].


    With each [The Void inside you growsrger...] notification.


    Amon felt something change inside him.


    Something deep but not urately noticeable.


    And now listening to their words, he wondered if it was indifferentness.


    To be stoic of whatever destruction his power would cause.


    Amon clicked his tongue silently.


    That was disgusting.


    Despite how used he was to ughter and killing, mindlessly massacring people wasn''t on his agenda.


    It made him sick to the core.


    He wasn''t a viin. At most, he was an anti-hero.


    But then, he felt two hands ruffle his hair strongly.


    Looking up, his eyes widened a little as he saw Athena and Arthur smiling at him.


    "What you being down about? It''s just a reminder chap. We trust you to not fall down on this path anyway."


    Athena nodded with a smile as well, something rare for her to do let alone ruffling his hair. "Arthur is right, we told you that just to make you understand the responsibilities of the power you have. At the end of the day, how they are used still depends upon the person in hold of them."


    Taking a gum out of her pocket, she slid it into his hand.


    "And we know you aren''t the type of person to fall on that path. So cheer up." She patted his head before returning to the sofa along with Arthur.


    Looking at the gum in his hand, Amon felt warmth rising in his chest.


    It was something foreign to him.


    Something familiar to the kind of warmth he received from Katherine but still different.


    The warmth of a family, he realized.


    They were not rted to him, yet how those 2 talked to him made him feel a warmth that he hadn''t felt in a long time.


    A warmth he seemed to have forgotten since the ident in his previous life.


    Amon''s lips curled up into a small smile and he nodded, putting the gum in his mouth.


    "I understand."


    He looked up.


    "Thanks, y''all."


    ***


    "Fuck is this for?" Amon dodged several stone pellets that rained down on him from different


    sides.


    He was fully soaked in sweat currently, his clothes sticking to his body, highlighting his muscles.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon barely dodged a stone that scratched his cheek.


    He red at the person who was responsible for all of this, currently sitting on his cane and watching him through his monocle.


    "What do you think it''s for? It''s for your uing team battles kiddo."


    The shadow monsters that were lined beside him continued to throw stones that Amon barely


    dodged.


    "Fuck you." He cursed.


    Arthurughed.


    "Womp womp lil bro, you thought I was all cuddles and hugs? Think again."


    Suddenly, the iing stone in front of Amon vanished.


    And then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain assault his knee almost making him momentarily


    buckle.


    Gritting his teeth, he red at the side, where Athena was standing along with Amelia.


    She would asionally warp the stones at random moments, making it even harder for Amon. "Your reaction time is getting better but it''s still slow. Learn to feel the spatial fluctuations around you better, you stillck in that aspect." She reprimanded him.


    Amon felt like crying at the intensive training right now.


    He didn''t even get a day of rest after those single battles... ''Fuck...'' He focused on himself, trying to feel the spatial fluctuations.


    And then, his eyes opened wide as a stone suddenly disappeared.


    Without even moving his gaze, he moved his torso slightly to the left, where the stone went


    pass harmlessly.


    ''Let''s go!'' He eximed in joy.


    Unfortunately, the joy wouldn''tst long as a sharp object hit his forehead, nocking his head


    back.


    ''I hate this shit.'' He cursed.


    [Hahahahahahhahaha]


    [Hahahahahahhahahaaha]


    Zephyra and Vainughed continuously at him inside his mind.


    There were so many monsters and Athena....


    It was unfair.


    Why did he even end up here after the match?


    Dodging another barrage ofrge stones, Amon panted hard, looking to the side where


    Amelia was looking at him with pity.


    He saw a ray of hope for himself as he stared into her eyes.


    ''I knew someone would at least sympathize with me.''


    He tried to gesture to her to ask Arthur to let him go now.


    Understanding what he meant from his eyes, she nodded, moving toward Arthur.


    But just as she opened her mouth, Athena interrupted her, whispering silently.


    Enough for Amon to hear.


    "No, Amy. Don''t do it. I''ll buy you a pack of choctes and lollipopster if you don''t." She


    tried to bribe him.


    Even Athena knew that if Arthur''s lovely daughter, Amelia asked him, he might stop.


    Amon stared at Athena helplessly.


    That neck of hers...


    It looked snappable.


    ''Fuck..''


    Even he knew that how much Amelia loved those things.


    He looked into her eyes pleadingly as ast attempt to escape the hellish torture.


    He knew it wouldn''t work considering the look in her eyes.


    Amon sig-


    His eyes widened as he saw Amelia continuously hesitate but then take a deep breath and


    move toward Arthur.


    "Father."


    Arthur stopped and looked at her with a warm smile.


    "Yes dear?"


    "I think Amon has had enough for the day. He''s already been in too many battles. We should


    let the poor soul rest no?" She smiled the cutest way at him possible. Arthur looked at her for a second before alternating his gaze between Amelia and Amon.


    But eventually, he nodded, making Amon smile in relief as he slumped on the ground with


    exhaustion.


    Finally.


    ''I''m free...'' He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.


    ''Thanks, Amelia,'' He thanked her in his mind. Now he wouldn''t have to suffer anymore.

 Chapter 178: Aftermath of the Battle [2]

    Chapter 178: Aftermath of the Battle [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon exited out of the building where Athena''s office was located.


    It was from where he always walked out whenever he would be at Arthur''s ce.


    Athena would open a portal to her office after he was done and then he would leave.


    Usually, there wouldn''t be any problems but...


    There were currently a lot of stares on him. From everyone and everywhere he went, they would stare at him as if they would eat him up at any second.


    But it wasn''t like he hadn''t expected this.


    No.


    When going in to reveal his powers with Michael, he had been ready for such a thing.


    A Penta-elemental mage wasn''t something normal after all.


    Nevertheless, it wasn''t that big of a problem for him.


    At least as long as they restricted themselves to staring only.


    Ignoring all those gazes at him, he stepped out of the block before turning to walk toward his apartment.


    Since he had been taken straight to Arthur''s home after the match, it meant that he was unable to participate in the finals.


    If his memory served him right, in the second semi-final, Elizabeth was supposed to emerge victorious.


    But since Amon won but didn''t report on time, it meant that he had forfeited and the 1st ce for single battles went to Elizabeth.


    Amon didn''t care much about it though.


    Because it wouldn''t affect his goal to be the 1st ranked student in any way.


    The way mid-term battles worked was that, with each win, the winner was awarded 2 points. Everyone started out with a base of 5 points.


    If you forfeited from the battle or didn''t fight at all, there would be no deduction in your points.


    However, if you chose to fight and lost, then there would be a reduction of 3 points.


    These same points would carry over to the team battles as well which was why Amon didn''t worry much about it.


    He hadn''t lost after all.


    [That''s a peculiar way to cheer yourself after losing...] Vain said.


    [True.] Zephyra joined in.


    ''Shut up you both, It''s not like I backed out intentionally.''


    It was true.


    It was Athena and Arthur who held him for training, not him.


    And after how much he tired himself out in that battle, he knew that winning against Elizabeth would be a very difficult gamble.


    In any case, what was done was done.


    Nothing he could do about it.


    But there was another problem.


    His friends...


    He didn''t know how they would react to his reveal of multiple elements.


    The fact that he hid it from them for 2 whole months of their friendship might hurt them a little.


    Or maybe not, he hoped.


    There was also Katherine...


    To her eyes, he was hiding this secret from her for 3 years.


    Amon could understand that it must feel like shit for her.


    Which was why he nned on straight up going back to the apartment.


    As he walked through the streets, he felt the stares at his back again.


    And since it was the students...


    With the stares also came the gossips.


    "That''s Amon, the guy from the match!"


    "Oh, now that you say it, yeah."


    "How is that even possible? 5 elements, all belonging to a single clovist???"


    "I know right, I find it hard to believe as well."


    "But look, he did it right in front of our eyes, so there''s nothing we can even use him of."


    "Yeah and didn''t you see that purple spatial energy, it was so fucking cool."


    "True, was that the spatial element?"


    And so on and so on among the boys.


    Then there were the girls as well.


    "That''s Amon Ashford isn''t it!?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Yeah! He was so cool in the match!"


    "Even outside of the stadium though, he''s handsome as fuck..."


    "True."


    Listening to all of them, Amon felt like dying at that moment.


    Just what was so cool about him in the match.


    Regardless, he ignored all of them and walked forward without sparing a nce.


    As Amon reached back to his apartment, he stood in front of the door.


    His hand on the door knob.


    ''This is it...''


    The moment where he would twist the door, he would either be epted or not


    Taking a deep breath, Amon turned the knob knob, opening to get inside.


    But as he stepped inside, he instantly felt a presence rush and collide with him.


    His eyes widened as he looked at who it was.


    Katherine.


    WIth her long ck hair cascading down her shoulders, she was currently in a tight embrace


    with Amon.


    "Uh...you good sis?"


    Amon questioned.


    But Katherine ignored him and looked at his body before asking.


    "Did they hurt you anywhere?"


    ""


    "Do something to you?" She questioned, eyeing him up and down worriedly again.


    "You guys..."


    Amon felt himself a little blessed to have a sister like her.


    Even if Katherine did have questions about it,the fact that she was keeping them to herself..


    Respectable.


    As she let go of him, he was quickly led to a sofa, where she made him settle down.


    And like he had expected...


    It wasn''t long before Katherine also asked up.


    Amon could even detect the anticipation for his answer in her tone.


    "Your elements...Why did you hide them from me?"


    This was it.


    Taking a deep breath, Amon shook his head.


    "My elements had just awakened a few weeks ago sister. Not some years." He said.


    And technically, it was true so there shouldn''t be muchints from readers.


    But then, he knew that even with a week response, Katherine wasn;t done yet.


    "But then, why didn''t you tell me about it weeks ago?" she asked, squinting her eyes.


    Fortunately, Amon was quick toe up with an answer.


    "It was because I didn''t want ite to light that I''m the weakest person in the academy yet


    the brother of the strongest third year. It would affect your reputation."


    He looked into her widened eyes.


    "Especially if I had multiple affinities but was so weak I could use none."


    He was exploiting Katherine''s love and trust for him right now to get out of this situation.


    Unfortunately, it couldn''t be helped.

 Chapter 179: Team Battles [1]

    Chapter 179: Team Battles [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon woke up next day, feeling refreshed.


    He couldn''t remember what happened after the conversation with Katherinest night. Last he could remember was that he passed out from exhaustion.


    And looking at the ce where he woke up on, the sofa, it certainly seemed to be the case. Looking around, he saw that Katherine and Lily had already left the apartment.


    Smiling, he took a shower and dressed himself in a magenta zer, white turtleneck and ck jeans to go along with it.


    Moving to the kitchen counter, he made himself breakfast before going outside.


    He was in a good mood today.


    It was because of the conversationst night with Katherine.


    Even though the reasons he gave her were a little questionable, she didn''t ask him further, respecting his privacy.


    He truly couldn''t have found a better sister than her.


    As he walked out of his apartment after eating, his watch vibrated with a ping.


    Knowing what it might be, he opened it up.


    Instantly, the first thing he saw was the hundreds of messages both in the group chat and individually.


    Expecting them to ask about their elements as well, he opened the chat.


    But what he saw made his eyes widen.


    Even though they had asked about their elements in one or two messages at the end.


    The rest of the messages...


    Were all about them asking if he and Michael were okay.


    All of them.


    It brought an unfamiliar kind of warmth in his body.


    Something he had never felt before, even in his past life.


    After his parent''s death, only he and his sister were left off to fend for themselves.


    Except for the old man who took them in, nobody cared about the two siblings.


    It was just the two caring for each other.


    They had no friends.


    So seeing this type of care and warmth from people other than his family was something he had long forgotten.


    Amon smiled subtly.


    He once again thanked himself for having these types of friends.


    Initially, he had thought to just meet and answer them in person before opening the chat.


    But now...


    He brought his hand to the screen.


    [Amon: Yeah, me and Michael are both fine guys. I appreciate you asking about it.]


    He was about to send the message before he suddenly stopped.


    After a second, his finger moved again, tapping on a button.


    And then he sent the message.


    It was a happy emoji. Something he never used.


    Little did he know that this would create an even bigger situation with them.


    ***


    Arriving in the virtual simtion building, Amon settled down on a bench.


    The building he was currently in was 2xrger than the one they used for the first time.


    Yes, the team battles were to be held in the virtual simtion.


    It would be a 4 VS 4 match.


    Opening his watch, he checked the schedule once more.


    FULLDIVE TEAM BATTLES MATCHUPS:


    Amon: Alya: Adam VS Nadia: Klein: Miller (AA)


    Rihanna : Charlotte: Nathan (AA) VS Desmond (AA): Cleenah (AA): Sarah (AA)


    Ren: Liliana: Beatrice (AA) VS Mortimer (AA): Luxos (AA): Neo


    Iris: Cyrus: Aaron (AA) VS Alexander (AA): Maya (AA): Lithrus (AA)


    Yeah.


    Most students didn''t participate in the team battles, which was why it used to be a dry event


    in the mid-terms.


    This was because of many reasons.


    But the biggest ones were mainly three.


    One, they were already tired from the individual battles.


    Which was why most who took part in individual battles didn''t took part in team battles.


    And most people tended to participate in individual anyways, because of how high point rewards in them.


    Which was also the second reason.


    It was because even if you just sat there in a team battle while your team did all the work, you would be awarded the points.


    It was a little unfair so the academy just made the reward points lesser than the individual


    ones.


    Where a person battles on their own.


    Andstly, it was coordination and matchups.


    The matchups were random.


    In certain cases, you could end up with a person who did not like or hated.


    In those cases, it would be really hard to win the battles against the opposing team and your


    points would drop.


    Because of this reason, you couldn''t withdraw mostly as well.


    If even one person entered the battle while the other two werete or forfeited, the loss


    would affect your points as well.


    People with low rankings often used this to bring top rankers down with as well.


    After all, it wasn''t umon to find a noble andmon faction that hated each other to the


    core in an academy.


    Which was why most people refrained from participating in this event.


    Of course, some still did so despite being a top ranker.


    For example Charlotte and Alya.


    For Charlotte, it was of course her willingness to take part in everything and improve.


    And for Alya, it was also vital for her since she had to constantly maintain her ranking in the


    academy.


    The people she met here would be the people under her reign in the future, so of course she needed to take part in everything.


    For some reason, Michael had sat this event out, another change from the novel.


    But Amon knew the reason.


    Their battle.


    The subtly humiliating defeat would make him train even harder to beat him.


    After all, there was no secret that both of them saw each other as rivals.


    So Amon knew he was sitting this event out to give his best in the Battle Royal or Labyrinth


    Dive.


    As for Elizabeth, Amon had expected it, considering she did the same in the novel.


    After winning the single battles, she probably thought of the team battles as useless.


    And just like Michael, would prepare better for the uing events.


    As he sat there waiting for his friends to arrive, he saw Alya finallye through the door


    with Charlotte and the others.


    Amon raised his hand to wave at them and they also saw him.


    He stood up to greet them but still saw them standing there, gazing at him with horror-struck


    faces.


    ''Huh?''


    As he reached them, he saw Charlotte quicklye near him putting her hand to his temple.


    "D-do you have a fever Amon? Are you okay after that battle?" she asked.


    Ren nodded.


    "Yeah bro, you high or somethin''?"


    "We can take you to the doctor you know. You can tell us Amon." Alya said.


    Amon stared at them incredulously with a gaze that seemed to say ''What the fuck?''


    "Didn''t I just tell you guys that I''m fine? What''s up with y''all?"


    ''Are these people on their periods or something?''


    But he saw all of them shake their heads.


    "No, you are certainly not fine." Alya said and Charlotte nodded.


    "Fuck you mean not fine?"


    Ren opened the messaging app on his watch, showing it to Amon.


    "Bro. You. Used. A. Fucking. Emoji." He showed the smiling emoji to him.


    Oh.


    "Nah guys, this fucker is a skinwalker or something, man isn''t even surprised." Ren shook his


    head.


    Amon felt like facepalming himself at that moment.


    ''Maybe I shouldn''t have added an emoji.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It would have been certainly better that way.

 Chapter 180: Team Battles [2]

    Chapter 180: Team Battles [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon sighed.


    ''These guys are really a handful..''


    But it was a funny situation that made himugh a little.


    Fortunately, just like his sister, they didn''t mind the fact about him hiding his elements as well.


    He made up a few simr reasons such as not being able to use them yet and etc for them as well.


    But they respected his privacy and after all, it hadn''t even been 3 months since all of them had be friends.


    Everyone had their secrets.


    And having 5 elements as a secret was something big enough that it wasn''t easy to tell it to a group of friends you only know for 3 months.


    As Amon sat on the bench with his arms crossed and his head looking down, he heard the footsteps of someone.


    Someone who approached him.


    He looked up and saw a familiar figure.


    With unruly blonde hair, the boy stared at him with a bored expression on his face.


    His indifferent golden eyes met his but Amon could see a hint of irritation on his features. Amon raised his hand.


    "Yo."


    He heard the subtle clicking of Adam''s tongue.


    Ruffling his hair, the blonde-haired boy sat next to him on the bench.


    His silent whisper entered Amon''s ears.


    "You fucker..."


    Amon knew why he was reacting like that.


    But of course, he feigned ignorance.


    Chew..Chew..


    Amon''s lower jaw bobbed up and down as he chewed on his gum.


    After that incident with Athena, he couldn''t help but admit that it was actually quite good.


    It helped him stay focused and awake while also providing a nice vor to his mouth.


    Taking out his pack, he was about to pop another one in before his eyes looked at Adam.


    He extended the pack to him.


    "Want some?"


    Adam looked at him with slightly widened eyes, his teeth silently grinding against each other.


    But eventually, he relented and sighed deeply.


    He took the gum from Amon and popped it in his mouth.


    Amon smiled subtly.


    Of course, he had taken out another one intentionally.


    He knew how much this guy liked it as well. It wasn''t at the level of Athena.


    But it was certainly an addiction. Athena''s case was something miles above from addiction.


    "You want to ask me why I didn''t use my full power against you?"


    Adam did a vigorous nod.


    Amon crossed his arms, staring ahead.


    "It''s simple..."


    He turned to stare at him and gave him a cold smile.


    "It''s simply because you weren''t even strong enough for me to consider you that worthy."


    Adam''s eyes widened at his provoking cold answer and lightning crackled around his palms for a second.


    But Amon didn''t seem to be fazed as he leaned even closer.


    "I mean I did say that I''d only use my full power if you were strong enough for me to do that." Amon said, referring to their old conversation.


    "And from what I could see in that match, you couldn''t even win against my blood element."


    He tapped his finger against Adam''s palm, manipting the blood inside it to form a needle and burst out a little.


    Adam, who was a little perked up, calmed down at the realization.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Even though his words made him feel irritated as hell because he never found himself losing to anyone.


    They were not wrong.


    Amon had already said before the fight that he would only use his full power if Adam could


    last that long.


    And Adam couldn''t, losing to just his blood element.


    The proof was right there. It couldn''t be denied.


    "Whatever."


    He waited for a second before saying.


    "I''ll just crush you next time." He said, not meeting Amon''s gaze.


    Amon leaned back to his original spot, his smile still not fading.


    He knew how much the guy hated losing to someone stronger than him.


    His n had worked.


    Suddenly, a voice entered his ears.


    "Are you two done making out?"


    Amon''s head snapped towards the direction and he saw Alya standing there.


    She looked at both of them with a fake disgusted expression, trying to lean away from them.


    "What the fuck?" Amon asked.


    "..." Adam keptpletely silent.


    But then, Alyaughed slightly.


    "I''m just kidding."


    "...''


    ""


    "Since there was a little time before our match stats, I thought we should form a small n


    on what to do."


    "I see." Amon nodded.


    She turned to look at Adam, who was silent.


    "You there, you were in the previous FULLDIVE with me as well weren''t you?"


    Adam nodded with a stoic expression.


    "Yeah."


    Alya affirmed back with a nod as well.


    "Yeah, sorry for my attitude back then. I shouldn''t have left all of you guys without any


    coordination." She apologized.


    ''Knowing this guy, he would actually prefer it that way.'' Amon thought as he looked at Adam.


    And just like he thought, Adam waved his hand as if to let the matter go.


    "It''s fine. I rather prefer it that way." He said.


    Alya was surprised for a second but she nodded, understanding the vibesing off of him.


    Adam was a person who liked straight on fighting and humiliating his opponent more.


    A more brutal way of approaching rather than a strategic one.


    "Anyways, what do you two think about it?" she asked.


    Amon nodded. He had no problems with it.


    The only problem was...


    He turned to look at Adam, expecting him to not say anything.


    But to his surprise, he nodded as well.


    And the blonde-haired boy looked at him.


    "I can''t fall behind you."


    Amon raised his brows in surprise at thepetitive change in him.


    This was something that couldn''t be seen in the story for a long time until Michael fought


    against Adam.


    Had his early presence in Adam''s life brought a change to him?


    The good thing was that it was a positive change.


    Something that Amon was happy to induce in Adam.


    No.


    Not just Adam.


    Amon turned to look at Alya from the side.


    Looking at her strategic personality and bettermunication skills, he also realized how


    much she had improved from thest time.


    Something that was again brought into her by the early interference of Michael VS Amon.


    She had changed for the better.


    No, all of them had changed for the better because of his presence in their lives.


    He wasn''t an extra in this story anymore.


    Amon never was.


    But now looking at them, he truly saw how impactful his change could be in the story.


    Not just in the positive way always, but in a negative way as well.


    He was now important in their lives.

 Chapter 181: Team Battles [3]

    Chapter 181: Team Battles [3]


    ?


    ***


    After all three of them were done formting a n, they stood up when their names were called out.


    Looking at the caller, he saw a familiar figure with red hair and zing crimson eyes.


    Professor Maxville, the one from Elemental Training back then.


    Listening to his call, the trio proceeded past the crowd to the empty area where the pods were lined up.


    While passing through, Amon and Alya heard good luck calls from their friends.


    "Good luck you two." Charlotte smiled.


    "Fuck ''em up, bro." Ren made a sign at Amon.


    "It shouldn''t be too difficult, be careful out there you two." Elizabeth cautioned.


    "You can do it man, good luck." Michael patted his back.


    Then for a second, he stopped and spoke up again.


    "Good luck as well...sis."


    Alya stopped for a second, before turning back with a smile.


    "Thanks, bro." She gave him a small thumbs-up.


    Amon turned to Adam, who was looking forward, waiting for them to be done.


    A smirk spread across Amon''s features.


    "No friends?"


    Adam shrugged.


    "Never found a need for them."


    "Even though they could be stronger than you? Wouldn''t you be always able to battle them then?"


    Adam instantly shook his head without hesitation.


    "Never met one."


    Amon was a little surprised.


    He wanted to say that it was his fault that he never tried meeting one.


    Adam always waited for himself to meet a person stronger than him, never trying on his own despite his desire to find one.


    ''What azy guy...'' He thought.


    But then, an idea came to his mind.


    He looked back at Adam.


    "But I''m stronger than you." Amon tried to hide his smirk.


    Adam''s mouth twitched subtly, still irritated by the fact a little.


    "Where are you trying to go with this?"


    Amon shrugged.


    "I''m just calling back to what you just said. Where you said that you see no need for friends because they aren''t stronger than you."


    Adam squinted his eyes.


    "So basically, you are saying that you could be my friend because you are stronger than me?" Amon nodded.


    "You are smart to understand what I mean."


    "I''m not dumb." Adam retorted.


    "So you want to be my friend?" Adam raised his brow.


    Amon raised his shoulders to a shrug.


    "I mean, I''m not against it. Up to you though."


    Adam pondered on it for a second before looking at him, his eyes having a certain glimmer to them.


    "Does that mean I''ll be able to fight you whenever I want?"


    Amon nodded while raising his lips in an action that seemed to say ''Yeah, pretty much.''


    "Almost, yeah."


    Adam nodded instantly.


    "Okay, we can be friends."


    Amon smiled subtly.


    "Nice."


    Then both of them stared at each other for multiple seconds before Adam broke the


    awkwardness.


    "So..."


    "What are we supposed to do now?" He asked.


    In all honestly, even Amon didn''t have much experience in the starting of a friendship.


    He, Michael, and Ren had just clicked together as if they were pieces cut from the same cloth.


    He recalled back to what they did when they first met each other and tilted his head.


    "Shake hands?"


    "How do you do that?" Adam asked him, tilting his head back while Amon stared at him incredulously.


    "Seriously?"


    "What?" Adam asked.


    Amon sighed and extended his hand while grabbing Adam''s hand from the other hand and wrapping it in a handshake to his extended hand.


    "That''s how you do a handshake."


    Adam was surprised for a second.


    "Oh, you call this handshake. I have seen people do it around the streets. Thought it was just a


    wrestling gesture."


    ''Is this guy for real?'' Amon thought inwardly.


    [I kinda like this guy.] Vain spoke from his mind.


    [He''s too dumb.] Zephyra retorted.


    "...I see." Amon nodded.


    At that time, Alya was finally done and they were ready to go.


    Proceeding out of the crowd, Adam spoke to him.


    "You are getting a lot of stares."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Amon raised his shoulders.


    "It''s to be expected, I''m one of the only two penta-elemental mages in the human continent


    after all."


    Adam nodded.


    "Yeah, even I never expected that to happen."


    Amon wasn''t surprised.


    After his big reveal, he also knew that the news would take no time to transfer to the Imperiac.


    What they thought about it or what they wanted to do with him and Michael was still not


    known.


    But it wouldn''t be long before they would send news of what to do to Arthur.


    And from what Amon remembered in the novel, it should be after the match.


    In the novel, they had created quite a ruckus at Michael''s reveal.


    But this time there were two mages, so Amon was anticipating their reaction.


    Walking up to the pods, Amon was about to pick his pod with the team before his name was


    suddenly called out.


    "Amon Ashford." "Hmm?" Amon looked at Maxville who gestured for him toe to him.


    Walking up to the burly bearded man, he saw him scrutinize him.


    "Due to the unstable nature of your 5th element, it may overload the space due to your sheer


    amount of elements." He said, referring to [Void] from the unstable nature probably.


    Amon nodded, understanding what he meant.


    "Yes, and so because of that, you are only allowed to use 3 elements per match. You can


    change them after each match, but now within the match. Choose what you want and inform


    me before each match."


    Amon was surprised for a second but he nodded.


    He thought that they would just restrict him from using [Void] since that was another way


    how he could avoid the overload.


    But he understood this decision.


    ''They want to research [Void].'' But not like Amon minded it.


    ''Sure, go ahead and take notes. It would be beneficial for me anyways.'' He shrugged.


    The more they could discover about the element, the better it was for him so who was he to


    comin?


    Looking at Maxville, he spoke up.


    "I see, I understand, I''ll use Void, Blood, and Lightning." He said.


    Maxville raised his brows which was to be expected.


    They didn''t know what his spatial element was called, calling it corrupted space often.


    "Is it called [Void]?" He asked and Amon nodded.


    "Alright, you can go back now."


    Amon bowed before running back to his team.


    The other 2 had already settled into their pods so they were just waiting for him to start the


    link.


    And so, Amon sat into the pristine white pod and closed his eyes, embracing the endless


    darkness.


    And so, in a minute, a notification appeared before his eyes in the endless darkness.


    [Wee to FULLDIVE!]


    And immediately, his senses distorted.


    Hey, Author here!


    An important announcement to make.


    After much contemtion and requests, I have decided to make a Patreon (link will be given


    below).


    Currently, there is only 1 tier for donation with ess to a separate role and channel on my


    discord.


    However, I''ll add additional tierster on with various perks to a member such as Early ess


    to my future projects, Spoilers for my novels, DM discussion about my novels and future


    projects, etc.


    (FUTURE CHAPTERS OR UNRELEASED CHAPTERS FOR MY NOVELS AREN''T INCLUDED,


    THAT''S AGAINST THE CONTRACT)


    Again, I appreciate all the support you readers give me, whether free or regardless.


    Your ideas andments are the reason why I''m able toe this far which is why, I thank


    you all with the utmost appreciation.


    I hope you all can continue with me forward on this journey.


    Here is the link: https://.patreon/Tsukasao

 Chapter 182: Winter Is Coming [1]

    Chapter 182: Winter Is Coming [1]


    ?


    ***


    Immediately, Amon felt his senses distort as everything felt wobbly to him.


    A notification immediately popped up in the darkness.


    [Wee to FULLDIVE!]


    As he felt his senses return to him after the vision, Amon immediately noticed the change in surroundings.


    It was so bigpared to thest time he entered the FULLDIVE


    All because of...


    [Void].


    He could feel the space around him as if it was graspable.


    It felt like a thick slimly mold that stretched to make way wherever someone would go.


    ''All that training with Athena was because of this huh.''


    It felt like a fabric that was ready to be manipted to the will by him.


    To be torn apart or weaved...


    Amon raised his eyes at such a possibility.


    ''This is what he meant by unusual nature huh'' Amon noticed.


    Just a slight tear in space from [Void] could mess up the whole environment.


    Fortunately, [Void] was his highest-leveled element which also meant that he had the highest control over it.


    He was confident in his ability to evade a leak.


    As he opened his eyes, Amon immediately took in the surroundings around him.


    And immediately, a chill passed through his body at how cold it was.


    White and white as far as the eye could see...


    nkets of snow covered the surroundings. Trees, bushes, grasnd...


    Everything.


    The area of fighting in the mid-terms was never specified so the team had to be prepared beforehand.


    Fortunately, it was winter outside as well so most of them were already wearing cold clothes.


    However, even then, they were only able to provide an average amount of protection against the cold.


    Amon felt his legs and body shiver momentarily from the chill.


    His hands also felt a little numb but not that much, probably due to theck of blood.


    Looking at Adam, he saw the blonde hair break off the branch of a tree, quickly striking it with lightning and producing a fire.


    Then, his eyes moved to Alya and he was quite surprised.


    As a fire-elemental clovist, she was in the worst situation out of all of them.


    In an area that''s filled with opposite elemental mana, a clovist/armenist would be put in quite a difficulty.


    Even using their magic would prove to be quite a hindrance.


    But even then, despite how much she was shivering, she didn''t break herposure and lit two arrows on fire as well.


    Her survival experience was trulymendable.


    Fortunately, Amon had taken the elective as well. So he knew how to keep himself warm in


    such scenarios.


    Breaking off two branches of wood, he lit them on fire as well.


    As the group huddled together, a voice quickly turned their attention to the cloudy sky.


    [Maxville: Greetings, Team A and B, this is Sir Maxville speaking. I hope both of your teams have arrived safely.]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Alya nodded, while the two didn''t do anything.


    [Maxville: As you can see, both teams are currently in a Tundra Landscape. Here, wherever you look, you will find white and white.]


    [Maxville: Frozen rivers, ciers, nkets of snow, dangerous crevices,ck of breathing and stamina conservation.]


    [Maxville: This is all that you will face in this challenge. However, as you know, in midterms, we tend to add a certain twist to each battle.]


    Amon could almost see the old man smiling excitedly behind the screen.


    [Maxville: In this cold biome, every 30 minutes, a blizzard storm will start to close in towards the center. It will close in to around a certain point in a span of 30 minutes before stopping again for 30 minutes.]


    [Maxville: The cycle will continue 6 times before the storm overtakes the whole map. And do not even think about resisting it, inside, what awaits you is only death.]


    Amon felt a shudder pass through all of them at his words.


    [Maxville: Now, how to win this challenge. There are two simple ways to win. One, of course, is to eliminate the whole opposing team. And the second...is to find the warm shelter.]


    All three of them squinted their eyes at thest two words.


    [Maxville: The Warm Shelter is a small cabin that''spletely unaffected by the cold.


    It''s located at an unknown point on the map. The team that finds the warmth shelter and upies it for 1 whole hour will win the match.]


    ''Ah, I see.'' Amon nodded.


    [Maxville: Finally, the time ratio this time is slightly different. Every 10 minutes you spend there is 1 minute in the outside world, so keep that in mind. Now that all is exined, I wish you all the best of luck on this challenge.]


    But just as the voice was about to cut off, it connected back again.


    [Maxville: Oh, I almost forgot. If you would please tell me the leader of each team. Do note that the leader shall be the same for the rest of the matches as well.]


    Looking back down at each other, Amon saw Adam looking at him, as if asking him to be the leader.


    Ignoring the blonde, Amon looked at Alya, who seemed to be a little down.


    She probably knew that Amon was the strongest out of all of them, so it made sense to hand


    him the reigns.


    But she wanted to be the leader once more.


    "You will be the leader." Amon said to Alya, who was suddenly surprised and looked up.


    "Huh? Me?" She gestured to herself in confusion, but there was a certain happiness in her


    eyes.


    Amon nodded and looked at Adam, who was looking back at him with a little surprise.


    But Amon ignored it.


    "Any problems?"


    "I-" He opened his mouth to say something before he looked at the stoic gaze of Amon a


    little deeper.


    It meant to say that Alya was stronger than him.


    "I, ampletely fine with it."


    Amon nodded.


    "Good, you can take the reigns, Alya."


    Alya was a little surprised but epted and smiled.


    "I appreciate it you two. I promise I-"


    "But." Amon interrupted her.


    "In exchange for that, once, just once, in all of the matches, you people will follow my order.


    No buts or problems, got that?"


    Alya widened her eyes subtly but then understood his words and nodded.


    "Alright, I''m fine with that."


    Then, Amon looked at Adam who had his brows raised.


    "And what if that order hinders me from fighting someone str-" He was about to retaliate


    when Amon interrupted him once again.


    "I''ll fight you 2 times after the mid-terms."


    "Deal." Adam instantly agreed with a smile.


    Hello Readers, Author here.


    This is me speaking from 6th October, the current day so it''s a new notice from privilege.


    It''s that this week, I have my monthly exams which are very important.


    Due to that, I''ll be focusing on my studies and because of that, you might face irregr


    update times and some times only 1 chapter a day but a long one.


    It will only be for this week and for that I apologize to you all.


    Don''t worry, you will still get words equivalent to 2 chapters a day. I just ask for you all to bear


    with me.


    Thanks for reading and all the support you give to this novel. Appreciate it!

 Chapter 183: Winter Is Coming [2]

    Chapter 183: Winter Is Coming [2]


    ?


    (Extra Chapter because of Magic Castle: 1/3)


    ***


    "Alright, I got it." Amon nodded.


    They had quickly formted a n in the time in 10 minutes.


    ording to what Maxville told them, Amon told the team that the match wouldst for a total of 6 hours before the storm would overtake the map and kill everyone.


    Since it would stay at a point for 30 minutes and move for 30 minutes as well, that totaled up to 1 hour.


    And 6 cycles would make it a total of 6 hours.


    In those 6 hours, they had to either kill the whole opposing team or find a warm shelter and upy it for 1 hour.


    And pondering upon it, they decided that it was better to try and find the warm shelter first. ording to what Maxville said, they just had to upy the shelter for 1 hour.


    It didn''t matter whether 1 person had to or the whole team.


    This was why they chose to find the shelter first.


    Because, from the tone that he was briefing them, Amon knew that this map was at least several times bigger than the previous FULLDIVE


    In a map like this, who knew how long it would take to find 3 people and kill them?


    Whereas finding a small cabin was much better as from a high point, they might have a chance of locating it instantly.


    This was why they chose to split up and find the shelter.


    If even one person found it and the other 2 held the other 2 people off, then it would be a win for them.


    "Okay, let''s not waste any more time.


    Remember, if you find the shelter, just remember to hide and try to upy it for 1 hour, there''s no need to alert the rest of the team and take the risk of letting the others know as well."


    Alya repeated her instructions.


    The other two nodded.


    "If you find a member of the opposing team, try to kill them, if not, try to kill yourself along with them. If not, try to hold them off as long as you can. Your main objective is always to give the rest of them, the most time you can."


    Again, the two nodded.


    "Alright, let''s proceed." Alya nodded seriously, sliding her bow on her back.


    She pushed the small white mask she had made from her scarf up on her mouth while giving them a thumbs up.


    "Good luck."


    "...Good luck."


    "Good luck."


    All three of them said to each other before immediately, they started running off in separate directions.


    For Alya, she proceeded into the forest through the center while Adam proceeded from the left.


    They couldn''t go back of course since that was where the storm woulde from.


    As for Amon, he started running to the path on the right.


    However, just as he took his foot off the ground, it caught onto something, disturbing his


    momentum.


    Quickly stabilizing his bnce, he looked down.


    Two metal handles were protruding from the ground.


    ''Huh?''


    Wondering what it was, Amon stomped his foot lightly on the ground and a metallic ng rang out in the air.


    ''Hmm?''


    Shooting a st of electricity, he cleared the snow on the ground, only to reveal tworge metallic doors that were embedded on the floor.


    ''What the hell?''


    Wrapping his blood threads around the handles of the door, he pushed them both open with a huge force.


    CLANG! WUURM!


    Opening both of them into the air, he found a dark passage going down underground the


    biome.


    [What''s this?] Vain asked.


    [I don''t know but the fact that it''s eerie and dark tells me that it''s not something good.]


    Zephyra answered.


    Vain, who was wrapped around Amon''s neck now, looked at Zephyra.


    She was also in her wolf form, perched upon Amon''s shoulder.


    [Why?]


    [Because dark ces always lead to something bad. Especially the ones that are empty.]


    Vain was surprised as he titled his head.


    [Aren''t you supposed to be the Goddess of The Void? You live in a starless dark void.]


    For a moment, Zephyra waspletely silence before she nodded her small wolf head.


    [Fair point.]


    Ignoring the two, Amon sent a st of electricity down the path, illuminating it.


    It was narrow andpletely empty, made up of worn-out rocks.


    As the electricity reached the end of the path, Amon saw a small turn to the front.


    Looking up, Amon followed the trajectory of the path into the distance.


    But...


    There was a problem.


    The tunnel.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It didn''t lead to the forest.


    It led to the direction from where the Blizzard was supposed toe.


    ''There''s no point in wasting time on this. It might be a trap generated by the teachers to lure


    the students.''


    Amon stood up and closed the doors.


    He almost wanted to leave a mark or clone here just in case.


    But the mark, even though upgraded now, could only hold out for 30 minutes and in those 30 minutes, the storm would already overtake the area.


    As for the clone, it would continuously eat away at his mana which was something he couldn''t


    afford.


    So at the end....


    He chose to give up on his curiosity and ignored the door.


    Focusing his gaze ahead on the forest, Amon immediately took off at full speed.


    Regting electricity around his legs, he looped his blood threads around the branches of


    trees, leaping from one to the other.


    ''Keep your eyes out for any opponents.'' He told both of his familiars.


    [Got it.]


    [Roger.]


    Activating his [Void Eyes], Amon looked far off into the surroundings.


    There were only trees and trees, covered in an unlimited amount of snow.


    As he extended his range, he also saw a frozen river in the distance, cracks spread on its


    surface.


    Probably by animals.


    As he leaped to another branch, Amon suddenly heard a loud emergency siren resound in the


    air.


    Its sound resembled that of a code-red siren back in his world.


    But here, Amon knew what the siren meant.


    Probably.


    And...


    He turned to look back from the branch of the tree, findingrge gray clouds approaching in


    the distance with a storm of snow that was swirling and whirring, devouring everything in its


    path.


    The first 30 minutes of the challenge had officially passed.


    Which meant that.


    The Blizzard...


    It had started to close in.

 Chapter 184: Winter Is Coming [3]

    Chapter 184: Winter Is Coming [3]


    ?


    (Extra Chapter because of Magic Castle: 2/3)


    ***


    The Blizzard had started to close in.


    As Amon found himself staring at the storm of winter approaching, he suddenly heard two shouts in his ear.


    [DUCK!]


    [DUCK!]


    Immediately, his danger senses went off at full alert as his eyes darted around for danger.


    The world slowed down as he exerted [Void Eyes] to its maximum, finding a volley of arrows approaching his neck.


    It was toote to dodge them now.


    Suppressing a click of his tongue, Amon''s neck immediately turned into an ethereal wisp of smoke, separating his head and body.


    The arrows passed harmlessly through the smoke, embedding themselves in the trunk of the tree.


    Stepping back from them, Amon deactivated his familiar art and his eyes immediately darted to the source.


    And in the distance, he saw arge polybolos, hidden among the bushes.


    Stepping down from the trees, Amon moved cautiously toward the polybolos.


    ''Thanks, you guys.'' He thanked Vain and Zephyra.


    [No problem.]


    [No worries.]


    As he reached the polybolos and took a step closer to it, suddenly the ground beneath his feet gave in, exploding in a cloud of smoke.


    His vision blurred but he remained calm, immediately stepping back from therge hole that had formed in the ground.


    And it was proved to be fortunate for him as in the next moment, a volley of spears shot into the sky.


    ''Fuck...'' Amon cursed as he saw the chance of his location being exposed now.


    Clearing the dirt from his eyes, Amon immediately focused on an aspect that Maxville didn''t tell them about.


    Traps.


    There were various deadly trapsid throughout the whole terrain.


    Amon didn''t me Maxville though.


    They were preparing the cadets of the academy for the future where they would undoubtedly fight against the ghouls on the battlefield.


    Multiple times, pieces of information wouldn''t be given or might be fake.


    It was normal on the battlefield.


    And it was also normal to stay calm in those situations.


    This was why the academy was doing this in these challenges right now.


    A normal person would have lost their calm and given in to their fears if this happened to them.


    Focusing on the polybolos, or a device that resembled the polybolos from his world, Amon quickly destroyed it through his blood threads.


    ''Fuck, they might be near.'' Amon cursed, already expecting the team to know his location.


    ''I should get away quickly.'' He bent on the ground, ready tounch himself and get away from the spot.


    In the distance, he saw the Blizzard almost catch up to the first checkpoint of the challenge.


    It meant that it would soon be 1 hour since the start of the challenge.


    Pushing lightning to his feet, Amonunched once more from the ground on to the trees.


    However, just as he leaped to another branch, his danger sense went off again.


    This time he reacted before his familiars could even tell him.


    Because it wasn''t a trap this time.


    It was a person.


    And a person also knew they had to escape from other gazes of their target as well.


    As Amonnded on the ground, snow shot up from the impacttching onto his zer.


    Looking ahead in the distance, his eyes met two sea blue ones, multiple water spears hovering around him with one in his hand.


    "Klein huh."


    Amon stood up.


    And a smile spread across his features as his body suddenly spread into multiple clones.


    ''This is going to be fun.''


    ***


    Klein stared ahead at Amon while panting hard.


    As soon as he had seen the volley of spears into the sky, he had ran to the location at full


    speed.


    Which was why he was panting hard.


    For a water clovist like him, the cold wasn''t that much of a problem.


    But it still hurt.


    He rubbed his numb hands while trying to catch his breath and replenish his stamina.


    ''Fuck.'' He cursed as he stared at Amon.


    He had run at full speed to this location because he wanted to at least get one elimination this


    time.


    Last time, he was pathetic in the FULLDIVE which was why he wanted to perform better this


    time.


    He was stronger and much mature this time.


    As a schrship student, Klein had to ensure that his grades wouldn''t fall low after all.


    But...


    Looking at Amon, he knew his chances of winning this fight were null as well.


    He had hoped for it to be Adam, the only person whom he could maybe win against in the


    team.


    Even in the single battles, he hade pretty close to beating him.


    ''I did, right?''


    But now...


    No. No. No.


    Not even in his worst nightmares did he want to fight Amon.


    That fight with Michael had already put a fear of him in his mind. He couldn''t even imagine


    what Michael suffered at that time.


    In the distance, Klein saw Amon smile. A hollow smile.


    But looking into those dead ck eyes that seemed like an abyss, Klein felt himself losing all


    control of his body.


    Klein couldn''t remember it but he had felt the same feeling every time.


    And as he remembered it...


    All he felt was fear from the smile.


    Fear from the person.


    He wanted to get away.


    Run.


    His whole existence was like a reminder of fear to Klein even though they had never fought


    against each other.


    But...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The desire to perform well overpowered Klein''s fear for him.


    This was why, for the first time, he broke through Amon''s spell and hurled his spears at Amon.


    But just as they came close to touching him, they suddenly broke and dissipated into


    nothingness.


    ''What the fuck!?''


    Klein cursed but immediately, his insticts urged him to thrust his spear left.


    And he did.


    And it was fortunate that he did, as his spear barely knocked off Amon''s nodachi from


    shing his neck.


    Klein instantly shot back to create some distance while shooting multiple water bullets at Amon and simultaneously raising a tidal wave of water to obstruct his vision.


    But he knew that would do nothing to Amon.


    Using a new application of water magic that he had recently acquired, Klein summoned a cloak of mist around him, making his presence blend into the surroundings. Mist magic was one of the sub-types of water magic that he had recently acquired.


    It was very capable of stealth which was why Klein was using it to escape currently.


    He knew that the orders from Nadia were to hold any enemy off but there was a better chance


    of winning from escaping than battling.


    Klein knew that for sure. Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be so lucky as suddenly his arm bent, disrupting his mana flow.


    His mist cloak wore off and he was thrown to the ground, his face smashing dragging across


    the floor before it was picked up by a rough hand.


    And as Klein opened his eyes, he saw Amon''s face straight up close to him, smiling


    schemingly.


    "As long as you have even an ounce, no, even a drop of blood in your body. You can never


    escape from me."


    And looking into those hollow ck eyes, Klein only felt fear course through his body.


    At that moment, Klein had acquired PTSD from Amon.


    But that was just the start of how much he would be traumatized by the man before him. Even PTSD would be the worst way to describe his fears.

 Chapter 185: Winter Is Coming [4]

    Chapter 185: Winter Is Coming [4]


    ?


    (Extra Chapter because of Magic Castle: 3/3)


    ***


    Amon sighed as he slumped down to the snow from tiredness.


    The body of Klein before him dematerialized into blue digital particles before disappearing.


    At the same time, the voice of Maxville boomed from above.


    [Maxville: Participant Klein from Team B has been eliminated.]


    Catching up to his mana, Amon stood up, rubbing his cold gloved hands for some heat.


    He had expended mana above the amount he was supposed to for eliminating Klein, which was why he was a little tired.


    All because...


    He looked back at the storm approaching towards him now.


    The second timer of the storm had ended as well and it had started to approach the third target circle.


    ''Fuck'' Amon cursed.


    Not because the storm had started to move. No, he had already expected for it to move after he was done with Klein.


    But because he was currently out of the third checkpoint.


    Which meant the storm was only a few minutes away from devouring him.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon pushed lightning around his whole body while immediately jumping on a tree with his usual blood threads.


    After this checkpoint, only 3 hours would be left until the challenge would end.


    And currently, the second team was down by one member.


    BLIZZZZZZZ!


    Amon''s eyes widened as he felt his zer p vigorously and viciously in the air.


    He looked back, only to find the storm dangerously close to him.


    4 minutes away, if he had to estimate.


    Gritting his teeth, Amon was about to push even more mana before he suddenly got an idea. Creating a blood marble, he quickly marked it.


    Then coating his whole arm in lightning, he took a familiar pitching position from his previous life.


    And then, he pulled back his arm and raised his leg before pushing forward and throwing his marble forward at full speed.


    Multiple air rings flew through the air as the marble boomed through the air with Amon following behind it.


    And after a few seconds, he spoke up.


    [Voidteleport].


    ***


    Nadia sat down on the ground as the blonde-haired boy before she dematerialized.


    The voice from above quickly boomed.


    [Maxville: Adam Ravenfield from Team A has been eliminated.]


    She was fully covered in injuries.


    ''How the hell was he that strong?'' She thought, wide-eyed.


    Multiple cuts and gashes on her body.


    All from a single-element blonde-haired body.


    It was baffling for her to sustain this many injuries from just a single battle.


    But she knew why.


    He...


    He was so fast and ferocious that even with three elements, she found it difficult to follow his movements, let alone hit him with her attacks.


    Her face suddenly crunched up with pain as the snow started to affect her wounds.


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t just die here.


    Gritting her teeth, she stood up brushing back her hair, her blue eyes glowing.


    Currently, it had been a while since the storm had hit the 3rd checkpoint.


    And now, she was out of the safe circle of the 4th checkpoint.


    She needed to hurry up.


    ''Amon Ashford.''


    That was the only person she had in mind right now.


    She wanted to meet him again.


    That loss...


    After losing from him and witnessing his power afterward, it was then that she realized how wrong she was.


    He was so much stronger than her.


    Yet she thought of him as weak and tried to humiliate him while getting destroyed by just 1 of


    his elements.


    It irked her. That loss.


    But she didn''t let her pride cloud her honesty.


    What use was pride when she wasn''t even able to maintain it?


    He had won that match fair and square.


    That was why she wanted to apologize for her behavior.


    And also fight him again. This time serious from the start.


    Unfortunately, she had still not been able to find him.


    She knew that since Alya was the leader, she would take the central path.


    Especially since Amon wasn''t the type to take center anyway.


    Due to that, she had taken the left path but it was her bad luck that she ran into Adam there.


    Which meant that Amon had probably taken the right path.


    And the death of Klein was the best proof of that.


    But it had been a long time after that so nobody knew where he was.


    ''Shit, I need to find him soon.'' Nadia concluded.


    Glimmering energy started to pour out from her hands which quickly formed into a torrent of


    mes and water.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But just as she was about tounch again, Maxville''s voice came from above again.


    And the words that he said...


    Made Nadia''s eyes widen to the point that they looked like they were about to bulge out.


    ***


    [10 Minutes Earlier]


    Amon crashed into the surface of the frozen river.


    The sheet of ice was quick to give into the pressure, the cracks immediately breaking and


    sinking him whole into the cold water.


    His eyes shot open as he found the sudden cold assaulting his body.


    It made his whole body numb, making pain shoot up through his whole body as it invaded the


    cracks from his crash.


    Gritting his teeth, Amon immediately used [Voidstep] two times in session, emerging


    right out of the water.


    His mouth opened hard as he gasped for air.


    Air that he had been unable to get while escaping the storm.


    He crawled on the bank of the river, shivering from the cold that made his vision blurry.


    His mind waspletely frozen, making him unable to think of anything.


    Trying to control himself and catch his breath, he slumped down on the ground.


    It was only after some minutes, that he was finally able to gain some rity.


    ''I swear to myself...''


    ''I''m never doing that shit again.''


    Never in his life would he have expected that the marble was still flying through the air when


    he teleported.


    Because of that, he crashed straight into the river, unable to control his momentum in time.


    At least he was out of the Blizzard again though.


    But there was a piece of unfortunate news that he was only able to see while crashing through


    the air.


    Adam.


    He had been eliminated.


    And considering that Miller had been pped by him before, the only person who could do


    such a thing was...


    Nadia.


    Now the teams were down to 2v2.


    But since the news was rtively new, that meant Nadia was in a hurt condition right now.


    Which was why he had to quickly find her.


    But as he pushed mana through his body again, a voice came from above that made his eyes


    widen.


    Something that didn''t happen even in the novel.


    [Maxville: The rules of thepetition have been changed. The Blizzard time for stay and


    catching up has been reduced to 15 minutes.


    Additionally, killing the opposing team would not result in a win. The only way to win now is to find the Warm Shelter and the first team to upy it wins.


    If both teams fail to do so, it will result in a draw which means the elimination of both teams.]

 Chapter 186: Winter Is Coming [5]

    Chapter 186: Winter Is Coming [5]


    ?


    ***


    ''Wait what!? Why?'' Amon''s thoughts spun in frustration.


    Why were they doing th-


    No, he knew why they were doing this.


    He was just being too much of ainer.


    At the battlefield, it wasn''t umon for the orders to suddenly change or the objective to change.


    In such cases, you weren''t supposed to voice out yourints such as we just did that or why are you asking us to do this.


    It was a simple and straightforward order that you were expected to follow.


    And that was what they were teaching them here.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They were supposed to follow what Maxville said without hesitation.


    At the battlefield, the one who remained calm and reacted to information the quickest was the one in lead.


    ''Fuck, there''s no time toin.'' Amon cursed in frustration.


    Since the storm had already overtaken half of the area, the area left to look for the Warm Shelter wasn''t much.


    Which meant that it would be easier to find it through a high vantage point now.


    Organizing his thoughts, Amon quickly found the tallest tree in his area.


    Using his blood threads, he quickly leaped from branch to branch until he was at the top.


    Immediately, his eyes swept around the surroundings, trying to find a sign of the Warm Shelter.


    ''Wood, lights, fire, decorations anything, wood, lights...'' Amon kept repeating the words that he had to look for in his mind.


    But...


    Even after minutes of looking around, there was not a single sign of shelter.


    ''What is going on?'' He thought before using [Voidstep] in the air, to get an even higher view.


    And as he looked down from above...


    Again.


    There was not single not even a tiny sign of a wood structure.


    ''This can''t be real..'' He thought, wide eyed as he still tried to look for the shelter.


    But then, a sharp siren rang through the air.


    The Blizzard...


    It was heading towards the 4th Checkpoint now.


    And there still wasn''t any sign of the shelter.


    While the time for the Storm''s Overtaking had been greatly reduced.


    ''No, no, no, fuck'' Amon cursed.


    He was panicking slowly and slowly.


    The cold from the winter was preventing his brain from thinking straight and calmly at the


    moment.


    Fortunately, two people were their to help him as a sudden tug pulled on Amon''s body.


    It was Vain and Zephyra.


    [Kid, calm down. Now''s not the time to panic.] Vain advised, his tonepletely serious this time.


    [He''s right. Take deep breaths and clear your mind.] Zephyra joined in.


    It was then that Amon was pulled back to his senses.


    ''You''re right.'' He started taking deep breaths and tried to clear his thoughts and the cold that was numbing them.


    His head becamepletely clear after that.


    And Amon was finally able to focus on the challenge again.


    He knew what he needed to do now in steps.


    First off, he tried to piece together the pieces of information given by Maxville about the Warm Shelter.


    Then, hepiled the information that he had just seen.


    And undoubtedly, there was no trace or sign from the information that matched what he had


    seen.


    Which meant.


    The Warm Shelter wasn''t here.


    ''Where the hell-''


    Amon''s eyes suddenly widened as his mind clicked.


    A ce that would not be affected by the cold.


    A ce that...


    His face turned and his expression morphed into one of horror.


    ''No. It can''t be.''


    ***


    Nadia felt like yelling in rage at the orders Maxville just ryed.


    ''What was even the purpose of going through all of that?'' She thought about the fight with


    Adam, visibly annoyed.


    If not for that fight, she would be in tiptop condition.


    Without any mana drain or injuries.


    "Sigh.." Nadia sighed.


    Rather than being annoyed, she had to focus.


    Patience was something she had best learnt in those years at her mansion.


    Those years spent learning and experimenting with Energy.


    Where was the patience at now?


    Calming herself and ignoring her injuries, Nadia propelled herself in the air using a beam of


    mes from her palm.


    And as she found herself above everything in the surroundings, she quickly tried to look for


    signs of the Warm Shelter.


    Her gaze swept across the surroundings.


    But...


    Her eyes widened.


    There was no sign of the shelter at all.


    ''What the hell?'' She tried to remember the details that were told to her by Maxville.


    But even then, she was unable to find anything simr to the description.


    ''Come on, where in the world is it?''


    She looked around and around, but was still unable to find anything.


    Giving up, she sat down, trying to think of any hidden spots where the shelter could be.


    It was a winning spot so of course it couldn''t be found by normal eyes, now that she thought


    about it.


    Nadia knew there were a number of traps in the terrain and most of them were hidden in


    bushes or such.


    That meant the shelter could be in such a surrounding as well.


    She racked her brain trying to think of any spot that she missed at the start.


    It was then that the ground rumbled and shook and arge siren went off in the surroundings.


    The Blizzard had started to move again...


    Just the sheer amount of energy and power it held made Nadia gulp.


    It was tremendous.


    As an energy clovist, she could see it clearly.


    Even in more detail because of her high talent.


    ''Wait...'' Her mind suddenly clicked as a shback passed through her thoughts.


    Arge energy reserve she had felt in the ground...


    Or underground.


    ''Just at the start of the match...''


    Nadia had thought about investigating it at first but had left it because...


    Her eyes turned, staring at therge storm of energy heading towards her.


    Because of the direction it led to.


    Now that she thought about it, all the clues lined up.


    Her expression morphed into one of horror.


    ''No...''


    ''You have to be kidding me...''


    But she knew that was the only possible answer right now.

 Chapter 187: Winter Is Coming [6]

    Chapter 187: Winter Is Coming [6]


    ?


    ***


    Amon had a troubled look on his face as he saw the storm approaching from afar.


    It was only a couple of minutes away from him.


    The Warm Shelter wasn''t the problem for him anymore.


    He already knew where it was now.


    It wasn''t in the safe circles.


    It never was.


    ''That underground tunnel...''


    That''s where it was.


    Since the tunnel was underground, it wouldn''t be affected by the Blizzard.


    And by traveling through it, he would probably arrive somewhere inside the Warm Shelter. And though it would be right in the middle of the Blizzard, it wouldn''t be harmed at all.


    After all, Maxville had said so from the start.


    ''It wouldn''t be affected by the cold.'' Amon repeated his words.


    The winning path was in front of them from the start.


    There was only one problem now...


    And it was a big one.


    To reach those doors, he had to go through the Blizzard again.


    Since the cold didn''t affect him by much, Amon knew he could hold out several minutes in the Blizzard.


    Even more, if he used his Herald Skills and elements.


    Unlike before, of course, he couldn''t use his marble skill.


    No matter how hard he tried to make the marble, it would either get blown away or destroyed.


    So that left him with only one way, to pass through it.


    Fortunately, he just had a partner to help him with this.


    ''Will need your help Zeph.''


    [Was waiting for you to do that.] She replied to him from his shoulder before jumping down. And immediately, her wolf body gave off its fur as her body started to emit smoke.


    Her structure started to morph as well, covered by the ck clouds of smoke that were being produced in arge amount.


    Her size started to growrge and multiple spots of her body started to turn ash ck. And within a minute...


    Zephyra had transformed into herplete form.


    She screeched into the cold terrain, the ground rumbling from the sheerness of it.


    Even the Blizzard seemed to halt for a couple of seconds under her presence and power.


    That was just how majestic her true form was.


    She turned to look at him, her golden amber eyes locking with him.


    A deep, female, and majestic voice resounded in his mind. Completely different from the normal Zephyra''s voice.


    [What are you waiting for? Get on.] She beckoned him to her back.


    Her neck seemed to ripple with every moment as if it was made of tangible smoke that turned from solid to gas every moment.


    Nodding, Amon quickly jumped on her back, feeling her warm ashen ck furfy to his hands.


    [Should we run or fly?] Zephyra asked.


    Amon was surprised.


    ''You have wings?'' He asked as he couldn''t see them.


    But at that moment, the smoke around her main body rippled morphing into two solid furry wings that were attached to her body.


    It was as if they were a part of her body from the start.


    ''That''s pretty neat. Can you make other additions as well?''


    [Nope.]


    ''I see, we can go by flight then. It''s better that way.''


    Zephyra nodded.


    [Brace yourself.] She warned before pping her wings multiple time in the year.


    The whole snow on the ground was justpletely blown away by one p of her wings.


    And then, she soared into the storm.


    And immediately, Amon felt the cold assault his body along with Zephyra.


    The air resistance also hit them hard, reducing their speed as they fought the strong winds.


    Zephyra''s strong frame and smoke helped negate most of the wind, especially her [Void] attributed body.


    Of course, Amon didn''t let her do it all by herself.


    ''Don''t get far from the ground, look for the doors. I''ll provide some support.''


    [Alright.] Zephyra agreed before screeching once more and pushing even further through the wind.


    At her agreement, Amon immediately created the thickest blood covering he could to protect them from the wind.


    Simultaneously, he applied lightning to Zephyra''s whole body, taking care to not harm her with overload.


    It wasn''t his own body so he had to be careful.


    And as thest addition.


    He started barraging [Voidsteps] through the storm.


    ***


    [After 20 Minutes]


    [I see it.] Zephyra told him.


    ''Great. Lower yourself slowly.'' He told her and she obliged, slowly lowering herself while maintaining her position in the storm winds.


    It was a hard journey with Amon''s mana almost depleted.


    Jumping on the ground, Amon immediately felt the impact of the winds hit him, throwing


    him forward.


