《How To Survive A Calamity》 Chapter 0-1: Goodbye, Zach Harper "I''ve done many things I''m not proud of. '' Zach''s thoughts against the cold pavement were fleeting. The night sky and brewing clouds had never seemed so far and yet so low before. In the distance, the electric sounds of the nightlife became a muffled backdrop. Looking back, Zach suppressed the urge to exhale a self-deprecatingugh. And that was only because of the burning pain caused by the bullet sized hole in his lungs. ''Well, fuck. It hurts no matter how many times you get shot in a lifetime...'' Zachary Harper for as long as he remembered had always been a bold soul and risk taker. He never seemed to fit in quite alright with the regr masses, actually. Since Middle School, he had been branded an outcast, a delinquent, a problem child. Some even called him a demon. That was because wherever Zach Harper went, violence followed. He had always been involved with the dregs and filth of society, he was notorious. But Zach was often misunderstood by others. He wasn''t a delinquent because he wanted to, neither did he find sce in being one. But nothing he ever ced his hand into ever seemed to work out. He wasn''t smart or good at studies, he wasn''t good looking ¡ªaverage at best, just saying¡ª and he wasn''t all that good inmunicating his feelings. But if there was one thing Zach Harper was notorious for being good at, it was fighting. Zach was a brawler, famous in his childhood streets. As a result of that, he was often found amongst the many thugs in a part of his neighborhood, and since he never seemed to fit in anywhere else, and no one seemed to acknowledge him, he flowed with the wrong crowd and spread his name. However this changed during a certain incident. Zach''s little gang was forcefully detained by the authorities over a minor incident. Having someone like Zach amongst their ranks had caused the little goons to grow too confident and bolder in their mischief, until they had grown beyond being a nuisance. Thinking back on the events of his life, in his own blood, Zach barely restrained a painful self-deprecatingugh as he recalled how furious and maddened his father had been to discover he had been arrested at only 15. Fortunately, the crimemitted wasn''t something big, and only a ''small'' bail sufficed to get him out. His father, who was his only parent and struggled to raise him, was furious and beat the crap out of him that day. He had had enough, he would send Zach to Military school.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "You like fighting, ey? I''ll make sure that bastard talent of yours isn''t wasted then, " he said. That incident had change his life, or so Zach thought. He stopped moving with his previous group which had been forcefully disbanded and went back to school. Zach was ready to start a new leaf and abandon his previous life behind him, he swore it. He would, from then forth, be a model student. He would attend sses, and make the top of his ss, if possible. At the very least, he would no longer be involved in any more gang fights. Zach earnestly believed so. He really wanted it to be. That was what he thought at first. But things led to more things and Zach found himself beating up a group of high school seniors that tried to bully him. In his defense, it was their fault. He was the victim this time...well, for the most part. But that just led to a chain of events that signaled the downward spiral of the rest of his life. The 3rd year Seniors of the boys he beat came after him for revenge and to teach a lesson. And teach a lesson, they did. They taught one Zach never forgot. After suppressing the notorious Zachary Harper, he became their bread shuttle, their buss boy, theirckey. These seniors were the real deal, they were real Delinquents and Zach couldn''t hold a candle to them. What was worse was that those delinquents were only rookies of a group of Biker Gangs that were well known within that neighborhood. The way Zach was treated, was exactly in the same manner these seniors behaved before the Bikers. Zach was merely at the bottom of the food chain, arge one. Simrly, these Bikers were dominated and absorbed by a muchrger and powerful Street gang ¡ª which were a fraction to a muchrger Underground Organization ¡ª swallowed up its entire members and ''dealt away'' with those that refused to bend the knee. At this point, Zach was caught in a spider web. There was no way out. These guys were actual gangs, while he was merely a third year middle schooler who was a little good at fighting. Zach had no choice, he bit down, and lowered his head , sumbing to his faith. His life would only get worse and twisted. And eventually he dropped out of school by the time he became a second year in senior school. Recognized for his fighting abilities, Zach became a ything to these people. He became an amusing toy, and would be staged in fights, with bets ced on him and his life on the line. He could only continue to throw his fists for the twisted entertainment and amusement of others. If there was anything good thing about all of it, it was that he at least received some money for all the matches he participated and won. His fame and name was slowly growing amongst these gangs; the Mad Dog, they called him, became popr in these fights. His father would hound him whenever he showed himself at home, curse at him for the kind of life he began living. A drop out, a gang member, a delinquent, a street fighter. Even to the extent, he openly admitted to regretting having him as a son. If before it was toote, now there really was no turning back. Zach''s name had already spread considerably in the thug world. So he fled from his home, abandoning his saddened father. And only with rage and anger, he openly embraced his new lifestyle. He threw himself, mind, body, soul, and anger into each and every of the fights that followed. The Mad dog became Madder! His achievements mounted, his name and notoriety skyrocketed! By the time he was supposed to be a third year, Zach had already imed a considerable position amongst these gangs. He wasn''t the leader or vice leader or anything, he was more of a figure. He hade so far he attracted the attention of the Boss at the top. The one in charge of all the small,rge and local gangs in the entire region. Watching one of Zach''s fights, the Boss developed an interest. He saw potential in the young boy whose eyes were full of only his opponents and wrath. And with Zach at the center was a business opportunity. An underground fighting arena where many from society woulde to watch. And with Zach as the star throughout theing years, this business boomed and flourished. The organization raked in more money in three months than they had in an extended period of time. Zach''s name and fame only continued to spread slowly across the Underworld. He had long already epted his lifestyle, and had even began to develop some kind of spiteful pride from it, to the point that many believed all he thought of was breaking apart his next opponents. He had be a man of no words with an ever present bloodlust and dead re that many could only be left awed, wondering his thoughts. In contrast to what they expected, Zach hadn''t lost all, to any rationality. He had only closed off to his fate, and he had found a goal. Fighting had always and only been the thing he had ever been good at, and using this ursed talent of his, Zach would rise to the very top of the Underworld. He swore it. And indeed his notoriety and fame spread enough to reach the ears of the Bigger Bosses, the ones truly at the top of the Food chain. Big individuals in society, and infamous names in the underworld. He quickly gained their attention and was allowed into their ranks, abandoning behind his arena days. But Zach only saw his life as only beginning from then on. He joined Criminal organizations, crime families, The Mafia. And using his prior procured reputation, mounted even more grander achievements that were outside of just fighting. In a few years, the Mad Dog was no more, Gloom was what they called him. Zach climbed his way up the hierarchy and higher up thedder. From a small time delinquent, to dropout, to thug, to street fighter, to Mafia goon, to Crew head, to Captain, to Capo, to an Underboss. By his 35th year, Zach was the direct Lieutenant to the Big boss at the top of his organization. And just like many other simr Organizations in the past, when the time was right, Zach struck when the Boss was in a weak state. He executed a Coup and usurped power for himself, iming the position of Organization head. But on his third day, he was shot by his own best friend and left to die in the alley of an abandoned port. That was how he had a bullet hole in his lungs. It was supposed to be an instant kill into the heart, but the shot had missed and hit his lungs instead, prolonging the pain of his death like a gruesome punishment. ''No shit, they weren''t kidding when they said your life shed before you at your final moments, '' Zach ridiculed himself in his dimming heart. Micheal, his best friend, was the only person he had grown close to over the years he spent climbing to the top. He had shared with him his past, future, hopes and dreams, but the bastard had been the one to pull the trigger at him and seize his throne. ''And on my third fucking day no less! '' Zachughed in self ridicule once more. ''Blud didn''t even let me make my first order...hehe, Micheal you sonavabitch... '' A small self ridiculing smile curled on his bloody lips as he struggled to push himself against a wall and sit up. He cast his fading gaze at the extent of the ocean before him. The abandoned port was quiet, Zach could almost listen to his waning heartbeat. He wasn''t too long from this world anymore. He gazed off onest time, letting his mind wander. He wanted to see his father just one more time. He wanted to tell him...he wished he could have told him just one thing. That he was sorry. On that day, Zachary Harper died. ... On that day, Zach Harper died... Yes... ''Yes. That''s how it was supposed to go at least! '' Zach opened his eyes to a bright light, a brand new world. Everything seemed sorge, and he recognized to be staring at an expansive ceiling that covered his entire view. ''Where...'' Zach halted his thoughts immediately. There was...a woman with long brown hair and bright eyes. A veryrge woman leaning over and smiling down at him from above. ''Oh...'' Zach''s hurtling thoughts slowly calmed . He wasn''t was surprised or ''excited'' as he should have been anymore. If anything, he felt relieved. He had been reincarnated. He was given a second chance at life, and could live it differently this time around. He could live it in peace, away from all the violence, crimes, blood and pain from hisst life on earth. Zach felt... happy. ''Death truly opens up new prospects, huh, '' he mused feeling relief flow through his now beating heart. He couldn''t understand what the woman whom he assumed was his mother was saying, but Zach wished in his heart to live peacefully this time around. ... [DING!] ... He heard a piercing ring in his head, then a strange synthetic voice buzz through his ears like an rm, as a string of illusionary letters appeared before his eyes. ... [WARNING! WARNING! The {Great Cmity} is upon all..]... ''What...? ... [ [DING!] A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... ''...Eh? '' Chapter 2 The System Message [1] I, Zachary Harper of Earth, was transmigrated! Holy fuck, miracles do happen! I felt a deep sense of relief and mncholy wash over me. My heart was beating again, I really was alive. I could feel the warmth of what I presumed to be the sun trickling from the window on my skin. I assumed I was in a cradle from all the light rocking I felt. My hands and limbs were tiny and chubby, and my whole body felt like it belonged to someone else. Other than my gaze, I could barelymand myself to do anything else. Yet the sheer sensation and stimuli my senses shared was proof enough that I was still alive. How was this possible...I didn''t care. Wasn''t I supposed to be dead...does that matter now? Where am I exactly... Least of my problems, plus I would find out too! I was in no rush to leave the presence of such a beauty. Thedy with a dazzling smile continued to gaze warmly at me from the wall of my wooden crib. She had long locks of light brown hair, thick and lustrous. Each strand shimmered enchantingly in the sunlight, and her deep green eyes were bright with warmth. Please let her be a maid, please let her be a maid, please let her be a maid...I began honestly pleasing inside my heart. Would be a huge turn off if this were my mother, that would make things awkward... But reincarnation, huh. And Transmigration too. I was d. Mncholic, but d. It meant I could relive a new life. I got a chance to live peacefully, away from all the blood and violence of my previous existence. I had died with countless regrets and sins, so such a chance was both overwhelming and fulfilling. Like I had the possibilities to do things right this time around. This is it, Harper, onest chance to not screw it up...I had no idea the conditions of my reincarnation and transmigration and was unsure if I''d be able to be reborn a second time, but I wasn''t eager to find out or risk it. You only live once! I lived twice, but who''s counting! You only get one chance at life...I would live this turn following that mantra. ..A life of fulfillment and tranquility... ... [DING] ... ...I could already hear it ring like a bell. [DING!] Hm? Too clearly maybe? Suddenly my head buzzed faintly with a myriad of synthetic voices like a strange symphony. Then strange illusionary string of texts began to appear on a translucent screen before my very eyes. The first string... ... [ [WARNING! WARNING! The {Great Cmity} is upon all..]... ''What...? The second string... ... [A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ''...eh? '' I gaped however I could at the strange texts, then blinked. Huh. Looks like I''ve got some lingering trauma from dying once...I should see a doctor once I''m old enough. Hehe. For a moment I thought it was a system screen foreshadowing an impeding doom in the not so distant future and urging me to grow stronger so that I could survive, which could also mean that I would die when the so called doom descends upon this world. That was impossible though. I mean... This was supposed to be my redemption arc! The second life where I live in peace and tranquility, while smiling back at the days filled with struggles from the porch in front of my little farm house overlooking arge in of golden wheat crop with a giant golden retriever called Eighty-seven sitting next to me! I felt a sense of unease creep over me. This wasn''t what I signed up for! I wanted a peaceful life not a survival quest! Please tell me this is some post-death hallucination or PTSD! I would cry now if I had control of my tear nds... Which I still do not.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om But s, I had to sober up to the reality of life. The illusionary screen was still just before my eyes. Warning, warning...a great disaster...get stronger... survive....death penalty...rewards... Quickly skimming through one more time, I confirmed. Yep, it was a bonfide system. ...fuck. . . . . . Three years had passed since my transmigration, and I grew closer to understanding various aspects of my new life. The world I was born into was called Aetohria, confirming my previous conjectures concerning being Transmigrated into another world after all. I kind of expected that, so it wasn''t as much shocking as the revtion would have been. I was quite familiar with tropes like this in webnovels and TV series back on Earth, so I believed i had some experience. Aetohria was and full of mystic and fantasy with four discovered Great continents; Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern continents respectively. And I currently was a Westerner, a citizen of the great Lunar Kingdom found further east of the Human domain. From what I had been able to gather up until this point, the Lunar Kingdom was a rather flourishing Nation. It appeared so on the surface at least. Quite frankly, I couldn''t tell. I was still just a kid, a three year old yet the knowledge I possessed about this world already could make me seem a genius. But in the end it wasn''t detailed or substantial enough. I spent about a year to learn and master this foreign and unusualnguage, and only after that did my information gathering proceeded more smoothly. I was born into a small noble family ¡ª into the body of the first son and second child who''s name was Victor. I had an older sister who was currently seven years of age; Adrianne Bright, first born child of the Bright family. The beautiful woman with a dazzling smile and vibrant locks of brown hair from that day was indeed my mother, Alissa Bright. ... Not a maid. Sigh. My father, was Baron Dorian Solvaine Bright, the head of this household. Yet, I''ve learned we were only a branch family to a bigger whole The Solvaines A rather renowned Noble household known for their long ancestral history of powerful and renowned Magic Spearsmen and Lancers. It was a spear family. Not a sword family. So far, those are the extent of my information and knowledge. I have close to zero idea about the society or civilization of this world, not their norms and standards. I would have to learn about theirmon knowledge and history too. And certainly more about Magic! All I knew was that it existed, and this was only because it wastched on to the name Magic Lancers! Sounded like a circus group, but I''ll be damned! Ahem. In any case, my understanding of this world will only continue to deepen overtime. During all of it, I intend to slowly take my time and absorb all the possible knowledge i could and y an entirely passive only role during this lifetime. I would just sink into the background and live my life quietly, peacefully, and fulfilling. I wasn''t going to y an active role in the course of this story. This world was a strange cepared to earth. But it doesn''t click with any of the webnovels I''ve read before on earth... Aetohria wasn''t a World I had seen before in any of the works I had read. It also isn''t from any show or TV series I''ve seen, neither is it a game I''m familiar with. It was apletely different world than any I was familiar with. Sigh. There goes a part of my hope out the window. I was hoping if it were one of such worlds I knew, then I would have a certain degree of advantage over the future possible urrence, and can shape the direction of my life ordingly. Jeez, aren''t i supposed to be transmigrated into my favorite story or my worse one, as an extra and pull obvious red gs from the very moment i realize, or something, isn''t that how it''s supposed to go? But it also doesn''t seem my second chance at life would be straightforward either... I stared nkly into mid air. Before me, only for my eyes to see, was an illusionary screen with a long string of letters. ... [WARNING! WARNING! The {Great Cmity} is upon all..]... ¡ªDING! A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... I drummed my little fingers against my bed. I had a few conjectures I had reached concerning this ''system message '' after a few experiments over thest few years. For one, this is obviously something only I could see, and hear. The screen isn''tpletely always blocking my vision or in my head, although it would pop up daily for a few hours each day as a form of daily reminder. The message also never changes or shifts since then. In addition, I could dismiss and call on the screen with but a thought, however, that was the extent of it all. There was nothing else I could do, I still hadn''t figured out the function of this ''system'' or it''s true purpose. Using my rich and iparable experience from reading numerous system novels, i had tried everything. From chanting "System" in a deep and really edgy voice to saying "Property" like one certain... ...Nevermind But regardless of what I did, nothing seemed to work. I couldn''t see my ''stats'' or use ''skills''. Shazam, Pierce, Arise... No matter what I did, nothing worked. It''s just a damned message board. But what truly troubled me was the message it delivered. Chapter 3 The System Message [2] The notification was unnerving. What is this system message? A great cmity? What is it? And how does it concern me? Perhaps it had something to with my transmigration. Well if I did, I wish it good luck...I had no interest in figuring out why...or how I ended up here. And this system was clearly a foreshadowing to something deeply troublesome. Since I had zero ideas or answers, I was just inclined to ignore it and continue like it never existed. But the message, and choice of words were truly disconcerting. Cmity. Death. Ughh. These aren''t words I could easily overlook in a situation like his one. It could at least provide me with a bit more information. What exactly was the cmity, and when? The duration section on the screen is nk. Was it a few years, months, or even weeks? And what does it mean for me to be seeing this? This is clearly a danger warning, yet everyone else seem to be carrying about with their days without a single care in the world. And most importantly, if I ignored this, would I really die? Stupid...it clearly says ''get stronger AND SURVIVE'', and then there''s the totally unfair penalty. ... [Penalty-: Death, ???] ... What exactly could be much worse than death...on second thought, I don''t wanna know. Those questions marks were unnerving. Ugh,e on, Harper, use your superior and rich experience gained from reading over worn system troupes and think! Shouldn''t there be a manual for this sort of stuff? Like some goddess, or charming angel descending in my dreams or something? In retrospect, that was a red g. I gave up and dismissed the system notification with a sigh before falling back on my bed. I stared up at my wooden ceiling, feeling a gloom loom over my heart. This was supposed to be my second chance to live peacefully, and on the right track...hehe, even after two lifetimes, i''m still unlucky, I mocked internally. And feeling only dark amusement and self-mockery, I smiled then said aloud.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Fate''s a bitch." Then an ethereal voice rang inside my head as the interface appeared again. Various screens and tabs with long strings of characters ovepped before my eyes in rapid session. ... [Authorization Code Confirmed] [Authorization granted... ess granted...] ... Eh? ... [Beginning Sequence... Sequence initiated] [First Sequence granted] [Beginning Start-up... Start-upplete] [System Activationplete] . . . [Wee, Host] ... A couple of seconds passed and the notifications finally ended. Once more peace and silence reigned on the inside of my buzzing head. Total silence. Too silent maybe. I skimmed through the numerous tabs once again using my eyes. Authorization... ess... start-up...plete... Er, does that mean I cracked the password or something? I jolted up and sat straight. The blue interface still staring at me. These were the first strings of different characters the system had presented to me since the beginning. I calmed my heart and began pondering. It says authorization code confirmed, was there really some kind of password? Like an ess key? Was that why the screen had never shown anything aside from that sted message? I was locked out. But all of a sudden, I was granted authorization. Was it something I said? The authorization and messages were sudden, perhaps the stupid password was an actual keyword. A word meant to jumpstart the system and begin whatever sequence it mentioned. I think thest thing I said was... Bitch was the fucking password?! The password was Bitch all along!? I shot a meaningful nce at the interface then curled my lips...what a bitc¡ª [No it was not.] Before I could finish that thought, a piercing ring rang in my head. A strange voice...a voice that sounded both illusionary and synthetic like an ovep of various echoes scolded in a strangely stern tone? The voice was familiar so I quickly drew my attention to the interface before me, but there was no new strings of letters like before. "...who said that?" The corresponding silence that followed was disturbing. I must have been hearing things... wiping a trail of sweat that was down my neck, I thought feeling uneasy. [Negative. This is not an illusionary auditory phenomenon. Your human senses are not deceiving you.] The synthetic voice reminiscent of an ai from Earth rebuked inside my head, with what resembled a mocking tone when it said ''human'' I gave a dry self-deprecatingugh. I was running mad, this time I was sure. [Negative. You are only, and I quote cking brain cells'' end quote, toprehend.] Gathering my thoughts and dismissing the obvious diss, I asked. "... you''re the ''system'', aren''t you? And you can speak?!" [Affirmative.] A curt reply. Too curt. In any case, this made things easier. Since the sassy system could speak, I could rify the numerous questions I had. "What are you exactly?" [I am your Guide.] The voice responded. I frowned at such an unclear reply. "borate." [Youck the proper authorization for that information.] Authorization? [Yes.] "Huh? You can hear my thoughts too?!" I jolted, startled. [...] It wasn''t exactlyforting to have my inner monologues be invaded by an outsider. [I am not an ''outsider''. I exist in you and are one and the same. You are my Host.] The voice ¡ªSystem remarked after listening to my thought again. I suppressed a frown then raised my head to the interface. "You keep saying Host, are you some kind of parasite?" [How rude. As already established, I am your Guide ¡ª and nice try.] "Tsk. You noticed?" I was hoping I could trick the voice into disclosing more about itself by obviously trying to taunt it. I heaved a mental sigh and moved on to other matters. I woulde back to the issue of the system identity. I looked at the various interface tabs spread open before me then brought up the very first message I had received. ... [A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... "What''s the meaning of this?" I asked in a low voice. [A Quest alert.The {Great Cmity} is impending, the details of the quest is to grow stronger and survive, or suffer the penalty of death and ???] The system responded but the voice grew distorted and iprehensible at thest word. I sounded like the grating of metal and made me almost wince. "Wh-what was that?" I quickly asked and the system responded in its usually deadpan voice. [That is what happens when the Host authorization sequence is low] Authorization again? Not withholding back my frown, I groaned, expressing my dissatisfaction. "Fine. Can you at least tell me more information concerning this impeding Cmity and how it concerns me? And don''t give me that bullshit about my authorization being too low." [...That is manageable] surprisingly, the system said. "Eh? Really? You''ll tell me?" I was mostly expecting to be denied ess again, but the system had pleasantly surprised me with a positive response. [No. I will show you] Before I could understand what it meant by those words, my world darkened as I felt my consciousness sink and pull inwards. My senses went nk, and then the whole world changed. *** I opened my eyes to a red fractured sky with billowing maroon clouds like dark fumes. ''What...? '' my thoughts were forced to a halt as the whole world trembled with a mighty rumble like a tremoring space. Grand meteorites the sizes of small moons, over fifty of them, fell from the boiling sky. Each of the asteroids burning in red zing heat of crimson mes that left tall trails of ck clouds of billowing smoke, like a descending spire. I watched onend far in the distance and a bright light ensued and swallowed up the world in an explosion. The ground below was made a burning sea of rolling mes as a thunderous shockwave boomed. I felt the incinerating heat prick away at my illusionary face as the wave hit, despite the distance of kilometers, and I was blown like a rag dog, carried along with the current. I fell out of the sky, into the withered grounds. My body collided with various ruined building structures, shattering through them like stone through ss. I crashed into the withered ground, feeling the air knock out of my lungs. My body hurt, my bones were broken and shattered. It was hard to breathe, and pain clouded my thoughts. It was supposed to be an illusion conjured by the system, but the stimuli were all too real. It hurt... My body was broken to the extent I couldn''t utter a single sound. My joints were twisted oddly and blood secreted out of my eyes, dying my vision red. Unable to move a single finger, Iid down like a shattered doll, motionlessly staring at the red sky. It was then I saw a splendid fissure tear a rift through the fractured sky. It was like a magnificent crack the size of a big city, and only a vast endless purple ck voidy on the other side wth tiny shimmering and swirling stars. They were like distant universes. -BOOM The world rocked once more, sending another wave of blinding pain through my allegedly illusionary body. A distant figure descended from the terrifying rift above. My vision was dimming so I couldn''t distinguish their features clearly from where I was. It resembled a person dressed by the cosmos. Like a cloak of the darkness of space. Just then, my gaze shifted slightly to a bright speck of distant light that was like a traveling star. A shooting star that traveled through the fractured red sky at the new figure that just descended. Again, I couldn''t rify, but the moving star was also a person. Regardless, the two parties both collided at the center just above me and a portion of the remnant of the sky fell with a thunderous boom. I watched countless weapons of bright light adorn the red sky. There were swords, spears,nces, war hammers, battle axes, arrows, and many more, each humongous and monstrous to dwarf even the tallest buildings of earth. They orbited themselves on one side around the figure coated in light. And on the other side of the figure draped in the shimmering darkness of space, countless ck fissures tore open around him, hiding in their depths something i couldn''t begin to fathom. Once again, the two battling figures collided; the gigantic weapons of light to shimmer like stars in the distance all attacked the opposite figure surrounded by fissures. As they traveled, the world of Aetohria shook. -BOOM It concluded in a bright light so blinding and al consuming that my consciousness was erased simply. *** "Heauk-!!" I awoke with a deep gasp, and jolted straight up from my bed. I was panting and short of breath, cold sweat drenched down my back and my clothed stuck on to me like an extrayer of skin. Beads of sweat wet my forehead, and I didn''t need a mirror to know how ashen my face must have been. I kept panting deeply, feeling my heart continue to pound inside of my chest. "Sy...haa...Sy-stem..." I called out between battered breaths and the familiar synthetic voice resounded in its usual manner. [Yes] I drew in deep breaths trying to control my racing heart then swallowed down saliva. "Wh...what was that...what jus happened?!" I demanded, feeling my fingers tremble and sweat trickle down my face. The system oblivious or uncaring of my current state, emotionlessly answered. [A glimpse of the {Great Cmity} toe] as always, its response was short and concise, yet leaving so much to desire. "I...I see," managing to seize some control over my breathing and recover minimumposure, i said. Actually, I didn''t understand. It was all so sudden, yet so real. Everything is. I looked up at the message interface that was still before me. The details of the assigned quests wereid out before me and my eyes lingered towards the description then penalty below. Be stronger and survive, or die. Strong enough to survive ''that''? Was it even possible?! "Ku..." Despite the absurdity and unfairness of it all, I gave a self-deprecatingugh. Even in this lifetime, I still had to fight. The only difference this time around was that I had to fight for my life. I had to fight to live. Fine then. Dammit. I took one final deep breaths and exhaled deeply, bringing calm to my still pounding heart. I ced my palm against my sweaty forehead, then pulled back my hair and revealed a self-mocking grin. "System, I need you to tell me every single thing I need to know about this damned world, the history, the civilization, all of it." [I will answer ording to your authorization] the system said, but I was satisfied with that at the moment. "That''s good enough for now. I''ll do the fucking quest. I won''t leave my fate to be guided by others anymore, I''ll fight for myself this time." [...] "...and by the way, isn''t there anything else i could call you? It''s a bit redundant saying System all the time." I asked the system, and the synthetic voice resounded unchangingly. [I have no name] "Really? Then you don''t mind if I give you one?" [That is unnecessary, but do as you wish] , I could imagine the system shrug it''s non-existent shoulders as it said this, tly. "You and that condescending tone of yours...fine. From today hence forth, your name will be Meta." [...] Like a certain ai. Chapter 4 My Sweet Big Older Sister Adrianne Three more years had gone by since my transmigration into this world. I only turned eightst month. I, Zachary Harper, now Victor Bright, had deepened my understanding andprehension of this strange new world, and my adaptability had be even more fluid with the aid and assistance of Meta, the system. ... [A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger:n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... I took onest fleeting look at the familiar Quest notification before dismissing it and taking off. I was already used to seeing the message, and already resolved myself for what was toe. The illusion Meta had shown me before had been etched deeply into my memories. But in he end, it wasn''t like I would panic while screaming "the end of the world is nigh" and hoard my family and resources for the apocalypse. Quite the contrary actually. I''ve lived thest few years without a care in the world. It sounded careless, but who knew the world would be ending soon other than me? In my perspective, if someone found out they had a limited time to live, or that the world would end, wouldn''t they try to spend theirst numbered days fulfilling their desires and frivolities? Or would they toil in sweat and blood, trying desperately and inevitably to avoid or survive the already predetermined doom? I believe it is quite obvious which option I would choose. Yes, I have no intentions on trying to stop the Great Cmity that is toe. Why would I bother doing that in this life? And plus, it was impossible for me to think there was a way to avert the cmity. If it at all were possible in the first ce, the system quest would be something like, "The Great Cmity is upon us...stop it." But instead it precisely says, " The great Cmity is upon us... Survive or die. " ...it was quite painfully clear with the choice of words. All I could do was count my days, and live each and everyone of them like there''s no tomorrow, ''cuz there really might be no tomorrow. The time duration on the Quest was still empty. ''You Only Live Once '',once again, that popr mantra from Earth fit perfectly with my circumstances. Live in the moment. Have your bread today. Don''t think, do. Live like never ever! Those kinds things. "Vick, are you ready yet?" A familiar voice pulled me out of my casual thoughts. Hehe, only someone as crazy as me would think the end of the world was casual... In any case, the voice belonged to a beautiful young girl with long brown hair and hazy brown eyes that shown like diluted gold. She had soft features, but a rather stressful and serious looking face. A simr vibe and aura always surrounded this same person. Adrianne was my older sister in this life, the prize of our little family. "Yes, big sis." I beamed a big and dazzling smile at her and said. Her stern expression didn''t shift, and Adrianne only nodded curtly before turning to leave. At the same time, I picked up a thick, wooden spear and followed behind her, while fasting on my arm guard. Currently at the moment, I was preparing for a friendly, light spar against my sweet older sister. My transmigration was into the branch of a renowned Spearsfamily, and as members, all descendants were inclined to master the spear as a weapon. It was brutal. I had already began my training as early as I could walk. ''if he''s old enough to walk, then he''s old enough to swing a spear, Milord, '' said the bast¡ª i mean, gracious teacher. This was just one amongst many other spars I''ve had against my sister over the years, although this time was a bit special. "Take your position." "Yes." Adrianne simply said and I nodded with a smile while following her direction. I walked ahead of her and after putting some distance, positioned my self opposite her as her opponent. We were holding the spar outside in one of our smaller courtyards used for training. The weather was cool and the sky was clear, while the sun hung high. It was a pleasant day in mid spring. I turned slightly to the side at a building not too far away, specifically at one of the windows. My father, Dorian Bright Solvaine stood next to the window and overlooked the happenings from up there with serene gaze. "Pay attention." A firm voice scolded me from the front, it was Adrianne who''s strict face had be sterner. "Yes." I turned back to her with a smile then entered a stance while positioning my speae. Adrianne did the same but only lowered her stance just a little. Her unmoving gaze remained fixed on my figure with focus in her eyes. Even when a spring breeze blew through the courtyard and ruffled her long brown hair, there was not a single ripple in her expression. She has no intentions on holding back for me this time too... I restrained a sigh as I thought that from judging her state. "Begin." Themand was short, Adrianne instantly kicked off the ground and lunged at me. She covered the distance between us as quickly as it took to blink and was immediately before me, causing my carefree smile to recede only slightly. Without offering me so much as breathing space, Adrianne unleashed a flurry of attacks with her spear. I was quickly forced one foot back, and on the defensive against Adrianne''s aggression. I raised my spear to block the first de, then raised it again to block the next, and the one after that. -CLAK -CLAK -CLAK Adrianne''s blows were swift and heavy, each one seemed to weigh a pound, and forced my hands to tremble upon impact. As I continued to just barely block each of her swings with the shaft of my wooden spear, my carefree smile strained. I marched to the side and jerked my head away from the trajectory of her spear, and when I thought my merciless sister would finally give me some space to breathe, she twirled her spear in her hands, pivoted on her front heel, and twisted her body tond a devastating kick aimed for my unguarded side. Shit, I cursed and quickly repositioned my spear while bracing myself for impact. Adrianne''s guarded shin whiped through the air with such magnificent fluidity and crashed against the shaft of my sword I had quickly ced to guard my side and a peculiar noise resounded. I gritted my teeth with a small grunt and resisted the impact. Adrianne''s strength was far superior to mine, and despite I had managed to block her attack, I was inadvertently thrown to the side. I fell to the ground and rolled defensively before resisting the momentum and raised my head finally. Phew, that was one broken rib crisis averted. I felt a trickle of sweat down my face as my smile froze. Adrianne was already upon me, with her left heel descending for my lowered head for a dropkick. Her shadow loomed over me, her gaze was cold and vicious. Dear, Anne, aren''t I your cute little brother?! Suppressing my inner monologue, I grabbed my spear and quickly rolled out of the way. Adrianne''s heel crashed into the same spot I previously was half a second ago, and the impact actually let a groove. How babarious! Before I could begin toment the marital future of my dear cute sister, she was already leading in a follow up attack again. Fortunately, this time I was ready. Gripping my wooden spear I quickly rose to my feet and skillfully evaded her attack with a back step. This is it. I thought and everything slowed down before my perception. Ever since the spar began, Adrianne had forced me entirely on the evasive or defensive, but her most recent attack had left her open to weaknesses which would take half a second to cover. But in a fight, half a second was more than enough. Especially for those with numerous experiences under their belt. The spear was a mid ranged weapon when used in melee, but this provided a number of weakness. One would need to simply leap out of the range of the attacker, but then, they could just throw it at you. The spear was quite versatile in some manner thanks to that. The other would be to close the distance. It was, after all, a mid-range weapon, not a close ranged one like a sword. Close in on your attacker, invade deep into their personal space, and they would be left with minimum movements to make with their weapon. Then you strike. I had the chance to quickly refix my footing and lunge an attack at Adrianne''s during this fleeting moment. Time appeared to have stopped for me as I quickly gathered enough information and data from my surroundings and opponent. Her footing is awkward, her posture is is slightly shifted and has a considerable number of openings. Her hair is in the way, and is that a ne sticking out from her cor? Sigh, dear, cute big sister of mine, if this were a dogfight back on Earth, all of this would be the undoing of you, Imented thoughtfully with a carefree silent chuckle. You should be d you have a kind and considerate little brother like me, treat me better. With that intentional hesitation on my part, that fleeting moment passed and Adrianne immediately fixed her posture and footing as she flowed into another attack at me. Watching the shaft of her spear draw an arc for me, I smiled self-mockingly and thought, This is gonna'' hurt, let''s just get it over with. Time retuned back to normal and Adrianne''s spear quickly rammed into my midsection, knocking the air out of my lungs and throwing me off my feet. I let out an embarrassing sound as my body hurled backwards through the air and skidded into a small pond nearby, rippling the surface of the water. I lingered intentionally for a few seconds before exaggeratedly gasping and iling my hands around. "I-i can''t swim! I can''t swim! Help, I''m-i''m drowning!" "Hmph, what a pitiful little brother I''ve got. The pond isn''t even that deep. " Adrianne, watching my act from dry ground, said pitifully. "Ah." I made a dumb voice of realization, then stood up. Adrianne was right, the water only reached as far as my short knees when I stood straight. Though, I know that. "You''re weak and clumsy, you know I won''t be always there to protect you. Here." Adrianne approached the edge of the pond, said uncharacteristically softly then offered me a hand. You''re the one who put me in this state though. I bit the down the urge to say those words, nodded sheepishly with a smile and reached for he hand. Holding on to it as she pulled me out of the pund, I smiled deeply and warmly at Adrianne then said. "That''s why I will be as strong as big sis to protect myself, and even stronger to protect you instead. I promise." Barf, that was cringe! Chapter 5 Onto Getting Stronger and The End of the World The spar ended and I quickly retreated away to the locker room. "Ow, ow, ow." I winced in a small voice as I ced a hand over the spot Adrianne had hit with her spear for the final blow. "Ugh, that might leave a bruise," i groaned then sighed tiredly. The spar was certainly eventful. By the time we were finished, I noticed Dorian, my father had already left, but I wasn''t sure when. After blushing endlessly cutely from my cringe worthyment, Adrianne quickly took off to go cool her head. Despite I being the one with the most physical injuries, she would be the one to have a sleepless night. But I liked that part of my sister, the cute and awkwardplex she has for me her little brother. "She''s usually so strict looking and straight -faced that no one would realize she has a really really soft spot for me." I muttered as I began unfastining my protection. Well, the truth was Adrianne was just an awkward little girl. A monstrously barbaric awkward little 12 year old girl... Once again, I realized why Adrianne held the title of genius in our household. She was a truly talented child, and looks like is on the right track for greatness in this world. She was already this strong to be considered a slightly troublesome opponent by some of the gaurds and she was still just 12. Made me shudder thinking how much monstrous that cute big sister of mine would be when she''s older. "Yep, after today''s spar, I can more confidently say she is ready for the Bloodline Rite of Passage that''sing up." The Bloodline Rite of Passage, or Coming of age Ritual is periodic event or ritual hosted by the Main family for generations. This is when all the heirs and heiress of each family branches together and mostlypete against each other during a series of events. And the heir who manages toe out untop or catch the attention of the Main family of Family elders, will receive the privilege to use the Main family name and will be trained directly by the Main family for the future years toe. In addition, the family the heir hails from will receive a rise in status amongst the other branches ranks, and a much higher standard of living and reputation. It was to the point that they would be like some kind of main branch family. ...but of course this whole dumb ritual was just for the Main family to control any talents from the other Branches to prevent any chances of a future coup or uprising. The context here ''use the name of the Main family'' is quite literally, adoption. Yes, they would ''adopt'' the young talent into the Main family and raise them like their own. The underlying purpose of the whole Coming of age Ritual was quite obvious when one truly thought of it. I instantly understood it the first moment I heard of it. These kinds of things were as well popr back on Earth too. Well, none of that concerns me, anyway. I shrugged mentally. The ritual is only for the heirs and first born child of each family. I was the second, and I''ve made an effort to highlight my sister''s talent by reducing mine whenever i was around her. I didn''t want unnecessary drama during this lifetime, and would love to live it as peacefully and as carefreely as I could so what was the need of standing out? I would rather hide my talent and potential, and sink into the background or shadows of others, rather than be the focus of unnecessary attention. "I''m just d I wasn''t born first. That would only add to my current troubles." Adrianne had helped me dodged a bullet there. Despite my wishes of a slow life during this turn, there was still the system quest I had to worry about. A great Cmity, huh. The image of an apocalypse scene from that illusion shed through my mind. I had to survive that? Bullshit! No one could survive such a catastrophe! Really, I could swear I saw no other living human during all that disaster. The keyword here is ''human'', the two I saw were just monsters. But then again, it wasn''t like I had any other choice. It was literally survive or die. "Meta." After confirming there was no one else around in the locker room, I said quietly seemingly to myself. [Yes], a familiar synthetic voice resounded inside my head. Then I brought up the quest screen again and drew my gaze to the duration section. "How strong exactly do I have to be to be able to survive that?" I asked thoughtfully, thinking back to the unfairly realistic illusion Meta had plunged my consciousness into three years ago. [Negative. Not enough information to answer such a question.] The merciless Meta responded in its usual manner. I suppressed the side of my face from twitching and took in a deep breath. "You... Isn''t that only because you refuse to tell me more about the uing disaster? That''s your fault, isn''t it?" I retorted, feeling exasperated. Then a familiar string or words resounded in a seemingly sassy tone inside my head and I could only role my eyes. [Your authorization sequence is too low for that information] If I had a dor for every time it had said that... "You keep saying that, but how exactly do I raise my authorization?" [Your authorization level can be raised by ranking up and bing stronger.] This was also another response I had grown familiar with. Since I had Meta now, I was able to understand various aspects about this mysterious and secretive system. It kept denying me ess to certain information and aspects under the excuse of my authorization being insufficient. The only way to change this was to get stronger and rank up. But therein lied another problem. "Status."I chanted and the quest notification screen warped into a different screen with a string of different characters. ... [Name: Victor Bright Level: 3 Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- (null) Charm:- ??? ______ ______ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om ... ____ ____ Too little information is known ____ ___] ... "It''s all nk!" Even my health bar is all qeustion marks, isn''t that bad?! "Oi, Meta, what''s the meaning of this? Why are all of my stats, but my name, question marks?! How do you expect me to get stronger if I can''t track my progress, huh? What kind of system are you?!" [... There is too little corresponding information] You hesitated right there, didn''t you?! It turned out, I did have a status after all. That feature was only locked to me before discovering the ess code. But the issue was that, all of my stats, excluding my name and Level was nk with question marks. Even the summary... I''d already asked Meta multiple times before for an exnation, but it had always dodged the question for some reason. Well, at least, it there was one good thing, it''ll be this. With a thought I expanded on a certain section of the of the screen. ... [ Rare Skill: Inspect (lvl 1) Skill description: Inspect level of life forms and items that are within your limits] ... It was still only level one, but the Inspect skill would let me see the stats and attributes of others and objects around me, as if reading their own status screen. And it was a Rare skill too. Skills were a system adopted in this world. A human is born with at least a single skill from birth, and can grow to acquire even more overtime. And the rank of skills may vary ording to abilities and powers. And just as mine says, [Inspect] is a [Rare Skill]. Meta had already exined to me the general workings of this world, so i already more or less had an indepth understanding of Aetohria. I looked at my attributes once more, and feeling peeved, I dismissed the screen. There were numerous questions I needed from Meta, but my authorization sequence was still too low. In order to raise it, I had to rank up and be stronger. My guess is that the secrets and mysteries of this world and the system would only be open to me the stronger I became. Whoever it is responsible for all this probably made it like this to facilitate my progression and urge me toplete the quest. That means, whoever that is responsible wants me to grow stronger for a reason other than just to survive... I didn''t like it. The feeling like I was merely a pawn to facilitate some much grander n. I had been used once already, it wasn''t a pleasant feeling. But a least then, I knew, and willing epted it. But this is different. This is meant to be the life where I live differently. "Dammit this is all so frustrating!" I grtted my teeth and clenched my fist. Just then, I heard Meta''s voice resound in a attempt of constion. [Your only option is to get stronger to answer all of your questions. And survive] "..." I also had to remember that Meta was also a creation of whoever it is that was pulling the strings. All of it''s actions, messages or words were probably all programed to progress and preside over the development of the biggest scheme, with me on the board. Over the years I had discovered that Meta didn''t truly have ess to all of my thoughts or emotions. If I truly wished to hide my thoughts away from it at the deepest corners of my mind, then they wouldn''t know. That was why I was able to have such ideas like this without risking Meta finding out. I had numerous questions, regardless of whatever the true reason or for my purpose of being, I had to get stronger, wether I liked it or not. "Yeah. I guess so." Eventually I responded softly. [...] I took a deep breath and exhaled a tired sigh. Finished taking off all of my training gear, I proceeded to leave the locker room. I summoned my Attributes screen once more and lingered my gaze on my level. "Meta, I think I''m ready to master Aura." *** [Author''s note] Hey, guys, Peas&Carrots, here. How do you like and enjoy this story, even though it''s still just the beginning. We''re only five chapters in, but I''m on my way to apply for a contract. If I seed, How To Survive A Cmity gets to see a hundred more chapters. If I fail, then I''ll probably just scrap all of my stock, and that would be painful. This is where I need your help. Your powerstones,ments and reviews actually help to raise my chances of a sessful application, to be perfectly honest. It shows the Content editor that it can be marketable if the stats are already incredible at only 5 chapters in less than five days of publishing. So please, I''m asking for y''all support on this one. Thank you Chapter 6 Aether The world of Aetohria was full of fantasy and mystique. I had discovered the existence of magic and was naturally exited over it. From what I had seen so far, the world of Aetohria seemed to exist in a rather unique time period whenpared to earth. It was like a partial mixture of the middle ages,te Victorian era, and slightly futuristic time period. Yes, they had flying ships and actual floating inds. Inds that float! In mid air! Up. In. The. Sky! It was quite a revtion when Meta disclosed this to me. But that''s not the point. Aetohria had considerable magic technology, enough so to have flying ships and actual Mecha! Yes, suits of armour. Gundam! Cough. I was kidding. They aren''t Gundam but more like exoskeletal suits of armor the sizes of small trucks. Flying ships and floating inds? It sounds like a dreame true! Fantasy! Their technology was futuristic and modern, their style was Victorian, and their lores and habits were middle-aged. The unique blend was captivating. If this were a novel, I''d say the author must have been kicked by a horse. However I hadn''t been able to experience to what extent myself, I was still only a kid, and the furthest I had been was the front gate of my family manor. In the end, I could only imagine the outside world of Aetohria described to me by Meta. "Hey, can''t you just show me what the outside world looks like? You know, like that illusion you created before? I mumbled to myself, asking Meta as I walked down the empty passage. Meta''s response was prompt and joyless. [Negative. Such a sequence requires a considerable amount of Aether, and would be less productive to waste it on something so trivial. On a totally different matter...you do know you do not have to speak aloud tomunicate with me, don''t you?] I halted my steps and felt my face heat up with a twinge of embarrassment. A-ahem "Of co-" "..." I paused. ''Of course I knew that. '' [...] ''A-anyways. So Aether, huh. '' As seemingly advanced as Aetohria seemed to be, their technology didn''t run from electricity, or steam, or sr, or any other conventional means I was familiar with. In this world there existed a strange and mysterious energy called Aether that filled the atmosphere. The people of this world were able to harness this power and evolve their civilization to what it was now. But Aether was much more than just a power source for an engine. In novel terms, Aether was the power system of Aetohria! I arrived at my room and quickly took a seat on my bed while my window was left open for the sun to trickle in. I called on my attributes screen one more time and skimmed through my non-existent stats. ... [Name: Victor Bright Level: 3 Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- (Null) Charm:- ??? ______ ______ ... ____ ____ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Too little information is known ____ ___] ... Despite how I had been going on about taking things casual despite the looming disaster, I hadn''t been entirely sitting on my hands and twiddling my thumbs thisst few years. I epted the cmity woulde and there was no changing that. I could only follow the quest and grow strong enough to survive. It''s obvious my default level wouldn''t be 3 I had grown stronger indeed! Sniff sniff. It wasn''t easy indeed...sniff sniff. All the blood and sweat toe this far... I was truly content with my progress, level three at barely eight back then. I wasn''t sure about the standards of this world yet before, but I was certain my progress could be considered slightly above average. That was until I got my [Inspect] skill. ...my whole world crumbled when I saw people casually working around with numbers like 18, 20, 30 and above. And Adrianne was Level 5 at only 12 years old. And she wasn''t even Awakened yet. I''ll have to raise my level if I want to obtain a higher authorization sequence. Since I can''t follow up with my other stats, my level counter is the only manner I can use to track my progress. Unfortunately, there isn''t even an experience bar or something. Of course I could do it the old fashioned way like I would without a system. ''Hey, aren''t you a system? Shouldn''t you be used to make leveling up faster and easier or something? '' [I am only a Guide], so Meta said. I didn''t think much of that response at this point, since I had already grown ustomed to how cryptic the sassy ai was. I guess how to get stronger and rank up is all on me then. Meta is only a system in name. [...i heard that.] ''I hoped you would. '' I sneered. After concluding I would set up a system for myself, I turned to the other matter. ''Meta, exin to me about Aether and it''s influence on this world.'' [Affirmative. Aether is a mysterious energy that powers this world. It''s tied to the concept of "Heros" and is believed to have descended upon the world centuries ago.] ''What do you mean by "Heros"?'' I asked, curious. [Individuals capable of directly interacting with certain aspects of Aether appeared centuries ago. They were known as "Heros" and yed a crucial role in shaping the world.] ''I see. And what about Aura and Mana? How do they fit into this?'' [Aura and Mana are two known breakdowns of Aether in the human body and the world. They''re connected to the Hero''s abilities and the world''s life force.] I silently took notice of certain points Meta hadn''t revealed the previous times I''d had it exin to me about Aether. In summary, Aether was a dominant energy that powered this world, and only certain special Individuals could directly wield the power, and there were two known breakdowns of Aether in this case. Mana was an aspect which allowed people ssified as Mages to cast spells and use Magic. While Aura was present in those ssified as Warriors. Aura can be used in augmenting and refining the physical body and attacks. It was only limited to the human body and weapons in hand, so in some aspects it was inferior whenpared to Mana. Hmm. Meta mentioned an individual can either possess one of the two. Coincidentally, I possessed Aura and was a ''Hero''. But technically, I wasn''t awakened yet. But I had every intention to change that. Mastering Aura would be necessary if I had any intentions on getting stronger. Usually, i would be revealed to the presence of the dormant Aura in my body by my family when I was considered of age or worthy. Or I would awaken naturally when I''m old enough. Adrianne for example would learn our family Arts and Maniption when she turns 13, and if she cane out untop during the Coming of age Ritual, she would learn it immediately and be thought by the main family. If I decided to follow the original plotline, I would only be forcefully awakened by my 13th or 14th birthday,test by 15, but I didn''t want to wait that long anymore. It wasn''t as if I felt the rush to get stronger, I''ve just decided to take use of any advantages I can get ahead of time. I also knew this passive mentality of mine was wed. The fact there was no time duration on in the quest, was enough reason for me to run mad, but here I was, nning my thirteenth birthday. ''You mentioned you can awaken me before, didn''t you?'' I asked. [Affirmative.], Meta replied, [Awakening the dormant Aether energy deep inside your body is only a matter of stimtion. To awaken Aura, the body must be put under immense strain and pressure, but that is only one crude way humanity had established] Meta exined. ''I don''t really get it, but I''m guessing your saying you have other methods of stimting my dormant Aura without having to break my body? '' I smiled. [If simplified, yes.] Meta coldly spat. "Fine, let''s do it." I first of all got up to lock my door, then took of my clothes. I walked back to the center of my room, and sat half naked on the cold wooden floor in fetus position. ''I''m ready. '' I said inwardly. [...was that necessary?] ''Hush. I''m trying to get in the mood. Now do your stuff already.'' [...] ''Don''t just go quiet, it makes this more embarrassing! '' I pleaded. [Affirmative. Then I will be taking temporary control of your body.]Meta all of a sudden said and I only managed an unintelligible response. "Eh-" Before I could truly understand, a new string of letters appeared before my eyes on an illusionary interface. ... [New Skill acquired. @#%$ rank> has been learned.] [@#%$ skill, [??? (lvl???)] Is being used.] ... Then suddenly I felt my consciousness shift. My vision blurred and I felt a surreal sensation of getting pulled out of my body. ... ''huh? '' I opened my eyes to...huh, my room actually. I was kind of expecting a new and different illusion again this time, but who would have thought I''d still be in ce? But something wasn''t right. I tried moving my body but I couldn''t. Neither could I shift my gaze to look around. And when I really tried to force it, my perspective changed. This time around I was still in my room, but right before my eyes... ''Is that me? '' Right in front of me, was me! No, to be clearer, that was my body! What the hell is this? An out of body experience? Did I die?! Did that ursed ai kill me in the end?! [Negative. You are merely experiencing the effectd of the [???] skill. Temporarily we have switched ces.] Suddenly, Meta''s voice echoed. But rather than resound from inside my head as usual, its voice was like from all over the ce, without a distinctive direction. ''Switched ces? '' I didn''t like the sound of that. As if realizing my doubts, Meta added. [Affirmative. This is necessary for the following process of stimting your dormant Aura. The skill will automatically deactivate on its own when it is done.] ''...I see,'' So I could switch ces with Meta, huh. That''s something I had no idea of. Plus, I learned a new skill just like that? ''so...what now? '' [Then I will now begin] Chapter 7 Aura I wasn''t sure what Meta was doing, but I watched my body explode with tremendous power in the next second. "Woah... '' Slowly, I watched as a colorless greyish ghostly hue permeated from my sitting body. I had my eyes close, or at least Meta did, and some mysterious energy began to secret from the pores of my body. As I had my senses perceiving from a unique perception throughout this moment so to say, I watched the entire process that took ce on the outside. That ghostly colourless hue...that was Aura. I was supposed to only see it, but strangely I felt a vague connection yet with my sperated body. I was currently experiencing a strange form of out of body experience, but I could more or less feel what my physical body felt? Or maybe it''s because of Aura. The energy was just as mystifying as anything I had ever seen. I watched the strange ghostly hue coalesce around my body, and observed a transient flow of light gather just underneath my navle before suffusing and disappearing. Only a few seconds after that, I heard Meta''s synthetic voice echo in its usual manner. [It is done], it said, [You will now return to your body.] Just as the voice said so, I felt my consciousness grow faint and fleeting before getting sucked and pulled in a familiar fashion. The first thing I saw after returning to my body, while opening my eyes were a string of letters presented on an illusionary interface. ... [Skill {???