    Fortunately, Zephyra was there to spread her wings around him as a covering, allowing him to stabilize his bnce.


    He created a blood shield around her as well, to keep her safe before looking at the doors.


    He took a step through the heavy resistance.


    And then more and more.


    Before he finally reached the door.


    Immediately, he wrapped his blood strings around the handle before letting go of himself.


    The force from the strong winds immediately pushed the doors apart with a little force given


    by Amon.


    Theypletely broke off, flying away into the wind.


    ''I''ll head inside first.'' Amon said before taking another step and jumping in the tunnel. Then, he tied several strong blood strings to Zephyra before telling her to transform back. And as soon as she turned back to her wolf form, she was also blown away by the wolf. Fortunately, Amon immediately pulled the strings, getting her into the tunnel as well. As shended into his arms, her form immediately started to shiver from the cold. Noticing it, Amon cut off a part of his zer before wrapping it around her with a coating of


    blood.


    [Thanks.] She thanked him.


    He smiled back,


    ''No problem.''


    Vain, who was wrapped around his neck, instantlyined.


    [Hey! No clothing for me!? Snakes also suffer from the cold you know?]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon waved his hand.


    ''You a man, like you said before so act like one. Stopining.''


    Vain. who had his own words flipped back at him, stared at Amon in disbelief.


    While Zephyra who wasfortably perched upon his shoulder, chuckled and smirked at him.


    [Suffer.]


    Vain hissed venemously at her.


    [Shut updy.]

 Chapter 188: Winter Is Coming [7]

    Chapter 188: Winter Is Coming [7]


    ?


    ***


    [30 Minutes After Amon Ventured Into The Tunnel]


    Nadia flew high in the air, her body tightly clinging to her familiar.


    It was a griffin, a mythological creature that was said to be a mix of a lion and an eagle.


    It screeched hard in the air as it fought the cold winds in the sky.


    Although the griffin could fly, it mainly specialized in strength and defense with itsrge body.


    Flying fast wasn''t its forte which was why it was struggling in the fast winds.


    Fortunately, Nadia was there to boost their speed using the trail of mes that escaped from her hand.


    It propelled them forward, pushing them through the wind.


    The griffin''s form wavered, tired from Blizzard''s continuous journey.


    The coldness was also affecting its body, often disrupting its flight or direction with the mini shards of ice that got stuck in its wings.


    ''Just a little more...'' Nadia pleaded in her mind, her eyes focusing down on the storm.


    They were wide open, unaffected by the strong winds.


    She was trying to find something from the moment their journey had begun.


    ''It should be close...'' She thought before her eyes suddenly widened.


    ''There!'' She sawrge circr spots of blue in the storm, that shone brightly in her gray vision.


    Instructing her familiar, the griffin locked its eyes with the spot she had instructed.


    Before in one whoop, diving down at full speed towards the target.


    Nadia gritted her teeth as the sudden motion pressed down on her.


    As they got closer and closer, she embraced fornding.


    Peering over its body, she aimed her two hands at the spot before shooting a sea of mes at the spot.


    BOOOM!


    Arge explosion urred as the spot blew up and pieces of metal and rock were blown away in the storm.


    And then, Nadia ducked down as the griffin crashed into the hole she had created.


    Panting hard and trying to catch her breath, Nadia barely got down from its back.


    The griffin returned to its mini form of a small lion cub, quickly climbing into her zer.


    Gritting her teeth, Nadia ignored the cold that affected her injuries.


    She had more important matters to focus on.


    Walking into the narrow tunnel she saw, her eyes instantly widened.


    The whole tunnel was illuminated in a blue shimmering light.


    The light was being emitted fromrge crystals that were embedded into the walls of the tunnel.


    Nadia instantly knew what they were.


    After all, they were the source that led her here. The crystals were brimming with energy.


    Because they were mana crystals.


    They were a less efficient but more used and cheaper alternative to the mana cores.


    They could often be found in cave-environment dungeons.


    You couldn''t find them much in Eldergrove or the main cities of the empire, where mana cores were used more.


    Nevertheless, the energy stored in those ores could still not be ignored.


    After all, if it was only a little, Nadia could have never spotted it that easily in the storm.


    If it was real life, Nadia would have tried to mine those crystals.


    After all, even though they were cheaper, they certainly held a price to them.


    Unfortunately, this was a virtual simtion.


    Which meant those crystals were not real at all.


    And besides all that, she didn''t have the time to currently focus on things like these.


    Suddenly, arge siren rang from outside, notifying Nadia that the storm was now heading toward the 5th checkpoint.


    ''No, I''m wasting too much time.''


    Ignoring the crystals, Nadia quickly started to practice her mana breathing while running through the tunnel.


    There were various turns to the tunnel, but Nadia still knew that they were all headed in the direction of the storm.


    ''Huff...huff...''


    As she ran, she wondered if Amon would be there.


    It would be better for her if he was.


    What better way could there be to clear the matter up with him than to confront him face to face?


    Because after all of it was done, Nadia was pretty sure she couldn''t see him for the whole day.


    As she took another turn, her eyes widened as she saw the tunnel end.


    Or rather, it was joined by a narrow staircase that was heading up toward the surface.


    Without wasting any second, she took wide strides toward the staircase, heading up.


    As she arrived almost on the surface, she was greeted by another two same doors she had seen


    on the other side.


    ''This is it...'' She braced herself before blowing the doors apart with her fire.


    BOOOM!


    As the smoke cleared, Nadia quickly ran up, arriving on the surface.


    And immediately, the warm cozy air greeted her body, bringing a sense offort to her body.


    It was a pleasant change from the cold that had ruined her body.


    But Nadia didn''t lose herself in thefort as she quickly became alert.


    She observed her surroundings.


    She was standing in awn filled with lush green grass, a contrast to the winter she saw previously.


    A circr fence was ced in the distance that ran around the whole area.


    And out of the fence...


    Was a raging cold blizzard.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, the area inside the fence waspletely unaffected by the cold.


    As if was magic.


    Moving her gaze, Nadia''s eyesnded on the wooden cabin that stood in the center of the area.


    Made with wooden logs, it also stood sturdy and unaffected by the storm.


    From the windows, she could see the warm cozy interior.


    But was she was observing the things around her, a sound brought her back to attention.


    Munch..


    It was the sound of someone eating.


    She quickly moved toward the source of the sound, arriving at the entrance of the cabin.


    And right there, on the balcony, Amon was sitting nonchntly on the railing, eating an apple.


    A wolf was seated in his life, resting with its eyes closed.


    Both of them werefortably enjoying the warmth until....


    Amon''s eyes moved, locking with Nadia.


    A shudder passed through her body as previous memories resurfaced in her mind.


    Suppressing a gulp, she looked back at him as he got down from the railing, preparing himself.


    He threw the apple to the side, subtly smiling at her.


    But Nadia knew better than to fight him right now.


    Not only was shepletely covered in injuries but also depleted of her mana.


    If she couldn''t beat him in her full power, how would she do it now?


    But even aside from all that, she hade here to settle things with him.


    To settle things aside and...


    Nadia bowed.


    "I''m here to apologize for how I behaved to you on the match."


    To apologize.

 Chapter 189: Winter Is Coming [8]

    Chapter 189: Winter Is Coming [8]


    ?


    ****


    Amon was surprised.


    ''Huh?'' He thought as he stared at Nadia''s abrupt action.


    He hadn''t expected her to bow and apologize to him, let alone not fight him.


    But in a sense, he wasn''t surprised as well.


    Despite her pride, Nadia didn''t let it hinder her vision as he had said before.


    Unlike a certain someone.


    Nadia ced her brains above her pride.


    And in the current situation, she probably knew that she had no chance of winning against him.


    She waspletely covered in injuries such as cuts and scratches.


    And if Amon had to guess, she was pretty much out of mana.


    He couldn''t tell her but he was almost in the same situation of the mana case.


    Fortunately, he had been doing mana breathing since the moment he arrived.


    In any case, Nadia certainly knew when and where to pick her fights.


    But what was even more surprising was her apology.


    Apology for the behavior she disyed to him on their match.


    It wasn''t something unusual for her to do.


    As Amon had said, as long as you proved her strength to her, she would also acknowledge it.


    And she would properly take responsibility for her behavior or actions toward you.


    Because of this, Amon already knew after the match that she woulde and do it.


    The only thing was that he wasn''t expecting her to do it this soon.


    Hence his surprise.


    But it all worked in his favor. So who was he toin?


    One of the reasons he had stayed silent during her mocking was for this precise moment.


    Nadia was a once-in-a-century talent in the ''Energy'' prospect.


    Someone he couldn''t afford to lose.


    And for that purpose, he had first to make a connection with her.


    Which was why he nned to utilize this moment with her to initiate a link between them.


    Moving back to the situation, Amon feigned surprise.


    "Huh?" He halted.


    Nadia, looked up, her blue resolute eyes locking with him.


    "I know I mocked you before our match, taking your strength to measure the respect I should give you. This was wrong, I know.


    My pride blinded me."


    Then she straightened herself.


    Despite the number of injuries she had on her body, she still carried herself straight.


    With pride and confidence.


    "But after the match, my eyes were opened and I realized how wrong I was. For that reason, I apologize for my inappropriate behavior with you."


    "Oh." Amon pretended to understand the situation.


    Before shrugging.


    "That''s fine. As long as you realize that you did wrong."


    Nadia was momentarily surprised.


    "That''s it?" she asked.


    Her face was surprised.


    As if she was wondering that she was forgiven?


    Just like that?


    Amon turned, meeting her gaze.


    "What? Are we supposed to do some royal ceremony where I''m supposed to get a medal for being forgiven by you?" He asked.


    A moment of silence reigned between them for a moment.


    Nadia finally realized how stupid she was being.


    "Pfft." She broke out into a burst of silentughter.


    The tension that was previously between them when she entered the area seemed to dissipate.


    Amon walked over to the railing where he picked up an apple and threw it toward her. Surprised by his reaction, Nadia almost failed the catch but quickly caught it in time. "So....Weren''t we supposed to fight?" He asked Nadia.


    His fingers gestured to a small clock that was nailed to the entrance wall of the cabin.


    It had only one hand.


    The minute hand.


    And it was currently at 45 minutes.


    Nadia was quick to understand what he meant.


    It meant that he was upying the ce for 45 minutes now, with only 15 minutes left.


    But Nadia didn''t care about that.


    She took a bite out of her apple.


    "Yes, you can take the win. Consider it a formal apology for my actions."


    Amon''s expression morphed into surprise but eventually, he shrugged.


    "Up to you. It''s a guaranteed win for us then."


    Nadia chuckled a little while also taking another bite from her apple.


    "It was from the moment I arrived here. From the start, I can''t beat you either way. So the win


    was already in your hands."


    Amon nodded.


    "I guess you can say that."


    Nadia took another bite from her apple before throwing it on the side.


    Their eyes met before she brought two fingers to the side of her hand.


    "Well, I''ll see you in the battle royale then." She smiled.


    It was apetitive smile.


    Amon gave apetitive smile back.


    "Sure. Try and see if you can beat me then." He provoked her.


    Nadia subtly clicked her tongue.


    "I''ll show you."


    And then, her fingers shot up in the air, a bullet of mes passing through her head.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Thud!


    At the same time, her body dematerialized into a series of blue particles.


    A voice boomed from above.


    [Maxville: Nadia Alneith from Team B has been eliminated.]


    [Maxville: Along with that, only 5 minutes are left till the Warm Shelter is fully upied by


    Team A.]


    Suddenly, a series of footsteps were heard by Amon.


    They were familiar.


    Amon''s head knocked to the side where he saw Alyae from the side of the cabin.


    Her condition was a mess.


    Cuts and scratches throughout her body.


    Her long blonde hair were a mess with twigs and such stuck in her hair.


    He quickly walked over to her, helping her settle down on the staircase of the cabin.


    "You good?" He asked and she tiredly nodded.


    "It was a mess." She said.


    Amon nodded.


    He could see that just from how exhausted she looked.


    To the point that she couldn''t even tell what happened to her.


    Leaving her to rest, Amon focused on the clock on the wall.


    And as he waited, the hand moved once more, making aplete rotation.


    While signaling that one hour had passed.


    And at the same time, a voice boomed from above.


    [Maxville: The Warm Shelter has been fully upied by Team A. Therefore, the victory of the


    first challenge goes to Team A!]


    Smiling, he nodded at Alya who smiled tiredly back.


    Their bodies started to disintegrate into a stream of particles while she looked at him.


    "You better tell meter what happened."


    She nodded, while finally slumping her head in her arms.


    "Yeah, I will."


    And then, the both of them disappeared.


    The first round of the team battles wasplete.


    With the victory going to Team A.

 Chapter 190: Catching Up [1]

    Chapter 190: Catching Up [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon felt his senses waver again, as if they were glitching.


    But they quickly returned to normal in seconds, signaling him to open his eyes.


    And as he did, the pod in front of him opened up with a bulging pop.


    Stepping outside, Amon instantly noticed the number of eyes that were transfixed on him.


    It was just like the previous FULLDIVE.


    It wasn''t difficult to trante what their gazes seemed to say.


    ''I guess it''s still a little hard for them to ept that thest ranked student is outperforming even the top 10s.'' Amon sighed.


    Especially his multiple elements.


    Now that he used them freely, it was a little weird for them.


    Especially since he was the first multi-elemental clovist in the history.


    Along with Michael.


    Of course, there was Arthur. But they didn''t know about him.


    At the same time, the neighbour pod to him opened as well.


    And out came Alya, with tired steps.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Her whole form wavered and Amon instantly caught her.


    ''What even happened to her?'' He thought as he looked at her.


    As if understanding his thoughts, a familiar voice came from the side.


    "When the news about the Warm Shelter was announced, she had given up on fighting with Miller.


    She didn''t know where to go so she followed therge explosion that set off in the distance. Only to be encountered by the Blizzard..." Charlotte came from the side, helping Alya from the other side.


    She recounted the whole story of what happened to Alya.


    About how she still had to dodge Miller''s attacks while still bearing the storm on her familiar. Though her familiar was a bird type, it wasn''t strong or sturdy enough to endure the winds. Especially so with the asional metal shrapnel hitting them in the wind.


    After she had reached the tunnel, she exploded it once more to keep Miller outside.


    In the first ce, he had never made it through the Blizzard anyway.


    But that was all.


    The cuts and injuries along with the Blizzard had drained Alya.


    Amon felt a little bad about how she was one of the people who were unlucky with the familiar ceremony.


    Sure, her familiar was as fast as a bullet but in terms of strength, it was far behind.


    Another disadvantage was theck of uniqueness in her familiar.


    It was just a simple full white hawk with arge boost to speed and eyesight.


    It didn''t have any unique features like Nultharia or Borealith.


    In any case, there could be nothing done about it now.


    This was just the first battle after all.


    There was a chance that they might get a better terrain in the next match where Alya could pop off.


    It all depended on luck.


    As Amon moved through the crowd, his gaze locked with Maxville in the distance.


    He acknowledged Amon with a nod.


    "That was a great use of knowledge and piecing the facts together. Excellent disy of skills


    as well." He jotted down some things on the paper in front of him.


    Amon nodded back.


    "Thank you for your praise professor."


    Maxville smiled exuberantly.


    "Your awareness and instinct in battle are quite extraordinary. Why didn''t you take the leader''s spot?" He asked.


    Amon shrugged.


    "Not interested."


    Maxville nodded, understanding his preference.


    "Fair enough. You can leave now."


    "Thank you."


    As Amon moved, he noticed a familiar blonde standing at the side, with his back leaning on


    the wall.


    Amon smirked slightly and walked up to him.


    "Sup."


    Adam looked up, tilting his head.


    It seemed to be that he was contemting something before Amon arrived rather than just


    being his asionalzy.


    "Hmm?"


    "Heard you got wrecked."


    Adam''s mouth subtly twitched.


    It was obvious that he was irritated by his loss. Especially he was the first death in their team.


    "I almost had her..." He mumbled, looking at the side.


    "But in the end, you still lost," Amon answered and Adam red at him.


    Amon was obviously trying to sprinkle salt on his wounds.


    "What are you trying to say?"


    Amon''s smile turned cold.


    "What I''m trying to say is that..."


    He leaned closer to him, locking his eyes with him.


    "She was still stronger than you. And here youin that you don''t find anyone stronger


    than you."


    Adam''s expression morphed from irritation to surprise as he was taken aback.


    "Didn''t you say that I was the only one stronger than you?"


    Amon stepped back, his smile turning back to normal.


    "This is why I say you should focus on the people around you more."


    Before Adam could say or think anything though, Amon waved his hand.


    "Well, I''ll catch youter. Take care."


    Then, Amon left.


    ***


    After talking to Charlotte a little, Amon decided to return to his apartment for a little rest.


    The second match of team battles, the one with Liliana and Ren, was still going on.


    Amon didn''t watch much of it and chose to just get some rest after that long battle.


    He already knew the winners of the battle anyways.


    Returning home, he opened the door and found Lily sitting on the couch with a book in her


    hand.


    She had a perplexed expression on her face as if trying to read or understand something.


    A warm smile spread on his face.


    Closing the door, Amon walked over to the couch and sat down.


    The little girl, who was deeply engrossed in the book was startled by his presence as her body


    suddenly jerked.


    "Ahhhh!" She screamed, afraid but stopped when she saw who it was.


    Amon chuckled, trying to restrain augh.


    Lily, seeing his reaction, pouted.


    Amon ruffled her hair and asked.


    "What was Lily doing?"


    Happy that he asked, Lily quickly grabbed the book with a smile showing him.


    They were basic alphabets and numbers.


    "Look, this." She pointed to ''Q''.


    "Oh.."


    Looking at her again, he saw that she had a confused expression.


    "Is it hard?"


    "Mmnh" Lily nodded.


    Smiling, he brought the book near her while pointing at the letter.


    "It''s Q." He said slowly to her to make her understand while showing her his lips movement.


    "Ku?"


    "No, no." Amon shook his head while repeating it to her again.


    "Kue?"


    Amon shook his head again. They did it many times until she finally learned how to say it.


    "Yes, q, that''s how you say it. Qas in for queen." Amon smiled, telling her that she was right


    this time.


    He created a small crown of crystal on her head.


    "Lily a queen now. Q for queen as in."


    "Woahhh" Lily touched her crown with her baby fingers.


    She had a cheerful and happy expression on her face after learning the letter correctly.


    Amon smiled seeing her exuberant attitude.


    It literally made all of his worries fade away.


    And together, they started to learn all the letters until...


    "T," Lily said and Amon nodded.


    "Yes. T. Tas in for training." He said while making a gesture of training.


    "Ohhh" Lily observed with herrge curious eyes.


    "T. As in for Training," Amon said and Lily repeated it to him.


    But then suddenly, his mind clicked.


    ''Wait, training?''


    ''Training....'' He repeated it to himself, feeling like he was forgetting something.


    But it was then that it all rang inside his mind and his eyes widened.


    ''Oh, fuck.'' He couldn''t help but curse in the situation.


    His third Void Training....

 Chapter 191: Catching Up [2]

    Chapter 191: Catching Up [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s Void Training.


    It was soon.


    ''I need to check it.'' Amon reminded himself and quickly opened up his system window.


    There were also some other things that he had failed to see during his battles in the midterms.


    So, he checked his system overall now.


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    Leaves: 0000000=


    VIT: > ? ? ?


    STR: ? ? ? ?


    AGI: ? ? ? ?


    END:<> ? ? ?


    INT: > ? ? ?


    (> will be now added to show an increase in the stats from the previous system screen for the convenience of readers.)


    Amon was pleasantly satisfied as he nodded.


    Even though the progress was slowpared to what he had been through since the start of the tournament.


    His rank also needed to be taken into ount.


    With each rank increase, the progress in the stats started to get slower and harder.


    And because of that, a +1 increase in 3 stats was truly impressive.


    Besides, he hasn''t used much strength till now anyway.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    So a 0-point increase was expected.


    Closing the window, Amon opened his affinity tab.


    [VOID]: Level 3¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ? ?


    [BLOOD]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á > ?


    [LIGHTNG]: Level 2¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ?


    [SOUND]: Level 1 > 2¡Á¡Á? ? ? ?


    [CRYSTAL]: Level 1 > 2¡Á? ? ? ?


    Familiar Arts


    ''Damn..'' Amon noticed the change in several elements.


    His [Sound] and [Crystal] elements had both leveled up.


    ''But I don''t remember any influx of information?'' He thought.


    He didn''t get any impact or information flux like he usually did when an element leveled up.


    ''Hmmm did I not get any new applications?'' He thought as he tried to think of how to use Sound and Crystal.


    And to his surprise, arge number of new and creative ways instantly came up to him.


    They weren''t there before the level...


    ''Did I get the influx when I was sleeping or something?''


    Was it even possible for that to happen?


    He quickly turned to Zephyra and asked her.


    She nodded, hearing his question.


    [Sometimes, simultaneous level-up of two elements can bombard and make your brain explode. The system then slowly feeds that information to your brain to make it digest better and without any harm.]


    ''Oh..'' Amon nodded.


    He manifested a nodachi of crystal in his hand, something that he couldn''t do before.


    Then, a slim coating of gray started to outline the sword.


    Looking around, Amon quickly picked up a ss in his hand.


    And then....


    As lightly as he could, tapped the edge of the nodachi on the tip of the ss.


    CRACK! CRUNCH!


    It didn''t even take a millisecond for the ss to explode in tiny splinters, all around the room.


    Fortunately, before Lily coulde in, he immediately stored the shards in his inventory. "Daddy!" Lily came through the door.


    Amon smiled.


    "Nothing happened, you can go back to work."


    Heeding his words, Lily went back outside after looking around curiously like a child for some


    seconds.


    Amon sighed in relief.


    But he was amazed inside.


    ''Sound coating is broken...'' He realized.


    Even the nodachi he had made, had some cracks on it because of the sound booms erupted in


    the interaction.


    Another addition to Crystal was that before any construct or weapon he made would break


    within a minute, if not supplied mana continuously.


    However, now, he didn''t need to do that anymore.


    They would remain in that shape forever until they were broken or he willingly chose for them


    to break.


    Looking back at the screen, his [Blood] element had leveled up as well.


    It was to be expected considering it was the element he used the most in the mid-terms.


    It was just one point away from Level 3 now.


    Closing the screen, he finally opened the most important screen.


    Current Void Trainings:


    [Void Training III: In A Day]


    [Next Void Training: NONE (1 TO BE COMPLETED)]


    [Rewards A]


    ''Oh shit.'' Amon cursed.


    There was only a day left in the training.


    Fortunately, Amon wouldn''t miss out on any events if he did it tomorrow.


    Since there weren''t many participants in the team battles, the whole event should end by


    today.


    Because of that, the day tomorrow which was initially designated for semi-finals and finals, would be given as a day of rest.


    And the day after tomorrow would be Battle Royale, which was something Amon couldn''t


    afford to miss at all.


    It was the secondrgest point-giving event after the Catbs Exploration.


    And to get the first rank, Amon needed to attempt this event at all costs.


    Which left him with no choice but to attempt the [Void Training] tomorrow.


    ''It''s fine, I''ll do it as quickly as possible tomorrow.''


    As he was about to close the window, Amon thought to check his [Void Skills].


    And so he quickly opened the status window.


    [Void Decay]


    [Void Threads]


    [Void Influence]


    [???]


    [???]


    Nothing new, he thought.


    It was still the 3 skills he had for a long time.


    Void Influence was the skill he had acquired in the trip.


    It allowed him to mess with the mental state of people, whether it be memories, emotions


    etc.


    Looking at the two [???] spots, he knew he could unlock two new skills.


    Unfortunately, he barely had time this week with him always jumping into battles here and


    there.


    There was no time to train.


    ''I really need to improve in Void...'' Amon thought.


    Despite Void being his main and strongest element, he barely fleshed on it and used it.


    It was because he barely knew anything about it.


    The unknown aspects of Void could be very fatal. An example was what happened to Zephyra.


    He didn''t need an incident like this to happen again.


    Suddenly, an idea clicked inside his mind.


    ''What if...''


    Rather than experimenting on Void in training, he experimented the element in real battles.


    Of course, he needed to be careful since there was a major risk of idents.


    However, those struggling and hard moments might be the key for him to improve in the


    element.


    Especially, because it was only in a real battle that he could also experiment [Void] with other


    elements.


    ''Alright, let''s do it like this...'' Amon nodded.


    This was going to be fun for him.


    Especially because...


    His next battle.


    It was against Liliana.


    It''s the chapter from yesterday. I was a little tired so could only do 1 chapter. 2 chapters will


    still be uploaded today after reset. Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 192: HUMBLE. [1]

    Chapter 192: HUMBLE. [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon returned to the FULLDIVE Venue an hourter.


    He had given Lily some food and toys to keep herself entertained till he returned.


    Upon returning, all of the gazes turned to him as if they were anticipating their arrival.


    Just like he had expected, Ren and Liliana''s team had won with ease.


    Smiling, he gave a thumbs up to Ren while both of the teams got ready for their next matches.


    Gathering Alya and Adam, they quickly formted a basic n.


    Unlikest time, there was not much to ponder on since the opposing team was weak as hell.


    After they were done, Amon quickly stretched his body while smiling.


    ''Alright, let''s get quickly done with this...''


    He headed to the FULLDIVE pods.


    ***


    [After 30 Minutes/3 Minutes in Real Life]


    Six pods opened with a bulging pop in the area.


    From the three pods on the left, three people emerged with horrified expressions.


    No. Horrified was putting it lightly.


    It was as if they were traumatized. Cursed for their life as sweat drenched their clothes.


    Their eyes were trembling as if they had just seen a ghost.


    They slumped down on the ground on their knees, unable to support themselves.


    And then from the right, 3 pods opened up.


    And out came Alya, Adam, and Amon with indifferent expressions on their faces.


    Ignoring the baffled faces of the other people and the opposing team, he turned to the duo beside him.


    And smiled subtly while giving a thumbs-up.


    "Good match. Didn''t take long."


    Adam and Alya, nodded silently, trying to hide the drop of sweat tracing down their sides.


    No, everyone in the hall was looking at Amon silently, unable to form a word.


    Even Maxville was looking at Amon with slightly widened eyes.


    The whole match hadn''t taken more than 30 minutes, or 3 minutes in real life.


    And it was all because of the ck-haired boy who was standing before them. The orders were just like before, they had to find a spot or kill the opposing team. Only the terrain was different as this time, it was a desert.


    A desert with illusions to be precise.


    However, as soon as the battle had begun, Amon had shot off with his team for the enemies.


    And before Maxville could even change the objectives of the match, they had already arrived before the opposing team.


    And along with their familiars, it didn''t the team more than 2 minutes to absolutely destroy them.


    No.


    It was more like it didn''t take Amon more than 2 minutes to destroy them, considering he had done 90% of the work.


    He didn''t even let his team move, already manifesting his elements and Nultharia.


    He was like a ghost, appearing in the form of smoke here and there, obliterating the team. "Ghost..." One of the members pointed at Amon, trying to back off by crawling on the ground. "Ghost..." The second member did the same.


    And the third as well, as all of them started to back off faster and faster when Amon locked his gazes with them.


    He simply smiled at them and their expressions turned into despair.


    The cadets pulled at the other cadet''s clothes, muttering to save themselves.


    Amon shrugged, removing his gaze from them.


    To change the topic of the conversation, he moved his gaze to the screen on the ceiling.


    And it worked as everyone followed his gaze to look at Ren and Liliana''s battle.


    For them, they also won the match 15 minutester after Amon and his team arrived.


    It would have been much shorter if....


    Amon looked at Ren''s dissatisfied and annoyed expression as he arrived back.


    In all of his matches, Ren was forced to copy their third teammates element.


    Who was not only Earth-attributed, one of the weak elements in the terrain they were given, but also lower ranked than Ren.


    It was obvious that Ren was annoyed by this aspect as it dragged their team down.


    Unfortunately for him, Liliana didn''t give him any chance to touch her.


    Nevertheless, they still won and crushed the opposing team in the end.


    As Ren''s team walked off, Amon quickly walked up to Ren, cing an arm around his


    shoulder.


    "What''s up?"


    Ren clicked his tongue, visibly annoyed.


    It was something very rare for Ren who was mostly chill and cool.


    Well, at least until the matter was about his homies.


    "Nah bro, I''m done with this shit."


    "Calm down, calm down." Amon patted his back as both of them sat on a bunch.


    Ren''s familiar, Athex, also seemed to crawl around his arm as if trying tofort him.


    "Just ignore her."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Fuck.." Ren cursed, ruffling his hair.


    From his gaze, it was obvious that he wanted nothing more in the world to just stand up and


    p Liliana right now.


    However, even he knew that there were limits on how far he could go with a gum.


    Athena''s wrath wasn''t always unavoidable.


    As Amon cooled Ren down, he heard Maxville arrive before them.


    "The two matches were done rtively quickly than the time given for them.


    If the two teams agree, we can go ahead and proceed with the final match right now rather


    than resting."


    Ren and Amon looked up.


    It was a little funny since both of them weren''t even the team leaders but Maxville had arrived


    before them.


    In Maxville''s eyes, Amon and Ren were the real team leaders of A and B probably.


    Liliana was strong, sure, but she carried a pride bigger on her shoulders than than the power


    she had in her muscles.


    Amon looked at his team in the distance.


    Both of them were apparently conversing with each other.


    They matched his gaze and nodded.


    And Amon nodded back to Maxville.


    "Alright, we will proceed with the match."


    Ren also nodded, without even looking at his team.


    "Yeah, we will go on as well."


    Maxville nodded while Liliana watched with a gaping mouth in the distance.


    She furiously started walking over to Ren, her heels clicking against the floor.


    It indicated that she was against it but Maxville ignored it all and headed back.


    While Amon simply red at Liliana from afar.


    A single re.


    Just a single re was enough to convey his message to her.


    It said.


    ''Shut the fuck up.''


    Patting Ren''s shoulder, Amon stood up, shing him a smirk.


    "Let''s go now, you ready to get cooked?"


    It was an attempt to lighten the mood.


    And it seemed to work as Ren looked up, surprised before smirking back.


    "Sure, we will see who talks after the match."


    They did a fist bump before heading over to their pods and settling down.


    And then, a notification shed before Amon''s eyes.


    [Wee to FULLDIVE!]

 Chapter 193: HUMBLE. [2]

    Chapter 193: HUMBLE. [2]


    ?


    ****


    Amon''s senses distorted and returned to him within a minute like always.


    Feeling fine andfortable, he opened his eyes and they widened.


    Right before him was an abandoned and destroyed city, eerily simr to the one in his first FULLDIVE.


    Broke window panes and shardsid out on the ground, rotting buildings, decaying nts.....


    Everything about the city screamed destion.


    Amon was surprised to find himself wearing a body-tight armor this time.


    It was the same armor that they had worn in the first FULLDIVE.


    Adjusting his helmet, Amon looked at Alya and Adam beside him.


    They quickly grouped up.


    "Didn''t expect them to give armor this time." Alya stretched out her body.


    "Maybe because it''s the final," Adam replied.


    Amon shrugged.


    "As long as it''s good for us, we take it."


    And as they were talking, Maxville''s voice finally boomed from above.


    [Maxville: Now that you are all fine and ready, let''s start this.]


    The trio nodded.


    [Maxville: First of all, wee to the finals of the Midterm Team Battles. This match will decide the absolute champion of the Team Battles event!]


    [Maxville: And because it is the final, the rules of this match are literally simple.


    And it''s to kill the opposing team simply. No changes and no twists. Just simply kill the team.] He confirmed.


    Amon wasn''t surprised. He already knew about it from the novel.


    But he feigned surprise along with Alya and Adam.


    [Maxville: You are to use the terrain to your advantage simply and eliminate the opposing team within 3 hours.]


    [Maxville: That''s all. With that, I wish you two teams the best of luck. The Final Match starts now!]


    And then, the connection cut off.


    Alya looked at both of them.


    "Well, this was unexpected but it makes things easier for all of us."


    "For this match-" Alya was speaking again when Amon interrupted by putting a finger to his own lips.


    "My order as a team leader. I''ll use it now."


    Alya''s eyes widened a little, seemingly having forgotten about it.


    Amon smiled subtly and sheposed herself before nodding with Adam.


    "What''s your order?" Adam asked.


    "It''s simple." Amon turned around, his back facing them.


    His face subtly turned, his ck eyes matching their gazes.


    "You two will handle that third guy. Meanwhile, I alone will handle Liliana and Ren. Stay out of my battle with them."


    Both of them were surprised and Adam quickly opened his mouth to object.


    "That''s not-"


    But Amon already shot through the street with lightning crackling around his feet.


    Hisst words hung in the air.


    "Nope, remember, you both made a deal. Now it''s your duty to abide by it."


    Adam clicked his tongue, punching the air.


    "That guy..."


    Then he turned to Alya.


    "We will have to take that third guy now."


    Alya nodded while also shrugging.


    "That''s the only thing we can do now. The leader has spoken."


    ***


    Amon rushed through the street, breaking past the ss windows of the store anding out from the other side.


    He activated [Void Eyes] at his maximum while continuously spamming [Voidstep].


    The purpose of it all was to reach Ren and Liliana before they could separate.


    All of a sudden, Amon''s danger senses went off.


    He immediately twisted his torso, bearing the pain.


    A lightning bullet struck cleanly at the spot where he was previously standing.


    Amon''s eyes followed the trajectory of the attack, leading his eye to the top of a building.


    There, Ren was standing with two of his fingers stretched out like a gun.


    Amon knew which lightning it was.


    The one that he shot.


    It was Amon''s lightning.


    ''That fist bump...'' Amon remembered and smirked.


    Immediately, blood strings formed in his hands as Amon looped them around various broken buildings.


    And pushed himself to the roof.


    Unfortunately, Ren wouldn''t be the only one targeting him.


    As instantly, Amon''s amethyst eyes sharply moved to the left, locking onto an object meters


    away from him.


    He immediately countered the iing de of wind with his nodachi.


    His eyes travelled in the far distance where he saw Liliana ring at him coldly.


    Amon smirked.


    ''Found my target.''


    He immediately formed blood threads around his hands, looping them from one building to


    the other.


    As he arrived before Liliana, thetter immediately spread out her hands.


    And arge gale of wind traveled toward Amon, inflicting minor cuts on his skin.


    But Amon didn''t back off.


    Rather, he used [Voidstep] once before, appearing before her in an instant.


    Before she could fire off her attack though, Amon immediately manipted the blood in her


    hand.


    A scream erupted from her mouth as she was taken aback.


    Her attacks were disrupted and Amon immediately looped his threads around her fingers.


    Before...


    Pulling at them.


    The threads seeped into her skin, before breaking her fingers off in the next instant.


    Arge scream erupted from Liliana at that moment.


    But of course, Amon wasn''t done yet.


    He quickly dodged several lightning bullets that headed his way.


    Ren arrived before Liliana and Amon.


    He quickly reached out to touch Liliana but was taken by surprise when a kicknded on his


    torso.


    "Blergh!" Ren puked as the kick hit him hard, throwing him off the roof.


    Then Amon turned his attention back to Liliana.


    But his eyes widened when a narrow de of wind missed him by an inch, cutting his cheek.


    Looking forward, he saw Liliana clench her hands.


    And immediately, the air around Amon started to swirl.


    It started to pull in on the center with such force that even Amon had to move.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Amon quickly attempted to loop his strings of blood at her but they were shredded apart.


    He knew he was done for if he was found in that house.


    Amon clicked his tongue before stomping his foot on the ground.


    His silver-coated foot impacted hard, creating a small crater where he struck his foot.


    But that imbnce from Liliana was enough to disrupt her smell as Amon arrived before her


    once more.


    She tried totch at him, finding perfect opportunity in close range.


    Unfortunately,t it wouldn''t be the best idea as Amon grabbed both her arms and twisted


    them.


    Before punching her hard and cleanly in the face, sending her crashing down into the


    buildings.


    ''I''ll show you what being a bitch means...''

 Chapter 194: HUMBLE. [3]

    Chapter 194: HUMBLE. [3]


    ?


    (This chapter contains some excessive gore and blood, so if you don''t like that type of stuff, feel free to skip it.) R18 Warning.


    ***


    Liliana crashed through the windows, from one building to the next.


    Removing his attention from her, Amon focused himself on Ren.


    He walked over to the edge of the roof from where he peered down.


    But to his surprise.


    Ren wasn''t there anymore.


    And simultaneously, he felt the hairs on his back stand up.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He ducked, barely avoiding a kick of lightning that went past his head.


    Before he could act though, another lightning fist was inches away from his face.


    Amon immediately used [Mana Scatter], erasing all mana from around him.


    Blocking the fist from his hand, Amon spun Ren''s body in the air, manipting his blood to make it easier.


    However, he was taken aback when his control was suddenly overpowered.


    Renpletely twisted his body, not caring anything about the arm in Amon''s head.


    And a clean kick connected with the side of Amon''s face.


    He skidded several steps back while Renposed him.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    "Flexible ass..." He wiped the trickle of blood from his face.


    That movement that Ren just did was something impossible for a normal student to do.


    However, Amon had to admit.


    In his friend group, there were many things they all had inmon, with some of them excelling in a certain aspect.


    An example of Charlotte''s physical strength and Alya''s eyesight.


    However, no one could match the flexibility of Ren''s body.


    It was as if he was a walking strip of stic.


    It was as if he was born with it.


    And while that was partially true, it was also because of his childhood.


    It was something he had developed in the years he spent hanging out and parkouring in the alleys and streets.


    Ren smirked.


    "Jelly much?"


    Amon shrugged, nodding subtly.


    "A little, I guess."


    Ren''s smirk widened as he shot forward.


    "I can teach you sometime in the streets you know." He threw a kick at Amon.


    Amon dodged it with a tilt of his head.


    But was surprised when Ren suddenly rotated his foot, changing his leg position.


    Before bringing it down on Amon''s head like an axe kick.


    Fortunately, Amon was able to react quickly as he punched Ren''s knee in time.


    Ren''s face scrunched up in immense pain.


    But even he was unprepared for the sudden shockwaves and booms that resounded in the air.


    Blood gushed out of Ren''s mouth as he was sent flying into the roof''s railing, bending the frame.


    Amon didn''t pursue him though.


    Because he knew that the previous opponent was back.


    Looking below, Amon immediately jumped back into the air.


    And just as he did, the roof below him broke into arge hole, an enormous hurricane erupting.


    Amon felt himself being pulled fast into it but he immediately looped his blood strings around the railing.


    But even that proved to be useless as they were cut from the multiple des shooting out of the hurricane.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon let himself go and activated [Void Eyes].


    The motion of the world around him immediately slowed down as he exerted more and more


    mana.


    He concentrated on the hurricane in front of him.


    Liliana must be somewhere inside it.


    Amon tried to identify her location by pushing his eyes to the extreme.


    Cracks started to emerge under his eyes but he kept on.


    ''There.'' He found her in the corner of the hurricane.


    And immediately used [Voidstep].


    Appearing in front of the spot where she was, he extended his hand before clenching it.


    The wind barrier from the hurricane in front of him immediately disappeared.


    And arge gaping hole formed in the hurricane, where he saw Liliana hovering in the air inside it.


    Green glowing markings spread on her arm while her emerald green hair fluttered in the wind, glowing golden at the edges.


    Her gleaming amber eyes met his and they widened.


    She quickly pointed her arm at him.


    The wind around her scattered before him into a high-pressure burst.


    But Amon was able to avoid it at thest second, using lightning to enhance his body reflexes.


    While simultaneously manipting her blood in the arm at thest second.


    But he didn''te out of it unscathed as multiple cuts teared up his right arm.


    Amon clicked his tongue, bearing the pain and the cracks that spread on his arm.


    Liliana''s face contorted.


    Before she could do anything else this time, Amon summoned his nodachi, dding it in


    lightning.


    And shed it at her shoulder, cleanly cleaving off her arm.


    A sharp scream erupted from her mouth as her arm flew off in the air.


    Her spell and transformation canceled and Amon kicked her cleanly in the stomach.


    Blood endlessly poured out of her body as she smashed into the ground.


    Amonnded on the ground, before her body which was forming a small pool of blood now.


    Raising his hand, he caught her arm in his palm.


    Her emerald green eyes which were filled with pain and tears moved and locked with his ck


    stoic ones.


    "You..." She couldn''t even form words, whimpering in pain.


    And then, Amon clenched his fist, making her arm burst into a ssh of flesh and blood over


    her body.


    He kicked her in the chest without a word or change in expression.


    A voice boomed from above in the sky.


    [Beatrice from Team B has been eliminated]


    ''They are done. Good.'' Amon looked below.


    Suddenly, Amon''s gaze moved above where he easily caught a kick in his hand.


    Ren''s body twisted, as he tried to deliver another kick which was also caught by Amon.


    His eyes widened but then Amon twisted the blood inside his foot and smashed him on the ground, beside Liliana.


    Forming multiple thick rings of blood, Amon embedded them in the ground, keeping Ren


    locked.


    He focused his attention back on Liliana, who looked at him with utter contempt and hatred.


    Ignoring it like always, Amon sat down on her belly.


    Liliana''s eyes widened with hate as she opened her mouth to scr-


    Thud!


    A punchnded on the side of her face, shutting down her mouth.


    It nocked to the side.


    "You...fucking..bas-"


    Another punch and blood sshed on the ground, as her face was nocked to the other side.


    Her cheeks had burst and her face was covered in blood.


    But even then, her eyes gazed at him with utter disgust.


    She still carried that pride in her eyes.


    That immense pride.


    "I swear I''ll kill y-" Another punch. Another ssh of blood.


    "I''ll tear you apar-" Another punch on her face.


    Multiple tooths broke out.


    "I''wl fulckimg rip-" She spoke through broken teeth.


    But her eyes suddenly widened and trembled. Amon gazed down at her coldly, his mouth finally opening.


    "Hmm? I don''t have any idea what you are talking about."


    Another punch.


    "Why would a mundane and pathetic creature like you pose any threat to me?


    Punch.


    "If you think this raises even an ounce of fear in me..."


    Another punch.


    "Then you are wrong."


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    They never stopped, even after her rants died out.


    Until finally, Amon''s fist stopped in the air, blood dripping down her face.


    His cold ck eyes gazed down at her.


    "P...w.ease..."


    Her blood-covered eyes were begging, shedding tears now.


    If they had immense pride, disgust, and hate in them before.


    Now they werepletely dominated by fear.


    Fear of him.


    She was on the verge of death and she knew it.


    The next punch would kill her.


    It was no doubt.


    But then, a weak voice broke out from the side.


    "Hey bitch...."


    Amon looked to the side, where Ren barely sneaked out a hand from the gaps between the


    rings.


    It was very close to Liliana''s fingerless hand.


    Very much.


    But it couldn''t go further.


    Liliana''s trembling bloody eyes moved to him.


    "Give me your fucking hand."

 Chapter 195: HUMBLE. [4]

    Chapter 195: HUMBLE. [4]


    ?


    ****


    Ever since she had been born, Liliana had a life nothing short of perfect.


    With looks that none couldpare to at her age and a talent that was considered generational, people sucked up to her.


    It was amusing to her.


    All of it.


    Pathetic pests, she thought as she stared at the people of her age.


    All those girls and boys, whether the ones that sucked up to her or hated her...


    It was suffocating for her.


    Not just their presence but their whole existence.


    They were weak.


    Ugly.


    Talentless.


    Why were they even born in the world? Why did they exist? She questioned herself.


    They tainted the beautiful painting known as the world to her as dirt and mud.


    Just looking into their eyes made her want to puke and bleach her eyes.


    ''Those who can''t stand beside me. Those whockpared to me. Are disgusting wretches.'' She repeated to herself multiple times.


    As the noble heiress of a Dukedom, she had seen all kinds of people.


    Bootlickers to people drowning in jealousy.


    She hated them all.


    But if there were one type of people that she hated the most in the world.


    The type that she wanted to personally kill and erase from the world.


    Were the disgustingly weak people yet had the nerve to ignore or act normal around her?


    As if the world was perfectly fine for them. As if her existence was nothing to them, despite being like bugs to her power.


    And one such person was Amon Ashford. No, he was the only person to ever be included in that type.


    For as long as she had known him, he had never given her a single meaningful nce.


    To his eyes, it was as if she was a mere drifting pebble in a river full of them.


    Nothing worth noticing or giving a damn about.


    And sure, she had seen people like these a lot.


    But what irked her to the point of making him want to kill her was his talent and power. It was disgustingly low.


    Bottom of the barrel.


    Even calling him a bug or pest felt like she wasplimenting him.


    She had never seen a talent and power as low as him.


    Yet, he didn''t seem to care about it as well.


    No, he didn''t seem to care about anything. It was as if he viewed the world from a colorless lens.


    But that didn''t matter to her.


    What mattered to her was his attitude to him.


    Rather than having the power to back up his attitude, she doubted he could even back up his existence.


    Even taking aside his power and talent, he was a person who should''ve been killed the moment he was born.


    Every particle.


    Every atom in his body vited her very principles, her very view about the world and its people.


    A bastard.


    Disgusting and pathetic.


    But then...


    She stared at his cold ck eyes that bore down on her, making her whole body crawl from fear.


    Her deformed face and bloodied body.


    Reduced to such a pathetic state.


    All by the man before her.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon Ashford.


    When did it all start to change? She wondered.


    Every since piece of her body was screaming to run right now.


    It screamed fear and death when she met the gaze of the person in front of him.


    Pain shot up in her whole body as she barely shed a tear through her eyes.


    She was going to...


    ''Lose.''


    Her body shuddered at the word.


    She had never thought she woulde to know this word.


    It didn''t exist for such a perfect girl like her.


    She never acknowledged such an oue for her.


    But not only that...


    From the very person that she had held immense pride against.


    He had totally crushed her like a doll.


    Her question had been flipped back to her now, she realized.


    Her pride. Her golden and high pride.


    What use was it now when she didn''t have the power to back it up?


    Was it even left after what Amon had done to her? She wondered.


    All of a sudden, a voice entered her ears.


    "Hey bitch..."


    "Give your hand to me."


    She looked into the amethyst purple eyes of his.


    They still held a struggle within them. A struggle, a desire to fight and win.


    Despite being powerless without any element right now, he was trying to break out.


    And for that, he needed her hand.


    Her element.


    Her power.


    A lower feeble creature asking for all of them.


    Who would have thought that a moment like this would evere in her life?


    Her element and power were her possession. Her power.


    Her pride.


    But what use was it now that she had no pride left?


    She tried to scoff at how low she hade for this to happen to her.


    A being without any more pride. That''s what she was now.


    All that glory, that attitude. It was all hollow now.


    But...


    If there was a single desire.


    A single wish that still existed in her body.


    It was to not lose.


    No matter what.


    It didn''t matter anymore.


    She couldn''t lose thest of what she had left.


    And so, she opened her mouth subtly.


    Her face scrunched up in pain as she barely moved her fingerless hand forward.


    Tears poured out of her eyes.


    And so eventually, her hand came into contact with a soft and warm skin.


    It was the first time. First time she had cooperated with someone.


    But...


    Somewhere deep down inside of her. Something moved.


    Something warmed up.


    Something felt good.


    Liliana....


    she....


    Didn''t want to lose.


    Her handpletely touched Ren''s hand.


    ***


    Amon brought his fist down on Liliana''s face,pletely smashing it into a paste of flesh and


    blood.


    "Sit down bitch. Be humble." He said.


    Her body disintegrated into a stream of blue particles.


    [Liliana from Team B has been eliminated.]


    But Amon couldn''t focus on that right now.


    Immediately, a sharp shockwave of wind impacted him, sending him crashing down on the


    roof.


    Amon felt Alya and Adam move on the roof but he raised his arm to stop them.


    "Stop. I''ll handle this."


    They silently nodded.


    Amon knew that they were overwhelmed by what he had done to Liliana.


    Even Adam, who didn''t expect something this brutal to happen.


    But he didn''tin or say anything about it unlike Alya who had asked him to stop.


    But it had obviously gone to deaf ears.


    Amon had fulfilled his purpose.


    He had alreadypleted it halfway into the torture.


    To crush her whole pride. Her whole identity.


    The other half was just him letting out the hate he had piled up within him for all this time.


    It felt good. Satisfying.


    Focusing his gaze on the front, Amon saw various attacksing from Ren as he sessfully


    dodged them.


    ''I''m a little bit low on mana...'' Amon realized.


    Due to the straight jump in battle from the previous one where he had destroyed them


    quickly, he didn''t have any chance to replenish it.


    Especially when he was fighting 2 at a time.


    ''I''ll end this in one move.'' He thought as he rushed forward.


    Seeing the sudden charge, Ren did the same,unching multiple des of wind in the process.


    Amon attempted to dodge them but was taken off guard when his feet were suddenly swept


    off the ground.


    But he was still able to dodge them partly, only getting deep cuts on his shoulder and arms. Yet, he didn''t stop his charge as he continued to stride forward.


    The wind sliced at his clothes and the ground as he blocked a fist from Ren, finally getting


    close to him.


    But just as Ren was about to move, Amon let go of his fist.


    He instantly brought his hand which was now dded in a metal sheen of blood near Ren''s


    ears.


    Lightning crackled around the palm as he joined his fingers.


    Before pouring all of his mana into them.


    And then...


    Flick


    He did a normal flick in the air.


    But in the next second...


    BOOOOOM!


    A ginormous shockwave spread throughout the whole area, creating several supersonic


    booms.


    Ren''s ears burst out of blood as he was instantly eliminated while all the windows in the areas


    broke down into tiny fragments.


    Buildings crumbled under the force of the shockwave, some even breaking down.


    Alya and Adam clutched at their ears as all of them also disintegrated into blue chunks.


    [Ren from Team B has been eliminated.] [FULLDIVE Team Battles Final is over.]

 Chapter 196: Void Training III [1]

    Chapter 196: Void Training III [1]


    ?


    ****


    Amon opened his eyes as he heard his pod open with a bulging pop.


    Cold steam poured out as the lid opened and he stepped out.


    Like always, everyone in the hall was silent, staring at him.


    However, this time even fear was included in those gazes.


    Amon didn''t care though.


    He ignored all of the stares and looked at Adam and Alya who stepped out of their pods.


    He smiled subtly and gave a thumbs-up.


    "Congrattions to us for winning the team battles." His silent voice urred in the hall.


    From the front, he saw the opposing team step out as well.


    Liliana''s eyes were empty kind of. Soulless in a way.


    She simply left the hall without a word even when Alya and Charlotte called her.


    Ren, however, clicked his tongue.


    "Fuck...so close." He said.


    He didn''t seem to be fazed by what happened in the match.


    Rather, he looked at Amon and came running locking him in a hug.


    "Yo, congrats for winning the event bro!"


    He tapped his chest.


    "Nice beat up to the bitch as well."


    Amon''s face erupted into a smallughter.


    "Yeah."


    "Your strength is crazy," Renmented with wide eyes.


    "You would have pped them all from early on if you chose to reveal your powers." Heughed and Amon shrugged.


    "If I did that, then I would have never met you guys."


    Renughed back and patted his back.


    "True. I''m d that we all met back then on the first day."


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah. Me too."


    After breaking off with Ren, Amon walked over to Maxville who congratted him for the win.


    After some chatter with him as well, Amon decided to walk out of the building when he saw Elizabeth standing in the distance.


    Her silver eyes locked with him and he saw her instantly avert her gaze.


    ''Hmm?'' Amon tilted his head.


    He subtly activated [Void Eyes] to see what was wrong with her.


    ''Oh.''


    It was then that he noticed the sweat on her face and her asional trembling of gaze whenever she looked at his hands.


    He realized the problem with her.


    She was scared.


    Scared of what he had done in that FULLDIVE match.


    ''She fears me as well huh...''


    He remained silent for a few moments, waiting to see if she would reciprocate his gaze.


    But she didn''t even and eventually walked out.


    Amon stared silently at the spot where she was standing before shrugging.


    ''Whatever.'' He walked out of the building.


    ***


    As Amon arrived out of the building, he heard a familiar voice shout out to him.


    A smile pulled on his lips as he recognized who it was.


    He looked up and saw Katherine and Amelia heading toward him.


    Katherine hugged him with a beaming face.


    "Heartiest Congrattions!"


    Amon smiled and reciprocated the hug.


    "Thanks sis. Appreciate it."


    They stayed like that for a few seconds before she broke off her hug and his gaze moved to Amelia.


    "That was a great match. Congrats on winning thepetition Amon." She greeted him.


    Amon extended his hand to greet her back before he suddenly stopped, remembering the scene with Elizabeth just now.


    ''She might be the same.''


    He was about to pull back when she shook his hand, catching him by surprise.


    "It''s okay. I don''t mind it." She said, referencing to Elizabeth.


    Amon was surprised to know that she had seen it.


    ''You saw?''


    She gestured to an empty spot beside her, making Amon realize.


    Alice was probably with them as well but she had separated when she saw Elizabeth rushing


    out like that.


    Which was seen by Amelia and Katherine as well.


    ''Ah.'' Amon opened his mouth subtly before closing it.


    He smiled, shaking her hand back.


    It was surprising for him to see Amelia unaffected by what he had done.


    Except for his sister, everyone had been looking at him with weird gazes ever since he came


    out.


    So to find someone looking at him normally with a smile...


    It felt good. That people didn''t take it to their minds.


    It felt warm.


    "Since the team battles have already concluded today, tomorrow should be a day off right?"


    Amelia asked.


    Amon nodded.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Yeah, probably."


    He looked over to Katherine.


    "Is that the case?"


    She nodded back.


    "Probably. I should get a notification rted to it soon from the management."


    After that, the trio made some small chatter before Katherine excused herself and Amelia.


    "Well, we two have to get back to our duties now. You can go back to the apartment and rest, I''m sure you are tired." Katherine ruffled his hair.


    Amon nodded, waving at them with a smile.


    "Alright. Take care, you guys."


    They waved back and then left.


    Amon sighed.


    It truly was a tiring day.


    But he couldn''t go back to the apartment yet.


    There was something else he had to do.


    ***


    In a hospital room, the machines beeped at a constant rate.


    They were one of the two sounds that were breaking the dark silence of the room.


    And the second...


    Was tired andbored breathing of the person on the bed.


    It was very slow and silent. As if the person was holding onto thest clutches of their life.


    All of a sudden, the sound of something rolling was heard in the room.


    It was very faint. So faint that the person on the bed remained undisturbed in their sleep.


    And in the next second, a person suddenly appeared in the room.


    They had a ck cloak around them with a cane in their hand.


    The cane slowly tapped on the ground as the person walked up to the patient on the bed.


    The patient still hadn''t noticed the presence in the room.


    As the cloaked man arrived before the patient''s bad, he raised his hand holding the cane.


    It remained in the air for one second before he put it down.


    And then, he started walking off, his cane tapping against the ground again.


    Just like he had entered, he disappeared as well.


    The room returned to its usual silence and state.


    As if no one had entered or left at all.


    It was just like before.


    However, no one would be able to notice the small blipping green dot, that was hidden on the


    patient''s body.

 Chapter 197: Void Training III [2]

    Chapter 197: Void Training III [2]


    ?


    ***


    Morning came and with it also opened Amon''s eyes.


    Coming out of the room, like always, Katherine had already left and Lily was sleeping on the couch.


    Waking her up by lightly dabbing her cheek, he quickly started cooking breakfast.


    Meanwhile, Zephyra yed with Lily and her toys.


    Once they both were done with breakfast, Amon came into his room.


    It was currently 10 AM.


    ''It should be a good time to start now.'' Amon thought as he quickly opened his system.


    And just like he thought, the timer wasn''t there anymore.


    He could jump into [Void Training] whenever he wanted now.


    Before falling asleep, he opened his messenger to check for any new updates.


    Just like always, Charlotte and others were congratting him for the win in the group chat.


    Amon replied with an appreciation message and was about to close when he noticed Elizabeth''s separate DM.


    He opened it up.


    [Elizabeth: Hey Amon, I wanted to separately congratte you for the Team Battle Win. It was a great performance and battle!]


    There was another message below.


    [Elizabeth: If you aren''t busy, can we meet up? I wanted to talk face-to-face with you about some things.]


    Looking at her messages, Amon knew that she had probably realized her mistaketer.


    Whether she did it herself or her sister told her, he didn''t know.


    But she had congratted him now.


    As for the second message, Amon wasn''t that oblivious.


    Since they hadn''t spent that much time after ''that'', she probably wanted to hang out with him.


    It was a date basically. She was asking him out for that.


    But she was hiding it with an apology for what she did tomorrow and to celebrate his win. That was what Amon thought.


    Unfortunately for her, she had picked the worst time she could to ask him out.


    Sure, he had no problem going out to spend some time with her on any day.


    Rather, it would help him sort out his feelings for her and give her a straight-up answer now that she was better.


    But.


    Today was the only day he could do [Void Training] and he wasn''t going to risk it for a date.


    Some things just took more priority over others.


    Especially since after this, there would be no free day in the whole week.


    There was also the iing event.


    With that thought in mind, he quickly messaged Elizabeth back.


    He could have just ghosted her, but he felt that would be weird for her.


    Considering she knew that he used his watch a lot.


    [Amon: Hey Elizabeth, appreciate the kind words. They mean a lot.]


    [Amon: Unfortunately, it''s gonna be hard to hang out today. Am busy with some matters. Let''s do it on some other day.]


    Sending the messages, he slumped back into his bed.


    As he closed his eyes trying to sleep, he got a realization in his head.


    It was how Elizabeth talked with her.


    Unlike how he and others talked to each other, in a casual tone now, she still used tomunicate with him in a formal tone.


    He didn''t know why it was like that considering he also used casual with her.


    But it was still just a random thought.


    And then, he closed his eyes, waiting for sleep toe.


    Until.


    [Wee to Void Training III]


    ***


    As Amon opened his eyes, he found himself in the familiar Void expanse again.


    A starless Void, filled with nothing but pitch-ck darkness.


    The constant echoing hum of the Void was pleasant to the ears for some reason.


    Looking around, he received a simr notification again.


    Initiating [Void Training].


    Please prepare yourself.


    Nodding, he looked to the side where the weapon rack appeared automatically.


    Without any hesitation, he picked his trusty midnight ck odachi.


    As he got it from the shelf, another notification appeared.


    The Weapon [Odachi] has been selected.


    Do you wish to confirm it as your weapon of choice?


    Yes/No


    He nodded, confirming his choice.


    ''Yes.''


    The notification closed and immediately the expanse shook with a tremor.


    Unlike previous times, Amon was prepared, not to lose his bnce.


    The hollow floor and sky disappeared, being reced by sand and sand all around and a clear


    sky above.


    With arge shining sun in the center, spreading its embrace over the whole expanse.


    As far as he could see, only sand existed.


    It stretched out over the whole Void.


    The atmospheric features also shifted to amodate the environment as the sudden cold


    quickly shifted to zing heat.


    Sweat was quick to pop out of Amon''s face, trickling down his face.


    At the same time, another notification appeared in his view.


    Commencing [Void Training], please get ready.


    For the training, use of the following is not allowed:


    -Blood


    -Lightning


    -Zephyra (Familiar Art: Allowed) (Physical Manifestation: Not Allowed)


    -Crystal


    -Sound


    -Vain (Familiar Art: Allowed) (Physical Manifestation: Not Allowed)


    Amon wasn''t surprised by the new additions.


    The only thing that was a little shocking for him was the allowing of familiar arts.


    He half-expected them to be not allowed.


    But he wasn''tining. It was easier for him that way.


    But as the window closed, Amon received another message.


    Objectives to Complete [Void Training III]


    Main Objective:


    [Obtain the Worm Queen''s Blood 0/50L]


    Side Objectives:


    [Defeat 100 Worms] [0/100]


    [Defeat 200 Worms] [0/200]


    [Defeat 250 Worms] [0/250]


    Time Limit: 10 Hours


    Water Level: [100/100%] (Training fails if the level reaches 0%)


    ''What the fuck?'' Amon was surprised to see the new window.


    He had never received it before.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But he quickly skimmed his eyes over it.


    Interestingly, the objectives and side objectives were shown to him before the training this


    time.


    It was a little better, considering he knew what to do.


    However, the disadvantages were also severe.


    Especially the time limit and water level.


    10 hours to find the worms, kill them, and also obtain Queen''s Blood were insane.


    It was a really short time.


    Not only that but also the water level.


    He knew there would be many factors affecting the water level that weren''t exined.


    However, one he knew for sure was the proportional decrease of the level with his mana


    expenditure.


    Also, the basic factor, which was how much he sweated.


    ''I need to get out of this heat quickly.'' Amon thought.


    ''Welp, we won''t know what to do unless we travel.'' He concluded his thoughts as he quickly


    started running in his desert travel suit.


    But just as he took 3 steps, his feet started to sink in quicksand.


    No, there was something below him.


    It was like a whirling spiral below him as sand continued to suck down before he suddenly


    realized and jumped in the air.


    And in the next second, a behemoth-sized worm erupted out of the sand, into the air, the


    fangs around its circr mouth spinning.


    ''The wee party is already here huh.'' Amon unsheated his nodachi.


    Beforeunching forward.

 Chapter 198: Void Training III [3]

    Chapter 198: Void Training III [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon unsheathed his odachi, locking his gaze on the worm.


    It was about to dive back into the ground.


    But Amon wasn''t going to let the opportunity go like that.


    He had an idea.


    It was something he had thought of long ago.


    And it was to apply [Void Touch] to his weapons.


    And it actually worked. But the problem was that the weapon''s metal would start to decay.


    No matter how strong it was, it would start to tear up.


    That''s just how strong [Void] was.


    And having only one prime weapon, Amon wasn''t that keen on destroying it.


    But the case was different in [Void Training].


    If his reasoning was correct, applying [Void Touch] to the odachi would be perfectly fine.


    It was because the weapons he picked from the [Void Expanse] should have been [Void] attributed themselves.


    Considering they did look like the [Void] and were probably made from the [Void] itself.


    It would be a little risky if his thoughts were wrong since the current odachi was the only weapon he had.


    But he was willing to take it.


    ''[Void Touch]'' Amon said, coating his odachi in an ethereal purple hue.


    And in the next second, he shot through the air toward the worm.


    Hended right on top of its gaping maw, his nodachi colliding with the metal des of the


    worm.


    The des made it impossible to go inside its mouth.


    Fortunately, Amon had a fix.


    Instantly, his whole body disintegrated into ck wisps of smoke that passed through the des.


    He emerged inside the salivary mouth of the worm.


    But he didn''t waste any moment, quickly thrusting his odachi into the flesh of the worm. SQUELCH!


    The odachi cleanly sliced in with a little bit of resistance.


    SCREECH!


    The worm screamed but Amon paid it no mind.


    Pushing himself down its hollow body, he dragged the odachi through its whole body.


    Slicing itpletely open, with a slimy substance erupting out of its flesh and walls.


    The worm wailed and screeched in pain, thrusting its body around.


    Amon held himself still using its flesh as a support.


    But his eyes widened when a ssh of the slimy substancended on his battered desert-like bodysuit.


    SSSSTTT!


    A sizzling burning sound echoed as Amon saw the part where the substancended being burnt.


    The slimy fluid was like an acid.


    Fortunately, before it could go further in Amon immediately evaporated it using [Void Touch].


    Finally, the worm turned limp as its body crashed into the ground, shaking the ground violently.


    Amon quickly stepped out of its body by using [Voidstep].


    Exhaling in relief, Amon looked at its rolled-up dead body.


    Instantly, he saw two notifications in front of him.


    A familiar one.


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    And a new one.


    [1 Worm Defeated!: 1/100]


    Ignoring the notification, he stepped toward the worm.


    He examined its mouth first, where the des that were previously rotating had now died down.


    They were veryrge, almost as high as a street pole and as wide as a bed.


    This made it impossible to use them as a weapon.


    But...


    Amon coated his finger in [Void Touch].


    And touched it on the edge of a de, before starting to draw a specific shape.


    Wherever his finger went, the part underneath started to decay carving out the metal from the rest of the de.


    Before in a minute, he had carved out a beautiful metal dagger from the de.


    He made another one before proceeding to the skin of the worm, where thick and hardened brown scales covered its whole body.


    They were rough and jagged.


    Amon stabbed his odachi in its skin and it was immediately stuck, making only a small cut in


    the scales.


    It was the reason why he didn''t attack the worm from outside.


    He could have still killed it but it would have taken a lot more effort and time.


    And he didn''t have time to waste any of those.


    It was then that he had an idea.


    Multiple sharp, ethereal purple threads looped around his hand and he looped them carefully around a scale.


    Making more and more threads, he eventually covered the scale in a cylindrical shape with the


    threads.


    The sharp threads cut into the scale, and with the disintegration attribute, he soon had a cylindrical part cut out from the scale.


    It was like the hilt of a sword or the handle of a kunai.


    He made another one as well.


    Before...


    Taking out both his metal daggers and then putting them into the two makeshift hilts.


    It didn''t perfectly fit in but it was fine for some uses.


    He needed to find some type of string or something before he could perfectly use them.


    Suddenly, his attention was caught by a leaking transparent liquid out of the worm''s body.


    From the part where he had just torn the scales off of.


    Stepping forward, he took a drop of the fluid on his finger.


    He knew it wasn''t the acid because it had a kind of dirty yellowish tint.


    This was like crystal water.


    And he was right, as the drop seeped into his clothes immediately at contact.


    To his surprise, there was no tearing of clothes or clothes getting wet from the liquid.


    He didn''t even feel it.


    But as the drop disappeared, he suddenly got a notification in front of him.


    [Water Level Increased by 0.01%]


    ''Oh?'' Amon raised his brows, standing up and walking closer to the fluid.


    He checked his water level.


    [Water Level: 98.8%]


    He had lost quite a bit.


    But he wasn''t worried about it.


    Now that he knew how much water would be lost with the ording mana expenditure, he


    could adjust it better.


    But for now... Amon immediately started to store the fluid in a bottle that was already provided to him on


    the side of his suit.


    It was like a rag cloth or something like that.


    But he was happy as long as it could store something.


    ***


    [After 10 Minutes]


    Amon wiped the sweat off of his forehead.


    He had stored at least 0.1% of water reserves in the bottle.


    It wasn''t much but it was certainly something.


    He would get more on the way.


    For now, he needed to move to killing more worms.


    Already, he had wasted 30 minutes in killing and everything.


    As he was about to stride forward, Amon suddenly saw the ground shake with an intense


    rumble again.


    The desert sand sprang up as a sharp wind ran through thend.


    Amon quickly covered his eyes, squinting them through a gap and looking forward.


    And far off in the distance, he made out 4 arching backs of some sort cutting through the sand


    at an insane speed.


    It didn''t take an idiot to understand what it was.


    They were worms. 4 of them.


    And they were heading straight towards Amon.


    ''Fuck...'' Amon cursed.


    Even though he was happy that so many of them wereing toward him and this would cut


    his search.


    But...


    It was also going to be a difficult fight because of theirrge number.


    He tried to think of how they even found out he was there.


    Because they were too many for it to be just a coincidence.


    ''Did they sense my footsteps?'' Amon thought.


    It was certainly possible. Maybe their senses were extremely high that they could sense the sounds of the sand.


    But.


    Amon had another reason for it in his mind.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And it was the screams of the worm.


    Even though it might be his footsteps, Amon considered them too silent for them to be


    sensed by worms miles away.


    He was leaning more toward the screeches, which were so loud that they could probably be


    heard from far away.


    In any case, he would just have to be more careful going forward.


    But as an advantage, it would be a good method to locate the queen''sir.


    Considering that was where the most worms might being from anyway. Keeping the direction from where they were approaching in mind, Amon unsheathed his


    nodachi once more.


    And then, weaved several threads around his arms shooting them forward.


    The threads cleanly looped around the neck of a worm, now that they were only several


    meters away.


    And then, he pulled himself, while immediately using [Smokesoul Mirage] to disappear through its des.


    This message was supposed to be posted yesterday but I forgot.


    Hello Readers, Author here.


    This is me speaking from 6th October, the current day so it''s a new notice from privilege.


    It''s that this week, I have my monthly exams which are very important.


    Due to that, I''ll be focusing on my studies and because of that, you might face irregr


    update times and sometimes only 1 chapter a day but a long one.


    It will only be for this week and for that I apologize to you all.


    Don''t worry, you will still get words equivalent to 2 chapters a day. I just ask for you all to bear


    with me.


    Thanks for reading and all the support you give to this novel. Appreciate it!

 Chapter 199: Michaels Resolve (Special Chapter)

    Chapter 199: Michael''s Resolve (Special Chapter)


    ?


    ***


    Michael barely countered the ws of a ghoul beast, flipping in the air before shing it down with his sword.


    Hended on the ground, sighing.


    The crimson mes on his sword died down and he sat down.


    His body was currently covered in scratches and cuts, blood trickling down from many parts.


    [You push yourself too much man.] He heard a voice from the side.


    Looking to the side, he saw a man with crimson hair-that was glowing around the edges and swaying in the air-crimson eyes, sitting on arge boulder, topless.


    Sran stared at him, with a contemting gaze.


    "I need to," Michael replied, clenching his fist.


    As if in agreement with Sran, Michael felt someone nudge his arm from the side.


    Looking to the side, he saw a gigantic tiger resting on the ground, with its head on its palms and eyes closed.


    It was almost a tiger, with its tail being like a lizard, long and thick.


    Its mane was pitch ck, cascading down its back with ck armor covering its arms and shoulder.


    It was Michael''s familiar, Sithraxi.


    "I understand Sithy but..."


    The memory of the match reyed in Michael''s mind.


    It had started well.


    They were both equal to each other in their elements.


    No, Michael was winning till a certain point.


    Just like in the previous FULLDIVE.


    However, when his [Void] element came into a fight with his [Sun] element.


    That was when things took a sharp turn.


    There was no doubt in Michael''s mind.


    His [Void] element was a lot more refined and stronger than his [Sun] element.


    And the advantage wasn''t by default. It was the result of Amon''s efforts.


    Thatst strike...


    That gigantic mass of pure destruction.


    It would have killed Michael. He knew it. But he was saved at thest moment by the barrier.


    The scene was still imprinted in Michael''s mind. A scene of absolute defeat.


    Despite using even thest ounce of mana coupled with his Elemental Integration, his attack had failed against Amon''s.


    It was just...


    Erasure. His attack representedplete erasure and destruction. The true essence of Void.


    To obliterate everything without any regard for what''s in the path.


    It was. Gorgeous.


    [It''s useless topare yourself to ''him''.] Sran shrugged, trying to ease his worries.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He didn''t name him, probably because of Zephyra.


    "I know but...I can''t lose here." Michael stared ahead, at the overstretching cave.


    ''When had our strengths grown so far apart?'' Michael wondered.


    They had started off on the same level.


    But somewhere down the line, the difference between their strengths had started to grow.


    It grew and grew until...


    Amon wasn''t just a rival for Michael anymore.


    He was like an idol now.


    Someone he needed to catch up to. Someone whom he looked up to.


    Building up his resolve once more, Michael released a sharp exhale before standing up.


    He bore the pain and tightly clutched his sword, taking support from Sithraxi to stand.


    The ce where he was currently at, was a Dungeon.


    However, unlike the normal dungeons, it was like a long hallway.


    With 100 partitions, with each of them containing different types of monsters they got more stronger and numerous with each partition.


    It was a feature of the system. One that he had only gotten recently after the match.


    As soon as it appeared on his screen, he jumped into it to get stronger.


    And minutes ago, he had finally cleared the 7th Partition.


    He hadn''t gone to watch the team battles or anything after that.


    All he knew was that he needed to get out before the Battle Royale.


    And from what he knew, today was the day for the finals and semi-finals of the Team Battles.


    Which meant he still had one day.


    ''Just one more partition..'' Michael gritted his teeth as he started to walk.


    [You are going to kill yourself at this rate boy.] Sran spoke seriously, a stark contrast to his joking demeanor.


    Michael made a scoffing sound.


    "Dying would be much better for me than staying in ''his'' shadows forever."


    His sword suddenly ignited in a scorching crimson me again.


    Ember flew around in the air at every minor movement of the sword, crackling in the air.


    Pain shot up through his whole being as he felt his blood boiling as if it were set on fire.


    Veins throbbed on his arm, threatening to burst any second as his eyes became bloodshot. His heart hammered against his chest as if it was going to burst out any second.


    These were the side effects of using the Sun, just like Void.


    It would burn away at his body.


    His blood, heart, and everything.


    He could scorch himself to death if he didn''t control it properly.


    ''System'' Michael said.


    Immediately, an interface opened up in front of him.


    ====[ STATUS WINDOW ]====


    Name: Michael Von Lancaster


    Age: 18 Aspect: Clover


    ss: Hero


    You are the hero of this world. The one to spread light and hope all around. The one to bring


    it out of the jaws of darkness.


    Leaves:¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á???????*


    Elements:||Sun||||Fire||||Wind||||Water||||Earth"


    Elemental Info:[]Skills Levels


    Talent: 10th Order]


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ? ? ?


    STR: ? ?00*


    AGI: ?????


    END: ? ? ?


    INT: ?????


    Skills Partition ExplorationInventory]


    Michael nodded, satisfied by the increases.


    His [Vitality], [Endurance], and [Strength] had increased.


    Which was to be expected considering how much he was using [Sun].


    Despite how much it burned away at him, the more he endured it, the more it increased his


    vitality and health as well.


    Closing his window, Michael walked over to the runic gate that was the gateway to the next


    partition.


    Runic engravings ran over the whole gate, spreading out from a circr button in the center


    of the gate.


    Raising his hand, Michael pressed the button and instantly, the engravings lighted up in a


    crimson light.


    A distorting, glitching sound emerged from the gate in the next moment as the gate opened,


    revealing arge portal.


    ''Just one more..'' Michael repeated to himself as he stepped through the gate.


    ''One more.''

 Chapter 200: Void Training III [4]

    Chapter 200: Void Training III [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon wiped the sweat off his face, slumping down on the ground, tired.


    He set his odachi to the side before wiping the sweat on his face.


    His breaths came out in tired gasps.


    "Sigh..." He sighed, gazing at the notifications that appeared in front of him.


    [Defeated 1 Worm! 100/100]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    Around him, multiple bodies of wormsy strewn across the sand, dead and curled up.


    His cloak and multiple parts on the bodysuit were torn.


    A multitude of cracks ran over his arms and neck.


    It had been a long battle, with the sun almost close to setting now.


    Fortunately, he was able to pull through.


    After defeating multiple worms, Amon realized it would take too long to beat them all.


    Which was why he created multiple quakes to attract as many worms as he could toward him. While in the meantime, he wasying a trap with his [Void Threads].


    To those threads, he also attached therge number of daggers that he had made, coating them with [Void Touch].


    When the worms swarmed the area inrge amounts, the trap had been triggered.


    They werepletely strangled in threads that destroyed their scales and cut through their bodies at the same time.


    The daggers also stabbed through their exposed bodies.


    While it was a little difficult at first, with his mana and water level being rapidly drained, everything changed when...


    His [Void] element leveled up after multiple kills.


    After that, it was like a hot knife cutting through butter as the threadspletely sliced through them.


    It was a long and tiring battle, but fortunately, he was able to pull through.


    Standing up, Amon turned back to their exposed bodies and quickly started to drain their water fluid.


    It took him about an hour but once he was done, he was satisfied with the output.


    He checked his water level.


    [Water Level: 76-79%]


    Wiping his sweat once more, Amon stared far off in the distance.


    There was another piece of information he had gained from the trap.


    Just like he had thought, all of the worms had rushed from only one direction.


    And it was the direction of the sun.


    After the fight, whichsted like 4 hours, he had about 5 hours left now.


    Not wanting to waste any more time, Amon immediately started running forward.


    But just before he started his rush, he had a sudden thought.


    ''Hmmm...''


    Even though it would take a portion of his mana, in the end, he chose to do what he had in mind.


    And once he was done.


    He blitzed through the sand at full speed, his hood pulled up to prevent the sand from going into his eyes.


    Even with the air push from behind that aided his motion, he was having a problem.


    ''I''m still not fast enough...'' Heined.


    He didn''t know how far theirir was but...


    If he traveled at this rate, he would waste too much time.


    Amon started to rack his brain on how to travel fast.


    He had no [Lightning] element or Nultharia for travel.


    There was no application of [Void] for travel. It would still be a while before he could open portals.


    But then, his brain clicked back to the team battles.


    In the tundra terrain...


    He quickly retrieved one of his daggers and threw it across the sand field with full force.


    Unlike before, he had no way to aid its speed but he just needed small boosts.


    Amon activated [Void Eyes], and poured all of his mana into them as they glowed amethyst.


    And far away, he saw his dagger close tonding.


    But at the same time, he used [Voidteleport].


    As soon as he teleported, he shot off once more before spamming [Voidsteps].


    And his speed of travel was 8x faster than before.


    ***


    [After 1 Hour]


    Amon watched with widened eyes through his hood.


    He was perched upon a hoodoo, a thin spire of rocks rising high into the sky.


    And what he saw, left him astonished.


    Right before him was a gigantic canyon, that spanned multiple hundreds of meters on all


    sides.


    And right in that canyon...


    Was a swarm of worms, crawling around the area in a serpentine motion.


    Screeches and screams often resounded from thepletely packed area below.


    But not only that...


    On two sides of the canyon, where there were supposed to be enormous thick walls of rock. Multiple giant pathways led underground, one in the north and one in the south.


    ''This is a mess...'' Amon concluded.


    From what he had concluded, the southern pathway was probably where all the worms rushed


    to.


    Whenever there was a sound.


    His reasoning for this was of course because it was the direction where he had just arrived


    from.


    Which left the northern pathway.


    ''It should probably lead to the queen''s room.''


    He was probably correct. Unless there was another worm nest far away which Amon doubted.


    The system wouldn''t give him such a short time and a gigantic map to explore.


    Which was why...


    His main objective was right in front.


    The only problem was the swarm of worms at the bottom.


    He needed to get rid of them.


    Fortunately, he had a n.


    ''You can do it now.''


    ''Alright.'' He received a reply in his thoughts.


    And immediately as the reply came, the worms suddenly screeched simultaneously.


    All of them started to wriggle furiously and the ground started to quake vigorously. One by one every snake started to rush in through the southern pathway. Amon quickly hid himself and held on to the ground for support, careful not to make a noise.


    He stayed like that for at least 10 minutes until the whole canyon below him was empty. Not a single sign of worm remained. It waspletely clean.


    But even then, he made sure to stay there for another minute for the worms to get out of


    range.


    It was then that he jumped down carefully into the canyon, careful not to make a noise.


    ''I have 30 minutes to find the queen now.''


    That was the time until the worms would return.


    What he had just done was because of the action that he did before running off.


    Before leaving the worms, he had anticipated the area to be crowded like this.


    And so, even though it would drain his mana, he had left a clone of himself there.


    On his signal, the clone had messed with the dead bodies of the worms there, creating such a


    powerful sound that the worms present in the canyon, went haywire.


    It was a good decision to leave a clone before running off.


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon immediately dissolved his feet into ck smoke to not make a


    noise.


    There could still be worms guarding the queen in the northern pathway.


    ''Alright, time to find the queen.'' Amon pulled up his hood before shooting forward.


    200 Chapters huh?


    We surely came a long way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Thanks a lot to my readers for reading and supporting this novel till now.


    I appreciate it deeply.


    This is a first for me.


    Could have nevere this far without you all.


    Thank you again.

 Chapter 201: Void Training III [5]

    Chapter 201: Void Training III [5]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes widened as he finally arrived at the end of the tunnel.


    It waspletely dark and he had been traveling for over 30 minutes.


    But now, he had reached the end.


    And what he saw left him shocked to the core.


    Right before him was spherical shaped cave.


    And the entirety of that cave, was taken over by a thick white webby mess.


    The material seemed to be the liquid fluid that excreted from a worms body.


    The web was shaped like a throne with it separating into a messy entanglement of threads that headed towards the side of the walls.


    But they didn''t stop at the border of the cave.


    The walls hadrge circr pathways that were present in every direction of the cave.


    The threads headed into those pathways, heading to a destination that only god knew what it


    was.


    Well, not god.


    Gods and goddesses in this world were pretty dumb.


    In any case, the astonishing thing about the cave was the creature.


    The one sitting at the top of the throne made of threads.


    With two emulciated legs that stuck to the web, it had a hard scaled body. Four sharp long ded pincers protruded from its numerous w like teeth. Its arms were also covered in a hard brown armor, bending at unsual angles. Two curved des erupted from where its hands were supposed to be.


    In a sense, it seemed to be abination between a worm and a de machine of some sort.


    There was no doubt in Amon''s mind.


    It was definitely the Worm Queen.


    And look into the sharp crimson slits that shone from inside the t ted head, Amon also knew it was awake.


    So there was no use hiding his footsteps now.


    Amon disabled his [Smokesoul Mirage].


    And soon as his feet touched the ground, the queen immediately screeched.


    It was so sharp that the rocks in the surroundings burst into splinters and Amon clutched his


    ears.


    The queen had taken it as a battle initiation signal.


    ''Shit.'' Amon cursed.


    He obviously knew what the cry meant.


    The worms...


    They were probably rushing back now.


    If they returned, then Amon was definitely dead.


    At least in this constricted ce.


    For now, he just had to focus on the queen.


    The queen''s feet disconnected from the threads and Amon bent his body.


    Any second now...


    Sweat trickled down Amon''s face as he exhaled lightly.


    And at that moment, the queen suddenly blurred and disappeared from view.


    Amon''s eyes widened.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    CLICK! CLANG!


    Simultaneously, the sound of unsheathing and shing rang out.


    Amon''s danger sense went haywire as he blocked a sharp de to his neck with his odachi


    Sparks rang out as he struggled to contain the de.


    The queen was definitely stronger than him in pure strength.


    His odachi was getting pushed back.


    Letting go of his odachi, Amon let it drop.


    The queen''s de immediately pushed through.


    However a second before it made impact with Amon''s neck.


    Thetter turned into a wisp of smoke.


    The de passed harmlessly through without any damage.


    Stomping his foot on the ground, Amon''s odachi spun from the impact andnded back in his hand.


    Coating it with [Void Touch], Amon shed it at its chest.


    The odachi cleanly connected with its chest te.


    CLANG!


    However...


    It barely made some cracks on the armor.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    And that one second of letting his guard down was enough for the queen to fight back.


    It headbutted straight into Amon''s face, nocking it straight down.


    Crack...Crack


    Cracking sounds rang out in the air as Amon felt his vision blur.


    The queen wasted no opportunity.


    It smashed its knee into Amon''s nose, sending him crashing into the ceiling above.


    The queen followed suit as it smashed its whole weight into Amon''s body.


    The ceiling broke and they were sent breaking through the floors.


    Erupting out of the sand on the other side into the air.


    The cold night air worsened the pain that shot up his whole body.


    Fortunately, it also helped him snap back into focus.


    A second before the queen attacked him again, he used [Voidstep].


    Amon appeared right behind it.


    Encasing his leg with [Void Touch], Amonnded a straight axe kick on its head.


    Crack....Crackk


    Multiple cracks appeared on the surface of the queen''s head.


    And a ring of air spread out as a shockwave resounded in the area, sending the queen into the


    ground.


    But Amon wasn''t done yet.


    Hended on the ground, right beside the queen.


    But as he looked into the crater, it wasn''t there anymore.


    However, Amon''s gaze was calm.


    He had already seen the queen move in the dust.


    His glowing purple eyes darted to his back where he saw 6 des approaching him.


    They were threatening to rip him apart.


    But instantly threads formed out of his hand, and coiled around the des and some parts of


    the queen.


    Gritting his teeth, Amon pulled them with full force, not only halting its motion.


    But also inflicting some cracks on its des and body.


    As the threads flung its body through the sand, Amon suddenly heard a fleshy sound.


    As if something had cut into flesh.


    And his eyes widened when he saw dirty green blood in the air, erupting from the queen''s


    body.


    It was then that he realized.


    That the queen''s armor was simr to a knight''s armor in medieval times.


    And in his past life, he remembered studying somewhere that.


    For the easiness in the movements of knights, there were certain spaces in their armor that


    weren''t covered.


    Especially the joints of the body.


    And it was the same for the queen''s body.


    A n formted in Amon''s mind as his eyes turned calctive.


    The queen screeched in pain and shot through the dust again at Amon. Using the dust to his advantage, Amon quietly startedying out threads on the sand.


    Simultaneously, he shot forward, shing his odachi against its des.


    Again, he let go of the odachi knowing there was no chance in a pure strength battle.


    But...


    He did something else.


    Just when the des were about to reach him, his form blurred and started to spread around.


    In a split moment, there were now 2 versions of Amon around the queen.


    The queen was thrown into confusion.


    Something the Amon took advantage of as one shed its elbow joint with the odachi,


    separating one of its arms from it body.


    While the othernded a clean punch on its head, right where he hadnded the kick before.


    The cracks spread more and its armor finally broke up, revealing its inner head.


    And Amon didn''t hesitate to grab it.


    Immediately, he used [Void''s Influence], overloading its brain with random thoughts.


    Its movements nked out and Amon smashed his knee into its face, smashing it into the


    ground.


    ''Now!'' Amon screamed in his thoughts as both of them pulled.


    The framework of threads he hadid out in the sand finally sprung into action as it looped


    around the queen''s body.


    Or more specifically, her joints.


    Amon clenched his fists, pulling them with full force as they cut into the queen''s body.


    Dirty green blood sprayed in the air with each pull.


    But it wasn''t enough.


    It was not enough to finish it before the threads broke apart.


    Which was why...


    Amon finally manifested his third Void skill in a time of need.


    An idea rang straight in his mind.


    And then...


    One of his arms erupted into a torrent of pure amethyst mes.


    "[Void mes]" He spoke as he grabbed the threads once more.


    ***


    In a dimly lit room, Arthur was seated in his chair.


    It was a cleanly furnished room with shelvesden with books that were arranged properly.


    The items on the table were also positioned properly.


    Putting his legs on the table, Arthur leaned back into his chair.


    He currently had a thoughtful expression on his face as he carefully adjusted his monocle.


    Silence permeated every inch of the room, basking it in its embrace.


    Finally, Arthur''s mouth opened.


    "He''s already reached that far huh. He exceeds my expectations every time."


    His voice rang out in the room.


    Silence once again settled in the room but it was broken.


    However, not by Arthur this time.


    But by another familiar crisp feminine voice.


    "True. He has exceeded our expectations."


    Arthur nodded, his eyes moving to the side of the room where Athena was seated.


    Chew...Chew...


    Her chin bobbed up and down as she chewed on her gum whileying on the sofa.


    A mischievous smile spread across Arthur''s features.


    "Ehh, I wonder how far he will go. My brat disciple." He picked up a paper ne from the


    table.


    Blowing on it, he threw it across the room where itnded on Athena''sp.


    She smiled and picked it up.


    "Well, what did you expect from someone like you."


    All of a sudden, Arthur sprang up in his chair.


    "He unlocked another one..." He voiced out, his voice shocked and amazed.


    Athena''s eyes widened as well as her mouth was left gaping. "A-Already?" She questioned.


    And Arthur nodded, an excited smile on his face.


    "This brat..." His voice trailed off.


    "He surprises me every time." Arthur smiled, a happy once, and leaned back in his chair.


    The smile on Athena''s face returned.


    And she blew on the paper, sending it flying across the room back into Arthur''sp.


    He subtly smiled, seeing the paper ne.


    ''That reminds me...'' He suddenly realized.


    ''[System]''

 Chapter 202: Void Training III [6]

    Chapter 202: Void Training III [6]


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ***


    BOOOOM!


    The desert was hit with a gigantic explosion, shaking its roots to the core.


    The ground rumbled as sand flew in the air.


    It was only after a minute that the booming sound died down.


    But then, crackles were heard in the air.


    Loud and piercing crackles as the dark desert in the sound was illuminated.


    Illuminated by ck and amethyst mes that waved viciously in the air, stretching tens of meters.


    The desert or the sand was burning under those mythical mes, something that should have been impossible.


    Suddenly, a form could be made out in the mes as someone walked out.


    A boy, no older than 18, walked out, stumbling.


    His previously ragged desert suit was nowpletely torn apart from the right side.


    His eyes glowed purple in the moonlight as his hair and arm were encased invender mes that swayed beautifully in the night breeze.


    Cracking sounds were heard as he walked on the sand.


    His face, his neck, his arms.


    All were covered in small,rge cracks that spread throughout his body.


    Crumbs of his skin started to fall down but he quickly canceled the mes and they dispersed.


    His mouth broke into coughs as he tripped and fell to the ground.


    He almost lost consciousness but was saved when he received two notifications in front of him, snapping him back to reality.


    [Queen Worm Killed! 1/1]


    [Main Objective Completed!]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    And Amon felt an immediate change inside his body as the cracks receded.


    And something moved inside of him.


    It was hard to point but it felt like something died out inside him.


    Just like it always happened when he did the [Void Training].


    Another set of notifications appeared in front of him.


    [Would you like to continue the training? Y/N]


    [2 Side Quests still need to bepleted]


    [Water Level: 36%]


    Amon stared at the Water Level.


    It had dropped down by arge amount.


    Not just because of the deathly fight he just had but also because of his usage of [Void mes].


    It was his most dangerous and most mana-consuming [Void Skill].


    It burned away at his body.


    Ate at it from inside, ming his soul.


    He moved to the continuation screen.


    He still had 2 side quests to do.


    And to aplish both, he had to defeat a total of 150 worms.


    Something nearly impossible with the current water level considering how hard it was for just


    100 worms.


    But...


    He was ready to do it.


    For 2 reasons.


    One was that he had nothing to lose from continuing. It was a training, if he died then it wouldn''t kill him.


    And second, was something he saw with [Void Eyes] in that cave.


    A mana reading he had caught in one of the pathways.


    Or more specifically, mana readings.


    Amon felt the ground shake with arge tremor as his eyes widened.


    ''No, no no....'' He gritted his teeth as he gripped the sand, trying to support himself up.


    As he stood up with difficulty, he immediately saw it.


    An enormous sandstorm approached him from a distance.


    The only thing was...


    That it wasn''t a sandstorm.


    It was an army of worms, rushing back to theirir at breakneck speed for their queen.


    ''No, no''


    Amon turned, immediately using [Voidstep] to appear in front of the hole from where he crashed outside.


    Wasting no moment, he jumped down the tunnel, crashing down on the floor.


    He activated [Void Eyes] again, activating them to the maximum and looking at each of the


    pathways.


    ''Where, where, where is it...''


    ''There!'' His eyes widened as he finally spotted the pathway.


    But as he was about to jump again, the ground quaked, throwing him off bnce.


    He fell to the ground but quickly got up, gritting his teeth.


    The worms were close.


    Only a hundred meters away now.


    ''I need to hurry!''


    Amon immediately used [Voidstep] again.


    As hended in the tunnel, he immediately grabbed a rock and threw it at full speed forward.


    It was only after he heard a sound at the end that he used [Voidteleport].


    And he disappeared, before reappearing at the end of the tunnel.


    But as he was about to shoot forward again, his body suddenly stopped in its tracks and his


    eyes widened.


    There was a worm.


    Right in front of him, it''s open mouth an inch away from his face.


    It instantly lunged at Amon''s face.


    But...


    It was futile as he collided with a thick white wall, making it recoil back into the fluid in which


    it was.


    Amon released a sharp exhale as he finally calmed down and stepped back.


    The worm in front of him...


    Was a baby worm.


    It was encased in arge white egg, with a yellowish fluid inside in which the worm was


    swimming.


    Amon realized that it was the egg that the rock had hit.


    But.


    It wasn''t the only egg.


    Amon jumped on a small tform that stuck out on the ceiling of the tunnel.


    And as he did, his jaw dropped.


    Right before him, stretching out for hundreds of meters were worm eggs.


    As far as the eye could see, there were just eggs and eggs.


    ''This....'' Amon was unable to form his words.


    As he was about to move though, the ground beneath him rumbled.


    With such an intensity, cracks spread out on the floor.


    One more shake and it would break down.


    From the far end, Amon heard hundreds of screeches by the worms.


    And because of those screeches...


    The worms inside the eggs went ballistic.


    The eggs started to shake as the waters swirled inside.


    The worms crashed themselves into the walls of the eggs which had cracks on them now


    because of the screams.


    And in the next moment, all of them broke down.


    The fluids lunged out of the shells onto the floor as the wormsnded on the floors.


    In response to their parent worms, they screeched back, making Amon clutch his ears at the


    sheer intensity.


    ''Fuck, fuck, fuck....''


    He stepped back in shock.


    And that step was enough for every worm to know his location as all of them locked onto him.


    The tunnel behind Amon also finally caved in as an army of worms rushed inside to crush him


    down.


    Forced to a corner, Amon had only one option left.


    After executing it, he couldn''t run as well since he would be totally out of mana.


    But he was willing to take the risk.


    He locked eyes with the worms that were mere meters away from him now.


    And a maniacal smile spread across his features, unbeknownst to him. Even in such danger, he was having the time of his life right now.


    "Let''s see who can survive longer." He spoke before his arm suddenly burst into mes.


    Strange and intricate ck markings spread across his face, over to the top of his neck.


    Four small marks appeared under his two glowing eyes as well.


    And in correspondence to the ck mes, they glowed in a lc shade as well.


    Without any hesitation, he waved his arm forward.


    And in response, a sea of ck and violet mes spread forth, taking the whole cave in its


    grasp.


    Even Amon.


    Screams rang out in the cave as Amon heard the sounds of flesh burning.


    The worms instantly turned to ashes in a few seconds.


    But they weren''t the only ones burning. Amon''s skin was seared with hot ming pain.


    He felt as if moltenva was being poured on his skin. Cracks spread across his whole body as his clothes turned to ashes.


    His heart threatened to burst and be ripped apart by the mes.


    His chest and soul ached and his vision blurred.


    All he saw was purple and ck.


    mes were all he saw.


    mes that could burn anything. mes under hismand.


    Amon could burn all of it.


    All of Eldergrove, if he wanted to.


    The human kingdoms, the ghouls...


    The whole world.


    Amon felt his cracked burning face break into a vicious, insane grin as his body began to turn


    into ashes under the destruction of the mes.


    His arms and legs were beginning to disintegrate. Multiple notifications entered his vision.


    [The Void inside you growsrger...] [The Void inside you growsrger...] [Your [Void] element has leveled up!]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...] [The Void inside you growsrger...] [The Void inside.....] [200 Worms Defeated! 200/200]


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    His mind was teetering at the edge of insanity.


    A brink away from the madness.


    It was a beautiful sight.


    The crackles of the sea of mes that devoured every piece of existence.


    Amon could just picture it burning and burning and burning and burning-


    As he felt thest pieces of his body disintegrate into nothingness, two final notifications


    entered his vision.


    [The Void inside you growsrger...]


    [Your element [Void] has leveled up!]


    [250 Worms Defeated! 250/250]


    [Congrattions! You have sessfullypleted [Void Training III]. All questspleted!]


    And then...


    It all cked out.

 Chapter 203: Void Training III [6]

    Chapter 203: Void Training III [6]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes fluttered open as his body jolted awake.


    He bolted upright and quickly looked around, his body still in a constant state of alert.


    He was panting hard and sweat quickly drenched his face, as if he had just seen death or a ghost.


    "Haaaah....haaaaah...haaaaah" He gasped hard.


    His gaze quickly moved to his hands and his eyes widened when he saw them perfectly in tact.


    There wasn''t a single crack on them.


    He tapped his naked body, which was perfectly fine as well.


    "I-I''m still alive..." He murmured.


    But as he did, he heard a charming voice from the side.


    One that was very familiar to him, knowing it for almost an year now.


    "Of course you are, I can''t let you die."


    Amon''s head moved to the side where he saw a woman with pale-white skin, long amethyst hair and beautiful aubergine eyes.


    Her hair rippled in the echoing expanse of the void, as if dancing to its rhythms.


    A smile spread across her features as she gestured to a seat on the other side of the table where she was sitting.


    She wore a glittering backless ck dress that hung tight to her bewitching curves, entuating every inch of her body.


    Her body was so beautifully proportioned that one would think that her body was crafted by a master artisan.


    Amon found himself momentarily lost gazing at her.


    Fortunately, he was quick to snap out of it, already used to it by now.


    It was just that he was seeing her in this form after such a long time.


    He smiled back at her.


    "It''s nice to see you again like this, Zephyra."


    "Oh, I didn''t know you missed me that much." She raised a brow yfully.


    Amonughed.


    "You never change."


    Zephyra joined with a chuckle and snapped her fingers, causing casual clothes to instantly cover Amon''s body.


    "Thanks."


    Zephyra nodded.


    Moving forward, Amon settled down on the chair in front of her.


    "Tea?" she asked.


    Amonughed.


    "You know me."


    She quickly poured themselves two cups of tea.


    Amon took a sip of his tea.


    "Sooo..."


    "What am I doing here again?" He asked.


    Zephyra stared at him.


    "To discuss your rewards of course."


    "Ahhh." Amon pointed at her face.


    "Right. Yeah. I was just testing if you remembered."


    Zephyra stared at him nkly.


    "Did you turn autistic after that fight with the queen?" She asked.


    "No." Amon instantly replied.


    "Wait, how do you even know about the queen fight?"


    Zephyra gave him a baffled stare.


    "Even though you can''t use me, do remember, the whole training is made in my expanse. What do you mean by how do you know?"


    Amon raised his brows.


    "Oh, I didn''t know that,"


    Zephyra massaged her temples.


    "In any case, let''s move on to what came out of this training."


    Seeing that she had dropped the jokes, Amon did the same and focused on what she was about


    to say.


    "First off, congrattions on surviving [Void Training III]. And I mean it, seriously. I was honestly shocked that you were able to make it this far."


    Amon scratched his cheek.


    "Thanks for thepliment, I guess?"


    "You are taking my words lightly. When I call you a mortal, I''m not talking about your body. Even you know, that it''s far beyond the realm of a mortal now."


    Amon nodded but then tilted his head.


    "What are you talking about then?"


    She gestured to his head.


    "Your mental state."


    Amon remained silent at her answer.


    And she continued.


    "[Void], as you know, is an element of emptiness, destruction,plete erasure. It obliterates everything in its path. Unlike [Sun], you can''t possibly think to remain sane when using this element."


    "Even at the mere chance that your body is able to keep up, the element eats away at your brain, it drives you mad with the pain you endure when you use [Void] but..."


    She turned to stare at him.


    "Yet, you show no signs of being affected at all. Even though we aren''t that deep into the stages yet, going through 3 Void Trainings without any affect is mindblowing for an average


    human."


    Understanding her words, Amon nodded in affirmation.


    "But let''s leave that aside for now. Moving on to the next point, that was a great application


    of [Void]." Shemented, smiling.


    Amon''s eyes widened slightly as he understood what she was referring to.


    [Void mes].


    In response to her words, Amon set down the teacup and raised his hand.


    And immediately, amethyst-ck mes burst from his palm, covering it whole.


    A pleased smile spread across Zephyra''s features.


    "Beautiful.." Shemented.


    Amon clenched his fists and they disappeared.


    "It''s a good skill of [Void]. You did a good job in discovering it."


    "Thanks."


    "As you are getting more and more used to [Void], the cracks that spread on your body will decrease. In fact, they should have decreased by a significant amount now."


    Surprised by her words, Amon used [Void Touch].


    And to his surprise, the rate and amount of cracks was drastically slower and low this time.


    "Damn, this is good."


    "Mhm." Zephyra nodded.


    "I don''t think there''s much left to talk about the training itself, so we can now move onto the


    rewards."


    Elemental Points: 2


    Choose Elements:


    1 Point Elements:


    - Ice (Maniption)


    2 Point Elements:


    - Energy (Maniption)


    - Gravity (Maniption)


    - Nature (Maniption)


    A familiar window appeared in front of Amon''s face, startling him.


    He was given the choice to pick elements again.


    But unlikest time, where he pondered upon it too much, there wasn''t much doubt this time.


    He knew what he wanted to pick.


    It was obvious that it would be a 2 Point Element.


    Ice Maniption wouldn''t do him any good and it was the only 1 point element left.


    "Take your ti- " Zephyra spoke but was interrupted when the window suddenly closed.


    Amon nodded his head to a new window, confirming his choice.


    "I have made my choice."


    Zephyra''s eyes widened for a second before sheposed herself.


    "Well, that was fast."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon shrugged.


    And then, arge influx of information suddenly assaulted Amon''s brain.


    Fortunately, he was prepared at thest second as he grit his teeth, bearing through the


    information that passed through his mind.


    After a minute, he was finally done.


    And a new screen appeared in front of his face.


    Congrattions! You have acquired the [Gravity] element!


    Amon nodded, satisfied with his choice.


    It was perfect.


    He could already imagine the perfect synergy of the element with his other elements.


    Especially [Void].


    "Good choice though." Zephyra told him, seeing the choice he made.


    "Yeah, thanks."


    "Well, let-" Zephyra was suddenly interrupted as Amon picked up the teapot on the table.


    And then threw it in the sky.


    The lid came off, pouring the tea out into the air.


    Not giving Zephyra any chance to respond or react, he raised his arm and clutched his fists.


    Immediately, the water and the teapot stopped in their tracks in the air.


    Amon''s gaze trembled as he grit his teeth, before finally letting go of both things.


    He panted slightly.


    It was a broken element.


    But currently, it used up too much focus and mana.


    Amon wasn''t disappointed though.


    It was still at only Level 1.


    At theter levels, the element would be an invincible force of destruction.


    Currently, he could only control the gravity on two things.


    And he could do only one direction. Even that took too much mana and focus.


    He couldn''t push and pull at the same time right now.


    The power was currently like telekenesis for him.


    He turned to Zephyra, wanting to experiment something. "Can you throw a fork or something at m-" His eyes widened as his danger senses went haywire.


    They darted to the side, where a fork was only inches away from his face. Fortunately, he was able to quick bring his hand in front of the fork. And in the next moment, the high speed fork suddenly stopped dead in its tracks.


    It didn''t even slow down. It stopped right when he used the element on the fork.


    It was crazy.


    The fork hovered in front of him,pletely in ce.


    He ced his hand beneath him and released the fork, which silently fell into his hand, now


    devoid of its previous kic energy.


    Amon wondered if he could crush these objects in the future with the gravity.


    It was certainly possible, but for that he needed to work on it first.


    But just the thought of all those possibilities had him excited.


    But for now...


    He turned to Zephyra.


    "The fuck was that for?"


    He pointed to the fork and how she attacked him before he evenpleted his sentence.


    Rather than responding, Zephyra questioned back.


    "And what the fuck was that for? She pointed to the spot where the teapots and water had


    previously crashed.


    She was referencing how he did it without even asking or waiting for her.


    Silence reigned in the expanse for a second before both of them sighed.


    "Let''s just move on to the training rewards..." Amon massaged his temples. "Yeah.."

 Chapter 204: Sacrificial Exchange

    Chapter 204: Sacrificial Exchange


    ?


    ***


    As they decided to check the training rewards, a screen opened up in front of Amon automatically.


    And like always, he hadpleted all 3 quests.


    Which meant 3 rewards.


    [Congrattions onpleting Void Training III !!]


    [Challenge 1: Kill 100 Desert Worms] [Completed!]


    [Challenge 2:Kill 200 Desert Worms] [Completed!]


    [Challenge 3:Kill 250 Desert Worms] [Completed!]


    Amon smiled, satisfied by his progress.


    He had sessfully killed 250 worms. And it was one hell of a fight.


    In fact, Amon thought of himself lucky for finding that cave of baby worms.


    If not for them, he doubted that he would have been able toplete that third quest.


    Even the second would have been damn near impossible.


    His smile contorted to a disgusted expression as he clenched his hands.


    Remembering all of this just reminded him how weak he still was.


    All those mid-terms and those weak students had let the pride go to his head.


    Overall, he was still pathetically weak.


    What about those above his age, those with years of experience above him?


    How would he face them?


    Amon clicked his tongue.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He needed to train harder. More brutally.


    Setting those thoughts aside, Amon moved to the rewards of the three quests.


    Choose 1 of the 3 Rewards:


    [Reduce [Void''s Bond] cooldown by 1 day]


    [Elemental Integration]


    [Sacrifical Exchange]


    Amon looked at the awards with visible intrigue.


    Except for one, the other two were both new to him.


    Even more surprising was the fact that there was no stat increase anymore.


    But Amon merely shrugged at this new piece of information.


    He didn''t need the stat increase by that much anyway.


    The new options seemed much better.


    Looking at the first reward, the description seemed to be pretty clear.


    It was the cooldown for his [Void Bond] form.


    Currently, it was at 7 days. Which was the default cooldown from the start.


    However, after the reward, it would turn to 6 days.


    Thinking about it, Amon dismissed the thought of picking this award.


    It was for 2 main reasons.


    One was that he didn''t need [Void Bond] that much anyway.


    He only needed it in critical situations where he had to or wanted to absolutely win.


    There was no need to put his body through that much suffering normally anyway.


    Because of that, he hardly noticed the 7-day cooldown.


    It was only a week and Amon doubted that he needed to use [Void Bond] two times in a week.


    Maybe in the future when there would be more powerful opponents but right now, nope.


    And the second reason was rted to his first reason.


    And it was that the cooldown decrease wasn''t that noticeable or noteworthy.


    At the current point of the story and his strength, like he had said, there wasn''t much noticeable difference between 7 days and 6 days.


    Maybe in the future, yeah where every day would be teeming with danger.


    But not now.


    He would much rather pick Elemental Integration over it.


    Which was something he already knew about and also wanted to use it.


    Unfortunately, he had to pick another reward because of the trip incident.


    But before he chose the second reward, Amon chose to check out what the third reward was


    about first.


    And so he quickly turned to Zephya.


    "What is this [Sacrificial Exchange]?"


    She nodded, setting his teacup down.


    "I thought you''d ask."


    "[Sacrificial Exchange] basically allows you to sacrifice your elements and pour their levels into another element. The number of elements you want to sacrifice is up to you.


    You can choose to sacrifice one or even all elements except [Void]. It can''t delete [Void] since it''s an application of [Void] itself." She exined.


    Amon''s eyes widened slightly.


    It was a broken award in a sense.


    Even Amon knew that he had too many elements now.


    Blood, Lightning, and Void were his initial elements which were further joined by Sound,


    Crystal, and Lightning.


    He had more elements than Michael, the original protagonist now.


    And though it was incredible, considering he had such versatility and power.


    It was also a hassle.


    Most of the time, he didn''t even need to use more than 4 elements.


    It was already a hassle to control them all at once.


    Sometimes, he would even forget that he had a certain element.


    Not to mention that it was really hard to raise his rank because of his elements.


    Long before, he had discovered that the more elements he had, the harder it was to rank up.


    It was because each element brought a certain bar with them. That bar was the line he needed


    to cross to rank up that specific element.


    However, with so many bars, it had be a lot harder to rank up.


    This was evident by the fact that in his whole [Void Training III] this time, he had barely


    received any stat upgrade.


    In his opinion, 2 to 3 elements were fine.


    At max, 4 or 5 but not more than that.


    Plus, the thought of sacrificing elements and pouring them into an element like [Void] made a


    shudder pass through his spine.


    How strong would the element grow?


    It was chilling and thrilling to think of at the same time.


    Before he could more to make a decision, he turned to Zephyra.


    "Will the points fully transfer over to the new element?"


    Zephyra tilted her head.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I mean, for example, if I have a level 4 element and I sacrifice a Level 1 Element that had 4


    points in it, will those 4 points bepletely added to my new element?"


    He waited for her response.


    His assumption was that it would obviously not be the case.


    A level 4 element was a lot harder to level up than Level 1.


    So pouring 4 points into Level 4 so easily from Level 1 sounded like a cheat and unfair.


    But he could at least ask.


    And as he thought, Zephyra shook her head.


    "No, of course not. The conversion rates go like this.


    To level up a point in that specific element from a sacrifice, the sacrificial element will need to


    have the number of points equal to the level of that target element to raise a point."


    She exined.


    Before Amon could say anything, she continued.


    "In simpler words, if you have a Level 4 Element that''s the target element. To raise a stat


    point in that Level 4 element, the sacrificial element, let''s take a Level 1 element will need to have points equal to your target element.


    In the case of the example above, if your sacrificing element has 4 points, then you will get a 1-point raise in that level 4 element.


    If your sacrificing element is Level 2 though, you will only need 2 points since each point in


    that sacrificing element means 2 points because of its level.


    And so on."


    Amon nodded, understanding her words.


    "What if the sacrificing element is Level 3?"


    Zephyra replied instantly. "Then you will need to sacrifice enough points from that element so that it matches a


    multiple of your target element.


    For example, for Level 3, you need to sacrifice 4 points from that element so it can equal 12,


    which is a multiple of 4, our example target element.


    You can''t sacrifice if no point can be raised in the target element. And you can only sacrifice


    one time, so be sure to sacrifice everything you want all at once."


    This was a little disadvantageous.


    The fact that he couldn''t sacrifice 2 or 3 points if they didn''t match a multiple of his target


    element was an issue.


    But it was still a great option nheless.


    Repeating everything that she said to him in his mind, Amon started to ponder.


    It was only after 20 minutes that he looked up.


    "Alright, I made my choice."


    Zephyra smiled and nodded.


    "Great, you are finally done. Which option do you-"


    Amon interrupted her.


    "I''m choosing none."


    Zephyra''s mouth closed as she stared at him with a nk smile.


    "I''m sorry what? I think I didn''t hear you correctly." She said, still putting on her wavering


    smile.


    Amon leaned back in his chair, nonchntly.


    "I said, I''ll pick nothing likest time. I can''t decide a winner between them right now. I''ll


    just keep them and see which one I need in the time of need."


    Zephyra''s jaw twitched.


    And then she finally burst.


    "The fuck were you wasting all those 20 minutes for?"


    Amon started bluntly at her, calmly putting his legs on the table.


    "Thinking on what to pickdy what else? Don''t worry I understand, to your gender, thinking


    must be a foreign concept right?"


    "It''s something you get when you have a brain, which you clearly don''t."


    Zephyra was left baffled at his replies.


    "You...."


    Vain was influencing him nowadays.


    Amonughed and patted her back. "Haha, I''m just kidding." Zephyra sighed, her face down.


    She turned sideways to Amon.


    "I''m d you-"


    Her eyes widened when she saw a middle finger in front of her face.


    "Just kidding."


    "Bitch."


    Hey, it''s the author here.


    Just wanted to rify that all these jokes are just for augh and someedy.


    I''m sorry if you are offended by it, there''s no intention to hate on any person here.


    Thanks.

 Chapter 205: Thick Of It [1]

    Chapter 205: Thick Of It [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon felt a sudden jolt in his body, forcing him awake.


    His eyes subtly opened, and Zephyra was found in her wolf form on his chest.


    ''What?'' He tiredly asked.


    [Wake up, it''s 4 PM.] Zephyra nudged him.


    Amon pulled up the sheets on his face, already feeling his eyes close.


    He was still tired from the [Void Training III]''s experience, even though it was only mentally.


    Unfortunately, sleep wasn''t in his luck as Zephyra pulled the sheets down from her mouth.


    Sighing, Amon forced himself up and stretched his arms.


    Walking to the bathroom, he sshed some water on his face and quickly freshened up.


    Wearing a simple white hoodie and ck jeans to contrast with it, he came outside.


    Lily wasn''t in the apartment.


    Since it was still early, there were still a few hours before Katherine would arrive back home. ''Tomorrow''s the [Battle Royale] huh?'' Amon questioned.


    Which meant that it was also the time for ''that'' to happen.


    Pondering on it for a few seconds, Amon decided to visit the HOU.


    Most of his equipment had been destroyed or torn up now.


    It was time to buy a new one.


    Taking a carriage, he quickly arrived at the City Center where he hurried up the steps to HOU.


    Inside, he was quickly greeted by the manager.


    It had been a while since he had visited this ce.


    "Wee Sir! Long time no see!" The manager rubbed his hands and shed him a courteous smile.


    Amon nodded.


    "I''m looking for some equipment."


    The manager nodded vigorously.


    "Certainly! Are you looking for aplete set or just standalone artifacts?"


    "Just standa-"


    His words were halted when he heard a familiar voice from the side.


    "Is that you Amon?"


    Amon turned, seeing Athenaing out of a room.


    He smiled and waved his hand.


    "Yo." He greeted her casually.


    The manager''s eyes widened at his casual response.


    Everyone knew how formal and cold of ady Athena was.


    Who would even dare to talk to her in tha-


    "Hey, it''s been a long time since youst visited." She smiled, making the manager''s jaw drop.


    But she quickly shed him a cold gaze, making him bow down and avert his eyes.


    "Yeah, just here to buy some equipment. The previous one is quite old and ragged now."


    "Oh, I see." She pondered for a moment with her hand on her chin.


    Then, she looked up.


    "Why note with me? I can show you better equipment."


    Amon''s brows raised in surprise.


    "Oh, that would be great."


    "Mhm." Athena nodded, gesturing him to follow her to a room.


    "Do not enter until I call you to do so." Her cold voice reached the manager''s ears.


    A wide contrast to her tone just a moment before.


    The trembling manager nodded.


    "Yes of course mdy!"


    Then, she spared him no nce and started to walk forward while Amon followed.


    As he passed the manager, he patted his bowed back lightly.


    "Tough times man. Don''t take it to heart."


    Without waiting for a response, Amon followed Athena into the hallway.


    ***


    Athena opened a metallic door and headed inside along with Amon.


    It was vastly spacious. Much more aspared to the previous room he sat in with Athena.


    It was beautifully furnished as well with a polished marble floor and exquisite furniture


    ced around the room.


    "Here, take a seat." She gestured to a sofa behind a table.


    "Thanks." Amon settled downfortably.


    Athena sat on the sofa opposite the table, facing him directly.


    "I heard you won the Team Battles from Amelia, heartiest congrattions."


    Amon smiled.


    "Appreciate your words."


    "You are progressing well. Your control and refinement of the mana both inside and around


    you seems to be much better now."


    Then, her right eye glowed, revealing the shining 9-leaf clover.


    A satisfied smile spread across her features.


    "Especially your [Void] element. The instability of the element in your body has dwindled by


    a lot. And your control over it is exceptional."


    She stared at him with widened eyes.


    "How did you improve this fast?" She asked.


    Amon scratched his cheeks.


    "Haha, just training. It just worked out."


    Athena was still surprised but nodded.


    "It''s so surprising. From what I see, not only did your mana and element improve, but it looks like your body also adapted to better suit the element."


    Well, she was perfectly correct.


    Athena''s deduction abilities with that eye of hers were certainly top-notch.


    "In any case, this is a big leap towards your [Void] element. I''m happy for you." She shed


    him a kind wide smile.


    Warmth rose in Amon''s chest at her kind remarks and he smiled.


    "Actually, I have something else to show you as well."


    "Hmm?"


    Amon raised his arm and opened his clenched fist.


    And immediately, scorching ck-amethyst mes coated his arm.


    But he quickly took them out, not wanting to burn his clothes.


    Looking up, he saw Athena baffled at what she had just seen.


    Amon broke into a chuckle.


    He still wasn''t used to seeing her disy so many emotions whenever he met her now.


    In the novel and from his early days in the academy, she had always been portrayed as a cold


    character.


    But rather than asking him how this time, sheplimented him with amazed eyes.


    Inside those pitch-ck orbs, he could see a glimmer of excitement and curiosity in them.


    "This is astounding." She met his gaze.


    "You have improved so much in a short time period."


    Amonughed, scratching his neck.


    "Thanks, it was difficult." "Let''s move on to the artifacts shall we?" she asked and Amon nodded.


    ***


    [An Hour Later]


    Amon walked out of the HOU, content with what he had purchased.


    He had a satisfied smile on his face.


    As he walked out, he suddenly heard a familiar shout from the side.


    "Amon!?"


    Recognizing it, he turned his head only to find Michael staring at him from a distance.


    He sported a casual dress with a white undershirt and blue jacket.


    He waved at him with a smile.


    But Michael wasn''t the only one staring at him.


    He had others with him as well.


    Or to be precise, his whole friend group.


    "Join us!" He shouted enthusiastically.


    Charlotte and Alya waved at him as well, gesturing at him silently to join them.


    While Ren just ran towards him, not caring to give a gesture.


    And put his arm around Amon.


    "Wassup broski?" He gave Amon his usual carefree smile.


    "I''mpletely fine as you can see," Amon replied slowly, trying to free his neck from the


    tight lock of Ren.


    "Great, join us for the hangout then." He patted his back and started pulling him towards the


    group.


    "Wait, listen..." Amon was unable to say anything as Ren tightened his group further.


    "I ain''t hearing any excuses. You got time to spend with my sister but not with us?"


    Amon tried to mumble through his grip but it was too strong. ''Motherfuck*er, I was already nning to, free me!'' He wanted to cry out.


    As he was dragged before the group, Ren finally released him.


    Amon coughed.


    He red at Ren.


    "Hell, you mean spending time with your sister?"


    Ren, however, ignored his question as if he hadn''t heard it and whistled in the air.


    ''This guy...''


    "Just so you know, I ain''t against it. You are way better than the gramps." Ren muttered and


    shrugged.


    Amon wanted to bury himself in his response.


    ''Fuck you mean by not against it!?'' There was nothing between them that this guy was assuming.


    Rather to him, Athena was like an older sister, just like Katherine but much more mature.


    Almost like a maternal figure.


    And same could be said for Arthur.


    And besides, Arthur would bury his past, present, and future 6 feet deep if there was even


    something like it.


    Amon turned to Charlotte, who greeted him again.


    "Hey, we didn''t expect to catch you here. Elizabeth told us that you had something busy." She


    smiled, her face moving to Elizabeth.


    Thetter''s mouth opened.


    "Ah, yes, that was what he told me in the morning."


    It seemed that she was in deep thought before Charlotte interrupted her.


    Amon nodded at Charlotte.


    "Yeah, I had some business at HOU. Just finished up right now."


    Charlotte pped her hands in glee.


    "That''s great, you can join us then." Looking at the time, Amon noticed that it was still only 6 PM.


    There was still a lot of time to spare before he went to bed.


    So why not?


    He nodded with a smile.


    "Sure, I''m up." Michael grinned and tapped his shoulder.


    "Nice, where should we head first?"


    At the mention of ''first'', Amon raised his brows.


    "You guys are just starting?"


    Alya nodded.


    "Yeah, it''s still early into the night after all."


    "Let''s head to the mini-games section first." Ren joined in.


    Amon''s ears perked up at the mention of mini-games.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Surely enough, it was an aspect that he had not only practiced in his previous life but was an


    unparalleled master in.


    "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."


    Elizabeth nodded with a smile.


    "Sure, we can head there first."


    A glimmer appeared in Amon''s eyes that Alya was quick to notice.


    A scheming grin appeared on her face.


    And she called him out from the side.


    "Prepare yourself, Mr.Amon."


    Hearing her words, Amon looked at her devilish expression and understood what she meant.


    After all, this girl had been sneaking out of the royal pce for these kinds of things from the


    time she was just a kid.


    But...


    Amon smirked back. "Sure, Ms.Alya."


    He wasn''t one to lose.


    Never in this field.

 Chapter 206: Thick Of It [2]

    Chapter 206: Thick Of It [2]


    ?


    ***


    The group arrived at the mini-games section.


    A whole floor was dedicated to the games, with many couples and students busy with various games.


    "We are here," Michael announced.


    "Damn, this is so big." Renmented as he looked around and Alya nodded.


    "I''m surprised it''s the first time you guys areing here." She said.


    Amon looked at her.


    "You havee here before?"


    Charlotte nodded in her stead.


    "Me, Alya, and Elizabeth used toe here a lot before we met you guys."


    "Oh, that''s great," Michael said.


    Amon was surprised.


    Things and small events like these were never mentioned in my novel since they were always shown from Michael''s perspective.


    But it was nice to see some things that happened on the sidelines.


    "You guys have never been here?" Charlotte asked.


    All three of them shook their heads.


    "Nope, we used to roam around the ho-" Ren was quickly pulled by Michael, interrupting him.