} has been deactivated] -DING! [You have leveled up] ... Then slowly I felt my consciousness settle and control of my body return back to me. Then I immediately began to explore my body. There was vast wave of euphoria that washed over me. A truly splendid feeling, like after just having a warm bath, it was inexplicable. I felt a strange transient rush of energy flow through my body, and even my other senses felt a tad bit clearer. Basking in the euphoric sensation, I exhaled a deep breath, and turbid air flowed from my lips. -TSSSSS There was a quiet hissing sound and what resembled colourless steam evaporated out of the pore''s of my skin. It was then I realized I felt a bit hot and my body was drenched in shimmering sweat. "So this is Aura?" I muttered, mesmerized and fully immersed in the feeling. I quickly got up and walked toward a hung mirror by a wall in my room and gazed at the reflection of my bare chested figure. . The reflection of an 8 year old boy with slightly wavy brown hair and bright gold eyes, and a body full of sweat stared back a me. Using my reflection from the mirror surface, I examined my body for any noticeable changes or difference. ''I leveled up too all of a sudden, is that because of what just happened? '' [Affirmative], Meta promptly responded, [Call up your attribute screen]. I didn''t linger and simply nodded before summoning a familiar string of letters. .. [Name: Victor Bright Level: 4 Rank: Beta (New) Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 8/8 Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Inspect} Level 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} (New) Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ Too little information is known ____ ___] ... ''Ooh! There are new additions.'' i quickly noticed the changes and differences in my stats. The Skills had increased by one, and my Aura point isn''t empty like before. The new skill was the one Meta used to switch ces with my consciousness, but both its Rank and level are nk? ''More question marks, '' i sighed mentally, ''i suppose my level is still too low for you to tell me what that means? '' [Affirmative] Sighh. In any case, I quickly got over the suspicious new skill, which name was nk, and moved on to other matters. "There''s also one other new addition. Rank? Meta, borate, " I said and Meta''s voice began an apt exnation inside my head. [You have sessfully forced the awakening of the dormant Aura inside your body and have be an Awakened, one who wields the aspects of Aether] " An Awakened? Don''t you mean Hero?" I asked, confused. [Negative. Hero is the term and ssifications used by Humans for an Awakened.], Meta exined. ''Oh, I see. Continue. '' [There are eight known Ranks for an Awakened, and are as follows; Beta, Mortal, Eta, Hero, Quadra, Scribe, Hydra, and Cand, rank in ascending order. The power difference between each rank increases drastically every one rank up. And currently, as a newly Awakened, you are a Beta ranked Awakened] Meta concluded and left me thinking. Beta, Mortal, Eta, Hero, Quadra, Scribe, Hydra, and Cand ...who the fuck came up with those ridiculous names, and why are they unnecessarily too many ranks?! They''re so over the ce and random! But aside from the kinky naming sense, there were a few necessary piece of information to take into ount for the future. With there being eight ranks, I had to reevaluate the initial standards I had ced on this world''s power system. ''So this was what you meant by ''Rank up''. I said inwardi, thoughtfully. Meta had repeatedly said to raise my authorization sequence to certain information, I had to raise my sequence by ranking up. But then I didn''t have Aura and misinterpreted ''Rank up'' as ''Leveling up''. The sly system had definitely made that misunderstanding intentionally up until now. [Affirmative. The corresponding Ranks will be your primary method of gauging you strength and future progression. Do note that the difficulty of each rank up will be drastically increased the higher rank you be.], Meta said. The exnation made my future prospects clearer now, at least. And also much harder. It was one thing leveling up, but how was i supposed to raise my Rank? [By continuing to Master your Aura, and expanding your Core. Correspondingly, by raising your Level to the rank limits and breaking through.] ''I see. That makes sense. '' when i referred back to certain other Webnovels I''ve read with simr power scaling (systems), and video games it was rather obvious. ''My current Aura level is quite honestly depressing. How do I expand it, and not only that, how do I truly master Aura? '' having such doubts and questions filter into my mind, I felt a string of uncertainty. [There is no problem], Meta''s synthetic voice said in its usual manner, [That''s why I''m here] Ohhh, Meta, you''re finally ying your part like a true system... sniff, sniff. [...]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om This is good. As untrustworthy and cryptic as Meta might be, I had no doubts it would be the best teacher for me. Meta had already proven repeatedly to me its vast knowledge and information concerning this world, there was definitely no one better than the System to make me stronger. In addition, it had no reason to harm me, at least for now, or hasn''t shown any overt will to do so. If I truly was a pawn in a muchrger game, then Meta was there to make sure I aplished my purpose. And until then, whenever it was, it had no reason to harm me. Meanwhile, I would capitalize on this opportunity. The person behind the system, and most likely behind my transmigration, needs me to be stronger for a different reason, they were only using me to further their goals. It would be fair if I did the same, wouldn''t it? I''ll use the resources provide for me to get stronger, strong enough at least to break my shackles and bitch my fate. This was my second life, my grand redemption. I was going to have it however I want, and not dictated by someone, or something. In the end, I only had to get stronger; both to brave the cmity, and to raise the middle finger for the one responsible for everything. ''Oi, Meta, what rank would I have to be to get authorization ess to the secrets your hiding from me? '' I asked intentionally. Meta''s response came a littleter than usual. [For now only focus on reaching Mortal Rank] It didn''t answer the question, but didn''t evade it either, huh...I thought at the deepest corners of my mind. "Hmmm...so one at a time then, is that what you''re saying? '' [There is no other way after all] Meta said, matter of factly, and I nodded, feigning satisfaction. ''Yes, that is true.'' Just as I was about to reach for my clothes on the floor, I heard a small round of soft knocking against my door. As immediately as it ended, a mild feminine voice resounded from the other side. "... Young master Victor, the Master invites you to have dinner with him and the rest of the family at the main hall in two hours." A maid, huh. If Father was asking for a meeting like this with the rest of the family, he probably has an announcement or something to say. Although I probably already have an idea what it might be... my thoughts were fleeting like this as I turned to the door and responded to the messenger. "Yes. Return to my father and tell him I have received the invite. I will be present in the next two hours." I said curtly, sending the maid off. Once I could no longer sense the presence of anyone standing by my door anymore, i picked up my clothes and turned back to the mirror. I stared at my reflection. Come to think of it, I lookpletely different from before on Earth. Well that''s obvious, I did die and reincarnate into this body. I was still little, but I could see nice prospects in my features for the future. Smirking onest times at my looks of this lifetime, I decided to get ready for the family meeting in a couple of hours. Now I had to not only raise my level but my rank and master Aura, all while still trying to live peacefully for as long as I could until the Cmity. Of course, I had every intention to keep my forceful awakening a secret ti avoid attention from my family. I had to grow stronger in the shadows, and avoid unnecessary attention in the light, this meant I had to keep a secret my recent awakening for as long as necessary. For now I''ll just rise to Mortal Rank. It was a pain but I had no other choice. After that I''d see from there. Beta, Mortal, Eta, Hero, Quadra, Scribe, Hydra, and Cand... Come to think of it, I wonder what ranks those ''Monsters'' from that illusion were? Probably Cand, but Meta said in passing that these were only the discovered Ranks. Chances were, they were something even beyond Cand rank. And that was the bar I had to reach. Chapter 8 Dinner With the Brights In the next two hours I was sitting on the side of a long bronze table, in a grand dinning hall. The ceiling was high and hung with glittering chandeliers, and the room was brightened by the warmth of lit candles, casting a serene and homely atmosphere amongst the surrounding. The broad ss windows on the walls ced far apart were covered closed by red curtains, providing a sense of solitude. Before me were the members of my family. Sitting at the edge of the long bronze table covered in various dishes and cutleries, was my father, Dorian Solvaine Bright. He was a Middle aged man with ash colored hair, golden brown eyes and a well groomed handle-bar mustache. He had a straight and stern looking face, but his eyes were soft and held noticeable warmth. Dorian, my father in this world, was dressed lightly for the evening, donning a simple white linen shirt and a ck vest and grey trousers. He sat at the head of the long table on thergest chair befitting the seat of honor. There was my mother, Alissa seated across from me on the other side with her brown hair braided and her green eyes glittered softly in the dim warmth of the candles and chandeliers. And next to me on my left was my sweet and adorable older sister Adrianne in a light ck evening dress. Her hair was fixed and braided over her shoulders to keep from getting in the way with her meal, her movements were mild and elegant, too formal maybe. She was like a mechanical doll. Iughed amusingly inside my head and continued with my meal. A few minutes into the silence of the dinner, Dorian my father, put down his utensils. "Ahem," he cleared his throat then said to each of us present, "and how was everyone''s day?" Hearing my father begin talking, following everyone else''s pattern, I ced down my utensils for a short while then raised a smile. "I had a nice day," I said, smiling. "The weather was lovely, perfect for a walk." "That''s great, dear!" Alissa replied, her eyes sparkling. "I''m d you enjoyed it." Dorian cleared his throat, a hint of a smile on his face. "And how was your spar with Adrianne?" It made my grin falter for a moment before i recovered. "Ah, well... I learned a lot from it." Adrianne raised an eyebrow. "You mean you learned how to fall into a pond?" I chuckled. "Hey, that was just a minor setback! I''ll get you next time, sis." Then Adrianne smiled, a hint of pride in her voice. "I''m shaking in my boots." Dorianughed, his deep voice filling the room. "I think Adrianne has the upper hand for now, Victor." "Come on, dear, don''t tease your brother like that, you know how he looks up to you. " My mother said with a small smile." I know...maybe you can go easier on him next time? " But Dorian quickly cut in. " No, that will not do well for Victor''s growth. It will only impede his growth." he interjected then continued in the same mild manner, "It is already good that he sees he''s big sister as someone to meet up to." Finishing his words, Dorian turned to smile at Adrianne who only nodded with a straight face. While I continued to maintain a stupid smile trying to highlight my naivety as much as I can. The casual discussion carried on for a few minutes longer, mostly sharing how our days went, until finally, Dorian was ready to cut to the chase. He said. "Well then, you must all have known there''s a reason I specifically invited everyone here tonight. Usually, we had free will to decide if we were going to have our meal at the hall, or in person. Dorian only ''summons'' us like this to share some discussion with the family. Thinking like so, I snuck an imperceivable nce at Adrianne sitting next to me. Her motionless face and braided hair gave her the countenance of a porcin dolle to life. What''s more was that her gaze was away from my speaking farther. Then Dorian said, his voice reverberating much deeper. "The Bloodline ceremony ising." Silence prevailed for a fleeting moment, then Dorian continued, carrying on a lighter tone to lift the slight tension. He curled a small smile on his lips. "The Bloodline Ceremony is a hosted event held by the Main family periodically." Then I cut in mildly, and said. " You mean the one where the heirs of each branch familyes together andpete?" Dorian smiled more brightly and nodded. He praised. "Yes. Well, it looks like some one has done his studies on the family''s traditions." Dorian chuckled lightly, and in response, I limited myself to a simple bow. Moving on, Dorian continued. "It is an event where all the heirs from the various branch families, at the age of 12,e topete in a traditional ritual. It is a rare chance for every family to show off their worth and honor. " In some manner, he''s right. But I''m sure even he knows the underlying purpose of this ''ritual''. I''m sure the other families do. This is one of the most effective ways the Main family keeps the branches on a tight leash. It is true that it is also a chance to disy a family''s worth before the Main family and Elders, however. Dorian turned to face the strict faced Adrianne then said in apelling voice. "You know what that means, my dear." Adrianne nodded firmly. "Yes, father. I will bring honor to the Brights."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om There was resolution burning in the depths of her eye. That is youth, Adrianne is still young and has a bright future for her. If she can surpass the ritual and catch the eyes of the Main family, her status, the status of our family, is mostly already set in stone...i thought considerably. Adrianne was the best cover for me, I was so lucky to be born a bright. Well, good luck with that, big sis. "I believe in you. I have watched you grow, you are strong my dear." Dorian proudly dered. " The ritual will be in four days, and you will set off two days from now to the Main family''s Manor. " *** " Oof." I plopped down on my bed and pulled at the cor of my shirt. The dinner was over as soon as Dorian had said all he wanted to. Everything was mostly as I expected it to be, so it was kind of tiring to sit still like that and wait when I could be spending that time trying to rank up. I exhaled a deep breath in the silence of my room. The evening was over and sky had gone dark with the night. I felt the bright glow of therge silver moon prate through my window and douse my room. It was decided Adrianne would obviously participate in the Ritual that would preside in four days from now. And in two days she would depart for the venue which was the Main Family branch. I could already guess what my sister would be doing until then. -WHOOSH -WHOOSH -WHOOSH I rose up from my bed to strange whistling of the wind. The night was quiet and ever since awakening earlier today, I had felt a slight increase in my overall senses, that I was still struggling to even adapt to those minor changes. The sound of whistling wind continued to persistent and then I took a couple of steps for my window before peeking through it. The expanse of the night sky and distant stars spread out before me. The silver moon was bright andrge at the center. Bringing my gaze lower, I was presented with the familiar sight of the courtyard. It was the exact same one I had a spar in with Adrianne earlier today. The very first thing to catch my attention was the figure of my most favorite sister persistently swinging a spear and drawing arcs through the air with it. Oi, oi, didn''t she just get out of dinner right now? She''s already swinging a spear? Wasn''t this little girl a little too dedicated? Was it weird I felt a string of envy for the drive she possessed that Icked? Wouldn''t it be nice if I could be as excited just like her about surviving the Great Cmity? Yeahhh, I bet I''d be so much stronger if i were that motivated. Adrianne''s figure danced with her spear as a partner under the starry night sky. Her ck dress flowed like a dark stream of enchanting river, the silk moving in a ghostly fluency. Her swings were graceful and her steps were lithe. But Adrianne Bright''s eyes were ferocious. Taking pleasure in the sight for a couple of minutes, I mumbled to myself with a nod. Yep, my big sister is the prettiest. Chapter 9 Getting Jacked! I watched my sister Adrianne load unto a coach thest of her luggage. It was a clear and bright morning in the Bright Manor, where the sun had yet to climb it''s peak. And on such a fine morning like this, I was at the main gate seeing my sister off. An envoy had been sent from the Main family to receive the heirs from each of their homes. "It''s already been two days, huh." I said in a wistful tone, watching the shimmering strands of Adrianne''s hair flutter and flow down her back. Adrianne turned to face me and nodded. "Mhm. It has," then she rose one corner of her lips in a teasing grin. "What? Your''re missing your big sister already even before she leaves?" I cast a crestfallen expression and lowered my head somberly. I lingered for two seconds before forceing a bright smile and said. "I know, right? That''s pathetic isn''t, it? Haha." Instantly, I watched Adrianne''s cocky expression freeze and her eyes glittered. Heh. Too easy. "C-cough, cough." Adrianne feigned a cough then regainedposure, before saying in her usual mild manner tone.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "It is only two days I''ll be away for. Once the Ritual Ceremony is over I''ll return home," she paused, then added in a small voice, "to you." Clearly, with my advanced hearing I heard that, but I still went on and said, "Ehh? What was that, big sis?" Adrianne gagged then coughed hard before feigningposure and shrugged futilely. "It was nothing. I didn''t say nothing. If I did, it was that you should keep training for when I return. We''ll spar, and I won''t hold back this time." She firmly dered You never hold back. Suppressing an honest trembling from my body, I smiled wryly then said. "I''ll... I''ll do my best. Plus, I''m sure you would totally dominate thepetition, and when that happens, won''t you go off to learn under the Main family for a few years? '' Adrianne stared silently into the worry inside my eyes. Her strict expression softened only slightly. "It doesn''t mean I won''t return at all. Ths is my family, and you are my little brother, remember that." From this exchange I could confirm that Adrianne was aware of the truth concerning the Ritual. For now, that was enough. "Yes, I understand." I nodded firmly. "Good." Adrianne said then her gaze swept pass me. At the same moment I felt an approaching presencee from behind and equally turned. "Father." Adrianne said then respectfully bowed. I lowered my head slightly then moved out of the way to the side. As Dorian approached, he disyed a small smile. "You have finished taking all you need?" " Yes. I only carried with me what is necessary. I''ll only be gone for two days, and even then the Main family would be responsible for my aodation." Adrianne soundly exined and Dorian nodded in understanding. "Yes, that is true. You''ve always been so practical and thorough, so I trust that your luggage won''t becking." Just as Dorian said that, Alissa my mother rushed through the garden at us, looking frenzied. "Adrianne, don''t forget your sweater, it might get cold at the Main Family''s estate! Amd suncreen, suncreen too! It might be hot out there!" Grabbing Adrianne by her shoulders, Alissa nervously thered. "M-mother, I''m fine. Stop shaking me so much... " Adrianne pleaded with a gradually palingplexion. Dorian intervened, cing a calming hand on Alissa''s shoulder. "Let''s not forget Adrianne is a young and capable youngdy, she''ll be fine at the Main family''s estate." I merely continued to remian on the sidelines like an onlooker. With some effort we managed to pry Alissa off Adrianne and the envoy urged us to finsih out goodbyes. "We need to depart soon, please." The envoy assigned to Adrianne informed respectfully and we watched as Adrianne enter into the Coach. Before her back could fully disappear, I cast onest meaningful nce at her, and I barely suppressed my self from choking on a violent cough from what I saw. Before anyone could notice what was wrong with me, the coach began to trudge on, and pass the front gate. ... [Skill {Inspect (lvl1)} is currently active] ... I hadn''t been kidding when I said Adrianne would dominate thepetition. ... [Skill {Inspect (lvl1)] has been deactivated] ... [Name: Adrianne Bright Level: 8] ... That girl had gone up and entire three levels more in just two days! Staring at the distancing coach, i felt a strange mix of emotions. Adrianne was going to crush the Ritual. *** Level 8 by only 12 years old was by no means a small feat. I had raised my understanding of the world through Meta far enough to have a general idea of the power standard, and level 8 at such a young age was crazy! Adrianne is a monster! What''s more she wasn''t even an Awakened yet. How did she level up an entire three times in two days? That was almost impossible, but it was in no way a small feat without the proper experience. Just then, invading my thoughts, Meta interjected, saying. [You should be raising your level too. You''re overall base stats may have been multiplied since your awakening, but you would still lose in a fight against your sister.] ''Well, jeez I appreciate the vote of confidence, Meta. " I rolled eyes. [I am only doing my part] ''I bet you are. '' Though what Meta said may be true, I''m notpletely inclined to believe I would be beaten throughly if I went up against Adrianne. Definitely, her level and stats all far surpass mine despite my status as a Beta ranked Awakened. But there are different other factors that can determine the oue of a fight.There was experience, terrain, setting, and even ample prior preparation could drastically alter the course of a fight. Maybe I would lose in a spear fight, but if it came to an exchange of blows with just our fists, I felt confident I would at least deal substantial damage. After all, a dogfight turns anything at all into a weapon, even your opponent. [Only you would casually debate and devise methods of winning a fight in a scenario against your own blood sister,] I smiled wryly. ''Is that so? '' I hadn''t thought about it like that. Must have been some lingering instincts I carried along with me into this world. In any case, Meta was right. I had to level up my stats to better maximize my Awakened status. ''Hmmm. What''s the best and quickest way to level up faster? '' I asked Meta in my head, and the synthetic voice promptly responded. [That would be to gain experience from hunting Beasts and Monster.] ''Monsters? They exist here too? How does that work?'' I asked, curious. [Monsters and Magical beasts are created from the influence of Aether in the fauna of Aetohria since its descent centuries ago. As such Monsters and Beasts posses Aether inside their body, andpresses as Cores. Hunting a Monster can assist to raise your level, and absorbing the essence of their Cores can help to expand your Aura pool, and raise your Ranks indefinitely.] Ohh, I just heard some really incredible news. ''I see. Leveling up is much easier than Ranking up. In game terms, like you''ve used, to level up will require Exp, or experience points, but your a System in name and I don''t have that. '' I seized the opportunity to mock the condescending Meta. [Indeed, but as such a system of ''exp'' as you call it doesn''t exist, you can only Level up by raising your stats the normal, human way] she ignored my obvious diss, but somehow I didn''t like how Meta said the ''human''. ''You mean by exercising?'' [Affirmative.] I thought so as well. Gaining Exp from hunting Monsters or Beast was only the most effective and quickest way to raise my level, but it went without saying I couldn''t enjoy that privilege. At least not for now. Then I could only raise my level the old fashioned way. By getting jacked. Cough! No, not jacked, jacked, like on steroids or anything! I mean, like uhh, getting ripped, yeah, getting super ripped and muscle building! [...] ''Cough, cough. I-i understand that. But I also want to master Aura and also raise my rank immediately.'' I muttered inwardly, ''Since I could exercise to level up, that''s one problem solved. But you still haven''t told me how to effectively raise my rank, and even more so, utilize the Aura in my body. '' Except for absorbing the essence from the cores of Monsters of course. Plus I need to figure out a way to expand my Aura capacity. Having the meter at 4 was depressing. ''I''ve decided. Teach me Aura first. '' Sorting out my thoughts and doubts with Meta, and concluding my next cause of action, I took an excuse from the presence of both my parents and quickly retreated back into my room. [Utilizing Aura, or any aspect of Aether actually, is only a manner of sensitivity and control.] Meta immediately began as soon as I secluded myself away inside my locked room. I nodded quietly for it to continue. [An Awakened needs to be able of perceiving the Aether in their bodies and, the world, to have certain degrees of control over it. As in Aura, the same applies in Mana.] ''I understand. And how do I learn to perceive Aether?'' this was originally something I would be able to learn once I was finally of age, or awakened naturally. But Meta had been the one responsible for my premature Awakening into Beta rank, that I had no one else to turn to show me the ropes. [Usually this process will take a long and lengthy procedure of meditation to raise the Awakened''s Sensitivity, and would ultimately depend on your innate perception and talent.] ''Plea~se tell me there''s a ''but''. '' i pleaded entirely earnestly. Talent was an option I didn''t have any hopes on. Meditation sounded like sitting around and reflecting on what I had for breakfast. And I''ve never had any talent for anything at all before! [Affirmative. There is a much easier and quicker way to sense Aether and control Aura.], and my most awesome and favorite system said! ''Ah~ Meta, you''re the best! I promise to treat you a little better from now now, yes, yes. '' I nodded earnestly, feeling only warm and bubbly gratitude that I had tears in my eyes. ''And what way would that be, oh most glorious system? '' [To simply force you to feel Aether and Control Aura.] ''Eh? '' Somehow...that sounded painful. [I will now begin taking control of your body once more.] "Eh??" ... [Skill, {??? (lvl???)} Has been activated] [{???} skill (lvl???) Is being used] ... Shit! The next moment, I felt the oh so familiar sensation of having my consciousness forcefully ripped out of my body! Chapter 10 Mastering Aura ''Meta what the fuck?! '' was the first ¡ªorst, ¡ª thing screamed. I don''t know, I wasn''t sure since my consciousness warped so suddenly! But by the time I came... everything was normal. [Everything is under control. I have only switched ces with your consciousness to generate a positive effect, with the skill. You will receive control promptly.] Meta''s emotionless voice rang in my head, no, echoed from all over. ... [{???} skill (lvl???) Is being used] ... It used that damned skill again! Watching the blue notification screen hovered before me, I felt the urge to explore a variety of curses on the damned system. I don''t like it, the idea that Meta could casually manipte my skills without even my confirmation. More so that it could even take control of my body whenever it wanted. I couldn''t feel safe with this {???} skill around, something had to be done, I swore inwardly to myself. ''Wait. It''s different fromst time. '' I spread my awareness and realized. The skill was activated, and indeed, I didn''t feel control of my body, but I still felt the direct connection to my physical body. It was unlike before when I was experiencing a full out of body experience. In simpler terms, basically, I could see from my eyes and still share my senses with my physical body, but I had no driect control over its actions. It was ufortably like staring through a gap in a prison gate. [The skill wasn''t entirely activated to reach this effect], Meta said then continued. [In a much truer sense than before, we truly have switched ces this time around.] ''...you mean I''ve just be a voice in ''my'' head?'' I thought, incredulous. [How rude. I am not just a voice in your head.] Meta''s response was swift. ''What? Your words, not mine. '' I grinned from the satisfaction, imagining my self wearing a smug smile. So this is how Meta feels like alone with my thoughts inside my head, huh. As I pondered Meta''s words, I realized that being trapped in my own head was terrifying... and lonely. Aside from the senses I barely felt through the connection with my physical body, everything else was dark and empty. Hehe. Story of my life. [It would be best if we do not dy any longer], Meta interrupted my hollow thoughts. [I will begin channeling the Aura inside your body by activating your Core. Feel closely, and remember the sensation of Aether flowing through your limbs and surroundings.] Hearing Meta''s words and warnings, all traces of leisure and distraction were erased from my consciousness. I focused my entire awareness on the phenomenon Meta would cause inside my body. A strange energy surged from the depths of my body, like a transient rush. It was a simr feeling to thest time I first sensed my Aura just the previous day. Except this time around the , the energy wasn''t just a steady flow, but a powerful surge or spike. I felt my body rise with inexplicable power and warmth that spread from underneath my navel, up through my midsection, then circle around my heart before flowing down my limbs. When the strange energy washed against my heart, I would have gasped if I had a actual control of my throat. The feeling and heat was enough to make my heart skip a beat, and when it continued, I felt the warm spreading surge of energy douse my back. It was an electric feeling and sensation. It was addicting and euphoric. Something inexplicable yet terrifying. If I had a lip, I would find myself with a strained smile and my heart would be pumping with dark excitement. But those were only the changes my body experienced on the inside. Beyond what was within my body, I felt a strange vague connection click with something external. It was like resonating with the world. Having Meta open my eyes, I saw the air shimmer like sun dust around me. It felt like looking at the rays of the sun through a window, sparkling, yet unclear. After feeling the strange connection click, I instinctively knew what it was. I could sense the Aether in the air. All of a sudden, I heard Meta''s illusionary voice. [It appears you posses more talent than you give yourself credit for.] ''What? '' I thought at her odd statement. [It has only been a couple of minutes, but your body has already grasped the concept of manipting Aura and sensing Aether, as if muscle memory.] ''Wait, what? Didn''t you say I''d have to memorize this euphoric ¡ª I mean, feeling first before I can recreate it? '' I was confused, and said. [Affirmative. But your body has automatically done that. In simple terms, it has absorbed my teachings like sponge in water. You have no need to memorize the sensation, you have already Mastered Aura control] ''Eh? For real? Just like that?'' Well that was anticlimactic. Impossible, could it be I was more amazing than I thought?! Then all of a sudden, Meta abruptly said. [Control of your body will return back to you] ... [Skill {???} lvl??? Has been deactivated] ... A notification signaling the cancetion of try Skill appeared before me, and I promptly felt my consciousness rapidly ''descend'' back into my body. In an instant, control of my physical body had returned to me, and I made sure by closing and clenching my fist. ''I will never get used to that skill. '' Iined at Meta, but was ignored. I had mastered Aura control already, huh.N?v(el)B\\jnn [Yes. You have yet too fully master Aura, as an aspect of Aether itself, but have instead, exceptional talent and sensitivity for it. It means, you have a much brighter future Ranking up and perfecting Aura techniques to grow stronger.] "I see. So that''s how it is." I clenched my fist one more time, and a ghostly grey misty Aura shrouded my balled up fingers. Instantly I was ecstatic. This is amazing, I really can use Aura easily. That was much easier than I thought. A bit anticlimactic too. I thought it would take a considerable amount of time, maybe a few days at best to achieve a decent amount of basic control of my Aura. Well, well, would you look at that? Is that talent I see? I mused inwardly, smirking stupidly at myself. It was to be expected that I felt childishly happy for this. I grew up on Earth without a single valuable talent, and because of that I was mostly at the bottom of the food chain for most of my pitiful life. I hated that fighting was all I was ever good at. [Just to be clear, it is your body that mastered Aura control, not you.] "...you just had to take that one away from me, didn''t you?" But it made sense. I didn''t have talent back in Earth, why would it be suddenly different in another world only after reincarnating? It was mostly like just as Meta said, my new body, Victor Bright, may have been the one with the talent, not me. But I was Victor Bright at the moment. And the Aura control was mine. Simplifying my thoughts like that, I had no regrets or uncertain will. "Fuuu..." I exhaled a deep breath. ''Somehow, this entire thing was kind of stressful. I''m suddenly exhausted now that it''s over. '' [That is because you have exhausted half of your meager Aura reserves just to learn control.] As Meta snorted like so, my status screen suddenly appeared before me. .. [Name: Victor Bright Level: 4 Rank: Beta Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 5/8 Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Inspect} Level 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ Too little information is known ____ ___] ... Seeing my Aura points down to half by a whole five, I felt my heart wince and pinch. ''And did you really have to say meager?'' i could almost feel the tears. ''That''s the next problem too. '' [Increasing your Mana capacity can be automatically done after every Rank up] ''What? You''re telling me I''ll have only 8 points for Aura till I''ve broken pass Beta rank?! '' That was insane! And unfair! [I didn''t say such a thing], Meta quickly cut me off. ''Eh? But you just said my Aura capacity will increase after every Runk up. '' I said, confused. Then Meta exined in monotone. [Every Rank from Beta to Quadra have a set fixed capacity which expands and increases by Rank. Your Aura pool, however can be actively increased by you yourself.] I frowned slightly. ''Wait, so you''re saying, there''s a limit to how much Aura my body is allowed to hold each Rank? And that I can keep increasing my Aura until it reaches that set capacity? '' [Affirmative.] ...why does almost everything thing in this work have to be unnecessarily exaggerated. Heaving a deep sigh, I raised my head and said, massaging my brows to relieve tension. ''How can I increase the amount of Aura I currently have? '' [There are two ways to aplish this.] Meta said. Driving away part of the exhaustion I felt, I nodded my head mildly and said simply. "I''m listening." [One is by actively Leveling up. Your Aura reserves can passively increase if you can consistently level up. But this method takes too long, and it is not certain that every level up would cause an increase in your Aura. For example, you might have to Level up twenty times to acquire a single point increase in your Aura reserves.] I winced ''T-twenty level ups for just a single point increase? '' I knew how hard it was to level up a single time. And worse is that, it isn''t even certain I would get that one point increase after all! I effectively concluded that this method wasn''t worth it. ''And what''s the other method? '' [The other is to simply actively increase your Aura, either by absorbing the essence of Monsters or Beasts, or cultivating the Aether in the atmosphere, or by pushing your Aura to the limits.] "...I see." Meta had already exined this before, so it wasn''t hard to understand. The essence of beasts and monsters will increase the Aura, and energy in my body. In the same manner, by absorbing Aether into my core actively would serve. [Those two process are the most direct forms of actively increasing your reserves, but just as the first method, it takes a certain amount of time to see obvious progress. Which is why I would rather suggest the third process, to push your Aura to its limits and forcefully increase it.] I asked Meta to borate, and it went on a detailed lecture that I only half-listened to. Basically, the Aura core is like a muscle: work it out, and it gets swole. ''So, the secret is just to keep using Aura?'' [Simplistic, but yes.] Just keep using Aura, silently i thought to myself and cast my gaze on the interface before me. I nced at my level, then drew my gaze to my rank, before finally lingering on my Aura points. A small knowing smile crawled on my lips. "I can work with that " Chapter 11 Do Better, Victor Bright The next couple of days went by like a blur in a rapid session. Adrianne, my older sister returned back from the Ritual Ceremony having totally dominated the other heirs and contestants. As expected of my cute little monster! Since the heir of our Bright family was participating, it was a given that we the family were present to watch. Although, only thest of the trials was made avable to the families. And for the first time since my transmigration, I experienced a part of the life outside my Manor. The main family''s estate was massive with multiple annex. The ritual ceremony was a three day eventprising of three trials across. From what I heard, there was a Maze trial, a Hunting event, and finally, a small tournament, on thest day, with thest contestant standing, the overall winner. Now, of course the trials and events change each Ritual periodically, so the heirs were supposed to have no prior knowledge as to what challenge they would be facing. But I was certain, in a system like this, that there would be a few ''exception''. I mean cheating. The ritual Ceremony is to keep in check the other branch families, so it wouldn''t be unnatural for the Main to may have pulled some strings, especially when it came to their own heirs. The Solvaine twins. And my older cousins. I never truly got to meet them in person though, and could only watch their figures from a distance. This was because, the contestants weren''t allowed contacts with their corresponding families when they arrived. And as such all the heirs were aodated separately in one of the Manor''s annex throughout the extension of the event. This was how the twins and some the other contestant managed to seize the opportunity to harass my sweet and cute elder sister. It would have been a big shame if an heir from a meager branch family won against the Main family''s heir. So these Rituals weremonly rigged over each generations. But Adrianne surpassed everything that was thrown at her and ultimately became number one. Despite all the advantages the Solvaine twins may have received ahead of time. So yes... humans even in this world we''re rotten. And how was i entitled to know all this? Of course I heard it from Adrianne herself. (Aka. eavesdropping) It went without saying, Adrianne was the first heir to a branch family to dominate over the main family during the Ritual, in generations. The main family were believed to have a more superior and pure bloodline to our great ancestor and would alwayse out victorious (through cheating). So this was a massive achievement that blew a wave throughout the entire Solvaine family as a whole. Adrianne Bright had made history. And against all odds. Adrianne''s return was quickly followed by arge banquet in the Bright''s and even our localmunity were invited to celebrate the ''Young miss'' of the Brights. Throughout it all, I yed the role of a happy younger brother with a sincere obsession and respect for the older sister to a T. I was happy for her, it was expected. I already knew that Adrianne wouldn''t have much of a problem aplishing the Ritual as the one untop. And I solidified this believe when I used the {Inspect} skill on the other heirs, including the main Twins. Hmph, trifling. Even I could beat them with little to no problems, I thought wistfully to myself as I fastened my left arm guard. It had been five days since all that happened, and my sweet merciledd sister gad invited me to a one on one spar. "Are you ready, Vic?" "Yes. I hope you go easy on me." I responded with a carefree smile and took my position, a wooden spear in hand. Eight years into this world, I was slowly growing ustomed to using a weapon in a fight, especially the spear. My proficiency level at the moment was considerable at best. But maybe it was thanks to my street fighting instincts that I had quickly been growing used to a weapon. After all, in a street fight, whatever you can get in your hands, bes a deadly weapon. "Begin." Adrianne alerted and she disappeared before me. I''ll keep this embarrassing disy short and save me the trouble. It was over as soon as it began. "Oof." I fell breathlessly to the ground with a small groan. My eyes were stared wide at the expanse of the blue sky and fluffy white clouds above. Feeling my chest pump in a rhythmic pattern, I blinked. What the hell just happened? I kept asking myself that. Adrianne was fast, too fast. With my new Beta status, I thought I would be able to better keep up with her this time around. I was wrong. "Hmph. You''re done in one move?" One move! A single move, and I was hurled across the air! I tried to feign a carefree smile, but they came out wryly as I said. "Big sister didn''t hold back at all." ... [Skill {Inspect (lvl1)} is currently active]... ... Yep, I was right. ... [Name: Adrianne Bright Level: 8] ... Adrianne had grown stronger again. Her level was still the same, but it was more like it was better reflecting now that I went against her. While I deactivated my skill, Adrianne''s motionless face appeared directly over mine. She squatted over my head from the other side, so her face and expression looked upside down from my perspective. Her beautiful strands of brown hair fell over me, closing the rest of the world off, and all I could look at where her deep hazy brown eyes staring back into mine. Adrianne soon frowned slightly. "What are you smiling at?" Without realizing it, I had been smiling. "You have pretty eyes." I said unconsciously in a honest voice. A draft blew across the courtyard as silence descended, seemingly upon the whole world. Adrianne''s face remained stoic and motionless for a few seconds, then as if only slowly registering my words, her eyes slowly widened. A small, uncharacteristic giggle left her lips. And I was left staring deeply enamored by the glow. Adrianne...my sister was cute when sheughed, I held my breath for that fleeting moment, not wanting to miss a single second. She ced the tip of her index finger against my forehead. And with an expression i hadn''t seen my sister wear before she looked straight into mine with smile and said. "You have beautiful eyes too. Those gold are special." This time, it was me that froze. Cute! Wh-what the hell just happened? Did my heart just miss a beat? For my sister?! I hadn''t expected she would quip back in...in such a... devious manner! That smile! That was Adrianne''s secret weapon! How diabolical! [DING! Your heart rate just spiked] I heard Meta''s voice resound teasingly in my head. ''Shut up! And don''t make it seem like a system message, you stupid bot!'' Regainingposure externally, I let out an exhausted sigh. "What is it?" My diabolical sister asked with a tilt of her head. Then I yielded with a defeated smile. "Big sis is just too sly." Adrianne frowned at my response, confusion written all over her reverted motionless expression. "Are you picking a fight?" "I just lost one." Two actually, I added internally. Adrianne lingered for a few seconds longer then scoffed. She retracted her face from over mine and got up to walk away. Leaving behind a few words. "You''re still too weak." By the time she was gone, I remained lying on the grass while staring at the sky for a while longer. Feeling strangely at peace. ...andzy. But peace! [You lost pathetically.] Meta''s condescending tone made my eyes twitch. [She only leveled up three times since then, and the gap is still this big. You won''t survive the Cmity with this level of progress you''re maintaining.] Listening to the system''s synthetic voice, I went into silent deliberation. This is the first time Meta is taking the initiative to bring up the Cmity. I hid my thoughts away from the system and said internally. ''Well, what am I supposed to do? I''m already doing my best. '' whinning like so, I summoned my status. .. [Name: Victor Bright Level: 4 Rank: Beta Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 8/9 Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Inspect} Level 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ Too little information is known ____ ___] ...N?v(el)B\\jnn I hadn''t gone up two levels in thest five days like Adrianne. I even managed to increase my Aura just a bit by constantly exhausting it intentionally in secret. It wasn''t much, but I was at least satisfied. Soon, Meta responded strangely. [We both know that''s not the truth. Do better, Victor Bright.] Then the familiar system screen popped up before me. ... [¡ªDING! Main Quest Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... Chapter 12 Seriously Trying This Time It had been a while since Ist saw the familiar Quest notification screen. Skiming through the description, i noticed there was no difference. Nothing had changed. It was still just as vague and cryptic as the first day. Meta was right. I really wasn''t doing my best. Maybe in the end, a part of me wishes and thinks that the Great Cmity isn''t real or won''t happen. I just to want to live out the days of this life peacefully. That was why I had been acting carefree and casual about everything. But I was stuck with this damned quest. It was like a friggin'' curse. In the end, I didn''t respond back to Meta''s statement and dismissed the Quest screen. But Adrianne must be crazy talented to level up such quickly. Perhaps it''s a skill she''s using? Skills were minor abilities or small characteristics of an individual. There were two types of skills, and two ways of acquiring skills. The two types of Skills were, Innate skills, and Acquired Skills. Innate skills are the personal skills a person is born with or develops overtime. They were kind of like talents. And from what Meta said, these skills usually have no particr names or ranks, and are only manifested as characteristics or aspects in the individual. It could be like some form of self-regeneration or high stamina, or the like. But these skills were known to be capable of growing and evolving overtime, the stronger, or older the individual may be. This is why Innate skills are rare and precious in this world. Acquired Skills, hence are the skills an Awakened or individual obtains over the course of their life. This can mean by buying or obtaining a Skill book or Skill card. Acquired Skills have five known Ranks, ranging from Common to Mythic rank. This is where my {Inspect} skills falls in, since I only obtained it after unlocking the System. But it also seems to be capable of growing or evolving, just like an Innate Skill. In any case, perhaps Adrianne might have a rather terrifying innate skills as the cause of her vast talent and growth speed. Hmmm. I guess it''ll be something like ''Limitless Growth Skill'' or ''Speed Growth'' or something. Regardless, that''s some almost cheat level innate skill, I mused. ''What do you think, Meta? '' [Perhaps.] Curt and vague, as always. Why couldn''t I be the one with the Limitless Growth skill? I already have the system, and since I''m strangely the one chosen, shouldn''t I be blessed with my own cheat? I could almost cry, thinking of how bleak my future would be. Just then, Meta said boastfully. [You don''t need a Cheat skill. You have me] ''Unfortunately. '' Imented with a sigh, internally. [...] ''Maybe, if you weren''t so, I don''t know...snubbish and less secretive...'' I mused, with feigned bitterness. Well at least Meta wasn''t trying to kill me. [Die.] She said it! The ursed ai just asked me to die! ''Oi, oi, when did you be so direct with your insults? Don''t you usually feign them with sarcasm and subtlety? This new transition is terrifying, don''t go telling me to die when I just got back! '' [...] Meta remained sile¡ª [Die.] ''... '' Wearing a dry look on my face, I sat up on the grass. The afternoon was quiet in the Bright Manor on a spring day. Everything was cool and serene, but after what just happened, I couldn''t find it in me to remian as casual. ''Do better'' Meta''s words kept bothering me. I knew it was right, but still...I wanted to desperately deny it. The Quest, the system, all of it!N?v(el)B\\jnn Couldn''t I have just been reincarnated peacefully? Heck, I didn''t even asked to be reincarnated. I already died, so what was the point? All of a sudden, I thought back to the retreating figure of Adrianne. Then all the pleasantfull times I''d spent teasing her and exploring this new world. If...if I hadn''t reincarnated...how would I havee to enjoy these? I mused inwardly with great difort. "Ugghh! I! Just! Want! To ! Live ! In peace!!" I ran my fingers through my full hair and ruffled it out of frustration. Screaming out loud... didn''t help to relieve any of the rest after all. Nope. What are you doing, Victor? I decided to shake those depressing thoughts out of my head with a face p -PA! There. I thought in mild satisfaction with a smile, feeling my cheeks sting from impact. And with my head now clear, I suddenly remembered something. "Ah. Today is the day Adrianne is leaving." *** It had been five days since the conclusion of the Ritual Ceremony with Adrianne as the victor. And in line with the long and ancient traditions, Adrianne would be ''adopted'' by the main family and receive their teachings. It was the evening of the same day. Once more, I watched as my older sister Adrianne load unto a coach the rest of her luggage. This time they were much more than just a simple bag. I felt strange looking at it. Conflicted. Adrianne turned to look at me with a strange expression. The she said with a sigh. "What is it this time around?" I turned to look away. "...No. it''s nothing. " Strange. I guess I''ve grown more attached to this world than I realized in only eight years. No. I''d grown more attached to Adrianne. It was strange how hard I found it to feign a casual expression right now. I usually never had such a problem with controlling my emotions or facial expression after being exploited back on Earth. But right now, i couldn''t even wear my usual nonchnt smile. Was it because Adrianne was leaving? "I''m not leaving." Just, then, Adrianne said out loud. I blinked my eyes, emptily then turned to face her? "What?" Did I say my thoughts out loud? Adrianneughed mildly then came closer to me. She raised her hands and held lightly my cheeks in her palms, squeezing them a little. I was momentarily confused and found it a little hard to speak. But Adrianne''s lips moved first as they parted and said. "Your face tells it all." And slowly my eyes mildly widened by just a bit. What? When have I be so easy to read? I took pride in masking my thoughts and emotions. One couldn''t survive in the Mafia and the underworld without wearing a smiling mask and a velvet glove. But here I was, like an open book for Adrianne to read. As if guessing my thoughts once again, Adrianneughed with my face still in her hands. "Don''t look at me that way, I''m just happy I''ve got to see you make so many types of faces just today. Especially this one." Cutting herughter short, my older sister said wearing a smile I had seen only once before. I was confused by what she meant, and my eyes probably said so. Adrianne smiled a little wider and her eyes cast low. "You''ve never looked this way at me before. You''ve always done so with a smile so bright, it was fake and ttering. But this is probably the happiest I''ve been in my life, I guess." "..." I was shocked enough to be speechless. And if it weren''t that Adrianne held my face, my lips would have been gaped open. She knew? No, she only felt like that because of now. It I hadn''t shown her this side of me, she wouldn''t have realized. This was my blunder. Instinctively, I began analyzing the situation silently to provide a reasonable and logical conclusion. It was for my pride and ego. ...and to hide my embarrassment But for my pride! Adrianne''s smile became warmer and reassuring. Her strict and firm eyes became brighter and softer with only my reflection, and her cascading brown hair fluttered lightly in the wind. My senses were sharp enough to detect from her pulse that she really meant what she said; Adrianne was d I genuinely worried about her. Adrianne''s hands let go of my cheeks then traced down my neck, down my shoulders and down my arms, ultimately locking fingers with mine. "I''m leaving to stay with the Main family doesn''t mean I''m gone. I am only using them to get stronger. I''m a Bright, this is my family. You are my younger brother, and I am your only sister," she firmly said, her gaze deeping and swirling like two pools of darkness as she looked into mine. Adrianne''s grip in my hands tightened slightly, and her aura became almost overbearing. "Nothing can change that." I almost gulped. Dazed and mildly intoxicated by the intimidating feeling she exuded because of me, I only nodded. But Adrianne was right. She was my only sister. At that very moment I, too, decided in my heart... "Nothing can change that." I softly uttered. Adrianne finished off her farewell with the rest of the family; Dorian my father and Alisa, my mother. My big sister was firm and resolute as she met eyes to eyes with Dorian, conveying her resolve and more. The time to depart grew near, and I watched as her coach drive pass the gates and slowly further down the path with repressed emotions. Adrianne, with her exceptional potential and talent, shone as a beacon of hope for the branch families. However, she was not the first to be in this position. The Main branch''s history of assimting or eliminating talented heirs cast a shadow over her future. As I watched her coach disappear into the distance, I realized that my sister carried a heavy burden. She had not only her own destiny to consider but also the collective hopes and trust of the branch families. This weight was both crushing and inspiring, a constant reminder of the stakes involved. But she was standing strong. Adrianne Bright was strong and unmoving. My big sister was incredible. Weighed with the hopes and faith of others must certainly be more heavier than having to survive a cmity all by yourself. I took in a deep and calm breath and exhaled. My mind felt calm, my heart was settled. Most importantly, my mind was made up. ''Meta, how long do you estimate I need to breakthrough to Mortal?'' [If you truly intend to, considering your potential and circumstances, it''ll take only a couple of years to breakthrough. Three to five at maximum] ''A couple of years?! And what do you by ''my potential '', that''s rude! '' I scratched the back of my head, looking oddly. I just have to get stronger and survive the Cmity, huh? I mused inwardly. ''Fine, '' I sighed. ''Let''s Rank up.'' Chapter 13 Making Plans, and Laying Foundations I found my resolve...no. Rather, I reaffirmed my resolve? I don''t know, I''ve never been good at expressing my emotions. In any case, to cut short the cringe and clich¨¨ dialogue, I decided to get a little serious about growing stronger and ranking up. Or in Meta''s words, i decided to ''do better'' Watching Adrianne leave had made me realize something. "..." Err...what was it again? ''Meta, have any idea? '' [... This is your monologue, I''m just a voice in your head.] ''Fucking traitor! '' [...] In any case, I began mapping out my ns and course of action for theing years. As simple as everything may have seemed, there was quite a bit to consider before beginning to take a more active role than before. I still intendpletely to live peacefully, as much as I could before the descent of the Great Cmity. And for that, i needed to startying the ground work. "...You want to get stronger?" "Yes, father." I lowered my head earnestly and pleaded to Dorian who sat behind a desk in his study. The strands of Dorian''s ash colored hair shimmered only slightly in the dim lights of his study. There were tall bookshelves lining the walls, and the floor was draped with a splendid burgundy rug. His desk was made of finely carved ebony wood, and a soft symphony yed from what i believed to be a record yer like from Earth. Dorian took off the pair of thin framed lens he had on at the moment, and ced it down on the desk before him. Soon the gentle symphony that surrounded the study cease all of a sudden, suggesting to me that my father had turned it off for the time being. Eventually, his deep voice said, inquisitively. "What brought this on, my son? Does it have anything to do with your older sister?" I had already prepared and appropriate response for this beforehand. I raised my head and straightened up as I replied firmly. "Yes, father," i said . "I...I don''t really get it now, but I know Adrianne is doing her best for the family. As the heir, she is weighed by responsibilities i can''t even imagine. You''ve always known how much I care and look up to her. I want to be as strong as Adrianne...at the very least, strong enough to support her. " I made sure to add as much resolution into my words as needed. Of course all of that is bullshit. This is only necessary to set up the foundations for my future. I would be getting much stronger than they would imagine, but I have zero reason to show off. I intend to y the role of a supportive and hardworking younger brother and son, but one who ultimatelycks talent. This way, I would at least be able to make use of whatever resources i can in advance to level up and rank up ahead of time. But on the surface, I would have reached my limit far earlier. Dorian hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds and drummed his fingers on his desk. Eventually his straight face turned into a light smile as he said. "Very well, my son. I''m proud of your conviction to wanting to grow for our family and those around you. I promise to support you however I can. But you have to remember, not everyone is the same. Do notpare yourself with your sister along your journey. " I nodded simply. ''That''s exactly what I want to hear.'' " I understand, father. " Dorian nodded in response and continued to drum his fingers before saying. "I hope to see how far you wille, my little boy. " After the private discussion with my father, I made my way out of his study and reflected on what just happened. And so it begins, heaving a mental sight to myself, I thought inwardly. I''ll establish a reputation as an untalented but struggling child. Now, I can intensely train without arousing suspicion, while pretending to make minimal visible progress. Meanwhile, I''ll secretly level up enough to make a breakthrough. In five years from now, I''ll pretend to have an ''Awakening'', showing a small improvement and hinting at my true potential. This will convince my family to invest more in me, unaware of my actual strength, while not expecting too much from me in turn from my already disyed poor talent This means, I''ll have to dy my breakthrough to the next rank for a few years. This was why Meta mentioned I''ll need at least three, at maximum , four years to breakthrough to Mortal Rank when I could probably do it in less or one, if I were really serious and got all the necessary resources. I also needed the time to master Aura and furnish my skill and techniques. I can''t hunt beasts or monsters yet, so only heavy lifting and body building can help me level up. Leveling up wasn''t in any manner easy, especially when I would be working out to do so. The three years were what I would spend doing that, and I estimate i would be level 10 or 11 at 12 years old. That''s already considerable. This method was painfully slow but effective to helping me achieve my long term goals. But since Meta said a couple of years, I didn''t have to worry about the Great Cmity happening within that time. [Taking the extra years to progress allows you to establish a foundation for your long-term ns. If you advanced too quickly to Mortal Rank and beyond, it would be harder to conceal your true abilities when you fake your ''Awakening'' to Beta rank. By dying your progress, you canter attribute some of your real strength to the fake Awakening, convincing your family to continue supporting your growth.] ''Yes, exactly. I''m surprised you were able toe up with such a n that would directly suit my needs and style. '' I praised earnestly. The point was to avoid attention, keep my abilities and rapid progress hidden, and continue to receive suport from my family without them expecting too much from me. [That was exactly what I meant when I said ''circumstances. And besides, this is also something you would havee up with.] ''Ohh. You already know me so well. '' Yes, the n was to live peacefully by hiding my real strength for as long as I could. I''d be a talentless, but slightly diligent individual on the surface, and a potential powerhouse in the dark. ''Hey, Meta, isn''t this kind of exciting? In webnovels we call this genre ''the-strong-pretending-to-be-weak''. '' *** After that day, I began putting earnest effort into leveling up. For the first year, I mostly focused on mastering Aura and creating my specialized techniques and Arts. Aura was an aspect of Aether used by the Warrior ss to refine and strengthen their bodies past the natural standards for a certain amount of time. On paper, that was simply it. But Aura as an aspect of Aether was simply more than just that. Aura Maniption was an art. One passive effect of having Aura was the passive refinement the body obtained over time. It was subtle, but it was there. And once this little changes only continued to mount over time, one would end up with a rather powerful body. But as any other aspect of Aether, Aura maniption was delicate. And dangerous. My bones exploded a few times when creating a technique before. Aura could be used passively and actively to augment the warriors body and armor, but only through specific techniques designs called Arts, could one draw the full potential and capabilities of this mysterious energies. And as such, it was hard trying to Master Aura without an avable technique. This was something I would be thought by my family if I were to awaken eventually. Even the Main branch had a special Art that boasted tremendous power. This was actually the power that gave them the most authority over the branches. While envying so badly my sister Adrianne, I gritted my teeth and through my sweat and blood...and exploding bones... slowly created an Art entirely from scratch! At least I had Meta with me. But clearly a year wouldn''t suffice for me to achieve an Art. So the first year was spent mastering the basics of Aura, and building my firm foundation with Meta. I also focused on improving my body to manually level up with physical exercises that made my muscles cry in anguish each day. One hundred push-ups. One hundred sit-ups. One hundred sqats.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om One hundred pull-ups Ten kilometers run. And the barbaric training I went through under my family. It''s a miracle my hair didn''t fall off. I couldn''t hunt beast or monsters, so physical exercises were all I could do, and this process was painfully slow. I realized with horror how hard it was to move a single level up by doing even calisthenics! I had to make minor adjustments to my n. I was barely able to grind my levels manually through the years and better refine my body to attune with my Awakened status. And on my ninth year in Aetohria, I began to make substantial progress in creating my Art. I developed my spearmanship skills under the teachings of my father and gained considerable experience from the house guards. And aside from all of the mindless training I spent the months doing, I had grown my knowledge beyond what i had only heared from Meta. We were a noble family and owned a territory. As the second child of the Bright family, even I still had obligations with my people. Deeping my rtionship with our people and expanding my knowledge of this world, side by side mastering Aura and grinding levels, five years soon passed by. "You''re heading out to hunt today, Victor." While fixing thest of my necessities, I turned, bowed and responded to Dorian. "Yes, father. I hope to explore on the woods and learn to manage game." That was my excuse. " I understand. Just be careful. The woods in winter can be dangerous from theck of enough resources. " Dorian said some parting words as he left to attend to some other matters. I stared silently at his back as he retreated before fasting my coat and quiping my quills. I stared ahead at the front yard before me, kes of snow rained down from the cloudy skies and turned the ground white. Letting out a turbid breath, I rubbed my mitten covered hands together and smiled. "Let''s go." *** One more chapter to make up for my absence iing. Chapter 14 Winter Beasts I decided to start hunting by the time I was 11 years old. Feeling the wips of cold winter wind prickle at my face, I continued to leap through the forest canopies, from branch to branch. It was mid winter in Aetohria. I donned a light grey winter coat with a furhood to defend against the low temperature of the season. The coat was light enough to not impede my movement and make any sound, and thick and warm enough to serve it''s purpose. In my hand was a simple bow I had been practicing along with spearmanship these past three years, and a quill of arrows I carried by waist. Landing untop a tree branch, I temporarily halt my advancement and studied my surroundings while quickly activating my {Inspect} skill. ... [Skill {Inspect (lvl3)} is currently active] ... My {Inspect} skill had maxed out a while ago after I repeatedly started activating it. And using my advanced vision, I zoomed further into the distance of the snowy forest carefully. This is the first time I''ll be hunting like this, I thought wistfully. It didn''t take long for me to lock on to my prey not too far away. My {Inspect} skill zoomed on it and outlined it''s stats for me to see. ... [Name: Wererabbit Type: Beast Level: 9 Rank: E+ ...] ... A beast, huh. And level 9 as well. That''s a bit higher than mine, but I should have no problem sniping it down from this distance. The beast was arge white furred rabbit with three horns and blood red eyes that stood out in a contrast in the white of its fur and snow. The Wererabbit still hadn''t noticed me from the distance, as was expected. I could only see it thanks to the zooming feature of my {Inspect} skill. Not lingering any longer, I set an arrow on my bow string, turned around then hooked my legs round the tree branch...and fell backwards. I hung upside from the branch at an awkward position and raised my bow to aim. This was totally unnecessary of me, but I saw it in a movie once so... Cough. Plus I loved a challenge. My bow skills weren''t anything spectacr, but they weren''t bad orcking too much. I felt the odd position bring the world into focus for me. The wind continued to beat at my face, but it was at a temperature that was neglible. My concentration piqued as I focused on my oblivious target in the distance. I pulled back the string and calmed my breathing and settled my mind. I halted for a moment, measuring the wind velocity and calcting the distance and precision between my target and I. The {Inspect} skill quickly helped with that and I grew more confident in hitting my mark. I lingered just a little longer, syncing with the winter forest. And with a small turbid breath, I let go of the bow string, and with a silent whistle, the arrow tore through the air quickly and traveled the distance for my target. The arrow whistled and hit the target in less than two seconds. With my current strength, the oblivious Wererabbit couldn''t react at all and died with a single arrow in its neck without knowing what hit it. Subsequently, a system message appeared before my eyes with a ring. [Ding! You have in a Level 9 Beast, Wererabbit! You have gotten stronger!] Simultaneously, as I watched the Wererabbit fall lifelessly to the snowy ground, I felt a vague surge of energy flow through me. It was so small and subtle, that I barely noticed it. Yes! I jubted internally and threw myself down to the forest ground. I felt lighter as I touched on my feet gently to the snowy forest ground. ''Ohh, I see. So this is what it feels like to level up with Beasts?'' I was mesmerized as I clenched and opened my fingers. The strange feeling I got had already dissolved, but it felt stranger and fulfilling. At the very least, I could tell I had gotten stronger by just a tiny bit, even if I hadn''t leveled up yet. This is way better than exercising. I quickly understood why hunting Beasts and Monsters was a more productive method of leveling up. Pushing the thoughts aside, I raised my head and smiled broadly. That was my first sessful kill, and I did so without hopefully damaging the prey so much. I''m sure a fur as white and sterling as that will sell nicely in the market. Musing like so, I marched through the snowy ground to retrieve my game. I was happy, why wouldn''t I be? I managed to get a tiny bit stronger and even had my first kill. I arrived at the spot the Wererabbit fell dead with the point of my arrow sticking through it''s fur covered neck. Scanning it''s body for any external damages and seeing none, I nodded in satisfaction. I lowered myself on one knee to pick the rabbit up and pack it into a bag I had brought with me. But I immediately stopped. My perception was reacting to unfamiliar presences around me. And they were approaching from various directions around me. Oh, what''s this? Feeling slightly amused I turned my head to realize I was surrounded by ferocious looking Beasts. They were wolf type beasts with miniature ram horns, and jagged teeth that was wet with saliva. I grabbed the Wererabbit corpse form the snow and stood up from my knee, slowly observing the Wolves. "...what?" I asked dryly and the wolves growled menacingly. It didn''t take too long for me to realize. I raised the white furred rabbit in my hand and dangled it in front of all of them. "You want this?" I mused, not at all thinking it weird that I was talking to wild animals. I see. They must have been targeting the Wererabbit too, but I stole their kill. The wolves were slowly circling me and shrinking the distance, each with eyes full of bloodlust and hunger. I remained calm and shifted my eyes through them. ''{Inspect}'' ... [{Inspect (level 3)} has been activated] ... I counted the number of wolves without moving, while casting my {Inspect} skill on each of them. ... [Name: Dire Fanged Wolf Type: Beast Level: 13 Rank: D] ... There were seven of them. Six were level 13 and the bigger wolf with thergest horn was a level 17 beast. Fuck. I restrained the urge to whistle as a strange smile made it to my lips. These guys were way out of my league. Especially the one I guessed was the pack leader. As the wolves only continued circle me, their prey, I silently began weighing my options. Should I just run? Yeah that seemed right. The wolves were leagues above me, and there were seven of them. An entire pack. Could I even outrun them? [Logically speaking, that would be the safest option. The Monsters are an entire rank above you, and your only weapons now are the bow and a single dagger. Your advantage iscking.] Meta inputted. I heaved a small helpless sigh. ''Logically? When has anything ever been logical with me?: The eyes of one of the wolves shed with hunger as it took a single step forward at me. ''Uwa, this is terrifying, isn''t it, Meta? [...] [You''re smiling] Hu¡ª am I smiling? Touching my face and feeling the curl of my lips, my shoulders quivered. ''I hadn''t noticed. '' "...you said these guys were an entire level above me, right?" I silently asked internally, feeling a strange emotion stir inside of me. Well, it can''t be helped. I was getting excited. "Alright little fes," I suddenly said to the wolves, wearing a soft smile and raising one finger. "You think you can let me off for today? No? I guess not. Then question two." I raised a second finger. Feeling only dark glee stir inside my heart, the edges of my lips grew wider. "How many level up points are you worth?" As if on cue, one of the Dire wolves bared its fangs and pounced at me. Immediately, my instincts and agility kicked in. I took half a step back, clenched my fist at my waist, and bent my arm inward. Therge build of the wolf loomed a vast shadow against me, and a bead of sweat ran down my face. s, I still kept my smile. "Aura..." I lowered my stance and center of gravity, spacing my legs and twisting my torso slightly. Underneath my breath, I said in a low voice, "Armament." A powerful burst of energy surged through my best arm as a gray, colorless energy exploded forth and knitted around it. I released the tension from my twisted torso and shot my fist forward in a straight jab, punching the wolf. -BANG!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om I felt my fist connect with the side of the wolf''s face, and an explosive sound resounded through the winter forest as the head of the wolf jerked back instantly, its body blown away. The Dire Fanged wolf let out only a fleeting whimper as it''s massive body flew through the air and crashed against a nearbye tree then into the snowy ground, it''s head and neck twisted awkwardly. ... [Ding! You have in a Level 13 Beast, Dire Fanged Wolf! You have grown stronger!] [Ding! You have leveled up] ... Chapter 15 Become My Experience Points ... [Ding! You have in a Level 13 Beast, Dire Fanged Wolf! You have grown stronger!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] Meta''s synthetic voice whispered into my ears as a couple of notification screens appeared before my eyes. I felt my body surge with inexplicable energy and euphoria¡ªthe sensation of leveling up. Compared to the first time, the feeling was more prominent. My body grew lighter, my musclespressed, and my senses improved slightly as newfound power settled in my limbs. Holy shit, Meta! Beasts are walking experience points! I leveled up in one kill! I hadn''t expected the wolf to die that easily. I had leveled up as easily as swinging a fist. It waspletely different from leveling up through exercise¡ªthis was broken! If it''s this easy, why haven''t I been leveling up this way? Oi, Meta, I''ll me this on you! [...Why?] I don''t care! I''m just excited and frustrated at the same time. [They''reing.] Meta''s alert brought me back to the present. The other wolves, incensed by the death of one of their own, all came at me at once. A smile spread across my lips as I clenched my fists and sidestepped out of the way. A wolf''s jaws mped down where my head had been a few seconds ago with a disturbing crunch. Ducking under another one, I rolled out of the encirclement and quickly regained my bnce. I almost had my head bitten off twice, but I was this excited. Am I really a masochist? I didn''t dwell on that thought and ced my catch and bow down before rushing at the pack of wolves! My breathing was uneven, my heart raced with dark excitement, and my smile widened. The Dire Fanged Wolves were opponents beyond my current level, ones I normally wouldn''t hope to defeat without injury. Much less, an entire pack of them! But they were also perfect opponents to test my current strength. I channeled my Aura, feeling my body explode with frightening energy. Let''s find out how effective my Art is in a fight... I thought as a string of my Aura coiled around my right leg, tensing like a spring. I kicked off the snowy ground, my figure blurring with motion and speed. I appeared before the nearest wolf, my right arm tensed for a punch at point-nk range. ''Aura... '' My Aura flowed and channeled through my right arm. The greyish, colorless hue converged down my arm, knitting tightly like muscle fibers and encasing my arm and fist like an ethereal gauntlet. My arm exploded with a burst of strength I normally couldn''t muster, smashing into the wolf''s face. '' ...Armament!'' The impact felt strange. I heard bones shatter as the wolf''s face caved in from my fist. Its neck cracked and sunk into its shoulders as its body was lifted off the ground and blown away. The familiar system voice whispered in my ears again. [Ding! You have in a Level 13 Beast, Dire Fanged Wolf! You have grown stronger!] "Eh? No level-up notification?" I looked down at my hands, muttering with disappointment. I felt a trickle of energy rejuvenate me slightly. More importantly, it died in one hit too?! That''s weak! [On the contrary, your Armament is that strong,] Meta inputted. Oh, you think? I looked down at my right hand, encased in a strange, colorless hue forming an almost illusionary grey gauntlet made of tight muscle fibers. [You are, after all,pressing at least one third of your Aura into your right arm. The resulting effect will be impactful.] My iplete Art, Armament, was simple but terrifying. While I mulled over theck of a level-up notification, another Fanged Wolf lunged at me from the left, its sharp fangs glinting with ghastly saliva. I was too slow to react. The wolf was upon me. I shifted on my feet and raised my left arm, encasing it with Aura and Armament like armor. The wolf mped itsrge jaws down on my left arm, causing me to wince slightly. Its weight pushed me through the snow, and even with my Aura armor, the bite''s power sent tremors through me. Gritting through the pain, I pulled out a dagger hidden behind my back with my right arm. My movements were fluid as I brought the dagger down into the wolf''s head. The silver de cut through thick fur, hide, muscle, and bone, prating all the way to the hilt. The life vanished from the wolf''s eyes, and the strength in its jaws eased. A system message informed me of another Dire Fanged Wolf''s death. I didn''t waste a second to read it. I held onto the heavy body before it could copse, nted my feet, and tensed my muscles. I forcefully lifted the corpse and threw it at another wolf before it could move.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Wolf-scented wolf-repellent! Trust me, it''s a thing," I groaned as the two wolves collided and crashed to the ground. [Is that your scientific hypothesis?] Meta dryly quipped. "Of course! Worked like a charm, didn''t it?" But with that, three wolves were down, and seven were left. The series of attacks that followed were brutal. I dodged, ducked, blocked, and cursed. One terrifying trait about wolves, even in this world, was their frightening coordination within the pack. Their attacks became merciless, to the point I questioned how I had managed to kill three already with my bare hands. [Fluke.] ''It was not!'' I quipped sharply back at Meta''s rudementary as I fell forward and rolled again to avoid getting my head bitten off for the umpteenth time. ''The pack leader, the level 17 beast, hasn''t made a move since the beginning.'' I took notice of the strange actions of thergest wolf, which I believed was the leader, as I finally dealt with thest wolf. My breathing was ragged, and deep exhaustion permeated my bones. Fifteen minutes had passed since my battle with the entire pack. My arms felt like lead, and my head pounded with a relentless headache. I had only leveled up twice; I wanted to cry. The fight had been grueling. I had exhausted everything just to survive, suffering painful injuries and numerous cuts. Yet, the pain kept my mind clear enough to keep going. A trail of red trickled down my nose. I''m almost out of Aura... Faint wisps of colorless Aura seeped from my unraveling gauntlets. A deep growl resonated as therge wolf watched thest of itsrades fall to the blood-stained snow. Its massive tusk-like fangs were on disy, and blood-red eyes glinted with maddened hunger. Watching its eyes and the emotions brimming behind them, I couldn''t help butment, "Winter is brutal." Were all seven of these packs really after one little rabbit? In retrospect, I may have been the one at fault here, but who''s telling? I wiped the blood from my nose with my dirtied sleeve and smiled savagely at the beast. Gripping the dagger in my left hand, I channeled thest remnants of my Aura into my hands once more. Slowly, visible wisps of colorless energy knitted tightly around my arms like muscle fibers, forming a disturbing-looking gauntlet. The hue surrounding my arms was all the Aura I had left. This was the product of three years spent creating an Art I named Armament. It allowed my body to gain the characteristics of a weapon through precise Aura maniption. It was moreplex than simply wrapping my arms in Aura. At the moment, I had the remnant wisps of Aura in my body ''folded'' andpressed multiple times. I had to consider bnce and other factors, or I''d lose my arms. I hadn''t been able to bestow simr effects on my weapon yet; this was merely the prototype of the art. But it had helped me deal with the wolves so far. Feeling my arm tremble from the strain, I made direct eye contact with the wolf as if taunting it. A level 17 beast... I wonder how many points it''s worth. [You''re crazy,] Meta''s dry voice, tinged with concern, said in my head. [Taking on a Beast that is more than five times your level and an entire rank above you is pure madness. Yet, it''s crazy you''ve actually managed to take on an entire pack ande out with negligible wounds.] Did... did she just call my injuries ''negligible''? I''m hurting like hell here! Oh, what''s this? Is the cold and sarcastic system worried about me? [I have no emotions.] t rebuttal. I let out a chuckle and grinned wider. Yeah, maybe I should be running. As I had that thought, therge wolf with massive horns crouched and tensed. Its muscles exploded with terrifying motion the next second. Kicking off the snowy ground, thergest wolf rushed at me with such ferocity, my smile faltered. Its hulking body was like an over-speeding truck. Everything warned me to move out of the way. "Fuck," I cursed between a chuckle and quickly rolled to the side. As soon as my battered body hit the snowy ground, my muscles grounded and crunched in unbelievable ces. Biting down on my tongue to restrain a painful cry, I masked my anguish with a smile and quickly regained my bnce. Therge wolf was already upon me. Its massive w cleaved through the air toward my unguarded chest. With minimal time and space to dodge, I pushed off my toes and leaned back to barely miss the glinting ws. I stumbled backward, and the wolf seized the opportunity to continue its onught. Once again, I rolled to the side; the snow cushioned me, but my bruised body still cried out in pain. I heard the wolf growl above, itsrge shadow casting over me. I felt the urge tough. Street fighting style¡ªsnow in the face! I swept my hand and threw a handful of dirty snow into the beast''s eyes, disrupting its movement. Seizing the moment, I drove my dagger into its neck andughed maniacally. "And with this, your experience points are mine! Hahaha!" ...it was supposed to be. "Eh?" I voiced emptily as I held the hilt of my dagger tightly. The de refused to budge. The steel-like fur and dense muscles around the wolf''s neck held it in ce. My eyes widened and myplexion paled. "What the fuck?!" The next second, a massive force mmed into my body, and my consciousness faltered. My ribs shattered, and somethingrge stabbed into my abdomen. The pain was unbearable. Like a rag doll, my body flung through the air, brutally smashing against a tree. I felt the air painfully leave my lungs, and my bones twist painfully. The cold snow was like an unforgiving ground as my body fell against it, a strange warmth spreading underneath my abdomen. "Huh? Am I... bleeding?" Muttering to myself in a daze, I realized there was a big hole in my stomach. Red blood flowed, the crimson liquid quickly dyeing the snow underneath. Feeling the sensation of my wound, the heat of my blood, and the intense smell of iron, I wanted tough. "Haha, even with an injury like this, there still isn''t a system notification about my HP. Meta, you merciless system." Was it so intent on keeping all of my stats a secret to this level? Having vain thoughts like that, I dragged my body up and sat against the tree behind me. I held my gaping wound and looked up at the beast responsible with a dead smile. Therge ram horn on its side was painted red. Its eyes still held maddened fury as it steadily closed in on me. Suddenly, the world felt much colder; the heat of my wound, ironically, my only sce of warmth andfort. I couldn''t move. I had exhausted myst bits of Aura, and my consciousness was waning like gas. Yet everything still felt so clear. Pain was an interesting thing. Watching thatrge hulky wolf slowly pick up pace towards me, a self-deprecating smile graced my lips. ''Hey, Meta,'' I said inwardly. [...] ''I guess this is it.'' The beast was already upon me, jaws wide open, fangs glistening with saliva, and eyes maddened with hunger. Its head jerked towards me, straight for my neck. Suddenly, I felt the urge tough. "Just kidding." My hand shed out of the snowy ground, a single arrow held in my grip, and struck the eye of the beast as soon as it was only inches away. The sensation was wet and morbid, the point of the arrow prating deep through the wolf''s eye and bursting it in a rain of crimson blood that sttered on my face. The wolf cried in furious pain as its head jerked backward, its whimper filling me with such dark glee. I drove the same arm forward, driving the arrow deeper into the punctured eye, prating deeply into the brain. And as the beast began iling around, I held on with my broken body, hugging itsrge hulky form and feeling its long, bristly fur prickle my skin. I drove the arrow out of the eye... then drove it back in deeper again. Pulling it out one more time, I ran it through a third time and repeated until my satisfaction. "Haha ¡ª ahahahahahahaha! Die, die, die, die! Be fodder! You are fodder! You''re just experience points, don''t get cocky, you stupid beast. Die, die! Hahahahahaha!!" ... [Ding! You have in a Level 17 beast, Dire Fanged Wolf!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] ... [Requirements have been met. You are Ranking Up] Chapter 16 Mortal Rank ...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om [Ding! You have in a Level 17 beast, Dire Fanged Wolf!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] [Ding! You have leveled up!] The familiar set of notifications rang in my head as I continued to savagely stab the brains out of the dead beast. But one notification made me halt. [Requirements have been met. You are Ranking Up] Eh? As the system notification hovered before me, the rest of the world seemed to cease. "H-hey, Meta, what is this? You''re not kidding, right? This message is real?" Or maybe I''m crazier than I thought from all the blood loss? [Negative. Your body has reached the threshold for a breakthrough. You have amassed the necessary amount of energy, and your body needs to be restructured to contain it.] "Restructure?" Somehow... that sounded painful. [It is,] the voice in my head mercilessly responded. "Eh?? W-wait... I-I don''t think I''m emotionally ready to rank up! No! Seriously, wait!" [Beginning ''Evolution'' sequence; Rank Beta >> Rank Mortal] Uncaring of my pleas, Meta''s cold voice echoed deeply. -THUMP! Before I could cry out once more, I felt my heart thump painfully. "Gueckk!" A jolt of pain shot through my left chest, akin to having my heart twisted and gripped by an invisible hand. The agony was so intense that I couldn''t help but cry out, my voice echoing through the dense forest around me. The ranking-up process was far more excruciating than anything I had ever imagined. Nothing in my past could have prepared me for this level of torment. As Meta had warned, my body felt as though it were copsing in on itself. Every bone in my body shattered with a sickening crunch, and I could feel my blood vessels exploding one by one. My joints popped and snapped mercilessly, each movement sending fresh waves of pain through my broken form. An indescribable heat erupted from my heart, consuming my insides like a ravenous beast. I cried, I rolled, and I groveled in the sullied white snow, its coldness a stark contrast to the fire burning within me. The pain was relentless, forcing me to ck out multiple times, only to awaken each time to the same unbearable torture. My skin bulged grotesquely as throbbing ck veins snaked up my limbs, over my torso, and onto my face. It felt like tiny creatures were crawling under my skin, piercing into my eye sockets with unrelenting agony. My head felt as though it would explode from the pressure. Thick puddles of ckish-red blood spewed from my mouth and other orifices like macabre fountains. The substance was foul, a mixture of blood and some other dark liquid that I could barely recognize. The pores of my skin expanded, secreting an equally repulsive ck liquid that seemed to melt away the very surface of my flesh. And finally, after what seemed like centuries, all of the torturous pain appeared to begin to recede slowly. The sounds of my shattering bones and popping joints ceased, the bulging veins slithering under my skin settled, and the hateful heat that burned up my inside became a settling warmth that slowly filled my limbs with power. My nostrils were clogged with whatever that red-ckish liquid was, but as soon I breathed in the cold winter air, somewhere inside me, I instinctively knew. It wasplete. ... [Ding! ''Breakthrough'' sequenceplete; Rank Beta>>> Rank Mortal] [Congrattions! You have Ranked Up] ... I was a Mortal now. Feeling the energy drain from my body, I fell back against the ground and remained still. Meta''s synthetic voice still an echoe in the depths of my mind. The winter forest looked still and was quiet. I watched in a silent daze, white kes of snow rain down from the cloudy white sky. The cold was chilling, but I was too listless to care. The torturous pain had receded and ended, leaving behind only soreness that seized my body. I couldn''t lift a finger, and was covered from head to toe and a dark smelly liquid that made me feel icky. I''m Mortal Rank now, but I thought I''d be excited...i thought with minimum to no enthusiasm. I think I might have been scarred by the experience. How was someone supposed to look forward to the next Rank up, if they were all going to be like this?! ... Maybe I''ll just stay Mortal? Staring listlessly at the cloudy sky, my thoughtss were vain, until i said inwardly. ''Hey, Meta... '' Meta''s usual voice promptly responded. [Yes?] ''Fuck you. '' I would have flicked the finger, but I''m so exhausted i can barely mutter any strength. [How rude. It was only thanks to me the Rank up process was sessful.] All of a sudden, Meta said. I frowned...I tried to frown, but my facial muscles were numb. ''What''s that supposed to mean?'' [You were careless and reckless. You amassed far too much energy at once, hastening your breakthrough, and once it was time to refine all the energy, youcked the necessary energy to do so. You were out of aura and your body was in terrible shape, sacrifices had to be made.] I winced...I tried to but everything was hurt. ''Sacrifice... somehow, I don''t like how that sounds. '' i would smile now if I could. [There is no problem. I only converted some of your life force and substituted it for the required energy needed to breakthrough. This was why the process was much longer and more painful than it should have been.] Meta exined. ''... I don''t really get it, but your saying the next time I rank up shouldn''t be as painful as long as I''m in good shape? '' [Each rank up requires a higher level of energy for each breakthrough, and as a result, each turn presents it''s own fair share of pain that intensifies with each advancement.] ''... '' [In other words, your next breakthrough to Eta Rank will be just as painful if not two times more.] ''Oh, that''s too bad. Sigh, and I was hoping to rank up as much as I can, I guess that''s impossible now. It''s regrettable but I''ll just have to remain at Mortal Rank, sighh. '' [Cut the bull crap, you have at least three years until your next rank up, get stronger.] ''Eh? No way, I''m not going through that bastard pain again, no! I refuse! '' Imagining my self sniffing, I summoned my status screen. ... [Name: Victor Bright Level: 12 Race: Human Rank: Mortal Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 2/20 Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Inspect} Level 3(max) Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ Too little information is known ____ ___] ... Needless to say, the difference was outstanding. There were even a few new additions. Ohh, I''m suddenly Level 12. I see, the level 17 wolf alone was worth that many points, that''s what pushed my breakthrough. Suddenly, all of the pain and trauma done to my body felt somehow worth it. Geh, I still can''t see my stats. ''There''s suddenly a part disying my race? '' [Affirmative.] Meta curtly said. ''... borate? '' [That is self exnatory on it''s own. You are human, aren''t you?] What the hell was up with this system these days? Hasn''t Meta be more aggressive and upfront about her merciless remarks? Heaving a mental sigh, I didn''t linger much in the topic and dismissed the screen. Mortal Rank, huh. Certainly, I do feel different. Aside from the soreness and listlessness, I could instinctively feel some changes in my body that I couldn''t quite exin or pinpoint in my current condition. Even my wounds healed. Therge hole in my abdomen and other minor scratches and bruises had somehow healed and closed off during all of my earlier screaming. Meta said my body needed to be restructured, so it was broken down and built up again. It kind of exins how my wounds have been closed up, I guess. Then, what are all these ck substance secreting out of my whole body. [Those are the impurities banished from your body during the rank up.] Meta said. Oh, impurities... I managed to muster some strength and sat up straight against the snow before taking a whiff at the ''impurities'' I was bathed in. ''It stinks like shit! '' I quickly jerked my head back and pinched my nose. The red-ish ck blood was disgusting. ''You said that was in me?! '' [I know, stinks right?] My lips parted to retort, yet I couldn''t think of aeback and shamefully took the blow. ''Nice one. '' Ugh, but on a more separate note, I need a bath! How am I supposed to return home like this? My wounds may have been healed, but I smelled and looked like shit covered in this blood. "I think there was ake nearby?" But then what? Take off my clothes and bathe in a winterke? ''... I''ll just have to sneak back home then. '' I sighed tiredly. Meta snorted. [Good luck with that, smellos.] ''What did you just call me?!'' *** A/N: i mixed up Victor''s age in Chapter 14. He is 11, not 13, when he started hunting. But I''ve revised that, I''m only saying this here to avoid misunderstandingter. Sorry for the trouble. Chapter 17 Late Night [1] A year passed in blissful serenity, with no signs of impending cmity. I turned 12 and had now spent over a decade in Aetohria, and of fantasy and magic. I had transmigrated at the point of my death into this world and swore to live out the rest of this life peacefully. But for that, I had to survive a Cmity. "Oof!" An embarrassing groan escaped my lips as I fell back to the ground with a thud. A wooden spear pressed against my neck from above. shing a carefree smile, I said to the person standing over me, "It''s my loss, again, big sis." ''Again.'' Adrianne''s strict face promptly frowned. "You''re kidding, right? This is it?" Ah, it seems she''s unsatisfied with my performance as usual. Feigning difort, my smile grew a little strained, and I shook my head. "No, no, no. You''re just too strong, even more so after spending five years away. The Main family must have trained you really hard. And here I was, thinking I could catch up, but you''re already an Awakened," I sighed despondently for the grand finale. Adrianne''s expression eased up slightly, and she withdrew her spear. Watching her back, I stood up and rubbed my neck. It has already been a few years since Adrianne was adopted by the Main family. Until a couple of years ago, my sister had Awakened and be a Hero. Days like this weren''t asmon as in the past. As Adrianne lived with the Main branch, we only got to see each other a few days a year, three at most, before she would return. Aside from that, wemunicated monthly via letters. "Get up. We''ll go one more round," Adrianne suddenly said. "Eh?? But why?! I already lost though!" I protested *** The day soon ended, and it didn''t take long before the sun began to set and the evening began to unravel. After having my ass whooped in a series of spars with Adrianne, I returned to my room and locked the doors. Immediately, I let out a deep sigh and listened to the silence of my room. Rays of orange sunlight trickled through my open window. ''Meta, status.'' As soon as Meta began, my status screen appeared before me. --- Name: Victor Bright Level:14 Race: Human Rank: Mortal Hp: ??? --- I had only advanced two levels in one year since ranking up to Mortal. It wasn''t that much progress, really, but I was fine with that for now. Two levels in one year might have seemed extremely slow, but this was good. If I leveled up too quickly, it would be increasingly harder to hide my powers and restrain my aura. For the meantime, I had zero ns concerning leveling up anytime soon. At least not until I turn 14 two years from now, or halfway through 15. [That''s when you will fake your Awakening.] Nodding to Meta''s words, I walked up to my bed and took a seat. I instantly felt the soft cushion of the texture and ultimately fell back against it, enjoying the warmth and softness it provided. ''Exactly. It''ll be hard, considering I''d be wasting over a full year without trying to level up, but this is necessary.'' And it wasn''t like I had been or would be sitting idle the entire time. I''d spend it perfecting my Art and maniption while also polishing my skills and other aspects. I would use the strength from my Mortal status to show significant ''progress'' for when I pretend to awaken. This was to entice my parents and family to continue to sponsor my growth for as long as possible. But even after that, I would still have to hide and reduce the speed of my progress until I could find some way to turn this situation around. Maybe I could find an item that could mask my level and hide my true strength. ''Meta, is that possible?'' I asked inwardly. [Affirmative. There exist various methods, from skills to exquisite items that can provide simr effects of masking one''s true strength.] ''That''s a relief.'' I made a mental note to seek out one of these items or skills in the future. It would be hard to keep hiding my level and rank the stronger I got in the future. There''s a chance I might be seen through by something or someone unexpected. I also didn''t want to attract any unnecessary attention until the advent of the Cmity, so disclosing my abilities anytime soon, or eventually, was out of the question. But where do I find a skill or an item that could let me do that? If this had been a novel or a show I had transmigrated into with prior knowledge, I''d have thought of a particr cheat-like item right now. ''Y''know, this is the part where you, as a system, conveniently provide me, your host, with a rtively easy or safe option, like say, a purchasable item or skill in a store function. But heck, you won''t even let me see my stats!'' The night continued to unravel splendidly and calmly. I had dinner with my family and politely retreated back to my room once it was over. Before that, I decided to take a small, leisurely stroll around the Manor to enjoy the pleasurable evening breeze and bask in the sterling moon. Its silver-white rays bathed the world infort and grace. The moon of Aetohria was especially beautiful andrge. If I wasn''t mistaken, I believe it was a tadrger than the one from Earth. The distant stars sparkled in itspany, glinting like faraway shimmering dust. Unfortunately, there were no constetions I could recognize; regardless, I still felt the inexplicable urge to suddenly paint the night sky. After having my fill of a pleasant night stroll, I finally returned to my room for the night. I took off my evening wear, had a short bath, and changed into something more appropriate to spend the night. With my head wrapped in a towel, I suddenly heard a knock from the other side of my door. Before I could even respond, the door was pushed open, and someone abruptly stepped into the room. I turned to give an incredulous stare at the person who stood before me and froze a bit. What is she doing?