    It was stuff specifically only to be known by the boys.


    Not sure if girls were supposed to know this stuff.


    Fortunately, Amon quickly saved them all.


    "We mostly just hung around in parks and at the swings, never came much to City Center." He smiled.


    "Oh.." Elizabeth eximed as if she had just found a new piece of information.


    "That sounds fun, we didn''t know that!" Charlotte said excitedly.


    "Yeah, it used to be a good stress release from the tiredness of the sses," Michael said with a hand on Ren''s mouth.


    Amon nodded with his response, trying to not let Ren get back into the conversation.


    "Let''s go and try it together sometime as well."


    The trio nodded to Charlotte''s words and then Alya interrupted in, her voice hasty.


    "Anyways, we don''t have time to waste, let''s go get the tickets already!"


    The groupughed at her excited pouting face.


    "Alright, let''s go." Amon gestured towards the counter.


    Arriving at the counter, they all quickly purchased loads of tickets.


    They didn''t know how many times they were going to y so they just bought a load of them.


    If they had any left they would just give them to the people around.


    "Alright, which one should we try first?" Amon looked around.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But before he could say anything, Alya was quick to gesture toward a game.


    It was a spot not far away from them where there was arge screen hanging from the ceiling.


    And several colored tiles with arrows embedded in the floor.


    Amon was familiar with it.


    It was a dancing rhythm game. It was quite popr in his previous life.


    "Let''s try that first, between you and me." She smirked.


    Amon looked at her smirk and a smile spread across his features.


    "Sure."


    Listening to the challenge between the two, the whole group followed them to the dancing game.


    There was a machine there where they quickly inputted their tickets.


    A song disy was quickly given to them to choose.


    Looking at the vast variety of songs, Amon turned to Alya.


    "Since you chose the game, you can choose the song." He said.


    Alya mockingly raised her brows.


    "Are you sure? Not like the song matters anyway, I''ll beat you at all of them."


    "Yeah, sure, go ahead." He said stoically.


    "If you say so."


    Alya quickly ran over the catalog and picked a song.


    It was I Am My Own Muse, a song that surprised Amon.


    Like he had said before, hangouts and small events like these weren''t usually in the novel.


    So he was seeing them in detail for the first time.


    And he was surprised to find that the songs and other things were the exact same as the ones


    on Earth.


    ''Guess the authorcked creativity...'' Amon said, as he stared at the familiar song.


    It wasn''t his best one in this game, but he was okay in it.


    Selecting the song, both of them quickly arrived at their ces while the group stood before


    them.


    But as the game was going to start, Ren called them out from behind.


    "Wait wait wait, you two."


    Both of them looked over their shoulders to find Ren smiling mischievously.


    "If you guys are going to do it seriously, we need some bets."


    Alya''s eyes immediately sparked up, her gambling nature rising up.


    "That''s a great idea. Why not?"


    Charlotte chuckled seeing Alya''s new side from behind.


    "You never change do you Alya? Well, since we are doing this, I ce a 1000 Exlor bet on


    Alya."


    Elizabeth was surprised to see Charlotte''s new side as well.


    But seeing her do this, she relented as well.


    "I''ll ce a 1000 Exlor bet on Alya as well." She said, looking at Amon apologetically.


    Amon didn''t say anything though.


    It was to be expected.


    Even though they were friends, there was a boys vs girls rivalry between them.


    And Elizabeth was expected to support Alya, not Amon.


    It would be weird if she chose to support him since the rest of the group was still oblivious to


    what happened between them.


    "You guys are confident in her huh? I''ll ce 1000 Exlor bet on my homie as well." Ren patted


    Amon''s back.


    Michael joined in as well, albeit with a little hesitation.


    "I-I''ll do the same." He patted Amon''s back while sneakily ncing at Alya.


    ''What a twin-con.'' Amon clicked his tongue.


    As they were about to begin though, two inner voices came from within as well.


    [Go my guy, she shouldn''t even be a problem for you.] Vainmented from within.


    However, Zephyra was quick to interrupt.


    [Hmph! You are taking her too lightly since she''s a woman.]


    But Vain rebutted back.


    [No, I use that woman joke on only you, since you are too dumb to be even called a woman, let


    alone a goddess.]


    Amon restrained a suddenugh.


    Vain wasn''t just a snake for no reason huh?


    [You....I can''t with you two. In any case, watch Alya win and you will realize.]


    [You should be ashamed for going against your owner.]


    ''For real.'' Amon chimed in this time.


    [I support my girls more.] Zephyra excused.


    Vain hissed, as if he was clicking his tongue.


    [What a traitor. You see this Amon?]


    ''Yeah man, I didn''t expect this.... It hurts.'' Amon replied with a fake hurt voice.


    [This is why you should only trust your guys.] Vain said with a sad voice.


    Before Zephyra could reply back though, a starting sound came from the screen.


    And Amon got ready.


    ''I''m going to take this lightly.'' He thought.


    He had no ns to win this game anyway. It wasn''t his strong point nor was the song a good


    choice.


    He would just gauge her abilities since they were never showcased properly in the novel.


    And then, the game started with the rhythms starting to y. Alya''s feet immediately blurred as she started to get all sequences correct. Amon followed suit, however he didn''t put much effort into it, only observing Alya.


    The whole set was built with anti-mana materials, so mana couldn''t be used.


    It was a pure physical test.


    And as an archer, Alya''s legs were fast as well.


    And so, the game continued.


    Amon and Alya remained on the same pace for the first minute but then, he started tog


    behind.


    He ignored the shouts of Michael and Vain and just focused on Alya.


    He was intentionally not giving it his all.


    Finally, the song passed and the game came to an end.


    Alya jumped in joy as she was dered the winner.


    "Hah! I won!" She gave Amon a victorious smirk.


    Amon scoffed.


    "Congrattions but it''s only the first game, what are you being cocky about?"


    "Congrattions Alya, both of you did great!" Charlotte pped.


    "Yeah, it was a closepetition." Elizabeth pped.


    "What happened to you? You were out of focus." Michael asked after giving Alya a happy


    congrattions as well.


    She thanked him with a faint blush back.


    However, before Amon could say anything, Ren joined in.


    "This guy wasn''t even giving it his all. He was just testing her out."


    The voice was only loud enough to be heard by Michael and he was surprised.


    "Huh, what?"


    [What?]


    Vain was surprised as well.


    Even Amon was surprised on how Ren found out about this. He tried his best to make it seem


    as if he was giving it his all.


    Ren only shrugged.


    "I don''t get concrete proof of course. I''m just telling what I believe in, I refuse to believe this


    guy could fail that easily."


    Michael was confused.


    "How can you say that without any source though?"


    Ren quickly replied back.


    "Source: Trust me, bro."


    Amon broke into augh at his response. It was something used by him as well.


    "How about I pick a game now?" He asked Alya.


    She shrugged mockingly.


    "Sure, go ahead. Pick any you want."


    Amon restrained a smirk.


    He knew how good she was now.


    "Let''s do air hockey then." He gestured to a game in the middle and Alya broke into a grin.


    "Of course, why not?"


    As Ren and Michael paid their bets, the group headed toward the table.


    And as the arrived at the table and handed the tickets, Amon rolled up his sleeves.


    New bets were about to be ced now.


    And Elizabeth and Charlotte put more bets on Alya this time, confident in her ability to win.


    Seeing them, a grin spread across Amon''s features as he gripped the paddle.


    "Ren and Mikey..." He called them both.


    "Get ready for a money shower..."

 Chapter 207: Thick Of It [3]

    Chapter 207: Thick Of It [3]


    ?


    ***


    "H-how?" Charlotte spoke disbelievingly at the sight before her.


    Even Ren, Michael, and Elizabeth stood with gaping mouths as they gazed forward.


    At the score of the air-hockey game.


    One match was basically 7 points, and the first one to reach it won the game.


    Usually, there would be 3 matches in which, the first to win 2 would win.


    However, Amon and Alya chose to take it furtherter.


    Only because of one reason.


    It was the match score.


    27-0.


    Disbelief was the only thing that could be seen in the group''s eyes.


    CLACK!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A smashing sound urred as their eyes moved back to Amon who smashed the puck once more.


    Their eyes moved to Alya who clicked her tongue but fluently adapted to the speed and trajectory of the puck.


    But...


    At thest moment, the puck''s edge hit one side which caused it topletely change its direction.


    But even then, Alya was able to react to the change in time, quickly moving her hand position. She was getting used to his best tric-


    Her eyes widened as her mallet missed the puck as thetter swerved in the air, arcing through the board.


    And then....


    CLUCK!


    The sound of the puck falling into the goal was heard and a siren was heard in the surroundings for the umpteenth time.


    It was the victory siren as Amon won another match.


    28-0.


    Alya''s eyes trembled as she saw the score, her knees almost buckling.


    It was obvious that she had never suffered such a defeat before.


    But...


    She gritted her teeth and red at him.


    "One more!"


    Amon shrugged.


    "Sure."


    But then, two weak voices were heard from the side.


    "Alya..."


    "Alya..."


    Alya turned to look at Charlotte and Elizabeth, who stared horrified at her annoyed expression.


    "I don''t think we should bet this much..."


    "Yeah.." Charlotte nodded her head in agreement with Elizabeth.


    They could still bet for weeks without the amount of money they had but...


    It was obvious that Alya could sit here for a lifetime and could never win against Amon in this.


    And they didn''t have money for a lifetime.


    Alya''s eyes widened and she clenched her fists.


    "Fine..."


    She looked up at Amon.


    "We are still at only 1-1, there''s still a million of games to try. Don''t smirk at me."


    Amonughed, setting back the mallet on the board.


    He didn''t mind Alya''s attitude.


    It wasn''t annoying. It was more on thepetitive rivalry side since she had never met such a fierce opponent before.


    Furthermore, she also looked a little cute with those flushed cheeks.


    He looked to his side where Ren had pulled Michael into an arm lock, grinning as he showed the bnce in his watch.


    "Damn, we are drowning in riches..."


    He looked up to Amon.


    "I knew my instincts were right. You should trust bro sources, Mikey." He ruffled his hair.


    "Let''s see, how many cigs can-"


    Amon pped his head.


    "I didn''t win this for you to waste it away at drugs and smoking."


    Ren clicked his tongue.


    "Yeah yeah, I understand. My bad man."


    "Come, let''s go do that light reaction game now." Alya called him out.


    "Alright." Amon looked over to Elizabeth and Charlotte.


    Since there were no bets anymore, they could just go and y their own games.


    "I guess me and Alya will go try out that game. You guys can also go around and do whatever


    you want."


    Elizabeth and Charlotte nodded.


    "Alright. What do you want to try Elizabeth?" She asked, looking over.


    But she was taken by surprise when she saw a tint of pink on her cheeks.


    "Is everything alright?" Charlotte asked.


    "I w-want to..." Her trembling voice trailed off in the air.


    Charlotte leaned further curiously.


    "What are you trying to say Elizabeth?"


    "I w-want to try t-that..." She weakly raised her finger, pointing at something in the distance.


    Everyone''s eyes followed her finger, finding a racing game in the distance.


    It had some disks which were shaped in the form of a horse, with antennas protruding out of


    them.


    That were maically attached to the ceiling.


    Everyone was familiar with it.


    It was horse racing. Even Amon knew it since it was basically rip-off of car racing from his


    world.


    The only problem was...


    The game itself was a teenagers and toddlers game.


    Silence prevailed in the air as everyone silently stared at the game before.


    "Pff.." A very weak voice came from Amon''s right.


    Looking to the right with a horrified gaze, Amon saw Ren barely containing hisughter.


    Amon vigorously shook his eyes, holding his breath.


    ''No, no, no stop bro. Don''t-''


    Another voice came from the side and Amon saw Alya, who was also on the verge of breaking


    intoughter.


    "Pfft..." Even Charlotte and Michael.


    Amon shook his head lightly at both of them, tears nowing out of his eyes as he held his


    breath with a red face.


    ''No, don''t you fuckers. Stop-''


    Unfortunately, it was to no avail as Ren burst outughing from Amon''s side.


    "HAHAHAHHAHAHA!" He clutched his stomach.


    Seeing him, everyone couldn''t hold it in as well.


    "HAHAAHAHAHA!" Everyone burst outughing as they clutched their stomachs and wiped


    the tears from their eyes.


    Elizabeth looked down, her face red from embarrassment.


    "St-haha..stop you people.." Amon barely said, wanting to roll on the ground fromughing.


    At his words, theughters of everyone finally started to cease. Charlotte was the first to speak up as she put a hand on Elizabeth''s shoulder.


    "It''s totally fine Elizabeth, we can go there." She patted her head.


    Elizabeth averted her gaze, her face still beet red from embarrassment.


    "Pfft.." Amon saw Ren almost breaking into a streak ofughter again.


    But he quickly drove his elbow into his stomach.


    "Stop bro, you are gonna make her cry."


    Ren clutched his stomach in pain, but sounds ofughter still came from his mouth.


    "Haha, I know..hahaha but...mannn" He put his head on Amon''s shoulder, sharply exhaling.


    This man was aplete joker.


    "It''s totally fine Elizabeth. We were justughing because of your peculiar choice." Amon


    spoke out next and Michael nodded.


    "Yeah, there''s nothing wrong with horse racing." Michael''s voice turned weak at the end as if


    he was also restraining augh.


    Elizabeth finally nodded.


    "Yeah, I get it. Thanks, guys." She replied weakly.


    Charlotte nodded with a genuine smile, pulling her hand.


    "Let''s go, me and you will both take that ride together." Elizabeth gave into the pull with a happy smile and rushed off.


    But as soon as she disappeared, Ren burst outughing again.


    Everyone stared at him weirdly.


    ''What''s up with this guy...''


    Though he could understand theughing point.


    Not even for teenagers, that ride was like a total one for children and their fairy tales.


    But an 18-year-old wanted to take it.


    However, at the same time, Amon couldn''t me Elizabeth as well.


    Because of those books and the fantasies that she had.


    "Why does she even love that ride?"


    Amon didn''t reply. But Alya did instead.


    "It''s because of the children''s stories she loves. She''s a sucker for them. Don''t be rude to her


    about it though." Alya punched Ren''s shoulder.


    "Oh..." Ren made an understanding expression.


    Alya nodded.


    "Yeah, she has those fantasies about being a princess and being on a horse so you need to


    understand..."


    Michael chimed in with an od.


    "Yeah, it makes sense now."


    "To be honest..." Ren interrupted.


    "At her point, they are delusions more than fantasies not gonna lie. She''s delululu."


    Amon shoved another elbow into Ren.


    "That''s rude fucker. Don''t say it in front of her..."


    "That hurts..." Ren clutched his stomach.


    Everyone ignored him.


    "Anyways, let''s go to the game you were asking for." Amon turned to Alya.


    She smirked, regaining her confidence.


    "Yeah, we have already wasted enough time."


    "Guess I''ll take this idiot then..." Michael turned to Ren and the duo nodded.


    With that, the two pairs separated and Amon walked over to the game she was talking about.


    It was simple.


    You just had to hit the shing lights as fast as you could in the pattern that was given by the


    system.


    "You ready?" Alya asked, smiling at him.


    Amon turned to her with a returning smile.


    "I think I should ask this question after thatst match."


    Alya clicked her tongue before forcing back her smile.


    "You are gonna lose in this one, trust me."


    She turned back to the game as the starting siren rang off.


    But just as the game started, she heard Amon''s confident voice.


    "Nah, I''d win."


    He smirked as he hit all of the shing patterns in an instant they had disappeared.


    "I''m the strongest."


    Hey, Author here.


    This is a notice from 15th October, so if non-priv readers ever see this do note that it has


    already passed.


    Anyways, I know I was supposed to upload 2 chaps per day since my exams had ended on


    Sunday.


    However, I have some issues with my college now that I don''t know when they will settle.


    Hopefully, by the end of this week. Until then, I''m sorry but it''s going to be 1 chap/per day again.


    Thank you for understanding and your support!

 Chapter 208: Thick Of It [4]

    Chapter 208: Thick Of It [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon stood before the punching game, a red ball hanging from its ceiling in front of him.


    Beside him stood Alya with an expression mixed with disbelief and annoyance.


    This was thest game that they had yet to try in the whole section.


    Currently, the score for the games yed was 12-3.


    With 12 being Amon and 3 being Alya''s.


    She had beenpletely obliterated in games.


    Decimated.


    mbeed.


    She waspletely thrown into chaos as various emotions passed across her face.


    She was currently biting her nails, staring at the ball in front.


    Even if she won this game, she knew that she had lost the totalpetition overall.


    And there was one bet that was ced between them.


    A bet of 100k Exlor for who would win the wholepetition.


    The price had been given by Alya, who waspletely sure before that she would win.


    But it was obvious now that she was regretting it.


    As for Amon, it would be disrespectful to reject such a gift to her.


    He was all ready to see the final expression on her face as she would hand him over the money.


    "You ready?" He looked with an elegant smile at Alya.


    Alya''s jaw set down on her nail, breaking it before freezing in its ce.


    Her gaze trembled as the reality of the situation settled in her mind once more.


    To her, it was akin to losing a war.


    But even then, she wasn''t one to make excuses that Amon had cheated or such. "Y-yeah.." She said, finally nodding her head and turning to look at his smile. Even though it was a simple smile, it carried a hint of coldness and mockery to it. To retell her that she had beenpletely destroyed by him.


    Amon stepped aside, gesturing to the machine.


    "Ladies first of course."


    Alya clicked her tongue at his cocky tone and expression and moved forward.


    Even though it was thest game, Alya was at least 60% sure that she would win.


    Even though she was an archer and Amon was a clovist, which made her punches weaker.


    There was a certain rule to this game that made it fair.


    Armentists, who used their weapon, were allowed to use mana for basic coating on their punch.


    It was to make their physical punches on par with the clovists.


    However, this rule wouldn''t apply to tankers or gauntlet-bearers, etc armentists.


    She looked forward at the machine.


    The rule was simple, you just had to punch the ball as hard as you could and it would give you a score between 0 to 1999.


    If you were a non-awakened though, it would only be till 999 for you.


    This machine was specifically made for awakened individuals, who were strong.


    Turning to look at the red ball, Alya made her expression resolute.


    Taking a sharp exhale, she adjusted her posture before nocking her fist back.


    And then...


    THUD!


    A metallic deep sound rang in the air as the ball was thrown straight up, into apartment in the ceiling.


    And the meter that disyed the score suddenly shot up.


    Both Alya and Amon stared at the meter as it blitzed through the numbers.


    Alya closed her eyes, praying that it would go as far as it could.


    And then, the confirmation siren was heard and she slowly opened her eyes.


    1446.


    That was her score.


    Alya''s eyes shot wide open with joy.


    It was a great score!


    She turned to Amon with a triumphant smirk.


    "Alright, your turn, Mr.Gentleman." She gestured forward.


    But contrary to her expectations, Amon only had a stoic expression on her face.


    But it wasn''t cause he thought it was a bad score.


    No. Rather, it was an unbelievable score for an archer.


    It was just that he was so upied with his thoughts that he didn''t even notice Alya.


    ''Hmmm...'' He hummed as he stepped forward to the red ball that had returned to its ce.


    He wasn''t too worried about beating Alya.


    Even though she had a great score, beating her was easy as hell.


    His thoughts were currently on the question if he could reach the top score.


    Which was 1999.


    Or maybe even...


    Breakfast it.


    Amon looked at his fist, opening and clenching it.


    After his body constitution had changed, his flesh was already ch stronger than a normal human of his same rank.


    It was just a physical property of his body now.


    Taking a step back, Amon adjusted his posture, granting him further space for movement.


    Even though it was just a straight up punching game, there were certain rules on how to strike the ball to get the best impact.


    Taking a deep breath, Amon''s position froze as his eyes locked on the ball for several seconds.


    Before he moved, rotating his hips and shoulders for the best momentum behind his punch.


    It hit straight and clean at the center of the ball, the impact passing straight through it.


    And he pulled it back instantly, rather than going through with it. Immediately, with a blurring speed, the ball shot back right into the machine.


    TING!


    A sharp sound rang out as sparks of blue electricity could be seen around the machine.


    The machine rumbled sheerly and the meter instantly blitzed through the numbers. Amon and Alya stared at the numbers.


    100..


    300..


    700..


    1100..


    1300...


    1500..


    It broke past Alya''s record. But rather than falling into disappointment, her eyes bulged out.


    It was because the meter was still not showing any signs of stopping at 1500.


    1700..


    1900..


    XXXX


    The meter didn''t evne slow down and passed straight through 1999, turning into 4 X''s.


    A victorious smile spread across Amon''s features.


    [That''s my boy.] Vain spoke from inside him, as if he was grinning.


    [T-that''s insane..] Zephyra''s voice trembled.


    And Alya waspletely silent, not knowing how to process this information.


    It was mind-blowing.


    Was there even a case of anyone breaking through the machine yet?


    The sharp sound attracted a lot of attention as well as everyone looked at the machine with


    shocked expressions.


    Even the group came running to see what was themotion along with the staff.


    And they froze in their spots.


    "Damn, you did this bro?" Ren turned to Amon with impressed eyes.


    Amon nodded, finding it a little funny that he didn''t even consider that it was Alya.


    "I''m sorry! That machine must have malfunctioned, causing it to break. Let me quickly


    rece this-" The staff apologized.


    But was interrupted as Alya spoke up.


    "N-no, there''s no need. We are fine." She said.


    She already knew that it was no malfunction.


    The whole process had been right in front of her eyes.


    Michael turned to Amon.


    "Insane dude..."


    "Thanks," Amon replied with a nonchnt expression.


    Elizabeth and Charlotte also turned to him.


    "T-this is mind-blowing...I don''t think anyone has ever broken the machine, let alone reach


    the top score." Elizabeth muttered.


    Charlotte also nodded.


    "Y-yeah, your punches must be quite strong Amon."


    It was at her line that a certain memory reyed through all of their minds except Amon.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    That final match of FULLDIVE.


    There was one memory that stuck to everyone''s minds.


    The scene where he punched Liliana senselessly.


    Those punches... Her face waspletely beaten to a pulp, to the point that it looked un recognizable.


    Ren nervouslyughed, knowing that memory the best.


    "Yeah, for sure. They certainly do..." He muttered.


    Amon tilted his head in confusion but chose to let it go when they remained silent.


    He looked around before turning back to them.


    "In any case, we should move now, there''s too much attention on us."


    Taking notice of the public at his words, they nodded.


    "Where should we go next?" He asked.


    And Charlotte suddenly perked up, a smile spreading on her features.


    "Oh, I know, let''s go to a karaoke!"


    A smile stretched on Alya''s lips as she also perked up.


    "Oh yeah, let''s do it!"


    Seeing the two girls hyped up, Amon horrifyingly turned to Michael and Ren who nodded and


    shook their heads, respectively


    The trio had also been to karaoke nights before.


    And Michael loved to sing.


    The only problem that Ren and Amon had was...


    It hurt to even think about it.


    Elizabeth nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, that sounds like a good ce to go."


    But since all three girls had agreed to go there, they could only tag along.


    They quickly reached a karaoke room, paying him the respective amount for 2 hours of


    karaoke.


    As they entered the ce and settled down on couches, everyone looked at each other.


    "So who goes first-" Alya was asking when Michael suddenly stood up with a joyous


    expression.


    "I''ll go!"


    Alya stared at him with a weird gaze before nodding. She was surprised by how enthusiastic


    he was.


    Charlotte nodded and pped along with Elizabeth.


    "Sure, go Michael, the stage is yours."


    But Amon and Ren, who were sitting next to each other gazed at each other at the same time.


    With widened eyes.


    They both subtly shook their heads and whispered simultaneously.


    "No, no, no, no..."


    "Nah, no, please no...he''s gonna y that song again."


    Ren turned to Michael to make an excuse.


    But unfortunately, he had already set the song as the beat started ying.


    Ren and Amon''s eyes bulged out as they crashed into their sofas, covering their ears with the


    pillows.


    It wasing...


    The nightmare wasing.


    Alya, Elizabeth, and Charlotte stared at the duo with weird gazes.


    The song had just started, so why were they covering their eyes now...


    What weirdo, they all simultaneously thought but were interrupted. Their eyes widened as Michael finally started singing. "FROM THE SCREEN, TO THE RING, TO THE PEN, TO THE KIN-"


    There was only one word that came to their minds.


    Cringe.


    They all died from cringe in the very next second.

 Chapter 209: Thick Of It [5]

    Chapter 209: Thick Of It [5]


    ?


    ****


    "WHERE''S MY CROWN-"


    Amon stood silently with closed eyes and walked over to Michael, switching off the microphone.


    "Hey, what gives!?" Michael questioned but Amon silently pushed his shoulder with closed eyes, looking down.


    "Get out bro. Quick."


    "Huh?"


    Amon gave him another slow push.


    "Get out. Get out, please." Amon repeated.


    "What''s wrong? It wasn''t bad..."


    "Nah bro, please get out." Amon didn''t look at him.


    Michael looked to his other friends who also averted their eyes with expressions that made it seem like they had their soul sucked out of them.


    Amon opened the door, walking out Michael.


    "What''s wrong with my favorite song?" Michael asked but Amon finally spoke up.


    "Literally everything is wrong with that song! It makes every inch of my being physically cringe." He said with bloodshot eyes.


    Michael looked vited.


    "B-but-"


    "What''s going on?" Both of them heard a familiar voice from the side.


    Turning to look, they saw Athena standing a meter away from them, a confused expression on her face.


    "Oh, yo Athena." Amon raised a hand, reverting to his usual attitude.


    Athena''s mouth twitched.


    "Don''t do that in front of everyone idiot. It''s fine since it''s Michael."


    Amon rolled his eyes.


    "Yeah, sure."


    Michael, just like Amon was pretty well known with Athena by now so he was no stranger to Amon''s attitude towards her.


    As for the manager before, he was under Athena so she didn''t care about him.


    "Anyways, I was passing by when I saw you yelling at him. Why is that?" Athena asked, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.


    "Exactly, I was just singing and my song wasn''t even-" Michael tried to retort but was interrupted by Amon.


    "No! We even told you to keep that cringe song away from usst time. Stop trying to kill us." Thetter yelled again.


    Athena frowned slightly.


    "Ohe on, it can''t be that bad. What song was it even?"


    Michael''s eyes glimmered.


    "Yes! The song went like this..."


    "How bad can it b-"


    "FROM THE SCREEN TO THE RING-"


    Athena instantly turned silent while Amon fell dead on the ground, his body twitching.


    "Never mind, get away from me Michael." She spoke straight up, clenching her fists and her closed eyes trembling.


    "Not you as w-"


    "Quick, take it away from me!" She gestured to the room inside.


    "Why do you guys hate it so much!? I''m being clowne-"


    A portal opened beside Michael and a clean p hit his cheeks, throwing him inside the portal. "That song.....keep that thing away from me." Athena trembled, heading forward.


    Amon, whoy dead on the ground, finally came back to his senses and stood up, heading back inside.


    ***


    Heading back inside, Amon found Michael fainted on the sofa, a bright red mark on his right cheek.


    He saw everyone staring at him with widened eyes, but also a look of relief in their eyes. "What happened?" Charlotte asked.


    "Uhh, technical issue. We should just continue until he wakes up." Amon excused and sat down.


    "So, who''s going next?" He asked, changing the topic.


    Fortunately, Charlotte was quick to stand up.


    "I''ll go now." She said with a smile and everyone nodded.


    Going to the front, she picked up the mic and quickly picked a song.


    It was a song called ''7 Rings''.


    And as expected, from the moment she started singing, everyone was already lost in her voice.


    It was incredibly soft and soothing, bringing them pleasure and relief from the previous...


    Monstrosity.


    Her voice perfectly matched the song. It was clear and beautiful.


    To the point that even Ren, who didn''t like these types of songs was lost in it.


    Charlotte was truly good at singing like she was at everything else.


    Finally, she finished.


    "Okay, I''m done." She smiled, setting down the microphone.


    Instantly, everyone started pping.


    "That was a great song," Amon said.


    "Yeah, for real. You got insane talent." Ren remarked and Alya nodded as well.


    "Okay, I''ll go next then." Alya stood up, adjusting her clothes.


    It was at the same moment, that Michael woke up.


    "Huh? Where am I?" He looked around and memories finally settled back in.


    "Oh..." Everyone stared at him.


    It was obvious that he wanted to say something but chose to stay silent, having already been


    clowned enough.


    He focused his attention back on Alya, who was now picking a song.


    As she was picking though, Ren stood up.


    "We should spice this party up." He grinned.


    Amon knew what he meant by that.


    Elizabeth and Charlotte stared at him as he went to a nearby fridge and took out bottles of


    beer.


    "Is everyone a light drinker here?" He asked.


    Everyone nodded except Amon.


    Ren clicked his tongue.


    "Sad that we''ll have to go with a lighter drink." He settled back down on the couch.


    Elizabeth and Charlotte stared at him with surprise.


    Was he a heavy drinker then?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Didn''t he just turn 18?


    Seeming to not notice their gazes, Ren took some pints, pouring beer into them.


    He handed them over to everyone.


    "It''s gonna be fun now." Ren grinned.


    Elizabeth seemed to notice that Ren didn''t offer Amon a ss.


    "You don''t drink?" She asked Amon.


    At her question, even Charlotte and Alya turned to notice.


    Amon shook his head without any hesitation, leaning back into his couch.


    "Nope, I prefer water or tea. I hate drinking." He said without any emotion, trying to hide the memories reying in his mind.


    They noticed his silence and chose to not pry further, the same thing that Ren and Michael did


    back then.


    Amon tried to let go of the storm of emotions inside him and fortunately, Alya''s singing was


    just the key.


    It was another song by the name of Espresso.


    The energetic vibe of that song perfectly matched Alya, who also gave off an enthusiastic


    energy.


    That bright vibe was also enough to calm down Amon and cheer him back up.


    Once she was done, she settled down back on the sofa after everyoneplimented her.


    Then, Elizabeth chose to go up on the stage.


    And just like Charlotte, her voice was exquisitely melodic.


    It was calm and peaceful to the ear as if her voice was a warm nket that brought them


    comfort.


    Every female in their group had such a beautiful voice, and it was shown as the trio waspletely enveloped in their singing.


    Once she was done, she settled down on the couch like everyone else.


    Amon and Ren looked at each other.


    "Gwess..hup...I''ll go first then." He said, his cheeks a little flushed.


    He knew it was nothing for Ren but the guy had downed a whole bottle by himself.


    "Don''t fall on the ground, you drunkard," Amon said, helping him stand up.


    "Yeah yeah."


    He grabbed the mic and started to choose a song.


    Unlike the girls though, Ren leaned more towards rapping. Hip-hop was his favorite genre


    after all.


    Till now, one thing that surprised Amon was the songs.


    He had already seen it when he came here before with Michael and Ren but all of the songs


    and genres were from his previous world.


    ''Lazy bum of an author.'' He said.


    Finally, Ren picked a song and without any dy, he started to rap it.


    It was a song called ''HUMBLE.''


    And listening to it... Everyone wasn''t too surprised, despite how many curse words were in there.


    What were they expecting? Twinkle Twinkle? It was Ren.


    Aside from the song though, Ren was very talented in rapping. His fast voice was perfectly attuned to the deep piano riff of the beat.


    Even the way he said the words was perfect, saying them at perfect timing.


    "Sit down (Hol'' up, bitch) be humble


    (Hol'' up, bitch) sit down.."


    Yeah, he was definitely enjoying this as well.


    Amon looked to the side and saw Charlotte downing her whole pint in one go.


    "You good?" He asked.


    She had bright flushed cheeks.


    "Ah, yes..hup... It''s refreshing..hup" Charlotte said.


    She was highly drunk,


    Amon frowned. Drinking was anything but refreshing.


    As much as he would like to stop them, it was their own choice to do so.


    He wasn''t close enough with them yet to snatch it from their hands and stop them.


    Even Elizabeth and Alya were drunk but the one that surprised him the most, even previously


    was Michael.


    He was very drunk.


    It was surprising because, in the novel, Michael was never shown to have this habit. Or maybe


    it was because scenes like these were never shown in the novel.


    However, it felt unreal to see the protagonist of the story himself being drunk.


    As for himself, Amon could never find himself drinking.


    Never, in his whole life.


    He swo-


    His thoughts were interrupted when Alya swore out loud, fully drunk.


    "Yeah, fuck them bitches!" She raised her pint.


    But to his surprise, even Charlotte joined in.


    "Yes!"


    ''All of these fuckers are drunk...'' Amon noticed.


    "Get the fuck off my dick, that ain''t right


    I make a y fucking up your whole life


    I''m so fucking sick and tired of the Photoshop


    Show me something natural like Afro on Richard Pryor


    Show me something natural like ass with some stretchmarks" Ren said, looking at Alya.


    "..."


    It was all fucked up.

 Chapter 210: Murder On My Mind (Special Chapter)

    Chapter 210: Murder On My Mind (Special Chapter)


    ?


    ***


    Finally, Ren was done. He came back to slump down on the sofa.


    As the sound of music died out, Charlotte snapped back to reality. "Oh, it''s over?"


    The others also moved at her voice, realizing it was over now.


    "Yeah.." Amon said, trailing off as he eyed their conditions.


    From the side, he felt a nudge on his arm.


    Looking, he saw Alya shing him a drunk smirk.


    "Go on. It''s your turn now."


    Everyone also nodded after realizing he was the only one left.


    ''Hmm''


    "Alright." Amon stood up from his seat, heading towards the front.


    Picking up the microphone, he started to choose a song silently.


    But the song wasn''t there, on the list.


    It was to be expected. The song was by a rapper who had been jailed many times in his previous world.


    Especially for the lyrics he used in that song.


    Later, he was imprisoned for several years in jail for the usation of killing his 2 best friends.


    It brought a lot of hate to his songs so it not being included in this world probably meant the author hated it as well.


    Though, for Amon, it was a different case.


    There was one particr song by a rapper that resonated a lot with his mental condition after his parents died.


    A certain part of the lyrics of that song.


    He used to listen to it non-stop, reminding himself of the things that he wanted to do to the people who killed his parents.


    Yes, in his mind, it wasn''t just a simple ident because they were drunk.


    There was more to the story. Especially because of how high his family was in the society.


    In any case, Amon turned back to his friends.


    "The song isn''t here for some reason. I''ll just sing the acape version."


    They were surprised.


    "That''s surprising. Didn''t know there was such a song that they excluded it." Alya said. Amon nodded.


    "Well, go ahead dude." Ren took another sip of his beer.


    "Alright."


    Amon brought the mic to his mouth.


    "I ain''t get to roll no weed.


    I ain''t get roll no swishers" He started.


    "I was locked up on Christmas, aint get to see my fuckers."


    This was the first time Amon was speaking so many curse words in front of them but fuck it.


    "And I''ma smoke all my pain away, cause that''s the only thing that gon heal it."


    He was surprised to find this body so fluent in singing.


    It had a great voice. To the point that they were already invested despite it being an acape.


    "I wake up in the morning I got murder on my mind."


    Yes, the song was called ''Murder on My Mind.''


    He still loved it.


    For some reason whenever he was stressed out, singing it out loud helped him get it all out.


    He sang and listened to this song continuously when his parents died, wishing to murder the people who killed his parents.


    It was an unrealistic wish, a child''s fantasy. They were thoughts that just came to his mind whenever he thought about it.


    However, in the end...


    Nevermind.


    "Yellow tape around his body, it''s a fucking homicide. His face is on a T-shirt and his family traumatized."


    "I didn''t even mean to shoot him, he just caught me by surprise. I reloaded my pistol, cocked it back, and shot him twice."


    A tear threatened to leak out of Amon''s eyes as he sang this song again in a long while.


    But he controlled it and kept going.


    "I might just kill the man, don''t wanna kill the man, bake him, say he want beef, we gon'' grill the boy."


    "Haha, murder on my mind." Heughed madly as the memories reyed in his mind. [Calm down...] Vain spoke from inside him, trying to calm the sea of emotions inside him. Fortunately, it worked and he was able to quickly finish the song.


    Setting down the mic on the table, he looked up for the first time and found the whole room silent, staring at him.


    ''Yeah, seen this a lot before as well.'' Amon thought as he started to walk back toward his couch.


    But he was surprised when Ren was the first to put a hand on his shoulder.


    He looked at him with a concerned gaze, his previous drunkennesspletely gone.


    "You good bro?"


    Amon found himself speechless, raising his brows at the unexpected response.


    But eventually, he nodded,posing himself.


    "Smile," Ren said, frowning.


    ''Huh?'' Amon looked at him in confusion.


    "Do it." Ren deepened his frown.


    Amon did it, spreading a slight smile on his face.


    Ren''s frown didn''t disappear but he nodded.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Okay." He patted Amon''s shoulder multiple times.


    "Anyways, we done?" Amon asked, changing the topic.


    Everyone nodded.


    Amon checked the time.


    "It''s prettyte, we should head off as well." He said, standing up.


    Everyone followed his lead, standing up silently.


    "I''ll see y''all tomorrow I guess." He opened the door, looking at all of them.


    ''I shouldn''t have sung this song.'' He said, remembering some unwanted memories of his


    previous life where he did the same.


    "Okay." Elizabeth, Alya, and Charlotte replied, leaving the room.


    Michael gave him a forced smile.


    "I''ll see you tomorrow as well then." He patted his back, before waving off.


    Amon waved off.


    "Yeah, sure."


    Then he turned to thest remaining person, Ren.


    "Same for you bro." Amon turned, seeing Ren walk up to him.


    Waving his hand, Amon started walking off but was stopped when Ren called him out.


    "Yo."


    Amon turned, finding Ren still frowning.


    "Listen man, if you got any issues bothering you, I''m all ears. So stay good."


    His hand locked around Amon''s hand and pulled him into a brotherly short hug.


    "Take care right?" He patted Amon''s shoulder once more before walking off.


    ''Did I do something wrong?''


    Even Vain was silent after that previousment during his singing.


    ***


    Ren took a sharp corner, entering a narrow alley.


    Exhaling sharply, he settled down on the ground ruffling his hair.


    It had started off fine.


    It was just a normal rap song like the one he himself had sung.


    It was surprising for all of them to see Amon cursing that much.


    Even though his personality and wording were a lot simr to Ren''s, the former restrained himself from cursing that much.


    But it had changed when he had reached the chorus part of the rap.


    An eerie grin had spread on Amon''s face. Eerie to the point that even if a person knew it was a


    joke, it would bring them chills.


    And that was what happened to the others. Literal chills.


    Especially theugh that followed. It was like a madman''sugh.


    But out of all, Ren knew it wasn''t what they saw.


    That trembling of his eyes and body as he sang it clearly showed that it wasn''t just madness.


    It was painful. As if he was reliving a bad experience from his life in those lyrics.


    Ren was sure of it.


    After all, he could awfully rte to that experience.


    But the pain Ren saw in those eyes made him shudder. It was violent, like a sea threatening to


    leak out at any moment.


    As if Amon wanted to scratch and peel off his grin from that face.


    It was painful even for Ren.


    That was why he was concerned.


    It was weird for others, but he could rte to that experience. He understood what was


    happening to Amon.


    Not to mention the disturbing lyrics of the song. Personally, Ren didn''t have any problem


    with that.


    But he could see the people in their group edged out by that. ''Pussies.'' Was the only word that came into Ren''s mind.


    It baffled him that they thought nothing was wrong with him.


    Even Michael.


    ''There''s obviously an issue in his mind. Fuck...'' Ren scratched his head.


    He took out a cigarette and lit it after putting it in his mouth.


    He knew that it wasn''t his ce to pry in his issues. But he couldn''t help but concern himself with what happened today.


    It was because to him, Amon was like the first real friend he made in the academy. A family to


    him.


    Even closer than Michael because of their shared experiences when around Athena.


    And also because he often finds himself rting to Amon a lot. Their personalities, their


    issues...


    They were simr.


    Maybe that was why they clicked together so well from the start.


    ''I need to help him.'' Ren took a puff, standing up finally.


    Adjusting his jacket, he stubbed the cigarette and moved.


    Hey, everyone. Author here.


    Just wanted to make a quick notice that all the songs in these chapters or any games and such


    aren''t owned in any way by me.


    It was just a way to reference them in a funny way and to portray the feelings I wanted more


    clearly since I love music.


    You are free to go and check out the songs on their official tforms or anywhere, just that


    they aren''t owned by me.


    Here are the artists if anyone wants to know, even though you probably know most of them.


    HUMBLE: Kendrick Lamar


    7 Rings: Ariana Grande


    Espresso: Sabrina Carpenter


    Thick Of It: KSI (lmfao, i know what I did)


    Murder On My Mind: YNW Melly


    If you don''t like the songs or artists or anything, that''s your opinion and I respect it. No


    intention to start any fight here.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 211: The Kidnapping [1]

    Chapter 211: The Kidnapping [1]


    ?


    ***


    [The Next Day]


    Amon woke up to a surprising window in front of his eyes.


    ======[QUEST]======


    Objective: Resolve the Kidnapping Incident


    Time Limit: 2 Days


    Reward: [2 Point Increase In A Random Element]


    Penalty: [2 Point Decrease In A Random Body Stat]


    Status: [Do you ept? Y/N]


    ''What the fuck?'' Amon jolted up with widened eyes.


    He was epting the quest already so he wasn''t surprised about that.


    The surprise emerged from the reward and penalties.


    It wasn''t tooplex in a sense, but when you thought about it deeply, it was quite confusing.


    Because if he seeded in the quest, he might only get 2 Stat increases in a Level 1 Element.


    Or, he could also get a 2-point increase in [Void], which was his highest-level element.


    And the penalty was gruesome. Raising a body stat was already hard enough as a 3rd Order but losing 2 was going to hurt.


    In any case, Amon just had to go ahead and take the quest.


    Especially, after how much he already prepared for it.


    ''[ept].''


    [Quest epted!]


    After taking a shower and then doing his breakfast, he stepped outside into the fresh air.


    Dark clouds traveled over the whole expanse of the sky, indicating signs of rain.


    It was the end of November, so it was exceptionally cold.


    Stepping down the stairs, Amon rubbed his gloved hands.


    He was wearing a maroonish overcoat and a white turtleneck coupled with ck jeans and white sneakers.


    Today was Friday, or more precisely the day for the Battle Royale to happen.


    Walking on the street, he suddenly saw someone up ahead, taking a turn and arriving in the same street as him.


    Wearing a white sweater and ck jacket, her emerald green freely draped across her back straightened elegantly.


    Since he was walking alone this early in the cold street, they were the only two people in the street.


    She noticed his presence and her meadow-green eyes turned to meet him.


    And they instantly froze as a look of realization passed through them.


    Her body shivered under the intensity of his gaze, making Amon wonder if the memories of the match were reying through her mind.


    Liliana''s eyes widened as the shivering increased, causing her to quickly remove her gaze. She silently turned and quickly continued on her path. If someone saw her doing this just because of his gaze, they would faint right then and there.


    The prideful Liliana!? Impossible.


    After a moment, Amon followed her. As he closed the distance, he saw her shivering increase.


    It wasn''t because of the cold as well. There were obvious signs as she repeatedly touched her healed face.


    She had an immense fear of him.


    And she knew that she would break if she looked too long in his gaze.


    Those memories would consume her.


    That was what Amon thought.


    But, he hadn''t just broken her for revenge or as a part of the main cast.


    As he had said before, he didn''t even care if she died. She was his most hated character in the novel.


    However, now that he had broken her.


    He grabbed her shoulder, making her whole body freeze as she struggled to meet his gaze.


    And then her eyes locked with him.


    ''You''re going to be my next pawn.'' Amon slightly smiled.


    ***


    Liliana had nightmares.


    Ever since that battle, she wasn''t able to sleep without that haunting memory torturing her brain at every second.


    The haunting memory of a single guy that shattered her pride through and through.


    She had dark circles under her eyes that she could barely hide.


    Every time she fell asleep for even a moment, one punch from that memory made her jolt awake like a cat.


    She shivered.


    Shivered uncontrobly at every reminding of that fight. That gaze was enough to make her clothes drenched in sweat.


    It was too haunting.


    She even knew the reason for those nightmares. She had realized it even during the fight.


    It was because of her pride. Amon hadpletely broken it and rubbed it through the dirt.


    And for Liliana, her pride was her soul. To consider herself as above every pest in the world. To consider herself as a goddess.


    But that image had been burnt. Incinerated till there was not even a speck of ash.


    All by a single person that she considered as the lowest of the low.


    A weak orphan. Not to mention...


    Liliana''s gaze trembled.


    The demise of her pride was the demise of her soul. Her body was like a soulless body now.


    And that body continuously reminded her of that fact through those nightmares.


    It wrecked her inside out. Made herpletely hollow.


    It was also when she realized her wrongdoings.


    Her pride. That she carried so high, broken just like that.


    Nothing left now.


    She could hate Amon, who had destroyed it. But that gaze gave her PTSD.


    She couldn''t even find herself hating on anyone now.


    At one moment, another memory reyed in her mind.


    ''That touch...'' She thought at that time.


    It was the first time she had taken the hand of another person. One that was a male and a non-


    noble.


    She didn''t know what she did back then.


    It was an instinctive response. When her pride was being destroyed, that hand seemed to be


    like a ray of hope.


    And she had epted it, letting go of all her pride. What was the use of the pride even now?


    Hadn''t she let it go already when she took the hand of another person below her?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She realized that at that time.


    But...


    As surprising as it was for her, she also remembered that tiny feeling that emerged in her


    body.


    It was warm. It made her feel good.


    But it was tiny, as if a small speck popped up in her hollow body at that time.


    She couldn''t remember thest time she had felt a feeling like this.


    As a 4-year-old child? Maybe, she didn''t remember.


    But it was good. Like a warm breeze that caressed her broken soul.


    And it was only after that, that she realized how wrong she had been.


    The whole vacation day, she was holed up in her room, realizing how hateful her past


    behavior was to others.


    She had been to blinded by her pride to realize it before but now she saw it.


    And at the end, there was a single conclusion. She had been wrong all along.


    The past Liliana might have shouted at this, disagreeing that she could ever be wrong but the


    new Liliana knew.


    And that was why she nned to apologize to Amon.


    It was the only correct way to redeem herself.


    At least the first step.


    But now seeing him again, made her body rey those memories again.


    One moment, she saw him standing across the street.


    And the next, he was on top of he.


    Hurling punches in Liliana''s face.


    Blink and he was back at his ce. Blink again and another punch on her face.


    She couldn''t face him like this. She was too scared. Shivering too much.


    But as she moved, she felt a hand on her shoulder.


    Her body didn''t move at the touch, a wide contrast to what she would do before.


    A shudder did pass through her body but Liliana didn''t resist the touch, epting it.


    Her trembling gaze met his face.


    Those ck cold eyes, peered deep within her soul.


    But as a memory threatened to ovep her vision again, her eyes moved down to his lips.


    They moved, spreading into an elegant smile across his features.


    An elegant simple smile. And looking at it, something within her stirred.


    A warm feeling. Simr to what she felt when grabbing Ren''s hand.


    And without even thinking about it, her broken body relished the feeling.


    It desperately tried to grab it, the only thing that could heal her right now.


    It was an elegant smile, but it had a hint of coldness to it.


    It attracted her. "Why are you running away?" Amon asked, not removing his smile.


    "I-" Liliana struggled to form her words for the first time.


    Her eyes were cold, a contrast to his smile.


    But she only looked at his lips.


    Liliana didn''t know how to respond.


    She had prepared for it the whole night but it had alle crashing down now.


    When was thest time she felt this nervous and good at the same time?


    "You want to apologize?" Amon looked into her eyes with his smile. "Ah." Liliana''s mouth opened.


    Her eyes shed pink, without even her knowing anything about it.


    More warmth spread through her being.


    And her soul craved for it.


    "Y-yes." Liliana finally said it.


    "I wanted to apologize for all of my-"


    "It''s okay," Amon said while she was talking, startling her.


    Her eyes widened as she looked up, seeing his warm smile spread further.


    "It''s okay Liliana, I never minded it."


    "W-wait wh-" Liliana felt herself losing more and more control as her soul pushed more for


    that warm feeling.


    It felt good. It felt great.


    She felt alive for the first time.


    He forgave her just like that?


    Another feeling rose within her. Onepletely new to her.


    "Yeah, I don''t me or hate you at all." Amon said, leaning closer and his smile widening


    further.


    Liliana couldn''t believe it.


    Warmth spread through her whole soul as shepletely took over the feeling that was being


    elicited by his smile.


    But another emotion, filled her soul.


    And before she knew it, she felt something hot dripping down her cheeks.


    Her eyes widened as she raised her hand to touch it, not removing her gaze from his smile.


    It was wet.


    And as she retreated her hand, she saw what it was.


    They were tears.


    And more and more came out of her eyes. When was thest time she cried like this?


    But it felt good.


    Felt good to feel this warm in the cold winter. Felt good to have these new emotions within


    her.


    She finally realized what the new emotion was within her.


    It was gratitude. Gratefulness at being forgiven so easily.


    Something she had never done before in her life. Not from her heart and soul.

 Chapter 212: The Kidnapping [2]

    Chapter 212: The Kidnapping [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon started ahead in the distance, gazing at Liliana''s fading back.


    His ability waspletely sessful.


    Since he had broken her in the FULLDIVE, he knew her mental state was inplete shambles when he didn''t see her in the group that day.


    Because of that, he chose to use his ability right now, which was the perfect time to


    manipte her.


    Not only was she broken, but from the widening of her eyes he knew the memories of the fight were reying in her mind.


    It was perfect.


    But he was even more surprised that she intended to apologize to him from the start.


    Only when he used [Void Influence] on her did he find that out.


    It was surprising for him.


    Even though he had broken her pride, he didn''t expect her to apologize to him.


    She was the type of person who let the world fall to hell but never apologized.


    ''She really fell that deep down huh.'' Amon thought.


    As much as he hated her, he might have just been too harsh on her in the FULLDIVE. But he didn''t regret it.


    It was better that way.


    It would enable her to contribute to the main cast much early on.


    A win-win for both of them.


    ''The plotline has changed a lot but it''s progressing in a good direction.''


    So far, from what he was seeing, the changes had all been in the great category.


    Only minor things had tilted towards the bad side.


    But now...


    Amon gazed at the window in front of him.


    ''It''s gonna begin soon.''


    Pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, Amon quickly started walking forward to the FULLDIVE building.


    ***


    Amon entered the FULLDIVE building, finding it already full of cadets.


    Unlikest time, where it was just Team Battles, this time it was Battle Royale so the whole ce was bustling with activity.


    Chatters could be heard in the air as everyone was trying to form a n or team of some sort.


    Tactics like these were allowed in the Battle Royale. After all, it was also a form of preparation for the battlefields in the future.


    And on the battlefield, there would be these types of teams and betrayals everywhere.


    Amon quickly saw his group standing in the distance.


    He wasn''t surprised when he saw Liliana standing there, chatting with them.


    They had looks of disbelief on their faces as Liliana bowed and talked to them.


    Even Amon, who had orchestrated the whole matter, was surprised to see it happen again.


    It just felt too unrealistic. Like a dream.


    Walking up to them, Amon waved.


    "Yo."


    Recognizing his voice, everyone''s heads turned.


    The first to greet him, like always, was Ren, who looked at him with a grin.


    "Sup, you are here. Look what''s happening." He said, gesturing to Liliana in the distance with his eyes.


    Amon nodded.


    "Yeah, I saw."


    Ren raised his brows.


    "You aren''t surprised." Amon nodded.


    "I still am. She apologized to me and did that whole thing while I wasing here already."


    "Oh, damn, I wonder what type of ghost''s gotten into her. It feels creepy to see hern/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    apologize." Ren made a disgusted expression.


    "I hope it gets out of her soon. I hate that bitch." He averted his eyes after cursing.


    Amon smirked and raised his brows, making a sarcastic expression.


    "Oh? Says the guy who is the only person to hold her hand on the campus." Amon teased.


    Ren did a fake puke.


    "Fuck, don''t remind me of that. I only did it to win against you, nothing else. I''m still disgusted at myself to this day." He wiped his right hand with his other hand. Amon shrugged while pulling up his lips, as if seeming to say ''Oh, who knows?''


    "I don''t know man, you looked pretty happy to hold her hand back then. What a simp."


    Ren gritted his teeth, making another disgusted face.


    "Don''t make such shit usations on me. I''d rather make out with a dog than love her."


    "Bet. I''ll find you one after this." Amon gave a thumbs up.


    "Wait, no fucker, I was just kidding. It''s a joke." Ren raised his hands in defeat.


    Amonughed, putting his arm around Ren''s shoulders.


    "Yeah yeah, I''m just kidding. You ready for the battle royale today?"


    Ren whistled in confidence.


    "Ohhh, you know I am. I''m gonna beat your ass down now that I''m alone."


    Amon raised his brows, as if he was impressed.


    "Oh? You sure about that? Wanna make a bet?"


    Ren''s grin widened.


    "5000 Exlor to the winner?" He extended his hand.


    Amon widened his smile and tapped his hand.


    "Bet."


    "You two, get over here," Michael called out from where the group was standing.


    Nodding, both of them joined the group where they were waiting.


    After Liliana had apologized, everyone didn''t seem to mind that much.


    She had never been that rude to the girls, especially since they were strong, so they were


    completely fine with her.


    It was the trio who had the problems with her but they also forgave her.


    Amon had already done so outside.


    Ren, being the chill guy he was, waved off his hand, letting it go.


    And Michael also nodded.


    In the first ce, it was only Amon and Ren who beefed with her always.


    Michael, being the kind and forgiving guy he was, always managed to stay out of the beef and


    avoid any confrontation with her.


    And since Amon and Ren both had forgiven her with a ''Whatever'', the group chose to include


    her in them now.


    After they joined up, they didn''t chat about anything special.


    It was just a proposal from Michael, asking if, in the Battle Royale, they wanted to team up in


    duos or anything.


    But as soon as he had presented the question, Amon and Ren had instantly denied it.


    Both of them had wanted to go solo from the start. It was surprising for the group to see Ren


    agreeing to it.


    Considering he needed someone with him for his [Copy] element, he was pretty much the weakest at the start.


    But seeing the look that both of them gave to each other, the group understood that it was a


    competition.


    And since they both had chosen to go solo, everyone in the group decided to go solo as well. "If anyone gets beaten up or anything, no hard feelings kay?" Amon confirmed.


    Looking at him, everyone gulped.


    They saw what had happened to Liliana.


    The whole group, no, the whole stadium knew that the biggest threat in the stadium was


    Amon.


    By now, everyone knew how many elements he had.


    And in a one-on-one, they knew they were cooked. That Liliana fight had gone viral in the


    group chats after all.


    If there was anyone who could hope to go head-to-head with him, it was Michael. And Ren, if The copied a lot of strong elements.


    They were the only two people. And how ironic that both of them were bottom-ranked as


    well.


    It was because of this reason that everyone was forming ns to eliminate Amon first. Suddenly, the voice of Athena boomed in the building.


    "Okay, you all have 5 minutes. Please choose a single pod and settle yourselves inside it."


    At her voice, everyone quickly started scrambling to find a pod. The group also disintegrated after offering a stroke of good luck to everyone. Liliana, who was about to go silently at first, suddenly froze in the spot when Amon replied


    from behind.


    "Hey, good luck."


    Silence remained in the group for a moment before she nodded her head, not looking back.


    "Thanks." She said.


    And at his words, everyone seemed to follow, giving her good luck as well.


    She thanked them all and the group dispersed.


    After finally finding a pod, Amon opened it up and settled himself inside.


    The cold steam from inside made his already cold body shudder.


    "Okay, please correctly adjust the helmet to your heads, everyone. You have a single minute


    before the simtion begins. If you have any technical difficulties,e out and stand in front of your pod." Athena said again.


    ''She''s probably in the booths from where everyone is watching.''


    Yes. The whole campus was watching this event today.


    His sister, Alice, Arthur, Athena, Amelia, etc.


    They were all assembled in a stadium probably.


    ''I wished to make you proud here sis.'' Amon thought back to Katherine.


    This was probably the first time she was watching him in an event. ''Sigh, too bad this isn''t the correct time or ce. Next time, hopefully.''


    As soon as the thought passed, Athena''s voice emerged in the building again.


    "Okay, seems like no one seems to have any issues. The simtion will begin now."


    And immediately, the helmet locked itself to Amon''s head.


    And his senses started to distort like always, starting from his vision.


    The weird sensationsted for a minute or two, a little longer because of therge amount of


    students.


    But finally, it went away and Amon''s senses started returning.


    The first thing he saw was the greeting window like always.


    [Wee to FULLDIVE!]


    And in the next moment, he felt a fresh breeze pass through, warming his previously cold


    body.


    It felt soothing and refreshing.


    Amon opened his eyes slowly.


    Right in front of him, was a beautiful lush green, spring forest.


    Athena''s voice boomed in the skies again.


    [The Battle Royale begins now!]


    It had finally started.


    Hello everyone. Author here.


    My personal issues should be sorted out in 2 to 3 days max. After that, we should be back to 3


    chapters per day schedule.


    Thank you for your understanding and bearing with me.

 Chapter 213: The Kidnapping [3]

    Chapter 213: The Kidnapping [3]


    ?


    ***


    Amon did not waste any time.


    He immediately jumped upon a tree branch, prioritizing stealth first.


    Once hended, he pushed [Void Eyes] to their maximum capacity for a few seconds.


    Everything around him instantly slowed and quietened down to a hum.


    Only after thoroughly investigating the area around him, did he settle down.


    He took a deep breath.


    ''Okay, good. They aren''t here.''


    Athena''s voice came from above.


    [Okay, all 1250 students have been transported to the area sessfully. Now, I''ll exin the terrain. There are four regions in this circr map.]


    Amon listened to her attentively while keeping an eye on him.


    [There is a Tundra, Forest, Desert, and Sea region, all divided into quarters along the map.


    To make it more realistic, the students have been distributed randomly in the regions. Because of that, one region might be overloaded and one might be deserted.]


    ''Hmm.''


    Amon spread his senses.


    He still couldn''t feel any presence around him.


    Unless a student was exceptionally talented in stealth, he doubted anyone could sneak up on him without thetter noticing.


    He was pretty sure there was no one on this map stronger than him.


    ''Maybe Michael or Ren could be close to me...''


    Amon put himself on full alert while Athena continued.


    [Because of the high amount of students, we are not going to follow thest-to-survive tactic in this battle royale.


    For this, all of your students have a total time of 6 hours. The person with the most kills at the end of this timer will be the winner. I know it sounds unfair for you people who are in deserted areas, but that''s how life is.


    You need to prepare yourself for the future. Additionally, you can team up or use any tactic, however, except for armentists who can use weapons, they are not allowed for clovists.


    The use of artifacts is also not permitted for any category.


    Familiar physical forms are also not allowed due to the high poption. However, you can use their mini-forms however you want. Skills are also allowed.


    You will only use things you either craft in this map yourself or the ones provided from the start.


    With that all said, I wish you all the best of luck.]


    And then, the voice cut.


    Amon wasn''t surprised that much.


    The rules of the match were at least, the same from the novel.


    The only problem here was that Amon was in a region where Michael never spawned in the novel.


    There was no knowing how this match would go.


    ''Especially, since it''s close to happening.''


    But he still kept himself rmed in case the plotline changed and Michael spawned in his region.


    He never trusted the plotline fully now. There were too many changes, also caused by him.


    A single mistake could lead to the death of even a main cast member. Worst case, it could be even him.


    ''I should move now. Okay, you twoe out.'' Amon talked to Vain and Zephyra.


    Immediately, Zephyra spawned on his shoulder while Vain looped around his sleeved arm.


    ''Keep an eye around for any people. I can never trust my senses enough.''


    [Alright.]


    [Got it.] Both of them replied.


    He had already talked to them about the nst night.


    Without any further talk, he dissolved some parts of his body into smoke before shooting forward.


    Traveling from branch to branch, Amon used [Void Eyes] for a split second from time to time. ''Fuck, is this area deserted?''


    It was never told in the novel which area was crowded and which wasn''t.


    Especially the forest one since it was directly opposite to Michael''s spawning area, the desert.


    Because of the far distance, it was never discussed.


    He had been jumping from tree to tree but had found no sign of a student yet.


    As he jumped to another branch and deactivated his familiar art, his senses suddenly went on


    full alert.


    ''Finally, they are close.'' Amon noticed.


    ''It seems like they haven-''


    His eyes suddenly widened as he tilted his head a little, narrowly escaping an arrow.


    It lodged itself into the tree with precise uracy.


    Amon''s eyes instantly moved along with his body as he tried to locate the source of the attack.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to see anything because of the tall and thick trees.


    Even the sunlight was unable to pass through, which took out much of the light.


    ''I''m missing the attack.'' Amon clicked his tongue.


    ''You guys saw anything?''


    [Nope, it''s too hard to see because of the obstacles.] Vain replied.


    [Yeah, I''m surprised someone was even able to shoot from afar and with such a tiny space.]


    Amon gritted his teeth.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to contemte much on the thought as his senses red again.


    Without looking, he quickly jumped off the branch he was currently standing on to another branch before jumping down.


    In the next second, a fireball struck where he was standing,pletely obliterating the branch and a portion of the tree.


    Landing on the ground, Amon skidded a little before bncing himself.


    Looking up with his calm and stoic eyes, he saw them all.


    ''I was too upied with the attacker. They caught me.'' Amon realized.


    All around him, on every single branch of a tree, multiple students were standing.


    They all gazed down at him below on the ground.


    Everyone was focused on him.


    There was no use to talk or negotiate.


    All of them had already made up their minds.


    To team up and eliminate him first.


    But it made him wonder.


    ''Had they noticed me from the start?'' Amon thought.


    Because it didn''t make sense for him to keep moving together even when they didn''t see him.


    Why weren''t they fighting before seeing him?


    It was suspicious.


    But he knew that there was no use to talk to them. They weren''t going to listen to anything.


    Amon stared at one of them, standing on the highest branch out of all of them.


    Silence reigned in the surroundings as the only sound was the whisper of a breeze passing


    through.


    But then, a small leaf broke from a branch, swerving in the air as it lightly fell.


    And in the next second, it beautifully settled on the ground.


    And as if in silent agreement, all of them moved at the same second.


    And hell broke loose.


    A barrage of multi-elemental attacks formed in the air, shooting straight toward his location.


    However, Amon didn''t stay idle.


    His form blurred as he immediately disappeared from his spot.


    And before the attacks evennded on the spot where he was standing previously, his form


    appeared once again.


    He was standing on another branch now.


    And right before him was a crouched student who had just attacked him.


    Without hesitating, he ced one hand on his chin and the other on the top of his head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And then...


    SNAP!


    Silent cracks -that were drowned by the sounds of the attacks- were heard in the air as Amon


    snapped his neck, killing him.


    His form disintegrated into blue pixels that were shrouded by the clouds of smoke erupting


    from the attacks.


    As the smoke subsided, a humongous crater was left in the spot where Amon was standing


    previously.


    The ground also rumbled continuously.


    The students looked around in confusion, wondering if Amon was dead or alive. Because of therge amount of students, there was no calling out of the death of a person.


    It also made it realistic since you never knew if someone would be alive or killed after arge-


    scale attack like this on a battlefield.


    It made them realize the risk of high-area coverage attacks.


    But Amon made use of the confusion, quickly using [Voidstep] to appear on another branch.


    Right in front of a student.


    His hand shot forward, grabbing the student''s face.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t fast enough to stop their sound.


    Screams erupted out of the student''s mouth as a torrent of amethyst-ck mes engulfed


    their whole form.


    Amon kept his hand on the student''s face for a couple of seconds before taking it off.


    And as he took it off, the mes also dispersed, leaving beautiful purple embers in their wake.


    While also leaving a sculpture of ck ashes that disintegrated into blue particles in the next


    second.


    The students watched with agape mouths and widened eyes as one of their brethren disappeared right before them.


    Amon looked at all of them with cold eyes as he was finally discovered.


    One of the students, a female quicklyposed herself and shouted. "GET HIM! NOW''S OUR CHANCE, WE CANNOT LET HIS DEATH GO TO WASTE!"


    The other students snapped out of their illusions at her shout.


    However, even then, the students hesitated to move.


    All of them had seen what happened to the boy in front.


    He couldn''t even realize what happened to him in a single second.


    The reality finally settled into their minds.


    Amon was too strong. It was a mistake to meddle with him, no matter how big of a group they


    were.


    They should have just stuck to defeating weaker cadets since a kill was a kill. It was an idiotic


    mistake.


    But now they couldn''t go back.


    Especially when Amon set his cold eyes on them.


    Multiple crimson spears formed around him as lightning simultaneously crackled around his


    legs.


    "If you aren''t going toe...."


    Amonunched towards a nearby student, quickly freezing their legs with crystal to stop their


    escape.


    A blood spear cleanly impaled their body while he manipted the blood inside their body.


    It erupted from the student''s arms and legs, killing him and disintegrating his body as well. "Then, I will." He stared apathetically at every student.

 Chapter 214: The Kidnapping [4]

    Chapter 214: The Kidnapping [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon tilted his head, narrowly dodging a sound bullet that crashed into a tree behind him.


    Unfazed, he shot his arm forward, grabbing a crystal handing toward his face.


    A gasp escaped the boy''s face as Amon locked his blood coated on his wrist.


    And then...


    CRACK!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon clenched his wrist, breaking the crystal easily and grabbing the wrist underneath.


    Without any emotion in his eyes, he twisted the boy''s wrist aplete 360 degrees, forcing him on his knees.


    Before delivering a punch straight to his brain, killing him.


    Amon let go of his disintegrating body, not caring anymore and focusing ahead.


    His neck suddenly turned into a wisp of smoke.


    And in the next moment, a hardened water spear passed through the smoke from behind.


    Amon waspletely uninjured.


    The smoke solidified, cing his neck back to where he was.


    However, his face turned back as his eyes glowed in a violet shade.


    The female student, who was about to attack him with more water spears was suddenly halted in her ce.


    Amon exerted more power into [Void Eyes] and the intricate dials inside his eyes moved.


    The world around him slowed and the lock around the girl''s body was further tightened. Threads looped around his hands as they shot forward, coiling around the water girl''s limbs. The hair on his back suddenly stood up as he widened a little.


    Without hesitating, he pulled the strings, throwing the girl''s body in the air.


    Right behind him, where a multitude of attacks that were about to hit him collided with the girl''s body.


    Her limbs separated from her now dissolving body because of the threads and a blood shower erupted mid-air, raining down on Amon.


    Using the smoke to his advantage, Amon dissolved his half-body into a cloud of smoke as well.


    But as he was sneakily traveling through the smoke, he heard Zephyra call out from his shoulder.


    [To your right!]


    Amon''s eyes widened as he turned his whole body to smoke to evade the attack.


    Unfortunately, to his immense surprise the iing de cleanly pierced through the smoke, eliciting a whimper of pain from him.


    "Urgh!"


    He canceled his art. But rather than retreating, he red at the woman with [Void Eyes], halting her movements.


    Without hesitation, he shot a lightning bullet right at her forehead to kill her.


    But he was once again taken by surprise when a part of her head turned into smoke at thest second.


    The bullet passed harmlessly through while exposing his location.


    ''She was able to resist my [Void Eyes]!?'' Amon was surprised.


    He quickly delivered a lightning-d kick to her abdomen, sending her crashing sideways through the smoke.


    It was only after the smoke parted that a look of recognition passed through his eyes.


    With short chestnut hair and light blue eyes, Amon knew who she was.


    Although she wasn''t anyone important in the story, she was still mentioned in 1 or 2 lines in the novel.


    She was the strongest student in one of the academies and her element was apparently [Smoke].


    ''This was why she was able to strike my body huh?'' Amon realized.


    It was also why he had been unable to notice her earlier. She had used the smoke of the attack


    as an advantage.


    Her name was...


    Mia? Or something. He didn''t remember.


    She had given Michael a tough time in the single matches apparently in the novel.


    Because the smoke produced from his [Fire] element was being used to her advantage.


    Just like [Energy], [Smoke] was also a special case. These types of elements were called [Omnistatial] elements.


    Because the user could both form and manipte them, while also applying them to their own bodies.


    Like how the girl had just turned herself into smoke and could travel.


    The same for Energy as well, where Nadia was able to turn herself into energyter on and teleport over short distances.


    In certain cases, elements like [Lightning] could also be Omnistatial.


    There was much more on these elements as well but these were the basic characteristics.


    Amon swept a gaze around him.


    He had killed a lot of students till now. Only a group of them was left.


    About 15 to 17.


    ''I should end this quickly.'' He concluded.


    He had other fights to do as well after all. This wasn''t the first one.


    But there was one thing he was sure about.


    This was definitely the easiest one he was going to face.


    Looking back at Mia or whoever she was, he saw her giving a nod to the teammates around


    her.


    Immediately, they started attacking him once more as multiple water spears and balls of fire were hurled at him.


    Amon was about to move when he suddenly felt the earth beneath him erupt.


    Two earth constraints formed as theytched around his feet, preventing him from moving.


    ''Huh? This is dumb.''


    He immediately formed his feet into smoke, getting out of the shackles.


    Multiple wind des sliced through the air toward him, but Amon snapped his fingers.


    A concentrated shockwave of sound erupted forward, colliding with the des of wind and


    cancelling them.


    The student''s eyes widened. They weren''t expecting it to turn out like this.


    des of wind had wind concentrated to the point that it was almost impossible to cancel


    them with sound.


    Unless you could also make the sound of such a concentrated frequency and intense vibrations


    that it canceled the wind.


    Which was exactly what Amon had done.


    Amon didn''t waste any time.


    Using the surprise of the students to his advantage, he quickly shot blood spears at them.


    Simultaneously, he clenched his fists, causing structures simr to the earth ones to form on


    their feet.


    The only difference was that they were made of [Crystal] making them much harder.


    And then, he used [Void Eyes], locking their whole body in ce.


    The spears of blood arched through the air, cleanly piercing their heads, killing all 6 of them.


    At the same time, multiple notifications shed in Amon''s vision.


    [Your [Blood] element has leveled up!]


    [Your [Sound] element has leveled up!] [Your [Crystal] element has leveled up!] [Your [Lightning] element has leveled up!]


    A smirk spread through Amon''s face. His [Crystal] and [Sound] were Level 2 now.


    ''About time. Let''s test you two out.''


    Amon immediately used [Voidstep], appearing before a female student.


    She was just about to attack him with her ice chains but was taken by surprise when the ck-


    haired boy appeared in front of her.


    Amon didn''t care though.


    He punched her straight in the stomach, with a sound mana coating.


    As he did, her mouth opened wide, blood gushing out of it on his clothes.


    But that wasn''t the end as a shockwave suddenly pushed into her body, through the spot


    where he had just punched.


    And her flesh split open, leaving a wide gaping hole in her body while simultaneously killing


    her.


    ''Holy...'' Amon stared at his hand with widened eyes.


    But he didn''t stand there wasting time.


    There were still some students to take care of.


    He turned back, seeing a barrage of fire and water attacks heading toward him.


    But as he was about to try a newbination of [Blood] and [Void] on the attacks, his eyes


    widened.


    Rather than the attacks heading toward him, they crashed into each other.


    And the result was arge vapor cloud that overtook the whole area, covering Amon''s vision.


    He could have used [Void''s Eyes] but chose to refrain from doing so now.


    He had already wasted enough mana for this fight.


    Amon knew what their n was.


    It was to give that Mia girl full space to defeat him.


    Or at least fight him. Since right now, she was the only girl who could keep up with him.


    In the smoke domain at least.


    Amon''s hair suddenly stood up as his senses red.


    His eyes nced to the side, where the vapor around him suddenly changed.


    He took a light step back, evading a sharp de to his neck where he was previously standing.


    Amon heard a clicking of the tongue, indicating it was Mia.


    A smirk spread upon his lips as he dodged another de, grabbing her wrist in the process.


    But before she could turn back into smoke, he snapped his finger.


    Her man flow waspletely disrupted, breaking her transformation.


    "Too bad though." He looked in her sky-blue eyes.


    "You forgot one thing while doing this." He raised his arm.


    Small crackles of lightning suddenly started to erupt around his arm.


    But then, they started erupting in the air around him as well.


    Mia''s gaze trembled as her eyes widened.


    "Vapor is a very good conductor of electricity," Amon said as lightning covered his whole


    form.


    And then....


    CRACKLE! BZZZZZZZZZZT! BOOOM!


    Arge explosion of electricity erupted in the area, making the ground rumble.


    Smoke covered the whole area as the sound died out slowly, letting silence take over.


    And as the smoke started to part, a figure walked out with a cold gaze.


    His ck bodysuit was torn at some ces while blood covered his whole form.


    Drip!...Drip!...Drip!


    Light crackles of lightning could be heard in the air. But alongside, a dripping sound could


    also be heard. Right in his two hands were two bloody dead heads of Mia and another student.


    He let go of their hair, throwing their heads into the air as they also disintegrated away.


    Slow gasps erupted out of Amon''s mouth as he stood alone in the destroyed clearing while the


    smoke started to subside.


    But suddenly, the hair on his back stood up.


    A clean piercing sound was heard in the air as something came from behind.


    But suddenly, it stopped and silence took over once again. Amon finally moved, taking a step to the side and turning his body around.


    His eyes glowed in a violent shade through his messy air as he looked at the floating arrow in


    front of him with a smirk.


    His raised arm grabbed the arrow before clenching his hand, breaking the arrow.


    "I was waiting for you toe out. About time." Amon spoke, grinning.

 Chapter 215: The Kidnapping [5]

    Chapter 215: The Kidnapping [5]


    ?


    ***


    Amon broke the arrow, his amethyst eyes ring at the hooded figure before him.


    A long red robe covered his body partly while a hood was pulled over his face, concealing his facial features.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Golden lines and engravings ran along the length of the robe, giving it a cult-like appearance.


    The hooded figure didn''t move, but his body stuttered for a second, seemingly taken aback by what Amon had just done.


    "Spacial affinity?" His voice came out, glitched and surprised.


    ''Hmmm, didn''t the news of my affinities spread throughout the kingdom? And how can he move under the influence of my skill?'' Amon observed.


    Amon deactivated [Void Eyes], seeing that he was still fine.


    ''Something is protecting him from my skill.'' Amon noticed.


    It was probably the robe or another artifact.


    Or maybe he was stronger than his skill. Amon didn''t know.


    The man was too mysterious.


    ''Whatever, I''ll just force everything out of him.'' Amon brought down his arm, turning hisplete body to him.


    He wasted no time springing into action again.


    The longer he would stay idle, it was to his disadvantage.


    Without any word, Amon shot forward, summoning his nodachi.


    No announcement came from above, giving him any warning or disqualification.


    ''Did they disable the camera artifact and sensors?'' Amon noticed.


    In any case, he didn''t care about the battle royale anymore.


    It was obvious that other cadets would be getting attacked right now as well.


    Which meant that the rules were gone to shit now.


    Looping a mixture of blood and void threads around his hand, Amonunched them forward.


    "Wait, it''s that kid!?" The member eximed.


    So they did know about him. But they didn''t seem to have seen his face or something.


    It was too fishy.


    The man gritted his teeth, quickly nocking an arrow in his bow while jumping back to create distance.


    But his bnce was disrupted when Amon summoned a crystal structure from the ground.


    Ittched to his legs, bringing him back down.


    But Amon was suddenly surprised when he retrieved two daggers and shed them at the crystal, breaking them.


    Amon was taken aback.


    To break such a strong crystal, there were two possibilities.


    One, the daggers had to be decently powerful which didn''t seem to be the case as they looked only like a normal tier 1 artifact.


    Or, they had to be imbued with Anti-mana powder.


    It was something that was only introduced a decade ago.


    It was an invention by the Royal Family to even train the non-awakened and give them a chance to fight.


    There were anti-mana weapons which were very expensive to be in the hands of a normal member.


    Then there was a very cheap alternative called anti-mana powder.


    It could be applied to any weapon to give it nullification properties. However, [Reality] type elements were unaffected by this nullification technique.


    However, applying anti-mana powder was not only a temporary solution.


    But with continuous use, it also ate away at the material of the weapon, destroying it.


    ''It''s gonna be destroyed soon.''


    Amon saw the member sh his daggers at the threads.


    The blood threads were cleanly cut but...


    The void threadstched at his limbs, shocking him.


    Looking at his reaction, Amon wasn''t surprised. Even though he knew about him having [Space] now, spatial threads weren''t something heard of.


    As the threads looped around his arm and seeped into his skin, drawing blood, Amon pulled


    hard.


    The man was thrown toward him.


    That was all that Amon needed.


    But mid-air, the air around the man suddenly swirled, halting his motion.


    ''Oh no you don''t.''


    Amon used [Voidstep] appearing right in front of the man.


    Before the man couldprehend what happened, Amon clenched his fist, manipting his blood.


    His face suddenly moved toward, heading towards Amon''s hand.


    And in the next second...


    Amon performed a clean sh with his lightning-coated nodachi, severing the man''s head.


    It flew in the air, leaving a trail of blood in its wake thatnded on Amon''s face.


    Amon and the headless bodynded on the ground, and the former gasped hard as hey down on the ground.


    "Huff...Huff...Huff...Huff..fuck." Amon cursed, panting hard.


    ''I''m wasting too much mana on these fights.''


    He barely had half of his mana left now. And there were lots of fights toe.


    Using too many elements at the same time was also a big headache.


    And to think that this was just a simple member.


    Catching his breath, Amon quickly stood up, making a dome of blood around him.


    He examined the man''s body.


    Taking off the man''s robe, Amon examined it and immediately, a status window opened in


    front of him.


    Amon''s eyes widened as he stared at it.


    It was a Tier-3 anti-mana artifact that could save the wearer from any attacks of that equivalent rank and below it.


    It also saved you from any detection abilities and heightened your camouge ability.


    ''So this was why I couldn''t sense him huh.''


    [And to think they gave it to just a nobody.] Vain said.


    [Whoever they are, they are a strong group.]


    Amon nodded.


    Even though they appeared in the novel, nothing had ever been revealed about that.


    Except for their name and some other things.


    At that time in the novel, the war with the ghouls had started so no one could focus on them


    much.


    It was probably to be resolved after the main story ended but...


    Amon had a gnawing feeling that they were even more if not equally dangerous to the ghouls.


    Their name though. It was Decimated Abyss.


    The reason or lore behind this name had also never been revealed.


    In any case, Amon examined the member''s body further.


    The clothes on him were just a normal bodysuit, which also exined why his attacks could


    get through on that.


    Then, Amon pulled off his hood, revealing the man''s face.


    It wasn''t anything special. They had brown hair and brown eyes.


    Just an average face.


    But as Amon was about to take his gaze off, he was suddenly halted by Vain.


    [Stop.]


    ''Hmm?'' He and Zephyra looked at him on his arm.


    Vain traveled down on the man''s body. Or more precisely his face.


    And suddenly, his facial features started to mold and shape into something else.


    A small chip suddenly separated from his skin,nding on the ground.


    Amon picked it up and Vain spoke.


    [It was an illusion artifact made to deform the face and hide it.] He exined.


    ''I see.''


    Amon stared at the chip and another interface opened in front of him.


    The chip was a tier 3 artifact that could deform a person''s face to anything they imagined.


    As long as no one touched their face for 5 seconds or more, the illusion could not be seen


    through.


    And if someone was higher ranked than the artifact, they could see through the illusion. Destroying the chip would also destroy the illusion.


    Since Amon was a 3rd order, he had been unable to see through any illusion.


    [You saw through it?] Zephyra asked with surprise.


    Even her, as a goddess and a tier 9 familiar wasn''t able to see through it.


    But Vain hissed proudly.


    [Of course, no illusion escapes my eyes.] It said.


    Amon nodded.


    "Makes sense."


    Amon looked at the man''s new face.


    And his eyes instantly widened.


    It was because...


    Although his hair was still brown. His eyes were pure red.


    It wasn''t a color like Michael or Alya, who had a fiery crimson color. It was like the color of


    pure blood.


    But what took him by even more surprise was...


    The small pointy horn on the man''s head.


    It wasn''t protruding by arge amount but...


    One could still not ignore the horns. Because there was only one species in the whole world that had horns on their head.


    They were...


    Ghouls.


    ''The fuck?'' Amon eximed, falling on his back.


    ''The Decimated Heavens is a ghoul organization!?''


    He couldn''t believe it. The organization had been working in the human domain since


    decades now.


    And to think nobody had noticed it. Not even Arthur...


    But there was another thing that took Amon byplete surprise.


    He quickly turned over the man''s head, looking for another horn but...


    He found nothing.


    ''No, wait. Huh? The fuck?'' He cursed again.


    His thoughts were thrown intoplete chaos.


    A ghoul, no matter how weak or strong or anything, always had 2 horns on their head.


    It was a sign of their identity, a sign of their race. The lone thing that could instantly


    differentiate them from a human.


    There were also the eyes but the horns were their most important feature.


    It was also the thing that they took the most pride in,paring the length of their horns that


    signified their strength.


    But...


    The human before him only had one horn on his head.


    And there was only a single exnation for this...


    The member of the Decimated Heavens he was seeing before him...


    Or this man...


    Was a half-ghoul.


    He was a cross breed between a ghoul and a human. Something never proved possible.

 Chapter 216: Blood Bath [1]

    Chapter 216: Blood Bath [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s mind waspletely blown.


    This was something that had never been even hinted at in the game. There was not even a clue that something like that existed.


    But he also knew at the same time that currently, it wasn''t the ce to brainstorm about it all.


    This wasn''t just the only member in the whole area.


    There were multiple that were spread out in every region.


    And every second he wasted, one cadet was getting closer and closer to their death.


    ''Fuck, I need to hurry,'' Amon cursed, looking at the headless body in front of him.


    He wanted to see more but it pained him that he had to wait right now.


    Clicking his tongue, Amon was about to store the man''s body and head in his ring when he stopped.


    He remained silent for 1 or 2 seconds before leaning down.


    He grabbed the man''s robe and earpiece.


    He then stored his body inside the ring.


    Sewing the hood back to the rob with some blood strings that matched the robe, Amon put it on him.


    Then, he put the earpiece in his ears, imagining the man''s face to the best of his ability. Immediately, he felt his skin mold and shape. His facial features distorted slowly before... He felt it stop.


    Raising his hand, Amon made a small crystal mirror, seeing his face in it.


    And to his satisfaction, his face was perfectly like the man he had just killed.


    After thoroughly checking that he wasn''t missing anything, Amon put the crystal back.


    He was a little leaner and taller than the man he had just killed but in Amon''s mind, the robe would be able to negate such differences.


    Checking his things one final time, Amon dropped down the blood dome and was about to shoot forward when he stopped.


    After a moment of contemtion, he raised his arm again.


    His form started to ripple as if it was a mixture of gas and fluid.


    It got faster and faster when suddenly the fluid started to separate into three other parts.


    The three parts were positioned in a circle around the original Amon before all of them started to solidify back.


    And in just 30 seconds, Amon was now looking at 3 other copies of himself.


    There was a little bit of a downside in [Smokesoul Mirage''s] early stages right now.


    And it was that his artifact effects like the robe and earpiece couldn''t copy over to his other clones.


    Sure, he could still give them the clothing itself on their forms if he wanted to do so. But then, they would just be simple clothes, not artifacts.


    Fortunately, right now, Amon didn''t need all of them to be members like himself.


    "Out of the three of you, one will stay here in this region. The other two will head in the Tundra and the Sea region. I''ll head to the Desert Region." Amon exined to them all.


    Nodding to his orders, all of them gave him a thumbs up.


    Amon was momentarily surprised.


    Another problem was that every clone created by him would have his consciousness and mind.


    Sometimes, it didn''t choose to follow his orders or such.


    But right now, nobody has chosen toin or go against it.


    Was this a part of his personality as well?


    To understand in moments of desperation?


    Whatever it was, Amon was grateful.


    Giving them a final thumbs up, Amon shot towards the trees with a disguise as well.


    He quickly traveled from branch to branch, trying to hide his presence to the best of his


    ability.


    Even though the rules had been turned to null now, he still didn''t use his familiars.


    Therge size of Zephyra was a dead giveaway of his location.


    And right now, even though their target was someone else.


    Their second priority was definitely Michael and him.


    Plus, it would be weird to see a member with such arge familiar in the skies.


    In his mind, he would prefer it if he wasn''t interrupted before he could catch up to Michael in


    the desert region.


    It was the ce where he was going right now.


    ***


    Charlotte panted, setting her back against a tree.


    Sweat beaded down her face and she quickly wiped it off her face.


    Her ck bodysuit was also drenched in sweat.


    She nted her ymore in the beachy sand, looking up at the sharp sun shining down upon


    her.


    As soon as she had spawned on the sea territory, she found herself in the middle of a maze of bridges on top of the sea.


    And around her?


    There were at least 24 cadets who instantly recognized her and wasted no time rushing her.


    The narrow bridges and the sea already put her at a grave disadvantage. Especially since she was used to wide-area movements and strikes with her ymore.


    Nevertheless, with her familiar art, which allowed her to form and manipte mud, she was able to pull through.


    The number of people caught in her mud field also increased her strength by that amount. But in that colossal fight, she had also broken away every bridge on the sea.


    And now, looking at the wide expanse of the sea, there were broken nks of sea on the surface as far as the eye could see.


    Charlotte took another deep sigh, feeling herself burning in the sunlight.


    ''I should hurry, 24 is such a low number. And I wasted so much mana on this fight... I can''t afford to fall behind.'' She steeled herself.


    Grabbing the hilt of her ymore. Charlotte grits her teeth, standing up.


    She took deep breaths, utilizing mana breathing to the fullest.


    ''I might see more people behind these cliffs.'' Charlotte looked at the tall white cliffs in the distance that separated one part of the beach from the other.


    ''Okay.''


    Charlotte took out her ymore and was about to run when her eyes suddenly widened.


    The hair on her back stood up as her torso instantly moved, bearing the pain that came with it.


    And in the next moment...


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Two fast and sharp strikes rang out in the air.


    Charlotte skidded back a few feet in the sand because of the recoil.


    Her eyes squinted, her whole aura and demeanor turning ice cold, a contrast to her usual


    personality.


    "Who are you?" She questioned in a monotone voice to the hooded person in front of her.


    She could see a maniacal smile on the person''s covered face.


    From the subtle signs she could see from the body structure though, it was probably a female.


    "Oh? You want to know who I am? Let''s see.." She brought her sword to her lips.


    Her blood-red tongue slithered out of her lips, licking off a faint trickle of blood on her


    sword.


    Charlotte''s eyes suddenly widened as she felt a sudden hotness on her right cheek.


    She raised her hand to her cheek, feeling something wet before pulling it back, only to see red


    on her gloved hand.


    "How? When?" Two questions came out of her mouth.


    Even though she was a tad bit slower with her heavy ymore, Charlotte was sure that she had


    countered both of her fast strikes.


    Thedy''s bloody lips spread out further, turning into a malicious grin. "Sweet. I like your blood. No....I love it!" Her pearly white teeth showed through her grin.


    "Let''s dance and I''ll show you who I am." She wiped her sword on her arm before licking the


    latter clean of the blood.


    Charlotte was unable to speak.


    What was this cannibalistic maniac-like behavior?


    She bent her knees, tightening her grip on her ymore further.


    Her eyes turned to a dead cold, with the intent to kill.


    There was at least one thing obvious to her now. The person in front of her, they weren''t a


    student.


    Definitely.


    Her military-trained mind started to spin at an insane speed.


    Since they weren''t a student, they could either be a teacher or an outsider.


    From their attire, they didn''t seem to be a teacher.


    And from her extensive knowledge of the academy as well, Charlotte didn''t know of any


    teacher resembling the person in front of her.


    That meant they were an outsider. And from the attire, probably a cult or group of some sort.


    But...


    For some reason, her crimson-golden robe looked familiar to Charlotte.


    Suddenly, thedy''s form blurred as she shot toward Charlotte.


    Charlotte focused on the battle.


    ''Whatever, now isn''t the time to think about that.'' She cleared her head and shot forward as


    well.


    And from her training that she had been given, people like them who threatened the peace of


    any ce or her life...


    There was only one oue...


    And that was a headless death.


    This was the ruthless Charlotte that she only showed in life-or-death situations. The military


    Charlotte.


    Thedy''s de cleanly connected with her ymore, thetter pushing the former back


    because of its weight.


    Thedy smirked.


    "Oh dear, I meant to dance not sh des." She let go of her sword and quickly ducked


    down.


    She performed a clean low sweep to throw Charlotte off bnce but... Suddenly, something pushed from underneath, locking around thedy''s feet.


    Her eyes widened and before she couldprehend anything, a clean punchnded on her


    chest by Charlotte, smashing her straight into the sand.


    "You forgot we aren''t on sea anymore."


    Her mouth gaped open as blood gushed out of her mouth because of the immense force.


    But, she smiled once more, gulping her blood down as the excess trickled down the sides of


    her face.


    "Great! I love it!" Her grin widened as suddenly, blood chains formed in the air coiling around


    Charlotte.


    Charlotte''s eyes widened as her body was suddenly pushed toward thedy''s de.


    She quickly tried to escape but it was toote.


    It was just an inch away from pushing through her body when suddenly...


    Blood threads looped around Charlotte, pulling her out of the de''s way.


    And in tandem, a clean kick crushed thedy''s jaw, sending her body crashing into the sea.


    CRACK! RUMBLE!


    The sand floor rumbled as the sea parted under the force of her crash.


    Charlotte''s body smoothlynded on the ground and the threads broke.


    Her face instantly turned to the side, only for her eyes to widen, while also showing a sign of


    relief.


    It was Amon, his cold eyes locked to the sea in the distance.


    He shook his foot as if to loosen it.


    And he turned to Charlotte, giving her a small nod.


    She knew what it meant.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Sorry, I''m a littlete.''


    A relieved smile came on her lips after a moment as she turned back.


    "No no, you are right on time. Thanks a lot for saving me."


    She tightened her grip on her ymore, coating it in earth.


    "Let''s clear this up here quickly."


    Amon nodded, swinging his nodachi one or two times to adjust it.


    "Yeah."

 Chapter 217: Blood Bath [2]

    Chapter 217: Blood Bath [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon quickly backed against a tree as he saw two robes up ahead.


    ''Fuck.'' He cursed.


    He wasn''t expecting to find more right in the middle of the map.


    But there wasn''t anything he could do now.


    If he were to go ahead and meet up with them, he would undoubtedly be caught mid-way into the conversation.


    He had not a single doubt about it.


    The trip arc was the same, where he had still f-ed up even after changing into that torturer''s clothes.


    He was left with only one option now.


    He retrieved the head of the previous member he had killed from his inventory.


    Looking into its lifeless eyes, Amon prepared to use [Void Influence] on it.


    Previously, he didn''t do it for two main reasons.


    One, the head had been separated from the whole body of the member.


    Even though the brain was still in the head, Amon wasn''t sure if it would work.


    And second, the man was dead.


    Until now, Amon had only used [Void Influence] on living targets.


    So he wasn''t sure about it working on dead targets.


    But he had been through another [Void Training] now as well.


    Maybe it would work?


    Only one way to see.


    Amon grabbed the man''s head, slowly activating his skill to blend it with the spatial mana in the surroundings.


    In this way, they wouldn''t be able to find him using mana sense as well.


    Immediately, his hand glowed in a purple hue as the man''s eyes glowed purple for a second.


    And to Amon''s surprise, an influx of memories and information assaulted his brain unexpectedly.


    Caught by surprise, a wave of pain washed through his body as he felt a thousand needles throbbing at his brain.


    But Amon didn''t open his mouth to groan or whimper.


    Even a single unnatural sound could give him away.


    Fortunately, the influx onlysted for 10 seconds before disappearing away.


    Along with the pain in Amon''s body as well.


    Sweat drenched his body but Amon restrained from exhaling loudly.


    He took small breaths, catching his breath silently.


    The information wasn''t anything important.


    To his bad luck, the man wasn''t too high-ranked in the group.


    It also exined why he didn''t even know about Amon at the start.


    He was also not too old in the group, only joining recently.


    Worst case, he might as well have been the lowest-ranked member. Not weakest though, as Amon had seen several weaker members in the group.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Maybe he was low-ranked because he was new and they didn''t trust him enough?


    But nevertheless, Amon did get some basic info about the group.


    The man he had just killed was named Alexandro.


    Apparently, the group that had invaded the academy today was just a small base of the whole organization.


    There were roughly about 50 members who invaded and though it wasn''t much, their purpose today wasn''t to kill or cause any destruction.


    It was to make their name known and another task that was too important to be known by anyone but the leader.


    The leader''s identity was known to no one else as well, which was a problem for Amon.


    No matter whom he used the skill on now, he still couldn''t ever found the leader. Alexandro also didn''t know how they got past the security of the academy.


    Especially since it was multiple times higher than before because of the multiple academies.


    All Amon found out was that they used a teleportation array to teleport directly inside the academy.


    In the area where the students would usually assemble for any teleportation trips as well.


    It was even more surprising for Amon that Arthur wasn''t able to notice the invasion.


    As a holder of the [Shadow] element, he was able to form and manipte them at will, as it was an [Omnistatial] element.


    Because of that, Arthur had his shadows in every nook and corner of the ce.


    Even the ck Market, which was also why he was able to rescue Amon.


    But he wasn''t notified about the invasion at all.


    ''Shit, this is much deeper than I thought.'' Amon cursed.


    Even though he knew there was not a single person who could beat Arthur, he was still


    worried about the people outside.


    It was just a small raid but there were still going to be injuries.


    Or worse, casualties.


    Since nobody knew about it.


    Standing up, Amon looked again from the tree.


    The two members that stood in the distance were quite familiar to him now.


    One was a female and one a male.


    From the memories, Amon knew that both of them were also not that high in the rankings.


    But they were still quite some ranks above Alexandro.


    So if he could kill them, then he might obtain more information.


    Arranging his thoughts, Amon stored the head inside his storage ring again and moved.


    He tried his best to walk and act like Alexandro from his memories.


    And to his surprise, it was quite easy to do so. Which made him realize something.


    It was a new addition to [Void Influence]''s abilities.


    And it was the ability to integrate himself with the memories he had just obtained.


    This allowed him to either contain those memories or dispose of them in his mind and soul. Disposing of them was exactly what it did, erase them from his mind.


    In such a case, letting them stay was the obvious choice but it had several disadvantages as


    well.


    For one, letting them remain in the body gave them a chance to integrate themself with the


    user.


    What it meant was that if Amon continuously used the memories and character of a certain person, his hobbies, personality and other actions would start to integrate with Amon''s soul


    and mind.


    This was very fatal and dangerous for him.


    The more he did this, the more those memories would take over his mind and soul, effectively merging with his character and at some point taking over him.


    It would destroy what he was.


    Not only that but the more memories he absorbed and used, it would grow and grow until


    there was a chaotic mess in his mind.


    In a sense, it could give him a personality and identity disorder.


    A chilling shudder passed through Amon''s body as he walked toward the two people.


    ''I need to be very careful with this.''


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon noticed the two people notice him finally.


    Their heads turned towards his direction and instantly, smirks spread on their faces.


    "Oh!? Look who''s here, Alexandro." The female mocked.


    The male joined in.


    "Damn, you mean the lowest-ranked member? He probably came running here from that


    region after getting destroyed by those puny cadets." He looked at Amon with a malicious


    re.


    Amon didn''t disy any emotion. This was how Alexandro was to his peers.


    The continuous mockery had turned him numb towards such remarks. And fortunately, Amon


    was perfect in being stoic.


    "What are you two doing here?" Amon asked, mimicking Alexandro''s voice to almost


    perfection with [Sound].


    Alexandro never greeted anyone, getting straight to what he wanted to ask.


    The female clicked her tongue, irritated that Amon ignored her insult.


    "That''s none of your business punk. You should do what you are told to do and remain in your


    ce." The man''s voice turned cold.


    Amon nodded, not fazed by the remark.


    "I''m already done with the job though?" He tilted his head, mocking them back in a


    questioning way.


    It was one of Alexandro''s habits, always putting them in ce by showing them that his rank


    misrepresented his strength.


    A flicker of annoyance passed through both of the member''s faces.


    A grin almost spread on Amon''s features as he saw it. This was one of the most disadvantageous and most maniptive traits of Ghouls.


    They were very emotionally unstable. They could go on a rampage at any moment and were


    very easy to tick off.


    And it was the same for ghoul contractors and the newer faction, half-ghouls now.


    "Listen here-" The female started to speak but the man extended a hand.


    "Let me handle this fucker dear." He spoke, making Amon realize that she was his lover or


    girlfriend.


    Amon didn''t move as he took a step and arrived right in front of him.


    He pulled Amon from his cor, pulling their bodies vehemently close.


    "Who do you think you are huh?" He pulled both of their eyes close.


    "Just cause you are strong, do not think for a fucking second I''ll toler-" His eyes suddenly


    widened.


    PIERCE!


    A clean piercing sound echoed in the air as both the man and female''s eyes bulged out.


    The man''s gaze trembled as fury raged within. He stutteringly looked down, only to find a clean blood de piercing into his heart.


    It traveled right through, cutting out from his back.


    Shock traveled through his whole body as his mind was thrown into chaos along with the


    previous rage.


    And it was the perfect opportunity for Amon as he lunged at his neck, grabbing it.


    And then... Crystal suddenly burst out from his hand, slicing and tearing his neck into pieces.


    It separated his head from his body, making Amon grab his hair and hold his head.


    A blood shower erupted in the air from his headless bodynding on Amon and both the female.


    Thetter was instantly thrown into confusion as well, not being able to cope with her lover''s


    death.


    And Amon wasted no time, instantly using [Voidstep] to appear behind the female.


    He lightly tapped her back from behind.


    "Amatheria"


    And simultaneously, a torrent of amethyst-ck mes erupted from his hands, engulfing


    her whole body except her head.

 Chapter 218: Blood Bath [3]

    Chapter 218: Blood Bath [3]


    ?


    ***


    (2 Hours Earlier)


    Arthur was seated in the VIP lounge of thergest stadium in Eldergrove.


    He was sitting on a morous expensiverge seat, observing the screens in front of him with an amused smile.


    Just an inch behind him, two more seats were ced to his left and right, where Athena and Amelia were seated, respectively.


    Behind them were multiple rows of less expensive but exquisite seats, with the teachers seated on them.


    They all stared silently through a one-sided thick floor-to-ceiling window, to the stadium outside.


    Multiple screens were disyed in various directions and angles outside the stadium.


    All of them broadcasted the vision of different invisible cameras ced throughout the royale grounds.


    asionally, there would be a slight movement from Arthur as he seemed to fidget in his


    seat.


    Or, Amelia would be moving or adjusting her outfit and gloves and ying with the cute ck cat in herp.


    Except for Amelia and Athena though, no one was able to see what was happening to Arthur.


    But they could more or less guess.


    Since all of them weren''t focusing on any screen right now.


    Every person in the stadium, even the lounge, was currently focusing on only one screen.


    It was also the screen disyed in thergest resolution because of how much audience was watching it.


    And on that screen, was Amon who was fighting against at least 100 other students LIVE.


    Initially, they were interested in two screens with the second being Michael.


    However, he was still exploring the desert and Amon had soon got into battle. Not to mention with 100 students as well.


    It was an event never seen before in decades of history of the Battle Royale.


    And eventually, everyone was glued to it. They also wanted to see Amon''s strength.


    And despite seeing it numerous times in the team battles and single battles, a majority of them still weren''t convinced that Amon would win.


    There were just too many students.


    It was impossible even for a student with many elements like him.


    "I know he has a lot of elements but there''s a difference between having them and knowing how to utilize them." Someone whispered to another teacher.


    The other nodded.


    "Yeah, I mean I know he''s exceptionally strong but I don''t see him getting out of this with a win."


    Another teacher in a seat in front of the two affirmed with a nod as well.


    "You are right. He has indeed been groundbreakingly strong and the first in history to be bestowed with such power but, at the same time, he''s still too young to know how to utilize them.


    Defeating 100 cadets in such a small space is havoc, even for a talented child like him, even if you give him the highest amount of luck possible, I don''t see him winning in any way possible." The teacher adjusted his sses, delivering a whole speech.


    From the front, the sounds of Amelia ying with her cat and Arthur also ceased.


    The teachers also turned silent, but that silence in the room was enough to tell that they all agreed.


    But as they were about to focus back on the fight...


    An unexpected voice came from the front, surprising everyone.


    "Hey, you stick-shaped nerd."


    Everyone was startled.


    It was Amelia, who looked back with a confident smile, her amber gold eyes gleaming.


    Even though Amelia was often with Arthur, she never talked with the teachers unless she was forced to do so.


    She was always involved with herself or Athena, ignoring all teachers.


    Of course, a part of that was also because of how some of the teachers looked at her.


    Amelia was the most beautiful girl in the whole academy, after all, having a former title of this.


    Of course, the teachers never outright said or confessed to her though. They valued their lives.


    Yes, lives not jobs.


    But this was the first time she had chosen to speak to them by herself.


    Not to mention how rude she was being. But in a sense, that was normal in the Milize family.


    The ''nerd'' in question adjusted his square-shaped sses, trying hard to prevent the heat rising in his body from looking at Amelia.


    "Yes, Miss Amelia?" He asked, trying to keep his voice in control.


    Amelia plopped her head on the top of the headrest of her chair.


    "You wanna bet?" She asked, her lips shing him a cold smile.


    Everyone was aware of the cold attitude that Amelia had as well.


    All in all, she was the type of person that you could do nothing against since she would trash-


    talk you so badly that you just epted it.


    Even if you weren''t the things she called you out for.


    "I''m sorry what?" He blurted out.


    Amelia''s smile turned colder as her winish-golden eyes now bore coldly into him.


    "A bet. If he loses, I''ll walk off my Cultural President position. And if he doesn''t, you will walkn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    out of this academy."


    "Deal? Deal." She instantly replied as well, leaving him no chance to refuse.


    The nerd''s eyes widened in shock.


    "Wait- What!?" He blurted out in shock.


    In response, Athena also turned.


    "I''ll be the witness to this bet then. Though, I''ll grant you the privilege of telling the staff to pack your stuff right now if you want." She told him before turning back to the front.


    Every teacher gulped.


    Even though they were pretty sure that the student in front of them would lose, they were


    having a little doubt now.


    It was better to not voice out their thoughts.


    At least not in front of these three.


    ***


    (Present Time)


    Amon''s eyes widened as he saw several silhouettes fighting in the distance.


    Sweat drenched his whole attire as he pushed himself through the thick desert sand, enduring


    the shining sun in the sky.


    He had just arrived in the region an hour ago.


    Amon panted hard, wiping the sweat off of his face for the umpteenth time.


    On his way, he didn''t meet any members but saw quite many few students who were running


    away in a certain direction.


    And after seeing him, they started to flee in another direction.


    It was only after he caught one forcibly that he was able to ask him what they were running


    from.


    Fortunately, the cadet was already shitting his pants and told them that they were attacked by 4 of the members some time ago.


    They were almost on the verge of dying when Michael jumped in to save them.


    He was alone fending off all the members while giving them all a chance to escape.


    Knowing his location now, Amon dropped the cadet and shot at full speed towards the


    location.


    And now, he was finally in the location.


    In the distance, he saw Michael, countering multiple arrows and des with his sword.


    He was continuously using [Earth] and [Fire] to fend them off while subtly using [Wind] to alter his body movements.


    Blood was flowing from multiple injuries on his body, deep and shallow cuts at some ces.


    All of the members were certainly very strong. Each one of them.


    And 4 of them were certainly a nightmare for Michael. It was a miracle that he was able to do


    this good till now.


    But it was also because of that tiger fighting along with Michael.


    Its fast and agile body continuously saved him and attacked the members.


    ''Fuck, I need to hurry.''


    Amon quickly shot forward.


    Midway through, his eyes widened as he suddenly received a message from his clone.


    It had just defeated a high-ranked member of the group in the Sea region.


    And to his surprise, Charlotte was also there.


    ''That''s good, Charlotte is fine. Alya, Eliz, Ren, and Liliana left now.'' Amon confirmed in his


    brain.


    He instructed his clone to keep with Charlotte.


    Even though his mana was rapidly draining and he was replenishing it using potions from his


    inventory...


    The death of a main cast member was going to be a lot worse.


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon finally arrived behind the three members who stood several


    meters away from Michael.


    Changing his voice again, Amon called them out impassively after they noticed him.


    "I''m here."


    All of them saw his face with relief but it quickly turned to disgust.


    "Seriously, out of all of us, it had to be you?" One of them eximed.


    The female beside him groaned.


    "Fuck it! We have another matter to worry about on our hands, any help is appreciated it!"


    At her call, they turned to focus back on the battle as Michael lunged at them again.


    The third guy turned back to look at Amon.


    "Hey, you fucker, don''t get to-" His arrogant voice suddenly stopped as his eyes bulged wide


    open.


    Glurp!


    Blood gushed out of his mouth as Amon impaled his heart with a blood sword.


    "You fuck!" He screamed but Amon grabbed his head underneath the robe.


    And in the next second, he used [Void Touch] destroying not only his artifact, but his brains as


    well.


    His body slumped down on the ground in a decaying mess.


    But Amon wasn''t done as he quickly shot toward the 2 furious members, who had just realized


    what happened. "YOU BETRAYED-" The female screamed again but Amon didn''t focus on her.


    He moved to the next one while simply giving Michael, who was behind her, a nce.


    ''It''s me.''


    ''I know.''


    Amon used [Void Touch] appearing behind the raging man, who was left confused and surprised at Amon''s disappearance now.


    Taking advantage of it all, Amon grabbed his head.


    And in that quick moment of defenselessness, made his head explode in a bloody and mushy


    mess.


    In tandem, an earth-breaking pressure descended upon the female, making her raging eyes


    widen.


    But before she could react to anything, Michael touched her back. Completely incinerating her body in the next second in a storm of crimson mes.

 Chapter 219: Blood Bath [4]

    Chapter 219: Blood Bath [4]


    ?


    ****


    Amon panted hard, slumping down on the ground, exhausted.


    ''Huff...Huff...Fuck...Huff.....I''m...rapidly running out of mana.'' He thought as put his arm over


    his eyes to shield himself from the sunlight.


    From the side, he saw Michael slump down on the ground as well.


    Amon saw him quickly retrieve some potions and down them, healing his injuries.


    Both of them were hurt pretty badly, though Amon was more spent in terms of mana.


    Taking out a couple of mana potions as well, Amon ran them down his throat, recovering arge portion of his mana.


    But as soon as he did, it started to drain again because of the clones.


    He downed a health potion as well, sealing up the few amount of cracks he had on his body. For a minute, both of them were silent, sitting on the ground with back to back touching. After catching their breath, Michael was the first one to speak up.


    "I assume that they aren''t just normal students?" He asked, urgency ringing in his voice.


    For a moment, Amon was surprised.


    Usually, Michael would always ask what was happening and how it happened but this time he was straight to the point.


    He didn''t even ask Amon what he was doing in those robes or how he was, trusting in his strength and character.


    It made Amon realize how much his friend had changed.


    The dangers they had gone through the year developed them into what they were now.


    Even Amon used to be like a carefree child when he arrived in the world.


    Getting back to the present, Amon nodded.


    "You got any idea of what''s going on?" Michael asked once more after pondering for a second.


    To Michael''s surprise, Amon nodded.


    "Yeah I do."


    "Right, you just killed some members beforeing here. Might have gotten some information out of them." Michael said.


    He had already concluded how Amon got the clothes.


    It was definitely not just hallucinatation or stealing them, he knew Amon had outright killed them.


    At least that was what Amon thought.


    Regardless, Amon nodded while speaking.


    "Yeah, I do."


    Michael remained silent, letting Amon speak.


    And thetter did.


    He exined everything that he knew about the group to Amon.


    How many they were and what was happening to them right now.


    Of course, Amon left out some crucial details that he knew because of the plot.


    Also the half-ghoul fact as well.


    It was both because Amon still hadn''t thoroughly investigated to what they were yet and... Because Michael loathed the ghouls.


    But it wasn''t due to just some family killing or some cliche reason as in most novels that Amon had read.


    No, he had a personal beef with them that went far worse.


    There was a whole story behind it.


    Unfortunately, Amon currently had no time to recite it in his mind.


    In any case, he told Michael about how he had sent some clones and he was getting reports of them encountering some members.


    He assured him that Charlotte was safe as well.


    Now, it was their duty to find Alya, Elizabeth, Liliana and Ren.


    There were also Klein and Adam, but that was Amon''s problem.


    As he was talking, he suddenly got a new information barrage in his head.


    It took him a few seconds to process it but once he was done, he looked over to Michael.


    "My clones just told me some information. They were able to defeat some members along with some other students in the Sea and Forest Region. Charlotte was also with the clone in the Sea region.


    Unfortunately, there were also some deaths of student who broke away from the group." As Michael heard the information, a flicker of relief and pain passed through his eyes.


    It was obvious that the death of students was quick a shocking pain to him but Michael was mature now.


    He knew that people were destined to die in such incidents.


    The only thing you could do was pray that you wouldn''t be one of them.


    But he was also relieved.


    Amon knew that it was because he was also happy at the same time that the students were


    safe.


    ''Truly the hero of everyone huh?'' Amon said.


    Maybe he idolized this type of personality once. Once upon a time.


    But now? No.


    He couldn''t find himself being in a hero.


    ''Toote for that. Unfortunately, I''m too selfish for such ideals now.''


    Michael''s voice quickly pulled him back to the current situation.


    "Hmm..did they find anyone from our group?" He questioned.


    Amon shook his head with a grim look.


    "No. They didn''t."


    He looked over at the blonde-haired boy''s face.


    It was a look that was asking if there was any chance that one of their group members were


    here.


    But Michael shook his head.


    "No, Sithraxi confirmed to me that no one from our group is present in the desert. She''s really


    good at scouting the desert.


    I also walked through most of the area in the desert region and I found no one." He said.


    Amon looked over to Sithraxi, who wasfortably resting on the ground behind Michael.


    Then he turned back to Michael.


    "I see. Then-"


    Another piece of information came to Amon''s mind making his eyes widen.


    However, unlikest time, it was just a simple message.


    And it told him that his clone in the Tundra region was killed.


    ''Fuck. So all of them are there...''


    Michael gazed into Amon''s eyes for exnation, knowing the widening of his eyes wasn''t


    common.


    Amon nodded with a grim look.


    "So, my clone in the Tundra Region just got killed. There''s a chance that most of our group


    members are there.


    But. Since it got killed, there''s also a lot of members there." Amon said.


    Michael''s eyes widened in urgency and his body almost moved out of impulsed but stopped.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It was probably because of the link between danger and his sister, Alya being there.


    He couldn''t tolerate that.


    He clenched his hands, biting his lip to hide the expression from showing on his face.


    "Any casualties?"


    Amon remained silent for a second.


    Since his clone had died before sending him any information, he wasn''t sure.


    But...


    "Since ''my'' clone died, there probably were." He said, putting emphasis on ''my''.


    It meant to say that if they could kill a clone of almost his strength then they could probably


    kill others as well.


    And Michael knew that.


    Silence settled between them as Michael grit his teeth, also using a silence to honor their


    deaths.


    It was the first time in the whole year that this many casualties had ured.


    And though Amon was used to them now, he knew Michael wasn''t.


    And that was why he also kept silent for his friend.


    Eventually, he heard Michael clutch his sword.


    "I''ll rush over to the Tundra Region. Youing?" He asked simply.


    It was evident. Michael had a raging storm inside him right now.


    The Decimated Heavens. They were definitely in his list of enemies now.


    And though it was a short list, it was a list on which if your name was written, you couldn''t see


    your future in peace anymore.


    This was written in hard words in the novel that Amon had read.


    Amon was about to nod along with Michael before he stopped.


    Silence reigned once more for a few seconds as Amon bit his lip before shaking his head,


    looking down.


    "No, I''m sorry, I can''t. I have somewhere to go."


    Silence.


    He knew Michael would be disappointed by his decision but Amon needed to be-


    Amon felt a hand on his shoulder, making his eyes widen as he looked up.


    Michael looked at him with an understanding smile.


    "It''s good. I understand, don''t worry about it."


    Surprise shot through Amon''s body but a smile spread on his features as well as he stood up.


    "Thanks man."


    He shook Michael''s hand, and thetter nodded.


    "I''ll rush over to the Tundra Region and you can go where you want as well."


    Amon nodded, waiting for Michael to go.


    But to his surprise, he saw Michael retrieve a pair of bean shaped devices from his storage


    ring.


    Amon knew it was the Inventory but he was disguising it as a storage ring.


    He handed the earbuds-like looking artifact to him. "This will let usmunicate as long as we are in the same spatial dimension. Keep it on and


    let''s keep each other updated." He put one to his ear, watching Amon do the same.


    Thetter nodded.


    "Alright, I will. Now let''s get going."


    Michael nodded, waving his hand.


    "Yeah, keep safe." Were thest words he said before rushing off.


    As Amon stared at his departing figure, he looked over to the wolf on his shoulder that


    appeared once again now.


    ''Hey Zephyra.''


    [Hmm?] She looked over to him.


    Amon smiled, staring at the space in front of him.


    "I think I''m ready to ce the next skill in my [Void Skills] now." Amon stretched his


    fingers."


    ***


    (2 Hours Earlier)


    Arthur stared at the screen with a grin as he saw Amon defeat everyst one of them.


    But as he did, suddenly all the screens in the stadium turned ck.


    Arthur''s grin slowly turned into a contemtive look.


    ''Hmm..''


    From behind, he started to hear whispering but he didn''t pay them any mind.


    Soon enough, he heard a voice in his mind.


    It was Athena.


    [There seems to be a small problem in the FULLDIVE and cameras. They were trying to fix it


    but someone is interfering with our connection.] She told him.


    ''Hmm, I see.'' Arthur said but then, his eyebrows suddenly raised.


    His shadows...


    He suddenly lost connection to arge portion of them.


    And the location?


    The Eldergrove Hospital.


    A slight smile spread across Arthur''s face as he stood up.


    He gave Amelia onest pat and whispered some words in her ear before straightening


    himself.


    He stretched his arms as Amelia led all of the teachers outside the lounge.


    Once done, Arthur grabbed his cane before taking his monocle and putting it on his eye.


    Adjusting it, he smiled.


    ''This might be the first fun I''ll have in a while.''


    And then, his form blurred, beforepletely disappearing from the room, leaving a small


    crater in his spot.

 Chapter 220: Blood Bath [5]

    Chapter 220: Blood Bath [5]


    ?


    ***


    Amon gasped hard, trying to catch his breath.


    He ignored the sweat that trickled down his face, wetting his whole body.


    Rather, he had a victorious grin on his face.


    With squinted eyes, he stared at the slit-shaped portal before him, its violet-purple thread- like edges continuously swaying in the air.


    As if it was about to snap and break at any moment.


    And it was. Due to how inexperienced he was currently at this, it was a very weak portal.


    It could snap at any moment. And also burst in the worst case, inflictingrge damage on the area around it.


    Because of that, Amon didn''t waste any time and fell into the portal, keeping his happiness forter.


    Just like a normal portal, Amon felt all of his senses distort.


    But there were also differences. Ones that only he could notice.


    Unlike a normal portal, he could still see here.


    Amon found himself in the center of arge spatial tunnel with lines running around the transparent diameter.


    It was like a wormhole from his world.


    ''Damn.'' Amon floated and traveled through the tunnel at a breakneck speed.


    It felt otherworldly.


    But it wasn''t the only difference.


    Amon''s eyes widened in shock as he suddenly felt a soothing sensation settle in his body.


    He found a glittering purplish hue around his body.


    And from his shocked eyes, he saw the injuries on his body slowly seal up.


    The sweat and dirt disappeared from his body, cleaning his body up totally.


    It was incredible. Too overpowered.


    But Amon knew that this effect wasn''t just because of his new Void Skill, which was named [Void Rifts].


    It was also because of his passive Herald Skill.


    [Void''s Blessing].


    It granted him healing and boosts in any spatial dimension, such as portals or in the FULLDIVE.


    But since this rift was Void-attributed, its effects were even further enhanced.


    Amon felt a sudden shift in the space around him.


    It was very subtle but he was still able to notice it.


    And it indicated that he was close to jumping out of the portal.


    Since it was his first try and he was jumping between spatial dimensions, this was why the travel had taken so long.


    Finally, he saw light at the other end of the tunnel and in the next instant, he broke through it.


    Amon''s senses returned slowly and one by one to him.


    As his hearing returned, the sound of wind whipping against his body was instantly heard.


    ''Huh? Shouldn''t I be in our apartment?''


    But Amon''s eyes widened in shock as he found himself falling down from the sky.


    Hundreds of meters above his apartment.


    The strong windsshed at his body as he broke through the clouds.


    Fortunately, his new constitution was able to let him breathe properly and stop his muscles frompressing.


    Manifesting [Void Eyes] to their fullest, Amon was also able to maintain his vision.


    The effects,bined with the strong adrenaline surge, slowed the whole world down to a quiet hum for him.


    Amon focused on the task at hand.


    He locked his gaze on the narrow metal corridor strip of their apartment on the upper floor.


    ''Just there...''


    Amon had to time hisnding perfectly.


    ''Almost...''


    He still felt his body fall at a rapid speed, but the whole fall felt like an eternity for him. ''Now!'' He screamed inside his mind as he was just meters away from crashing into his staircase.


    Amon used [Voidstep].


    His body glitched and disappeared under an amethyst blur.


    And at the same instant, appeared down on the ground.


    The velocity was still impacting his body, causing him to crash and run many steps on the ground beforeing to a halt.


    Gasping hard, Amon deactivated [Void Eyes].


    It was an intense experience. But he was able to pull through with quick and calm thinking.


    Catching his breath, Amon ignored the weird sensations running through his body and ran to the staircase of his apartment.


    Running up, he quickly opened it and closed the door.


    Running to the kitchen, he quickly gulped down several bottles of water, which also had bits of mana infused in them.


    It helped replenish the mana slightly for the drinker as well.


    Quenching his thirst, Amon quickly ran over the apartment, looking for a certain someone.


    Only when he found no signs of life there did he sigh in relief.


    Even though Lily would be with Katherine for their royale today, Amon didn''t want to take


    any chances.


    She would often be left home because of his sister''s duties so there was a slight chance.


    And thest thing he wanted was for Lily or Katherine to get hurt in the process.


    He wouldn''t be able to forgive himself if they did.


    He wouldn''t be able to let the other person live if they did.


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon quickly focused on the task at hand.


    Opening his watch, he tried to check if the message app worked.


    But like he had expected, it didn''t.


    His contact with Amelia, Athena, or Katherine was cut off.


    ''Fuck...'' Even though he had expected it, it would have made his work much easier.


    And also released a lot of his worries.


    ''Nevermind, let''s just go with the original n.''


    Rushing to his room, he quickly grabbed some needed stuff beforeing out.


    ''I hope I won''t bete.''


    Opening the door of his apartment, Amon rushed outside.


    Since everyone had the day off for the royale today, the streets were all empty.


    There was only one destination on Amon''s mind right now.


    It was the Infirmary.


    But as he headed out on the road, Amon''s eyes widened.


    In the far distance, Amon saw therge stadium where the whole stadium was situated,


    standing tall.


    But...


    Around the stadium, was a gigantic transparent dome with a ck hue, encasing the building


    within it.


    There was no doubt within Amon''s mind.


    It was a sound and energy barrier.


    Made with [Sound] and [Energy], it let no trace of sound or mana get outside.


    Not only that but any mana-containing entity, a beast, or familiar was also unable to get in or


    out.


    Basically, you were stuck in there unless you defeated the caster, who had to be inside.


    And since it was a collective barrier by two people, you had to kill both of them to make the


    barrier disappear.


    You couldn''t even get out with any ability.


    Unless...


    You had a skill like a Harbinger or Void Skill.


    Or.


    If you had a [Reality] element like Athena or Arthur.


    Amon clicked his tongue.


    Since the whole academy was covered in Arthur''s shadows, Amon was sure he would instantly


    notice their disappearance.