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It took a little effort to control my facial muscles to the desired expression I wanted to make. "A-Adrianne?" Chapter 18 Late Night [2] Adrianne''s tall figure leaned against the door, her posture rxed yet conveying an air of intensity. Her eyes, dark and unreadable, fixed on me without a hint of movement. "Is something wrong, dear sister?" I wore a smile and said to her. She wore a simple linen nightdress, its soft fabric clinging lightly to her structured frame and hanging from delicate straps that revealed her fair, exposed shoulders. Adrianne was well now into her teenage years. My sister was 16, and her body was developing as it should, if not far refined. She had a bnced body of muscle and fat. Her slender arms, bare and smooth, were tucked casually behind her back. Her hair, once just past her shoulders, now cascaded down in rich, lustrous waves, framing her face and flowing freely past her waist. Over the past few years, it had grown significantly, adding a touch of maturity and elegance to her appearance. ''I remember there was a time she said through a letter, that the Main family had had her cut it short.'' As a warrior, unnecessarily long hair could do more harm than good in a fight, I knew that well. But few yearster, here she was, a full cascade like a water fall down her back. The soft lighting in the room highlighted the natural highlights in her brown hair, making it shimmer as she stood silently, a serene yet enigmatic presence. They glinted and shimmered in the shadows where she stood. Her dull gold eyes were reflective. Inadvertently, I began silently admiring her features. Adrianne was a tall youngdy. A head or two taller than me in fact. She had slender muscles and soft curves highlighted under her night gown. Err, why am I describing my older sister that way again? No that''s unsettling. I shivered. In any case, she was pretty. Eventually, after a number of seconds, Adrianne shifted off the wall, stepped deeper into my room, and casually said, "No, there isn''t. I... I just wanted toe see you." Saying so, she casually climbed onto my bed, took a sit by the edge, and made herself at home. Her stone, and motionless eyes nced at me as she tapped the side next to her. What? I stared, hiding my confusion. "Here." She gestured for me once again. I don''t know what''s happening, but if that''s how you want to y it, dear Adrianne, then fine by me. I pulled the towel off my head and walked slowly towards the bed with a teasing grin. "Oh? Could it be that you missed your little brother so much you want to spend the night with him?" "...yes." "Eh?" I almost choked. [Heh.] Meta snickered, or I was just imagining it. I quickly regained myposure and fixed my faltered smile. "Come," Adrianne persisted once again. "It''s been a while since west slept together. I want to hear how your day went and what you''ve been up to when I''m not around," she added. I restrained a sigh and climbed into bed,ying next to her. Adrianne smiled, raised the sheet over us, andid on her side to face me. After a lingering silence, her soft voice resounded in the bedroom. "How was your day, Vic?" I met her question with a bright smile. "I got beat up by my favorite sister in a friendly spar. I lost count after three. How about you?" Adrianne giggled lightly. "She sounds caring and lovely." I nodded exaggeratedly. "The best." Adrianne and I bantered like that for a while through the night. I was momentarily startled that my sister would suddenly show up in my roomte at night, but it seemed she really was just here to check up on me. Without realizing it, I let my guard down and found myselffortable. We talked about our experiences apart over the years, and from there, I could sense the unspoken challenges Adrianne faced at the Main house. She refused to go into detail, but her silence spoke volumes about the pressure she was under. Just thinking about her circumstances, I didn''t need words to understand that Adrianne carried a heavy burden. The expectations of others can be such a weighty thing. Not that I can rte. "You''ll be attending the Academy soon." I said softly, driving the topic away. Adrianne''s rarely bright expression dimmed slightly, and the warmth in her eyes retreated as her expression turned cold and straight. She said. "... Aegis. Yes." As a fantastical world built on Magic and Warriors, Aethoria had it''s own separate academy system. Obviously there were schools, all types actually, but Aegis was different. In this world, there were people called Heroes, the Awakened. Those who could manipte Aether and be Mages or Magic Knights sh Warriors. Humanity awakened this powers some time in the past due to an incident, and ever since then, Heroes have been raised and trained tobat any future or lingering threats. The Academy, or AEIGIS, as more poprly known was the leading organization in the Human domain at grooming Aethoria''s future Heroes. And only the most privileged were admitted and offered the chance to attend. Adrianne Solvaine Bright was one of those. While my thoughts wandered, I suddenly felt a powerful push against my chest as Adrianne suddenly attacked. "Woah!" All of a sudden, my vision was upturned as if my senses skipped a moment. And in the next, Adrianne grabbed the cor of my nightshirt, swiftly climbed on top of me, pressed me against the bed, and leaned forward. What the... It all happened so fast. Adrianne was suddenly all up in my face. Baffled, I could only manage a dumbfounded noise as I stared up at her with a confused smile. "What... are you doing, sis?" Adrianne''s dull gold eyes that were almost brown, stared deep into mine, a strange tension slowly filling the air. Her dull and hazy eyes were still and motionless, betraying not a single ripple of her thoughts. Her long brown hair cascaded over me, forming a cocoon of dark locks and secluding us from the world outside. Inadvertently, I gulped. Clearly, I was ufortable, but slowly I regainedposure. Well at least until what Adrianne did next. Ignoring my question, Adrianne traced her fingers down the side of my face, through my neck, and across the exposed parts of my chest. A jolt ran up my spine, but I held fast and didn''t let it show! No, seriously. What is going on? Her solemn voice quietly resounded in the room. "I noticed this before, but you''ve really grown up, Vic. Honestly, more than I expected." As she spoke, her hand slipped underneath my shirt and caressed my chest. I shivered slightly. Using all my willpower to restrain my agitation and control my heartbeat, I forced a brighter and wider smile. "I can say the same about you too, sis. You''ve be even prettier."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Adrianne didn''t seem to care for what I said. "Hmm, that so?" she hummed and uttered indifferently as she continued exploring my chest. Did she eat something wrong? Adrianne''s hands continued to slide softly against my skin, reaching deeper and further underneath my shirt. Feeling this was getting too awkward, I instinctively grabbed her wrist. "Adrianne," I called sternly. Adrianne looked at me, held my gaze, and lingered over me. Her position shifted. She leaned forward, closer to my face, until her hazy gold eyes were the only things in my vision. I took a stifled breath, and just as I was about to call her out again, Adrianne suddenly leaned forward. Her body pressed against mine softly yet firmly as she dug her face into the side of my neck. I felt the warmth of her skin and the heat of her breath against my neck and instinctively froze. My mind went nk and my muscles tensed. "O-oi, sis, what are¡ª" Before I could finish, I noticed Adrianne''s body had gone limp against my chest. Feeling the vibrations through my body, I realized Adrianne''s back was rising and falling softly. Her quiet and rhythmic breathing whispered in my ear. D-did she just fall asleep? Once I realized Adrianne had actually fallen asleep against me, I heaved a tired breath and stifled a wry chuckle. My muscles and tension slowly rxed in her embrace. My racing mind began to regainposure. "Jeez..." Adrianne continued to sleep softly against me, her heartbeat resonating gently. I couldn''t see her face clearly, but my sister seemed to be at peace. What an adorable little girl, I chuckled internally as I slowly stroke her brown hair softly. "Teasing your little brother like this, isn''t that too sly, sis?" Chapter 19 Midnight Foxes [1] Three yearster. ... [Ding! You have in a Level 15 beast, ckhog!] [You have grown stronger!] ... "Hmm, no Level up notification this time either." I muttered with little disappointment and pull out my spear from the corpse below. [At your current level, Beasts or Monsters of the same level or lower will only amount to limited experience for you.] Meta inputted as I began to dress down the ckhog I just hunted. It was a beast reminiscent of a wild boar with a particrly thick and ck hide covering it''s back. My dagger seamlessly cut through its thick skin as I shoved my arms inside of it. It was an ugly work, but years spent hunting like this has made actions like this almostmonce. ... Almost. "So I would need to kill a lot more Beasts or Monsters to level up or rank up the stronger I get?" While searching for the ckhog''s core fragment, I casuallymented. [Not precisely. Eventually, Beasts of an entire rank or more below you will result to no experience at all, regardless of how many you kill. But at the moment, your conjecture may still apply. For now.] Feeling my expression dim further and further the more I listened to Meta exin how bleak my future will be, Imented, almost depressed. "Leveling up is hard." I guess that''s just the way it is. It meant I would have to seek out stronger monsters eventually. The stronger I grew, the narrower my future prospects became. It was only a matter of time before my experience farm (the forest) wouldn''t be able to assist me in leveling up anymore. After all, the strongest monsters residing in this forest were at most Mortal Rank like myself. Chances were there could be a few rare Eta Ranks, but those were slim and could depend entirely on luck... Or unluck...for me to run into one. It didn''t take too long for me to locate and retrieve the core fragment from the beast. Staring at the glinting small bloody crystal in my palm, I mused inwardly with Meta. ''As I thought, in the end, remaining in this territory with my family will only limit my possibilities. I can''t spend the rest of my life until the Cmity here, I''ll have to start furnishing my ns about venturing outside.'' [Affirmative. Aetohria is a wide world with nigh endless possibilities. There are various ways and ces to furnish your strength.] Meta also seemed to agree. Sigh, I still remember how excited I was during my first kill a couple of years ago. It felt like I hadnded a gold mine, but now I''m suddenly getting too strong for it, sniff sniff... Somehow, I feel kind of nostalgic... My first kill, huh. That was the strange White Ware rabbit and the rush of euphoria that ran through my body was simply... I sniffed again with a bitter smile. Remembering to flesh out my ns for the rest of my future, I crush the small fragment in my palm. The Core shattered like ss underneath my Mortal strength and an ethereal wisp of energy broke from it before swirling into my nose and body. Inhaling the wisp, I felt my body rejuvenate slightly, and my Aura core stir a bit. By the time it was finished, the shattered pieces of the core had vanishedpletely. Absorbing the essence of monster Cores helped in saturating my Aura core and slowly increasing my reserves. Just like leveling up, it was only a matter of time before low level cores like this would be able to barely increase the quality and fluidity of my Aura. Well, in the first ce, the reason I was hunting in the forest at the moment was to maximize my current opportunity. It might seem contradictory to my inital n of trying to dy my progress as much as seemingly possible until it was right, but I was only here because it was right. Just as nned, earlier in the year, I faked my Awakening. Hehe Thinking back about my performance, there was no chance I hadn''t got everyone fooled. [No kidding. You suddenly dropping to the ground and screaming "It''sing, it''sing! I can feel it in my right hand! The power, ahh!" Was certainly a performance worth a round of apuse.] Meta dryly quiped sarcastically. ''D-don''t say it like that. Makes it sound cringe. '' [It was.] ''... '' Fuck... I facepalmed, feeling my cheeks burn from embarrassment while think back to how stupidly I had acted while faking. Stupid, stupid. Why did I do something so embarrassing like scream, ''the power in my right arm ''?! Meta added; [I think it was a splendid performance...eight graders will be proud.] "S-shut the fuck up!" I-it was for the sake of the plot! Yes, for the plot! I had to make it look believable! [Is that why you''re d Adrianne wasn''t there to see it?] I said shut up! I screamed internally. "...in any case, shouldn''t we get going and finsih up what we''re for before it turns dark? Those monsters aren''t going to be my experience points themselves..." Muttering to myself with gritted teeth, I mached further into the forest. However the method, I seeded in faking my Awakening, which meant i can new progress further with my n. I have already began to disy ''improvements'' to my family and raised their expectations slightly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om They believe I''m Beta ranked as a newly Awakened however. All in all, everything has been going smoothly, I decided it wouldn''t hurt too much to raise my level a bit more now. But I still didn''t have ns to breakthrough into the next rank yet. Even if I did, it would be twice as hard as it was for me to breakthrough to Mortal. For reference, I had until level 35 to be Eta ranked. I was almost half way there though, and if I could get to Level 20 or 19 at the very least this year, i would be able to mask it as my advancement through my fake Beta Rank on the surface. Hence why I was out here. There was news about the sighting and location of a discovered den of Monsters nearby, somewhere in the forest. This was something discovered by the resident hunters. I just happened to be in town trading in some pelts when I happened to hear about this (aka eavesdrop). It just so happened to coincide advantageously to my ns. So instantly, my eyes lit up as soon as I heard it. And here I was; seeking out the Den for myself. ''A Den, huh. I''ve never faced an entire Den before, is there anything should know about before then? '' I hadn''t found the Den yet, so I asked Meta for any prior advice. It would be a lie to say I wasn''t a little bit anxious. But at the same time, strangely excited. Was it confidence or arrogance, i wasn''t sure. Maybe it was because I knew the Monsters at least wouldn''t be Eta rank or above? [Monster Den orirs have a considerable number of monsters or Beasts, depending on the size of the Den. But what would be the most you should be wary about would be the ''Boss'' of the Den.] Meta said. I furrowed my brows only slightly. ''The boss? '' I hadn''t heard of that before. [It is already strange a group of monsters reside together at a ce, but this is often possible in most cases because there is an authority presiding over all. A Monster much stronger than the rest. That is called a Boss.] The image of the level 17 Dire Fanged Wolf of some years ago popped into my mind. ''I see. I understand. Somehow, this just turned into a game development... ''So the Boss is what I should be most worried about? Got it. '' [Aside from the numbers, yes.] Meta affirmed. Well, it shouldn''t be much of a problem if the Monsters residing in the Den are low level. But in the end, it is all only a chance. The boss is the strongest in the Den, but in the end, it''s the numbers that are most deadly. Concluding this, I decided to proceed carefully. This time, I made extra preparations and even brought my spear along. And whilst in my thoughts, it didn''t take too long before I found the Monster Den. "Is that it?" I mumbled from behind a fallen log, a couple distance away from target. In my hands were a pair binocrs I brought with me. [Affirmative.] "...it fits the description with the information I received." Lowering my binocrs, I hummed thoughtfully. The Den looked like an unassuming cave in the side of a cliff at a forest edge. It took a while to get this far and finally find it due to how far the Den actually was. I came across a few Monsters on the way and hunted them for experience, hoping to at least raise my level a bit before confronting the Den. Unfortunately, that didn''t work. All I managed to get were a few Core fragments I hadn''t absorbed yet for emergency purposes. I would most likely be expending a lot of Aura, the core fragments were backups. After surveying the area for a while longer, I decided not to waste any more time. The news about the Den had spread considerably in the settlement, and I was sure father would be sending out a group to clear it. I intended to do that first however. ''I''m such a good and patriotic citizen, taking on such a danger for the safety of our region. Right Meta? " I sighed exaggeratedly and said to Meta. [You just want to monopolize all of the experience for yourself.] ''A hero? No, please. That''s too much. '' [...] I made final preparations in ce, keeping behind excessive luggage that would only slow or impede me and hiding them in a bush. Arming myself with a sharp dagger, a bow, a quill of arrows, and my personal spear; i approached the den from the front. There was a wide clearing before the Den, so there was no point in me trying to close in sneakily anyway. So instead, I walked casually with a big warm smile while twirling my spear. "Now then, let''s begin the hunt!" Chapter 20 Midnight Foxes [2] As i walked casually into the entrance of the cave, i activated a skill. ... [Skill {Appraisal (Level 1)} has been activated] [{Appraisal (Level 1)} is being used] ... A while ago, the {Inspect} skill maxed out at level 3 then eventually evolved into a whole new different skill entirely. Though i said different, the principles with the new {Appraisal} skill were simr, only better. Instantly, a variety of information and tabs appeared before my eyes, concerning the environment. With this, all preparations are done. I thought inwardly and took my first step into the den. And immediately, I felt a wave of bloodlust and danger wash over me like a flood in a storm. Various presences announced themselves to my spread awareness, each exuding a considerable amount of powerful pressure. My smile grew strained, but I held wider regardless. The cave was dark, but my {Appraisal} skill easily cut through the shadowy gloom as various shapes and sizes of outlines appeared before me. ''I was wondering what type of Monsters it''ll be. '' I zoomed in on some of them and a few tabs appeared. ... [Name: Midnight Foxes Type: Beasts Affinity: Shadows Level: 11(+2) Rank: D Strength: 12(+1) Speed: 13(+1) Agility: 15(+1) Defense: 10(+1) .. >SUMMARY< Midnight Foxes are Beasts type creatures which possess high affinity towards darkness and shadows. They experience a boost in power and twice the level increase when within their ''domian'' and have considerable coordination with members of the same specie...] ... Too many pluses... One difference between the {Appraisal} skill and the {Inspect} skill was the degree of details and information provided. With the {Inspect} skill, it was kind of like getting the bare minimum necessary details about what I cast the skill on, and this degree increased with each level. On the other hand, the {Appraisal} skill, like its corresponding name, almost literally appraised into detail. And this was currently only an example of what it could do at only Level one too. As handy as the {Appraisal} skill maybe, it still doesn''t change the fact that I may be royally fucked. I was already dodging the swift attack of a sharp tail aimed for my head. I pivoted to the side, and shed with my long spear. The space before me...or rather...the ''darkness'' Infront of me grazed and rippled like gas as my spear cut through it, where was supposed to be a Midnight Fox. Immediately understanding the severity of the situation, I backed up, and backtracked for the entrance without turning my back. Affinity to shadows and darkness... Midnight Fox is a truly fitting name. The skill said they had a considerably high affinity to shadow and darkness and experience an improve and boost in strength and level when they were within their innate element. That meant they had territorial advantage in the darkness of the cave. As I retreated further to the entrance, the attacks at me ceased. As I thought. If darkness is their ability, then light would be their bane. The light of day from the forest prevented the vicious creatures from approaching the entrance. But at the same time, that prevented me from going in carelessly too. ''To think I would already be at a disadvantage this quickly. Isn''t that sad? '' Iughed self mockingly internally. [It seems wecked enough information in the end. It is also obvious the darkness suffusing from the cave is unnatural.] Meta made an analysis. ''You think so too? '' I didn''t pay much attention to it at the beginning, but the darkness of the cave was a bit too thick. It was instantly dark and shrouded in gloom the moment I stepped foot through the entrance, and the strange sensation I felt when my spear cut through the air at that one point. It was a bit muddled. ''The Midnight Foxes may have something to do with that. They really have turned this cave into their ''domain''. '' So the question is... What do I do next? I stared at the inside of the dark cave from the entrance. Even with {Appraisal} active, I could only barely see a few couple of steps into the cave. Everything beyond that was pitch ck. I kind of wish I had a stun grenade. I stared at the dark entrance of the cave and mused silently. The longer I looked at it, the more convinced I became about all of that gloom undting from it being unnatural. I had no prior clue about what type of monsters would be upying the Den, I didn''t know much about all types of monsters anyway, but I seemed to have found myself in a rather tricky scenario. Luckily I had my own walking encyclopedia of Aethoria buzzing in my head ~ ''What do I need to know about these creatures?'' I twirled my spear and turner around before walking back to the spot I ced my things at. Meta''s synthetic voice promptly responded. [It is mostly as you have already experienced. As long as they are present within their elements, Midnight Foxes receive a passive boost to all of their stats. They have a deep and considerable influence over darkness and shadow, one of their most unique trait when together is the transformation of an area into their domain.] My brows furrowed lightly. ''What? I''m not sure I got that.'' [In other words; the density of the unnatural darkness of the cave is caused as a result of all the numerous foxes residing inside. It has gone beyond simply being just a ridiculously dark cave, to something that more or less have be a living natural habitat.] The darkness...was alive. That sounded so bizarre and eerie, I had to stop and take a breath. "Fuuuu..." I had already arrived before my stuff which I hid away in the forest and went down in one knee next to it. I rummaged silently through its content as Meta inquired. [What are you doing?] ''I want to test out something.'' with that said, I literally one of my arrowheads on fire, knocked it against the string of my bow and pointed it at the cave entrance from outside.N?v(el)B\\jnn I pulled back the string, and the dancing tongue of fire on my arrow flickered slightly as I let it loose through the air. -Xui! The ming arrow streaked across the distance and prated into the dark cave. But as soon as it did... ''Just as I thought.'' All of the radiance from the vanished instantly, into oblivion. At the same time, Meta and I shared the same thought. [The light was devoured.] Quite literally. "Haa..." I sighed and lowered my bow. It seems that, to prate such thick darkness, a simple single torch wouldn''t even suffice. ''Midnight Foxes...are terrifying.'' I chuckled internally. The current situation was only as a result of a group of them living together. Wasn''t this some degree of terra forming the environment then? It just made me imagine what would happen if an evenrger number of these monsters upied an evenrger region or area like an entire forest... The scene of a gloom covered forest, wheerd even the outside radiance of the sun failed to prate shed through my mind briefly... Well, that didn''t mean all hope is gone and I have no choice but to turn away. ''Meta, analysis.'' [To spread away the darkness, light of equal magnitude or higher is required. A small tongue of me like that one will simply be devoured and erased in less than a second.] ''And what about a concentrated effort of light? Or something?'' I was thinking of something along the lines of a short burst of bright light like a stun grenade. Those things were rather bright but only shone for short moments and instances, yet their effectssted longer after the radiance was gone. [That may work, but only to a lesser degree. It would require a continuous release of light of the same degree to fend of the darkness, but only temporarily.] Except I''d definitely go blind if I used a stun grenade like that over and over... Well a stun grenade is only used as reference in this context, it''s not like I actually had a few with me. Those things are really dangerous, you know... "I see." I nodded in understanding Now I''ve at least got a better understanding of my opponents. It was also for this reason I was confident I could take them. "If that''s the case, the there''s no reason for me to be discouraged or go back." I turned back to my backpack I think I already had what I need for a situation like this. It was true that I had no prior information to the type of monster upying the cave as a Den, but after the small unexpected situation that happened to me a few years ago after breaking through to Mortal Rank, I''ve be more meticulous in nning each of my hunting trips. I stared at the objects I pulled from my bag in my hands and smiled. ''Meta, how well do you think res will work?'' [Not much. Compared to a simple tongue of fire like before, res can provide you only a couple of seconds worth of light in a darkness like the one of the cave. I estimate, no more than five seconds for each stick. Give or take.] The closest thing I had to a stun grenade was res. *** Late update. The chapter I had ready was suddenly wiped, and I didn''t notice until it was toote, so I had to rewrite the entire thing! Well, one more chapter iing soon... Chapter 21 Midnight Foxes [3] The closest thing I had to a stun grenade with me were res. But vaguely five seconds was a lot lesser than I expected. "Can''t be helped then..." As for why I had res with me on a hunt, just because. I actually had a bunch of seemingly random stuff like extra pairs of clothing, a few ropes , extra daggers, etc. I didn''t want to wind up in an unexpected situation like before, so I brought a few minimum necessities along each time I came out to hunt. I nced back at the cave and at the re sticks in my hands. I had about a total of twelve of them, and by my estimate a single re couldst about five minutes at minimum at usual. But something as ''mundane'' as a re will simply be devoured in a lesser period of time by that living and undting darkness. Five seconds. Each re was equivalent to about five seconds of lighting. The thought I had to finish things off within a short period of time was almost exciting! [You''re crazy.] I shrugged. "Who decides what''s sane?" In any case. "Aren''t Midnight Foxes cool? Imagine if I had one of those as a pet or something kind of familiar..." Hmmm... maybe I''d get one for myself? I made my final preparations and headed back to the entrance of the cave, when I heard Meta input. [The good thing at least is that, there wasn''t a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!] Yeah, I guess that was a good thing. I stuffed the res in my pockets, and pulled out one before rushing in.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Once more, as soon as I took a step into the cave, a wave of bloodlust and animosity washed over me from all over, threatening to drown and suffocatr me in the heavy darkness that ensued. I felt the various presence of multiple figures swiftly moved and approach me, and even with Appraisal, I could barely only make out a couple of vague figures. ''First stick...'' I broke the re in my hand and tossed it overhead. A crimson red radiance burst above and spread a miniature halo of light into my immediate surroundings. At the same time I could clearly see the radiance of the re swiftly diminish as the darkness that was temporarily chased away enriched back around it. But that shirt moment was enough. "There you are~" I drove my spear forward through the dimming light at the numerous figures that wer already ufortably close to me and stabbed on le through its eye, and smashed the head of another with my legs reinforced with Armament. ... [Ding! You have in a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!] [Ding! You have in a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!] ... Hehe. Just as expected, their defense was thoroughlycking and the first three foxes died in a single blow. I barely felt the trickle of power that usually apanied a kill, but I didn''t pay mind to it. Instead, I stepped into my next movement and bared my spear one more time. At the same time another fox died to my spear, the glow of the res were mostly almost non-existent now, and the darkness began to reign supreme once more. I spun my spear then dragged the tip through the cave ground in front of me, throwing dirt and dust into the faces of the foxes that tried to seize the opportunity andughed loudly. "Here''s another one~" at the same time I broke the fuse of two more res and threw them just above my head and above the nearest beasts, then thrust my spear forward. It prated easily through its head as a notification of its death rang in my head. At the same time, I brought my elbow down at the wooden shaft of the spear...and broke it in half before withdrawing the one with the spearhead in the corpse, and striking another nearby fox with the other half against the head. Weak. These guys are weak! No. Maybe I''m too strong? Fighting with a spear in a cave would be disadvantageous the deeper I went, so instead I broke it in half and resulted to using the piece as some sort of wooden baton. I would switch Armament from Agility to Strength and with them both, I unleashed a massacre on the group of Foxes while carefully utilizing the temporal radiance of the res. ... [Ding! You have in a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!) [Ding! You have in a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!] [Ding! You have in a Level 11 Beast, Midnight Fox!] [Ding! You have in a Level 13 Beast, Midnight Fox!]... [Ding! You have grown stronger! You have leveled up!] ... I leveled up two entire times during my rampage until finally, a muffled groan left my lips. I felt an inexplicable force, akin to something powerful running into my back and I was flung forward with little resistance. I crashed into the ground then tumbled a few times before recovering bnce and looked up with a bleeding lip. Thest re I used was almost gone, but I could see a muchrger shadow outline loom over me in the returning darkness. Then my mind registered the presence and {Appraisal} skill answered my questions. ''Fuck, Meta! I thought you said there was no Boss?! '' [...I had no way of knowing at the initial time. My senses are linked to yours; you didn''t detect a Boss back then, and neither did I.] ... [Name: Midnight Foxes Type: Beasts Affinity: Shadows Level: 19(+2) Rank: D+ Strength: 14(+1) Speed: 15(+1) Agility: 16(+1) Defense: 14(+1) .. I cursed as I pulled out another stick of re, prepared to break the fuse and ignite it. [The Boss most likely was masking its presence with its ability until now after acknowledging you as a threat that it decided to show itself.] Meta''s exnation was usible but it didn''t matter. It''s only level 19, the scenario was almost like the Wolf from four years ago, it''s not much stronger than me now¡ª!! I broke the fuse of the re and my thoughts momentarily froze. The re cast its red radiance on my immediate surroundings and the features of the Boss, shrouded in swirling darkness became clear to me. It stood over 53 inches and was twice the full size of a full grown fox. ck lusterless fur that almost glinted int the darkeness with traces of dark violet purple, a long snout with shapely dark eyes that looked down at me from above with what resembled aloofness. But it was what was behind the fox that left me speechless. A lowugh broke from my lips. "I''ve decided. You''re the one i want!" It had three furry tails! The darkness that was so thick and seemed imprable around the Boss Fox surged and one of itsrg tails whipped at me at a speed my eyes failed to follow. I took a hit that felt like having a car ram into me and my body flew an entire room across the cave and smashed through a stone wall. A blinding pain ravaged my whole body like a heat threatening to consume me from inside and out. The impact from the tail had made me a few ugly bruises, but the collision through a wall left my whole body a broken mess of shattered bones and misced joints. A low groan reverberated from my throat deeply as my body cringed in pain against the bare ground, but as a result my senses were painfully clearer. Two boost in levels...i forgot about that part... I struggled to drag my body across the ground and realized I could see much clearer herepared to before. It was still dark, but it wasn''t as imprable and suffocating as the cave in the other side of the shattered wall. The darkness here felt more natural. As a Mortal Awakened, I had no trouble seeing clearly. That was why as soon as I felt my vision and surrounding grow darker and heavier, I understood that the Boss was already approaching from behind. ''Dammit, I lost my spear pieces when I got hit. I can''t use my bow either, there''s no time and everything hurts like crap!'' The darkness was already upon me. Everything was shrouded in gloom and a suffocating pressure descended slowly. Fuck... A trickle of sweat beaded down my face as I felt a dreadful presence just behind me. I didn''t dare to turn around and only continued to drag my body across the ground. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... ''Meta, any ideas? '' [...] No response. ''H-hey, Meta, I said I need a little help here! '' [...] Still nothing. ''Meta! Whay aren''t you answering me? Meta! '' [...] Nothing. Fuck!! Feeling an inexplicable emotion boil from inside, I growled, grabbed a rock and threw it desperately at the fox behind me. Obviously that did nothing. I watched the rock vanish into the darkness as the beast only closed in on me. I picked another and threw, then another, and another. Then one more too.. I continued to shuffle backward away from the beast until I felt the touch of the hard wall against my back. "Hah... Hah..." My breathing was ragged and my chest heaved as I panthed deeply. I stared at the billowing mass of darkness that was the Midnight Fox...and suddenlyughed. "Hah... Ahahahahahaha! Hahaha! It always ends like this, doesn''t it? Just like back on Earth, and four years ago. Done in by greed and avarice. Haha. Iughed self mockingly as I stared at the billowing mass with a resigned look. Then I sighed deeply, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. "Well...it was fun while itsted, I guess." "And, Meta. You''re fucked if I see in on the other side. " Uttering my final words with unrestrainedughter, the darkness surged and rapidly shot at me. I couldn''t see whatever it was, everything was a massive surge of haze and shadows but I could fee lwhatever it was quickly approch me. But all of a sudden, a bright light erupted and repulsed the approaching darkness. What? My vision returned, the entire cave was dyed in the soft blue glow that seemed almost magical. I watched the darkness swirling around the Fix recede sharply as if avoiding a gue. And even the Midnight Fox bared it''s long white fangs, expressing its agitation and wariness at the sudden development. It took careful steps backwards while growling at me and at the light. It was at that same moment I noticed the srange glowing marks forming an intricate circle... No, semi-circle around me. It was wide, and pulsing with runes of power. It was also from this that the strange light suffused from. With only bewilderment, I watched the light swell and slowly increased with rising intensity. What was happening, for some reason I was just too tired at this point to care. I just sat there with a pitiful smile as I stared at the features of the Boss wolf still growling at me. Deep regrets rooted in my heart as I smiled bitterly at the Fix with three tails. "Dammit...i really wanted to keep it." Then the light swallowed up my vision, and everything went bright. *** Rewiring a chapter is never the same. I still feel like there were a few things Iissed out on this rewrite....sigh Chapter 22 Spirited Away Dammit...and I really wanted to keep that fox. Imented at the veryst moment. The suffusing light from the glowing runes surrounding me grew in intensity and swallowed up my entire vision, painting my world in a blinding white. I felt my consciousness falter and twist, and unusual sensation like having my mind pulled and bent. Yes, I agree. Death still wasn''t a pleasant experience even a second time. A vague sensation as if walking on air filled my mind. I felt vain and intangible. Everything just drifted like gass, endlessly. It wasn''t a pleasant sensation... But it wasn''t terrible either. Then the already bright light that filled my endless vision became even brighter, it''s rays as if chasing away thest vestiges of my consciousness. Then everything just went empty and void. Then I opened my eyes. What... just happened? I thought, feeling a little dazed. My thoughts were still all over the ce and I wasn''t entirely sure what I was feeling. Is...that a ceiling? I think I wasying on the ground? Above me was a rocky ceiling with jagged rocks and stones that threatened to fall against me. It took a while but I was able to realize it was a cave. A cave...a cave, huh... A cave! Fully realizing I was in a cave, I jerked straight up from ground, fully rmed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om My memories were slowlying back to me. "What the hell happened?" I asked myself urgently. Then...came the nausea. "Heuek-!!" I lowered my head and doubled over my body and immediately threw up the contents of my stomach for twenty seconds. "What the fuck..." After that, everything felt disoriented slightly as I stood up, using the wall next to me as support. Then I heard a voice I least expected at the moment. [It appears we have been transported.] ''Meta, you treacherous binary code of ones and zeros... '' [Bitch is arge word.] Wait, what? I paused. [...] The fuck was that supposed to mean?! I shookmy head, pushing aside such questionable thoughts for now and focused on a different matter. ''You sted excuse for a system, where the fuck were you ?! And what do you mean by we were teleported? '' it had already been years since I found Meta, overtime I had began to think of ''It'' as ''her'' and ''Me'' as ''us''. I wasn''t sure when, but it was certainly more convenient than referring to Meta as an it all the time. Meta was at the very least, artificial intelligence and practically lifeless; now that I think about it, maybe it was because I didn''t want to see myself as talking to aputer all the time. That would make me seem mad when I am perfectly one hundred percent sane in the head! Yeah. [The strange runes and glow from before were from a teleportation matrix left behind at the cave hidden in the Den. It must have activated as soon as it detected you step into its radius and brought us here.] Meta suddenly said a lot of things that didn''t make too much sense to me. "Teleportation what now?" [Teleportation Matrix. An ancient form of teleportation that has been discarded over time.] Meta curtly said. "In other words... I''ve been spirited away." I mused. [...Your ability to make light of all kinds of scenarios is truly entric. Or perhaps it is just a way for you to hide in your miserable shell with contents of self mockery and dry sarcasm?] Meta''sment made me frown in the darkness. "I don''t wanna hear it from a treacherous partner who''s nowhere to be found when truly needed. Enough of that. You said we were teleported, where are we then?" Certainly it was a cave. It was dark, but not the unnatural kind thatpletely sealed away my vision. I could still make out a path forward. Meta''s reply came shortly. [Negative. I can''t be sure if that ] I sighed. "I guess we''ll have to find out." epting the situation as is, I followed a path down the cave tunnel while sticking to the left wall. I activated my {Appraisal} skill and gained some visibility in the darkness. There was no point in panicking over this sudden turn of events. I had to calmly evaluate my situation and find a way out. I wasn''t in any rush I while I walked forward. Not only was it dark but I was currently in unfamiliar territory. I had absolutely no idea what could be lurking in the shadows at every corner. The path continued forward and tilted slightly to the left as I silently and carefully pondered the situation. ''Meta, what are the chances I''m still within Bright territory? '' I asked inwardly as I followed the left path and turned slightly. I moved forward by shuffling and shifting my feet silently so my pace was considerably slow. [Unfortunately, that is something I can not determine with the current information.] Regrettably, Meta''s response provided no sce. ''Hmm. That might be troublesome.'' it''ll be a pain if I somehow found my way out and realize I''ve been whisked halfway across the continent. If I do get out, that is. For starters, I needed to find out where exactly this is, and move on from there. But a hidden teleportation matrix in a cave doesn''t exactly scream D**neynd to me. I already expected the shit to hit the fan. While I thought that, I caught sight of a slight glow up ahead. It was an almost ethereal blue light that cast a soft radiance against the wall. Clearly, that was the first ce I headed towards. I didn''t rush towards the light, however and instead proceeded even more slowly. In a few minutes, I traversed the dark path and arrived at the curve. Pressing my back closely to the rough wall, I took a peek into the next cavern from where the mysterious faint light came from and managed to restrain a gasp. A truly mesmerizing scene presented itself in all of it''s enchanting glory before me. "Woah." [...] It was a wide expansive underground cavern, with shimmering streams and flowing rivers of what resembled glittering water. The space was suffused with a soft mystique blue glow and the air was unexpectedly clear and reinvigorating. Fluorescent pores floated through the space, and the high cave ceiling was adorned by a tapestry of blue crystals from which the soft glow originated from. Hung from above, they shimmered like distant stars, adding a touch of wonder and enchantment and mystery to the mystique of the cave I lingered and surveyed the surroundings a little longer, there was no prescence...none I noticed at least. And after learning a lesson already, I decided against from checking with Meta. Warily, I took a step into the cavern, the property of the air instantly filled me withfort, and my battered body slowly began to heal. The throbbing and burden I gained from confronting the boss of the Den slowly began to recede and my senses slowly expanded. Another breath and I felt my stamina recover and my fatigue wash away. "It seems the air in this ce has some special quality. " I muttered in understanding, probing Meta''s input. [It''s an Aether geyser.] ''What''s that? '' I asked, slightly curious. Meta promptly exined. [Aether geysers a rare locations with naturally concentrated amount of Aether. These locations can be found under unusual conditions, and the environment in question may be influenced by this rare and strange phenomenon.] ''Ohh, I see. '' A location with a concentrated amount of Aether energy, huh. That exins why all of a sudden I feel reinvigorated. It''s because my core is slowly saturating itself. But wasn''t this crazy?! Didn''t we justnd a goldmine then?! From the manner Meta used to exin, Aether geysers seemed like ces with incredible worth. Just by breathing in the fresh air of this ce, my wounds were healing and my bones were mending. I could slowly feel my core recover all of the lost Aura I used against the Den, and saturate even further than before. It was a prime spot for training and getting stronger. Suddenly feeling energetic, I pranced deeper into the cavern. The ground slopped downwards a bit to the ground. Containing my excitement, I leaped forward and down,nding with a soft thud. Now inside, the underground cavern suddenly seemed a lotrger and robust. The ceiling appeared higher and the glowing crystals were more numerous. The walls seemed further, and the environment felt like a truly different world. This is probably the most fanstasy-like ce I''ve ever been since reincarnating. Indeed. Up untill now, everything seemed like I had just gone two steps back to the past, in the Victorian era, and one in the future, in a modern world. Aside from learning Aura and grinding levels, everything else has been kind of mundane. Well, as Mundane as a fantasy world could be at least. It was still fresh to me anyway. But here...it was different. I could feel my skin tingle. Was this what they called adventure? I walked around the cavern while exploring the area. I still hadn''t forgotten I had to find a way out of wherever this ce is and noticed there were a few tunnels which led out of the robust cavern. Off to the east wall side of the cavern, three tunnel paths stood before me. They were tall and wide, with a darkness the radiance of the cavern failed to reach. ''Great, it''s a forked path. '' I mused. ''What do you think? '' warily, I asked Meta. [The choice is up to you.] ''Of course it is. '' I retorted with a sneer. What kind of response had i expected from the enigmatic system? I restrained a sigh and didn''t linger much longer before making my decision. "Then I''ll go with the middle path." [... Is there any particr reason for that?] Meta asked sinctly. With little enthusiasm, I shrugged my shoulders and responded inly. "Instinct." Chapter 23 Silver Sentinel The scene behind the colossal stone doors led to a wondrousrge hall, with massive stone pirs raising the high ceiling I couldn''t even see on both sides. Blue me torches came alive the instant I stepped through. A ghostly pale blue glow spread through therge surrounding, dispersing a part of the gloom, enough to at least leave behind a wondrous dark visage. "Woah. It''s like some kind of really amazing audience chamber." I silently mumbled in awe. Indeed, the room behind the stone doors was arge audience chamber, drowned and forgotten in time and age. There were shadows the radiance of the blue torches didn''t meet, and up ahead at the opposite end ¡ª a rather impressive looking throne sat on an elevated tform of stairs. The mighty throne seemed to overlook the rest of the chamber from its position. It was empty, but I felt a vague sense of authority and power spread from it and fill the ce. Like I truly was in the presence of a king or the like. I suppressed the feeling and looked around the ce one more time. The grandiose chamber was rather massive, about half the size of the cavern before. The ceilings were high and hid in the shadows above the tall pirs in both sides numbered twelve and led up to a spot just before the throne on the tform. Aside from that, the whole ce was empty. Ah, except for what resembled a full set of full silvery armor standing just underneath the side of the Throne tform. While I took in the grandiose sight before me, all of a sudden my head buzzed with a system notification. ... [Warning! Warning! Foreign interference detected! [Initiating defcon protocol ¡ª sequence terminated! Error! Error!] ... "What the..." Immediately, I panicked. ''Meta, what the fuck is going on?! '' panickingly I asked, when a low rumble reverberate from the ground and behind me. It felt like the underground chamber bellowed to life. Immediately I turned around and jerked my head towards the entrance and my eyes widened as i watched the colossal stone doors close shot before me like a collision between two colossal mountains. ''No, no, no, no, no! '' I pressed on my heels and sprinted for the closing doors, feeling my heart race with an unsettling chill. ''I knew something would go wrong!'' -BANG! At the same moment, I heard the sound of a loud bang like an exploding drum and my senses tingled from behind me. As time seemed to slow down at that very moment, I watched from the corner of my eyes, a mass of polished silver tes blur next to me in the blink of a eye. ''Is that...? '' my pupils shrunk and my instincts cried at me to run. It was the full set of silver armor that was from the throne. It''s silver gauntlet shed a speed far greater than I could perceive. I can''t evade it! Concluding that, I crossed my arms against my midsection and took a bone shattering blow from the silvery fist. -BOOM! The power was immense, despite my attempt I had the air knocked out of my lungs and my vision faltered. I was hurled through the air from impact, torpedoing across the chamber and struck a stone pir. "Guaek!" A wretched groan broke from my lips. My consciousness faded and I found it hard to breathe. "Cough, cough, gasp!... Cough!" I choked on a round of incessant coughs, trying desperately to gasp for air through my empty lungs. My chest heaved and pumped heavily, and anguish filled my expression. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I threw up a small puddle. I looked down at my hands that were furled against the ground next to me. "I think my arms are shattered." One blow was all it took to obliterate both my arms and send me flying. -GLANK! The heavy sound of ttering steel tes made me raise my head. Up ahead before me was the mysterious Knight in full body silver armor. It stood immensely tall, at the full height of 2''2m, and its polished tes of silver were lustrous and reflective. Yet watching my reflection in the surface gave me a rather unsettling and eerie feeling. I reflexively activated my {Appraisal} skill and couldn''t hide my bafflement at what I saw next. ... _____ _____ [Skill {Appraisal} level 1 has been activated] [Error! The target''s level is too high. {Appraisal} Skill will be adjusted] [Error! To many information. Details will be summarized. ... [Name: Silver Sentinel (???) Type: Golem, ??? Level: ??? ??? ??? ???...] ____n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ____ ... Why the fuck? This was the first time I was seeing such a message. The Targets level is too high... enough so I can''t appraise it''s stats, I thought internally with a heavy heart. ''What'' s that supposed to mean?! '' I had never experienced a scenario where my Inspect or Appraisal skill failed to summarize my opponents detail over the difference in levels between us. If something like this was happening now, wouldn''t that mean the difference between the strength of the Golem and me...was world''s apart? Just as I was begining to be cold with sweat, my eyes widened in realization. My fingers trembled and my lips shivered as I stared with feverish eyes at the silver knight slowly advancing towards me. No, no, you have got to be kidding me, I chuckled self degradingly inside as the despair began to sink in. I opened my bloody lips with a strained smile as I silently uttered. "...Eta Rank..." [Worse. Hero.] Meta interjected and the Silver knight exploded with motion. -BANG! A powerful sound resounded as the silver body of the knight blurred out of existence before and disappeared. At the same moment, Meta''s urgent voice buzzed deeply in my head. [Switch with me.] ''...What... '' before i could full register my thoughts, the system screen shed before my vision with a few strings of characters. ... [Skill {???} Level ??? Has been activated.] ... I felt my consciousness pull inward and my vision momentarily warped. The next moment, my body moved on its own as something crashed into the spot I once was. -BOOM! A sizeable cloud of dust spread out from the area of impact, yet I seemed unimpeded and quickly sprinted as far away from the area as possible. Is Meta controlling my body? I thought withplexity. The idea that Meta could steal my body at anytime regardless of my concerns was deeply unsettling. One more time today, I was made to realize that. ''Hey, what are you doing?! Give me back my body? '' i shouted inwardly, and demanded. Meta''s cold and emotionless voice echoed where I was steadily. [We are fleeing. This battle is not something we can hope to win. Not this time] ''What?! Even if you say that, how are we supposed to get out? The doors are closed behind us.'' At this point, the silver knight was already upon us once again. I watched from my eyes - Meta''s eyes as molten silver slithered down the Knight''s arm and took the shape ofrgence with an unsettling sharp silver point. If I had control of my throat, I would have gulped. But contrary to my reaction, Meta remained calm andposed. Seemingly unfazed by the intimidating weapon. The silver knight kicked off the ground and charged at us once more. [I''vepleted the structural analysis of this whole ce.] Meta suddenly said, and a system screen appeared before me. [Number of Lives left: 3] ''Eh? '' [It''s a dungeon.] Don''t say it so casually?! The silver knight raised it''srgence as it appeared before us. Meta was too slow to react, the speed of a Hero rank monster wasn''t something my Mortal Ranked body couldpete against. Everything happened so slowly, yet so quickly. The silvernce shed and the air tore apart like fabric. A red fountain of blood burst out from the wide horizontal cut in my belly as my innards and guts spilled out. A burning hot pain surged through my mind, devouring my body as a blood curling cry escaped my lips, the sound of the system notification was like a muffled backdrop and by the the pain. "Gaarrrggghhh!!!" ... [Skill {???} Has been forcefully deactivated] ... Thest thing I saw were a string of words dyed in blood red sh predominantly against my whole dimming vision. The words were ring, their meaning even more grimm. . . . . . [You have Died.] Chapter 24 ... 3.. 2... 1 . . . [You have died.] . . . [Respawning in 3... . 2... . 1 . [Ding! Wee!] ... "Ahhh, my guts! It''s spilling! It''s spilling out so much¡ª" [It''s not.] My lips winced at the swift reply. I jolted up from the rough ground I wasying on and quickly pat down my body. Aside from arge tear in my shirt and a few other cuts in my clothes, I was rtively okay. Those and a new lingering trauma... ''That really was real. '' the state of my clothes confirmed I really had been gutted out before. In addition, there was a red glowing interface hovering before me. ...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om [Number of Lives left: 3 >> 2] ... The system message was ring and my eyes twitched. ''Did...did i just respawn? Like a boss character? '' it sounded ridiculous, but I can still vividly recall being gutted. Then it ured to me. "Meta you sonavabitch! You had me killed in the most painful way, with my guts spilling out!!" What was that about ''we need to escape'' again before?? Huhhhh??!! The bastard system lingered before responding tly. [That was an unforseen¡ª] "Bullshit!" I don''t wanna hear it!! First you seize control of my body, then after spouting some cool sounding ims, you get my gut sliced open! What even was that silver knight monster?! That bastard was strong, too strong! Is this the vast difference between ranks Meta was talking about before? That''s what''s at Hero rank?! Haha...I chuckled self degradingly. I used to think I was strong... [The opponent this time was just far beyond your level by leagues. You shouldn''t be mopping around, and instead figure out how you''re going to take it down.] Meta said and I shot an imaginary dubious look at her. "The fuck are you talking about?! You want me to go up against that monster a second time? Haha, you truly do what me dead after all. Alright, let''s go home." There was no way I''m ying tango with that monster a second time. I dusted my clothes and rose up to my feet. [Home? You keep sounding like you haven''t fully grasped the situation. Stop ying dumb already and ept the reality. There is now ''way home'' if you don''t face the Knight.] I paused then said. ''What do you mean.'' as if in response, a red screen reminiscent to my usual system interface popped up. ... [Number of Lives left: 2.] ... [You''re in a dungeon. Full of monsters and trials. That teleport matrix from the cave must have been linked to a forgotten ce like this long ago. It was an entry point, and the only way out is to find the exit.] ''Meaning? '' I frowned, growing tired of Meta''s lengthy exnation. Whenever she starts like this, means I have to do what I really don''t want to do. That was why I hated when Meta led with an exnation. [Dungeons aremon aspects of this world, varying in types and structures. In order to find your way out, most cases require the participant to resolve all of the ''trials'' assigned.] "..." [In order words, you have to clear the Dungeon in three trials. You''ve already lost a life, you''ve only got two more chances left. The dungeon system wouldn''t let you out otherwise. It had already tried to interfere with my interface once as well.] So the warning messages from before was because the Dungeon was trying to influence the system. More like...the dungeon has a system?! I nced back a the red screen and closely scrutinized it. "It really is different..." I muttered as I raised a finger to tap the transluscent screen but to no avail. My finger just ran through it like it wasn''t even there. Since it was a system too, I thought if I could find some simrities with Meta, I might be able to gain some clues where minees from. But not only was the interface red and different, it wasn''t even interactive and merely stood there like a health bar. "So I can''t leave without clearing the dungeon, huh. And in order to do that, I''ll have to somehow take care of that Knight." That... would be hard. Immensely so. And this was without considering if I could even clear the rest of the dungeon. [It would do fine to treat the Knight as the Dungeon boss, and the chamber as the Boss''sir.] Somehow, Meta had be well versed in rpg terms... My prospects were bleak. But, pathetically, as always, I had no choice. "Haha...of course I''ve got no choice. I never do." Not now, not back on Earth either. ...I hate it. [...There might be a way to escape the dungeon without needing to defeat the Boss.] My eyes lit up at Meta''s unexpected input. ''Oohh, Meta, I knew you woulde around....more like, if you had one why didn''t you say it sooner?! '' Nearly thought I would have to die to really ''escape the dungeon ''. "What is it?" I asked eagerly. [The clues were already obvious the moment you stepped into their. Just sit on the throne.] ... What? [Think back. The silver knight was positioned as a statue right next to the throne, enough so, not a single trace of its presence as a Hero ranked Monster leaked out. I have concluded that it''s presence is like that of a guard. And the Throne, is the way out.] "So it''s guarding the exit like some kind of gatekeeper. " I see. That made some kind of sense. I had mistook the Knight for a statue the first time. With the throne on an elevated tform, it stood outpared to everything else in the chamber that I hadpletely disregarded the main threat. If I managed to sit on the Throne, then would the dungeon system automatically deem me as a participant which cleared the dungeon? [Most likely.] ''Most likely?! '' I almost choked and tripped on my own feet. ''Didn''t you just say¡ª'' [It was a logical conjecture. I still require a certain degree more analysis to affirm this. The dungeon system has been proving an obstacle, making it harder to determine. But it''s just a mindlessplexity, I''ll crack the thing soon.] There was a hint of pride, ego, and malice more than usual in her voice as she spoke about the dungeon system. "And how long will that take?" [Depends on how long you sit around here and do nothing.] ... Point received. In order words, I had to explore the dungeon. I turned around to face the three massive paths before me. When I died to the Knight, I had respawned back at the robust cavern with gems, like it was some kind of checkpoint. "The center path leads to the giant passage way and their. Then where does the other two lead to?" Scratch that, I really didn''t want to know. But... I cracked a dry smile on my lips. "... What choice do I have?" Iughed emptily, resigned. " Dammit, Meta. You better be done with that analysis quickly. " Muttering to myself like this, I resolved myself and went down the left tunnel path. A dungeon that gives me three lives, huh, silently i mused in my heart. Aren''t I being too calm about all this? I was suddenly teleported away to who knows where only to discover I was in a dungeon. I had three lives and had been gutted open once by a merciless silver knight. ... shouldn''t I be traumatized. ''Meta, I''m incredible right? '' [You''re doing it again.] ''Doing what? '' I asked, raising an eyebrow in the dark. The transition from the bright cavern to the dark underground cave momentarily almostnded me blinded, but I slowly adjusted to the shadows and advanced. [Using sarcasm as a crutch. You''re probably the one person who can casuallyugh off threats of impeding doom with witty one liners.] ''.... Uhmm, thanks? '' That was apliment... right? As I felt the rough texture of the wall to my left, I pondered Meta''s words. Using sarcasm as a crutch... perhaps Meta was right. Looking back I''d always hidden behind self mockery and dry humor at the expense of myself, especially ever since transmigration. I hadn''t noticed it, but maybe I really have been hiding. But hiding from what? I asked myself meaningfully. Does that matter, I responded as if having an internal debate with two voices. I only wanted to live peacefully this time around, to avoid the blood shed and pains and regrets I umted during my time on Earth. I only wanted to be happy. So if I really was running away and cowering behind self pitiful jokes, it was because i had no other choice. Like always I never did. This was just my way of coping with the stress and weight of the responsibility ced on my shoulders. ''Threats of impeding doom'', huh. I chuckled. I couldn''t have said it any better. *** A/N: How To Survive A Cmity is sessfully contracted. Should I have a massive release soon...? Chapter 25 Bone Spike ____ ____ ... [{Appraisal} skill level 1 has been activated] [Name: Bone Spikes Type: Monster Level: 22 Rank: D+ ... An almost humanoid monster encased entirely in a tough exoskeleton made of bones. Not only do they excel in defense, but their long and sharp appendages can be used as weapons....] ... ____ ____ Level 22 Monster, huh. That''s something out of my league. A mid Mortal Rank Monster, the Bone spike was one of the many creatures I came across when venturing down the left tunnel. Actually, it was the only Monster specie I came across in the entire tunnel. There was a whole herd of them scattered around, I spent each second holding my breath and hiding behind corners to avoid getting noticed. The Bone Spikes had two extremely long bony limbs for arms that ended with even longer and sharper ws that were only inches from scraping the ground. They were extremely tall, and their whole body was encased in creamish-brown bony skeleton armor. They had high knees and their tall figures were slightly hunched. The much stronger once wererger, and some even had sharp bony sythes for limbs instead, with sharp potruding spikes from their joints and back. They were immensely horrifying Monsters to look at. I had never seen anything so deeply frightening before. Ah, except for the silver knight which gutted me some time ago. Speaking of which... [Meta, how long has it been since I was teleported.] I had been upied with getting out and then there was the issue with the Bossir, that I had totally disregarded the time. [There''s a dissonance in the time. ] ''You mean a time dtation? '' I asked, amused. A dungeon, a boss monster, three lives... Ah, it was truly starting to feel like a fantasy world. Except for the three lives... [It''s only been two hours since the teleportation in the real world.] ''To what degree is the dtion? '' [Negative. That would be hard to say without further information. I''ll crack the shitty system soon, anyway...] I hummed as I heard Meta openly express herplex against another system. Well I mean, it was obvious thest time she spoke about the Dungeon''s system... Three hours in the real world since I teleported. When I thought about the whole situation, I had the feeling I would be spending quite a lot of time in the dungeon. I could only hope the time dtion works in my favor. But I''m slowly beginning to see a pattern here.. [Amusing. You too?] I didn''t respond back to Meta''sment and turned my attention back against the herd of Bone Spikes roaming the cave from beyond the corner i hid behind. ''If I''m going to have to go up against the Silver Knight to get to the Throne one more time, I''ll need a weapon at the very least. '' But I knew that would not do much. I was innately a hand to handbat fighter, but I had slowly gotten used to and better at swinging a spear or pulling a bow. At the moment, all I had with me was my dagger. And my body. I summoned my status screen. ... ______ ______ [Name: Victor Bright Level: 16 Rank: Mortal Race: Human Hp: ???] ______ ______ ''Odds. '' [60% says you''ll die...] Geez, thanks. [An aggravating 40% says you''ll almost die.] ''...'' I shouldn''t have asked. An entire six levels ahead of me, huh? I thought with a slight chuckle and a sinister smile. Let''s break bones that hopefully aren''t mine... I drew the attention of one of the Bone Spikes monster and led it further down the cave, far away from the main group andid an ambush. I decided to make this quick and put away my dagger. Even without the Appraisal skill summary, a single nce and I could tell I wouldn''t be able to cut through. I took in a deep breath and erased all outside thoughts. My Aura surged down my arms and two ethereal gauntlets with sharp ws encased my fists. I kicked off the ground and lunged forward at the Bone Spike, which was still turned away from me. Clenching my fist, I aimed for a straight jab to the back of its head. But as if the Monster had eyes in the back of its head, it turned around at the veryst second. In an instant, four ghastly ws shed through the air toward me. My senses tingled, and I reflexively withdrew my attack. Jerking my head backward, I narrowly missed the long, sharp tips that threatened to slit my throat. Twisting my body, I threw myself to the ground, evading the deadly ws by a hair''s breadth. "That''s fast!" I thought, my eyes sharpening with focus. Before I could even catch my breath, another set of ws swept the ground, aiming for my feet. This time, they grazed my legs, sending a sharp pain through me like the nibbling of a hundred thousand ants. The sensation coursed up my arms, nearly overwhelming me. I furrowed my brows, suppressing a wince. Quickly, I rposed myself, adjusting my footing and putting some distance between myself and the Bone Spike. The creature''s speed and reflexes were far beyond anything I had anticipated. I backed away, aiming to put some distance in-between. ...at least I wished to. The tall, bony monster, which looked like the amalgamation of children''s nightmares, stretched their long body and swiped their long, wed fingers at me. Four bloody red lines tore open across the skin of my stomach, and another sizable portion of my shirt was shredded. The pain this time was insane, and I inadvertently cried out in anguish. I stumbled backward, feeling my blood seeping against my skin. Thanks to my earlier action of retreating, the four gashes in my stomach weren''t deep enough to prate my organs. Still, the pain was excruciating. It had only been a couple of seconds since the confrontation began, but I was already panting heavily. My face was drenched with sweat, and my muscles twitched, ready to explode with movement at any given moment. The pain helped. My mind instantly became much more clearer as I began to rapidly analyze the situation, and my instincts screamed at me to flee. Should I retreat? I asked myself internally while ncing around at my surroundings. My mind, filled with the sensation of my shed stomach, raced as I tried to formte a n. The tunnel offered little in the way of escape or hiding ces, and the Bone Spike''s speed and agility were far superior to mine. "Meta," I growled inwardly. The heat from my wounds sharpened my senses as my tattered shirt slowly dyed red with blood. [Odds just rose to above 73% you will die,] the cold synthetic voice of Meta announced. Compared to before, there was no trace of amusement or sarcasm in her tone. Iughed internally at myself. When had there ever truly been ''emotion'' in Meta''s voice? She was just a system, after all. Oops, my mind is straying... My vision swayed, and the world appeared darker. I stumbled backward once more, realizing I was losing blood quickly. Just one sh... I was done in by a single blow again. "The difference in levels between us isn''t even thatrge," I thought bitterly. "Have I truly been this weak and feeble all this time?" Fortunately, the bone spike didn''t advanced. It kept staring at me from the shadows. I had been deluding myself into thinking I was powerful. But today, I had already met three creatures that could kill me in a single blow. Heck, one already did. The red Dungeon system screen appeared before my hazy eyes. ... [Number of Lives remaining: 2] ... As if a mocking reminder, the red notification red at me. I should retreat, I thought through the fog filling my mind. Meta was right; I no longer felt I had a chance to win. Not like this. "Did my spirit just get broken?" I wondered. I smiled bitterly and took a step back. "Like hell it did." This was only a tactical retreat. I had only two lives left; I couldn''t afford to waste them before confronting the Bossir again. My breathing was ragged, and the pain in my stomach was a constant reminder of my vulnerability. If I was weak now, all I had to do was get stronger. Enough so I couldn''t be swatted like a fly in a single blow. Strong enough to actuallynd a hit. Strong enough to get my revenge. While my heartt boiled with my emotions, the burning pain from the gashes in my stomach suddenly felt reinvigorating.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om I stared at the tall Bony and terrifying figure of the Bone spike that just stood there, partially embraced in the darkness, and seemingly aloof to whatever I did. I couldn''t see the eyes encased in its bony head but the indifferent gaze it gave me was infuriating enough for me tough out loud. "Am I not a threat to you? I don''t even amount to it?! You only attacked because I did, not because I could take your life, is that it?" I don''t know why I said that, when I wasn''t expecting a response. Perhaps the pain a d sense of frustration was muddling my mind, and making my emotions oversensitive. In reality, I have been stressed over everything for thest few years. I was able to manage and restrain myself all this time for this long, but having been near so near death consistently in one day, and even actually already dying once, it felt like something thin inside of me was about to snap. The infuriating taste of blood filled my mouth as I red at the monster. The blood from my slit stomach spread and painted a morbid vermilion rose against my shredded shirt, and my body continuously trembled in defiance to my mind which wanted to pass out. The blood lost was getting to me, but I still stood and stared at the monster. It wasn''t even moving. In it''s eyes I was like a puny rat, an insignificant insect. Monsters were known to be feral, but this one wasn''t even reacting to me. In the first ce, it only bared it''s ws at me because I attacked led first. I satred at the Bone Spike thenughed. Hehe...ahahahaha.... I switched Armament from Strength to speed; my aura flowed and became ethereal boots there were skintight and seemed to be made out of pale muscle fibers of energy. Feeling my vision darken even more, and cold seep into my bones while my wound continued to boil with infuriating heat, I shot onest nce at the unmoving Monster hidden in the depths and raised one bloody finger at it. I could feel the edges of my lips curled wide into a sinister smile. Then I growled. "I''ll be back!" I turned around and sprinted down the opposite direction of the tunnel. My steps were silent and in haste, my heart pounded as my wound continued to bleed incessantly leaving behind a bloody trail. But I wasn''t bothered. Because even till I got out, the Bone Spike never came after me. In the end. I wasn''t worth it. Chapter 26 Fates Bitch in The Flesh How does everything hurt? I slowly opened my eyes to a world of pain. My whole body was sore and hurting as if having been put through a grinder. I stared emptily into space for a while, clearly dazed. My thoughts were sloe and murky as I slowly tried to recall what happened. [You passed out from blood loss on your way out of the cave.] A feminine synthetic voice, like an ovep of vibrations resounded in my throbbing head. It was Meta. I passed out, huh...I thought, feeling listless. "... I remember." After a while I said hoarsely. My throat was dry and itchy. I felt thirsty and perched, and my lips were cracked. My memories cut off at the moment I was in the process of fleeing the cave. I held my gaping wound while leaving a long trail of blood. Then after that, everything just went nk. That means there was only one way I could have gotten out. ''You took control of my body, didn''t you? '' I asked after a slight hesitation. Meta''s response was immediate and unsympathetic. [Affirmative. That Bone Spike didn''te after you, but others would have if you were foundying around like that.] When Meta said it like that, I felt obliged to be greatful. But rather than that, my nature drew me to the one unpleasant detail. She could take control of my body even while I''m unconscious. But at the same time, I was too weak and exhausted to deeply pondered it. I couldn''t even throw out my usualmentary and admonish Meta for taking my body without my permission again. For now I just pushed the matter to a deep corner of my heart and said hoarsely. "... Thank you." [...] Meta didn''t deem it necessary to respond and remained quiet. I didn''t mind the System''s dismissive attitude and slowly tried to turn around. A blinding pain shot through my body the moment I attempted to lean to my side. A suppressed wince pressed at my lips as I held my stomach and knit my brows in anguish. [You should be careful. You are still injured.] Meta''s reminder camete, I had to find out the hard way. That was true. The wound I sustained from the Bone spike was still there, unlike the one from the Silver Knight. "Oh right. I didn''t die." I muttered in realization and instantly gave up on trying to get up. I fell back t to the ground and looked up emptily. There was a gnawing void in my heart. [There was nothing I could do about your wound. So instead i brought you here.] Meta said in a cacaphony of synthetic vibrations. "What do you mean?" My thoughts and mind were slow so it took a while before I could realize I didn''t recognize the rocky ceiling I was underneath. [A smaller cave deep inside the cavern with a higher concentration of Aether in the air,] Meta said, responding to my enquiry. [It has been a couple of hours since you passed out from blood lost. The bleeding has recededpletely within that time, and the wound is already working to close itself.] "... Already?" I was baffled. How could my injury heal in only a couple of hours? Even as a Mortal Ranked Awakened, a wound of that degree would take a couple of days at the very least. [That has to do with why I brought you here. The healing and reinvigorating properties of the air caused by the higher concentration of Aether have helped to revitalize your body and heal your wounds passively.] Just as Meta said, I indeed was in a much different ce. The cave ceiling here hung lower but still shimmered with the glowing crystals rocks that were like stars in a distant night sky. A soft translucent blue glow suffesed the whole surrounding. But what truly made this ce a stark contract to therger cavern, was the sheer amount of Aether that was gathered here. It''s amazing...I thought, unable to hide my amazement. ''So that''s what is healing me? '' I recalled that the air in the cavern did indeed have healing and reinvigorating properties. I felt a part of my exhaustion lift, and my bones slowly mend. It was the same now, but no matter how long I lingered against the ground underneath the crystal ceiling, I couldn''t muster the strength to get up.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Quite frankly, I didn''t want to. If I get up, then I have go back to there again...I grumbled to myself emptily. I had zero motivations to get killed again and zero enthusiasm to be humbled a second time. The confrontation against the Bone Spike was still vivid in my memories and heart. And when I just thought back to the silver Sentinel, i felt the great urge to groan and bury my face in a pillow. I felt like a middle schooler on a Monday morning who refused to get out of bed. I knew what the rest of the dey held for me, and I just didn''t want to face it. I knew I would have to fight against those monsters, and die again. I had no other option of I wanted to get out of this forsaken ce. I was tired and exhausted. Depressed and listless. Was I too arrogant? No that wasn''t it. My world had just been smaller, and I was forcefully made to see the true size. This feeling... hopelessness and powerlessness. Ah, yes. Just like that time. I had only ever felt this way once before; when Meta showed me a vision of the future. Then I felt true hopelessness and despair. Something stirred inside my dull heart. "...I still have to also deal with that." I muttered silently as if I just realized and the urge to groan swept me once more. Indeed, I had a rocky journey ahead. I realized I had been taking it too easy. If I couldn''t even clear a dungeon where the strongest creature was only a ''measly'' Hero Ranked, then perhaps I truly did deserve to die here. Mind you, measley was only attributed whenpared to what I had to faceter on in my life; abominations that broke the sky and rained meteorites half the size of a moon upon the world. ''I should get up. '' I had to get up. I didn''t want to, but who cares? The world didn''t give a shit. No one gives a fuck how I feel, after all, I''m in this situation; reborn, only to be forced to survive a doomsday. If I whined, then so what? If I died then so what all the same. The universe was just that vast ¡ª My existence was insignificant. Because it was, that was why I had to keep fighting. Reborn to survive an apocalypse... I''m fate''s bitch in the flesh. I mocked silently. My cracked lips parted slightly and my throat itched as I croaked a small voice. I smacked my lips a few times and felt my eye lids slowly turn heavier. "I''m thirsty." I croaked in a raspy voice. Restraining an almost non existent sigh, I forced myself to get up, ignoring the sharp pain the wound in my stomach sent through my body. With unsteady steps and trembling limbs I made my way to a small flowing stream of sparkling transparent water and gulped. ''Meta¡ª'' [Affirmative, it is safe. This is a liquefied matter of Aether, and has properties to even further refine your body and heal your wounds. Drinking it could be one of the best decisions of your life.] I nodded and, without another word, quickly scooped a handful of the sparkling stream water into my mouth, gulping deeply. The water felt reinvigorating as it moistened my parched throat, a refreshing relief after what felt like an eternity of dryness. But I had underestimated my thirst, or perhaps the water''s effect. One gulp wasn''t enough, and a second barely sufficed. The cool liquid seemed to evaporate the moment it touched my tongue, leaving me craving more. Desperation set in as I realized how dire my need for hydration was. Abandoning the effort of using my hands, I knelt by the stream and plunged my entire face into the rushing water. The icy current enveloped my skin, sending shivers down my spine, but I didn''t care. I drank deeply, the water rushing into my mouth, each swallow a burst of life. I stayed there, submerged, until I finally felt a sense of fullness, my thirst quenched atst. As I pulled back, droplets streaming down my face, I took a deep breath, feeling more alive and invigorated than I had in days. The stream, with its life-giving water, had revived me, and I sat back, grateful, as i stared into the empty space in silence. My finger twitched, and my heart beat rhythmically. I felt a cold chill seep into my mind as I involuntarily sorted my thoughts. "Time..." I needed time. But down here, I had enough of that The goal was still the same, the journey hadn''t changed either. I had to defeat the Boss and leave. I had to get stronger. And before then- I recalled the aloof indifference of the bone spike, and the edge of my lips involuntarily pulled darkly. "-i''ll get my revenge." Chapter 27 Fruit of Aurora After regainingposure a few secondster, I gazed down at the rippled surface of the stream and solemnly observed my reflection. Pale cheeks and deep sunken gold eyes. Even my brown hair was disheveled and seemed thinner. My appearance was in every letter terrible and frail, like a bum without a roof over his head forced to work the streets and pass the nights at the park. "How long exactly was I out for? '' I asked Meta after a while. [Almost an entire day, by the standard outside world time.] My lips parted as I heard that, but inadvertently closed shut again. Did I lose that much blood? Meta''s words had stirred my thoughts inside me, I was much closer to dying that I actually realized. All of a sudden, the idea of having Meta take control of my body and moving me here almost didn''t seem as despicable as I initially thought. Almost. "I see." I simply said and held my stomach. My wound thrubbed but I thought I was slowly begining to feel aforting cool spread through it. Perhaps the water was beginning to take effect. Or I was just imagining things. I was low on blood, so I wouldn''t be surprised if i saw stars floating around. I had quenched most of my thirst, but my body was still weakend and frail. I was starving and it felt like my stomach would kiss my back from inside. Coiling my rams round my stomach, I felt it growl with a low rumble, and i exhaled a deep listless sigh. But just as I raised my gaze past the small stream of rushing water before me, my vision crossed a peculiar sight on the opposite side. ''...Is that? '' There was...an odd tree at the other side. It was odd, because this was supposed to be an underground cave. I''m not denying the possibilities of a tree being underground also, but this one was just so... Stunning... It was a mysterious tree with broad, twisting branches. The smooth stem was made of polished dark ebony that shone mesmerizingly. The tree held up a full crown of gem-like sapphire leaves that resembled fragile stained ss. The lustrous leaves glistened with a soft ethereal radiance that filled the entire surroundings. When I focused a little towards it, I felt the Aether in the air draw and bend towards its outstretched branches, and the crystal-like leaves shimmered and resonated like a silent heartbeat. Its visage was enchanting. I was enthralled, and something kept pulling me towards it. "What is that?" I asked warily, gulping. [An Aurora. A mystical tree birthed from a high concentration of Aether.] An Aurora... I hadn''t heard of it. [That''s because it is a rare urrence, far rarer than usual. Auroras are mass amalgamations of Higher Aether and only exist under extreme conditions, in most cases. Every part of that tree is considered priceless in the outside world.] I blinked my eyes. "How priceless are we talking?" [It varies in size and quality. But this is good. Perhaps this is the chance you need so badly to escape the dungeon.] It appeared I had stumbled upon something rather important without realizing it. No. Perhaps Meta knew, and that was why she brought me back here specifically. I could feel a higher degree of Aether concentration swirling around the blue leaves. I also took notice of a bit so small detail while Meta exined the nature of Aurora. ''...a chance I need so badly to escape the dungeon.'' In other words, something to make me stronger. I drew my attention back to the Aurora, standing not too tall and glistening with an otherworldly radiance. After confirming there was no danger in approaching the strange and mysterious tree spiraling with energy, I crossed the small flowing stream and walked up to it. The closer I got, the more I felt a strange and mystic pull towards it. Its sapphire leaves had an almost hypnotic effect the longer I stared, as if something inside me recognized the true nature of the Aurora. I shuffled my unsteady feet against the rough ground and arrived just beneath its long, brightly colored branches. From where I stood, it seemed muchrger, and the twisting branches appeared to represent separate worlds of their own. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed something glinting brighter among the dazzling leaves. It was a spherical fruit, dripping with crystalline moisture. "Is that...?" As soon as I recognized it as fruit, I suppressed a gulp, and my stomach rumbled again. The strange blue fruit was alluring, and I felt like I could smell a pleasant, weing fragrance waft past my nose. I found myself unable to look away, and the longer I stared, the more my mouth watered. Another rumble from my stomach shook me out of my salivating reverie. I shook my head the wiped the trail of spit that trickeld down the edges of my lips, and quickly activatedy Appraisal skill. ---n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Fruit of an Aurora Tree.] Grade: ??? [Description: A fruit containing the refined essence of higher Aether in its highest form and quality. Rarer than an Aurora itself, it is a fruit produced once every thousand years.] -- So, it''s edible then. That was all that mattered to me at the moment. Perhaps the fruit would have some effects, considering Meta''s earlier words, but I didn''t care. I didn''t linger too long on the details of the description. What I felt was indescribable hunger and void; nothing else seemed to matter. The longer I lingered without doing anything, the more crazed I felt I would be. I quickly reached for the fruit and, after a few attempts, plucked it off the branch. The strange fragrance I imagined smelling became instantly more prominent. The cold moisture of the Fruit of Aurora trickled down my right arm, making it even more tantalizing. It was asrge as my fist, perhaps even slightlyrger. I gulped one more time and quickly took a big bite out of the fragrant fruit. A myriad of sweet juices filled my mouth. The Aurora fruit was delicious; with a single bite, I felt my hunger lift subconsciously. It tasted like honey at first, then like cinnamon with the next bite. When I took a third bite, it reminded me of ice cream from Earth. I slowly concluded that the strange fruit projected the taste of whatever my mind desired or remembered. Viscous, transparent, shimmering liquid trailed down my arm as I messily stuffed my face, abandoning all grace. My hunger was ravenous, and therge fruit was quickly shrinking, faster than I would have liked. It felt like the first meal I had had in days, so I ended up rushing through it and choking on a few bits and pieces. I got up, ran back to the flowing stream, scooped a handful into my mouth, and then continued to devour the fruit. As i devoured thest and final bite, I felt something light deep inside of me. My body was raided by a cold raising sensation that was intoxicating. ''O-oh, Meta, what''s going on?! '' now that I had regained some energy, I could panic again, and panic, I did. But Meta''s synthetic voice promptly reassured me, echoing in my mind, "[You''re beginning to digest the essence of the fruit, earlier than expected. It seems your talent extends beyond Aura sensitivity to a high aptitude for Aether control.]" I had heard this before. Back when Meta took control of my body to stir my Aura, she mentioned I might have had talent for that aspect because I quickly grasped the idea behind the technique of channeling Aura throughout my body. The icy sensation inside me, like being submerged in cold water, was strangely pleasant. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, doubled over, and gritted my teeth. It wasn''t painful or ufortable; rather, it felt oddly enjoyable, akin to soaking in a cold, refreshing bath after a long day''s work¡ªonly colder and more refined. The transient sensation spread from the depths of my gut and made its way to my heart, sending a jolt through my body. I gasped. Just as I was about to truly panic, the strange feeling slowly diffused and receded until it was just a memory. Before I could fully recover from the experience, Meta''s voice resounded once more in my head. [Amazing. You have digested most of the energy, your core has expanded. You have experienced a minor breakthrough, your body has been refined in a single moment that would take a number of level ups.] Was she praising me? Somehow...her tone felt more like she was expressing amazement for a test subject or guinea pig. I gritted my teeth and slowly got up. "You knew this would happen, didn''t you?" Chapter 30 Escape the Dungeon "I guess it''s about time." I muttered and exhaled a breath before standing up. I was counting my thirteenth day since being transported to the dungeon. I''ve made a lot of discoveries and encounters since then, and after slowly building as much strength as I could, I chose to return to the Bone Spike den once again. "Hah...but still, it would be a hard fight going against those nightmares without my spear. All I have with me is a worn out dagger." Imented, suppressed a sigh, and pulled out a short full silver dagger with haggard de. This had apanied me when I went up against the Boulder Crab and ultimately ended up this way. It couldn''t even make a dent against the tough exoskeleton, and I was sure it would shatter in one hit against the Bone Spike armor. Once more Imented my inability of augmenting my weapons with Aura. I still haven''t perfected Armament yet so I couldn''t bestow simr effects my body would have on my weapon. After all, I created Armament with the intention of turning my body to be the weapon. Aura was an energy used by warriors to refine and augment their bodies and weapons over the years and during a fight. I only decided to push that step a little bit more further with intricate control. What has been limiting me back is my own current Aura capacity ¡ª in other words, my current Rank. And the energy consumption was insane since I was concentrating all of my survival and folding it. At best I could maintain Armament in my arms for a couple of minutes before. But since eating the Fruit, my Aura has be more denser allowing me to hold Armament for an even more extended period of time. But it still wasn''t enough. Ah, no point thinking about it. I just gotta do what I gotta do. Making a mental shrug internally, i yawned then began doing final stretches. I summoned my status screen, thinking of what was toe. Up until now I have either been meditating or practicing Aura while sucking on the Aurora leaves. I actually found out that even those leaves had special properties. Indeed, every single part of the tree seemed to possess properties that a rted to Aether. While my mind wandered over the events of thest 12 days, a long screen of characters appeared on a blue interactive interface that hovered before my eyes. ... __________________ ___________________ [Name: Victor Bright Level: 21 Rank: Mortal Race: Human Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 25/25(+2) Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Appraisal} Level: 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ [Aether Blessing] ... Too little information is known ____ ___] __________________ ___________________ ... I had reached the max cap for my Aura stats avable to me as Mortal Rank awakened. Although, I received some kind of cap limiter release boost and have 27 total stat points. This was associated with the strange and new I obtained after eating the Fruit of Aurora. Ultimately, it raises my talent for all Aether rted aspect. This included increasing the quality and density of my aura, and my passive knowledge about manipting Aether. Heh, if I was a mage I bet it would reflect on my intelligence stats as infinite or pretty high. [Now why would I lie?] ''Shut up!'' While I chuckled self absorbed to myself, just then, Meta''s synthetic voice resounded uninvited.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om I fluently ignored herment and continued. I dismissed the status screen, gave onest look at the Aurora, and suppressed a small frown. [You''re thinking about turning the Aurora to spear gain.] ''Tsk. What a waste of fine wood. '' Imented. ''And why won''t you let me anyway? '' Meta was against ¡ª or rather, suggested against me carving a makeshift spear out of the ebony of the Aurora. I wasn''t even allowed to use it''s twigs to light a fire... [An Aurora is a rare mystical tree. Ever part of this tree can be consideredponent parts of some important production in today''s society. From items to aid breakthroughs, to potions and weapons. Depending entirely in the grade, which corresponds to how ancient the Aurora may be.] So Meta exined. ''Wow. I never tagged you as one to ce empathy in something or someone. '' I sneered mockingly. [I don''t. If you made a crude spear out of the Aurora, that would be more of a waste than not making one at all. And if you get out of here, what would you do with it?] I shrugged at the obvious question. ''Sell it.'' If the Aurora was as ''priceless'' as Meta ims, wouldn''t a ''crude'' spear made from the branch of one go for a sweet price? [Precisely. Then you''ll be targeted eventually.] "..." Ah. That...makes sense. I was beginning to understand where Meta wasing from with just that. True, something as priceless and rare as an Aurora would definitely be recognized as such along the run. If I made a careless transaction and indeed sell the makeshift spear, it would probably be only a matter of time before some higher power or something tracks me down in order to locate the Aurora. That would be a pain. [Same would apply even if you don''t sell it. If you were to release the spear outside during any encounter or event, you increase the chances of someone or something, recognizing the characteristics, which will ultimately lead you to the same result.] ''In other words, don''t touch the glowing tree. Got it. '' Attention was perhaps thest thing I wanted in this life. I was already going through the pain of hiding my abilities, it would be much worse if I was burdened with one more thing to hide. My peaceful life depended on it! I let out amenting sigh full of regret. And a spear made from a magic tree would be so cool. I shrugged my shoulders at the Aurora and shot it a piercing look. "You have just been saved a branch." Uncaring of my venom, the Aurora continued to glow in its eerie beauty. ''...I''m still taking some leaves though...'' *** It didn''t take me much time to arrive before the Bone Spikes den. Therge tunnel was empty with oozing darkness and shadows, shrouding the inside with gloom. My body had advanced enough thest few days for me to find it much easier to pierce through the darkness , even without activating {Appraisal} skill. Days spent drinking the spring and chewing on the Aurora leaves had left wonderius marks against my body. I was still just a mid Mortal Rank, but even Meta had to admit I had physical senses that wasckingpared to Mortal Ranked Awakened on the crux if breakthrough. The changes in my body were only subtle and barely noticeable actually. There were almost so insignificant. But there were numerous. But when this many subtle changes were considered all at once, I had achieved quite a lot from bathing in an Aether geyser for more than a week. I stood before the tunnel entrance and remained unmoving for a couple of minutes. And a whileter, my eyes sharpened and a dark smile crossed my lips. I went into the darkness of the Den seemingly without any care of danger. I have already spent thest two days gathering information concerning theyout of the Den and furnishing out my preparations. I know every nook and crannies of the outer region of the den, including the paths the Bone Spikes reside. I had no reason to fear a surprise attack or an ambush from behind. But tha didn''t mean I let my guard down. I restrained my excitement and withdrew my bloodlust to avoid being noticed. Once again, I opted for the same tactic I used against the Boulder Crabs; lure and surprise attack. The location of the battle would be a small cavern slightly separated from the main herd. And once I attracted the attention of one of the Bone Spikes, I''d lure it right where I want it thenunch a surprise attack for its head. I bid my time and waited till it was right. A certain Bone Spike came into my radius and I quickly recognized my old friend. Ah , he''s as thin and bony as thest time he nearly gut me. Nice to see he hasn''t changed while I''m gone, I smiled while I turned on my Appraisal skill. I slowly separated the Bone Spike from the main group and attracted it towards the cavern with a series of diversion and throwing rocks. The frightening monster made of bones, dumbly followed like a mindless zombie, it''s long ws almost scraping the ground. "Now then." My fists ignited with a prominent purple glow and weaved ethereal ghostly threads round my arm. Before the Bone Spike could realize my presence like before, I kicked off the ground with a terrifying spring in my step and raised my augmented fist. I had a bright and warm smile for finally getting to see my old friend after so long. I have always meant to repay his hospitality and kindness from before, so... "Round two!" -BOOM! Chapter 31 Blood and Bones The loud sound of impact reverberated through the dark cave walls as my Aura-covered fist collided with the back of the Bone Spike''s head. A mild tremor rocked through the environment, filling my body and prompting my savage smile to twist and curl. The Bone Spike was hurled forward from the impact, its lean, tall, and bony body crashing into a wall with a shattering sound. ''...No system message.'' I clicked my tongue internally. Well, it would be too anticlimactic if it were that easy. I smiled wider and channeled more Aura. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I burst forward in a blur. The Bone Spike had amazing defense and terrifying attack speed, but that was mostly the extent. It wasn''t particrly fast in overall movement, nor did it possess overwhelming strength and power. The only unfair advantage it had was perhaps its hard bony exoskeleton, but it shouldn''t be harder than the Boulder Crab. On the other hand, I had speed and mobility. My figure blurred across the distance before the Bone Spike could recover. My sensitivity and perception peaked, and everything seemed to y in slow motion before my eyes. The most substantial change I experienced in my body after eating the Fruit of Aurora was the precision of my sensitivity and perception.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om If I focused enough, I could hear the ''whispers'' of the Aether in the world and make corresponding judgments about imminent danger. My intuition was on the level of a sixth sense. ... [Ding! New skill has been unlocked.] [Congrattions, you have obtained passive skill {Danger Sense} level 1!] ... ''Huh?'' Before I could properly react to the sudden system message, the hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and a sensation like thousands of needles prickling my skin assaulted my mind. The very next moment, the dirty creamish-brown w of the Bone Spike swiped through the air at a vicious speed. The air split apart as if cleaved by an invisible de, and the sharp tips of the ws raced toward my face. I pressed my right foot forward, forcefully stopping my advance with a sudden movement, and twisted my torso at the veryst minute, narrowly avoiding the w. The long ghastly ws ended up missing my face and raced past it with a sharp sound. The sudden impulse of my actions caused a strain in my ankle, and I ended up spraining it. I suppressed the pain and pushed off again with the same right foot, backing away from the monster, recoiling each time my foot touched the ground. ''Fuck that hurts! What the fuck, Meta?!'' Unable to suppress my emotions after nearly dying, I screamed internally at the system. [You unlocked a new skill.] Meta''s cold voice simply said, uncaring or unfazed by my predicament. ''Yeah, no shit! It was a bit too hard not to hear the incessant ringing in my head while having my immediate vision suddenly blocked!'' Even now, the system tab was still there since I had yet to dismiss it. ... [Passive Skill {Danger Sense} Level 1 is strongly activated!] What the? I suddenly realized my breathing was deep and rhythmic, my fingers twitching from overstimtion. My heart raced, but I maintained control over my emotions and actions. I could almost feel the slightest vibrations in the air around me, allowing me to quickly notice the Bone Spike crawling out of the wall with its long, ghastly fingers. Pieces of rock fell and crushed underneath its feet as the exaggeratedly tall and bony figure loomed in front of me. Slowly, the ugly monster turned to face me. My eyes reflexively swept the tall figure from head to toe. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face as a toothy, strained grin crossed my lips. "Unscathed." There wasn''t the slightest damage to its bony skeletal armor, even from where my fistnded. Iughed inwardly, self-mockingly, and exhaled deeply. As expected. There was no way it would go down from a simple blow to its head. The Bone Spike stared at me, then slowly straightened its slouched, tall back. Its long, sharp ws that nearly scraped the ground slowly spread apart and flexed, a wave of animosity washing over my whole body like a tremor. My smile widened gleefully, darkly. Excitedly! "That''s more like it! You finally taking me seriously!" Speed armament. Threads of my dense aura burst out of my body, coiling around me like a stream. I leaned forward, brimming with malevolence. The Bone Spike''s movements were slow and sluggish; it began to raise its arm and took a step toward me. I didn''t wait for it. Tightening the stream of aura coiled around me like a spring, I exploded forward in a blur at the Bone Spike. ''Aside from its absurd defense, the only thing I should be most worried about is the insane speed it can swipe its ws at. But if I can devote a part of my mind and rely on my intuition to sense the iing danger ahead of time, I can react efficiently and retreat,'' my mind raced. In the end, I relied on the new and sudden skill I had just unlocked and mindlessly lunged forward into the range of the Bone Spike. I switched armament from speed to strength at thest second and threw my pulsing fist forward for the midsection of the Bone Spike, covered by rib bones. The purple hue of my aura shed eerily as my right fist collided heavily against the targeted area with a loud force. A small gale burst forth from the impact, rushing past my face and through the scattered strands of my hair. Despite the force of the collision, the Bone Spike didn''t move a single inch and remained unfazed. A sensation akin to earlier, like having my skin tingle from a hundred needles, urred again. I quickly realized it was the skill reacting to an iing attack. The left ws of the Bone Spike swiped at me from below, right in my blind spot! The lean, sharp bony ws cut through the air, ascending toward my face. The years of experience from countless street fights and fist wars on Earth manifested in the form of pure savagery and instinct, prompting my body to react regardless of how dire and tight the situation was. I reflexively opted to retreat backward, but a sharp pain jolted up my right leg. My sprained ankle throbbed from the sudden shift in weight and gravity. I swallowed down a groan and a curse, leaned back as much as I could, and tried to retract my face from the trajectory of the w. In the end, I was toote. The long, sharp tips of one bony finger pierced my skin and tore a bloody gash across the side of my face and over my left eye. By the time I hadpletely retreated, I did so with a bleeding cut across my face. I stumbled backward, pressing my left arm against my face. I felt the warm trickle of thick blood streaming down between my fingers. A sizzling pain filled my left eye, burning like a ravenous me from within. Half of my vision was dyed in blinding red, and my sight momentarily shook. The Bone Spike took advantage of my disorientation and lunged with a follow-up attack. My senses buzzed with the prior reaction of the {Danger Sense} skill, but I was unable to react in time. The Bone Spike raised a single long finger w and drove it straight through my left shoulder joint with a piercing squelch. I gritted my teeth as rity filled my mind from the pain. The Bone Spike didn''t care. It was unfazed and drove its long appendage further through my shoulder until almost half of its full length was embedded, pinning me against the cave wall like a dart. A fountain of my blood spurted from the wound, covering my shoulder in thick red moisture. Trails of blood flowed down my left arm and trickled down my face, pooling into droplets at my chin before falling to the ground. "Haha...that fucking hurts, you bastard." I raised my head with some difficulty and chuckled at the Bone Spike. Its tall figure remained slouched and indifferent as it stood there with a w impaling my left shoulder against the wall. Its face, an ugly mess of twisted crevices,cked any discernible eyes, nose, or mouth, making it impossible to gauge its feelings. Not that it ever made a sound throughout the ordeal. Wait. Why was I contemting the feelings of a monster trying to kill me? Ah, yes, it must be because of the blood loss. Oblivious to my thoughts, and in its usual indifferent manner, the Bone Spike continued to slowly push its finger deeper into my shoulder with an ugly, wet squelch. The pain bored through my shoulder like a tunnel, sending tremors down my arm. I gritted my teeth andughed widely at the Bone Spike. This damn monster had an unexpected taste for torturing its prey! ''Prey...'' ''Prey?'' ''Who? Me?!'' A deepugh filled with malevolence and dark glee left my lips. Looking straight at the ugly face of the Bone Spike, I slowly raised my left arm and grabbed onto the bony finger stabbed into my shoulder. Then slowly, I pulled my shoulder through it, driving the finger deeper and deeper in the process. The unsettling sound of wet squelches filled the cave as the muscles in my shoulder were shredded and torn. The pain was agonizing, but I didn''t care. I smiled through it all with half of my vision dyed red. I threw a weak fist against the outer carapace of the Bone Spike, not leaving so much as a dent on its skeletal armor. "...Don''t get cocky... just because you''re levels higher than me, you bastard." I spat out and spread my right fingers against the monster''s bony chest. As if taunted by my words, the Bone Spike twisted its finger in my shoulder, sending another wave of pain through my body. My smile widened and myughter deepened. I bit my lower lip tight enough to draw blood. I channeled my Aura, and my right arm exploded into an eerie purple radiance, like liquid mes. The molten energy gathered and flowed down my arm, condensing and folding with power toward my palm. The surface of the Bone Spike''s chest lit up with a dense purple radiance as a result. Its small head lingered on my face for two seconds longer before slowly turning toward the source of the radiance¡ªmy hand. Armament... I tore a bloody smile at it and uttered in a low voice, "Impulse." -BANG! Chapter 30 Escape the Dungeon "I guess it''s about time." I muttered and exhaled a breath before standing up. I was counting my thirteenth day since being transported to the dungeon. I''ve made a lot of discoveries and encounters since then, and after slowly building as much strength as I could, I chose to return to the Bone Spike den once again. "Hah...but still, it would be a hard fight going against those nightmares without my spear. All I have with me is a worn out dagger." Imented, suppressed a sigh, and pulled out a short full silver dagger with haggard de. This had apanied me when I went up against the Boulder Crab and ultimately ended up this way. It couldn''t even make a dent against the tough exoskeleton, and I was sure it would shatter in one hit against the Bone Spike armor. Once more Imented my inability of augmenting my weapons with Aura. I still haven''t perfected Armament yet so I couldn''t bestow simr effects my body would have on my weapon. After all, I created Armament with the intention of turning my body to be the weapon. Aura was an energy used by warriors to refine and augment their bodies and weapons over the years and during a fight. I only decided to push that step a little bit more further with intricate control. What has been limiting me back is my own current Aura capacity ¡ª in other words, my current Rank. And the energy consumption was insane since I was concentrating all of my survival and folding it. At best I could maintain Armament in my arms for a couple of minutes before. But since eating the Fruit, my Aura has be more denser allowing me to hold Armament for an even more extended period of time. But it still wasn''t enough. Ah, no point thinking about it. I just gotta do what I gotta do. Making a mental shrug internally, i yawned then began doing final stretches. I summoned my status screen, thinking of what was toe. Up until now I have either been meditating or practicing Aura while sucking on the Aurora leaves. I actually found out that even those leaves had special properties. Indeed, every single part of the tree seemed to possess properties that a rted to Aether. While my mind wandered over the events of thest 12 days, a long screen of characters appeared on a blue interactive interface that hovered before my eyes. ... __________________ ___________________ [Name: Victor Bright Level: 21 Rank: Mortal Race: Human Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 25/25(+2) Charm:- ??? ______ ______ {Appraisal} Level: 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... ____ ____ [Aether Blessing] ... Too little information is known ____ ___] __________________ ___________________ ... I had reached the max cap for my Aura stats avable to me as Mortal Rank awakened. Although, I received some kind of cap limiter release boost and have 27 total stat points. This was associated with the strange and new I obtained after eating the Fruit of Aurora. Ultimately, it raises my talent for all Aether rted aspect. This included increasing the quality and density of my aura, and my passive knowledge about manipting Aether. Heh, if I was a mage I bet it would reflect on my intelligence stats as infinite or pretty high. [Now why would I lie?] ''Shut up!'' While I chuckled self absorbed to myself, just then, Meta''s synthetic voice resounded uninvited. I fluently ignored herment and continued. I dismissed the status screen, gave onest look at the Aurora, and suppressed a small frown. [You''re thinking about turning the Aurora to spear gain.] ''Tsk. What a waste of fine wood. '' Imented. ''And why won''t you let me anyway? '' Meta was against ¡ª or rather, suggested against me carving a makeshift spear out of the ebony of the Aurora. I wasn''t even allowed to use it''s twigs to light a fire... [An Aurora is a rare mystical tree. Ever part of this tree can be consideredponent parts of some important production in today''s society. From items to aid breakthroughs, to potions and weapons. Depending entirely in the grade, which corresponds to how ancient the Aurora may be.] So Meta exined. ''Wow. I never tagged you as one to ce empathy in something or someone. '' I sneered mockingly. [I don''t. If you made a crude spear out of the Aurora, that would be more of a waste than not making one at all. And if you get out of here, what would you do with it?] I shrugged at the obvious question. ''Sell it.'' If the Aurora was as ''priceless'' as Meta ims, wouldn''t a ''crude'' spear made from the branch of one go for a sweet price? [Precisely. Then you''ll be targeted eventually.] "..." Ah. That...makes sense. I was beginning to understand where Meta wasing from with just that. True, something as priceless and rare as an Aurora would definitely be recognized as such along the run. If I made a careless transaction and indeed sell the makeshift spear, it would probably be only a matter of time before some higher power or something tracks me down in order to locate the Aurora. That would be a pain. [Same would apply even if you don''t sell it. If you were to release the spear outside during any encounter or event, you increase the chances of someone or something, recognizing the characteristics, which will ultimately lead you to the same result.] ''In other words, don''t touch the glowing tree. Got it. '' Attention was perhaps thest thing I wanted in this life. I was already going through the pain of hiding my abilities, it would be much worse if I was burdened with one more thing to hide. My peaceful life depended on it! I let out amenting sigh full of regret. And a spear made from a magic tree would be so cool. I shrugged my shoulders at the Aurora and shot it a piercing look. "You have just been saved a branch." Uncaring of my venom, the Aurora continued to glow in its eerie beauty. ''...I''m still taking some leaves though...'' *** It didn''t take me much time to arrive before the Bone Spikes den. Therge tunnel was empty with oozing darkness and shadows, shrouding the inside with gloom. My body had advanced enough thest few days for me to find it much easier to pierce through the darkness , even without activating {Appraisal} skill. Days spent drinking the spring and chewing on the Aurora leaves had left wonderius marks against my body. I was still just a mid Mortal Rank, but even Meta had to admit I had physical senses that wasckingpared to Mortal Ranked Awakened on the crux if breakthrough.