    Because of that, he would waste no time getting out of the barrier.


    That only left Athena inside.


    ''No, I can''t let the people inside bepromised. There''s Katherine, Lily and Amelia inside.''


    Amon realized the gravity of the situation.


    He quickly formed a n inside his head.


    It would leave him at a big disadvantage but...


    ''Zephyra.'' [Yeah, I know what you want me to do.] She replied instantly.


    There was no other way and all three of them knew it.


    ''Please. Do it.''


    He heard Zephyra click her tongue.


    [Fine, fine. It makes me salty that I won''t be able to join you in the main battle but...]


    She jumped down from his shoulder smiling at him and raising her palm.


    [I''ll do it since you asked.]


    Amon raised his brows at her response.


    But then, a smile also spread on his face as he fist bumped with her fox leg.


    ''Thanks. I owe you one.''


    Zephyra nodded.


    [Alright, I''ll go then. I''ll stay in my small form until I notify her then I''ll join her in battle. Is


    that alright?]


    Amon nodded.


    ''Yeah, it is. Please ensure that the three of them don''t get in any way of harm. Especially Lily.


    She''s the one I worry about the most.''


    Zephyra nodded.


    [I''ll get back at you, you reptilian bastard for stealing my spot.] She gritted her teeth before


    running off.


    Vainughed on Amon''s arm.


    [Hahaha, cry about it you little woman. But take care of yourself, don''t get alright?] He said.


    Zephyra suddenly stopped in her tracks.


    Eventually, she slowly turned and gave him a smirk. A rival-like smirk.


    [Of course. I''m a goddess, unlike your human ass.]


    She ran off again.


    But before she disappeared, Vain''sst words echoed in her mind.


    [A goddess but with the brain of a jellyfish.]


    [Fuck off.] Zephyra cursed.


    ***


    Amon finally arrived in front of the infirmary.


    And as he set his eyes upon it, his eyes widened. Multiple members of the group were in front of the entrance.


    But...


    They were all dead, their bodiesid strew across the cold hard ground.


    Organs decorated and blood painted the whole floor in a crimson red.


    It was a gruesome sight that would make anyone puke.


    But Amon had seen worse. A lot worse.


    As he gazed up, he saw multiple shadow soldiers of Arthur, standing atop the bodies,


    guarding the building which was also encased in the barrier.


    There was no doubt in Amon''s mind. Even without the shadow soldiers, only one person could


    inflict this amount of destruction.


    It was none other than Arthur. And right now, he was inside the barrier.


    His soldiers nced at Amon as he walked across the ground, stepping on several bodies


    while doing so.


    They didn''t stop him.


    As he arrived before the barrier, Amon saw the infirmary''s building standing tall,pletely


    in shape.


    But Amon knew it was an illusion made using the barrier.


    The barrier was made using [Sound], [Energy] and [Nature].


    All three incredibly rare elements. It made Amon realize how big this organization was to use


    such talented people for just a mere raid.


    Clearing his thoughts, Amon focused on the building.


    He knew that from inside, the scene waspletely different.


    And now, he was going to invade it.


    He didn''t now what was happening inside. But Amon knew one thing for sure.


    It was going to be the most gruesome and hardest battle till yet.


    ''You ready?'' He asked Vain, who was coiled around his arm.


    Contrary to his serious mood, Vain waspletely lighthearted.


    [You bet I am. Let''s go kick some red asses in there. I can finally let loose and pass through


    them.]


    ''...'' Amon was unable to respond to his words.


    They could be taken in an insane off context.


    But Amon knew it was intentional which was also why he broke into a fit ofughter.


    He knew Vain did it to make his heart lighten up a bit.


    He smiled slightly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Thanks.''


    [No problem femboy. Let''s head inside.]


    Amon fell silent again at the mention of him as a femboy.


    But chose to let it slide and deal with the snaketer.


    ''Let''s just do this.''


    Raising his hand, Amon immediately applied [Void Touch] and [Void mes] on his arm.


    And then, pushed his arm through the barrier, tearing a part of it down as if it was just a fabric


    for him to be torn.


    And then, Amon cleanly passed through.


    But as he saw the scene inside, a shock passed through his body.

 Chapter 221: Timeless [1]

    Chapter 221: Timeless [1]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes widened at the scene disyed before him.


    There was only one word that came to his mind.


    Catastrophic.


    ***


    (1 Hour Earlier)


    The shadows cast by the trees around the infirmary suddenly molded and started to take form.


    Slowly, the form of a solid human took shape.


    Then, the shadows fell, revealing the full form of the person inside the shadow.


    Light steps were heard from the shadows, as a man walked out of the tree''s shadows. Arthur came to stand in front of the infirmary''s entrance.


    The soldiers belonging to the group had already been ughtered by his shadows.


    One of his most prestigious shadows, Igor, came before him and knelt on one knee.


    [Greetings milord, we have cleared the area perfectly before your arrival. However, we cannot proceed through the barrier on our own.]


    Arthur nodded.


    ''It''s fine Igor. You can stand up and patrol the area around with the other shadows.''


    [I understand milord.]


    Igor stood up and performed a deep bow before leaving with the other soldiers.


    There were some shadows within his legion that were able to speak.


    All in all, his total shadows didn''t exceed more than 500.


    It was at most a small tribe or battalion.


    And out of them, only 10 of them were able to talk. They were also the leaders of the small groups within his shadows.


    Igor was one of the ten soldiers. Or as he called them, the 10 seats.


    Igor was the 6th seat.


    Looking at their robes and the dismembered bodies of the invaders, it took no time for Arthur to know who they were.


    Decimated Heavens.


    A mysterious group that he even knew little about.


    ''This is one of the things that I can''t still find anything about...'' He remembered his frustration over this fact.


    Fortunately, this might just be a good opportunity for him.


    Arthur moved forward, adjusting his monocle as he took ast look at their bodies.


    He ordered one of his shadows to retrieve the robe and other artifacts on his body.


    Arriving before the barrier, Arthur observed it momentarily with his monocle. It took him no time to analyze it.


    It was a mana barrier.


    A basic mana spell, like mana breathing. Any clovist or armentist could do it.


    But there was a rank requirement to this, unlike mana breathing.


    To cast a mana barrier, you needed to be at least 3rd Order/3rd Tier.


    But to further add elements and increase its size, you needed to be even higher ranked.


    Considering this barrier covered the whole infirmary, which was the size of almost tenrge hospitalsbined and had 3 elements imbued into it....


    Then.


    The caster was at least 5th Order. In the worst case, it could be 6th order because of the size.


    But since there were 3 elements, 3 people had cast the barrier together.


    Which led him to assume it was probably one 5th Order/Tier and 24th Order/Tiers.


    And these were just the casters.


    ''For just a small group of people that raided the academy with a suicide wish, they are certainly strong.''


    It reminded him again of how strong the organization was and how many members they had.


    Nevertheless.


    Arthur raised his arm, ready to tear the barrier down as his arm was suddenly coated in a torrent of golden mes.


    He shot his arm toward the barrier''s screen.


    But then...


    His arm cleanly passed through the barrier, not hurting it at all.


    Arthur''s eyes widened momentarily before he quicklyposed himself.


    ''What...?''


    Arthur...


    Was allowed in the barrier?


    The casters who made the barrier could also allow entry to special people atter stages.


    And to his surprise, the casters had allowed him entrance into the barrier.


    It made a little sense when they just wanted to allow him in the normal way rather than letting him tear it down, which he obviously could.


    But...


    It was still a little suspicious.


    Nevertheless, Arthur shrugged it off.


    ''Whatever. I don''t have anything to worry or care about.''


    Phasing through the barrier, Arthur immediately found himself in a herd of people. They were all wearing white robes, indicating that they were patients in the infirmary. All of them were screaming and stumbling, trying to find any way out of the barrier. Even non-awakened, who should have been able to pass through the barrier were restricted. But considering how much this organization kept surprising Arthur, this was to be expected. As he entered the area, everyone''s eyes immediately settled on him.


    And a silence spread through the area, with everyone realizing who Arthur was.


    But...


    Even with his entrance, the panic returned as everyone started screaming and shouting again.


    It was to be expected.


    These people were still scared and horrified. They knew they were going to lose their lives


    here.


    Even if the Principal of the Academy, the strongest man in the world himself had entered, they still never saw him in action.


    To doubt until shown was a natural action of mankind.


    Especially since...


    Arthur looked ahead at the infirmary entrance with an indifferent gaze, ignoring the crowd


    around him.


    The entrance ss doors were blown wide open, sticking to the walls.


    The wide, lengthy corridor waspletely empty with shards of ss all over the floor.


    All the lights were broken as well, with some at theirst straws as they flickered on and off.


    Multiple patches of the checkered floor were coated in crimson red.


    It was a scene straight out of a horror y.


    Getting his attention back to the people around him, Arthur saw that some of them had


    calmed down.


    Some of them still trusted him.


    Calcting how many there were around him, he instantly realized that not everyone was


    outside the infirmary.


    ''This is why some of them are still screaming huh?''


    Patients at the upper and lower floors, especially the ones at the bottom and top would have


    been barely able to escape.


    And some would have still gotten ughtered, with other patients witnessing their deaths.


    This,bined with their already health problems would have taken quite a toll on their


    mental health.


    Focusing his attention on the infirmary, Arthur walked forward, waving his hand to the side. Instantly, at least a hundred soldiers appeared at different spots outside the infirmary.


    He gave them only a single order.


    [Guard the patients with your lives.]


    Once he was done, Arthur stepped inside the infirmary carelessly.


    He was at a shortage of his soldiers now but there was no problem.


    He could probably take care of the problem himself.


    CLANK! CLANK! TAP! TAP!


    The sounds of ss echoed in the corridor as Arthur walked on them along with his cane.


    Taking a turn, he found a dark staircase, extending down below to the lower floor.


    ''Hmm.''


    Arthur stepped forward, starting to walk down the stairs without a care in the world.


    He didn''t care about even the noises he was making.


    Step. Step. Step.


    As he took thest step down the long staircase, Arthur started to look around.


    There was rubble and debris everywhere, indicating the destruction the group had caused in


    the short time.


    ''Hmm, nothing here.'' Arthur looked at arge rock through his monocle.


    Suddenly, a piercing sound echoed in the air.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    SHEENG!


    But suddenly, it died out downpletely.


    Silence reigned in the room again.


    A slight smirk spread on Arthur''s face as he looked to his side.


    Tick....Tick...Tick...Tick.Tick.Tick1!Tick!Tick!Tick!


    The sounds of a mechanical clock, reversing at a breakneck speed echoed in the air.


    Arthur raised his arm with a mocking smile, as his monocle eye, which was a golden mechanical clock now, locked with the dagger in front of him.


    It cleanly floated in front of him, soundlessly vibrating in the air as if it was trying to escape


    something.


    Arthur''s chronic-eye spun continuously backwards.


    Suddenly, several more air-piercing sounds were heard in the air.


    But Arthur wasn''t fazed at all, remainingpletely motionless.


    In the next instant, tens of daggers appeared in front of him.


    But like the previous one, all of them suddenly stopped at a meter before him, starting to


    vibrate like the other one.


    The crystalline blue mechanical hands spinning inside Arthur''s eyes spun at such a speed that they seemed to form a beautiful crystalline blue pattern in his golden eye.


    Arthur''s smirk widened as he stepped forward, clenching his raised fist.


    At the same moment, all the daggers vibrating before him disintegrated into a ck powder,


    falling on the floor.


    Arthur''s mouth finally opened as he stared at the multiple red-robed figures in front of him. "Oops. you missed me. Wanna shoot again?"


    The robed figures, who seemed to be shocked out of their minds were frozen in ce.


    Tick. Step.


    "Well, if you aren''t going to move then..." Arthur''s maniacal smile widened.


    "I will!"


    He disappeared from his spot in a golden blur.


    And within a nanosecond, appeared before the farthest robed-figure.


    Thetter''s eyes widened as she swung her arms in an attempt to defend herself.


    But...


    Arthur''s hand grabbed her hooded face, smashing it straight into the side wall, creating a


    gigantic crater.


    Tick. SMASH!


    The whole building rumbled at therge impact, tiny rocks falling from above as the woman''s


    head turned into a bloody mush.


    Her headless body cleanly slumped down on the ground, dead.


    Arthur retracted his bloody fist, simultaneously turning his head slightly to the figures behind


    him.


    His chronic eye locked with their gazes, making a shudder run down their bodies.


    "Next." Was the singlest word that they heard from his cold voice.


    Tick.

 Chapter 222: Timeless [2]

    Chapter 222: Timeless [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes widened as he stared at the ruined infirmary in front of him, that once stood tall and strong.


    It was devastating to believe that such a small group could cause this amount of destruction.


    But even more...


    His head slowly turned down, only to see a field of strewnid out corpses around him.


    Their bodies werepletely torn up as if a barbarian had tore them open.


    Their faces mushed up, beingpletely unrecognizable.


    Organs and blood were spilled over the whole ground, painting the once beautiful lush green fresh ground with a gruesome crimson red.


    It was a massacre. A brutal massacre that Amon couldn''t believe with his widened eyes.


    All the patients outside...


    And not a single one was alive.


    ''H-how...Wasn''t Arthur here?'' Amon questioned in his thoughts.


    But there was nothing here.


    Even if he had to venture inside, Amon was sure that Arthur would have left some shadows outside.


    ''The fuck happened?'' Amon walked through the corpses.


    Suddenly, he felt an armtched onto his leg.


    His senses instantly kicked off at full alert as Amon swerved to the source.


    But as he looked down, he saw a small human handtching onto his leg.


    And the owner of the hand?


    A butchered corpse.


    Confusion etched on Amon''s face as he stared at the unusual phenomenon.


    It was then, that he heard a deep hissing voice from above.


    [Can''t you see it yet?]


    Recognizing it, Amon''s widened eyes looked above, only to find a gigantic snake floating in the air.


    With a slim but also athletic long body, its whole frame was covered in thick polished amethyst purple scales.


    An ethereal ck and purple wispy mist surrounded its floating coiled body.


    Two golden slits stared indifferently at the body beneath Amon''s feet.


    It was Vainglory''s full form.


    In terms of length, it was almost as long as a normal tree''s trunk.


    And in terms of width, just slightly smaller than a street pole.


    ''Damn, that look''s majestic.'' Amonmented, forgetting the seriousness of the situation for a moment.


    Fortunately, Vain was quick to snap him back to reality.


    [I get it. But for now, we should focus on something else.] It hissed, its crimson-forked tongue slithering out.


    ''Ah, yeah.'' The surroundings registered in Amon''s view again as he looked down.


    He finally understood that this was Vain''s doing.


    [I''m sure you understand now.]


    Amon nodded.


    Realization finally set into his body.


    This whole scene around him. It was an illusion.


    The people around were still fine with Arthur''s shadows guarding them till now.


    But the illusionary caster was doing this to set fear and desperation into his body.


    He was also responsible for the barrier aspect.


    It had to be known that even if you killed one of the casters of the barrier, their element from the barrier would not disappear in many cases.


    It was because the barrier was done and already finalized with the other casters and it would hold out until someone broke it.


    To give an example, it was like a fireball cast by a user a second before their death.


    Even after they died, the attack wouldn''t disappear because it was a separate object.


    And to break the barrier, it meant to properly break which was something very hard as you needed a person of equal strength as the caster.


    Amon didn''t break the barrier. He had just created an openingrge enough for him to pass through.


    Small cracks in the barrier would be fixed by themselves, however, the mana in the barrier would lessen significantly.


    Coming back to the present, Amon looked back to the ruined infirmary.


    There were chances that it was an illu-


    [No, it isn''t what you are thinking.]


    Amon''s words stopped in his mouth as his eyes widened a little.


    So the infirmary...


    Was actually destroyed.


    [Forget about it for now. The illusion caster is near, I can almost feel him though he''s


    stealthy.] Vain said,pletely serious about the matter.


    It was weird to see him with this attitude but Amon didn''t mind it.


    Amon nodded.


    He summoned his nodachi, gripping it in his hand.


    Without any hesitation, he shot into the infirmary.


    And as he did, he immediately felt the caster''s mana for a split second.


    His eyes darted upward.


    ''The upper floor.''


    It could possibly be a trap for him.


    But...


    Right now, he was willing to take a shot.


    If it came to the worst like in the ve Center....


    He was prepared this time.


    Amon ran through the dark corridor, looking for the stairs to the upper floor.


    His steps echoed in the bloody dry corridor.


    His blurring form shot past doors and flickering lights as he finally found a staircase leading


    upward.


    Amon didn''t take any break.


    He shot up the stairs, taking multiple stairs with one step.


    At an insane speed, he took a turn on the stairs as he jumped to another staircase.


    Before finally reaching the uppe-


    Amon''s eyes widened as he saw multiple flying kunaising for his head.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He quickly ducked down.


    But then, a sharp kick hit him in the abdomen, sending him crashing to the right wall.


    ''What the fuck?'' Amon''s face scrunched up in pain.


    [You fool! Those daggers were an illusion!] Vain shouted at him as he quickly fended off the


    attacker with his fangs.


    His form slithered back to Amon as thetter stood up from the crater in the wall.


    [You are too inexperienced in identifying illusions.] Vain told him straight up.


    Amon nodded.


    "I know, urghh." Amon straightened his shoulders.


    Unfortunately, he had no time to rx as the hair on his back stood up once again.


    With widened eyes, he quickly ducked, dodging a kick to his head.


    [It''s an illusion!] Vain told him, as for a moment, the attacker''s form was imbued with a


    golden hue.


    Unfortunately, it was toote.


    Amon quickly lodged towards the kick in the air to grab it but was once again, taken by


    surprise as his hand simply phased through.


    And in the same instant, a punch hit him straight in the cheek.


    His body was sent crashing again into the same wall, breaking it this time.


    Amon''s body bounced up and down in the other room.


    Gritting through the pain in his body, he put one hand on the floor.


    And somersaulted into the air,nding back on the floor.


    He was once again saved as he saw Vain in a heated duel with the dark agile form of the attack.


    Fortunately, thetter was once again sent back and Vain arrived near Amon again.


    [Alright, listen. This is the only way you can currently win right now. You need to see through


    his illusions and this is the perfect time.] Vain instructed him quickly.


    Amon nodded immediately.


    ''Okay, what do I do?'' [Close your eyes, we are going to form a Familiar Bond.] Vain instructed him.


    Amon''s eyes widened.


    Just like [Void Bond], a Familiar Bond was essentially the same thing.


    It was a transformation that granted the owner of the familiar several qualities rted to his


    art and the beast.


    The beast would also receive additional powers.


    However, at the same time, there were risks.


    One of them was the synchronization rates.


    In the transformation, any pain received by the beast would also be transmitted to the caster.


    Furthermore, the more out of concentration you got or the damage you received, your synchronization rate would fall out of sync.


    And once you and your familiar were out of sync, the transformation would fail and both of


    you could also faint.


    It was very dangerous.


    Especially, attempting it for the first time.


    But...


    Amon was all down for it.


    ''Okay, let''s go.'' He took a deep breath.


    Vain nodded.


    [Alright, close your eyes and we will merge slowly.] Amon followed him.


    And as he did, instantly a transformation began to take ce.


    A slight rumbling shook the floor as some pebbles and rocks started to float.


    Vain''s golden eyes glowed in an amber glow as cryptic golden engravings started to appear on


    his body.


    Two sharp horns jutted out of his head slowly, angling backward.


    Two crimson-red fangs also protruded from his mouth.


    Vain let out a fierce hiss, almost guttural.


    But he wasn''t the only one going under a transformation.


    ck engravings were etched on Amon''s arm and body as they extended toward his face.


    They slowly spread upward, stopping right at the chin.


    Amon''s pupil was shaped into golden slits and two beautiful horns jutted out of his head as


    well.


    Scaled armor stared to appear on several spots of his body as well.


    Finally, they were both done.


    A golden aura emerged from their form as the whole floor shook with an intense rumble.


    Amon''s cold eyes locked with the slow form of the attacker in the distance.


    He could see everything clearly now.


    Every speck of motion. Every illusion. Every trace of mana.


    It felt beautiful and elegant.


    Vain''s deep beastly voice quickly pulled him out of his bliss.


    [Since this is our first transformation, we only have roughly about 5 minutes. Don''t mess it


    up.] He hissed through his crimson fangs.


    Amon nodded as his ck engravings glowed golden again.


    ''Alright, let''s go.''


    And in the next instant, both of them shot forward, leaving web of cracks behind that formed


    into arge crater.

 Chapter 223: Timeless [3]

    Chapter 223: Timeless [3]


    ?


    ***


    "STOP! LOOK HERE!" One of the members shouted, garnering Arthur''s attention.


    Looking toward him, Arthur saw the member extending his arm toward a group of patients.


    They were all gagged and roped, with tears leaking out of their eyes as they were thrown helplessly into a corner.


    "MOVE AND I''LL BURN THEM ALL!" The member shouted as his extended arm suddenly caught fire.


    Arthur looked at him with a calm and collected gaze, his eyes momentarily flickering towards the patients.


    Then, a maniacal mad smile spread on his lips as he stepped forward.


    "Go ahead, do it." His monocle reflected the faint light of the fire. Sweat trickled down the member''s panicked face now.


    "I-I''ll really burn them all down. Y-you don''t want that to happen do you?"


    But Arthur didn''t listen as he stepped forward, his smile spreading wider.


    The member finally lost it andunched a ming ball toward the patients.


    But as soon as he released it from his arm, the ball suddenly became caught in a circr barrier.


    A golden strip circted like a ring around the transparent golden barrier with Roman ck numbers engraved on it.


    It was the same move that Arthur had disyed in the ve Center.


    The member''s eyes widened as his attack was caught, his face instantly turning to find Arthur not there anymore.


    And then, he felt a sharp force from behind as his hair was grabbed by Arthur.


    "You shouldn''t stand too close to clovists, the first rule of fights," Arthur said cockingly.


    And then, Arthur grabbed his head, pulling it as it was torn off his body.


    A shower of blood sprayed in the air as the members and patients around him were bathed in blood.


    The ring strip running around the barrier also suddenly spun at an insane speed.


    It caused the fireball inside to suddenly start getting smaller before it eventually disappeared. Arthur grinned as he kicked the headless body into the wall, ignoring the patients.


    He walked towards the remaining two shivering members as they watched him, covered in blood.


    His golden eye shone through his bloody monocle, sending the fear of death into them. "N-n-n-no pl-p-please, I don''t want to die!" One of them turned his back, running off. Thest member followed as well, starting to run towards the stairs.


    But just as they took three steps, two ming ck daggers cut through the air.


    They cleanly cut through the member''s necks, sending their heads flying before disappearing as well.


    It didn''t even take a second. One moment, they were intact and then, they were sent flying.


    The speed of the daggers was so fast.


    It was one of Arthur''s council seats.


    Their headless bodies slumped to the ground as well, leaving the floor silent.


    Arthur''s grin finally disappeared, returning his face to a neutral cold expression.


    He gave a momentary nce to the patients who were shivering traumatizingly in the corner. Then, he turned sharply, his bloody coat pping in the air, ignoring the member''s bodies as well.


    All of the 6 members were mid to high 3rd order/tier clovists and armentists.


    Yet, Arthur had taken care of them like they were toys to him. Trash to just clear up.


    His cane tapped against the cold hard ground as he walked on the floor.


    Eventually, he found another staircase.


    It led to the floor below.


    It was thest staircase he would see as the floor below was the lowest floor.


    Arthur took a step down, but as he did, the stair-stepped in a little.


    A mechanical voice rang out on the floor as if clogs were spinning.


    And then, multiple piercing sounds were heard in the air as Arthur remainedpletely motionless.


    In the next moment....


    SHEENG! SHING! SHIING! SHUNG! THUNG!


    A barrage of spears, swords, arrows, and daggersunched at Arthur from various directions.


    But just like previously, all of them were stopped within a meter of him.


    Their forms vibrated in the air as if they were struggling against something.


    But like he had said before, it was Arthur''s ability.


    Or, the ability granted to him from the Chronotic, the time eye in his eye socket.


    The ability''s name was Timeless.


    It allowed Arthur to essentially not only manipte time, but also manipte it down to the smallest intervals possible, also called nkseconds.


    With this capability, he could forward, reverse, or stop time however he wanted using his


    mana.


    One of its applications was what he called a Chronicity.


    The weapons in front of him weren''t stopped in time. No, they were actually moving.


    But, Arthur was reversing time for them continuously to the point that they kept ending up in


    the same position.


    This was why they were vibrating.


    They were just stuck in that position forever, making any object or entity unable to touch


    Arthur unless they could break through the temporal barrier.


    The downside of Chronicity was therge usage of mana but also the manual application of it.


    For the first, Arthur just kept reversing time on himself as well, essentially recovering hisn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    mana over and over.


    Making it endless.


    The main problem was the second one. Even till now, Arthur had been unable to find a proper


    solution for it.


    He wanted the chronicity to be automated but it was impossible till now. Nevertheless, Chronicity was just one of the endless applications of Timeless.


    Eyeing the weapons for a second, Arthur turned back to the stairs.


    Simultaneously, the weapons in front of him disintegrated into invisible dust.


    Just like that. Arthur had reversed time for them to a point where they never existed, essentially breaking them down.


    Focusing his attention back to the stairs, Arthur started walking down.


    At the same time, his eye reverted back to its original crimson state.


    Step. Step. Step.


    Arthur arrived in front of tworge metal doors at the end of the stairs.


    Grabbing the metallic handles, he tried to twist them open but they wouldn''t budge.


    ''Hmmm.''


    Taking a step back, two shadows sprang out of the shadows to his right and left.


    And then, with one push, the doors flew open, creating a loud noise.


    And as his eyes saw the scene inside, Arthur''s eyes widened.


    ***


    Amon raised his scaly arm.


    His fingers were scaly and long now while being pointy and sharp at the end like dragon nails.


    Golden energy veins ran throughout the whole floor, making Amon realize they were mana


    branches.


    He could see everything now.


    Every structure and flow of mana through his golden slit eyes.


    Gazing into the darkness of the floor from where he crashed, he was able to distinguish it very


    easily now.


    Two shadowy formsunched at him at breakneck speeds.


    But unlike before, Amon could see it clearly now.


    Even though it would have been insanely difficult for him to follow before, their forms were


    like slow turtles now.


    His cold and collected eyes followed their forms as they arrived before him.


    Amon also saw his hooded face and body now.


    One of themunched an axe kick at his head from above like before.


    While the other ducked and shed his daggers at Amon''s abdomen and thighs.


    But...


    There was a clear difference that gave the illusion and real one away now.


    The one above....


    He had no golden mana veins running through his body, making it clear that he was just an


    illusion.


    While the one below...


    The kick phased through Amon''s head, like the illusion it was.


    At the same time, a clean piercing sh rang through the air was the daggers came near


    Amon.


    But thetter was prepared now as he his thighs and abdomen suddenly turned to smoke.


    The daggers cleanly phased through his body, making the attacker''s eyes widen.


    It also left him momentarily guardless.


    And that was also Amon''s opportunity.


    He grabbed his daggers with both hands, using [Void Touch] to its maximum.


    Purple disintegrating cracks instantly spread throughout their forms and the illusionist realized what was happening.


    He quickly tried to let himself free but was suddenly taken by surprise as threads looped


    around his arms and legs.


    They cut into his body while Amon unleashed a torrent of mes at his daggers, almost


    breaking them down.


    "NO!" The illusionist finally screamed as he unleashed a barrage of water tides, throwing Amon back.


    But Amon didn''t let him go.


    Even though his mes and touch was disrupted...


    He pulled at his threads with full force, also using them as a means of support.


    And then...


    SQUELCH! SNAP!


    A fleshy sound rang out as a hand flew in the air,nding in the clean waves.


    Blood started to stain the floor and water as the dead hand rested on the ground.


    And at the same time, a shrieking scream rang out from the illusionist, realizing his hand was


    cut.


    Losing himself in his anger, heunched at Amon with his illusions.


    And...


    It wasn''t one illusion this time.


    illusions wereunched at Amon.


    However, Amon remainedpletely calm, fixing his gaze on all of them as they surrounded


    him.


    He could see through all of them.


    A barrage of kicks and punches were thrown at him, with the real one mixed in them.


    However...


    Amon raised his scaly arm, clenching his fist.


    And instantly, all of the illusions disappeared, leaving the real one behind him.


    Amon immediately turn, his armunching forward as he grabbed the illusionist''s head.


    Thetter started to struggle under Amon''s tight grip.


    But Amon remained motionless in his spot, his cold eyes fixated on the illusionist.


    "[Void mes]." His indifferent voice echoed.


    And then, a torrent of mes engulfed his arm and the illusionist, lighting up the whole floor


    in an amethyst glow.


    And what urred next was the constant screaming of the illusionist as his body was turned into a pile of ashes.

 Chapter 224: Timeless [4]

    Chapter 224: Timeless [4]


    ?


    ****


    Arthur''s eyes widened at the scene before him.


    The floor waspletely destroyed.


    Rubble and debris here and there, with broken furniture such as beds and equipment included.


    It was wrecked on another level aspared to the other floors, which also constricted the space a lot.


    But that wasn''t the main surprise.


    It was almost close to 1000 people in front of him.


    But rather than wearing red robes that would identify them as the enemy...


    All of them wore in white clothes, indicating that all of them were innocent patients. Arthur''s body trembled for a second as a haunting thought ran through his mind.


    And as if his thoughts came true, suddenly multiple figures started to appear from behind the wrecked rubble.


    All of them had wide grins stered on their hooded faces as they walked to the front in their red robes.


    Arthur watched all of them with a collected gaze, not trying to show the turmoil within him.


    As all of them appeared in different sections of the room, suddenly, a presence spiked up in the room.


    Arthur followed the signature, his gazending on one of the pirs.


    And as if on cue, a person came from behind it to the front.


    Unlike everyone, his face wasn''t covered.


    And as Arthur saw his face, his eyes widened to the point that it looked like they would fall out.


    ''No...''


    The man had medium sized purple hair that was tied into a small ponytail and amethyst -colored eyes.


    But what set him apart from all other humans even more were the two twisted horns protruding from his head.


    They weren''t long but they were at least palm sized with one curve in them.


    ''No, no, no, no...'' Arthur took a step back as a raging storm of thoughts ran through his head.


    It was impossible.


    How could-


    The man raised a hand, his smirk widening.


    "Yo, old man, been a long time ain''t it?" The man said casually.


    "No, wait, how, you are supposed to be dead?" Arthur voiced out, not believing what was happening.


    The man pointed at the horns on his head.


    "I know right! But look, I''m alive and right in front of you, how awesome is that!?" Heughed maniacally.


    Hisugh finally settled down and silence returned to the room.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Is it good to finally meet like this, old friend?"


    At the mention of ''old friend'', Arthur finally lost it.


    "But how!? How can youe back to life Nern? HOW!? I....I...I-" Arthur was unable to form the words in his mouth.


    Nernughed.


    "You are still shit as ever."


    Arthur avoided his gaze.


    "I watched you di-"


    "ENOUGH!" Nern shouted.


    Arthur saw a furious cold look on Nern''s face.


    "I never died! Never!" His voice trailed off.


    He turned to his members with a cold look on his face.


    All of them nodded, not saying anything.


    Then, he turned back to Arthur with a slight quirky smile on his face.


    "Now, Arthur, let''s not fight as old friends shall we?"


    He took a step towards Arthur.


    "After all..." He gestured to all the patients around him.


    "You don''t want all of them to die, do you?" His smirk widened.


    All of the patients looked at Arthur with fear and a slight amount of hope in their eyes.


    But unfortunately, Arthur couldn''t return their gaze.


    And then, Nern''s eyes widened with joy.


    "Especially when!..." He shouted, turning sideways to gesture to a bed behind a pir.


    Arthur''s eyes moved toward the bed.


    Where he saw a patient with long ck hair, in a terrible conditionid out on a bed with wires attached to her.


    Just a look at her condition and one could tell that she was in a dire state.


    A state that would put her life to end eventually if not given enough treatment in time.


    It was extremely dire.


    And at the same time, even the smallest amount of injuries to her could end up killing her.


    As Arthur saw her, his eyes trembled with recognition.


    He realized her in an instant.


    "No, you can''t possibly do this Nern.." He said with a shaky voice.


    But Nern shouted back in glee.


    "Oh yes!Oh yes I can!"


    He took out his sword, taking a stance.


    Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds as the only sounds that could be heard were the continuous sobbing of the patients in their beds.


    Arthur couldn''t move. He couldn''t see anyone in the eye as he fought a battle within himself


    and his morals.


    But then, he finally made a decision.


    His form suddenly started to turn formless, as if it was turning into a type of smoke.


    At the same time, the shadows beneath him and in different corners of the room also moved.


    A dark aura embraced the whole room, encasing it in its shadows.


    But, just as Arthur was about to disappear into the floor, he saw Nern smirking at him.


    And then, he saw a cube shaped object fall from his hand onto the ground.


    It made a light thud as it fell on the floor.


    And as soon as it did, the cryptic ck engravings on its mummy-like white strips suddenly


    shone in a blue light.


    Simultaneously, all shadows in the room suddenly disappeared.


    They were all sucked towards the cube in the middle, including Arthur.


    But fortunately, thetter was quickly able to use Chronicity on himself, to save himself from


    the suction.


    Arthur emerged on the floor, his eyes widened.


    All of his shadows. Even his affinity.


    It waspletely useless now.


    The light in the cube died out and Nern picked it up, smiling.


    "This is an artifact called [Shadow Eater], I''m sure you must have heard of it." He told Arthur


    cockily.


    And thetter''s jaw dropped.


    "Yes, this empire doesn''t have one does it?"


    "No, you couldn''t have Nern, how could you?" Arthur''s voice trembled even more.


    But Nern didn''t answer.


    Arthur gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.


    There was no choice left for him now.


    Out of his two affinities, one was leftpletely useless.


    Leaving him only with [Time] now.


    Seeing how he was struggling with himself, Nern''s smile spread further.


    "You know, looking at how you are struggling so much Arthur, let me help you."


    Nern sat down on a rock and Arthur looked at him with his shaky eyes.


    "Let''s make a deal."


    Nern crossed his legs.


    "The deal is simple. You wille with me and surrender this whole academy to us. Or, you


    can watch all of them die and fight us here and kill us." Nern said, putting emphasis on the


    last part.


    Arthur''s form shuddered.


    It was an impossible deal for him.


    One that he could absolutely not take.


    He couldn''t fight Nern. Not in any case...


    But then there was the academy.


    His students...


    One of them ran through his mind.


    ''Amon...''


    He knew that he was here.


    And he knew why he was here as well, his gaze drifting to the person on the bed for a moment.


    But...


    "You have only one minute Arthur, decide quickly or all of them will lose their lives. Right


    here and now."


    Arthur didn''t look at the patients.


    He couldn''t look at anyone, his face turned down.


    His gaze was only fixed on Nern and the patient lying in the bed.


    "30 seconds left Arthur..." Nern''s smirk widened.


    Arthur gritted his teeth.


    His nails dug into his palm, drawing out blood.


    Multiple thoughts ran through his mind.


    Multiple memories.


    One that he could never destroy or forget but yet buried them deep within his mind.


    All of them sprang forth at once, reying through his brain like a broken cassette.


    Those smiles and faces...


    Those happy times. Then those dead, pleading gazes.


    Begging him to save their lives.


    Begging him to please save them.


    Begging him to not take the me on himself. Theirst breaths.


    Everything ran through Arthur''s mind in seconds.


    "10 SECONDS ARTHUR!" Nern shouted as he stood up.


    His eyes glowed in a crimson shade and his horns started to extend further.


    "9!"


    Those banters.


    "g"


    Those jokes.


    1171


    Those temporary arguments.


    "6"


    Those brotherly hugs.


    "5"


    Those hangouts.


    "4"


    Those promises to name their kids after each other based on who died first.


    "3"


    Those promises to never let one die or be alone in the time of need.


    "2."


    Those promises to kill every damn pest in the world.


    "1!"


    Promises meant to be broken through the passage of time.


    Tick.


    "The time is over Arthur!" Nern shouted.


    Arthur didn''t reply but yet a broken whisper followed from his lips.


    "I''m sorry...Nern."


    He finally looked up, his chronic eye glowing in a golden light, as tears of blood spilled down


    from them.


    At the same time, the hands of the clock started to spin backwards at a breakneck speed.


    Arthur tapped two of his fingers on the ten-leaf clover mark on his neck.


    "Authority....Open."


    At the same time, Nern''s eyes widened as he shouted with all his might and the doors from


    behind shot open.


    Amon came crashing in, shouting as he shot his hand forward.


    "N0000000000000000!"

 Chapter 225: Timeless [5]

    Chapter 225: Timeless [5]


    ?


    ***


    Arthur''s eyes widened as he saw Amon burst in after the activation of his authority.


    He wasted no time, so he immediately applied Chronicity on Amon, stopping time for him.


    At the chant of an authority, there was a faint interval of 0.1 seconds between its activation and the chant.


    Thisw made it fair for the opposing enemies to counter the authority if they so wanted.


    It was a tiny interval but those who could do it were able toy out their authority.


    All you needed to say was Authority Open.


    The name of the authority didn''t need to be said.


    But before the activation of an authority, you could also exclude people from it if you so wanted.


    You just had to tap a person with the intent to exclude him from the authority.


    And that was just what Arthur did, stopping time for Amon to save his body from being affected by the authority for a spare second.


    And then...


    -§´§Ñ§â.


    Arthur tapped his shoulder in time for the authority to activate as Nern was taken by surprise.


    He didn''t ept Arthur to do this.


    Did he actually know what he was doing with this move?


    And of course, Arthur did know.


    He knew that the consequences would be more severe than what he would do here.


    But...


    Arthur gave Nern a final momentary sad look and a painful smile.


    It was a broken smile that carried the pain of a thousand behind it.


    And looking into his smile, Nern''s mouth finally opened, mouthing some words to Arthur.


    Thetter''s eyes widened as they started to tremble.


    And before everyone in the authority froze, a faint tear leaked out of Arthur''s eyes.


    But before anyone could see it, the authority finally took ce.


    A golden light spread out from behind Amon as it started to epass the whole area. Everything around them was now covered in a golden color in a matter of seconds.


    Simultaneously, the whole area around them, the ceiling, and the walls were reced by different-sized dials.


    They shone in a golden light and color with Roman numerals imprinted on them.


    It was the same appearance as Arthur''s eye.


    And then, at the same moment, the clock hands on every clock started to rotate.


    Tick. Tick. Tick.


    Everyone in the room was frozen solid in their positions. Wearing the same expression they had before the activation of the authority.


    Silence reigned over the whole area as the only sound that could be heard was the loud ticking of the clock dials.


    But then, Arthur took a faint step in the quiet authority.


    He looked back at Amon with a painful look, who though unaffected by the authority was still frozen in ce.


    It was because the former didn''t want him to see what was about to happen.


    Then, Arthur turned forward, steeling his gaze with coldness.


    He looked at Nern in the distance without any emotion on his face.


    What he was going to do now, would effectively kill everyone in the area without him and Amon.


    This was a surely known fact.


    This was the consequence of his domain as well.


    But...


    There was a faint, just a faint chance to save the people in the domain.


    A 1000 people.


    And it was to kill everyone in the domain within 0.01 seconds.


    Anyte and they would be all dead.


    This was something Arthur had never done or thought he was able to do before.


    So in that sense, there was a 99.99% chance that they were dead.


    But right now, it was the only choice.


    Taking his monocle off, Arthur lightly ced it inside his coat before his mouth finally opened.


    "Anastrophe."


    And immediately, the hands of every clock stopped.


    Before in the next moment, it started to spin again at a breakneck speed in reverse.


    A speeding reverse sound erupted in the authority as it finally started.


    Arthur disappeared from his spot in a sh.


    No, it wasn''t even a sh. He was literally warping through space, leaving afterimages.


    His form broke through the space-time fabric as his body started to disintegrate.


    But at the same time...


    Tick. Shl- Shl- Shl- Shl-


    With just one tick of a clock, multiple heads flew in the air, leaving bloody trails.


    But that wasn''t all.


    As soon as their heads separated from their bodies, they also crumbled to non-existent dust.


    Tick. Shl- Shl- Shl-


    More heads flew in the air. And more and more bodies disintegrated into nothingness


    continuously.


    But that wasn''t the only change happening.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    If one noticed, they would see the pupils of the patients start to turn a dull gray, without any


    focus or life.


    Blood leaked out of multiple wounds in Arthur''s body as his body was unable to handle the


    burden.


    He was drenched in blood now, both his and others.


    Tick. Shl- Shl- Shl- Shl- Shl- Tick. Shl- Shl- Shl-


    Another head.


    Shl-


    Crack. Crack. Crack.


    The bodies disintegrated and crumbled in tandem.


    When finally...


    SHL- Tick.


    The final head flew into the air.


    The head of Nern.


    Arthur cut it off from behind, not finding the courage in himself to see his final expressions.


    Crack. Tick.


    The final crack and crumble was heard in the authority was the clocks also finally came to a


    halt.


    Returning to their normal speed.


    Silence returned to the authority but it was reced by the intense sounds of a rain in the next


    second.


    Drip....Drip...Drip...DripDripDripDripDrip


    It was a heavy downpour of the only blood of the now non-existent people.


    Arthur''s whole form was covered in blood, his hair, his eyes, and everything.


    But he was currently unable to focus on anything.


    Not his exhaustion, not the pain that shot through his body.


    But only one thing.


    His eyes were wide open, ignoring the blood dripping down in front of them from his hair as


    well.


    There was only one harrowing thought that ran through his mind.


    And it was...


    ''I waste.''


    Yes. Arthur waste.


    He had been unable to do it in 0.01 seconds. He waste by some minor milliseconds.


    But...


    That wasn''t what mattered right now.


    It was that he couldn''t make it.


    ****


    Amon''s eyes shot wide open.


    Air entered his lungs as he took a deep breath, calming his rmed body down.


    It was as if he had just woken up from a bad dream.


    He looked at his raised arm with his previously wide eyes.


    For a moment, Amon forgot what he was doing here.


    He was standing in the ruins of a building all by himself.


    ''Wha-''


    The memories finally returned to him as his eyes bulged out and shock ran through his whole


    body.


    The mission and everything reyed through his mind as he finally realized what had


    happened.


    He had just defeated the illusionist and rushed down after defeating some members when...


    He had burst through the door and...


    Arthur...


    He had activated his authority with all the patients around him.


    Amon''s eyes widened even more as a horrifying thought ran through his mind.


    ''No, no, no, no....'' Amon hurriedly looked around him.


    But to his immediate surprise, the patients were all around him. Their bodies were still fine and they were in the position where they were before.


    ''Oh, yes, yes, they are fine.'' Amon nodded, trying to calm his beating heart.


    Vain spoke from within.


    [Amon, they are-]


    ''STOP VAIN!'' Amon shouted inside of him as he looked around with wide eyes.


    A trembling smile was on his face as he looked around, before finding that stretcher bed in the


    distance.


    ''Yes yes, they are fine. I know they are!'' Amon rushed, stumbling along his path to the bed.


    His whole body was shuddering and Vain had gonepletely silent.


    Arriving before the bed, Amon looked at the patient on the bed.


    Her wrinkled skin was there for him to see as shey there with tubes connected to her body. She was wearing the white patients clothes as well and her eyes were closed.


    She had a peaceful expression on her face as she rested there on the bed with her arms crossed.


    No sounds could be heard in the area as Amon took deep breaths, still trying to calm down. His eyes and smile trembled as he looked at thedyying on the bed.


    ''Yes, yes, you are fine. Please just wake up now.'' Amon nodded, gulping as he tried to hold


    back himself.


    He extended his hand to touch her hand, confirming that everything was okay.


    But then...


    As soon as his hand touched hers....


    Thetter crumbled to stone dust on the ground in an instant.


    Amon''s eyes shot wide open as he started to shake his head automatically in disbelief.


    ''No, no, no no..''


    He tried to touch her arm...


    But that also crumbled into dust.


    Amon''s trembling body instinctively tried to collect the dust falling in the air.


    But it was all for naught as it passed through his hand.


    His whole body started shuddering with a violent intensity as he tried to touch her legs and


    cheek...


    But...


    Everything crumbled to dust.


    ''Please stop, this can''t be happening..no Stop. This isn''t a joke.''


    His hand tried to touch her eyelids when...


    Her whole body disintegrated into a pile of dust on the bed, starting to fall on the ground


    from its edges.


    Amon fell to his knees, his eyes shaking uncontrobly.


    Denial repeated through his brain as he tried to touch the dust, trying to piece it together in


    any sort of way.


    His body instinctively started to crawl and run towards other patients.


    But as soon as he touched their faces or cheeks...


    Their bodies disintegrated from his touch, theirst remnants passing through his hand.


    He tried to keep them in his hand and join them together like a child, not knowing what he


    was doing.


    But it was all for naught.


    There was nothing he could do.


    His brain couldn''t ept the reality before him.


    Amon fell on the ground, his body convulsing uncontrobly as his arms and eyes didn''t stop


    shaking.


    "No, no, just stop this already. I beg you!" Heid on the ground, his arm over his eyes.


    A single tear escaped from his eyes, falling to the ground as he finally gave into himself.


    Removing his arm, he shouted in the empty building now, all alone now. "WHY ARTHUR!!!!!!!!????????"


    He fell back on the ground, some more tearsing from his eyes.


    There was no going back now.


    This was the reality that he was forced to face now.


    There was no denying it anymore either....


    All of the 1000 or above patients in the area. And...


    Klein''s mother.


    They were now dead.


    No.


    They never existed in this reality, to begin with. [Quest Failed!]


    They had beenpletely erased from existence.

 Chapter 226: Timeless [6]

    Chapter 226: Timeless [6]


    ?


    ***n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [3 Days Later]


    It was raining in the form of a heavy downpour.


    The cold streets, shops, apartments, and parks were closed and empty today.


    It could be said that there was an eternal silence over the whole academy if not for the continuous spatter of the rain.


    But, the academy''s silence wasn''t attributed to the heavy rain.


    No.


    Rather, in a certain part of the academy, all that could be heard were the loud sobs and cries of families.


    Amon stood with a solemn and grave face, his expression masked by the umbre in his hand. He was wearing a ck suit, standing amongst the thousands of people in the graveyard. All of them observed silence along with the women, who stood on the other side. Everyone''s eyes were focused on the rows of the tall and polished white graves in front. It went on and on, as far as the eye could see.


    Today was one of the saddest and most critical days in the history of Eldergrove.


    All of them stood witness as the ashes of above 1000 patients were buried in the sand today, encapsted in a safe coffin.


    No such loss had been seen like this in the Academy for a long long time.


    Ever since Arthur, the strongest man in the world had been appointed principal.


    But today, the whole world looked for him, hating him and asking him for answers.


    Answers on how, how could a group of 50 men, ranked so weak could not only escape the academy''s security...


    But also outsmart and win against the strongest man in the world.


    It didn''t make sense.


    But yet, when the world asked for answers, he failed to appear in front of the public.


    3 days ago, when Arthur was found guilty of the mass massacre in the Infirmary of the Eldergrove, an arrest order had been quickly issued out for him.


    Fortunately, it took no time for the Imperial Military to find him as he himself waited for them toe.


    Being found in a graveyard as well, Arthur gave no signs of resistance and cleanly allowed himself to be put in prison.


    Even though incidents like this would give the criminal endless amounts of torture and then a painful death...


    The Imperiac was too scared to take this action against Arthur.


    Even though he didn''t show any signs of anger or struggle, thest thing the Imperiac wanted was their strongest weapon to turn against them.


    Especially in such a dire situation where even their neighboring empires were a threat to them. Not to mention, the advancement of the ck Tear as well.


    It was obvious to everyone in the higher echelon of the human domain that there was not a single prison or force that could contain Arthur.


    Maybe an artifact but such an artifact never existed. At least not among the humans or that the Imperiac knew of.


    Fortunately, in the whole 3 days, Arthur had not once shown any signs of resistance.


    He had beenpletely silent, refusing to talk to anyone or even eat.


    His silence had been ridiculed and hated by the world, who were informed of the reason behind the deaths of the masses.


    Amon''s exhausted ck eyes watched all of the weeping families through his umbre.


    However, his gaze was only focused on one family.


    A small and humble family of four in the distance that wept more than any other family in the area.


    A middle-aged man, roughly about 40 with greying hair cried continuously.


    He made no effort to wipe the tears that streamed down his cheek, not that he could.


    The two crying small daughters in his arms cried just as much, drenching the already wet shirt of the man even more.


    They were so little. Their ages not more than Lily''s.


    Yet, they were suffering from such a big loss in their life at such a young point.


    The man''s back from afar looked utterly lonely and powerless.


    Maybe once, once in a time, he was hailed as a respected and powerful nobleman.


    A nobleman who was so humble in his dealings that he became a victim of other''s schemes and jealousy, ending up in the state that he is today.


    But...


    Even the three''s sadness, cries, and sobs could notpare to the young man on the ground.


    His ck suit and face were covered in dirt as he wailed and mourned as loud as he could, his body over his mother''s grave.


    His features could be considered above average if not for the awful amount of tears and dirt that marred them.


    He screamed to the point that his voice waspletely hoarse in the cold hard rain.


    His eyes were so red and bloodshot that one might think they would bulge and burst at any moment.


    And his expression conveyed such a sense of sadness and regret that dwarfed any other in the whole graveyard.


    This young boy was Klein. A boy had freshly turned 18 but was forced to bear such a sudden loss in his life.


    A loss of a person that was half the reason he was alive in this world.


    A major reason why he was able to continuously through the harshness of this world.


    His guide through the roughness of this world.


    The one he promised to that she would once see him being on top of the world.


    That she would be treated with the same respect and love as before by everyone in the world.


    That was the only thing that he had asked from the world. From fate.


    He had no high aims such as destroying the ghouls or bing the king of the empire.


    His only wish was to remove such debts from his family and allow them to live a normal life.


    A life where they would be given respect and love from others like before. A life where people wouldn''t look at them with disgust and repulsiveness anymore.


    Just...a normal life.


    But then...


    Why?


    Why was it that when he gave it his all, his whole blood and sweat to keep the fire in his mother''s heart running, he was presented with her ashes?


    Where had he gone wrong?


    Those were the thoughts that ran through the youth''s mind as he cried over his mother.


    And yet...


    Even on the day of his mother''s death, even at the biggest loss in the family''s life.


    None stood around them to bear this loss with them.


    Nobody spared them a nce.


    After all, why would they? They are just a weak and powerless family of 4.


    Unable to even get revenge for the group that caused this all.


    Amon''s tired and bloodshot eyes twitched as he found himself staring without blinking again.


    These past three days, he had never slept. Not a wink.


    The ck bags under his eyes were the proof of it.


    Just like Arthur, he had isted himself from everyone in those three words.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to meet his family or friends.


    He didn''t want everyone to see him in this state.


    He didn''t want everyone to witness him going insane.


    Because just like Arthur, he med himself for all these deaths as well.


    Every second of rest, every blink reminded him of their deaths.


    Every thought haunted his brain of that day.


    What were they expecting from Arthur and Amon that day while being held hostage?


    Most of them at least held a small me of hope expecting themselves to be saved.


    But...


    Amon''s whole form shuddered as he suddenly saw the souls of everyone in the graves staring


    at him.


    His grip turned loose and the umbre slipped out of his hand on the floor.


    The few men beside him gave him a few nces but turned when they couldn''t recognize him


    of any importance.


    Amon ignored them.


    He did not attempt to grab his umbre as well as he ruffled his messy and wet hair hard now.


    Quickly taking out a bottle of pills from his pocket, he took out two into his hand and popped


    them into his mouth.


    But even then, like always, the thoughts didn''t stop.


    What were thest expressions on their faces?


    What were theirst thoughts?


    All of them, some very young and some very old, having their lives forcibly taken from them.


    Their faces ovepped with the faces of the children from back then and Amon''s form shook


    again.


    His foot slipped a little in the wet mud and he fell, his ck suit being covered in mud now.


    But again, Amon did not attempt to stand up, remaining down on the ground, drenching


    himself in the rain.


    He was oblivious to the gazes that he got from the people, still staring at Klein in the


    distance.


    But then, he suddenly saw a female standing beside the grave, staring at him.


    Klein''s mother.


    Amon''s eyes widened with fear as he struggled in the mud, trying to grab onto it with his dirty


    hands.


    He quickly got out of the group, resting against a tree as he tried to calm down the racing


    visions and thoughts in his mind.


    There was no other doubt in Amon''s mind.


    He was going insane. It was to the point that he would even snap at Zephyra and Vain.


    As he took deep breaths in the rain, Amon massaged his eyes with his muddy hands.


    He couldn''t care about anything right now.


    Staring at the graves and hearing their cries again, another thought ran through his mind.


    One that was the cause of this all in front of him.


    Decimated Heavens...


    The organization responsible for this massacre.


    The ones that had killed Klein''s mother.


    A cold, seething rage grew in Amon''s heart.


    A rage devouring his whole body as it finally turned limp.


    All the thoughts inside his mind stopped now. Every sound died out.


    There was only one thing that mattered to him now.


    His hands clenched against the wet soil of the ground as rain continuously spattered on him.


    Standing up, Amon, for the first time, opened the watch on his arm.


    [Cryptic 1: Greetings Sir, how can we help you?] Amon stared at the message for a solid second before typing his reply and sending it.


    Summoning the cracked white mask from his inventory, Amon put it on his face and started to


    walk away from the graveyard into the forest.


    This organization...


    [Anonymous: This is James Corleone. Get me every single piece of information avable on


    Decimated Heavens. The price and effort don''t matter.]


    Decimated Heavens.


    He wouldn''t rest till every single member was burned and tortured to death.


    Their families, their possessions, everything.


    Amon''s ck eyes momentarily turned purple through his mask.

 Chapter 227: Back To The Black Market [1]

    Chapter 227: Back To The ck Market [1]


    ?


    ***


    The sound of a wooden cane was heard in the night air, its symphonic rhythm creating an almost soothing sensation to the air.


    The midnight moon subtly shone through the dark cold clouds in the sky, basking the secluded streets below in its dim light.


    But yet, a certain part of the city waspletely shrouded from its embrace.


    As if it was a separate part from the bustling city on the other side.


    And this was where the sounds of the cane originated from.


    A figure walked in the empty dark streets of that part of the city, eitherpletely unaware of the dangers or indifferent of the threat they could pose to him.


    However, from the unapproachable energy that exuded from his cloaked figure, one could suppose that it was thetter.


    And surely enough, if one looked closely, they would see multiple pickpockets or thieves- that used the darkness to their advantage- change their ways as the figure walked near.


    Even his cracked white mask, that had a sinister smile engraved on it, gave off a menacing vibe because of his aura.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But the man behind the white mask paid the onlookers no look or even a subtle nce, merely ignoring their existence as he walked past.


    It was as if they didn''t exist for him in the streets.


    As his cane continuously tapped in the cold foggy streets, he finally stopped after taking a


    turn.


    Arriving before two, armed and sturdy men, the man finally faced a obstacle in his path.


    They were formally dressed in their usual ck suits, their gazes hidden behind the ck sses on their eyes.


    Their expression was impassive, making it seem that they were unaffected by the presence of the man before them.


    But a close observer would also notice a trickle of sweat on the side of their faces. Something unusual for this extremely cold time of the December month.


    But the cold emotionless ck eyes that bore into them through the white mask paid their interference no mind.


    The man merely retrieved a ck card from his cloak pocket, quickly handing it over to the extended hand of the guard on the right.


    The guard on the left took it from the one on the right, checking its front and back thoroughly. Once done, he handed it back to the man, who took it and ced it back in his pocket.


    At the same time, the guards parted, making way for the man, as thetter was now faced with a steel door.


    The door automatically opened, unveiling a narrow dark corridor that led downward.


    The guards gave the man a final nod, which thetter didn''t respond to and just walked ahead. But the two dressed men didn''t mind it a bit.


    The silent exchange was well appreciated by both parties, feeling no need tomunicate with each other.


    This was how it was supposed to be in the ck Market.


    Looking down into the corridor, a single thought ran through Amon''s mind.


    ''It''s been a long while.''


    With that thought, Amon began his descent down into the corridor.


    Into the ck Market.


    ***


    In a neatly furnished room, a figure was hunched over at the table as sounds of scribbling were heard without any dy in the room.


    The room was quite elegant and luxurious, giving off an air of noble regality.


    Fine hand-knitted rugs with intricate patterns on them were ced all over the floor. Just a nce at them would tell even an amateur of how much blood and sweat had been poured into the art.


    Even the softness and smoothness of the rugs were rxing to the body.


    Exquisitely crafted bookshelves made of the finest wood were ced along with the walls, files and books neatly arranged and ced into them, giving a sense of order to the room.


    Sofas and chairs were also ced with care and precision, in a proper pattern.


    It conveyed just how much thought and care had been put into the room.


    Right in the middle of the room was a beautifully crafted wooden table.


    A smallmp like device was ced at its edge, dim light exuding from its top that basked the whole room.


    Documents and files were neatly ced to the side, some empty while others written and signed.


    Quills and pens along with ink pots rested at the edge just next to the luxurious chair, ready at the sitter''s disposal.


    But currently, a woman was already sitting on the table, the sounds of her scribbling on paper nonstop being heard in the room.


    Her long winish-magenta hair were neatly tied into a ponytail that hung across her back.


    Various ornaments were carefully ced in the hair to keep them in ce.


    Wearing a white thin overcoat-one more for fashion that protection from cold-over her intricately floral patterned ck top and pants, her form seemed to bepletely focused on the task at hand.


    Her amber-golden eyes were focused on the documents in front of her as her gloved hands fluently dragged the pen across them nonstop.


    But despite the continuous writing, her eyes seemed to be out of focus if one looked closely


    now.


    As if her thoughts were lost on another matter recently.


    The same could be said for her expression as at certain times, she could be seen biting her lip subconsciously.


    But then, suddenly, the flow of the pen came to an abrupt stop, halting instantly at the end of


    the document.


    ScribScribScribTap.


    Her grip around the pen loosened and the pen rolled off the table, falling on the ground.


    -§´§Ñ§â.


    Its light tap against the rug on the floor was enough to jolt the figure on the table out of their thoughts.


    Amelia''s form came back to the present with a shudder, as her thoughts finally settled down


    on reality.


    Still disoriented and her focus out of ce a little, her face slowly followed the sound as she


    saw the pen on the ground.


    It was then that she realized what happened.


    ''Oh.''


    Her form bent to pick the pen up from the ground.


    Capping it back, she carefully ced it on the side of the table.


    Staring at the documents below her, a tired long exhale escaped from Amelia''s lips as she leaned over at the table, cing her elbows on the top and plopping her forehead in her


    hands.


    She brushed the few strands of her hair back with a clean motion of her hands.


    The wave of adrenaline that she had when working finally wore off and a wave of exhaustion


    had hit her now.


    She automatically found her eyes closing due to theck of sleep but was forced awake again


    with a jolt.


    Amelia massaged the deep bags under her eyes with her fingers, releasing another sigh in the


    process.


    Turning to look out of the arched windows that provided a breathtaking view of the outside, Amelia saw a reflection of herself in the polished one-sided mirrors.


    And what she saw shocked her to the core.

 Chapter 228: Back To The Black Market [2]

    Chapter 228: Back To The ck Market [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amelia''s reflection didn''t just shock her but if anyone saw that the most beautiful person of the Academy had been reduced to such a state, they would wonder what could cause such a thing.


    Because not only was Amelia impassive and uncaring about most things, but she was a person for whom taking care of herself was among the top priorities.


    But now?


    She seemed to be merely a shadow of her previous self.


    Baggy and tired eyes, marks on her skin from the table and books-on which she often ended up falling asleep for a mere moment-, messy hair on some sides...


    To think that all of this had resulted in just 3 days.


    3 days that had changed theplete course of her life from A to Z.


    It was evident that she had not slept in a long time if one saw those bags.


    But somehow, she had managed to wlessly hide it through her makeup and a little maniption of blood.


    The past 3 days...


    They had been hectic if she had to say the least.


    To attending just a normal battle royale, to end up being attacked by a group of people where she continuously fought to maintain order among the civilians and also protect them with Katherine.


    Then only to learnter of the thousand deaths in the academy all because of a small group of people.


    Thentering face to face with the news that it was actually her father who did this...


    Arthur Milize, her precious father, ended up going to jail with Athena disappearing to the capital to fight for his release.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then worrying about Amon, who might have the only lead about her father to end up finding that he disappeared as well...


    Amelia had been hit with a roller coaster of emotions and events in just 3 days.


    There was no doubt in Amelia''s mind that Amon was fine, unlike some people who believed him to be dead after being found to be in the same building as Arthur.


    He couldn''t die. Especially when her father was with him.


    Even besides that, she believed him not to be dead.


    It was obvious to her that Arthur had been framed, and Amon knew about it as well.


    There was a connection and story that headed further into this. And Arthur and Amon, who were often close with each other, were surely involved deeply in the case.


    And even if Arthur killed, he would have always killed with a reason.


    Her father was not a mindless killer.


    Unfortunately, with her family''s disappearance, the duties were also shoved onto her.


    Amelia had to take over her father''s office for short notice, and she did it willingly as well not to let those old geezers take over.


    Being involved in her own duties and her fathers as well, Amelia had no time to look for Amon.


    She knew he was out there somewhere.


    Especially when...


    That figure in the funeral.


    That was undoubtedly him.


    But when she tried to follow him after disrespectfully cutting from the funeral, he disappeared.


    Staring at the piles of paper below her, Amelia felt another headache creeping in her head. The other events of the midterms had been canceled because of the deaths. Furthermore, a 7 days off had been given from the day of the battle royale to the students.


    After that, regr sses would resume for a week and the new rankings and results would also be announced.


    To her annoyance, orders hade from above that the Cultural Festival would still take ce at the same date rather than its expected postponement.


    This shoved even more duties on Amelia''s shoulders, ending up in her being holed in the office since the morning.


    It was hell.


    She needed to look for Amon. The only person who knew about it all and the only close person left for her after Arthur and Athena.


    Even taking aside his link to Arthur, she was worried for him.


    Since he was in the building, it was obvious that he had seen those deaths.


    Even if she knew that he might be used to them, it was still too much for him.


    Too much for an 18 year old. It was also why Amelia didn''t me Amon for disappearing.


    The event must have ced a trauma and high amount of stress in his mind.


    One that, knowing his personality, he didn''t want to show to his friends and family since they would worry for him.


    That was just the type of person he was, always shouldering everything alone to make it seem that he was fine to others.


    That was how Amelia hade to know her in the time spent with him.


    And it was also why...


    Standing up from her chair, Amelia walked over to the arched window, staring out in the


    endless flood of lights in the distance.


    It was a breathtaking view.


    But also lonely.


    Was this how her father had always seen it?


    Being on top of the whole world, wielding absolute power over others...


    It would naturally end up being lonely, no?


    Raising her arm, her gloved fingers tapped against the cold window pane.


    ''I want to help him.''


    This was also why Amelia wished to help Amon.


    She wanted to meet him again.


    Because, the world was there for the victims of the event but...


    Who was there for the 18 year old boy out there alone in the cold?


    Who was there for him in these times?


    And even though it might be his decision himself to distance himself from others...


    Amelia wanted him to realize that there were others for him to rely on.


    She wanted to help him through all this not by seeing him as the disciple of her father but..


    As a personal close friend of her.


    One that she valued a lot.


    As these thoughts ran through her mind, the door of her office suddenly opened.


    And a figure steered in, making her eyes widen.

 Chapter 229: Back To The Black Market [3]

    Chapter 229: Back To The ck Market [3]


    ?


    ***


    As Amon stepped down thest steps of the staircase, he was greeted by the usual murky scent of the ck Market in a long while.


    It had been an age since hest came here.


    ''Ah, right. Thest time, I also used to meet Lily on the streets.''


    The thought of Lily reminded him of her and his sister Katherine.


    He had seen both of them at the funeral, Katherine with Lily in her arms.


    An ethereal amount of relief had passed through his body like a soothing wave at that moment, as if a huge burden was taken off from his shoulders.


    Seeing them both also reminded him of Amelia, but she was nowhere to be seen next to Katherine.


    Not like Amon expected her to.


    She, just like him, had lost someone close to her, much closer to her.


    Amon could just imagine the amount of disbelief and pain that would have passed through her body at that moment.


    To see the whole world ming your father for the deaths of thousands without any concrete proof wasn''t just painful, even if the hate wasn''t directed at you.


    Of course, Amon wouldn''t me Amelia for not believing in it and thinking of it as an attempt to frame Arthur, to destroy the structure of power and peace that he had over the whole empire.


    Amon would have done the same if his father had been like this in the previous life.


    It was just too unbelievable to imagine aedic, carefree and caring person like Arthur to do this.


    And even if he did, Amelia and neither Amon would me Arthur. He wasn''t a mindless killer. Every action of his had an appropriate amount of reason behind it.


    And this was something that Amon wished to know dearly after that day.


    Even though Amon couldn''t me him fully since he didn''t know about the quest, there was still a connection to Arthur and that group.


    That look on his hurt, that pain and that regret in the mere moment their eyes met before Arthur''s authority opened.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It was enough to tell him that there was a deep story between him and that group or organization.


    One that involved pain and regret and one that had never been shown in the novel.


    Nevertheless, he could only hope that Amelia was fine. She was a close friend of his.


    Maybe even closer currently than the main cast because of how much he saw her in the past month aspared to his other friends.


    He was always training with Athena and Arthur, which would inevitably end up in both of them meeting and talking.


    And he liked Amelia, her caring and teasing personality. The way she looked at him from a different point of view aspared to the main cast...


    He liked her more than he cared to admit. She was a really close friend of his.


    Speaking of the main cast though...


    Though he hadn''t seen them at the funeral, they were probably fine.


    They were all in the hands of Michael, the protagonist of the novel and the person Amon trusted to be able to save them.


    Not only that, but if you wanted a more logical proof, then Amon could attribute it to the fact that there was no major uproar or news in the public.


    Considering how all of them were major and especially big figures in the society, even Michael now because of his powers and status, if one of them had died, the world would have definitely been turned upside down.


    The fact that this didn''t happen meant that they were fine.


    However, he could only see to itter.


    Since there was a holiday for the week and there were at least 3 days left behind, Amon nned to return today or tomorrow.


    His disappearance would have obviously worried them. But it was necessary because of what was happening to him.


    And even though there was no chance that he would be fine soon, Amon had to return back


    soon.


    He had already been away for 3 days now.


    Pushing back his thoughts, Amon focused on his destination.


    His cane tapped against the cold concrete floor of the underground market as his form traveled through the dense crowds with experienced ease and technique.


    Amon''s usual visits to the ck Market before had made him experienced to the atmosphere and the people here now.


    It was shown not only through his form and walking but also other people''s reactions as well.


    Just a look at the cloaked mysterious gentleman and his poised and elegant way of walking told them enough to steer away from him.


    It would be better to focus their efforts on something else.


    Especially right now as the oppressive dark aura that oozed out of the man''s form screamed danger at them.


    Appreciating the silence from the people eyeing him, Amon ignored them as well and focused his attention on his path.


    Due to his adaptability and exceptional memory reading, it took him no time to arrive before his chosen ce.


    Nathan''s cksmithies.


    The building still looked to be the same as before. The cracks in the walls, representing the long passage of time that it had withstood.


    The rusted sign and a letter missing gave it a disorderly and untrustworthy look as well, potentially throwing out even the least interested passengers in the shop.


    Additionally, the simple and house-like exterior and interior-which could be seen through the windows-made it seem more of an apartment or living building rather than a


    cksmithy.


    Of course, Amon wasn''t one to judge a shop from its exterior looks.


    And he knew it was the same for the man outside, who didn''t seem to care about any


    customers anyways.


    All he wanted was to hide from the public eye and live the rest of his life in peace and passion


    for his work.


    Unfortunately, the ck Market policies required him to at least advertise outside on what


    his building and work was about.


    Except for the high ss professionals and executives of the market, you could not own a


    living house for yourself.


    They were already quite short on the area.


    Because of this, Nathan just made his shop as uninteresting as possible, intentionally hoping


    to steer customers off.


    And fortunately, for him, it worked.


    But the condition now...


    It was a lot worse than thest time the man inside had seen it-which was probably years ago.


    Regardless, it all worked to the cksmith''s favors anyways.


    Concluding the thoughts in his head, Amon looked down and quietly entered the shop with a greeting tap of his cane against the wooden floor inside.

 Chapter 230: Back To The Black Market [4]

    Chapter 230: Back To The ck Market [4]


    ?


    ****


    Entering the shop, Amon was greeted by the simple and cozy but now dusty interior.


    Paintings hung in a neat order on the walls and the sofas and tables were also orderly arranged.


    The seats were put in and the sofas were beautifully put in ce over the rugs on the floor, with two bookshelves on the side, filled with files and ordinary books.


    It gave off the perfect feeling of afortable and simple house, with a ssic murky scent simr to the ck Market wafting through the air, reminding Amon of those old ssical buildings from his world.


    But besides the clean and beautiful interior, it had lost its once pristine condition.


    Dust marred every piece of furniture, often forming some dust bunnies on certain parts of the objects, making it look like a ck dirty spot.


    Small andrge cobwebs hung across the edges of the ceiling, spiderszily resting on them, waiting for their prey.


    Multiple small parts of the sofa had been eaten into holes, probably by the asional visits of locusts.


    It looked so dirty that even if one chose to try this apartment lodging or whatever, they would get back to their ways from the first sight of the house.


    The sudden normal urge to sit on a seat or sofa when entering an apartment for Amon even changed its paths as well.


    But of course, all of this was even more advantageous for the man working below in the basement.


    The continuous hits of his hammer against the metal below reached Amon''s ears even above here.


    And even though the basement was two stories below, the sweltering heat even reached the base floor, delivering itchy but much needed warmth to Amon.


    However, Amon quickly ignored it.


    He was not here to admire-which no one would-or observe things.


    He was just here for a single purpose and then he would be on his way.


    And that was just how the man below would like it as well.


    Speaking of him, Amon knew that thetter had already felt his presence below.


    Keeping him waiting much longer and dividing his attention between work and keeping note on him would be disrespectful of Amon.


    Concluding his thoughts, Amon walked forward and walked down another staircase.


    As he walked down the downward spiral of the staircase, he reached the lower floor.


    There was nothing to admire or observe here.


    There were just piles of ores, metals, ingots, leftovers, armor and weapon experiments and storage space etc etc here.


    Basically, it was the storage ce for all the work that he did below.


    Ignoring it all, Amon kept going on his path, walking down the narrow step of stairs with elegant precision.


    The heat gradually turned stronger and stronger, turning itchier and more ufortable for Amon as well, who preferred cold much more.


    As he took his final steps down the staircase, he was greeted by an intense jump in the heat, with a wave assaulting his body.


    It was much stronger than thest time he came here, indicating the cksmith''s progress as well.


    Suppressing a twitch of his mouth for the heat, Amon focused in front where the topless body of Nathan effortfully worked at the piece in front of him.


    His hammer raised in the hair and striked down with proper and disciplined timing and precision.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    To Amon''s eyes, it looked more like an art than a work.


    It was clear that the man in front of him had a loving passion in it, shown through his muscled and toned body.


    As another strike reached Amon''s ears, rather than raising it up again, it all stopped.


    A second of silence passed through the floor before the hammer moved again.


    But rather than raising it up, Amon saw Nathan set it aside, making the former surprised.


    But not only that, thetter turned to face him, his gaze locking with Amon''s slightly widened eyes behind the mask.


    Nathan''s gaze held a respect and acknowledgement for Amon in it, which surprised thetter again.


    Thest time Amon visited, Nathan had continued on his work and didn''t even turn to face him untilter on.


    But this time, he hadn''t even spoken yet but the cksmith had already done it, surprising the young boy.


    Fortunately, Amon didn''t have to ask as the cksmith already exined his curiosity.


    "You have changed." He opened his mouth for the first time, reminding Amon of his deep and hoarse voice.


    It sounded like he hadn''t even drank water in a long time.


    Amon didn''t say anything, waiting for him to continue if he wanted.


    And the cksmith did.


    "Not just in your strength and form, but in terms of the weapon as well." He said, the respect in his voice showing as well as his lips curled upward a little.


    Amon was slightly surprised.


    He knew what the man meant by strength and body since he had be stronger by a lot- much much stronger- since thest time but...


    What did he mean by weapon?


    Luckily for the ck-haired youth, he didn''t have to wait long for his answer.


    "Your weapon, the one I made for you, I can see that you have taken proper care of it and used


    it well. You have my respect. Not many even care, much less are capable of doing so." He said, his smile clearly showing now.


    Amon''s mouth opened.


    He quickly retrieved his nodachi, unsheathing it.


    The abyssal obsidian de of the nodachi gleamed and shone under the warm embrace of the crimson light from the furnace.


    There were multiple scratches and blood marks on the nodachi, ones that could not be


    removed no matter how much he tried.


    It also showed the passage of battles that Amon had faced ever since he acquired the weapon.


    Even the battles from thest incident.


    Nevertheless, it still retained its shine and sharpness, showing Amon his cracked mask.


    Nathan took a step forward and arrived before Amon with his huge frame, extending his hand. Not being bothered or against it, Amon respectfully handed the nodachi to his hand.


    The cksmith, with care and love, examined the nodachi with a close observing eye, as if it was his own precious child.


    Eventually, his smile broadened, turning into an appreciating and happy grin as he set the


    nodachi aside.


    His happiness for it was deserved and expected.


    Even though he had been initially against making a weapon for Amon, after being forced to do


    it and now looking at how he had respected and treated it, Nathan obviously felt a rise of


    happiness and pride in his chest.


    It was the first weapon that he ever made for a specific person.


    And seeing his customer satisfied with his creation inevitably made him happy and proud,


    even if he loathed it before.


    The old man''s lips pushed against his wrinkled skin as in a long time, a content smile spread


    upon his face.


    And Nathan clearly showed it, with a pleased tone and expression on his face.


    "Ask away, kid. You came here for a weapon right?"


    Amon-who was quite surprised by this development but also happy for him and the


    advantage he was getting-nodded.


    "Yes." He spoke for the first time.


    The old man''s grin widened and he cracked his knuckles.


    "Just tell me the details and your specifications on the weapon and leave the rest to me. I''ll


    deliver a beauty and masterpiece in your hands much stronger than the previous nodachi." He boasted with pride in his chest.


    Amon involuntarily felt his lips pulling up into a smile as it was much easier than he thought


    it would be.


    The development had truly worked in his favor.


    But the next words of the cksmith was the cherry on top of the cake for his satisfaction.


    "And don''t worry about the price and the ores. Everything''s on me for this one time because of how you treated that weapon. You have proved to be a valuable customer, deserving of my


    respect!" He put his giant hand on Amon''s shoulder.


    Amon''s eyes widened at his words.


    This was truly a gold mine for him.


    Even if it was only this single time, he appreciated it more than anything.


    Composing himself, he nodded, voicing out his gratitude.


    "Thank you for this gift."


    The old manughed, waving his hand in dismissal.


    "It''s nothing. Now, tell me, what kind of weapon do you want this time?"


    Amon nodded, his lips pulling up into a slight smile.


    "I want..."

 Chapter 231: Apology and Return [1]

    Chapter 231: Apology and Return [1]


    ?


    ***


    With a satisfied expression behind his mask, Amon walked out of the cksmithy.


    The sound of his cane taps changed as he switched from wooden to cold hard cobblestone.


    The foggy freezing air hit him like a st as he stepped outside, depriving him from thefortable warmth of the inside.


    But Amon didn''t mind it.


    As he had said before, he preferred cold in everything except for tea.


    Even for showers, he preferred cold-showers no matter the weather or season.


    His mind wandered back to the deal that had taken ce inside.


    It had gone better than what he thought it would, even after the cksmith told him it would be for free.


    It was because of Amon''s exceptionally high demands and specifications for the weapon. It was the reason why he also insisted Nathan to let him pay and provide the materials himself, since he woulde off as selfish for taking such advantage of the old man''s favor. But to his surprise, no matter how much he demanded and kept voicing out his insistence to let him provide, the old man said it waspletely fine and that he would still be able to process his request with ease.


    And he kept saying this even after Amon finished out his order.


    To think that he was still able to do it for free and not mind it made Amon immensely grateful on top of his surprise.


    This was way too advantageous for him. To the point that even though he didn''t mind being selfish to people now, he felt a little bad.


    But since the opportunity was presenting itself right into his hands, who was he to object to it.


    ''Yeah, this was way better than expected.'' Amon thought with a slight content smile on his face.


    Done with his business in the ck Market, Amon started his way back to the entrance. Even though he felt a deep urge to make his way towards Dungeon Dreamers and book a dungeon for himself to get stronger, he couldn''t do so right now.


    There was the festivaling up in a few weeks and Amon had to prepare for it with much more strength and caution now.


    Then, he was also quite busy with other matters now because of the recent events.


    Remembering what happened left a bitter taste in Amon''s mouth, making it twitch behind the mask.


    This was the first major incident that he had faced in the novel.


    It was a wide-massacre, right in front of his eyes. One that he thought would never happen because of how good he prepared for every arc.


    And since it always went the way he thought it would, it had maken himx and easygoing. Only for it to be a major mistake in his mentality.


    Even though he was attributing it to the change with Arthur, there was no denying it that he was partially to me for this.


    He himself had changed the plotline so why wasn''t he ounting for these unpredictable changes now.


    If he was cautious and always thought about the things that could go wrong because of his interference, maybe this incident would have never happened.


    Or at the very least, he would have been able to minimize the casualties by a lot.


    Amon clenched his grip on the cane holder, his teeth gritting as a cold rage boiled up within him.


    But he quickly calmed himself andposed his aura, realizing how people around him were getting disturbed even from his suppressed aura.


    A sigh escaped his lips,ing out in the form of a white wispy cloud that drifted upwards into the air, disappearing eventually.


    Amon still med himself for the incident.


    More than Arthur. No, he was entirely to me.


    But it was useless toin now. If he could return back to time, then he was sure Arthur would have done it a long time ago.


    He could only reflect upon his mistakes and improve further going onwards.


    Even though he was stronger than anyone in terms of his own year and age, Amon was weak.


    Awfully weakpared to what he had to face in the future.


    He needed to get stronger and faster. Otherwise, such losses would continue.


    Losses that amounted not only to human lives but also his system quest failures.


    Yes. That day, Amon had been inflicted by a deep pain in his body.


    It was as if an integral part of her soul had been torn away from him, setting a burning fire in his body that scorched his mind.


    Itsted for only a minute but it felt like it hadsted for an eternity in him.


    And after that...


    ''[System]''


    The familiar blue holographic interface window opened up in front of him.


    ====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====


    VIT: ¡Á¡Á¡Á¡Á? ? ?>>>>>>>> <<? ? ? ? ?


    STR: 000


    AGI: ????


    END:???


    INT: ¡Á¡Á¡Á ? ? ? ?*


    Staring at his stats again, an irritating pain ran through his body at the sight.


    It stinged.


    Stinged to fail a system quest for the first time.


    Unfortunately, he could only sigh and hope that he didn''t fail more in the future.


    But it was probably impossible.


    He wasn''t delusional in this regard. Amon knew that there would be still quests in the future where he would fail.


    And this was inevitable. This one was just the start.


    Amon wasn''t able to stop and seed in everything. If Arthur, the strongest man in the world was able to fail, then who was he?


    Lost in his thoughts, Amon didn''t realize until he finally reached the entrance of the ck


    Market.


    However, as he was about to leave, he felt a stare on his back. It was for the faintest of


    moments as it disappeared the moment it came.


    But it was enough to alert Amon as he instantly turned, his cold eyes behind the mask darting towards the spot from where he felt the stare.


    But to his surprise and unfortunately, as his eyesnded upon the rooftop of a building, there


    was nothing to be found.


    Not even a trace or any faintest clue on who it was.


    A high sense of suspicion arose in Amon as he squinted his eyes, his gaze still locked to the


    building.


    Eventually, he turned but not without being on high alert this time.


    He took slow, deliberate steps, ready to active [Void Steps] at the faintest sign of a stare now.


    This was too risky and suspicious. Especially for it to happen after the recent incident.


    Whoever they were, Amon had to identify them quick.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t even ask Zephyra or Vain as for some reason they had suddenly


    gone to hibernation a day ago.


    He didn''t get any reason, only knowing when he tried to call them out.


    Sighing, Amon headed upstairs, leaving the ck Market.


    Heading towards his next destination now.


    ***


    In the cold misty graveyard where silent frosty winds blew from time to time, soothing the white polished gravestones with a cool breeze, the sounds of footsteps and cane taps were


    heard.


    Except for the asional whooses of wind, there was no other sound in the area a moment


    before.


    However, now it was obvious that someone wasing, his form hidden in the icy murky clouds produced from the rain.


    The sounds were clear because of the hard ground left by the rain and it was made even more obvious as the blurring silhouette of a man could be seen in the clouds.


    And after a mere heartbeat, his form parted through the fog, finally appearing in full sight.


    With his cloak still wrapped around his body, Amon arrived before a gravestone.


    He still hadn''t taken off his mask, despite being hidden in the embrace of the fog.


    In fact, for even more anonymity and efforts to keep himself hidden, there were his clones around him keeping an eye around for anyone.


    Erasing the thoughts from his mind, Amon focused his stare through the mask on the gravestone in front of him.


    It was cleanly polished and fresh, indicating that the person had died not long ago.


    In bold andrge letters, a name had been engraved on top of the gravestone in clear letters.


    [SAMANTHA SINCLAIR]


    A pang of regret and pain coursed through Amon''s body as he read the words. Amon kneeled, removing his mask in the process as well, revealing his painful expression to


    the cold air and the tombstone.


    His hand sneaked into his cloak, eventually retrieving a small bouquet ofvender flowers.


    He carefully set them down in front of the grave. They were his favorite flowers.


    He didn''t know any prayer and he didn''t came here to send one anyways.


    His meaning ofing here was simple.


    A heartfelt apology and confession.


    Staring in silence at the gravestone for a moment with his exhausted baggy eyes, Amon


    opened his mouth to speak.


    But then it closed the next moment.


    Silence descended in the graveyard again as Amon stared down at the ground, gritting his


    teeth.


    Why was it so painful for him despite never meeting the woman in front of him and talking to


    her.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Clenching his fists hard, Amon bit his lip, even forcing a trickle of blood down his chin.


    Pushing himself, he finally opened his mouth to speak.


    To let out all the words that he contained in his heart.


    "I...."

 Chapter 232: Apology and Return [2]

    Chapter 232: Apology and Return [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon stood up silently from his kneeling position, straightening himself.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He adjusted his clothes as the cold wind caressed his bare cheeks in the form of a light breeze, something impossible before because of the mask.


    The breeze was relieving and soothing in a sense, as if taking away half his burdens from his soul and pouring a blissful cold bucket of water on it to calm it down.


    It was different from the other breezes as well.


    It was as if it was intently rxing and bringing a sense of rest to Amon''s exhausted body.


    To him, he understood the breeze.


    In his mind, it was a form of the eptance of the person resting in the ground of the words that he had just spoken.


    As if the woman in front of him was caressing his cheeks in the form of a breeze.


    A slight rxed smile spread upon Amon''s lips as he stared at the gravestone silently for a few seconds, intense sadness filled in his eyes.


    Eventually, a content and tired long exhale escaped from his lips.


    Still shrouded in the grasp of the mist around him even though it was sunset, Amon retrieved his mask.


    He put it on, letting go of his clones at the same time now that they had served their purpose. Fortunately, during the whole time he was here, nobody had been able toe close to him.


    It was to be expected as the people had just gone back to their homes a few hours ago, so why would theye again just in this short time.


    Letting out a final exhale, Amon started walking again, his cane tapping against the cold hard ground.


    As he walked, his eyes passed through the rows of graves, reading their names one by one. Tap. Step. Tap. Step. Tap. Step.


    Ta-


    Suddenly, Amon stopped as his form froze with his eyes widened.


    They trembled as they halted on the tombstone in front of him.


    The name...


    It was familiar to him.


    Emilia ire. The headdy at the infirmary.


    Memories shed before his eyes, a stream of them, passing and reying in his brain within seconds.


    Even though he didn''t know her all that well, Amon was way too grateful to her.


    He had ended up in the infirmary a lot of times and every single time, she had checked up on him and treated him like he was her little brother.


    Her personality was also quite likable, as she not only cared but was also pretty funny at times.


    It made Amon feel at ease andfortable around her.


    Every memory of the time he interacted with her reyed in his mind and then...


    Another one.


    The sight of a burnt, battered up corpse strewn andid across the floor,pletely unrecognizable.


    Her white overallb coat and clothes had all been burnt to ashes as well.


    It was a corpse that Amon had seen for a bare moment when fighting that illusionist.


    She didn''t die in the authority...


    She was killed by the hands of a high ranking Decimated Heavens member, that illusionist. By the very person that Amon hadter killed.


    A burning me ignited in Amon against as something broke inside him.


    Some type of seal as a flood of rage boiled within him, making his eyes glow in an amethyst shade behind the mask.


    His teeth gritted behind his mask as he clenched his hands, his nails digging into his palms, drawing out blood.


    The rage boiled over his top, almost making his eyes sh in a purple color but fortunately, he was quickly brought to his senses as a wave of exhaustion hit him.


    His eyes turned back to ck and his vision almost turned ck as he stumbled, barely controlling himself.


    His form wavered, stumbling from here to there on the floor while a creeping headache hit his brain.


    Suddenly, his vision shed.


    And in the next heartbeat, the souls of everyone in the graveyard was standing above their graves, staring at him.


    Their stares were filled with hatred and contempt.


    ''You killed us.''


    ''You killed us..''


    It echoed inside his mind repeatedly in an echoing harrowing tone.


    Amon clutched his head as he gritted his head again, but not able to close his eyes.


    ''YOU KILLED US!''


    All of the souls screamed at him, including Emilia who stood just beside him, her screaming and terrifying face an inch away from his.


    ''Stop...stop...please....stop..STOP! STOP! PLEASE!'' Amon stumbled here and there, trying to make his way out of the graveyard.


    Wherever he looked, a soul would be in front of him, making him stagger and stumble back. He fell on the floor, clutching the muddy soil as he tried to crawl away.


    The screams. The faces.


    All of them were driving him insane as he clutched his head and skin, trying to tear it off to escape from this nightmare.


    ''Someone, please, where I can go?'' Amon''s weak tone echoed in his mind as he tried to remember someone whom he could go to.


    He crawled across the floor barely as the screams got more horrifying and scarier.


    The faces of the souls twisted into wretched smiles that extended from ear to ear, transfixed


    on him.


    "NO!" Amon screamed, trying to run away from the graveyard.


    There was only one person whom he could go to amidst this condition now.


    The only one who could at least barely understand his condition.


    ****


    Amelia''s eyes widened as the door shot open, startling her.


    She was instantly rmed, turning in a battle-ready stance.


    But when she saw the person who entered, she was sent into a state of shock and concern.


    A figure stumbled in, d in a ck cloak that covered his whole body, with a cracked mask


    covering his face.


    There was dirt and blood smeared all over his clothes and mask, and his exhausted form wavered and stumbled through the room.


    Before eventually, he tripped and fell straight into the sofa, falling unconcious.


    Even though Amelia had never seen the figure before, from just a nce into his gaze when he


    entered, she knew who it was.


    Leaving everything on her mind, she quickly shot to the sofa, by Amon''s side.


    She kneeled down and carefully turned Amon around, resting his bodyfortably on the


    sofa.


    Just a look at his form could tell what he was going through and how much exhausted he was. She raised her hands and carefully lifted his mask off his face.


    And what she saw made her jaw drop and her eyes spread wide open, concerned filling her now


    wet eyes that threatened to leak tears at any second.


    Amon...


    He was in a terrible condition.


    Dry mud and blood smeared on his face and messy and dirty unwashed hair.


    Large and dark bags underneath his eyes that clearly showed that he hadn''t slept a week for an


    eternity.


    What had he gone through to end up in such a terrible condition? Amelia gasped.


    This...


    This was way too much for him, a tear trickled down Amelia''s cheek.

 Chapter 233: Apology and Return [3]

    Chapter 233: Apology and Return [3]


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ****


    In the warm interior of avish room, a figure was tiredly sitting on a sofa.


    Her long wavy ck hair cascaded down the backside of the sofa, however, they hadpletely lost their once shimmering ck shine.


    They were also messy as if the person hadn''tbed them in long.


    Not only the hair but her once beautifulrge ox-brown eyes were nowpletely lifeless, devoid of any light or emotion.


    It was as if they carried no purpose, just nkly staring out the window.


    In the figure''sp, was a small girl of about 3 years old.


    She was peacefully sleeping, her chest heaving up and down in intervals.


    But just like the figure, there was a tense expression on the little girl''s face.


    And if one looked closely, they would see the tear marks on the child''s face, indicating that she had been crying non stop not that long ago.


    Katherine''s whole life had been turned upside down in the past 3 days.


    She didn''t know what to make of it anymore.


    Just like her lifeless eyes, her limp body conveyed no purpose as well.


    She looked so dead that if one tried to kill her, there was a certain surety that she wouldn''t resist at all.


    And that was true.


    What was there to live for Katherine anyway?


    Her brother....


    Katherine''s stoic scrunched up into a painful expression and at the same time, emotions finally shed through her eyes.


    Sadness, regret and longing.


    Tears started to flow from her eyes that she could barely control.


    She knew that if the child below noticed that she was crying again then she would break into a sobbing downpour as well.


    But...


    What was she supposed to do if not cry?


    Katherine continuously wiped her tears with her sleeves, seeing no end to them but trying to prevent any drop fromnding on Lily below.


    Ever sinceing to the academy from day 1 with her little brother, Katherine never carried such big ambitions.


    Being the future student council president was never her aim.


    There was only one thing for her. One purpose in life.


    And it was to keep her only friend, only confidant in this world.


    The little boy of 12 with cute little ck eyes and hair safe and happy.


    Being lonely all her life and without any friends, Katherine never wanted to see the same pain being inflicted upon her little brother.


    Not only that, but he was the only person she could talk to and be free to as well.


    Katherine couldn''t imagine what she would do if something happened to him.


    No matter how much he was annoyed of her and acted coldly to herter on, Katherine''s sisterly love for him never wavered.


    And it never would.


    He was the most precious being to her in the whole world. Her heart and life.


    When suddenly, he changed and started acting warmly to her, a warm me had been ignited in Katherine again.


    She noticed it was off but who was she to care for?


    As long as her only little brother was with her and safe, she didn''t care about it.


    To see him rising like her and being proud like her, it warmed Katherine''s heart.


    Especially when he spent time with her and cooked for her, despite being exhausted.


    Just like she cared for him, he cared for her as well.


    And that was the only thing that the elder sister ever wanted in the world. For the two siblings to be able to live in peace.


    But of course, fate wasn''t so kind as to spare them.


    In a sh, her little brother had been taken from her.


    Grabbed from her without any preparation, taking the only source of light in her life away from her.


    Katherine coughed hard, resting Lily''s sleeping form on the sofa as she retreated to her room. Coming in, she quickly took out pills and swallowed them, trying to calm her raging mind. There were dark circles under her eyes as well, indicating that she hadn''t slept a wink as well. And how could she?


    Walking over to her drawer, Katherine opened it amidst her tears.


    A small square-shaped box entered her vision.


    Grabbing it with shaking hands, she took out a white thin object from it.


    And brought it to her lips.


    A cigarette.


    Scrambling around for a lighter, she stumbled, grabbed it from another drawer and lit her


    cigarette.


    As it lit up, Katherine wasted no time, taking a long drag from her cigarette.


    Smoking.


    It was an act that she used to do 3 years ago.


    It was an addiction to her. A habit to escape from the world''s expectations and burdens on her.


    But then, she stopped.


    Why?


    It was also because of Amon, the little boy who meant the world to her.


    Just one wish from him for her to stop was enough to convince Katherine as she took it away


    from her sight, only to never see it again.


    It was hard. Hard to break away from it.


    Smoking was like the fuel for her body to run.


    But even then, she bore through the burning pain of her body as it starved for the cigarettes,


    remembering her brother at every moment.


    For him, was the only thought she had at that time.


    And then, it finally stopped.


    But now...


    Katherine didn''t know what to do again.


    She had no one left for her to talk to in this world anymore.


    Her brother, unable to be found.


    Amelia, disappeared as well, not answering any calls or texts of Katherine.


    Alice, back at her manor with Elizabeth after the incident.


    These 3 were the only people that Katherine ever knew, ever was able to talk to freely.


    And now, all of them had disappeared, leaving her alone.


    A hollowugh escaped from Katherine''s lips as she took another drag of her cigarette.


    To think about it, did Katherine even have any friends that stuck around?


    In her whole life, every friend that she made, which were already few, had been taken away


    from her in one way or another.


    And now, it was the same thing happening all over again.


    A hollow scoffing sound escaped Katherine''s lips.


    How pitiful.


    Her form copsed on the ground weakly, without any strength in it.


    She was really a curse.


    A curse meant to rot away and die without any person by her side at the end.


    With no friends and no light.


    This was who Katherine was.


    And why wouldn''t she?


    For all what she had done years back, this seemed like a fitting revenge for her sins.


    She deserved it.

 Chapter 234: Apology and Return [4]

    Chapter 234: Apology and Return [4]


    ?


    ***


    Amon''s eyes twitched, finally regaining consciousness.


    They weakly fluttered open before he instantly squinted again with irritation as the golden lights from the ceiling right above him attacked him instantly.


    The groggy haziness of waking up hit him hard, urging him to go back to sleep but he resisted it.


    Rather, to his surprise and happiness, he was feeling quite refreshed, for the first time ever since that incident urred.


    He didn''t feel as if his bones could break at any moment nor did it feel that his brain could explode in the next second.


    Amon felt...


    At peace. For the first time, he appreciated it, even if it was going to be a short while.


    The warm and cozy feeling of the ce also added to the rxed feeling. It made him feel at home and in safety.


    Finally adjusting his eyes, he opened them, looking at the office-like tiled ceiling above, with circr golden lights embedded at different corners and spaces, spaced out evenly.


    The office-like architecture triggered a rush of memories in him, reying through his brain quickly.


    He was seeing those souls and ghosts...


    Then he had gotten out of the graveyard, feeling like he would faint at any moment.


    Knowing the only person who was the closest to him and would understand the situation, he had headed to this office, hoping to find her here.


    And thest thing he was before fainting was her unblemished face, etched with concern, staring wide-eyed at him.


    As he came back to the present, he quickly tried to get up to look around.


    A groan escaped from his lips as he tried to force himself up, ignoring the pain in his torso.


    But as he tried to do so, a gloved hand quickly entered his vision from the side, cing itself on his chest.


    And with a light push, he was forced back to lie down on the sofa, unable to resist.


    At the same time, a soft, charming voice came from his side as well, soothing his ears-one that he hadn''t heard in a long time.


    "Lay down, you haven''t recovered enough to move yet," Amelia said, her voice trying to remain neutral butced with concern.


    Amon released a small sigh, not retorting to her words.


    For some seconds, a heavy silence descended between the two, as the warm silence in the room permeated the surroundings.


    It was to be expected.


    Amon wanted to talk so badly to her but he didn''t know the proper way to start the


    conversation.


    How would he? He needed to exin his disappearance, what happened to Arthur, and everything.


    It was too jumbled up in his head.


    But to his surprise and fortunately, Amelia was quick to notice his struggle even though he had a nk expression on his face and intervened.


    "It''s okay. I understand. You don''t have to exin anything."


    A wave of surprise passed through Amon''s body, making him blurt out.


    "Huh?"


    He turned his face for the first time since waking up, his eyesnding on Amelia''s face.


    And his eyes widened from shock at the same time.


    Amelia''s eyes were glistening with tears, that threatened to drip down.


    Her long winish red hair were untied, in a messy hairstyle now that one would never see on her.


    Her eyes-even though concealed pretty well- hadrge and dark circles and bags under them, one that could never escape Amon''s attention because of his [Blood] maniption element.


    It was evident that she had been exhausted to the brim. If not, even more than Amon.


    Her previous beauty was nowhere to be seen in this tired-out girl, which made Amon realize how selfish he had been.


    In his quest to handle and me himself for everything, he had forgotten that he wasn''t the only one being affected by such incidents and matters.


    Amelia was just as, if not more, burdened and tired out right now.


    And why shouldn''t she be? Amon had forgotten that her father had been taken away suddenly for a crime that had no lead but to only him.


    Her friends had been attacked and the only clue to her father had also disappeared.


    Athena, if Amon''s suspicion was right, must have also disappeared for Arthur, which left Amelia alone.


    But despite being left alone, she was not spared a moment of rest, being thrown all kinds of responsibilities at the same time.


    Yet, not once had she faltered and remained strong, which was something Amon clearly saw when he stumbled in through that door.


    With all those papers and documents on her desk, it was clear that she was still working when he arrived in.


    Not only that, but even though he just appeared in front of her, she had taken care of him and spared him from any questions about her father.


    All of this made Amon realize just how dumb he was, to think that he was the only one going through this all.


    Here, in front of him, was a girl standing strong just like him but Amon was trying to steer away from the questions.


    Gritting his teeth and staring down in shame, Amon felt a deep urge to p himself and die by burying himself in the ground.


    "I-" Amelia tried to speak again and hide the tears but was caught off guard as Amon got up from the sofa again, ignoring the pain.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    There was not much distance between the two and Amon was quickly able to reach her in a


    leap.


    And in the next moment, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close into a warm, apologizing hug.


    "I''m sorry." Were the first two words he told her when he wrapped her in a hug.


    Amelia was taken by surprise, her eyes widening as she found herself unable to respond.


    "I''m sorry for being unable to do anything and save Arthur that day, escaping the me for what happened. I''m sorry for disappearing without any answers and clues to you, to everyone, making you worry for me."


    He said, his hands patting her back as she remained silent, his voice coated in a genuine


    sorrowful tone.

 Chapter 235: Apology and Return [5]

    Chapter 235: Apology and Return [5]


    ?


    ***


    Amelia''s form finally wavered as he said those words. He felt her shift for the first time since he had hugged her.


    And in the next moment, he felt his shoulders getting wet, making him realize that the tears she had held back for so long had finally broken down.


    In tandem, he felt her move again, before wrapping her arms around him and reciprocating the hug.


    All the feelings and tears she had held back for so long...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Amon had made her finally release it all out on his shoulders.


    And he was there for it all, giving her his shoulder to cry as much as she wanted.


    The two remained locked in a hug for several minutes without moving, inplete silence except for the sound of quite sobbing from Amelia on his shoulders.


    It was only when she was finally done that she moved apart, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you..Amon." She said, trying to clear her now puffy eyes.


    She offered him a simple but charming smile, one that brought relief to Amon.


    Because it was a smile without burdens, one free of everything as she had let it all out.


    And Amon reciprocated with a grateful, simple smile of his own.


    "I should be the one saying thanks." He ruffled his hair a little.


    Amelia shook her head with a smile.


    "I did nothing. Rather, I should apologize as well. For not being there for Katherine when you disappeared..." There was a flicker of another regret and burden in her eyes.


    But Amon shook his head in response as well.


    "It''s fine, I understand your position. And I''m sure my sister does as well."


    Amelia nodded, but there was still a hint of regret in her action.


    Amon quickly tried to change the topic.


    "That reminds me, are my friends and sister okay? After ''that'' I mean...." He said, trying to not voice it out.


    It was clear that both of them didn''t want to mention the attack out clear.


    The deaths and what happened to Arthur. Both of them had a deep and seething for the organization that had done it.


    But despite that, currently, Amon was worried about his friends and family and if they were unharmed in the attack.


    But to his relief, Amelia nodded.


    "They are fine. I don''t know what happened to them after the attack butst I saw, they only had minor injuries. As for Katherine, I wasn''t able to meet her since the incident." Amelia said, trying to avert her eyes again at the mention again.


    But she stopped when she saw Amon''s eyes transfixed on her, telling her again that it wasn''t her fault.


    And she stopped from moving her eyes.


    Amon nodded, both at her answer and action.


    Grabbing the edge of the sofa, he stood up with a light groan from his lips.


    He stumbled a little but Amelia quickly held his arm, reaching his side swiftly. "Thanks." He voiced out his thanks with a smile which was reciprocated by Amelia. "I guess I''ll go back home and check up on my sister." He said, looking at Amelia.


    She quickly retorted, her voice tinged with concern.


    "You are in no condition to move around this much. I''ll help you walk home."


    But Amon quickly shook his hand, cing a hand on her shoulder.


    "I''m good, don''t worry about me. I can walk perfectly fine after a little movement."


    He looked at her exhausted face.


    "Rather, go home and get a good sleep for once. Leave all this aside and rest well for once."


    He said, clearly highlighting his reasons by staring at her face.


    Amelia quickly tried to retort but was interrupted by Amon again.


    "But-"


    "No buts. Listen to me and go. This isn''t a request but an order." He looked her straight into her amber-golden eyes, his gaze serious.


    There was silence between them for a second before Amelia nodded, listening to him.


    "Okay."


    Amon offered her a grateful smile before letting go of her arms and standing on his own. "I''ll meet you tomorrow. Take care of yourself. Don''t worry about Arthur. It''s my promise to you that we will get him back." He offered a supportive smile to her.


    Amelia nodded with a smile, trusting his promise.


    Giving her a final goodbye smile, Amon moved to the door, his cane tapping against the rugs as a means of support.


    But as he twisted the metallic handle, he heard Amelia from behind again.


    "In return..."


    Amon halted and looked back at her concerned face.


    "In return, can you promise me another thing?" She asked.


    Amon made an inquisitive face before nodding.


    "Sure, ask away."


    She hesitated for a moment before saying it.


    "Can you promise that you will take care of yourself more and stop harming yourself while getting into these dangerous situations?"


    Amelia said, her cheeks flushed slightly red which Amon was unable to notice in the golden lighting of the room.


    Staring at her concerned face, a trusting and simple smile spread on Amon''s lips and he


    opened his mouth, nodding.


    "Yeah. I promise to take care of myself more and be careful about these situations."


    Amelia smiled gratefully as they exchanged one final look.


    Before Amon opened the door and left the room, leaving her alone.


    But as he left, hisst words echoed in the room again.


    "Again, I''m eternally in your debt for taking care of me, Amelia."


    Amelia was taken by surprise, but then the door shut.


    As the sounds of his footsteps faded away, Amelia kept staring at the floor with a thankful smile, also unaware of the light red flush on her cheeks.


    This was the first peaceful day for both of them after the incident, bringing them relief and gratitude as both of them were able to face each other and release all their burdens.


    Hey! Author here.


    I''m sorry for the long wait that you all had to experience because of my exams and personal


    problems but now we are all back to 2 chapters per day.


    Again, I apologize for costing you all such a long time.


    I hope you understand and forgive me.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 236: Facing Katherine [1]

    Chapter 236: Facing Katherine [1]


    ?


    ****


    Arriving before his apartment home, Amon gazed at it silently.


    It was close to morning now, with no one roaming the streets.


    The fading moonlight parted through the gaps of the wispy white clouds, embracing thend below with its light.


    Usually, even though it would be thiste into the night, most people would still be roaming in the streets and such.


    However, before the event in the morning, most of the people were observing the day in silence, as a form of gift and remembrance to the people.


    To honor their souls.


    Amon stood alone on the elevated metal corridor, the cold seeping through his clothes but he remained unaffected.


    He let out a sharp exhale as he finally arrived before his door, halting his steps.


    He was finally home, after 4 days of his disappearance.


    For a moment, his gaze drifted to his right, where the apartment of Elizabeth and Alice was situated right next to them.


    Since a vacation had been given, Amon was sure that they were probably back at their manor, leaving the apartment empty.


    The faint sounds of grasshoppers rubbing their legs could be heard in the silent breeze, an invitation to their prey into their nest.


    Contemting silent over his thoughts for a second, Amon pushed them back with another exhale.


    It was now or never. He couldn''t just stand here and avoid her inside for a century.


    The only reason Amon didn''t want to face Katherine was because of her condition.


    Seeing Amelia had put him out of his trance, reminding him that the incident had affected others as well.


    One of them was Katherine, who was the first toe to his mind as she would have not suffered from Arthur''s disappearance.


    But just like Amelia, someone close to her had also disappeared without any news or whereabouts.


    And seeing Amelia, who was worried so much for Arthur reminded him of Katherine''s condition.


    Because he would be dumb to notice therge amount of care and sisterly love that Katherine had for Amon.


    It was obvious that she cared for nobody other than him. Nobody more than him. Not even Lily.


    And it warmed Amon''s heart as well, filling arge portion of the gap that had been left in his heart after being separated from his sister.


    At the same time, it made him despise and loathe the previous Amon even more for not reciprocating Katherine''s love and care.


    Who would be so dumb and indifferent to do that?


    But that wasn''t the only thing. The more he heard from Amelia and others about the previous Amon, the more he lost respect and increased his hate for him.


    Just what kind of a prick did you have to be to misbehave and act like that?


    Amon didn''t know. But he was sure that if had any chance to meet his past self in the future, then he would beat the shit out of him.


    Seeing Katherine get more and more happier every day was something Amon appreciated from the bottom of his heart.


    He was d that just like her, he could also be the brother she always wanted, even if his rtionship with her was built on a million lies and deceives.


    He knew what he was doing was wrong, manipting her into believe that he was still the same Amon but now ever caring.


    But... Amon didn''t want to tell her that he was not her brother anymore, that he was another guy who had taken over her precious brother''s body.


    He knew it was a sin but...


    If he could make himself and her happy at the same time by continuouslymitting this sin...


    Then he was ready to be a sinner for life.


    Nevertheless, Amon still prayed that one day, one day at least that he would have the courage to tell her about this.


    It was selfish but... Just for some time...


    Amon longed for a sister.


    He didn''t want Katherine to hate him, that was thest thing he wanted.


    Pushing back his thoughts with a pained expression, Amon shook his head in a dismissive expression to shake off any remaining thoughts.


    He focused on the doorknob in front of him.


    Taking in another deep breath, Amon moved forward, grabbing the doorknob.


    Twist. Creak...


    Twisting the doorknob, he slowly opened the door, finding himself in front of a shroud of darkness.


    The lights had been turned off and the blinds had been pulled down so naturally, there was no other light source in the apartment.


    Amon had expected it to be like that. No one in their sane mind would still be awake at this time of night.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Closing the door lightly behind him to mitigate any noise that could wake up Katherine or Lily, he took off his shoes.


    Then, he stored his cloak, mask and cane inside his storage, revealing back his dirty


    appearance.


    His hair and clothes were still covered in dried blood but fortunately, his face was perfectly


    clean.


    He was immensely grateful to Amelia for not only taking care of him but for washing his face. Lightly walking on the wooden floor to avoid any creaks, Amon arrived in the living room. And his eyes widened as his eyes finallynded on the two figures in front of him, sprawled out on the sofa.


    The first concerning thought that immediately crossed his mind was why weren''t they in bed?


    But the painful reason was obvious to him. A sharp piercing pain shot through his heart as he realized just how worse it had been for them.


    Arriving in front of the sofa, he saw Lily''s peaceful figure sleeping on the sofa, covered in


    nkets.


    But the tired expression and puffy eyes on her face dealt a sharp blow to Amon, making him realize just how much the poor child had cried after him.


    Her small hands tightly clung to her nket as if she was afraid of something.


    But then, Amon''s eyes moved to the figure beside her, his gazending on her face.


    And that was the final nail in the coffin for him as he felt his chest constrict with pain, his lungs being knocked out of breath momentarily.

 Chapter 237: Facing Katherine [2]

    Chapter 237: Facing Katherine [2]


    ?


    ****


    Her once beautiful face had lost all of its allure and natural attraction, even more than Amelia.


    There were dark circles under her eyes and her red eyes were open, bloodshot, showing just how much she had cried.


    There were tear marks all over her face, so much that one would wonder that she had no tears left to cry off.


    Sheid straight on the sofa, her body naked to the cold without any nkets, with her bloodshot eyes staring up lifelessly.


    Her bones clearly showed through her now thin skin, highlighting her starvation and weight loss.


    Katherine, who was once considered to be the second most beautiful girl in the academy, was now simply a bag of bones.


    It made a sharp pain travel through Amon''s soul, his eyes clenching with suffering.


    And then unknowingly, he felt something hot drip down his cheeks.


    Amon was barely able to control his sobs, still taking care to not wake Lily up.


    Unfortunately, for the lifeless elder sister on the sofa just a small act like this made his presence known to her.


    Whether it was a sisterly instinct or genuine alertness for an intruder, nobody knew. But Katherine''s bloodshot eyes moved for the first time, turning to the side. Beforending on Amon''s pained, teary face as he struggled to control his emotions. And in an instant, her eyes widened with shock.


    However, the concern for her lost brother was faster as without any hesitation or wait, she shot from the sofa at a breakneck speed, which would make one doubt if she was still the same lifeless figure.


    Before Amon would even move his hands from wiping his tears, Katherine was already in front of him, her form colliding with him.


    Her arms wrapped around him into a tight, extremely tight warm hug as both of them tumbled down on the floor, Amon unable to support her weight in surprise.


    As soon as they collided with the floor, there were no sobs or cries from Katherine.


    Nor did she ask for any exnations about the previous incident.


    The very first thing she did was wipe his tears from his eyes with her sleeve, while still keeping him in a tight hug.


    She looked straight into his ck eyes with concern and worry, her previous lifelessnesspletely gone.


    "What happened!? Did someone hurt you!? Did they say something to you!?" She


    immediately asked, her voice strong and worried.


    Her gaze continuously moved from his face to his neck and arms, trying to see if he was hurt or anything.


    And as Amon saw her actions with surprise evident in his eyes, a long lost memories resurfaced in his mind.


    He was young. Very young of about 5 years old.


    He remembered being beaten by two kids in a yground,ing home crying with his clothes dirty.


    But it didn''t even took him the effort to open a door as the then 9 year old Katherine came rushing out, enveloping him into a sisterly hug and calming down his cries.


    She wiped his tears from her sleeves and asked him who had hurt him with her strong gaze.


    One word from him about the boys was all it took. All it took for Katherine to go rushing to the ground,ing back minutester.


    And after that, she made him his favorite food and cleaned him up, while Amon never saw those kids within a 100 meters of him for his whole life.


    And the memory ended, Katherine''s then young caring figure ovepping with the present


    one now.


    Seeing her concern-filled brown eyes pushed even more warmth and pain to Amon''s eyes. Gritting his teeth once more at how much of an idiot the previous Amon had been, he wrapped his arms back around Katherine in a tight hug.


    He kept gritting his teeth while keeping his head on Katherine''s shoulder, hiding his pained expression from her.


    Katherine, who was brought back to the present as well by his action seemed to realize where they were right now.


    At the same, the memories of the previous days also resurfaced back in her now clear mind, reminding her that her lost brother was now back in her arms.


    And in the next moment, Amon felt Katherine''s arms around him tighten even further, as if intending to never let him go again.


    In tandem, he felt Katherine move again as she buried her head into his chest, not being able to keep it on his shoulders anymore because of their height difference.


    It took no time for Katherine to erupt in a downpour of tears and sobs as she tightly clung to Amon''s shirt from behind.


    Amon didn''t say anything, his head in silence above her as he gave her all the time to let it all out on his shirt.


    The sounds of tears even dripping down on the floor just showed how much Katherine was still holding back.


    For the first time since he arrived, Katherine spoke.


    "Why?" She asked as she tightened her arms once more.


    Amon remained silent.


    But she continued, her sobs bing more stronger.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why do you keep doing all this!?" She screamed in his chest, not looking into his eyes.


    Amon felt Katherine clench her fist hard behind him, pulling his shirt.


    "Why do you keep pushing yourself continuously into danger!? Why does it always have to be


    you!?"


    More tears dripped down on the floor as Katherine showed no end to her tears.


    "Why can''t it be someone other than my brother?" Her voice turned weaker now as she let go


    of his shirt.


    "Why, out of so many people does it always have to be my brother to bear all this?" She


    sobbed, mming her fist weakly into his chest.


    "Why? Why? Why? Why Amon!?" She mmed her fist into his chest along with each ''Why?'',


    her voice gradually turning weaker.


    Silence reigned in the room afterward, her sobbing and tears still continuing as she waited for an answer from Amon, the boy who said nothing as she let it all out.

 Chapter 238: Facing Katherine [3]

    Chapter 238: Facing Katherine [3]


    ?


    ****


    But unfortunately for both Katherine and Amon, thetter remained silent, unable to answer


    her question.


    After all, how could he?


    What was he supposed to say?


    That some freak had put him from another world into her brother''s body who wasn''t even alive anymore but she was still taking care of him, not knowing that he was always going to be in danger in every step of his life now?


    That some freak had made her brother the herald of a goddess now and he now held a role just as if not more important than the main character himself?


    The only thing that Amon could do was remain silent while offering a simple apology to her. "I''m sorry-"


    But Katherine had enough of it as she mmed her first into his chest again, harder this time. "That''s the only thing you say! That''s what you always say!" She screamed into his chest, not able to control her emotions now.


    Fortunately, Amon was able to quickly put a sound barrier around Lily to not wake her up.


    Amon opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.


    He was left utterly speechless by her retortion.


    But contrary to him, Katherine wasn''t done yet as well, giving him no chance to speak.


    "Time and time again, you put yourself into the middle of danger, at the brink of losing your life. Time and time again, I''m left utterly helpless and crying like a child unable to even protect my little brother despite the power I possess, let alone the thousands of students as the student council president." She screamed again, having no restraint over anything now. It was clear that Amon''s nd words had left herpletely broken now.


    And this brought immense pain to the young boy who was also left helpless in this case, unable to give her any proper reason for this all.


    He wanted to tell the girl in front of him-who still thought he was her normal little brother- so badly but...


    s, what could he do?


    What hurt him the most inside was that this wasn''t even thest of what was going to happen.


    The future was uncertain, with multiple other situations like this going to happen to him surely, some pushing him to the brink of survival and life but...


    What could he do? He was also that same young boy back from the library, trying his best to survive in this world and reach the end.


    He was forced to ept the fact that this wasn''t just his simple previous world anymore.


    He could die at any given moment. Tortured or even sted to death. Unlike the main cast, he had nothing to guarantee his safety beside his strength.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Strength which he strived for and was the only thing that could not only keep him but also his family safe. The reason why he ran after these quests and such tasks.


    Only to get stronger and survive in this world. He had no grand ns to defeat the Ghoul Emperor or rule this continent.


    Just like Klein, he just wanted to live a simple life in this world with his family now and reach the end safe and sound.


    But of course, all of them were delusional fantasies he gave to himself to create a sense of security and hope.


    For Amon, it was all written to him from the start.


    However, he couldn''t exin that to Katherine.


    The only way he could even provide her a false reason for eptance for all this was revealing it all to her. About who he was.


    But....


    Amon gritted his teeth silently, clenching his hands as he closed his eyes in pain.


    ''I''m sorry. I can''t...''


    "Tell me Amon..... what am I supposed to do? I can''t live with you getting yourself hurt time and time again Amon!" Her voice turned desperate.


    Katherine couldn''t look up, hiding her pained eyes from Amon.


    She wasn''t sure that she could handle herself if she looked into his eyes.


    Amon''s expression contorted to suffering, every second of her pain turning into endless torture for him.


    But...


    Still, all he could do was remain silent, unable to reply to her, with anything.


    The same words poured out of his mouth.


    "I''m sorry....I-I don''t know- " Amon struggled to reply to her properly.


    But Katherine''s interruption was clear and silent.


    "Please stop..." Her grip tightened on his shirt.


    A shudder passed through Amon''s body as he froze and her tears continued.


    "Please, just stop Amon...I can''t bear through this all."


    "I won''t be able to handle you getting yourself involved in this again and again..."


    Her pleas turned more desperate, more weaker.


    "I can''t see you in this state again and again... You are the only one I have. The only brother...


    the only family..."


    Amon''s expression turned more painful and broken at the mention of family and brother.


    How could he tell her that he also wanted for it to stop?


    For just two of them to be able to live in peace?


    Unfortunately, Katherine couldn''t understand his internal struggles right now.


    "So please....I beg you..."


    She let go of her shirt, dropping down to her knees as she grabbed his legs.


    And looked up for the first time, meeting his hurt ck eyes.


    And as Amon gazed into her broken brown eyes glistening with tears and filled with pain and


    suffering, a soul shattering shudder passed through his body.


    "On my knees to please promise me that you will stop..." She gripped his legs.


    "That you will stop doing all this and putting yourself in danger. Just promise me this


    brother. I can''t lose you..." Her voice trailed off, unable to say anything anymore.


    And at the same time, a haunting realization through Amon''s body.


    ''Ah.''


    Another promise.


    A promise to never do this again and stop involving himself in such dangers.


    A promise from his dear sister who was begging him on her knees, staring up at him with her


    suffering eyes.


    It brought an eternal amount of pain to Amon as he stared down at her.


    How many times has it been?


    There was no doubt in his mind. It was a fatal promise.


    If he couldn''t promise this right now then he was sure that Katherine would break.


    The rtionship they had built over all this time, it would crumble into pieces.


    Just like Elizabeth at that time...


    Just like Amelia.


    As much as Amon wanted to stay silent and not promise her this, he couldn''t.


    He was selfish, possessing a trait that every human did. Even Katherine.


    Her desire to keep her brother out of danger and safe for herself and not lose him was selfish.


    Elizabeth''s desire to love him without considering his feelings and confessing like that was


    her being selfish.


    Every human was selfish.


    Amon''s desire to not reveal it all and continue his rtionship with Katherine was his


    selfishness.


    And because of that very selfishness, he couldn''t let her break. Not his only family in this


    world.


    Not the person for whom he was doing this all.


    He couldn''t even see her in a broken state let alone the matter of their rtionship...


    That was why...


    Amon kneeled down, grabbing Katherine''s hand and looking into her brown puffy eyes


    through his ck eyes.


    Yet again, he was going to be selfish.


    Meeting her gaze, Amon''s lips...


    Spread ever so slightly into a simple smile.


    "I understand what you want to say sister." He smiled, not breaking his gaze.


    A painful flicker passed through his eyes but he quicklyposed himself.


    "I''m sorry for all the pain you had to suffer throughout this time."


    Katherine''s eyes flickered momentarily in a pinkish color.


    A piercing pain traveled through his soul but he maintained himself again, pushing through it


    all.


    "I''m sorry for never taking into ount your feelings and the pain you were feeling throughout this time, giving you in excuses." He squeezed her hands, looking into her


    eyes.


    His smile spread further.


    Katherine''s eyes glowed pink again for a moment as she was left silent, nodding subtly.


    "All this time, I was always pushing myself into danger, not knowing how you, as my sister,


    were feeling but..."


    He put one hand on her shoulder, squeezing it along with her hand.


    How many times it was going to be now?


    "I promise you, I won''t ever put myself in any kind of danger or involve myself in this type of


    situation anymore. I''ll stop worrying about you and stop doing this all."


    How many promises had he made now?


    Elizabeth, Amelia and now even his dear sister.


    It was breaking his soul and mind, but Amon had to push through, and that was what he did,


    ignoring the pain and still smiling.


    "Which is why, I ask you, to please forgive me for all that I did." He said, his voice trailing off.


    And as he did, a silence settled into the room, with Katherine looking into his pained eyes.


    But then, eventually, her lips spread into a thin, understanding and happy smile, with her


    arms shooting forward and wrapping him into a hug again.


    "Thank you..."


    A needle piercing sting shot through his heart. "Thank you Amon. Thank you dear brother for promising me this." Her arms tighten around


    Amon as relief creeped into her tone.


    Amon''s soul was breaking as broken tears threatened to leak through his eyes at what he had


    done but he controlled himself.


    Slowly, he raised his arms, wrapping them around Katherine, reciprocating the hug and


    smiling back.


    "I''m happy to see you happy again...dear sister."


    It was a broken smile, a ridiculous smile, a smile that hid a million kinds of pain behind it.