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The changes in my body were only subtle and barely noticeable actually. There were almost so insignificant. But there were numerous. But when this many subtle changes were considered all at once, I had achieved quite a lot from bathing in an Aether geyser for more than a week. I stood before the tunnel entrance and remained unmoving for a couple of minutes. And a whileter, my eyes sharpened and a dark smile crossed my lips. I went into the darkness of the Den seemingly without any care of danger. I have already spent thest two days gathering information concerning theyout of the Den and furnishing out my preparations. I know every nook and crannies of the outer region of the den, including the paths the Bone Spikes reside. I had no reason to fear a surprise attack or an ambush from behind. But tha didn''t mean I let my guard down. I restrained my excitement and withdrew my bloodlust to avoid being noticed. Once again, I opted for the same tactic I used against the Boulder Crabs; lure and surprise attack. The location of the battle would be a small cavern slightly separated from the main herd. And once I attracted the attention of one of the Bone Spikes, I''d lure it right where I want it thenunch a surprise attack for its head. I bid my time and waited till it was right. A certain Bone Spike came into my radius and I quickly recognized my old friend. Ah , he''s as thin and bony as thest time he nearly gut me. Nice to see he hasn''t changed while I''m gone, I smiled while I turned on my Appraisal skill. I slowly separated the Bone Spike from the main group and attracted it towards the cavern with a series of diversion and throwing rocks. The frightening monster made of bones, dumbly followed like a mindless zombie, it''s long ws almost scraping the ground. "Now then." My fists ignited with a prominent purple glow and weaved ethereal ghostly threads round my arm. Before the Bone Spike could realize my presence like before, I kicked off the ground with a terrifying spring in my step and raised my augmented fist. I had a bright and warm smile for finally getting to see my old friend after so long. I have always meant to repay his hospitality and kindness from before, so... "Round two!" -BOOM! Chapter 31 Blood and Bones The loud sound of impact reverberated through the dark cave walls as my Aura-covered fist collided with the back of the Bone Spike''s head. A mild tremor rocked through the environment, filling my body and prompting my savage smile to twist and curl. The Bone Spike was hurled forward from the impact, its lean, tall, and bony body crashing into a wall with a shattering sound. ''...No system message.'' I clicked my tongue internally. Well, it would be too anticlimactic if it were that easy. I smiled wider and channeled more Aura. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I burst forward in a blur. The Bone Spike had amazing defense and terrifying attack speed, but that was mostly the extent.N?v(el)B\\jnn It wasn''t particrly fast in overall movement, nor did it possess overwhelming strength and power. The only unfair advantage it had was perhaps its hard bony exoskeleton, but it shouldn''t be harder than the Boulder Crab. On the other hand, I had speed and mobility. My figure blurred across the distance before the Bone Spike could recover. My sensitivity and perception peaked, and everything seemed to y in slow motion before my eyes. The most substantial change I experienced in my body after eating the Fruit of Aurora was the precision of my sensitivity and perception. If I focused enough, I could hear the ''whispers'' of the Aether in the world and make corresponding judgments about imminent danger. My intuition was on the level of a sixth sense. ... [Ding! New skill has been unlocked.] [Congrattions, you have obtained passive skill {Danger Sense} level 1!] ... ''Huh?'' Before I could properly react to the sudden system message, the hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and a sensation like thousands of needles prickling my skin assaulted my mind. The very next moment, the dirty creamish-brown w of the Bone Spike swiped through the air at a vicious speed. The air split apart as if cleaved by an invisible de, and the sharp tips of the ws raced toward my face. I pressed my right foot forward, forcefully stopping my advance with a sudden movement, and twisted my torso at the veryst minute, narrowly avoiding the w. The long ghastly ws ended up missing my face and raced past it with a sharp sound. The sudden impulse of my actions caused a strain in my ankle, and I ended up spraining it. I suppressed the pain and pushed off again with the same right foot, backing away from the monster, recoiling each time my foot touched the ground. ''Fuck that hurts! What the fuck, Meta?!'' Unable to suppress my emotions after nearly dying, I screamed internally at the system. [You unlocked a new skill.] Meta''s cold voice simply said, uncaring or unfazed by my predicament. ''Yeah, no shit! It was a bit too hard not to hear the incessant ringing in my head while having my immediate vision suddenly blocked!'' Even now, the system tab was still there since I had yet to dismiss it. ... [Passive Skill {Danger Sense} Level 1 is strongly activated!] What the? I suddenly realized my breathing was deep and rhythmic, my fingers twitching from overstimtion. My heart raced, but I maintained control over my emotions and actions. I could almost feel the slightest vibrations in the air around me, allowing me to quickly notice the Bone Spike crawling out of the wall with its long, ghastly fingers. Pieces of rock fell and crushed underneath its feet as the exaggeratedly tall and bony figure loomed in front of me. Slowly, the ugly monster turned to face me. My eyes reflexively swept the tall figure from head to toe. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face as a toothy, strained grin crossed my lips. "Unscathed." There wasn''t the slightest damage to its bony skeletal armor, even from where my fistnded. Iughed inwardly, self-mockingly, and exhaled deeply. As expected. There was no way it would go down from a simple blow to its head. The Bone Spike stared at me, then slowly straightened its slouched, tall back. Its long, sharp ws that nearly scraped the ground slowly spread apart and flexed, a wave of animosity washing over my whole body like a tremor. My smile widened gleefully, darkly. Excitedly! "That''s more like it! You finally taking me seriously!" Speed armament. Threads of my dense aura burst out of my body, coiling around me like a stream. I leaned forward, brimming with malevolence. The Bone Spike''s movements were slow and sluggish; it began to raise its arm and took a step toward me. I didn''t wait for it. Tightening the stream of aura coiled around me like a spring, I exploded forward in a blur at the Bone Spike. ''Aside from its absurd defense, the only thing I should be most worried about is the insane speed it can swipe its ws at. But if I can devote a part of my mind and rely on my intuition to sense the iing danger ahead of time, I can react efficiently and retreat,'' my mind raced. In the end, I relied on the new and sudden skill I had just unlocked and mindlessly lunged forward into the range of the Bone Spike. I switched armament from speed to strength at thest second and threw my pulsing fist forward for the midsection of the Bone Spike, covered by rib bones. The purple hue of my aura shed eerily as my right fist collided heavily against the targeted area with a loud force. A small gale burst forth from the impact, rushing past my face and through the scattered strands of my hair. Despite the force of the collision, the Bone Spike didn''t move a single inch and remained unfazed. A sensation akin to earlier, like having my skin tingle from a hundred needles, urred again. I quickly realized it was the skill reacting to an iing attack. The left ws of the Bone Spike swiped at me from below, right in my blind spot! The lean, sharp bony ws cut through the air, ascending toward my face. The years of experience from countless street fights and fist wars on Earth manifested in the form of pure savagery and instinct, prompting my body to react regardless of how dire and tight the situation was. I reflexively opted to retreat backward, but a sharp pain jolted up my right leg. My sprained ankle throbbed from the sudden shift in weight and gravity. I swallowed down a groan and a curse, leaned back as much as I could, and tried to retract my face from the trajectory of the w. In the end, I was toote. The long, sharp tips of one bony finger pierced my skin and tore a bloody gash across the side of my face and over my left eye. By the time I hadpletely retreated, I did so with a bleeding cut across my face. I stumbled backward, pressing my left arm against my face. I felt the warm trickle of thick blood streaming down between my fingers. A sizzling pain filled my left eye, burning like a ravenous me from within. Half of my vision was dyed in blinding red, and my sight momentarily shook. The Bone Spike took advantage of my disorientation and lunged with a follow-up attack. My senses buzzed with the prior reaction of the {Danger Sense} skill, but I was unable to react in time. The Bone Spike raised a single long finger w and drove it straight through my left shoulder joint with a piercing squelch. I gritted my teeth as rity filled my mind from the pain. The Bone Spike didn''t care. It was unfazed and drove its long appendage further through my shoulder until almost half of its full length was embedded, pinning me against the cave wall like a dart. A fountain of my blood spurted from the wound, covering my shoulder in thick red moisture. Trails of blood flowed down my left arm and trickled down my face, pooling into droplets at my chin before falling to the ground. "Haha...that fucking hurts, you bastard." I raised my head with some difficulty and chuckled at the Bone Spike. Its tall figure remained slouched and indifferent as it stood there with a w impaling my left shoulder against the wall. Its face, an ugly mess of twisted crevices,cked any discernible eyes, nose, or mouth, making it impossible to gauge its feelings. Not that it ever made a sound throughout the ordeal. Wait. Why was I contemting the feelings of a monster trying to kill me? Ah, yes, it must be because of the blood loss. Oblivious to my thoughts, and in its usual indifferent manner, the Bone Spike continued to slowly push its finger deeper into my shoulder with an ugly, wet squelch. The pain bored through my shoulder like a tunnel, sending tremors down my arm. I gritted my teeth andughed widely at the Bone Spike. This damn monster had an unexpected taste for torturing its prey! ''Prey...'' ''Prey?'' ''Who? Me?!'' A deepugh filled with malevolence and dark glee left my lips. Looking straight at the ugly face of the Bone Spike, I slowly raised my left arm and grabbed onto the bony finger stabbed into my shoulder. Then slowly, I pulled my shoulder through it, driving the finger deeper and deeper in the process. The unsettling sound of wet squelches filled the cave as the muscles in my shoulder were shredded and torn. The pain was agonizing, but I didn''t care. I smiled through it all with half of my vision dyed red. I threw a weak fist against the outer carapace of the Bone Spike, not leaving so much as a dent on its skeletal armor. "...Don''t get cocky... just because you''re levels higher than me, you bastard." I spat out and spread my right fingers against the monster''s bony chest. As if taunted by my words, the Bone Spike twisted its finger in my shoulder, sending another wave of pain through my body. My smile widened and myughter deepened. I bit my lower lip tight enough to draw blood. I channeled my Aura, and my right arm exploded into an eerie purple radiance, like liquid mes. The molten energy gathered and flowed down my arm, condensing and folding with power toward my palm. The surface of the Bone Spike''s chest lit up with a dense purple radiance as a result. Its small head lingered on my face for two seconds longer before slowly turning toward the source of the radiance¡ªmy hand. Armament... I tore a bloody smile at it and uttered in a low voice, "Impulse." -BANG! Chapter 32 Curse of Aether "Impulse!" My voice reverberated ominously in the gloomy cave as the muscles in my right arm imploded from within. -BOOM! The entire left side of the Bone Spike, from the point of contact with my palm, incinerated and exploded into shattered pieces with a powerful st, as if a bomb had detonated inside it. Dark, smelly blood sttered against my face and the walls. The cave trembled from the echoes of a powerful tremor, and dust and rocks rained from above. The muscles in my right arm exploded and inmed, shattering the bones and turning my skin red. My arm twisted and copsed in on itself, and thick blood flowed from the pores in my hand. The pain that shot through my right hand was five times worse than anything I had ever felt before. I tried with all my might to resist it, but a short, wretched cry still escaped my lips. "Fuck!!" I spat out torturously. Everything below my right shoulder was destroyed from the inside. My blood vessels had exploded and inmed. It felt like a fire of acid was ravaging my right arm from within. This is why I fucking didn''t want to use that technique! "Holy fucking cow, it hurts!" Cursing was the only way I could manage the pain for the moment. Theforting voice of the system came at a weing time, whispering silently into my head. ... [Ding! You have in a Level 22 Monster, Bone Spike!] [You have leveled up +2!] ... Eh? A monster just one level above me offered experience worth two level-ups? I was stumped for a moment, but then the pain returned, and I hissed through clenched teeth. Dismissing the system notification with a thought, I pushed the matter to the back of my mind. My entire arm was mangled, and the pain made it nearly impossible to focus on anything else. Unfortunately, I didn''t have a choice. As if my current predicament wasn''t bad enough... I hadpany. "Fuck," I cursed and chuckled. The silent, muffled thumping of feet drew near as several Bone Spikes appeared at the entrance of the cave, their tall and bony figures overlooking the surroundings. Themotion from the battle must have attracted attention. Impulse was too loud. Or no, the entire battle might have attracted attention. Casting a sweeping nce at the entrance where they stood imposingly, {Appraisal} identified each of them as Level 22, just like thest one I killed. In other words, I was slightly stronger. Supposed to be, at least. But I wasn''t entirely crazy enough to think I could hold off against five Bone Spikes at the same time in my current condition, especially when I had so much trouble against one.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om And even then, I was in top shape. Oh, the irony, I chuckled internally. Bone Spikes were rather slow monsters, both literally and metaphorically. They were like overgrown brainless zombies with reasoning faculties smaller than an ant''s. They just stared¡ªor I assumed they did since I couldn''t see their eyes¡ªemptily and dumbly into the cave where the battle took ce. Well, this works to my favor at least. I was grateful for their stupidity. Cursing silently through the pain from my mangled right arm, I focused on the single long w impaled through my left shoulder joint and into the wall behind me. Using my left arm, I began to pull it out. It was a struggle¡ªan excruciatingly painful one. The w seemed almost immovable, and my left arm barely had any strength due to my injured shoulder, but I persisted. The w shifted slightly, then began to budge slowly. I felt the full length of the ridiculously long w retracting through the torn muscles with a painful, wet squelch. The agony was intense, but I managed to resist crying out. It was like trying to remove a tiny splinter stuck at the tip of your finger, but on a muchrger and more painful scale. In the end, I fucked it and decided to just yank it out in one go. With a horrid squelch and a momentary burst of blood, the w came out of my shoulder. I was sweating buckets, my chest heaving as I panted, and my wounded left eye throbbed. The long gash across my face sizzled with stinging pain. "Okay... up we go," I muttered, using the solid wall behind me for support. With a muffled grunt, I forced myself up, my right hand dangling painfully and lifelessly. I was slowly growing used to the agonizing pain, but it was still thoroughly diforting. I held the long w close to my chest and pulled out a few Aurora leaves I had brought for emergencies like this. Immediately, the Bone Spikes, still watching me stupidly, seemed to react. Their ''eyes'' flickered, and all five of them began moving toward me. "Eh?" I thought, fascinated and self-deprecatingly. Did the Aurora leaves stimte them? Iughed mildly. Before the Bone Spikes could get close, I threw some of the leaves into my mouth, quickly chewing them while sucking on thest one like some kind of blue herb. The tantalizing and refreshing minty taste filled my mouth, and the agonizing pain from my wounds seemed to alleviate slightly. The signs were almost non-existent, but I could tell¡ªI was sure¡ªI was beginning to heal. And with that... "Well then," I pushed off the wall I was leaning on for support. Hunched slightly forward, I stood before the five imposing, terrifying monsters. In my wounded left hand was a long w, almost 32 inches in length. I managed to wipe some of the blood off my face and raised my head with a toothy grin. "Round two, I guess." Then followed carnage. *** Almost an hourter. " Fuck...." I whizzed as my knees buckled to the ground. Those... those bastards don''t hold back...! I managed to escape from the Bone Spike den. In the end, I really couldn''t manage against five of them in my current condition. Everything hurt ten times over after that. "Ah, the pain would all almost be worth it if I at least killed one!" I whined as I slowly crawled my body across the floor, reaching for the flowing spring of sparkling water. I did not manage to turn any of them into experience points, and after creating an opening, the first thing I did was turn heels and run. I soaked my mutted arm into the sparkling spring and hissed from behind gritted teeth, before my shoulders finally cked and rxed. A refreshing feeling ran up my right arm and filled my body. I smiled. Well, all is well that ends well, I guess. I got my revenge, but I was also able to determine my strength and how I matched up against a Bone spike. I know their armor would be tough, but clearly I wasn''t giving it enough credit. It wasn''t all that inferior to a Boulder Crab. Thinking this, I turned my head towards a direction. On the other side of the spring, there was a massive carcass of a bright red shell belonging to the Boulder Crab I killed and had for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner from the past few days. I was greatful that the collosal crab was just as big as it was. But it was a pain excavating the meaty and fleshy part out of the huge shell. Whenever I need to, I end up burrowing inside it''s joints, Imented and sighed. After a while, I tore off what remained of my tattered shirt and fully immersed my whole body into the spring. The sparkling spring filled me with itsforting embrace as I slowly felt the umted fatigue wash away in its currents. All of the hurts of my wounds began to sizzle away as I floated like a broken piece of wood on the surface. In the meantime, I let my mind wonder. I summoned thest system message I received. ... [You have leveled up +2] ... I killed the Level 22 bone spike, and Leveled up twice in one go, despite the Monster being only a single level higher than me. Well, it''s not weird, or rather, it shouldn''t be that weird. But this was the first time something like this was happening. Unless I killed a Monster a couple of levels higher than me, I usually wouldn''t level up more than two times or once. And the higher the level I became, the harder it was for me to reach the next. So this was all of a sudden and different. I expected some good amount of essence for killing the Bone Spike, but this was beyond what I thought. Could this be rted to the Blessing of Aether attribute I received? The description basically said it raised my talent. Maybe now I''m somehow able to receive more essence and experience points from each of my kills, which means I''ll be able to level up but faster than usual? While i silently pondered, Meta''s voice resounded with an input. [The Attribute has something to do with it, but this also involves the current state of your body after the past couple of days. From drinking the water of the spring to eating the fruit of the Aurora, to sitting around and literally doing nothing but passively absorbing the Aether has refined your body and has umted a degree amount of energy already.] Ah, right. This ce was an Aether Geyser. I forgot. ''So you mean after the kill, the already umted energy in my body was topped off, resulting in me going two levels instead of one or none. '' Hmmm, that made some sense. No, more importantly! Aren''t I beginning to seem more like a protagonist! I''ve finally found my own almost cheat aspect that gives an unparallel edge over others! Blessing of Aether is a true blessing indeed!! [The stronger you get, the more harder it''ll be to Keep up and Rank up still applies. In fact, it''ll be much harder thanks to the same attribute and as a result of the current circumstances you''ve faced.] As one to always be a stick in the mud, Meta graciously said. ''Eh? '' [Affirmative. It is simple logic. You''ve only reached this state a a result of your current environment and resources, that is, this dungeon that is high in Aether. Your body will grow and adapt to this circumstance, that when you return back to te outside world, every other method of leveling up will seem mundane and insignificant inparison.], Meta paused before continuing. [But at the same time, you gather more experience and absorb twice the amount of essence than a regr Awakened, yet you require at least four times that amount to level up. And the stronger you get, the harder it bes. It''s a cycle that can get you to sigh.] Blessing of Aether?! Curse was more like it!! No, take it away! I don''t want that stupid attribute anymore! No way! Meta, I demand a refund!!. The cheat I finally got was just a bigger cross to burden my back. While I waszing around and admiring the Aurora thest week, my body had been passively tempered and growing strong enough to require a much higher amount of essence and energy to grow. Something would simultaneously give me an edge over others, and at the same time give me a devastating drawback. ''You''re saying as soon as I get out of here, I''ll have to hunt more stronger abominations in multitude to get stronger in the future?'' How cruel! Chapter 33 In One Week "...in that case, that would mean I can only enjoy the initial advantage during my time here. As soon as I return to the outside world, I''ll have to face Monsters far more stronger than me, or take onrge numbers of ones not too different in strength with me..." Is this the price to pay for powe¡ª Bullshit! I don''t want the Blessing of Aether, take it back! But even if that happened, the deed has already been done! I still won''t level up the same as before if I returned, it wouldn''t matter. My body has already bathed in the properties of the Aether Geyser, consumed the properties of the spring, and digested the properties of the Fruit!! All of that led to me possessing a considerably high affinity and talent for Aether and Aura, and anything that is less in quality to what I''ve enjoyed here wouldn''t amount to much of anything for me outside! In a sense, it is very simr the Omniscientw that governs the progression of an Awakened; the stronger you get, the harder the requirements to improve. Except I''m facing the true meaning of that, and I''m not even Hero Ranked yet. It it''s like that, then by my calctions, Monsters of equal or lesser level to me would most likely do nothing at all. Then would I have to be facing threats like the Silver Sentinel just to go a level up each time? Doused in the cold spring, I shuddered, and it wasn''t because of my injuries... ''Ah, the more i see it, the more I can nod to how hard my life will be. '' I nodded wistfully. Pained. "Fuuu..." In the end, I let out a deep breath, pushing those matters to the back of my head. There was no point whining about it. Besides, that''s a problem I''ll have to deal with ''if'' I do make it out of here alive. "...Since it''s going to be arduous to level up when I''m out, I might as well grind like a mad man while I''m still in here." I sighed again andmented. Well that works actually. I need to get strong enough to face the threats of the dungeon and bypass the Silver Sentinel. Plus, it''s about time I move up from ''Beta'' rank to ''Mortal'' I guess. It''s been almost a year since I pretended to awaken, it''s only a little early, but I could pretend to breakthrough to Mortal Rank once I get out.N?v(el)B\\jnn That would give them the impression I had talent to be able to rank up in a year though. Sigh. "What a pain all of this is." But it was also necessary. Well, I could also just wait a few months and do it by the end of the year. Or better yet, once I turn 16. I mused casually as I continued to float " Fuuu..." Again, I''ll take care of it all once I get out. Pushing all of those thoughts away for the meantime, I turned my attention to another. "Status." ... ______ ______ >>>>> [ACTIVE SKILLS] {Appraisal} Level Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... >>>>> [PASSIVE] {Danger Sense} (New) [Description: Sense any iing danger ahead of time.] Level: 1 Rank: Common ______ ______ ... "Ohh, you''re more orderly than I thought." I mused with a slightly mocking tone. Meta had already defined a section to separate the two types of Skills, Passive and Active respectively. In response to myment, Meta didn''t say anything, and I continued. "Sense any iing danger...not bad. But howe I unlocked a skill. Didn''t you say Skills can only be obtained from Skill books or, be birthed with?" ''Unlocking'' the {Danger Sense} skill was contradictory to what I learned. [Theoretically, all humans, everyone is born with a skill. But since the descent of Aether and it''s influence, only a special few are lucky enough to ''awaken'' that skill under special conditions, and manifest it as some sort of will upon the world. Hence why it is called an ''Innate'' skill. ] Meta exined. There were two types of skills, Innate Skills which the user is born with, and ording to Meta, everyone has, and Acquired Skills which can be obtained through the help of Skill Books, and in even certain cases, they can acquire a skill by awakening it too. From her current exnation now however, it seems like people are able to ''awaken'' those skills under specific conditions into actual abilities that help them. ''So it''s kind of like having specific ormon traits that are otherwise usually mundane, or talents which be actual abilities when they are awakened, '' I mused, an inkling of understanding brewing. [Yes. And in your case, you awakened the {Danger Sense} skill from a part of your battle intuition. This most likely also has something to do with your current constitution and buffed talent for Aether.] ''...I thought so. '' The moment I unlocked the skill, after all, I was in a battle rify state where I could almost hear the ''Whispers'' of the Aether. "Danger Sense, huh. And it''s passive too. This really isn''t a bad catch." I smiled in mild satisfaction. " The description said I''ll sense any iing danger ahead of time, but at what difference? Well, it''s still level one, and if I''ve learned anything from the formerly {Inspect} skill, is that, once it levels up, I receive a wider range of its abilities. But still, I''ll have to experiment more with the skill to get better used to it. " Speaking out loud, I arranged my thought. I had no reservations since there was literally no one else in the cave to give me odd looks for speaking to myself. With all the current matters in my mind and heart settled...for the most part...I returned back to the refreshing sensation of having my muscles slowly mend. I discovered both the Sparkling Spring and the Aurora leaves had healing properties. Meta also mentioned for some of the highest graded and rare elixirs, leaves of an Aurora tree was a main ingredient. This further went to highlight how insanely lucky and gracious...or cursed...I was, still, to casually have the leaves for breakfast, lunch and dinner. "If it weren''t for the leaves and the spring, I''d have probably died the moment I returned from going up against a Boulder Crab the first time..." I chuckled and a wistful smile melted on my face. Well, maybe i wouldn''t have died. The Aether concentration in the air is deep after all, and my body constitution is vastly different from when I arrived. It took lesser for a wound to stop bleeding, and lesser time for it topletely heal. Basically, all of my base stats as a Mortal Rank have been improved, and will only continue to do so the longer I continue to live this lifestyle. Unfortunately, I had to abandon it soon. I drifted silently through the spring and reviewed my thoughts. "I''m currently level 23. At best I''m on par with a Bone Spike, and should be the same with an average Boulder Crab. But the two both have special advantages that make them troublesome opponents. And I''m still far from reaching Hero rank, or even breaking through to Eta Rank. So the confrontation with the Silver Sentinel will have to wait." Of course I didn''t intend to fight and win as the one who came out untop, as reluctant as I was. But a Hero Ranked entity was just too much for me now. My best option as before is to get as strong as I can to ''bypass'' the Silver Sentinel and reach the throne. And as the system provided, the Bone Spikes and Boulder Crabs are my only hopes to do that. Minutes passed and I slowly emerged my body out of the spring and stepped on dry ground. My wounds hadn''t been entirely healed yet, but the bleeding had stopped. As soon as I did, I remembered something and touched my face. "Oh, right. I almost lost my eye, that''s not good." I will have to devote some more time to get it healed. I''m just d I didn''t entirely lose it. I''m not sure if the spring can help to regrow missing organs or limbs. I also don''t want to find out. With my half naked bod and tattered shorts dripping with sparkling water, I walked barefooted on the ground and approached the Aurora. It''s familiar but still beautiful radiance bathed on me and i felt a breath of invigoration fill me. "Hmm... it''ll take some time but I have to get my woundspletely healed first..." I casually muttered my thoughts and plucked a few leaves with one hand. Wait. Why''s Meta against me turning a branch to a Spear but isn''t saying anything about me plucking the leaves? Having vain thoughts like that, I put the leaves in my mouth and their minty taste filled me. I quickly dismissed the trivial thought and turned around with a leaf stuck between my lips. My casual gaze swept the whole wide cave, almost emptily. "One...two, three...four? Six?" I flicked a few fingers, counting silently then gulped down thest leaf before nodding with vigour. "Alright, I''ve decided, Meta." Meta''s deadpan voice came in its usual manner. [You have?] In response I nodded. And a smile slowly twisted on my lips. "I''ll challenge the Silver Sentinel again in one week." *** A/N: Mass Release on Saturday, tomorrow!! I''ve never done this before, so go easy on me... In addition, for every 20 Golden Tickets, one bonus Chapter For every 50 powerstones, one bonus chapter... See y''all then (rip me) Chapter 34 A Reunion Long Awaited [First Mass Release event starts now. 1/6] The cold sound of heavy stone grating against the cold solid ground filled the passage. I watched the giant stone doors push open before me, and the dark glorious Bossir lit up with pale ghostly blue mes that illuminated only a small portion of the shadows. As I stepped through, the great ''Throne room'' presented Itself in all of its ruinous glory. I took a big whiff of the stale air that smelled of age and abrogation and grinned darkly. "Yo. Long time no see. " The knight of full body armor, the Silver Sentinel stood tall and imposingly next to the throne. It was just where I remembered seeing it thest time. "Heh." I snickered. Truly, like this, the Silver Sentinel was unassuming. If one wasn''t wary or paid enough attention, they would believe the the full suit of silver armor to be just a decoration. They would first of all be drawn by the dark grandeur of the Boss Chamber, then be drawn in by the mystique allure of the the Throne ahead. The ''full set of silver armor'' was nothing inparison, and only fitted as ''mere decoration '' that added to the audience chamber. [It''s simple misdirection.] One that decided life and Death! I shifted my gaze from the Silver Sentinel. The steel golem still maintained its unassuming position and posture just underneath the tform, so it hadn''t yet moved to attack me. ''The doors haven''t closed yet either. I''m guessing, the ''Boss trial '' would officially begin once the stone gates are shot close like before. '' Either that, or a few more steps in would trigger the beginning. I pondered internally and shifted my gaze to the Throne up ahead. In a breathter, I quick dashed for it. I had no need to directly confront the Golem, the throne was my way out!! I switched Armament from Strength to Speed, my vision blurred as I reached halfway across the chamber at once. "2...3... 6!" Just then, the heavy grating of cold stone against the hard ground rumbled like thunder as the collosal gates slowly shot close at the entrance. -BAM! Then it began. The Silver Sentinel exploded forth like a blurry mass of polished steel. A powerful bang resounded as it tore through the air and arrived before me in an instant. ''Fast! '' Before I could barely react, silver shed as steel gauntlet broke the air for my face like a torpedo. I could feel the air tremor just from the single punch, and my senses screamed death in various keys. Immediately I snapped out of my trance and rasied the bone spear forward. The blow connected with the milky white bone shaft, and a tremendous force followed from impact. Unable to fully withstand the blow, I was swept up by the force and instantly flew half way across the floor. My vision blurred as the scenery raced passed like a hazy dream. The next thing I knew, I suffered the heavy impact from colliding into a polished wall at the other side. -BOOM!N?v(el)B\\jnn The pain was shattering. The wall reverberated with a slight tremor as pieces of rocks fell against me. A small portion had caved in, with me at its center, forming a tapestry of cracks like awork of twisted spiderwebs. Fortunately my bones were tougher now and somehow held through. But flying halfway across the chamber and smashing into a wall was still a deeply ufortable and painful experience. "Ow, ow, ow. I expected this, but that hurt." Even {Danger Sense} barely reacted. No, it was more like the attack was too fast. In any case, I managed to survive it. A crooked smile curled on my lips as I looked down. "Damn. My arms are numb..." There was also a slight nick on the bone spear. Indeed, I had truly underestimated the durability of the crude weapon, it actually managed to survive one blow from the Silver Sentinel. Two more blows, tops, then it''ll shatter. I can''t rely often on this to block the Golems attacks. But at the same time, they''re too fast...I reached the grim conclusion and slowly got up shakily "Well, that doesn''t matter." I just had to get to the Throne. At that point, I was deeply thankful for the Boulder Crab armor. The armor had been the one to absorb most of the shock of impact, I was basically unijured with only a few slight dislocation and soreness here and there. But damn, that monster was fast. I raised my head to nce at the slowly approaching knight, then turned towards the direction of the throne. The tform stood a little in the distance, with the throne over looking everything from above. It still gives that sick feeling of being looked down upon, tsk. But when I thought of how I''d be the one sitting on it, none of that mattered now. I augmented my body and dashed for the direction of the tform, rather than prepare to confront the Silver Sentinel. As much as I would have much enjoyed to break it myself, I knew well more than anyone just where my capabilities ended. I might not be able to beat the Golem, but the throne is top priority I''ve even managed to confirm that a little. Just as I had that thought, the Silver Sentinel moved as well from behind me. I heard the sound of heavy steel ttering from behind as the back of my neck tingled furiously. The world slowed down, as a haunting sense of dissonance filled my mind. I was familiar with the odd sensation; that was the effects of the {Danger Sense} reacting to impending doom! And doom, it was! A mass of blurry steel suddenly fell down from above like thunder. -BOOM! They ground shattered and upturned as a loud thunderous boom rolled through the chamber. A billowing cloud of dust burst forth from the point of impact as I rode the waves and rolled forward, painfully, against the hard stone ground. "Oof!" I somehow managed to react at thest minute and leaped out of the way. I coughed a few times and cursed. How the hell can that thing move that way?! Isn''t it made of full body armor? Shouldn''t it be heavy?! How is it so fast, and acrobatic?? That''s unfair. ...but of course I knew better than to ce logic in a Dungeon monster. Everything was unfair, in truth. So I sucked it up, and got up forcefully and continued for the tform. The shockwaves had actually helped me in that aspect, though painfully. The Throne was now only a couple of meters away. Haha, I can already smell my victory! I cackled internally. [Don''t be so sure yet.] As an omen of dread and only bad luck, damned Meta''s voice resounded! -BOOM! A terrifying sound resounded and the dust cloud from behind exploded and dispersed in one fell swoop. Something... something moved out of it and curved through the room. "Fuck!" The grand figure of the imposing Knight shed from the corner of my eyes, exuding an almost blinding silver glint. A crushing impact devastated my chest all of a sudden, and I felt the makeshift breastte shatter into pieces and shards, and they remnant of the impact dealt havock against my ribs. The Silver Sentinels'' punch that was too fast for me, sent me hurtling through the air and tumbling into the ground, further away from the throne. The impact and aftermath felt like an empty vacuum had been punched open through my chest. I immediately found it hard to breathe and suffocated on myself My body curled up on the cold ground, cradling the pieces of armor and my chest, as literal tears left my eyes. And no, I wasn''t crying. The impact and force were just so sudden to make my eyes water and my vision blurry. "Cough! Cough!...f...fuck. cough, cough..." ''What the hell was that?! Felt like I got hit by a ram... '' Oh dear God, I think my ribs are shattered again. I wasn''t stranger to pain, but the damage was still substantial. I shuffled on the ground and slowly turned. The fearsome construct of silver armor was intimidatingly marching forth at me like a fearsome steel warrior from hell. ''Meta... anytime now with that analysis... '' [Seems like we''ve been mistaking.] Contrary to what I was expecting, Meta all of a sudden said. My face immediately crumpled up, but not from the hellish pain that came frim having my chest cave in. "You can''t find the golem''s core?!" I couldn''t hope to beat the Golem, but I had still relied on Meta to analyze the Golem and locate it''s core. Maybe...just maybe if that were to happen, I could directly destroy it instead. Golems were artificial constructs, in a matter of sense. They were alive, but weren''t truly, and their bodies could be made up of any considerable materials, from wood, to sand and many more. They were literally like Magic robots, and monster Golems were no different. But just as any other Monsters, even Golems had Cores. And perhaps this characteristic was even far more important in them. Destroying a core was the only true way to beating one. Unless they''ll just keep regenerating and continue endlessly. I gripped my spear tightly as I prepared to force myself up. The pain in my chest was heavy, and it felt like my whole ribs would crumble like blocks. [No, that''s not a Golem.] Meta tly said, and the next moment I tripped. [It''s a Slime.] Chapter 35 Monster Slime [That''s a Slime.] ... "Eh?" What the fuck is Meta saying all of a sudden? Did she hit her head? No, did I hit my head and somehow this affected her?! Meta is broken...my system is broken! No I always knew this right from the day it didn''t even let me see my stats...God of this new world, the one who brought me here...I want a refund! Give me a better cheat!! ''What nonsense are you talk about?'' How could she beparing a low level cute slime...to such a hellish feind!! "If this was a slime, I wouldn''t be having my chest bent inward now, would I?!" [Do not underestimate Slimes. That race is actually one of the most troublesome and underated specie out there. At you''re currently level, you''ll most likely die to one. Talk less of Demon Slime like this one.] "..." She''s not kidding. There was no amusement in her voice. Well, actually, there''s never any feelings in Meta''s voice, but this time I could tell she wasn''t just saying this to mock me or piss me off. Meta was just saying facts. "That''s a Slime?" No, more like...how the fuck are Slimes this crazy?? Aren''t they supposed to be like, level one or something?! Isn''t this unfair?! [There''s no time. Slimes are impervious to mundane physical attacks, you can''t win. Especially not against one this rank.] I watched as molten silver slither down the arm of the Silver Sentinel and form into a polished great sword, that glistened with an almost ghostly light. Impervious to physical attacks...? So, it''s not because it''s armor would be almost imprable, but rather because of its nature as a specie? I had questions, dozens of them, as to how exactly was the Silver Sentinel an actual Slime. But I knew better than to waste unnecessary time pondering that at the moment. I knew to an extent, Meta wouldn''t say something at random. If she said this was a slime, then it definitely wasn''t just a Golem. Once again, I cat my Appraisal skill. ... [Name: Demon King Slime Type: Monster Level: ??? ??? ??? ???...] ____ ____ ... Shit...it really is a slime. But why did the appraisal skill change all of a sudden? And what''s a Demon King Slime? That''s ominous as fuck. ''Meta, you''ve got a lot of exining to do when this is over.'' [Affirmative. Just don''t try to dodge the next blow.] As Meta said, the Silver Knight was already just above me, with its great sword raised above it''s head. This...is gonna'' hurt...I cursed and smiled as I looked up at the Knight. "Round three, Motherfucker-!!" Then the Great de fell against my neck like a guillotine and everything went dark. -SHING! [You have died.] *** . . . [You have died.] . . . [Respawning in 3...2...1...] [Ding! Wee!] My head buzzed as the first thing I opened my eyes to see was a red interface staring back at me. ''I can never get used to respawning. '' Does it count if I''m reincarnated though? It should be the same, respawning only lets me return from death. Either way, I still die ande back. Huh. How many times have I died now. A bullet to the lung...gutted out by the Knight, and now decapitated. "Hehe...Meta, I fell like I''m doing more dying than living in this life..." I gave a self deprecatingugh and stood up slowly. Just like before, I respawned back into therge cavern with glowing crystals. Ahead of me were the threerge tunnel paths shrouded in gloom and darkness. For a moment, I remained in a daze will staring at them. ''...Meta, status. '' [The Silver Sentinel was instead a Demon Slime capable of devouring, hoarding, and shapeshifting. ] ''So the Slime shapeshifted into a Golem then, into the Silver Sentinel? '' I asked. [It seems likely. It''s more likely that, a wandering Slime had somehow ended up down into the Dungeon and the Boss Lair, and devoured the original Boss, which was the initial Silver Sentinel. Only for it to take it''s ce as thest dungeon obstacle.] Meta exined and the gears in my head creaked as I frowned. "Woah, woah, woah. Back up a bit, Alexa. None of this..is making any sense. " I rose to my feet and pated down my body, beforementing with a deep sigh. ... Respawning didn''t let me bring back my spear or armor. I returned just as how I was like a week ago; dressed in bloodied rags and mostly naked. For the moment, I restrained away in my heart the burning emotions that came with losing my weapons after days of precariously crafting them from scratch and focused on the current matter. ''I didn''t know slimes could do that. While deliberating internally with Meta, I started making my way back to the part of the inner cave which I made my residence. At this point, it was back to the drawing board. [Slimes have the potential. Usually they could, but can''t.] ''Now you''re really not making any sense...'' I wasn''t much of an avid gamer back on Earth when I was still young...but I knew quite a bit about Slimes at least. Mostly roughly general knowledge. Slimes, this is based on the various RPG games and Fantasy novels and series, are weak low level monsters initially used to farm experience points for beginners. They were small and would usually die in one hit. I had never heard of a slime as fiendish as the Silver Sentinel before. [Slimes aremonly known as weak and low level Monsters amongst many inhabitants of Aethoria. But you forget, just like many other Monsters, even Slimes have the possibility to rank up. But Slimes are just a special case.] ''What do you mean? '' [Though ssified as Monstes, Slimes are otherwise, mundane organisms that just exist and feed endlessly. They have next to no attack power and just as much defense. They also aren''t particrly aggressive, or expressive of anything at all, actually. Slimes just existed.] ... That is kind of sad. [It is because of this that Slimes are seen as easy prey and mostly low level. It is rare to find a Slime that is above Mortal Rank, and even rarer to fine one like the Silver Sentinel.] Meta added. A Demon King Slime... [That''s an Evolution Pathway to a Slime.] All of a sudden, Meta said. "An Evolution Pathway, what''s that?" This was the first I was hearing of this. "You mean Rank?" [All living creatures on Aethoria possess an Evolution route, mostly separate from other species. It is different from Ranks. An Evolution means a creature bes something else entirely, with that Slime reaching a new existence.] A Demon. I listened to Meta''s exnation silently and weighed the information as I walked. Soon enough, I arrived at a certain corner of the wide and expansive cavern where the ground sloped downwards and into the wall. That was the part of the cave where I had made my base since day one when Meta brought me back. The Aether concentration was much higher than up here mostly thanks to the Aurora tree that was below. ''Meta. This is all unnecessary, all what you''ve said so far. At least at the moment. [...] In then end, I truly couldn''t give two fucks about what race or existence the Silver Sentinel truly was. I''d have to get passed it anyway to escape the dungeon after all. I took a step forward and slid down the downward slope, into the hidden cave that was deeper below. Immediately, I felt the air that was filled with rich level Aether bathe my skin as fill my lungs as I passively grew stronger. Since the respawning sequence brought me back to the same state I was prior to entering the Boss Lair, I was uninjured and there was no groove in my chest. Up ahead was the Aurora tree, standing as tall and as majestic as the first day I saw it. Its sapphire leaves glistened with a ghostly hue, and a mystique sense of allure to them. "Just tell me how to get by that Monster." All I''ve managed to confirm was, the Silver Sentinel was just a much more dangerous Monster than I initially expected. But actually, this didn''t change the difficulty or the level that much.N?v(el)B\\jnn [Slime''s are mostly impervious to mundane physical blows as a result of their construct. Neither do they feel pain, but they do sustain damage. A Demon Slime is no different, but more grander.] "Okay, so I can''t throw my fists then. Well I wasn''t even considering hitting that steel armor anyway... '' just thinking of it made my knuckles burn. I looked up at the broad branches of the Aurora and my eyes settled calmly on the leaves. "Aura...then." [That''s you''re best option.] I scoffed and rebutted. "That''s my only option." Argh, all of this is just bing more and more of a bigger pain. "Haha. When hasn''t it ever been." "Okay. New n!" I turned around sharply and said, then stopped as my expression crumpled a little. "Actually...same n. Just a little better this time!" Slimes were impervious to mundane physical attacks from regr weapons. This meant I could only deal reasonable damage through Aura or magical means by using Aether. I didn''t need Meta to tell me Magical weapons of something like that could also work in dealing damage against Monsters, but unfortunately, I didn''t have that option. "Hmm, I could confront the Sentinel one more time with Aura based attacks. Now that my Aura is more robust and refined than normal, I should have a better chance. But that''s where the limit of my advantage stops. My experience with Aura was average at best. I still hadn''t gotten proper training from the family or received an art. Although I was already on my way to making mine, for thatst part. But ultimately, I was still far off. [Armament is a unique prospect for an Art. It takes close characteristics from Battle arts andbines them with the intricate Aether maniption needed in Aura control.] Basically it''s an Art that highlypliments Martial arts and closebat. But I still can''t augment my weapon, and it was only an Art in name. The prospects was all in my head and had yet to fully materialized. Realizing this, I inadvertently gave a sigh. "I guess it''s about time I reallypleted my Art. At the very least I needed to learn to be able to use Armament on my weapons. "There''s not much time... I might have to dy my return to the real world by one more day." That was one week down here. In one week...again!... I will return back to the Boss Lair! *** [Progress 2/6 chapters] Chapter 36 Armament One weekter ¡ª The ground trembled as if something humongous crashed against it. Therge crimson body of the Boulder Crab fell forward amongst the many others that surrounded the vicinity. In a matter of only minutes, from the entrance to the Boulder Crabs den was littered and blocked with colossal bodies. And amongst the fallen crustaceans that formed a morbid graveyard, a half naked young man, with messy brown hair that reached his neck stood like a Grimm guardian. In his hand was arge morbid bone spear that was a pale creamish in color. An illusionary ghostly hue surrounded the haunting spear as it seemed to slowly dissperse and dissolve. The young man was covered in blood that wasn''t his, and smeared with dirt. His back stood straight as he sat up on a fallen Boulder Crab, silently overlooking the entire area. An eerie silence now filled the ce since thest crash. After a short while, the young man''s lips parted as he spoke, his voice was deep and low. "Status." His head buzzed for a quick second as an illusionary blue screen appeared before his eyes... [What are you doing?] Victor scrolled through the long line of texts that hovered on the interface before him, and his bright gold eyes glistened as his lips curled from the edges in satisfaction "Hehe..." He chuckled. [Are you okay?] It had been one week since his second confrontation with the Silver Sentinel, and as always, Victor had taken full advantage of the resources the Dungeon provided for him to progress in strength and various other aspects. [Hey...you had mostlyzed around as usual...] He had mostly been working on improving and creating his Art, and has brought his skills to a level much higher than he was before in only one week. [Stop that... It''s sad...] Victor dismissed the system screen and looked ahead, his gold eyes pierced the darkness as the silence returned to reign once again. Then he said once more. "It''s almost time¡ª" [Why do you keep talking about yourself like that? Is it a human thing, or have I really underestimated the extent of loneliness? Regardless, this is deeply intriguing. Troubling, but intriguing nheless.] Victor went qui¡ª cough! "Shut up! Try surviving in deste dungeon for about a month all by yourself with nothing but a nagging voice in your head." I snorted and retorted. Lately, Meta has been rudely relentless in using me of finally running mad, but I beg to differ. I was as sane a the first day I came into the world! [No sane person hears a voice in their head.] "No you''re just being unfair..." [I''m just a voice in your head ] "..." ... I see what she did there. I dismissed Meta''s obvious dry dissing and sighed deeply. I had already spent my fourth week in the dungeon. That corresponded to about four days outside, it was about time i faced the Silver Sentinel a final time. The red Dungeon system screen hovered next to me. ____ ... [Remaining Lives Left: 1] ... ____ Technically, this was thest ''free'' chance the dungeon was offering me. If I died again, I''d still have one more final chance, but at the cost of my real life. If I died after that, then I''m afraid that was it. But I wouldn''t risk it. I intend to clear this dungeon during this turn and return back home before things escte. "To be honest, if it were up to me, I''d rather stay down here for a couple of weeks longer." Maybe till I breakthrough to Eta rank? I sighed, just thinking about how harder it''ll be for me when I return back outside. It would take far more energy fore to level up and rank up than before, but down here, I can exercise the full advantage of my [Blessing of Aether] attribute and the dungeon resources. [It''s not like the [Blessing of Aether] attribute is a curse that will weigh down your progress when you return. It''s the direct opposite actually.] I knew whet Meta was talking about. The Attribute has greatly increased my affinity for Aether, and all rted aspects, including passively absorbing essence. My body has already been bathed in the rich essence that fills the dungeon, that If I suddenly return to the outside world, it''ll all seem much inferior. The energy wouldn''t suffice, my body and core had be more robust in the four weeks I''ve spent down here. For example, while it will take about three to four days for another Awakened to level up once or twice. Let''s say from level 3 to level four. It would take me a few more days longer, but at the same time, my Level 3 would be directly equivalent to their level four or slightly higher. That was the [Blessing of Aether], and the ''advantage'' i received from the resources of the dungeon. ''In the end I still have to work two times harder...'' I wanted to groan. Well at least there''s good news, I guess. I finally officially created my Art. ... __________________ ___________________ [Name: Victor Bright Level: 27 Rank: Mortal Race: Human Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Aura:- 25/25(+2) Charm:- ??? ______ ______ >>>>> [ACTIVE SKILLS] {Appraisal} Level 1 Rank-: Rare ... {???} Level??? Rank-:??? ... >>>>> [PASSIVE] {Danger Sense} [Description: Sense any iing danger ahead of time.] Level: 1 Rank: Common ____ ____ {Blessing of Aether} _____ _____ [Armament] (iplete) -Proficiency level: Beginner- _____ _____ Too little information is known ____ ___] __________________ __________________ ... As soon as I designed my Art, I suddenly got a system notification that went on to congratte my achievement, deeming it amendable feat or something ... [Congrattions! You have sessfully created an Art. You have achieved amendable feat!] ... Something like that. And after that, it became quite obvious I was sessful. Although Armament as an art is still iplete. I''ve only been able to somehow officially make it recognized as an Art, rather than just a technique. Hehe. It had to be realized, that not just anyone could create an all new art from scratch. Many tried and failed. An art was a concept, not many could just grasp it and seed during their lifetime. And those who did, spent years and decades of their life. Meanwhile, I had about six years for nning, and a couple of days for establishing. ''Indeed amendable feat. '' I boasted internally for Meta. I was only this sessful because of the Blessing of Aether attribute that passively raised my innate knowledge and affinity for all Aether rted aspects. Yet in the end, I had only just established my Art, I was still a long way I was also able to sessfully use my art on my weapons. After that, i spent thest two days hunting the Monster Dens. Just yesterday, I cleared out one third of the Bone Spike den, and took down the strongest one i could find. And today, I made a round through the Boulder Crabs'' den. I sat on top a fallen Boulder Crab and peered silently into the darkness that spread before me. Surrounding me from each sides were a number ofrge corpses, the size of actual boulders. After a couple of seconds more, I heard a rumble. My head jerked up slightly and my lips curled to a smile. "Oh, looks like it''s finally here." I had been waiting long enough already. The walls of the the tunnel shook and vibrated as rocking tremors ran through the ground. In the suffusing darkness that spread throughout the cave, a colossal mass suddenly ploughed through on eight legs as a massive Boulder Crab appeared from the depths. This one was two timesrger than the rest, and resembled a moving mountain. It was covered in bright red carapace and wielded two mighty pincers that could sever their thickest trees in a single snap.N?v(el)B\\jnn I''mparison, I was like a splinter. My eyes brightened at the gigantic mass moving at a stunning speed towards me. The red eyes of the Boss Boulder Crab (I assumed it was the boss) shed as it''s collosal pincers snapped through the air, producing a thunderous sound. "Oohh, Meta, look at that thing move! It''s freakishly huge!" I eximed with genuine excitement. [Cold feet?] Meta quiped in response and I grinned. I slowly rose to my feet, still on top therge fallen body of one of the many Boulder Crabs thatid dead. In my right hand was a tall and long bony white spear, that was crudely carved. But this only made the bone spear even more imposing and haunting. Therge iing Boulder Crab scurried on its massive feet, sending tremors through the ground, maneuvering it''s way passed the garden of corpses. Each time its pincers snapped, the air exploded in a thunderous p. I felt a rush of anticipation and my excitement grew, the grip i had on the bone spear tightened. "Hmph. When have I ever backed down from a fight?" I snorted and raised the spear in a position. [...] The Boulder Crab, noticing my actions, gave up on charging around its fallen kins and bulldozed right through them at me with a feral furry burning in its thin red eyes. Ah, I remember the first time I killed a Boulder Crab, I thought fleetingly, feeling a strange wave of nostalgia despite the situation. Though I say ''kill'', it was just barely. Back then I had to burrow through the eyes of the Colossus and prate its brain from inside. Ah, how nostalgic~ A thick viscousyer of Aura surged through my right arm and encased the raised bone spear. The haunting spear became more imposing with a ghostly luster, as it erupted like a beacon in the darkness. With a loud bang, I threw the spear forward. -BANG! The projectile pierced though the ar like a terrifying javelin bathed in a ghostly purple hue. It streamed across the distance as the air exploded, and tore a devastating hole through the approaching Monster from the front of its head. -Boom! In one hit, the Boulder Crab was dead. [3/6] Chapter 37 Battle for the Throne [1] That was the power of Armament. The spear ploughed through the Boulder Crab almost as easy as it would for butter. I spent thest couple of days of the week getting used to the new extent of my art and gauging my powers. I already took down the strongest Bone Spike, and now I just took down thergest Boulder Crab as well. "With this, I have nothing else to do." Almost literally. I was beginning to closely reach the cap of what the Dungeon could actually help me to do. It was a given, within time I would be too strong for this ce. Even my kill with the Boulder Crab didn''t get me to level up. Now that I had no more strings connected to this ce any longer, the fire inside of me that demanded this be thest time I face off against the Boss of the dungeon and escape burned more brightly. I''ve already done all I can to prepare, as far as how I was able to. It was unfortunate that I couldn''t enter and leave the Bossir at will, or even drag out the Silver Knight. I would have been able to cook up some traps that would make clearing it slightly more easier at the very least. In the end, all I could do was train my body and Aura. After I was through with the Boulder Crabs den, I decided to return back to my cave. Since I wasn''t going to be staying any longer, I left behind the corpses back at the Den and only took with me what I needed. Monster Core fragments. Since I ate the Fruit of Aurora, my Aura core has been fully saturated in the past month, but the cores could serve as back up from recovering some of my lost Aura during battle. The Silver Sentinel was apparently, actually a Demon Slime which is impervious to physical attacks. The only way I could hope to damage it or slow it down is through Aura. And that was the main reason for rushing to create or perfect my Art. I could now augment my weapons and make them even twice as strong as I was whenever I used Armament, and this meant two times the Aura consumption rate. So the Monster Cores might really help me out. "Meta, just like before I need you to analyze the Silver ¡ª no, the Demon Slime for its core as soon as we enter." Hopefully, she might not need to do that. I kept reminding myself that the throne was the goal. I stared at a particr heap in the underground cave. The heap was made of crude white bone spears, broken thorns, and white spikes. There were a couple of makeshift weapons I made from Bone Spikes'' bones, limbs and ws in my spare time. I was not just going to walk in with a single spear this time. Even when using Armament on these weapons, I only have a couple of swings at most before they shatter on the force, it was only natural I would carry a few of them with me. I took a particr terrifying looking bone spear in my hand, and a shorter ''pike'' I made from the long ws of bone spike in my other hand. And using a strand piece of what used to be my clothes some time ago, I tied on a back up spear and a couple of other thorns and spikes to my back. "Alright! Let''s goo!" [Isn''t that too much?] Meta said. I shook my head and looked down at the straight white sharp pike that was as long as a sword in my hand. "No, not really. The materials of the weapons made out of the Bone Spike are actually pretty light." This level of weight wouldn''t be enough to slow me down. With all that said and done, I returned back to the Boss Lair for the third, and hopefully thest time. Round three, motherfucker... ___ ___ "Brrr...no matter how many times I''m back here, this ce never ceases to give me the creeps! " The dark grandeur of the giant passage embraced my whole meager existence. It''s smooth ck obsidian walls glistened with the ghostly dim glow of the pale torches. It''s dark ceiling stood as tall as the very first time I walked down it''s floors. The passage was immensely wide, enough to let at least two cars to drive next to each other.N?v(el)B\\jnn Its stylish ck floor that was seemingly carved of ck obsidian, just like it''s walls, had a mosaic of groves engrained on its surface. The giant Passageway, as I called it, was filled with dark mystique; each mysterious draft of wind that blew through its walls whispered suggestively into my ears and mind. I stopped my advancing steps and looked back at the path I walked. Just where exactly is the draft evening from? Deeply disturbed and curious about this, there actually was a time I ventured down the opposite direction of the passage way during some of the time I spent in the dungeon. But no matter how far I walked, it was like the passage was infinitely endless from the opposite direction. The radiance of the torches didn''t reach that far, and the darkness only felt more bolder. So when I did, I just gave up and turned back. I wonder how old this dungeon even is... I turned around and wistfully thought. In a matter of minutes, the colossal stone doors came into sight up ahead. They looked as tall as small mountains and exuded and oppressive feeling as I craned my neck to stare up at them. Ah~ how nostalgic. Wait, why was I feeling nostalgic about dying again? I shook those questionable thoughts out of my head and approached the door. ... I''m not really crazy yet, am I? The ground rumbled and a low tremor ran through the passage. As the colossal doors slowly pushed open, stone grated against each other, and a loud cacaphony of heavy screeches filled the air. I peered forward quietly, masking all of my thoughts and excitement. I was as prepared as I possibly could be. There wasn''t much I could do to raise my strength any longer. At most, I could maybe raise my level to 30, and if I wanted to dare it further, I could probably breakthrough to Eta Rank. But all of that would take time. I didn''t have time. The low grating stones echoed darkly in the giant passageway. I pulled out one of the pikes I had tied against my back, and fastened it in my mouth and jaws and gripped a second spear in my left hand. I didn''t wait entirely for the stone doors to open up, and as soon as the slightest path was opened, I armed myself with Armament and kicked off the ground. My Aura twisted down my legs, constricted, and exploded like a string. I felt my vision blur and space race by as I dashed through the doors and into the dark chamber. This time around I didn''t spend time to appreciate the dark and archaic grandeur of the audience chamber and instead made a beeline for the center. The mighty throne sitting upon a raised tform overlooking the wide expanse of the chamber filled my sole vision. But when had it ever been that easy before? -BANG! A massive figure of blurred steel moved to intercept me from the side. I gripped the Bone spear in my left arm and threw it ahead, seemingly without target. The next moment, the Silver Sentinel¡ª No, I guess I should call it the Demon Slime now? ¡ª the Demon Slime''s armored gauntlet shed through the air for my face like and asteroid. It''s figure exuded such immense presence that made it hard not to notice or look away. Well, who would even think to look away on this instance?! Are they mad?! Having my silent reservations to myself, i turned and took the spike out of my mouth. I saw the trajectory of the heavy fist draw a path for my face in slow motion and reinforced the Armament augmentation of my body. I shifted slightly and moved my head backwards, evading the devastating blow. The fist banged the empty air at my face and I raised the bone spike in my left arm and channelled my Aura through it before throwing it through a crevice of the gauntlet around its wrist joint. The white bone spike, augmented by Armament easily prated through the crevice and struck the space between the armor te around the Knights shoulders. Like that the pike held the silver sentinel armored arm suspended in ce for a good moment. And I used the opportunity to bolt ahead. Avoid confrontation as much as possible... avoid confrontation as much as possible...do not go directly against the monster or die... Like a mantra, I recited those verses repeatedly in my mind. Even now, my previous action of stabbing the pike through the silver knights'' wrist and shoulder was a means to only slow it down a little. With its joints impeded, it would find it hard to move a little. But the Bone pikes were fickle inparison to the Demon Slime''s strength. The next second it moved the same arm, and the pike shattered in a fluent motion. That easily. But it had done enough. I was already a reasonable distance away from the Silver Sentinel by that time, and in my hands were a couple more pikes, thorns and spears. I grinned as I stared at the Silver Sentinel. "Here..." The next moment, I threw the pikes and spears sessively at the targets. The spears and pikes made out of the bones, limbs and ws of Bone Spikes shone with the radiance of my folded aura. They swiftly streaked through the air, and just as easily struck the targets; prating deeply into strategic joints of the knight to slow it down further. The Knight became momentarily rigid with most of its main joints blocked. Then the next month, the polished steel body melted into molten silver, allowing the bone spikes and spears to easily bypass through its viscous body like water. ...I forgot it could do that. The molten body of shiny viscous silver lounged forward like a spring. It contracted, convulsed, and quickly reformed into a fearsome mantle of silver armor as it sprung through the air at me. There was only onerge bone spear in my hand, thest of the multitude i brought with me. I grinned as I watched my reflection against the polish silver helmet te quickly approach, and rolled out of the way in an intentional tumble. My vision shook, and my body rolled. A powerful bang resounded behind me, and when I regained my bnce, I rose to find the area I previously stood turned to a myriad of deep cracks. I didn''t linger or wait, and continued my advancement for the throne. The tform was just right there, yet for some reason, no matter how far I ran, it never seemed to get closer. The Silver Sentinel didn''t just let me, and three secondster, I felt my Danger Sense skill react vehemently. Chapter 38 Battle for the Throne [2] The sinister whistle of wind getting sliced apart echoed sharply in the grand chamber. A slick silvery de cut through the air like a guillotine, leaving a ghostly trail of phantom afterimages. Victor''s senses, too, red rms furiously at the impeding danger and his survival instincts kicked in. He pivoted on his heel, twisted his torso and raised the bone spear in his hand. The silver de of the Silver Sentinel met with the sturdy creamish white bone spear and a sharp sound pierced the air. The impact from collision forced a tremor through Victor''s hands and he stumble from the force. The Bone spear chipped a small but noticeable crack on its makeshift shaft, but the bony structure made out of the materials of the notorious monster still persistently held. Victor regained his bnce just in time to evade a follow up blow from the Boss monster. The sword whipped and the de cleaved apart the air once more. It''s silver surface rushed passed Victor''s face, shaving off a few loose strands of his messy bangs. Victor, at that moment, stared at his pale reflection and felt his back go cold. The de only raced past his face, but the mere movement released a cold sharpenness that almost made his mind go numb. He stumbled on his heels and relied on the bone spear to regain bnce as he twirled a little. The Silver knight drew an ascending diagonal crescent at the stumbling boy and steel shed once more. Danger Sense reacted in time, and rather than fight against it, Victor leaned in and relied on his previous inertia to fall backwards. The tip of the de didn''t meet his skin, but yet he felt a sting on his face as it swept passed him. Before he could give into cursing, the brown haired boy was already quickly on his heels once more. It had only been a couple of seconds since he returned back to the boss Lair yet the hours felt like an eternity against the Monster. The Silver Sentinel ¡ª or yet ¡ª the Evolved Monster was oppressive and greatly overpowered. It dominated and outssed the young boy in literally every aspect. It''s strength was unmatchable, and its speed was mind boggling. But what was a truly unfair amongst all of the monstrosity''s abilities, was it''s ability to remain impervious to almost all the attacks Victor threw at it. This was the difference between Ranks. As a mere Mortal, who was only beginning the journey of Ascension, Victor Bright stood no chance. Yet here he was, narrowly escaping with his life at each attack over and over again! ''I can''t tell if I''m lucky not! '' Despite his self-deprecatory thoughts it wasn''t all left to a matter of luck or plot armor, but the ingrained experience carved into his ''mind''. Victor Bright, or rather, Zachary Harper was a man forged through various battles that were hard won back on Earth. Though after his reincarnation and transmigration into a new andpletely different body, Victor has been unable to show the same level of skills, experience and physical talent as his time on earth in his original body. But the initial years he''s spent since transmigrating raising his level and attuning his mental fortitude and mind to his new body had constituted to a significant portion of his growth, without him knowing. Even though his body could barely keep up, the mind never forgets. Victor took another blow with his spear, and the makeshift structure shattered into splinter. Fuck...he cursed bitterly as in the next second, a devastating blow connected with his unprotected chest. -BOOM!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Victor skidded across the floor but managed not to be thrown off his feet like before. Instead he made sure to nt his feet against the ground, and only stood while cradling his chest. He felt like there was a small whole punched through it, but thanks to the things he had been through thest four weeks, Victor''s body had been tempered continuously from the Aether in the air. His skin was thicker and his bones were harder. Unfortunately, in the end they weren''t hard enough to shrug a devastating punch from a monster two massive ranks ahead of him. Victor coughed out a thick puddle of blood. A portion of his ribs had shatter and his sternum had caved in from that blow. Yet the brown haired boy raised his head and still smiled. The traces of red blood at the edge of his lips and the glint in his eyes made the visage all unsettling. But it wasn''t like the Silver Sentinel would be fazed. It was only a killing machine designed to destroy anyone who dared approached the throne. The punch had sent Victor in the opposite direction of his goal this time around. Now the diabolical knight in fearsome silver armor stood as a diabolical gate keeper. It''s silver surface shinning and reflecting an unsettling hue. It just stood there, silently observing him. Eerily. Like this he confirmed it really was the goal of the monster to protect the throne. Victor reached into what remained of his pocket and pulled out a few azure leaves. He chewed on them and pulled out a small cylindrical container made out of the hard outer shell of a Boulder Crab. Inside of it was a crudely made lotion made from grinded Aurora leaves drowned in sparkling water and left to marinate underneath the Aurora tree for days. It was a crude paste he made in his free time, taking into ount the effects the Aurora leaves and the sparkling water had on him. He wasn''t sure if it would work particrly spectacrly but it would at the very least heal his wounds. He smeared almost a handful in his mouth and the few cuts and bruises on his body. Then he gripped the Bone spear in his hand harder. His twisted smile became more crooked. "Ah, I really didn''t want to do this. Now you''ve really made me , even though I really really am against it. Ah, what a dilemma. What to do... What to do ... " He stuttered erratically as he stumbled upright. He raised his head and stared at the silver knight. In his free left hand were a couple of crystal like monster Cores. He had confirmed there was no way to get to the throne without facing the Knight. The monster was just far too stronger, far faster, far powerful and far more deadlier. He raised the cores in his hand up towards the Silver Knight. There was a redish-ck ugly bruise in his chest. It was like a part of it had shattered and bent inward, but by this point, Victor had grown used to the pain. The he grinned. "Fuck it." He crushed the crystal cores in his hand as wisps of essence flowed out of the shattered pieces. They twisted in the spear around, circling round his arm an body, before going through his nose, mouth and midsection. Victor felt a slight rush of essence through his veins and was filled with dak euphoria the next second. "Meta." He called out, almost like a growl. Then Victor exploded into a violent release of all his Aura. ¡ªBOOM! Vibrant purple aura burst forth from his body like a burning furnace, enshrouding his whole form with power. The quality of Victor''s Aura had been drastically improved since eating the Fruit of Aurora. It was more robust and far more potent than an Awakened of a rank equal to him, and even of those at least two ranks above him. Yes. Victor Bright had Aura with a quality on par with Hero ranked Awakened. He only lost to them in quantity, power, style and technique. And basically every other aspect. But he didn''t loose in control and talent. As his Aura exploded forth, Victor felt an adrenaline like rush of energy. That was because he was simultaneously practicing the technique of boosting his bodily functions using Aura and Aether. That meant he was increasing the speed and rate of his recovery by tenfolds a second, while temporarily continuing to boost his overall stats. He was doping! Victor''s muscles bulged slightly, and thick veins wriggled across his arms and body. Turbid air left his grinning lips like steam, as the bone spear threatened to shatter from the insane amount of pressure Armament was putting on it. [You fool.] Meta simply said. And the next second Victor dashed forward at the silver knight. The diabolical monster raised its silver fist and struck at him at the final moment. But as Victor was currently forcefully multiplying all of his base stats temporarily, his ''innate'' skill was also proactive. [Danger Sense] warned and Victor raised his spear and thrust forward. The boney structure covered by the vibrant hue of Armament broke the air and pierced through the Knight''s armor. This time around, the Demon was unable to melt and deconstruct it''s body to avoid the blow. The spear struck the shoulder joint of its raised arm, and the punch was momentarily suspended. That was all Victor needed. He reached the Knight, Armament enshrouded his fist in thick illusionary gauntlet, and he unleashed a barrage of blows in the span of two seconds against the armor. -BANG! BANG! BANG! The chamber exploded in a loud noise as Victor''s fist connected. The silver knight moved on its feet, but that was all. The next moment, the spear shattered into splinters, and the Knight shed it''s fist forward at him. Victor expected this, back stepped and raised his left fist to the meet the punch. The two colided and a pressurized shockwave burst forth from impact. Victor felt the muscles in his left arm tear, and his bones explode. ''Kuh-! A Hero Ranked Monster really is on a level of its own. '' he thought, filled with venomous ecstasy. Under the influence of his current state, his bones and muscles were rapidly healing, so in a matter of seconds, Victor could move the left arm again. As if taking his feelings head on, the Silver Knight refused to back down, nor call a weapon of its own. Like a chivalry to it''s opponent, the Hero ranked Monster traded blows with only its fist. The air exploded with a chain of bangs and the two colided a barrage of rapid blows all at once. The ground shattered, the air ruptured and was filled with the scent of blood. With every blow, Victor felt his body scream out in pain as his muscle and bones exploded from even just the impact of shockwaves. His organs ruptured. His vision turned red. His lungs were filled with blood. Yet, Victor relished the moment. He Weed the pain with a sinister smile. For each blow he took, his body rapidly healed and [Danger Sense] worked faster than 0.2 seconds! His mind entered a state of cold rity. It was only just him and his opponent. The smell and taste of iron filled his mouth and nose. As the rapid fire of exchanges took ce, Victor felt something strange inside him. It was like some kind of breakthrough, it was indiscernible. But it wasn''t a bad feeling. His senses resonated, the world became ck and white. There was nothing excessive to think about but to continue to throw his fist. His rity reached such an absurd level, all of his actions that followed were instinctive. Then all of a sudden, a barrage of system notification appeared in droves before him. ... [ Active Skill {???} Has been forcefully activated strongly] [Your Attribute {Blessing of Aether} is blossoming strongly! All caps on your current talent have been temporarily released.] [Passive Skill {Danger Sense} is strongly activated! ] [Passive Skill {Danger Sense} is leveling up +1!] [You have broken through a ''Sequence''. First Sequence has been released.] [Due to the absurd level of ''Immersion'', Active Skill {???} Has decided to reveal it''s modifier.] [Active Skill {???} >> {Immersion} ] [You''re innate <''Stigma''> is slowly blossoming!] [{Blessing of Aether} is close to evolving!] [You are holding against an Evolved Hero Ranked Monster ¡ª you have gained arge amount of experience...] [5/6 one more to go...help...] Chapter 39 Battle for the Throne Climax The notifications were almost unending, but Victor barely noticed a single one. At the moment, the Active Skill, {Immersion} blending his mind and existence into one with Meta. Victor moved his body, while Meta sorted out the control and maniption of Aura and Aether throughout the entire sequence. Their synchronization wasmendable enough to force Victor''s existence almost through an existential breakthrough. To him at that point, the system notifications were non existent. Victor''s mind was flooded with a bountiful of information and data from Meta, that only a minimum amount of his consciousness managed to recognize. ''Are these equations? I can see everything, I can feel it much more clearly. Right fist, upper hook, straight hook, from the left...it''s like I''ve calcted every of the Sentinel moves to get it to move just exactly the way I want it. Is this Meta''s doing? This is amazing, so this is what happens when I fully utilize the extent of the skill! '' If he had to describe the feeling he had in a word; It''s the best! Victor''s smile grew more twisted, more wider, more savage. His body quickly recuperated all of the sustained damage due to the absurd and intricate control of Aether Meta performed while he traded fearsome blows against the Sentinel. Victor just stopped giving into reasoning and left it all to his base and primal instincts to move his body, inpliment to the analysis Meta carried out in his brain. His body was flooded and doped with so much adrenaline he had never felt before in two lifetimes. His skin turned red but it wasn''t from blood. His golden eyes diluted and became darker. They turned ssy and zed over as Victor became a mindless machine of only fists and blows. He no longer even bothered to evade or block any Knight''s attacks, not like he could sessfully evade them anyway. But the Silver Sentinel didn''t back down either. All of a sudden, Victor heard a voice that forcefully drew him from his reverie. It was cold, synthetic and deadpan. It was Meta. [This is your limit. Your body won''t hold a second longer.] As soon as the voice was over, Victor felt a vast portion of the absurd strength and adrenaline leave his body all at once. He became heavy, his eyes retained reasoning, and his expression was nk with confusion. And as he watched the steel gauntlet of the Knight drive for a fist into his midsection, Victor had a couple of curses waiting at the edge of his throat. He wanted to move, to evade it, or even try to block it, but his body wouldn''t react in time. It was then Victor realized that everything hurt. But the pain meant he was alive. Fine...bring it! He clenched his fist and made a bloody smile. The punch connected and the air exploded. Victor''s body torpedoed across the chamber with the air sharply whipping past him as his vision twisted and blurred. He flew half way across the Throne room, and ultimately crashed against the tform at the center. The concrete stairs that made up the tform shattered and exploded as his body goughed deeply into it. But on tthest impact, Victor smiled and cringed. ''All ording to n.'' [All ording to n] ___ ___ ''All ording to n! '' Is what I would like to have earnestly said, but thest blow form the Knight had left me with the feeling of having forgotten how to breathe. I groaned immediately on impact as I felt my body crush. But at the same time, in the end it all worked out somehow. [It was barely a n, but it surprisingly did work.] I heard Meta''s cold voice in my stark pained word. I was filled with vicious glee despite my current state, yet I still couldn''t directly refuse. Meta wasn''t wrong after all. The goal was always the throne and to avoid direct confrontation against the Boss. But clearly it was going to be much harder than just said, the Silver Sentinel wouldn''t just make way for me, now, would it? But...what if I did? ''It worked didn''t it? So stop whining...'' As I struggled to recover from my disorientation, I lifted my body out of the crevice. The only way I could get this far is if I had the Monster somehow throw me across. And judging from its infamous record of tossing me around, Meta and I might have managed to cook up a little n. Quite frankly, it wasn''t a n. I felt my head thrub painfully, as blood filled my vision. I looked ahead at the Silver Sentinel that was already in his heels sprinting this way. I gritted my teeth, and forced my body to move. -Doom!N?v(el)B\\jnn Immediately I climbed the stairs, but before I could reach the throne, I felt a boundless wave of pressure that made me stagger. I inhaled sharply and my breath ceased at once. G*dammit! Isn''t this unfair... making use of your higher ranked Status like this at this moment! Status! My mind blurred and hazed, but it wasn''t because of the extent of how badly my body was hurt. I slowly felt the little strength I had left slip away and surpress, as I lost the will to even continue forward. I cursed bitterly in my heart and sharply bit my tongue. A jolt of pain and rity sprang up my back, and for a very brief second, I managed to dispel the effects of the Sentinels'' status. That moment was enough for me to quickly reach thest step and pull out therge bone spear struck into its pavement I threw earlier. It was the same first spear I had seemingly thrown out of nowhere, but had instead aimed for the throne. After that, I immediately stumbled to the floor of the steps with a trembling smile and a face beading with sweat and blood. I shuffled in ce and turned on my back, gripping the spear. Up until this moment, the Monster hadn''t ceased spreading its status and surpressing my lower level with it. ''Meta! '' behind gritted teeth, I urgently shouted internally, and Meta''s detached and cold voice uttered an indifferent word. [Confirmed.] Just then, I felt a load of information surge into my mind as a system prompt swiftly appeared before me. ... [Skill {Appraisal} has leveled up] {Skill {Appraisal} is being used] ... [I will connect the location of the Slime''s Core with you.] Meta said, and my Appraisal skill was instantly activated. Did...she just level up a skill on its own? Before I could marvel at that question, I saw a barrage of information and details fill my mind and sight. The Silver Sentinel was made up of a myriad of cold and warm colors all over, and amongst the many, I could easily identify a single spot where that glow was the brightest. ''The Monster Core!'' I crushed thest cores I had in my pocket. They were the ones I got from defeating a few monsters I ran into on my way to the Midnight Foxes'' Den before being transported, ever since I''d always had them with me in my pockets for emergencies but never really got the chance to use them. The Wisps of essence spiralled up my hand and into my nose, mouth and chest, filling my body with an ecstatic transient rush. I felt my nearly depleted Aura core quick refill, but it was only just slightly. But that''s enough...i thought with renewed dark vigour and rose to my feet. The mass of moving steel that was the silvery body of the Silver Sentinel was still imposingly approaching me at a terrifying speed. It was already only a couple of meters away from ascending the tform. I gripped my spear and raised it over my shoulder. "Take all of my Aura..." I channelled all of the dormant and active energy inside of my body, all of the Auara I had left in my core, into the spear. At the same time I kept thinking of the [Blessing of Aether] Attribute and received a System message. ... [Your Attribute, {Blessing of Aether} is still strongly resonating with your will. Due to your insistent will, you have received a temporary boost to the quantity and quality of your Aura.] [Aura: 25(+???)] [Ding] [Ding...] [Ding...] [...ing...] ... -BOOM! Then half of my body was dyed in the bright crackling blinding purple radiance of the wave of Aura coalescing through my arm and into the spear that began to tremble. Less than fifty meters to the tform, the Monster stretched it''s arm and it elongated into a long extending silvery spear that quickly tore for my head. I took a sharp breath and tore a grin. Appraisal skill quickly triangted the location of the Core on the moving Sentinel and... ''Lock on!'' ... I threw the spear imbued with all of my Aura forward and stuck the lower abdomen of the Boss Monster. The Bone spear streaked with an exploding powerful purple radiance that made the air rumble like literal thunder. It struck the Silver Sentinel and instantly rammed through the entire mass, as it dragged it backwards halfway across the Throne room. The dense umtion of Aura already ran wild as soon as it left my arms, and all of that rampaging energy simply exploded at the end, enveloping the Silver Sentinel in surging waves and radiance of power that was both blinding and deafening. -BOOM! The Throne room shook and rumbled with the force of a thunder storm. The tall mighty pirs copsed from the shockwaves and brought a portion of the high ceiling, which end I still couldn''t see, down. Terrifying cracks ran across the ground, forming massive crevices that snaked across the entire chamber, and even up that Throne tform I stood up on before stopping just before my feet. I felt a powerful gust of wind reach me from the distance and flutter through my messy hair. At this point, I had little to no stamina left and the wind pushed me as easily as paper. I didn''t fight against against the force, and instead rode the wind, stumbled backwards on my feet and ultimatelynded on therge throne. I slumped on the throne and stared ahead at the swelling cloud of grey dust with droopy eyes, while thest and final wisps of wind swept past my face and through my hair. And like that, I just remained. Feeling a small smile on my lips. ''I told you...'' Round three motherfucker... *** [6/6! Last chapter reached, and end of mass release! Now I can drop dead...] Chapter 40 Light at the End of a Tunnel I slumped back on the throne with a tall back and overlooked the scale of the damage done to the dark grandeur of the expansive chamber. At the furthest edge across from where I was, there was arge dust cloud that was billowing outward, and massive cracks and grooves spread from it, reaching all over the ce. Some of the great and mighty pirs were shattered and crumbled, and even a portion of the ck obsidian walls were in shambles. Heavy pieces of debris of the high ceiling fell against the ground, and signs of a devastating battle surrounded the entire ce. I stared at all of this from the throne withnguid and droopy eyes. Damn...thatst attack took everything I had. And it wasn''t like there was much to begin with...I thought self deprecatingly to myself andughed dryly internally. My body was sore and aching all over, and even the extent of my injuries were unclear to me. But I for sure couldn''t feel an ounce of energy left inside of me or my empty core. I''m also out of Monster Cores to use and replenish my lost Aura. Thest ones I used was from my hunting before finding this dungeon. Phew... I''m d I still had them with me all this while, I would most likely be dewd by now...I earnestly thought with a small sigh as I heaved softly, trying to catch my breath. I closed my eyes gently, listening to the ghostly silence of the chamber and slowly opened them, with my gaze deeping. Immediately, I shuddered. No. I''m most likely definitely going to die now... Something was wrong. A sudden premonition came over me as my exhausted mind froze. I hadn''t heard the voice of the system notify me about my kill. ''Hey, Met¡ª!!'' just as I was about to check out the situation with Meta, the ruined chamber suddenly rumbled. Rumble! Rumble! The ground quaked with a low but heavy tremor, and I saw a ghostly blue glow spread from underneath the tform and the throne. What is this? I tried to be wary but couldn''t. It was like I exhausted all of my apprehension and fear along with my stamina and Aura. So instead, I just watched with a deep but hazy gaze as a strange illusionary circle appeared and expanded around the tform. The circle was brimming with an otherworldly azure light and was made up of quirky and strange looking characters that were equally glowing. It reminded me of...the teleportation matrix I found in the Midnight Foxes'' den! As soon as I realized that, my eyes widened. Maybe I really will make it out of here alive! I jubted earnestly But my excitement was immediately cut short as the rumbling became much more louder and powerful. Almost enough to knock my flimsy body off the throne and to the ground. But persistently, I held on from only share will power! I''m getting out of here ¡ª alive ¡ª no matter the cost! I shouted to myself. The the intensity of the tremor only continued to rise. Was it supposed to quake like this? Just as I had that thought, I heard a powerful but grating sound roll through the trembling chamber from behind the throne. The noise was so irritating and unpleasant, that made me almost want to cringe and sp my ears short...that was if I didn''t have to keep holding on to the throne to stop myself from falling off it. So instead, I gritted my teeth and sat through the grating noise that was like the cacaphony of grating stones against stone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Ah?" I voiced a sound of realization. Grating stone... By this point, a bright and sparkling light began to seep into the dark and mysteriously alluring chamber from behind the throne. At the same time, the trembling and grating sounds soon subsided and stopped. Sensing it was finally over, I raised my head and looked from the side of the tall back of the throne to what was behind. Where the bright light was seeping through from. And immediately, I winced and hissed before jerking my head back and shielding my eyes. Argh, yup. Too bright, too bright... I shielded my eyes with my hands and looked again and my eyes widened at what I saw. Wait. If I was transported in here, shouldn''t I be transported back? Isn''t that what Meta said? But here...it looked like I would have to walk because what appeared before me was a door. Not a teleport matrix. A frigginrge door. A truely humongous one too. "...That is huge..." I marveled faintly as craned my neck to see just how tall and gigantic it was but still failed. It really was gigantic door, and I was saying this after seeing the colossal stone doors of the Bossir. I wasn''t sure if this one was also made out of stone or obsidian like the one at the entrance, instead it seemed like a door made out of thick darkeness and shadow. It suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Was there always a door like this at the other side of the chamber behind the throne, and I didn''t notice all this while? I asked myself, understanding how improbable that sounded. The only meaning was, it suddenly appeared after I sat on the throne and triggered some kind of mechanism. Either that, or the great door was more hidden. Maybe I even mistook it as a distant wall. It fits the bill, after all. The giant door was partially opened ¡ª considering the scale of its size ¡ª and that was where the bright light seeped into the dark chamber from. As for what was in the other side of the door, I couldn''t see it or tell. I guess I''ll have to find out then. I was apprehensive against the sudden happening, but regardless I got up and slowly headed toward the door after descending from the tform and throne. As I walked, i painfully understood the extent of my broken body. "Holy fuc¡ª everything hurts like crap!" I hissed painfully as I slowly approached the door. But at least it was all over finally. After four weeks( Four days) I could finally get out of this shit hole! So much blood spent. So many guts spilled, and even more bones broken. Thepletely unfair travails I faced in thest four weeks made me want to cry and sniffle, now that it was finally over. "Sniff...sniff..." But still. I stopped just before the door. There was an illusionary cold mist seeping out from the entrance as well. It swept past my legs and surrounded my body in a chilling coldfort that also made me want to shudder. The entrance was right before me, just two steps away, with the bright white light reflecting on my face. I turned to look back across the chamber and stared somberly. The system message...still hasn''t notified me of my kill. I also didn''t receive any experience, or level up or anything of the sort, which I was sure if I managed to actually kill a Hero Ranked entity, I would at the very least Rank up to Eta at once in a single fell swoop. Which meant... No, no, no. No point thinking about it now! I shook my head and turned forward at the entrance, then smiled. None of that matters. I survived the Silver Sentinel, that''s all, and I sat on the Throne. Regardless of how one looks at it, I beat the trial by getting to the throne, and now even this mysterious door is proof of it. The point is, I can finally be free... Simplifying my thoughts with that, I smiled more brightly despite how much my skin hurt and continued to work through the door. I better make it quick before that diabolical beast changes it''s mind and lounges at me again! With that, I quickened my pace and rushed at the entrance. One step. Two step. Three ste¡ª On the third step, I felt something cold and chilling slither round my ankle with a sinister chill. I froze, petrified, in ce feeling my heart sink. My expression fell, and before I could curse ''damnation'' out loud, I gave a shriek like yelp as I was suddenly yanked backwards by whatever it was. "Fuuckk!!! " Chapter 41 Satisfied, Oddly Tamed ''Fuck!! I just had to go jinx it, me and my big, misfortunate mouth....Although I never said it out loud either. I''m misfortunate either way!! As I was suddenly being dragged back across the ground, further and further away from the exit, my eyes widened in horror. If I returned back now, I would definitely die! That was all that ran rampant in my head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! " I wed my hands and fingers forward into the ground, trying to desperately fight back against the pull but to no avail. My body was weak and heavily wounded, depleted of all energy. My bare finger couldn''t even scrape the hard, fine, obsidian ground, and I only ended up shredding and blistering my tips. I jerked my head towards the direction I was getting pulled at, and instinctively turned around at once to face the ghastly horror that awaited me. For a good reason, I began to imagine how I would die...again. Gut? Decapitate me? Or worse? ''What could be worse than that?! '' Scratch that. I can think of a few... My body came to a stop with me staring wide eyed and warily at what waited for me, and the moment I stopped, i shrieked again at the monstrosity. "Argh!!" I held my breath sharply and shut my lips ''Bloddy fucking hell! What is that?!'' Just then, I heard a familiar synthetic voice. [It''s the Slime''s true body.] Meta was as deadpan, and always knew when to chip in as always¡ª Is that what she expects me to say?! ''And where the fuck have you been?! No, forget that. Did you say it''s real body? '' I shook my head internally and said. Indeed the Slime really did somehow survive. But it was also... different. Very different. Disturbingly different. I stared with horror filled eyes at the molten silvery blood of an unrefined proportion looming over me, then lowered my eye suspiciosly. ''Something is wrong. '' I quickly noticed and activated my Appraisal skill. ... [Name: Silver Slime Type: Monster Status: Drastically Weakend] ... I ignored the new function of Appraisal and turned to the main part. Drastically weakend... [It''s core has been damaged, and barely survived your attack. Slimes have special characteristics, and one of them is teir ability to instantly multiply and reproduce. A Demon Slime takes that ability to newer levels and can replicate a clone of itself to survive an attack at the sacrifice of splitting its core in two.] Meta briefly exined, and I managed to get a rough idea of what happened. That was why I didn''t get a official message that I destroyed the Silver Sentinel. It split its core and converged it''s main aspect to a main body before narrowly escaping. The unshapely silver blob of slime was constantly wiggling, trying desperately to take a form or a shape. It stood over me, looking like it''ll be a t puddle of silver juice in any second from now, and clumps of its body was already beginning to split off and fall off to the ground. Some parts were even dripping, and appeared thinner than the rest of its eerie body. But all of this just gave me confidence, and half a sinister smile made it to my lips. ''Oh, so you''re saying it''ll die in time then? Hehe. '' Guess I didn''t have to do much of anything then. Hurry up and die so I can receive my experience points!! As I silently prayed in my heart, earnestly for the monster which had caused me so much pain and suffering to drop dead as karma, the Silver Slime suddenly lunged forward at me. "What...!!" Before I could voice even a simple curse, I was enveloped in its gooey like body, as my senses were immediately blocked. My whole face was enveloped in a viscous and slimey film, and the diabolical monster invaded all of my orifices, sending my racing heart into deeper turmoil. "Guark-!!" I gasped for breath, terrified to the bone. This time, I really, really, felt like I would die. I was suffocating, and my vision was covered. I couldn''t see anything, smell anything or sense anything, and my heart pounded as if threatening to live my chest. It went into my mout and nose, my ears and eyes, and even prated into my skin causing it to tingle and sizzle. I felt my skin burn and my body convulse strongly as the split moment of torture seemed to drag on for a painful eternity. The inside of my body burned with heat that seemed to seem from the deepest depths of my soul and filled my being with warmth. It wasn''t exactly painful or horrendous, but the total share experience of all that was happening to me was terrifying enough to make me want to almost pass out from fear and suffocation. I grasped with my finger and hands at the thin viscous film covering my face and gagging my mouth, but to no avail. As the diabolical monster continued to suffocate me and invade my body, I suddenly felt the spreading heat inside of me disperse. And the next second, the damned slime finally decided it was enough of putting me through this hell and extricated from my body. I coughed up the slime, as the thin film that covered my face, nose, and mouth dissolve, leaving me in disarray and gasping for breath on the ground. The first thing I did was to heave for breath. Goddammit...feels like I was drowning just a second ago. I held my chest and coughed furiously against the ground. No matter how much I spat out, I could still almost taste the stickiness of the slime, and feel it still linger in my lungs and inside. I raised my head weakly as I coughed and stared hatefully at the shifting blob before me. It''s size was much smaller now, and about the size of a shapeless ser ball. But why didn''t it kill me? I was still recovering from my state of panic, but I still managed to retain some level of constructive reasoning. The Silver Slime had a diabolical chance to end me. In fact, a few seconds longer and I would have probably died from suffocation. Just as I thought that, my head buzzed and I heard a ding only I could hear. ... [Initiating bonding ritual.] ... A bright gold light soon spread out against the floor underneath me before my vision. "Wh... what?" I blinked my still hazy eyes In bewilderment and watched aplex illusionary magic circle made of the gold light form and unravel under me. ''Did...the system just say bonding? '' I thought and barely raised my head to stare at the Slime that was still struggling to hold it''s form. My eyes slowly fluttered as the next moment a bright golden radiance filled my vision. A transient warmth burned mildly inside my body as all of a sudden I felt a strange tingle in my chest. The strange happening was over as suddenly as it came, the spreading gold radiance ceased, and the circle of light dissolved and dissipated just as it apperead. still alive. The first thing I did was gasp. I was still alive... But I felt even more exhausted than before. "Meta, what just happened?" As I asked Meta while massaging my throat that was strangely sore, I tried to get up but immediately fell back down against my backside. My heart was still racing and pounding so I took some breath to try to regain some calm. Just then, a blurred figure crossed the edge of my vision and I was alerted. I turned to see a dark silver blob of slime bounce next to me and froze. Just then Meta said. [You have formed a Familiar contract with the Silver Slime.] At the same time, a blue interface appeared before me with a system prompt. ... [Contract ritual has been fulfilled. Congrattions, you now have a Familiar!] ... "Don''t bullshit!" I spat out at the sick joke. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What''s a Familiar? With the fucking slime that just vandalized me?! No! I refuse! I don''t want it! Give me back my purity!! "Hey, Meta. Exin!" Recovering from the shock, I demanded pensively. [There are a few conjectures. One, the Silver Slime, in order to sustain its existence and power had to form a bonding contract which allows the sharing of existences and life force with another existence, which in this case is you. It was either that, or it would turn to devouring you for nutrients to sustain itself.] That''s kind of scary. I looked at the dark silvery gtinous slime that was like a spherical and round blob. The previously terrifying monster whose body was falling apart piece by piece now looked so tame, small and surprisingly cute. But all of that was just a visage, and I knew it. ... [{Appraisal}Level 2 has been activated] ___ ___ [Name: -- [Race: Demon Slime (Evolved from the Silver Slime) [Type: Monster [Status: Satisfied, and oddly tame...] Chapter 42 Till Death Do Us Apart ... [{Appraisal}Level 2 has been activated] ___ ___ [Name: -- [Race: Demon Slime (Evolved from the Silver Slime) [Type: Monster [Status: Satisfied, and oddly tame...] ... My eyes twitched at the status. ... [Summary: This previously terrifying monster of the Demon Slime race has now been tamed and made a powerfulpanion instead by a Familiar Contract. Although, a significant portion of its power has been lost, the Silver Slime will forever always be your most powerful and reliablepanion.] ... The description option had also be Summary instead. I read the summary and ended up shooting the blob¡ª I mean, Slime, a sharp re from the corner of my eyes. Is that thing dancing? Ah, it did say it was satisfied. In the whole literal meaning of bizzare, the Slime was actually dancing. "It says it''s been weakend. What''s it''s current status? " As I thought that, the description of my appraisal skill changed a little. ... [Rank: Hero Summary: The Demon Slime has suffered severe damage to its core which has resulted to a heavy loss in its power. Though still ranked Hero, the Demon Slime is now a shell of its former self. But it''s unique properties as a specie doesn''t make it no less powerful...] ... My eyes lingered on the summary, and I raised my brow curiously. The Slime evaded my attack by splitting its core, could that be what it''s talking about? And what was with the description of the summary. The choice of words is like it''s supporting, or urging me to ept the slime. That''s just sus and unnerving. In retrospect, aren''t the system prompts and notifications I see aso implemented by Meta herself? Could this also be her doing? Something was wrong. Isn''t this all too coincidental? I beat the Slime, only for it to somehow survive by splitting its body and core. And now I was getting contracted to the same monster. Wait. Meta said it''s existence and body were in a fragile state after having sacrificed half of its core to survive, the Slime was in a state that was no less different than dying. It was also because of that it formed a contract with me. ''... a bonding contract which allows sharing of existence and life force with another existence''... I silently recalled Meta''s words. I didn''t know too much about contracts, in fact I only heard about them a few times in passing during my home school. Various factors were considered, and could influence a Contract formation. But...what if all of these factors...were arranged? What if, I needed to threaten the Slime into using it''s specie defense mechanism of splitting its core to disorient it''s existence and make it prone to forming a contract with me. The Silver Slime is a Hero Ranked Monster, an entity when one considered how it was also an Evolved race. Contracts, especially, Familiar bonds, require the consent and levels of both party. What would I, a meager Mortal Ranked human, possibly have to offer to a much higher Ranked Monster? Stability. On the premise that it''s life and existence was at stake... And in the option of consent...the system initiated the contract on its own, more or less. I for certain didn''t intend to. Fuck. Slowly my thoughts began to race. I felt a kind of unease linger somewhere around me as I stared at the system prompt. Just then, I heard a ding, and a notification appeared before me. [To fullyplete the contract ritual, a name will be required for you''re newestpanion.] "Eh?" The unexpected notification dragged me out of my thoughts. By this point, I still haven''t adjusted to the surreal turn of sudden events. From the descriptions, I could tell the Slime would no longer hurt me, but this was still the same monster that gutted me out on our first meeting, and decapitated me on iur second. Not to mention, vandalized me on our third, just now! I will have nightmares for days because of this damned monster! It is totally justified that I held nothing but venom and animosity for it! And now I''m expected to embrace it with open hands?! Thinking this, I moved my gaze to the slime again. ''Fucking...'' The hateful blob of jiggly silver held my gaze... At least I think it has a gaze... Then, it''s round spherical blob body that was the full size of a fist pushed off the ground and bounced against my right shoulder. Fuck, it''s atta¡ª Or not. The slime just touched on my shoulder, and remained still. "..." ''This is all so annoying... '' I sighed and grumbled. I nced at the system screen, then said seemingly to myself. "A name, huh." Was that necessary? If the system was telling me to, it probably had some significance. But I also couldn''t trust the system. My doubts surrounding it''s true intent and myself have only deepened after what just happened. For a moment, I just stared deeply at the screen, masking my thoughts. Eventually, I withdrew my gaze, dismissed the screen and nced at the hateful blob on my shoulder. What would I even call this hateful bastard? Then I grinned. "Hateful Bastard has a nice ring to it?" As if it could understand my thoughts, the Slime shivered and shuddered. I felt something from it and frowned. "What? You don''t like the name, you ungrateful bastard?" ''Eh? '' how did I know it didn''t like the name? I blinked my eyes and looked at the slime more deeply this time. Somehow...i could ''understand'' it''s thoughts and feelings. ''Is this another effects of the Familiar bonding? '' I said inwardly and Meta affirmed curtly. [Affirmative. You share the surface thoughts and feelings with your familiar.] Great, another one that can invade my thoughts. I grumbled, clicked my tongue and hesitated. I took the slime in my hands and held it before my face with a light frown. Then I closely studied it. Well, I guess when it''s not a terrifying suit of armor trying to gut me... it''s kind of cute? The slime jiggled and my brows twitched. "Don''t get cocky, I''ll get you back for everything! It jiggled again. "Huh? You expect me to just smile and say ''i forgive you '' even if you apologize? And who the fuck apologizes like that? Dogeza dammit! Do-ge-za!" This Slime...it''s more infuriating than I thought... For now I ignore the matter and pushed it to the back of my mind.