    A smile made of promises meant to be broken.

 Chapter 239: Days Before The Festival [1]

    Chapter 239: Days Before The Festival [1]


    ?


    [Nearly 1 Month Later]


    Amon let out a sharp yawn, pushing his head into his arms in an attempt to drift off to sleep.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t focus on his sleep for long as the teacher in front of him on the podium spoke up.


    "Okay, we will end the ss here. Since there are 2 days left before the long-awaited Cultural Festival, I won''t give you guys any work or assignments for the next week.


    You can enjoy it to your fullest and have fun with your family and friends. Though, I would still implore you guys to at least give a nce at your studies."


    At the mention of ''Cultural Festival'', Amon''s ears perked up and he looked up.


    "That''s all I have to say. Enjoy this small weekend of yours before the festival starts and hopefully, I''ll be able to meet you all at the festival." The man gave the ss a simple smile. Grabbing his things, he walked out of the ss as the ss bid him farewell.


    Amon''s gaze was fixated on his departing back.


    Wearing a formal brown suit with square shaped sses on his ck eyes, the man gave off a simple and office-like vibe.


    His ck hair was also neatlybed.


    The man''s name was Mark Florip, a substitute teacher to their ss for the time being.


    Ever since Athena''s disappearance to the capital, he had been given charge of the ss.


    Fortunately, Amon felt no bad vibes or malicious intentions from him, nor did he remember him having any importance to the plot.


    As he moved out of the ss and out of Amon''s view, thetter''s focus drifted off to the second most important matter.


    The Cultural Festival.


    A month had passed since he had reconciled with Katherine and that incident.


    In that time, a lot of things had changed.


    The first development that came into y was the extension of the Cultural Festival. Rather than it being in one and a half weeks, the new principal pushed it till a monthter. Yes, temporarily, until there was a decision to Arthur''s case, the Imperiac had appointed a new principal to the academy since Athena refused toe back until Arthur was freed.


    Amon couldn''t me her. Even though Arthur was the strongest and there was no chance the Imperiac would kill him, in that jail cell alone, he was powerless.


    In his weakest, anyone could kill him. And being at the top of the hierarchy, one naturally had a lot of enemies.


    Athena could never leave him alone and hand him over to Imperiac and this was a decision that Amon found himself respecting.


    Despite how much it had burdened Amelia.


    But fortunately, the new director''s recement and the extension of the festival, allowed her to take a breather as well.


    The current principal of the academy was Akane ckheart, the Matriarch of the ckhearts- the highest ranked Marquessal family of the Kingdom, also thought to be the 5th Ducal family in the uing years.


    It was all because of a sole woman, the head of the family, Akane ckheart.


    And it was solely for two reasons.


    First, was her rank. Akane ckheart was one of only two 9th Order Clovists in the Kingdom, alongside Athena.


    But unlike Athena, who had the potential to go to the 10th Order, Akane''s talent was restricted to the 9th Order.


    A talent she had already reached the limits of.


    And second, was her unique element.


    At first nce, it was Shadow, but unlike Arthur''s Shadow element, Akane''s element was much more stronger and diverse.


    Her control wasn''t just restricted to shadows, it extended to every ce with the absence of light.


    She was so proficient with her element to the point that she was also appointed as the ck Seraph-a rank or title solely appointed to her by the Imperiac for overseeing the ck Tear.


    She was the biggest factor that contributed to the halt of the ck Tear''s growth, being able to even control the darkness and shadows that lurked within it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Because of such power and uniqueness of her element, the Imperiac had chosen to give it a separate name other than Shadow.


    They named it, Darkness, an element capable of controlling both Darkness and Shadow.


    Which was also why people called Arthur as the sole person with the Shadow affinity, because Akane was different from him.


    But because of this, there was often a debate from a smaller side of the public that Akane was stronger than Arthur.


    It made sense since Arthur was only able to control Shadows while Akane could do much


    more.


    However, it didn''t take long for them to be answered that even though elemental wise she was stronger than him.


    Herck of talent and lower rank than him pushed him above her by a tiny margin, the same case for Athena.


    Moving back to the main situation, Amon tried to remember anything about Akane ckheart.


    Despite being such an important and high ranked figure, she had never made her appearance in the novel.


    Aside from a few mentions and slight glimpses from afar on the battlefield, Michael had no encounter with her.


    Because of that Amon knew nothing about her, not even her appearance.


    Though, she was rumored to be the most beautiful person in the Kingdom, even above


    Athena.


    Of course, Amon couldn''t say it without any confirmation, especially when he found Katherine and Amelia to be more beautiful.


    Since her appointment here a month ago, she had made no appearance to the public as well.


    It was always said she was a busy person with the ck Tear and her own family so it made


    sense.


    Sighing, Amon focused his attention back to the Festival now.


    It would start on Monday andst for the whole uing week.


    It was Friday today so he still had 2 days to prepare for it.


    But for Amon, he was fucked even in these 2 days.


    It was because of the midterms a month ago.


    Of course because of the incident, the battle royale and the catbs exploration had been


    canceled.


    They wouldn''t be counted in the results, so it had been announced.


    After that, because of this whole principal and administrative issues, it had taken a while for


    them topile all the results.


    And now, they are finally done.


    The results were going to be announced tomorrow, at night alongside a party for the


    midterms celebration and also as a prequel opening to the festival.


    And of course, Amon had to go there with everyone for the results.


    Especially, since being aware of his efforts, he knew his rank cement. There was not a


    single doubt in his mind.


    No.


    There was not a single doubt in everyone''s mind for his rank cement.

 Chapter 240: Days Before The Festival [2]

    Chapter 240: Days Before The Festival [2]


    ?


    ***


    The Ranks were quite important as depending on them, various students would get various jobs and duties around the festival.


    Not only that but you would be given certain privileges in the festival as well.


    Since there had already been a lot of battles and fights in the midterms, there were no required fights for the students this time.


    Of course there were various stalls for you where you could fight and earn rewards but that was another matter.


    The way the festival went was this.


    There were many brands and other peopleing from outside the academy to open up various stalls and gigs.


    This was the Creator''s side.


    But the twist here was that they could only open it up. They could not appoint staff or others for the cooking.


    This was to be done by students who wanted to participate in those stalls and gigs.


    Of course, the creators would test their abilities out first if they wanted to appoint them to the stall.


    Then there were the students who would be the customers of such stalls and gigs.


    Being a student, you could participate in up to 3 activities.


    The list for all the activities had already arrived a month ago and Amon had already chosen his three.


    The ss activity, however was not included in this 3.


    Yes, there had to be a certain stall or gig also opened up by each ss for the festival.


    The highest ranked student of that ss would be responsible for choosing what activity their ss would participate in after mutual discussion.


    Like Amon had said previously, it was one of the responsibilities of the high ranked people.


    The participation in the ss activity was mandatory for everyone whereas in other stalls it was still optional.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Of course, the credits obtained from the stall owners to the students would be more in case you participated in everything.


    However, in case your ss or your stall underperformed, credits would also be taken away from you.


    It was basically a risky move. The more you participated, the more you could earn and lose at the same time.


    But at the same time, the stall owners and the ss representatives were at an even bigger risk as they were responsible for their whole stall or gig.


    A small mistake from one ssmate would cost the owner as well.


    But of course, at the same time, they would also be given more rewards aspared to others.


    That was about it for the Cultural Festival.


    Onest change that Amon could remember however was the New Year Fireworks and Musical Event on the final day.


    It wasn''t included before but since the festival was going to be held in thest week of December this time, they ced this event on 31st December.


    Something that would happen for the first time as often there would be no dys in the festival.


    There was one rumor that there would be another event on 1st January for the departure of the festival but nobody knew what it was.


    And since it was a rumor, nobody paid much attention or focus to it yet.


    Even Amon.


    As he thought about all of this, a shout registered in his ears as he was brought out of his daze.


    "Earth to AMON!" Ren screamed in his ear, shaking him again and again.


    Amon''s body shook from the sudden wake up call, shooting up straight.


    He looked around with widened eyes before theynded on Ren, who was looking at him with an annoyed look.


    "What the fuck were you so lost into that you couldn''t even hear my screams?" He asked.


    Looking behind him, Amon noticed the whole group staring at him with concern, even Liliana.


    The suddeneback of his some weeks ago brought relief to the group but at the same time also wariness and concern.


    He would at often times daze off into the ss and suddenly stand up, asking to go to the bathroom.


    In a sense, his behavior was erratic and spontaneous, making his friends think that he might be having mental issues.


    Or more urately, only the female friends, excluding Charlotte.


    Ren, Michael and Charlotte were at times worried about him asking if something was wrong.


    He would still reply that he was fine and they would be forced to give up.


    Elizabeth had tried to ask him out a several times and check he was fine but after several refusals, she also gave up.


    But rather than just giving up, she suddenly also turned distant and more cold towards him.


    Amon couldn''t do anything though. He had other matters to care about first than find out what was wrong with her.


    Getting back to the present situation, Michael quickly asked him.


    "We are going shopping for tomorrow''s party, you wannae?" He asked.


    Amon stared silently at them for a few moments, still out of it.


    [They are still waiting for you.] Vain quickly brought him out of it again.


    ''Oh, yeah, yeah.'' Amon suddenly shook.


    He was about to nod before he suddenly saw something behind the group.


    Far off, near the other end wall of the ss, there was a transparent silhouette of a woman


    with long ck hair standing, looking at him.


    Amon shuddered inwardly as his eyes widened.


    He blinked.


    And she was gone.


    He looked back at the group.


    ''Fuck.'' He cursed, massaging his head and eyes.


    Then, he shook his head, scrapping his n of a nod previously.


    "Nah, I''m sorry. I''ll catch up with you guys in an hour or two at the mall but I need to go somewhere right now. Is that fine?" He asked.


    Charlotte smiled.


    "Yeah, don''t worry. It''s perfectly fine. You can do what you want and if you feel like joining us, you cane to the mall." She gave him a thumbs up.


    Amon offered her a grateful smile.


    "Thanks." They couldn''t see the look in his eyes behind the ck sses that he had started


    to wear when he came back.


    Giving them quick goodbyes, Amon quickly separated from them, rushing out of the ss, ignoring everything else.


    He headed to the bathroom in the building, quickly rushing inside, not looking what gender it


    said.


    As he opened the door, he was suddenly greeted by a multitude of women standing inside, fixing themselves up in the mirror.


    As he entered, their faces turned toward him, before morphing into shock and horror in the


    next second.


    Multiple screams let out from some of them but Amon ignored them all, heading to one of the


    basins.


    Taking off his sses, he stumblingly sshed water onto his face without stopping for a


    minute, ignoring some of the womans that rushed out.


    Multiple stood there, rooted in their spots with shock and fear etched into their forms.


    Therge dark circles under his eyes did not help his case.


    Staring into his exhausted reflection in the mirror, Amon stretched his dark eyes, water still


    dripping down on his face from his hair.


    Taking out a few pills from his coat, he stutteringly put them on his hand, swallowing them in


    the next second without any water.


    The women and girls looked at him as if he had gone mad.


    Looking into his reflection in the mirror again, Amon let out hurried gasps, his eyes nervously


    darting around.


    Suddenly, he saw the woman from before, standing just an inch behind him.


    A fear filled scream let out from his mouth for a second before he quickly smashed his fist into


    the mirror,


    CRACK!


    A sharp piercing sound rang out in the next second as the mirror was broken down into tiny pieces, some of them digging into his skin.


    The bathroom was sound-proof so nothing let out, which was also why the screams previously were


    useless.


    However, all of the girls and women now rushed outside, scared that Amon had actually gone insane.


    And they weren''t wrong.


    Staring down into the broken shards of the mirror, Amon saw his broken reflection.


    A hysterical hollow chuckle let out of his lips as his eyes widened.


    "Ha, ha, I''m actually going insane."


    He smashed his bloody fist into the marble of the basin in the next second with a grit of his teeth.


    "FUCK IT!" He screamed.


    Looking back up into another mirror, he quickly straightened his clothes up and set his hair.


    Putting back his sunsses, he walked out of the bathroom, crystal coating his fist now to stop the


    blood.


    But as soon as he walked out, his eyes met two golden onesing out of the corner, with the previous


    girls behind her.


    Amelia''s eyes widened, as she realized who it was.


    In the next second, her eyes instinctively darted to his crystallized fist.


    Where...


    She saw a few blood stains in the transparent crystal.

 Chapter 241: Days Before The Festival [2]

    Chapter 241: Days Before The Festival [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amelia and Amon silently stared at each other for a few moments before the former strode forward, ignoring the girls behind her.


    Reaching him, her gloved hand shot forward, grabbing his hand.


    And without a word or any reply from him, she took his hand and started going into another direction with him behind her.


    The people in their path stared silently at the two but Amelia gave them no nce, much less a reply.


    The two let out no reply or anything as Amon silently followed her until they reached his office.


    Opening her door, she led him inside before closing the door and locking it.


    She quietly pushed him down on the sofa without any reply, and nor did the boy resisted, silently looking at her.


    But it was then that he opened her mouth.


    "I can-"


    She put a finger to his lips.


    "Silent."


    Amon''s mouth closed and she removed her finger.


    Giving him a silent stare, she headed to her table beforeing back with a white roll in her eyes.


    She kneeled down, grabbing his crystallized fist.


    Amon''s eyes widened as she broke the crystal, examining his hand.


    And in the next second, she tore off a certain part of the roll and started bandaging his hand.


    Amon was leftpletely speechless at her action.


    He almost expected her to ask him what happened first. Especially since she, of his few friends, knew the best that he wasn''t the type to do such things.


    In fact, out of all of his friends, Amon had to be the person who was the most straightced in matters of sexuality. Notoriously so.


    Rather, she remainedpletely silent about it and continued bandaging his hand.


    Even her expression, rather than showing confusion and distrust, had concern and worry on it.


    Whether it was her strong trust in him or that his safety took priority first, Amon didn''t know. But, he appreciated the silent understanding from her, as he was relieved from the responsibility of exining it to her.


    RIP!


    Amelia tore off thest bandage with a snap and tightly wrapped it over his knuckles before twisting her fingers in a pattern.


    As she did, a tiny intricate crimson pin formed out of thin air, made of blood.


    CLIP!


    With precision and carefulness, she safely pinned it to the end of the bandage, sessfully bandaging his hand.


    "There." She finally spoke, her lips spreading into a beautiful thin smile.


    Looking at the white bandage wrapped on his hand, a smile spread on Amon''s lips as well.


    It was bandaged with very thoughtful and precise methods, securing the wound while still not causing him difort.


    Naturally, words of gratitude flowed from his lips.


    "Thanks alot, Amelia. I owe you one for this."


    Amelia waved her hands in dismissal with a light shake of her head.


    "Don''t mention it, if you really owe me, treat me to an outing next time around." She gave


    him a yful wink, surprising him.


    But a happy smile spread on his lips again.


    "Sure, why not?"


    She gave him a cute nod, standing up.


    Amon looked at her with surprise as she headed over to the table, looking at her back.


    Even though he appreciated her asking nothing about it, he was still confused.


    But he didn''t even need to ask as Amelia beat him to it.


    "You want to ask me why I didn''t ask you about it right?"


    Amon was left speechless once again, not expecting her to catch on to him that quick.


    He saw Amelia let out a sigh from the front.


    Since he was seeing her from the back, he couldn''t see her full expression but from the slight glimpse of her mouth, Amon saw her smile disappear.


    She didn''t turn as she answered him.


    "It''s okay Amon, I can understand how you feel. Even though it''s been a month, the incident still haunts your mind right? Especially with how there''s been no news of my father."


    Amon''s eyes widened with shock, as his gaze trembled.


    ''How did she-''


    Before he could continue his thoughts though, Amelia continued, taking his silence as an affirmation.


    "Don''t worry, out of all the people here in this academy, I can rte with you the most. It''s the same for me. On some nights where Iy awake without my father or mother, all alone, I also wonder if I''m going insane." She let out a scoff.


    "I know that the ones affected by things the most are the ones who usually hide it from others,ughing and excusing their way through. I''m the same, with how I hid it from you,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Kath and Alice.


    "And you are the same. You hid it from your friends, running straight to the bathroom after ss to not make them worry." Her voice trailed off as a sorrowful chuckle escaped her lips. For some reason, as her words continued, Amon found himself resonating with her deeply. As if, even though he was the one going through it, she was the same.


    And her next words proved it.


    She turned, facing him with a sad smile that spoke depths about what she was going through


    right now.


    "You will be wondering why I''m telling you all this. It''s simple, because I can tell what you are going through and I know it''s not easy for you." She said as Amon''s eyes turned wide


    seeing her face.


    Even he wasn''t able to notice it because of how well she was hiding it but...


    Now that she removed her element and everything, he was clearly able to see the marks of tiredness andck of sleep on her face.


    Just like him.


    It made Amon realize, just like a month ago that even if everyone had recovered, Amelia was


    still suffering just like him.


    And why wouldn''t she? Her only two family members had disappeared after all, leaving her


    alone.


    And now she was faced with the responsibility of this festival and everything.


    A pang of pain shot through Amon''s heart again for not realizing what she was going through even when he saw her many times this month.


    It had always been her looking out for his mental health and reckless actions when Katherine


    wasn''t around.


    Amon gritted his teeth silently.


    Coming before him as Amon looked down, Amelia ruffled his hair in an affectionate way.


    "I''ll see youter Amon, take care of yourself and don''t do anything reckless now. I''ll meet you tomorrow at the party." Her voice recovered back to her caring yful tone. But as she was leaving, a sudden idea came to Amon''s mind as he heard about the party.


    This would be the best way to release both of their worries and for him to look out after


    Amelia as well.


    Just as she turned to leave, Amon grabbed her hand.


    Amelia froze in her steps as she turned back to look, confused, only to find Amon standing up


    and looking in her eyes.


    "Where are you going?" He asked.


    Amelia was confused for a second as she was left speechless but eventuallyposed herself


    and answered.


    "I need to check on some stall owners and other festival matters before going to the City Centre to get some dresses for the festival and tomorrow''s party." She answered him.


    A smile spread upon Amon''s lips as he heard her, his hand still not leaving hers.


    "You are attending the party tomorrow?" He asked.


    Amelia nodded, her lips pressing into a thin smile as well.


    "Yeah, I''ll be there for the announcement of the ranks of everyone along with Katherine and


    other club presidents so I need to look my best." She answered.


    Amon nodded, his smile spreading even more.


    "Great, let''s go to the City Centre for some shopping then, you can choose your dresses there


    and help me as well. My choice of clothes sucks without my sister." He said.


    Amelia''s mouth opened to retort.


    "But I need to check on other stall owners and matters-"


    Amon interrupted her, shaking her hand in a leave-it way.


    "Just leave it, all of that can waitter. The Centre''s already gonna be packed with students


    right now so we should do this first." He said with a resolute expression, his ck eyes boring


    into her gold ones.


    A moment of silence passed between the two before a smile spread upon Amelia''s lips as she


    nodded.


    "Alright, let me freshen up and get my things while you wait here then we can leave together." She straightened herself.


    Amon nodded with a smile, letting go of her hand finally.


    Giving him a parting smile, she turned to leave again for the door before she stopped.


    "Oh." She said, a yful tone creeping into her voice as she gripped the handle. Amon turned to face her as she looked back with a yful smile on her face as she put an


    inquisitive finger on her lips in a joking manner.


    "Since we are going to the Centre together, should I consider this a date?"


    Amon was startled by her question as his heart skipped a beat.


    He knew she probably said it in a yful joking manner but...


    Since she was trying to fluster him, it was only fair to y it back on her.


    His smile spread further yfully as he shrugged.


    "Yeah, you can call it a date."


    Amelia''s form suddenly froze as her eyes widened, her gaze trembling.


    Her cheeks flushed beet red as she quickly turned her face, averting her eyes.


    He saw her hands grip the handle tightly as she mumbled softly.


    "You are too good at this..."


    Amon''s mouth burst into augh but he quickly controlled himself, taking it even further.


    "I was just speaking the truth though." He said and instantly, he saw her cheeks get even


    redder as she quickly opened the door, not turning to look at him. "Stoppp it!" She rushed outside as Amon keptughing in the room like a madman, an action that he was doing for the first time since the incident.

 Chapter 242: Date [1]

    Chapter 242: Date [1]


    ?


    ****


    As Amon arrived in front of Amelia''s apartment after getting dressed, he heard the door open at the same time.


    Since Amelia was getting dressed, Amon''s mind also changed and he rushed back to his apartment to dress up.


    Since he was heading to the mall with Amelia, a high figure in the school and known by everyone, roaming around with her in a bloody uniform wouldn''t do him any good.


    That was why he rushed back home and even though the time was short, he took a quick shower and wore his best dress.


    Most wouldn''t shower everyday in such a cold month of December, but Amon loved to do it. Not only that was weird but he showed everyday with the coldest water possible. People would think of him as weird but Amon appreciated the practice.


    It helped keep his mind clear, not letting the warm sleepy exhaustion catch up to him in winter.


    As for his clothes, Amon wore a sleek thin ck sweatshirt coupled with a maroon overcoat.


    Underneath, he wore dark blue jeans along with ck sneakers thatplimented his sweatshirt.


    Amon was pretty conscious of his clothes already from his previous world but they had turned into a constant worry for him ever since he met Amelia.


    Maybe her careful fashion sense where she chose clothes as if she would die from wearing the wrong dress was rubbing off on him.


    Standing in the mirror, Amon noticed that he had turned even taller.


    Even though failing the quest lowered his stats, he didn''t find any physical changes to his novel.


    He was confidently at the height of 6 ''3 with a lean and athletic build, where his firm muscles clearly showed from his clothes.


    A perfect V-shaped body. His facial features were a far cry from when he arrived in the world. His skin was already pale before but if there were any sort of blemishes before, they had been removed and his jawline was clearly visible as well now.


    The only thing that Amon didn''t put much thought into and never even liked doing so was his hair.


    He left them messy from the front, just like how he liked it while tying them up into a small ponytail from behind.


    It almost looked like a messy man-bun if he had to say so.


    But looking in the mirror, it looked perfect so he couldn''t be more satisfied.


    Moving back to the present situation, he saw the door open and Amelia walk out.


    And immediately as his eyesnded on her, his eyes widened.


    Coming to this world, Amon had already been entranced by the beauty of the female characters of the novel.


    Just one look at Elizabeth on day 1 shattered the idea of beauty of his previous life''s modelspletely from his mind.


    They couldn''t evenpare.


    But yet, overtime Amon thought he had grown used to such beauties even though he was sometimes taken aback by Katherine when she dressed up for shopping or such events.


    However, as his eyesnded on Amelia, he was entranced once again, leftpletely speechless like his first day in this world.


    No, it was to an even further extent as he felt his heart skip another beat for the second time today, breaking his personal record of o before.


    Wearing a ck trench coat that reached just below her knees, Amelia wore a maroon turtleneck underneath thatplimented with her winnersh red hair that had been styled beautifully.


    They were secured by intricately detailed golden pins that furtherplimented the amber warm color of her eyes.


    Just like Amon, she wore dark blue jeans that tightly clung to her legs, exposing her perfect curves that led down to high heeled ck boots, which simrly matched her trench coat.


    Amon was left rooted in his spot, staring at her like a doofus.


    Heading down the steps carefully, Amelia arrived before her, a gentle smile spreading on her red-lipsticked lips.


    She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears as she looked at him standing there nkly. She waved a hand in front of his face, her mouth opening for the first time.


    "Earth to Amon."


    Amon shook,ing back to his senses as he found himself staring at her like a creep.


    [Creep.]


    [Stalker ass.]


    Amon suddenly felt the urge to p himself and the two animals within him.


    But he controlled himself, returning Amelia''s gentle smile with a smile of his own.


    Compliments naturally flowed from his mouth.


    "You look gorgeous." He blurted, only realizing what he said a secondter but he didn''t take


    it back now.


    Amelia''s eyes widened at hispliment and for a moment, Amon could swear he saw a shade of pink on her cheeks.


    "T-Thanks. You look great as well." Amelia calmed her stuttering, replying with a smile as she took in her clothes.


    "Appreciate thepliment. Shall we leave?" He asked.


    Amelia gave a simple nod and both of them started to look for a carriage.


    But unfortunately, because of the setup of festivals and transport of many things, carriages nowadays were quite hard to find.


    They stood for at least a minute, trying to find any before Amon got an idea.


    Since Arthur and Athena weren''t here anymore and Akane didn''t even show her face in public till now, Amon could easily get away with this.


    ''Zephyra.''


    As if understanding what he wanted to ask, he heard a snicker of Zephyra from inside him.


    [Who do you think I am? A horse for your princess?]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amon''s mouth twitched, meanwhile Vainughed loudly in the background.


    [Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!]


    [I''m a majestic familiar for your information. Not your personal carriage.]


    ''You are. You either do it or no time with Lily for a month.'' He threatened her.


    Suddenly, Zephyra went silent. She hadn''t expected him to threaten him like this.


    Especially when the little fox had clearly taken a close liking to the cute girl.


    Amon heard the clicking of tongue from Zephyra inside him.


    [Tsk, fine. I swear you will pay for ckmailing me.] She gritted her teeth, threatening him


    which Amon ignored.


    But Vain still didn''t stopughing, mocking her at every opportunity.


    [Your downfall is so crazy, someone needs to study this. Went from a goddess, to a furry wolf


    and now as a personal carriage for this femboy.] He made a fake crying expression.


    At the mention of ''femboy'' on him, even Amon''s mouth twitched as both of them turned to


    Vain.


    ''shut up.''


    [Shut up.]


    But Vain still didn''t stop, leading to the two just ignoring him.


    Focusing his attention back on Amelia, he inserted his hands into his pockets.


    "Welp, looks like there''s no carriage."


    Amelia turned to him but just as she opened her mouth, her eyes widened.


    Right behind Amon, a humongous creature appeared, pping her wings lightly as Zephyra


    tried to show her magnificence.


    Doing a light jump, Amonnded cleanly on Zephyra back, turning to Amelia, who was left


    completely speechless.


    He turned to Amelia, with a smirk.


    "We got our carriage now."

 Chapter 243: Date [2]

    Chapter 243: Date [2]


    ?


    ***


    In a dimly lit room, a figure was seated on a chair, their elbows hunched over an exquisite looking wooden table.


    The fingers of their hands intertwined to form a tform for their chin as their expression waspletely impassive and cold.


    There was barely any light in the room as the blinds behind the chair had beenpletely lowered down, shrouding the luxurious office in darkness.


    Yet, even in the veil of dimness and peaceful silence, the figure''s features could be seen clearer than ever.


    The figure waspletely motionless but yet, there seemed to be a strange phenomenon happening around them.


    As if every inch of the room that was obscured by darkness was a living entity.


    No.


    The darkness itself in the room seemed to have life as one could see it swirl and move from time to time.


    A normal person would have been instantly freaked out by this, running away but the figure waspletely normal to it.


    No. The darkness was being controlled and manipted by the figure.


    All of a sudden, the figure''s arms stuttered for the first time, as if being shook awake by something.


    However, the expression on the figure''s face didn''t change, remainingpletely calm andposed.


    Finally, the figure moved fully, pushing the chair back and standing up as her eyes darted off towards the blinds behind her.


    Her high heels echoed against the cold marble-tiled floor as she elegantly walked in the room, darkness clinging to her and swirling around her with every step.


    There was a regal elegance and seductive poise in her gait, as if meant to attract the eyes and attention of everyone around to herself.


    Her knee-high opaque ck stockings tightly clung to her legs along with her obsidian colored floral patterned dress, exposing her vicious curves, even in the darkness.


    As she reached the blinds, her arm raised, covered in floral-patterned cover.


    With a clean pull of her hand, she sweeped the blinds aside, being hit directly by the warm sunlight outside through the windows.


    For the fraction of a second, one could see a flicker of irritation pass through her face before it turned back to impassiveness.


    The warm light finally shed some uncoverage to her features as her formpletely came to light.


    Her porcin pale skin without any blemish reflected the sunlight like a jewel, providing beauty to her perfectly proportioned body.


    Her glossy lips were pressed into a thin line and her two obsidian ck orbs focused outside through the ss like two invaluable jewels.


    Long, silky straight ck hair cascaded down her back in the form of loose waves, stopping an inch short of her waist.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now that her full body was revealed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that her body seemed to be sculpted by the hands of god himself.


    Every curve, every feature of her body was so well proportioned that even the most beautiful men would fawn over her.


    Her perfect way of walking and milky white skin gave off such a seductive, yful vibe that it could not be ignored at all.


    Yet, nothing mattered to the woman herself, who stared out of the window, focusing on something else.


    Her eyes were fixated not on thend below but on the white clouds in the sky, as if looking for something patiently.


    And as if on cue, suddenly the clouds parted like a crack through a chasm, making her eyes momentarily widen.


    A shadowy-smoky figure shot through the sky, the size of a behemoth, leaving rings of clouds and air in its wake.


    Before it disappeared from sight in the next second.


    However, that was enough for Akane.


    Looking at the remaining rings in the sky, her lips parted for a moment in awe of what she was.


    Her covered hand pressed against the cold window pane, her long, slender fingers leaving marks.


    And then in the next second, her lips spread into a thin charming smile as a shade of pink appeared on her cheeks.


    "Magnificent. Beautiful."


    She kept standing there, staring at the sky, smiling as if she was bewitched by something.


    ***


    As Amelia and Amonnded on the ground after jumping from Zephyra''s back from a little up in the air, thetter suddenly felt a weird feeling on his back.


    His eyes quickly darted behind him in suspicion as his overcoat pped from the wind.


    However, he saw nothing as he gazed behind him.


    For a moment, his eyes squinted in further suspicion but before he could think more of it, Amelia called him out.


    "That was so intense." She said, an amazed look on her face as she fixed her hair with a smile.


    Amon gave her a smile back.


    "I''m d you enjoyed it. Much faster than waiting for a carriage there."


    A chuckle escaped Amelia''s lips at his remark.


    Amon was momentarily lost in her beauty again but instantly called out of it when a snake


    brought him back to his senses.


    [Simp.]


    ''Go back to hibernation, it''s winter.''


    Ignoring what he said in retortion, Amon focused his gaze to the entrance of the City Centre.


    "Shall we head inside?" He asked.


    Amelia nodded with a smile as she adjusted her dress with ast look after thatnding.


    "Yup, let''s go."


    Amon gestured forward.


    "After you." He imitated a gentlemanly ent and Ameliaughed at his attempt before falling into pace with him as they started heading inside.


    But the two were so lost into each other and upied with teasing each other that they couldn''t even notice the multitude of gazes cast their way.


    Multiple whispers could be heard as well.


    "Hey, isn''t that Lady Amelia?"


    "Yeah, she is."


    "Damn, she looks so good. I wish I could meet her?"


    "Wait, who is that guy beside her and is Lady Amelia s-smiling?"


    "N-not only smiling, she''sughing as well!"


    "Seriously, who is that guy and why does he look so good?"


    "Wait, that long hair and eyes, isn''t that the guy who dominated all single battles and team


    battles!?"


    "OH yeah! The guy with multiple elements!"


    "Damn, I hate to admit it but he''s handsome. Looks good with Lady Amelia as well."


    "That bastard is so luckyy."


    At the same time, girls were fawning over the two as well.


    "Isn''t that Lady Amelia!?" One of them whispered.


    "She looks so beautiful!!"


    "But who''s that guy next to her?"


    "He looks so handsome."


    "He''s tall as well, is he together with Lady Amelia!?"


    "Isn''t that Amon, the guy from the midterms?"


    "Oh yeah, he is! How does he know Lady Amelia, are they together!?"


    "I don''t know but look at their dressing, they are both wearing matching opposite dresses!"


    "They are!"


    By some kind of luck or coincidence, both of them had worn matching dresses with opposite colors, as his maroon overcoat was the color of her turtleneck.


    And her trenchcoat was his color of sweatshirt.


    The two were so oblivious to the whispers of jealousy and awe around them. And this obliviousness would also spread a rumor around the whole academy because of their small coincidence in dresses.

 Chapter 244: Date [3]

    Chapter 244: Date [3]


    ?


    ***


    "This looks like a good dress for you." Elizabeth smiled as she handed over a blue dress with a golden embroidery on its edges to Charlotte.


    Charlotte smiled happily as she put it on her in a trying attempt.


    She looked over in the mirror and found it perfectly matching her hair.


    "You are right Lizzy, this looks so good!" She squealed as she handed another dress to Michael, who had everyone''s bags in his hand.


    Standing by Ren, the blonde haired boy didn''t mind it, he himself had volunteered to take them all and after much insistence they agreed.


    Elizabeth chuckled, putting a hand to her mouth.


    "Hehe, I''m d you like it."


    "This looks good on you!" From the other side, a voice came.


    It was Alya, who had a multitude of dresses in her hand forcing them on Liliana, who was overwhelmed by her.


    She held up her hands as Alya annoyingly handed her dress after dress to try.


    "I know! I''ll try them one by one, you need to calm down Alya!" She pushed them back a little. "No, you need to quickly try them, we aren''t even done with 1 shop yet!"


    Michael, Charlotte and Elizabethughed seeing the exchange at the other end of the shop.


    As Elizabeth turned to look for another dress, her eyes moved to the side where she saw Ren standing with a frown creasing his features.


    His hands were still crossed behind his hand and he was standing in aid-back fashion but there was a contemtive look on his face.


    For someone whom Elizabeth always saw utterly rxed and careless, she was surprised. Turning to him, she asked.


    "Is something wrong Ren?" She asked, as he chewed on the toothpick in his mouth nonstop while looking at the ground.


    The toothpick was given to him by Alya, to stop him from the urges of smoking while around them.


    Ren still seemed to be out of it as he kept staring down, not having heard her.


    So Elizabeth leaned closer, putting her hand on his shoulder.


    It was only after her touch, that Ren shook awake.


    "Huh?" He said, the toothpick dropping out of his mouth because of the sudden response.


    But as it started falling down, Ren''s hand shot up without even looking down and effortlessly caught the toothpick, putting it back in his mouth.


    Elizabeth was surprised at his sudden reflexes but she moved back to the matter.


    "You good? You seem out of it."


    "Oh.." Ren''s mouth opened but he nodded.


    "Yeah I am, was just thinking about my bro."


    Elizabeth''s brows raised at the mention of ''bro''.


    Since Michael was already here, then Ren probably meant ''him''.


    "What about him?" She asked, not getting his worries.


    He looked up at her with surprise.


    "I thought you would know best considering how close you are to him?" He said with slightly wide eyes.


    A faint shade of pink appeared on her cheeks as he mentioned ''close'' but sheposed herself and tilted her head in confusion.


    "What do you mean? I think he''s perfectly fine?" she asked, genuinely not getting him.


    After Amon had disappeared in that incident a month ago, everyone got to know about Elizabeth''s feelings for Amon.


    Her worry for him showed it clearly and though it was not nearly enough to Amelia, it still showed how she felt about him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    After he came back, Elizabeth relieved and knew that he was going through a hard time.


    But in her eyes, he had recovered within a week at most probably.


    He seemed to be perfectly fine after that or was she wrong?


    She didn''t know. Ever since that ''kiss'' incident and midterms, she couldn''t ce her finger on Amon.


    She loved him but at times she was scared of him, immensely so.


    There was at certain times a side to him that sent a wave of eternal fear down her being.


    Times when he just wasn''t the white armor prince she pictured him to be.


    But rather a ruthless, stoic killer covered in blood with no remorse on his face.


    Just picturing it, sent a shudder down her being and she knew she was right.


    Day by day, she saw that side in him more and more, especially that karaoke night. Looking at Ren, she also wondered how he, being the closest to Amon out of all of them, never felt such type of sensation from him.


    Ren, out of all of them, wasn''t just a friend to Amon, he was like a brother.


    The amount of trust and respect he had for Amon was iparable to to his trust for others.


    When Amon disappeared, he didn''t attend the funeral as well, and it wasn''t for Athena as most of them were thinking.


    No, it was to find where Amon had disappeared.


    Even when some of them believed him to be dead and such, he never believed in anything, only staying silent and being away.


    Even now, she couldn''t understand how he was thinking that something was wrong with Amon when everyone else was fine.


    If Elizabeth had to be honest, she was even annoyed with Amon.


    She knew he was busy in midterms after that ''kiss'' incident but he just disappeared


    afterwards.


    And when he came back, no matter how much she tried to ask him out or something, he was always keeping himself away from her.


    Why wasn''t he paying attention to her? Was she like a toy for him to manipte and throw


    away?


    He waspletely good after the incident so why was he still acting distant to her after the


    incident.


    Moving back to the present situation, she saw Ren shake his head.


    "No, something was definitely wrong with him when he said he wouldeter. I don''t


    know why you all don''t get it."


    An annoyed look came on Elizabeth''s face.


    "Then why didn''t you ask him about it?" She asked, annoyed.


    It had truly gone enough. If he thought something was wrong, then why didn''t he just talk to


    Amon about it.

 Chapter 245: Date [4]

    Chapter 245: Date [4]


    ?


    ***


    Ren looked at her as if she was stupid.


    "Because you can see it''s his internal struggle? I know he''s in trouble but I don''t want to invade his privacy as well. He deserves some space after what he had been throughst month."


    Scoffing, Ren just shook his head and started walking away.


    Elizabeth stood there, speechless, not getting what he meant.


    But as Ren walked away, the other four looked at him and thought he was moving to another shop now.


    Leaving Michael there to get the clothes done at the counter, they followed him without any questions.


    He hadn''t chosen any piece of clothing before so they thought he was going to finally do some shopping now as they didn''t hear his conversation with Elizabeth.


    But as Ren tried to go in a shop to clear his head, his steps halted as his eyes widened.


    Elizabeth, who was right behind him also stopped as she was about to collide with him.


    Seeing that he had stopped, she turned to see what happened and her eyes went wide from shock.


    Right in front of her, at the counter was Amon, dressed in an elegant dress.


    He was talking to someone with a teasing smile and as Elizabeth followed it, her eyesnded on ady beside her.


    She instantly recognized her because of her signature winish red hair.


    She was Amelia, the President of the Cultural Society and also her elder sister''s friend.


    She knew that Amon knew Amelia because of the same way Elizabeth knew that their elders sisters knew her.


    And even though she had seen they were good friends in the mall...


    A piercing pain ran through Elizabeth''s heart that made her teeth grit against each other silently.


    It wasn''t physical pain. It was a new emotion for her to experience even though she had seen it multiple times in other people.


    It made her clench her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms.


    It was...


    Jealousy.


    ***


    Augh escaped out of Amelia''s lips as Amon stumbled to carry so many dresses.


    Some of them had long straps and ends so it was a hassle for him, who didn''t even shop for himself in his previous life.


    "Damn it, finally." He put it on the counter, releasing a sigh.


    Another chuckle escaped Amelia''s lips as she saw him.


    Amon turned to her, his mouth twitching.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "You are enjoying this aren''t you?" He squinted his eyes.


    Amelia''s eyes widened as her mouth turned into a small pout.


    "Hey, don''t pin it on me now, you were the one who wanted to carry them all. I asked you multiple times to give it to me." She elbowed him slightly.


    Amon turned his head away with a click of his tongue as the smallest hint ofughter escaped Amelia''s lips again.


    But she quickly controlled herself, looking at his embarrassed face because of his inability to handle women''s dresses.


    An impulsive thought came to her mind that she ended up blurting.


    "Hehe, cute."


    It was only after Amelia said that she realized what she said, but as she was about to put a hand over her face in surprise...


    She saw Amon''s eyes widened as his ears turned beet red.


    A smirk appeared on her face as she finally got a chance to get back at him.


    Only being shorter by an inch or two than him, Amelia was easily able to cover it up mostly with her high heels.


    Standing on the tip of her toes just a little, she put a hand on his shoulder and neared his ear slightly with a yful smile.


    "I appreciate the help, you looked cute don''t worry." Her hot breath tickled his cold ear.


    Amon''s face turned beet red in that very instant and he quickly retorted when she retreated back to her ce.


    "Stop doing this." He rubbed his ear, where he just felt her breath, the spot till tickling.


    Amelia winked yfully, sticking her tongue out a little.


    "Payback for what you did before."


    Amon was left speechless before he managed some words.


    "You are too good at this."


    Amelia restrained another chuckle.


    As they were talking, the cashier finally totalled their bill and turned to Amon.


    "It''s going to be 15000 Exlor Sir."


    Listening to the price, Amelia quickly extended her watch to pay it but her eyes widened when it suddenly stopped mid-air by surprise.


    She lost control to her arm for a spare moment, as if the blood inside moved against her will


    And that was enough for Amon to grab her hand and also seize the moment by extending his watch, connecting to the machine.


    Amelia''s eyes widened as she turned to Amon, realizing what happened.


    But thetter simply reversed her wink back.


    "I win this time." He said cockily, shing a victorious smile, momentarily disarming Amelia


    as her eyes turned to her hand.


    It was grabbed by Amon, who was distracted in paying the cashier with the watch.


    As she stared at their hands, suddenly, a thought shed through her mind, causing her to immediately turn pink.


    But as Amon turned back after paying the cashier, he found Amelia not meeting his gaze.


    It was only after he followed it that he followed Amelia that he found that his hand was still


    grabbing her hand.


    ''Ah.'' He finally got it, and seeing her reaction, augh almost escaped from his lips. However, rather than letting it go as he was expected to do so, he grabbed her hand properly and gave it a light squeeze, his cold seeping into her gloves to her warm hands.


    A squeal escaped from Amelia''s lips almost but Amon quickly took her attention by giving a teasing smile while looking into her eyes.


    "Mydy, you forgot what you were doing after I came out of the bathroom as well." "Ha, B-but I-" Amelia couldn''t articte any words with the teasing Amon was doing and the thoughts running through her mind.


    But contrary to Amon''s thoughts, Amelia wasn''t minding his hold or being shy about it.


    Just as she was about to speak further though, a familiar female sound came from their side. Startled, their hold broke and they gaze at the side, only to find a confused Elizabeth staring at Amon.

 Chapter 246 Date [5]

    246 Date [5]


    ***


    Amon was going to tease Amelia more as he stared at her face.


    Even though she was shy and stuttering, she made no attempt to resist his proper hold now or even retreat.


    It was soothing for him, this small hanging out of theirs.


    It made himugh more than he had done so in these few weeks and he was sure it was the same for Amelia.


    Unfortunately, the young duo couldn''tugh for more as a familiar voice came from the side, startling Amon.


    As he turned, he saw Elizabeth standing there with a confused look.


    Just a few inches behind her was Ren, who was staring at Amon with relief rather than the group behind him as well, who also stared at him with confusion.


    ''Ah.'' Amon suddenly remembered that they were also here for the shopping.


    He had given them the promise toeter to join them but had forgotten about it ever since he met Amelia aftering out.


    Running a nce through the group, Amon saw that Michael wasn''t there.


    Nevertheless, he shrugged internally. He had to deal with this group right now first.


    Turning, he waved a hand to Elizabeth.


    "Yo."


    Her gaze trembled for a moment and he could have sworn he saw her eyes move to the hand from which he was just holding Amelia''s hand.


    But he didn''t care and Elizabeth saw that as she quickly replied back to her greeting.


    "Hey, didn''t expect to see you here at the mall. So it was you."


    Amon nodded nonchntly.


    "Yeah, I just arrived here an hour ago with Amelia here for some shopping." He gestured to the side to Amelia, who by now hadposed herself.


    Turning to Amelia, Amon momentarily saw an unfamiliar emotion flicker through Elizabeth''s eyes, one that he had never seen in her eyes before.


    But the silver-haired girlposed herself and bowed.


    "Hello Ms.Amelia, it''s nice to see you again."


    Amelia returned her greeting with a smile and a nod.


    "Likewise." She replied with one word, her cold and curt demeanor returning to her.


    She might have replied differently to Amelia if it was just Amon, Ren and Elizabeth, but..


    With other friends, she quickly reverted to her usual social persona.


    Elizabeth turned back to Amon, seeing the bags of dresses in his hand.


    "I was surprised to see you from afar since you told us that you would join uster if you ever came shopping." She said, reminding Amon of his words, an undercut challenge in her tone.


    Amon had lied to them just toe here with someone else?


    What kind of joke was this?


    And Amon understood the misunderstanding, but he was currently in no mood to exin everything to the childish-acting girl in front of her.


    They had just shopped Amelia''s and clothes for other things and there were also many things to do.


    Not to mention that this outing was currently going great as both of them were finally feeling free from their burdens.


    But it just had to crash down.


    Nevertheless, Amon wasn''t going to back down from her words or try to make an excuse. That would just give Elizabeth more of a way to mock him.


    He simply replied in a nonchnt manner, offering no exnation.


    "Is that so?"


    Elizabeth nodded, also not backing down.


    "Yeah, did something happen?" She tried to dig in further to get something out of him.


    But Amon quickly took this question to scrap it all down.


    "Yeah, it''s called "Change of ns.""


    Elizabeth''s eyes widened momentarily, but she realized her loss and chose to let it go.


    But even then, she wasn''t about to let him get away harmlessly.


    "Are you done with your shopping?" Elizabeth asked.


    Amon offered a simple shake of his head.


    "No, we have to get some other things as well." He said, looking at Elizabeth''s face.


    By now, it was just two of them talking as the group behind Elizabeth stood silently, watching their exchange.


    It was clear that something was going on between the two.


    The only two who seemed like they wanted to say something was Ren and Amelia, but both of them continuously controlled themself, knowing that it would just escte the issue. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Listening to Amon''s reply, however, Elizabeth''s face lit up as she seized another opportunity.


    "Oh, that''s great! We were just about to start shopping as well, why don''t you two join us?" She asked with a beaming smile.


    But Amon knew better of that smile.


    He didn''t even get it. Was she jealous of Amelia? Why even?


    Elizabeth was just being in annoying to him right now, especially with her recent attitudes. She was him and acted distant as if he was a demon or killer or something.


    Nevertheless, Amon saw that Amelia was going to try and say something.


    But Amon quickly manipted her blood a little to indicate her to stop.


    Knowing how kind she was, she would probably consent to going to not create any more issues but..


    This event was going great for both of them as the duo wasughing more and enjoying it more than in a long time.


    And Amon wasn''t going to let it ruin just because of this dramatic encounter.


    It would turn into a bigger hellhole if they were in a group and Amelia might even grow ufortable with so many people.


    He opened his mouth to retaliate but just as he was about to speak, Ren finally couldn''t hold himself in anymore and came forward.


    He looked like he had enough of this now.


    "Nah, I''m afraid that I need to buy something from that shop right now and they have a limited sale for the festival that''s about to run out, so we need to move there." He put a hand on Elizabeth''s shoulder.


    She turned back wide-eyed staring at Ren, but thetter was serious, showing no signs that would make it seem like he was joking.


    "Y''all were shopping till now and I was standing now let me get what I want,e along quick or it''ll die down. Let''s do this hangout another time." He pulled Elizabeth.


    Thetter looked like she wanted to retaliate or resist but Ren gave her no chance.


    And since the group behind them understood nothing, they followed Ren''s lead along with Elizabeth as well, allowing him to go anywhere where he wanted to.


    But as they were about to disappear, Amon saw Ren''s face turn back, their eyes meeting.


    A grateful look passed through Amon''s eyes as he conveyed his eternal thanks to his brother.


    He owed him a lot for this.


    But Ren gave him a simple thumbs up coupled with a grin, asking if he was okay with his gaze.


    Amon nodded, indicating that he was good and Ren gave him a final thumbs up before disappearing.


    ''I truly owe that guy a lot.''


    [That kid is the GOAT.] Vain remarked from inside, almost making Amon burst intoughter.


    Turning back to Amelia, he saw her with a worried look on her face.


    "We could have gone with them though, there was no reason to deny it. You promised to go with them as well." She told him, trying to avert her eyes.


    But Amon''s face had a smile that brought her relief with the next words he said.


    "Don''t worry, they are just shopping as well, forget about it and let''s focus back on the shopping. We still have a lot of things to get." He slightly patted her head and hair.


    Amelia tried to forget it as he said and turned back with a smile, nodding her head.


    "Alright, let''s go get these things then we can eat before we get rest of the items." She showed him the list, getting closer to him to show it well and Amon nodded.


    But just as she closed, Amon took the perfect moment to get his revenge as he leaned closer, his breath tickling her ear now.


    His lips almost even brushing with her ears.


    "And I''m sure you don''t want to go with them as well." He whispered in her ear, causing Amelia to immediately squeal with shyness.


    "Stoppp." She lightly tapped her fist at his chest as heughed for the umpteenth that day along with her.


    __________________

 Chapter 247 Playing Games with Her [1]

    247 ying Games with Her [1]


    ***


    Amon handed off the menu to the waiter, thetter giving him a respectful nod before disappearing.


    He moved his attention back to Amelia, who sat in front of him, stretching her arms up in the air.


    She released a powerful, tired exhale.


    "Ueh¡­" She cracked her knuckles, stretching her arms as far as she could.


    Once done, she brought them down, doing another exhale before looking at Amon with a grateful smile.


    "Today was really tiring but fortunately we were able to get done fast. It''s all thanks to you, I don''t know how long it would have taken me by myself."


    Amon returned the smile.


    "Don''t mention it." He replied.


    It had been 3 hours since that incident at the store, and fortunately, both of them were able to forget about it, getting back to their shopping.


    Now, they were finally done and had settled down to eat something.


    Well, at least done with the school stuff for the festival and others.


    The two still had to buy dresses for tomorrow''s party, but they chose to do it at the end.


    Fortunately, even when moving from shop to shop in the whole City Centre, Amon had not once encountered the group again.


    And he knew it wasn''t just a coincidence.


    The image of a purple-haired boy shed in his mind, his smile spreading.


    He was truly grateful to him, for keeping the drama out of their way now.


    Fortunately, Ren understood exactly what Amon was there to do and what he needed at the moment.


    He had separated the group from Amon, letting him return to Amelia so that the two could ease their minds again.


    That thumbs-up Ren had given at the end signaled to Amon that the former understood the assignment.


    Giving another silent thanks to his brother in mind, Amon turned back to Amelia.


    However, he was surprised when he saw her face focusing somewhere else in the distance.


    Following her amber gaze, his eyesnded on a corner of the floor where they were.


    Thest three floors in the City Centre were designated for recreational and rest areas like y zones and eating areas.


    And right now, Amelia''s eyes were focused on the y zone, her attention caught by the kids ying various games.


    A knowing smile spread on his lips as he opened his mouth, catching her attention.


    "You miss those games?" He asked.


    Amelia''s eyes suddenly trembled with surprise as she was caught off guard.


    She turned to Amon with surprise in her eyes, as if a child had just been caught stealing candy.


    "N-no." She had an embarrassed look on her face.


    "Why are you being so shy about it?" Heughed.


    Amelia tried to avert her eyes, fiddling with her fingers as she hesitated to say something.


    "What is it, say it?" Amon teased her further to get it out of her, leaning closer.


    "Never..them." She mumbled something.


    Amon''s grin spread further as he put a hand to his ear.


    "I didn''t hear what you were saying."


    Finally, Amelia said it, burying her eyes in her hands.


    "I have never yed those games."


    Amon''s eyes widened as his jaw dropped open.


    "Huhhhh?" He asked, not believing what she said.


    He saw Amelia''s ears redden further but contrary to what he would normally do in these situations, he was still left baffled. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He leaned back in his chair, giving her space.


    "So you are saying that you never yed those games?" He asked, disbelief evident in his tone.


    Amelia nodded slightly, as she slowly brought down her hands from her face, only to find Amon not smiling anymore.


    Contrary to her expectations that he wouldugh, he had a serious expression on his face.


    And being the daughter of the strongest man in the world probably exposed her to a million threats, so it made sense that she wasn''t allowed outside.


    15:38


    And unlike Alya, who had princess privileges, Amelia was also probably restricted alot.


    Very serious in fact, as if a disaster had ensued.


    "You good-" Amelia tried to ask but Amon raised a finger to her lips, silencing her as he closed his eyes as if he was meditating.


    His serious voice came out in the next second.


    "So, you are saying that you have never yed these games?" He tried to confirm.


    Amelia nodded under his gaze as it bore deep into her.


    "That''s an international crime that should get you 50 years in jail." He said.


    Amelia''s eyes widened as she quickly retorted.


    "Why?"


    Amon made a pleading expression as if he was struggling to understand her.


    "What do you mean ''why?''? So you are literally saying you have never enjoyed the best part of your childhood!?" He asked.


    "Listen-"


    "No, wait, so you are saying that you were literally deprived of this peak your whole life?" He felt like screaming.


    But at the same, Amelia pushed him back into his seat, grabbing his shoulders.


    "Listen to me first, I was used to living in the capital royal pce with father and mother, we never had things like this there. And I was also never allowed outside for my safety."


    "Oh¡­..true." Amon''s expression finally rxed.


    He had forgotten that Amelia used to live in the royale pce with Arthur and Athena before.


    And being the daughter of the strongest man in the world probably exposed her to a million threats, so it made sense that she wasn''t allowed outside.


    And unlike Alya, who had princess privileges, Amelia was also probably restricted alot.


    "I always wanted to try those games but could never do so. And aftering here, I was thrown into a busy life from day 1. Never had any time to do things like these." Amelia exined.


    "I didn''t tell Katherine and Alice, my only friends about this as well so they didn''t feel bad for it. You are probably the first person I''m sharing this with." She exined, as her eyes darted to the games again.


    Amon saw a flicker of desire and longing in her eyes as she saw them.


    Unknowingly, a warm feeling sprang in his heart at the mention of being the only person to know about this.


    It was maybe warmth at finding himself to be this trustworthy that she told him this.


    But just as Amon was about to speak, the waiter finally arrived with the food.


    "Here is your order, sir." He carefullyid down everything.


    _______________

 Chapter 248: Playing Games with Her [2]

    Chapter 248: ying Games with Her [2]


    ?


    ***


    Amon sipped his milkshake, leaning back in his chair.


    "There''s still an air of solemnity and fear among the students." He said as his gaze wandered around him.


    From his peripheral vision, he saw Amelia nod in agreement from the side.


    Both of them look at the multitude of old people, students, and couples wandering in the mall.


    Despite a month passing since the incident, there was still an air of sadness and grimness. It was evident that the people of the academy had lost their trust in the higher management. If the strongest person in the world had done that then how could they trust the people in the lower echelon?


    Not to mention, the newly appointed principal had still yet to show her face even once in public.


    Even though they might have seen her over the newspapers and in other public outings, why wasn''t Akane ckhearting out to address the public of this academy?


    It dwindled the people''s hopes even further, making them feel defenseless.


    As if nobody was present in the academy to save them.


    It didn''t show through their faces but it was pretty clear from their attitude and the air around them.


    It was the same for Amon''s ss and every other year as well.


    Previously, there used to be a ruckus and at least some noise in the ss but now it waspletely quiet, both during lectures and after them.


    It was as if soulless people were sitting in this city.


    And though Amon could agree that most of the older majority hated Arthur for his actions, the same couldn''t be said for the majority of the younger poption.


    Sure, there had been a wave of hatred for him in the early days but slowly, when the emotional high wore down them from them, they finally made sense of Arthur''s actions.


    The older people couldn''t rte to this thinking as they had lost people very dear to them but...


    The students and others realized that in a sense it might have been the better action to do.


    They finally realize that they have no evidence or anything on what happened to Arthur down there.


    What were his actions or anything nor did Arthur say anything about it in jail?


    Hell, they didn''t even know how he was or if he was even alive. There wasplete silence from him for the whole month.


    It was as if the Imperiac had just suddenly buried the case. This certainly made suspicion rise in the cadet''s hearts.


    What if Arthur was forced to take that choice down there?


    After all, nobody was dumb enough to think that Arthur would lose to 50 people that easily.


    The people were probably taken hostage or something else, but it was pretty much confirmed


    to the majority of the students now that something was wrong.


    There was at least a 70% chance that Arthur was innocent and he was being set up.


    Unfortunately, they could only keep the thoughts within themself.


    After all, they had no power to do anything. They couldn''t free Arthur again or anything.


    So just like before, even if they knew Arthur was in the right, there was no way they could free him.


    There was no change in the decision and state whatsoever.


    Not only that, but Amelia was also not able to hear anything from Athena, despite knowing that thetter could just make a portal ande back.


    The Capital had a strict barrier around a certain part of it which restricted spatial interference but, Athena could stille out and inform them.


    All Amelia got was a letter from Athena saying that she was fine.


    Looking to the side, Amon saw a saddened expression on Amelia''s face.


    She was probably being reminded of Arthur again by looking at all these people. Amon couldn''t say that he waspletely helpless in this situation.


    He could potentially free Arthur if he could somehow go to the Imperial Capital.


    One big chance for him was the Winter Vacationsing right after the Festival.


    They wouldst for a month and then, he could go to the Imperial Capital but there was still a problem.


    To enter the Pce for a personal audience with someone like the King or Queen or any high person, you needed a rmendation letter from a person of a high position as well.


    He could ask Alya, yes but there were certain reasons he didn''t want to.


    That left only one option for him...


    The current Principal. Akane ckheart.


    Amon needed to find a way to meet her somehow.


    Fortunately, there would be a small encounter with her already tomorrow at the party where


    he would be called up at the stage for his prize and rank.


    He was ranked 1, there was no doubt about that in his mind. But right now, he was focusing on how to meet her privately or in a longer meeting.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t be bothered to think of a way right now.


    He had a girl to cheer up in front of him.


    Setting down the remaining milkshake in front of him, he stood up with a ''welp''.


    Standing to his feet, he did a light one-second stretch before turning to Amelia, who was still


    lost in the people.


    Seeing her free hand on her thigh, he leaned forward.


    Grabbing the hand, he pulled Amelia up to her feet, making her eyes widen as she was taken


    by surprise.


    "Huh? What is going on Amon?" She asked, confused by what he was doing.


    A cocky smile spread on his lips as he pulled her forward from her hand, which he was still


    grabbing.


    A surprised sound escaped from Amelia as she was pulled by her hand in front of everyone.


    "I''m gonna teach you how to y some games mdy." He smirked.


    Amelia''s eyes widened, not believing what he said.


    But she didn''t resist his pull or grip. However, she still tried to make an excuse.


    "Wait, we still have to pay them for our food and my milkshake..." She said in a light pleading


    voice.


    It wasn''t meant for Amon to hear but he still heard it.


    "Don''t worry, I already paid them while you were looking." He smirked.


    Then, his eyes darted back to the unfinished milkshake he left on the table.


    Due to his pull, Amelia''s milkshake had fallen on the ground and right now, it would take


    them time to order a new one.


    Ignoring the rule of not using magic in the City Centre, Amon formed some strings of blood, pulling his shake from the table to himself.


    "Here, you can drink mine, now let''s hurry." He pulled her again after handing the milkshake


    to her without any hesitation.


    Amelia was taken aback as she got a milkshake in her hands, not knowing what to say.


    She looked at the shake in her hand. It was chocte, her favorite vor.


    But as her eyes darted to the straw, a sudden thought appeared in her mind. And in the next instant, her cheeks flushed a bright red as a stream of thoughts ran through


    her mind, her eyes still fixated on the straw.


    Fortunately for her, Amon wasn''t seeing the look on her face right now, focusing on the front.


    If he saw her beet-red face right now, he would have missed no opportunity to tease her. Amelia''s eyes, however, were still fixed on the straw. Contrary to what one would expect,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    there was no weirdness or disgust in her eyes.


    There was just shyness, no resistance at all.


    And not only that...


    In the next moment, Amelia casually brought the straw to her glossy red lips, and started to


    drink the milkshake without any hesitation.


    Sip...Sip.Sip...


    Her cheeks turned even redder and she tried to quickly avert her eyes and hide them through


    her bangs.


    All that time, she didn''t let go of the straw at all, drinking it until it waspletely empty. And when it was finally done, she released the straw with a ''pop'' sound.


    And right there, on the straw was a bright red mark from her lips, a tiny trail of saliva dripping


    down the straw.


    Seeing it, she turned bright red as a tomato again and quickly stored it inside her bag to throw


    later, burying her face in her hands a momentter.


    If only Amon was able to see this whole incident...


    s, he wasn''t.


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