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A name huh...I hummed thoughtfully, while I held the slime. Then I finally said. "Ham." Yes. "I''ll call you Ham, for Hamlet because you''re round, and kind of remind me of ham. So Ham-let." There. Satisfied with my answer I grinned. The Slime jiggled, and expressed its slight hesitation at the choice of names to me telepathically, but a single re shut it up. After that, a system screen popped up. ... [Are you sure you want to name your Familiar ''Hamlet''? Yes/No] ... "Yes." I nodded, but the insufferable system came again. ... [Are you really, really sure you want to name your familiar after ham? Yes/No] This was Meta doing, I could tell. "Yes, dammit." ... [Confirmed. The Contract between Hamlet, the Slime (lol), and Victor Bright, the human, has beenpleted. You now share an inseparable bond, till death do you apart.] ... What''s up with these marriage vows... I felt a gold radiance suffused from inside of me and spread across my whole body. I watched the same thing happen to Hamlet in my hands as well. And as I felt a fluffy and soft and intangible connection form between me...and a Slime, I couldn''t help but wonder with tears in my eyes, how this came to be... I sucked in one breath, and with it all of myplex feelings and emotions concerning the subject, and looked down at the Slime in my hands. "Well Hamlet, I''ll be in your care now. Your pleasure, I know." With that done, I got up and turned around. Luckily the colossal doors were still open, waiting for me. Without exchanging a single word, Hamlet read my intentions and took it''s ce agilely on my left shoulder. The way the bastard slime suddenly moved almost gave me a heart attack. I still had traumas. I ignored the matter after shooting a hateful re at Hamlet, then slowly began to approach the opened exit once more, and I let my mind wander. ''Meta, you said there were a few conjectures why Hamlet made a contract wth me. You only mentioned one, what are the others. '' Although, you probably nned and orchestrated all of this...deep down I added in my heat where Meta couldn''t divulge. The synthetic voice, like a digitalized ovep of vibrations resounded promptly. [Affirmative. Contract are formed based on the interests of the involved parties, that means the Slime may have had other intrests in you aside from just sustaining it''s existence.] Oh? A higher Ranked Monster might have other interest aside from gutting my insides as turning me into dinner? ''Please, do tell. '' I restrained my sarcastic thoughts and instead said inwardly. [In this case, it was most likely attracted to your Aura.] As Meta said this, I was already embraced by the cold and ghostly billowing cloud of fog that dispersed around the entrance of therge doors. Without stoping to look back, I walked through the fog and into the bright white light. Internally, I curiously asked Meta. ''What do you mean? '' Meta responded in her usual detached and unsympathetic tone. [It is not umon for Familiar prospects to be attracted to the Aether of their prospects. Especially in the cases of spirits or demonic creatures. It is a little umon for mundane Beasts and Monsters to be contractedpanions, but as someone who has digested a Fruit of Aurora, and posses the [Blessing of Aether] Attribute, this is a very likely case.] Meta said, and I shot a nce at Hamlet before promptly looking away I see. That made sense to an extent. I still had questions, but I promptly put them away for the moment. For now I was at simply going to first of all get out of this godforsaken ce! The bright light from the door covered my vision and filled my world. This time around, there was nost minute assault on me, and I sessfully walked through to the other side. But it was there my heart quickened. Chapter 43 Second Sequence The bright light that covered my vision and filled my immediate world dissipated and dissolved as I walked out of it, and into the room beyond the gigantic doors. A little pensive, I swept my gaze through the room as soon as I regained my vision, and my heart froze stiffly. Immediately, I tensed and almost forgot to breathe. What is this? ''What the fuck is this?! '' Behind the colossal doors, whatid beyond them wasn''t the outside world I had oh so dreamed of thest four weeks, but instead, it was the exact replica of the Throne chamber like the one I just left. It was tall, and immensely expansive with the walls spreading out widely to the sides. The grand and humongous stone pirs stood, looming imposingly off to the sides, and the far high ceiling was still something I couldn''t even see. And at the far end, sitting imposingly on a raised tform of stairs, was a grand and archaic looking throne, surrounded by a golden halo. But this time, it wasn''t made of just old, obsidian stone. ''No, it''s different...'' I struggled a breath and realized. I blinked my eyes and looked around a bit more. It wasn''t just the throne at the far end that was different. The whole chamber was. I took another breath and reigned in my thoughts. With a single nce I swept a gaze across the entire chamber. It was like a replica of the Bossir; incredibly tall ceiling, massive stone pirs holding them up, long and wide walls, immense and grand environment, and to top it off, there was a throne at the opposite end, at the wall furthest at the back of the chamber. The throne from the Bossir was sat atop a tform that stood at the center of the whole chamber. This one was ced at the end of a red carpeted walkway. In the truest form, this ce was more like an audience chamber whenpared to the one from before. I looked down at the vibrant designs of the red carpet I stood on. I was on edge earlier and didn''t notice it, but the carpet really did feel soft and smooth against my feet. This audience chamber was also brightly lit. There was a warm and bright glow, like sunlight, seeping through ss mosaic and murals hanging across the walls, adding to the chamber and giving it an enchanting and mystical feel. The center path of the chamber, the walk way that led up to the throne at the end was carpeted by a red rug, and to the sides of the walk way, the floor was made of polished bronze and gold tiles. The stone pirs surrounding the walkway leading to the Throne at the end we''re iid and ted with gold, and aesthetic carvings. Some of them even had imagery descriptions carved finely on them. The bright window mosaic filled the chamber with the impression of the light of day. Everything and every corner of the room was so bright and suffusing with warm and soft golden light. It was in stark contrast to the dark and gloomy allure of the Bossir from behind. But at the same time, I tensed in ce and my thoughts were already racing. It''s like the bossir from before was made and designed in the image of the real deal, and exquisite grandeur of this one. Then...I furrowed my brows, as I did another quick sweep of the surrounding with a nce. Specifically, I focused on the throne tform at the furthest end, and next to it. After that, I felt a slight weight and pressure on my chest lessen. The Silver Sentinel...is not there...I thought with a relieved sigh. In fact, there wasn''t any signs of any living creatures or things that moved. But I already learned my lesson twice before. I activated my Appraisal skill and swept the area with another nce. ''Meta. '' [Affirmative.] Appraisal would immediately identify to me anything that was alive, since it would bring out a description of the type of creature, unless it was something much higher level than me. But even then, it would still show question marks. And I also had Meta scan the area using my senses as an extension. ''There''s nothing on both ends. '' I sighed as a wave of relief washed through me. But I still didn''t let my guard down. Meta had already proven to me once the weaknesses of her perception, and I could have just missed something with Appraisal. Furthermore, if there was a creature like the Silver Slime that could shapeshift and change form, then it could easily sneak up on me and deliver a devastating blow. "...what now?" Just as I muttered to myself, the familiar red screen interface that I haven''t seen in a while suddenly appeared before me. ... [Congrattions, brave Warrior, on reaching this far. You have sessfully cleared the Inheritance Dungeon of the Demon Lord Lace of Entropy. Your strength, bravery, effort and achievements aremendable. ¡ª Number of deaths: 2 ¡ª Number of Lives left: 1. ¡ªCalcting rewards... Rewards will be distributed. Please step forward for the Throne.] ... It was a longer string of letters I haven''t seen the red interface disy before. I slowly read through it and my eyes widened and tremble in shock. Demon Lord. Inheritance Dungeon. Lace of Entropy. Those three phrases stood out to me above the rest. ''What the fuck... '' all of a sudden it feels like I''ve been involved in something muchrger and deeper than I realized for thest couple of weeks. Just to be sure, I read through the interface again before dismissing it, and then I sighed. "Fuck me sideways." Wasn''t fate bitching me enough already? I sighed again and facepalmed. What the fuck am I doing in the Inheritance Dungeon of a Demon Lord?! Who''s Lace of Entropy? I don''t know! I don''t care! I just want to go home! Take me home!! I didn''t know wether to cry orugh. ''Hey, Meta, what do you think about this situation.'' I slumped my shoulders and asked. [I suggest it''s better to do as the system has said.] Meta said. I raised my head and stared down the walkway, at the grand golden throne sitted at the end. Well...I guess there''s no other choice. The interface also mentioned something about a reward? At least, there was something to look forward to what I would get out of all this. So I made up my mind and nodded to myself. ''I''ll just get my reward and scram without looking back. When I get back home, I''ll live life like this never happened! Cuz It did not! There''s no way, in all of the chances and possible timelines, that I, Victor Bright, could have stumbled on the Inheritance of a Demon Lord! Even I know that I can''t be that misfortunate! '' I dismissed the red screen, and slowly took mild steps forward. I followed the instructions and made my way to the throne across from me. At this point, there was no rush. When I looked back, the colossal doors had already shot close at some point without me noticing, and since the interface said I already cleared the dungeon, that meant i wouldn''t be taken by surprise by a sudden attack. So I took my time, and took in the exquisite grandeur of the bright throne room that seemed to be made of gold. But what truly caught my attention, were the colored ss windows and murals on the walls apart. Before I realized it, I was already standing before one of them. The tall and wide obsidian wall was carved with the depiction of images, and strange and unfamiliar runes surrounding them. "..." There was something instinctive about them, the runes... something I found strange and odd. I couldn''t understand the characters that seemed to be telling a story, but I also couldn''t take my eyes off them. It was like each carved detail was drawing me in, begging me to unsurface their meaning. And so I stared. And stared. And stared more. Time passed without me knowing how long. I didn''t realize when I walked to the wall, and I also didn''t realize I was just staring at it. My eyes were just focused on one part of the wall, on a certain chain of runes, when I heard a slight buzz in my head and my vision blurred slightly. A system message popped right before my eyes, nearly scaring the shit out of me. But before I could curse out Meta, I was immediately drawn to what the strange notification was reading. It said:N?v(el)B\\jnn ... [Requirements have been met.] [Congrattions. Authorization granted] [Second Sequence has been unlocked. Your Authorization ess has been raised. You are now privy to more features.] ... This is...my eyes widened. My Authorization ess has been raised...once I processed this, all of the previous times Meta has shot down many of my questions surfaced at once. At those times, Meta had mocked about how my Authorization ess was still too low, and how I needed to get stronger to ess the informations I asked for. But then I was always confused about the concept, and overtime I just overwrote it as Meta being infuriatingly secretive. But now, this was something that was unexpected. I felt a smile slowly curl up on my lips. Doesn''t this mean I''ll finally be able to get some answers? I restrained my excitement, and turned my face back to the screen. "Huh? There are more lines of text now..." While I wasn''t paying attention for a few seconds, few more words were added to the screen. ... [You have met the right requirements to raise your sequence. You will now ''glimpse'' a part of the ''truth''.] ... [Skill, {Immersion} has been forcefully activated.] ... Chapter 44 A Saga of Heroes [1] ... [Skill, {Immersion} has been forcefully activated.] ... As soon as those unexpected words filled my vision, my world dissolved into darkness, and thest thing I saw were the strange and bizzare characters on the wallse to life and flutter around me like leaves in the wind. And then the next moment, my consciousness was warped and pulled inward sharply. ''Not again....! '' I barely managed to hold on to a final thought which also quickly faded and ceased at once.N?v(el)B\\jnn Suddenly, everything became still and distant. As my world cked out and my consciousness turned thin, my mind was suddenly raided by the prescence of abstract thoughts and information. Deep within my ckened subconscious, strange letters and characters flowed like a raging blizzard then died the rest of my consciousness in a sharp bright light. Then, after that, everything was over. * * * * * * The ''First Great Cmity '' Those words... reverberated deeply within my subconscious. Then everything shook. The depths of my darkness shifted, and the ck empty scene of vacuum unraveled to a different scene. What could be described as ''otherworldly'' presented itself to me at point ck. My eyes were widened to their extremities. I couldn''t move, and everything was ck. No. It was ck, but there was something even darker... something sinister undting like lightless tendrils in front of me. I couldn''t move my body, but I could also tell there wasn''t anything like solid ground or surface in this ''dream" which I assumed it was due to my past experiences with the [Immersion] skill. That was because the endless vacuum of space surrounded me in its cold and empty embrace. And in the very depth of this vacuum of ''space'', there weren''t such things as distant twinkling stars, or even the heavenly bodies thatprised of the sun, moon, ands. Instead something very dark, very sinister.... Something repulsive took their ces. It was shapeless. It was formless. It only continued to grow and expand, devouring even the furthest non-existent extremities of space. Then a group of words reverberated deeply in my soul. And instinctively, I knew what that ''thing'' was. [@$!#@!$#$£¤@$!#@!$] My head thrubbed. It was like I just got hit by a jackhammer. Was it from staring at the blot that was the beginning of everything, or was it simply for ''imagining'' the ''name'' of ''that thing'', i didn''t know. And I also wasn''t left the room to ponder it for too long. The ck blot wasn''t the only thing undting in the vast vacuum. A hot boiling ball of ''gas''. An infernal ''point'' who''s radiance alone challenged the sinister tendrils of the ck blot, burned fevently. [@?!!#$#!!@] Light and darkness slowly approached. But the boiling ''point'' wasn''t a star. I couldn''t fathom what the visions I was seeing meant, but I at the very least understood the two were abstract symbolism of something else, something more meaningful a mortal mind like mine would fail toprehend. So instead, it was presented to me in a manner that was moreprehesible for my standard. Light and darkness. The vacuum of space...I couldn''t take my eyes off the scene, but strangely my thoughts were racing. I wasn''t thinking, but something was pieceing everything together easily for me, making it seem as though I already was aware of the idea. These...these are ''gods''! Then I recalled the first words I heard again. The First Great Cmity¡ª ''Light'' and ''Darkness'' met, and they ''colided''. An explosion, one akin to birth, or fall, of a new star ruptured the piece of the world that filled my vision. I watched the two abstract ''symbols'' colided and copse on each other. Pulses and waves of power exploded forth, and as they intertwined more deeply within each other, they spread a dark, yet radiant halo through the void. An incinerating point of heat met my skin and peeled it off but by bit. Arraghhh!!! The wave was undting, it was relentless. It burnt the very surface of my existence, and yet I still couldn''t take my wide eyes off the otherworldly scene before me. That was because I was watching ''stars'' weave, and ''gxies'' spin into existence. The ''World'' was birthed at the very spot the ''Light,'' and ''Darkness'' colided, and my existence was burnt, erased into nothingess. The very pain turned my whole mind white, as every second I spent feeling the waves of the explosion bite away at my body felt like a torturous eternity. Goddammit! I somehow cursed with gritted teeth. What was up with Meta and making unnecessarily realistic visions anyway?! I''d seriously die if this continues one day! Fortunately that day wasn''t today. As my world burned, my vision shifted and the scene presented to me changed. Then a few words reverberated from deep inside my soul again. The ''Second Great Cmity ''. Once more, everything shook. Not this again... Then I sharply plummeted through a boiling red sky. The scene changed so fast and so abruptly that the background raced by quickly before me. Thunder rumbled, and lightning streaked next to me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw dark silhouettes highlighted by the passing lightning. There were 14 shadowy figures sitting around a long table. But it quickly disappeared, leaving the entire moment like an illusion my mind conjured from mixing the light. I felt the bias of the immense wind pressure as my meager body tore through a crimson red sky and cloud and plummeted straight into the earth below in a shattering crash. -BOOM! I shattered into the ground and my bones and body exploded. I stumbled and rolled, the insane momentum I had gained from my sudden descent sped me across the shattered ground, and my body exploded and crashed into the distant buildings and structure like a bouncing ball. All of the impacts and collision slowly helped to reduce my momentum, and I inadvertently stooped moving against the ground. The first thing I did was gasp sharply, but I quick regretted that. ''H-huh? My lungs..are crushed.'' I also couldn''t move a single muscle. All of my bones had been crushed and exploded. My limbs were twisted, and a portion of my chest had caved in from the side. My vision was dyed with the red of my blood and I felt my windpipe and lungs clot and full with blood. My ears were filled with incessant distant ringing, and my world was increasingly bing more darker and darker Am...I dying? Everything became quiet: the ringing in my ear, the slowing of my heartbeat, and even the wheezing sounds of me attempting to draw breath through my crushed windpipe and lungs. D-dammit..I thought weakly, I don''t...even... know what''s... happening.. It was increasingly getting harder to hold coherent thoughts. I couldn''t feel anything but the pain of my broken and shattered body. But just then, from the corner of the eyes of my dimming world, I saw a ck and distant figure streak through the blood red sky. They weren''t just one, but many. It was an entire army that flooded the red skies. A group of them circled above me like vultures awaiting the final breath of their prey. They were still far, but at the same time close enough for me to study their features. The figure were strange and twisted creatures. They had pitch ck and ugly skin, and were humanoid in nature. They were crowned with horns, stood taller than man with two ck andrge membranous wings sprouting from their backs. As they circled above me slowly, they had a thin tail that wagged through the sky. ''Demons.'' I recognized. These guys were demons. Blood red eyes, pitch ck skin, a crown of horns and a pair of jet ck wings. The terrifying creature crackled and chuckled ominously like hyenas circling their prey. I was the target of their urges, but yet, strangely I couldn''t be bothered. Maybe it was because I was already dying. As soon as I thought that, a portion of the red sky was flooded in a great white wave of brilliant light that illuminated the world. As the brilliant rays of the brightest light enveloped my existence, I watched as the ck and ominous figures of the demons scream and wraith as they vanished into nothingness inside of this light. To me, the light was like the final sh of my life. I let it wash across me and slowly closed my burning eyes in death''s eternal embrace. It hurts.. everything hurts...but...at least it''ll be over now... I had already given up on trying to make sense of anything that was happening. I was done, I just wanted to be over with all of this pain. How many times have I died now just in this life? Was this fair? A vision or an illusion, wasn''t it to cruel to make it this realistic? Why did I have to suffer along with my body and mind during events that most presumably happened in the past, or would happen in the future? I just wanted to live in peace, was it too much to ask for?! It was regrettable, but at least it was over. But s, the vision went on. As the light swept by, a new scene presented itself before me once again. "Huh?" This time around, I wasn''t in the depth of space, or plummeting like an asteroid through the sky. Instead I wasying on the bare ground. "I don''t want to get up..." For justifiable reasons, I didn''t want to see what this part of the vision held for me. ''I''ll just die again.'' I gave a tired sigh. I wasnguid. My mind was depressed, and my body just wanted to sleep. ''But it won''t end if I don''t see it through.'' I thought fleetingly. And so I forced myself up. Since the vision changed again, my body wasn''t crushed and broken like before, but my mind still clearly remembered the scars. I gritted my teeth and rose to my feet. The sky was still red here, and my surroundingsy in utter andplete chaos. Boiling mass of asteroids broke through crimson skied, leaving dark ck fuming trails. I felt the ground underneath my shaky feet rock as one of the asteroids met the earth kilometres again. Next moment, there was an immediate wind pressure that was like a tsunami, quickly apanied by the radiating heat that spread from the point of impact far away. I didn''t struggle nor pose any opposition against the force. Feeling only nothing but hate and contempt in my heart at myself for my own weakness, I gritted my teeth and be swept up by everything. My skin burned, and my bones crushed again. I streaked through the air like a broken rag doll and tumbled into copsed structures before meeting the ground. -drip drip! I raised my head as red beads if blood trickled down my forehead. My vision was hazy and my left leg was crushed, but I still forced myself up. I felt lifeless...hate, anger, pain, and fear, all of the emotions creates such an empty vacuum inside of me. But I was still going to see it through. After all. The vision still wasn''t over. Chapter 45 A Saga of Heroes [2] The hateful vision still wasn''t over. The world around me continued to copse as the ground continued to quake from the shockwaves. Different from thest vision I just had, this one was more simr to the first time i had Meta show me a ''glimpse'' of the future. That meant... ''I''m back in the future again...'' I rose to my one barely good feet and used the support of the walls around me to shuffle forward. Surrounding me was a scene ripped right out of the page of an apocalyptic novel. There was not a single living soul but myself in sight. Even the sky was copsing, as chunk sof asteroids were raining from above. I could feel the vast tremors of battle with my perception, but it was at a scale I couldn''t fathom. So instead of heading towards it, I went further and further away from the battle. Then a scene presented itself before me. It was a mountain of corpses. A grotesque edifice reaching as high as the skies like a spire of the dead. The corpses were those of humans, who''sst moments had left their final expressions in ghastly horrors. My emotions were numb from over sensitivity and stimuli, I nced at the mound of the dead without a single ripple in my heart and raised my gaze to the top. There was a throne of ck bones. One with a tall and expansive back crowned with the ck obsidian skulls. It wasrge, as if made for a giant, and exuded such an immense pressure that made my one good knee feel weak. It reminded me of the throne from the Lace dungeon... But it was empty. -Cracka! A powerful bolt of thunder rumbled, and a splendid fissure ran through the red sky, tearing it open, and elongating into a myriad of cracks. I raised my head in reaction to the sudden sound, and just as I did, I saw from the corner of my eyes, a distant spec of bright light moving splendidly through the sky at a terrifying speed. Isn''t that...? I recognized the light. As it entered the air space above my head, it became bolder, more brighter, more clearer. Embraced in the shimmering light like a blinding shroud, there was the vague figure of a person inside of it. It was the person from my very first vision years ago with Meta. The person in the light! -BOOM! As Thier figure streaked, the world of Aethoria rumbled and shook. The figure of light powerfully crashed into the ground, only mere distance away from where I was. I instantly felt the shockwave rock through my body as more of my organs ruptured, and I was thrown backwards. It hurt but I didn''t cry out. I was growing used to the pain. I coughed out a thick puddle of blood, and just as quietly, I raised my body up to stare ahead of me. But. I couldn''t. ''I can''t raise my head.'' I realised in horror. In the moment I had been flung away, a second and different figure had vaguely appeared above. I couldn''t see them, no..I didn''t see them. But I felt it. Deep within the marrows of my bone, I felt the despicable presence that made my very core shook. I was resolved to see the vision through, but the presence made me freeze on the very spot. Sweat began beading in droves down my face and down my back, mixing in with the blood on my body. I didn''t dare raise my head to stare upward. Knowing my ce, I remained my gaze forward, feverishly, hauntingly. My heart raced and pounded painfully in my chest like never before. I felt my finger tremble, and my arms quaked underneath me. ''He''s here!'' Internally I screamed. ''The owner of the throne is here!'' The one who would sit in the throne of ck bones was here, instinctively I knew it, and I hadn''t even seen them yet! Ahead of me, the rubbles shook and a figure stepped into my vision. Like a contrasting wave, this person spread a warm and resplendent radiance that challenged the dark twisted and oppressive feeling and aura that permeated the surrounding from above. It was the figure in light. But as they approached in my vision, the trembling in my body substantially ceased, but my heart raced for apletely different reason. They were stunning. The person matched forward, burning in resplendent pale white and ghostly mes. The mes looked so fickle and ethereal, like it was impossible. And the closer they came for me to see, it was like the me was what made a human figure, and not a human figure shrouded in mes instead. The person was the radiance itself, with two wide and expansive burning wings spreading apart behind them. In this dark and broken world, they were like an ever burning star, who''s light would never cease for eternity. The figure made of pale white burning mes was tall, in one of their hands was a exquisite de that looked as illusionary and blinding as the mes. I couldn''t see their features. In the end the radiance was too blinding for my Mortal eyes to gaze directly at. It was almost like gazing straight at the sun, the beauty of their radiance was burned and etched deeply into my mind and eyes. Their presence dissipated the darkness... But it wasn''t enough to make me forget about ''the one'' above. I still couldn''t move to look up. I knew my ce and lowered my head to the ground. I was but a pebble. "Why do you fight, Brave Hero?" I heard a deep and heavy voice, one that rocked my organs and core, from above sweep through the surrounding. It was speaking. The one above was speaking! It made my head buzz and dizzy, but my ears still perked . Did he...say Hero? "You should give up. it is already over, you have lost this war. This, it''s inhabitants, all of it, it''s all dead! Do you not get it?! Do you not see? I won!" A powerful wave of pressure billowed from above and ruptured the ground.N?v(el)B\\jnn The voice of the one above was filled with twisted anger, impatience and power. His voice alone brought down the sky and shook the world of Aethoria. But his words made my very heart race. ''What is he talking about? Dead? The whole world is dead?'' That couldn''t be..the entire notion was inconceivable on its own. I didn''t want to believe it, I couldn''t believe it. Was this the Cmity? Suddenly I felt the temperature rise substantially. A qualitative change happened in the atmosphere as a blinding halo of brilliant light surge and spread through the surrounding. The one in the mes..the Hero was furious. A spiralling tower of illusionary fire tore through the sky as an expansion of heat spread throughout the battlefield. I felt my skin sizzle and my hair burn. instinctively I shut my eyes, but still felt them slowly sting and burn from inside. The Hero was clearly taunted by the words of the one above; they surged their bloodlust and hate unraveling through the surrounding. This further went to solidify in my heart that maybe the world truly was dead... Then the Hero bellowed in wrathful voice that was like an exploding sun. "#!@&!! As long as my mes still burn, I will kill you!!" Each word were spat out deeply, and resonated heavily with the world. For some reason I couldn''tprehend the first word of the statement, but that matter easily went over my head as the next second the one above chuckled. Hisughter was deep, dark and ominous. I felt the air vibrate as it went on. Confused, the Hero suddenly went quiet. The one above continued. "As long as your radiance burns? There''s only darkness to be found here!" The one above equally erupted with their aura and power. As the two powers shed, I felt my existence slowly shave off. It got me asking myself, what I was doing here at such a ce. At that moment, I raised my head and saw the battle that was to take ce. Blinding weapons of light weaved into existence around the Hero, hovering in the skies above, like distant stars. Just like before, their sizes were humongous. All the various weapons were barred and pointed upward to the sky. I still didn''t have it in me to look, but they''re was only ever one possible target. The one above made their intention to finish this clear. A bundle wave of bloodlust and twisted energy surged forth into the damaged world. I felt the air trembling, and the ground tear open just from the pressure of the impeding sh. Shit! I have to get out of here! I had to get out, if I remained in the are of impact between these two monsters, I really might die for real! But my body wouldn''t move. The pressure between the two was oppressive enough to suppress all of my wills. Indeed, I truly was just a pebble. As the pressure only continued to mount, the seconds drew forward quickly and I felt a transient weight slowly crush my being. But before the first blows could be traded, something suddenly happened. -Cracka! I heard the familiar sound of cracking lightning and somehow managed to raise my head. Then I remembered... The fissure in the sky from before. It had grown and expanded. The atmosphere froze. Immediately, the bloodlust and tension ceased. I noticed the hero had turned their attention to the irregrity in the sky, and the one above had probably done so too. Then I heard one of their voices utter deeply. "He''s here." ''What? Who is?" As I thought that, I heard the sound of shattering ss from above. Once again I raised my head up towards the sky and stared. It was far far away, but a portion of the fractured sky shattered open like ss. The ss like peices fluttered and fell, but vanished part way. Behind the massive and spreading fissure, was a boundless ck and dark world, with distant spinning stars and twisting gxies.. From the new fissure that appeared over it, a figure draped in the ck of the universe, as if dressed by the deepest cosmos descended calmly through it. A third figure.. another powerhouse! They stood aloofly in the sky above the Hero and the other one, staring down indifferently. or at least I assumed he stared. I couldn''t clearly see their feature, as they were shrouded by undting and shifting darkness. And even when I struggle to focus on their face, something ck and iffy masked it. But that was far as it went. His face was obscured, but his swept back white hair fluttered around lightly. Compared to the Hero and the one above, the third figure didn''t exchange any word. He simply raised his hand...and then the sky fell. Chapter 46 A Saga of Heroes [3] ... [...] [Skill, {Immersion} has ended.] ... "Hueak-!!" I drew a deep gasp as my eyes sprang open and my senses returned. My heart was racing and pounding heavily inside my chest and I was drenched in sweat, with beads trickling down my face into a small puddle by my feet. I couldn''t stop my fingers from trembling, and my eyes kept darting all around for a full minute. I felt hot and cold, numb l and feverish. My entire senses were erratic and all over the ce. I couldn''t breath, I was in panic. Calm down...calm down. I persistently told myself. -Thump thump -Thump thump! My heart kept pounding erratically as my chest heaved and pumped heavily. "Haaa..M..meta!" I called out hoarsely, with battered breaths. The next second my head vibrated slightly from the fluctuation of Meta''s voice. [You are currently experiencing a panic attack from over excessive stimuli to your senses. Perhaps the vision this time may have been too much for your mind to take in all at once.] Meta said coldly. ''No, shit, you stupid System! You think?!'' since I couldn''t speak from my short breath, I instead rebuked Meta internally with my mind. I was in a sudden panic because I wasn''t sure what was suddenly wrong with me when the skill ended. But now that Meta has identified it...if it''s only a panic attack then... "Fuuuu..." I closed my eyes and drew in deep breaths. I didn''t try to fight against or oppose the sudden constriction I felt. That would only make it worse, instead I forcefully regainedposure of my mind before controlling my breathing. It took a while, but in a few minutes, I was more or less okay. I was still a little short of breath with cold sweat covering my face and back, but I was more clear-headed than before. I justid on the cold pavement of the tiles underneath me, staring emptily at the high and tall ceilings which I still couldn''t see. Various thoughts raced through my head all at once, and slowly my eyes fluttered gently. "...I understand." Amazingly enough, everything began to make sense. All of the details and information began to piece together, forming a coherent thoughts and idea for me. Was this the effect of the Skill as well? Or was it because I raised my sequence? I didn''t know. But regardless, the vision, all of what i saw became clear as I just stared up emptily. And as soon as it all sank in, I felt my heart skip a beat. The next moment I jolted up from the tiles with my eyes trembling. "It''s clear! It all makes sense now!" The vision I saw, all three of them became obvious with their meanings. The World of Aethoria had a history of three time periods, or Era, which led way to the subsequent era''s and periods. The Era of Genesis, otherwise known as the First Era. Era of beginning, and the literal birth of the world. I recalled the first part of the vision when I was suspended in the empty vacuum of space. I remembered the ck undting blot of darkness, and the blinding radiance of an otherworldly sun. ''In the beginning, there was nothing. Primordial Chaos..'' But from the Chaos birthed the First Primordial God''s who battled, and from their flesh, blood, and essence, Aethoria was born. The War of Genesis, The First Great Cmity. The Skill made me piece together the meaning of the visions. ''The Second Era..'' The Era of God''s and Demons! As it struck me I quickly got to my feet and paced for the ck obsidian wall with strange and unfamiliar characters. The Second Era, the Second Great Cmity was a cosmic war against the descendents of the First God, and the First Generation Demons. But this Era was the very benchmark for everything else that was to follow. It was also during this Era, towards the end of it that Aether was discovered by man. At that time Aethoria was at peace, ignorany of the cosmic horroes and wars. But until one day, ''invaders'' from other worlds attacked. They were demons...but there were also other races. Elves, Dwarves, Beast race... although I already knew of the existence of other races in this world. In the end, it was the demon race who sought to ughter and plunder. The second generation gods were on the side of the World, but the demon race were confident for a good reason. As my eyes sought through the numerous characters on the wall, my gaze finally set on one particr carving. It was a couple of symbols. At this point, I knew that all the characters present tranted to anothernguage. A much older and distant one than I couldn''t fathom. That was until I used the Skill, however. The single character read In bold ck. ''Demon King.'' "Haha..this is crazy..." Iughed dryly, without a single trace of amusement. All of a sudden I felt tired and exhausted. I walked backwards away from the wall and fell to the ground in my butt. There I cupped my face in my hands and took in a deep breath, before sighing deeply. "Can''t I just get a break?" Wasn''t my whole life just unfair? The Demon king...what does that have to do with me? Well at least I''ve confirmed the ''one above '' from thest part of the vision was the Demon King...or something of equal proportion. Ah, yes. Thest part of the vision. The Third Great Cmity. ... Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] ... That was what the system quest was pointing at. The Third Great Cmity has yet to descend... Unlike the first parts of the visions, thest part truly was like a revtion of the future. After calming my emotions a little, I raised my head and stared at the walls and murals. Just as I had thought they describe a story about the previous gone Era''s. Strangely, I could more or less understand the unfamiliar characters. I couldn''t explicitly read them, but it was more like an intuition at the back of my head concerning what some of them possibly meant. Is this the influence of the skill as well? Or was this because I finally raised my authorization level and sequence, whatever the hell that really meant? Regardless, once again, I confirmed the System hid deep secrets. One''s that had my fate dancing in the palm of of its hand. Am I suppose to face the Demon King then? I thought as I slowly curled myself into a ball. I was truly beginning to feel depressed at this rate. I thought I could salvage whatever was thrown at me, but in the end it''s just like how it was on Earth. I never had a choice but to bend the knee to the power above, much greater than the one I possesed. ''It was supposed to be different this time around too.'' While I brooded in ce, a familiar figure bounced into the corner of my eyesight. I turned slightly to see the blob like figure of Hamlet the slime, my newest and most hatefulpanion. Humph, I almost forgot about this hateful bastard. I sneered. I could feel Harmlet''s intentions. The silver demon slime slowly slid its way to me and bounced up to my right shoulder before taking its ce there. "What? Who''s brooding? The fuck fo you mean I''m being sad? Wanna die for real this time?" This bastard slime really knows how to push my buttons. But Hamlet was right. Brooding won''t change anything. There was still time, and a part of the vision still wasn''t that clear to me. Like the Second Era, the War of god''s and demons. Back then, the Demon king failed to descend, and somehow, the war was resolved. Aethoria changed as well. Humans possessing the power of Aether started popping up around the world towards the end of the Era. These unique people willtere to be known as the Awakened. The Heroes. The War of God''s and Demons saw its end, and a new age usehered in. The third and current Era. The Era of Heroes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om I recalled the final part of my vision, the being dressed in resplendent mes they burned even darkness and void... The Demon King had called them ''Hero'' as well. But he was the only one left alive in the world. The first and second part of the vision were mostly short symbolic glimpse without clear context, but thest part of the vision was truly like a moment cut out of time and reid before my eyes. It wasn''t symbolic or implied to mean something else. It was literal. The conversation, the participants, all of it was the actual reality. That meant...there really ''is'' a Hero somewhere. Not just the general poption of the Awakened. No, but one amongst the many to hold the fate of the world. The one to defeat the Demon King. Thankfully, that wasn''t me. I nced at the system screen with the quest notification still open. The system was very explicit with its choice of words. The third cmity ising....get stronger and survive. Not, defeat the Demon king and im the mantle of the Hero. This meant there was something much more. I see no reason for me to be awarded the system with this particr quest when nobody else seems to be aware Was the Demon King descent really the only thing to be worried about? What the hell am I saying? The world was dead when the Demon King arrived, what could possibly be wor¡ª My thoughts froze and I shivered. ''No, it can''t be...'' I recalled the very first Vision I had all those years ago. Th..the Demon King wasn''t in it. The Hero...and the man in darkness was. Chapter 47 Rewards... "The man draped by the cosmos"... that''s what I called him. That was because both the times I saw him, he was shrouded in a flowing cloak of darkness that seemed like it was made from the fabric of space and reality. It was deep and dark, with the twinkle of distant stars and the twirl of gxies. This time I saw him much clearer, and made me reaffirm the fitting name. But I still couldn''t see his face. It was like...it was covered by a fine ck me like haze. The only other thing that stood out about him was his swept back fine white hair that fluttered behind his hazy mask. ''Is that the real threat...the real Cmity is centered around that person?'' I deeply pondered this question with Meta, but I received no response. Just then, the red system interface flickered before me. ... [Rewards are ready, please approach the Throne.] ... "Ah, I almost forgot about that." That shitty vision upied my mind. Despite the fact that it seems I know a bit more now everything else is just more covered in multiple questions marks, even more than before. I have a lot to think about...I made a mental note and sighed. I dismissed the screen, and just when I was about to turn around for the Throne, something caught my attention from the wall, and I froze. "What''s this?" A little different from the strange characters on the murals and walls, this one was like a crude drawing. It was small, and the way it was carved made it easily blend in together with the other unfamiliar characters, making it almost hard to notice until now. As for what it was or represented....I actually wasn''t sure. There wasn''t a piece of information in my head about that from the vision. The carving was off a long table, with what I presumed to be fourteen people sitting around it? And as I recognized this, I froze. Where have I seen this before... strangely this carving seemed familiar to me. "A long table... fourteen indistinct figures..." At that moment I recalled a scene from the vision. "When I was falling from sky..." Yes, I remember. It was for a fleeting moment, a very small one, but I remember seeing simr shadows like this at that one point. Was this another hint? I raised my head and nced at the image once more, and thought back to my conjectures about the Vision. For the most part it was mostly symbolic. Each scene I saw represented a moment in the past or future. They weren''t literal for one reason or the other. Then what could fourteen shadows around a long table in the sky mean? As my thoughts raced, I noticed there was a smaller engraving around the image. I focused on it, and just like the other times, I instinctively understood what it meant. "Sky...no, not that. Sky rulers? No, not exactly either..." Despite all that, I was finding it hard to trante it literally. It seems to be abination of two Ideas, like clouds or sky, and authority or something. Wait. Sky, clouds...Heaven... Authority, rulers...kings? "14 Heavenly Kings?" I was uncertain. It seemed to make sense, but there was still all sorts of other literal meaning to it. The name of representation was just too vague. 14 Heavenly Kings was the closest to what I could understand. I''ll ask Metater. That skill seems to be more than what I imagined...I stared at the carving a little longer and withdrew my gaze. I turned my head to look at the throne. While I wasn''t paying attention, three glowing light orbs had appeared just before it. Are those my rewards? I decided to push the matter of the vision and the murals temporarily to the back of my mind till I got out of the dungeon. "Sigh...at least there''s one good thing that came out of all this?" At the very least, I was leaving with rewards for all of my hardwork and suffering. Earlier the system seemed like it was evaluating my performance like some sort of test... indeed, just as I thought, maybe the dungeon really was designed for a special particr propose. And a particr power scale. ''Does that mean the type of my reward will be determined by my ''grade''? Shit, aside from the times I was getting killed and hunting, I mostly just fucked around under the Aurora tree...'' Ah, I was never good at tests and results...N?v(el)B\\jnn With a now heavy heart, I dragged my feet across the chamber and finally stood before the glowing light orbs that was in the way of the throne. "What do I do now?" Meta responded. [Stretch out your hands for the orbs.] I nodded, and did as I was told. I reached into the first orb an¡ª ... [Congrattions, first Reward has been received.] ... The familiar red dungeon screen shed before my eyes. In the next moment, the light orb vanished, leaving my outstretched arm suspended emptily in mid air. I had a dumbfounded expression as I stared. "Huh?" But as the orb disappeared, there was something different. On my left ring finger, I had a golden bronze looking ring suddenly on it. I retracted my arm almost immediately. "What the...is this the reward?" A bronze ring? "What? I can''t take it off..." I tried pulling and pulling at the ring, but no matter how hard I did, it wouldn''t budge a single time. I frowned and restrained my panic before activating my Appraisal skill. .. [Name: Ring of Solomon Type: Cursed Artifact Rank: Mythic ss: Emperor Tier: 6 Description: This Ring was used throughout the days of a wise and powerful king and has registered and manifested in ''his'' glory.] ... "Solomon''s Ring...holy fuck it''s an Artifact!" I eximed. There was a stark difference between an Artifact, and an Item. I didn''t know much, but I knew enough about the value a single Artifact possessed against a couple number of Items. And it''s a Mythic ranked one too... just like Items, Artifacts, followed the same ranking. But they had more broader prospects, as Artifacts not only had sses, but even Tiers ranging from One to six ordingly. Receiving an Artifact unexpectedly like this was a huge gain. Enough so I couldn''t stop staring with wide eyes. I forcefully pried my gaze off the dull bronze golden ring and continued to read the description of the enchantment. ... [>Enchantments<] [{Hoarder}: The Ring possesses the ability to store the Mana/Aura of the user inrge quantities, and can be used at anytime. Note, the Ring of Solomon possesses a certain degree of individuality and may manifest as limitless hunger. Once Aether or Energy of any form is detected, it will proceed to ''devour'' and ''hoard'' till it''s fill.] ... What a weird description... As soon as I thought that, I felt a sharp pain from deep inside me as it felt like arge portion of my already limited energy was instantly depleted at once. "Uggh!" With a muffled groan I forcefully fell to one of my knee whil gasping for breath. At the same time, the bronze Ring was emitting a twisted and diabolical dark radiance as I felt whatever meager amount of Aura I had in me converge towards it and vanished. "Hoarder...got it." With a painful groan, I cursed the damned ring. Wasn''t this supposed to be an enchantment?! The Ring devoured my Aura like a mad and ravenous beast that hadn''t eaten in years and my consciousness slowly grew faint. "Fuck..." I managed to mutter out a curse as the bronze ring increasingly felt colder against my skin. And in a moment, it stopped. The rate at which my Aura was devoured significantly reduce, maybe it was because there wasn''t much to devour anyway. Or the Ring had just had it''s ''fill'', but I felt that was highly unlikely. After all, I could still feel it absorb slight amount and traces of my Aura continuously. Although it wasn''t to the the same extent as earlier, but it still left me feeling light headed and vain. It was like I had lost a lot of blood without bleeding. I supressed a curse and painfully raised my head to read the next details. ... [{Crown''s Veil}: The wearer is shrouded in a fog of mystery. As long as this ring is worn, the wearer can choose to reveal or hide any aspect of their existence from the world. Note: The ring suppresses and releases a portion of the wearer''s existences to a degree depending on the wearer''s discretion.] ''A disguise effect... wasn''t this what I''ve been looking for?!'' The Crown''s Veil enchantment, from its description allowed me to hide a portion of my true identity and power by masking it in a ''fog''. Just as I thought that, I heard Meta''s words resonate inside my head. [Affirmative. The expression ''Fog'' in this context is figurative. This implies your existence will be a haze and appear ''iffy'' to most outside. This truly goes in line with your desire to procure an Item or Skill to hide your true power during your future advancements. Now with this, you can appear as unassuming and mundane, with the only difference being, external parties would find it difficult to properly gauge you.] A fog was a haze, and whatever hidden within was unclear. Meta''s words implied meanings simr to what I thought. The expression ''Fog'' was a suitable figure of speech that implied hiding my true presence behind a hazy veil. And at the same time, if I so desired, I could lift that veil or thicken it to whoever I want. With this, I could continue to grow stronger without garnering unwanted attention. With this, I could more or less live peacefully! * * * * [A/N]: you can now visit the Auxiliary chapter to exin the power scaling of items, ranks, and artifacts. Chapter 48 7777 Years Enchantments in Artifacts were like Skills in individuals or Items. They represented the special advantages an Artifact bestowed upon its users, and depending mostly on its Rank, ss or Tier, an Artifact could possess more than one or two Enchantments of various measures. But at the same time, they could also possess just one. In the end, it was all entirely based on luck. And it seems I struck out this time... The Ring of Solomon Artifact possessed not one or two Enchantments, but four of them. As if the Crown''s Veil enchantment wasn''t good enough already, there was also an Enchantment with effects that simrly counterbnced the aforementioned. ... [{Ruler''s Authority}: Magnify your presence and authority with a single gaze. As a king, all subjects shall bow. Note: this induces a psychological paralysis on its victims, but effects may wane and vary depending on the mental fortitude of the victim and repeated exposure.] ... As if the Crown''s Veil enchantment wasn''t good enough already, there was also ast and final Enchantment disyed on the list! ... [{Solomon''s Court}...] ... The Enchantment read in bold and the descriptions followed. ... [{Solomon''s Court}: This Ring possesses the mark of The King''s Authority, and servants shall beckon at your call. Note: the enchantment summons a servant. Certain restrictions, risks, and usibilities may apply to this enchantment. The ''Servant'' summoned may be a Demon of a much higher level rank than the user, and this can lead to the Summon attacking the user if they deem them unworthy and weak. Consequently, the user is also liable to add a member or members, to your Court or Family based on the user''s power level... Number of current Slots avable: 0/2] ... The second Enchantment was some sort of intimidation skill, while thest and final one was like some summoning skill. ''But what''s this about a Demon... My thoughts were drawn to this particr aspect. The descriptions this time had a lot more details and exnation, and some part were particrly disturbing and worrying, and there were three particr aspects to deliberate on. The Solomon''s Court enchantment allowed me to summon a ''servant'' from my ''court'' to my side at any time I wished, but the servant summoned could be a Demon, and even worse, one that was very high level and higher ranked than I am. At the same time, I could also add a member to my Court... This doesn''t make sense...I mumbled inwardly as I peered down at the ring. It was still sucking and absorbing bits of my Aura little by little, leaving me constant drained. ''It says I can summon a member from my Court, but I don''t have anything like that.'' Wasn''t a Court like one of those things made up of a close group of people or aide gathered together to help or serve a king or an emperor? I more or less was familiar with this system from earth because even if it seems like it had been long abolished, it more or less still existed in nearly every corner of the present day Earth. It didn''t take too long until I received a response form Meta. [Affirmative. The keyword once again here is in the name of the Enchantment.] It was curt and sinct as always, but Meta''s response was the right push I needed to understand the direction the Ring was proposing. The keyword is in the name of the Enchantment... Solomon''s Court. That was it. The Court I can summon from isn''t from mine, but from King Solomon, the initial owner of the bronze ring. Taking a second look, it also kind of said so in the description. ''...the ring possess the mark of the King''s Authority.'' although this could be defined as a few other meanings. "No, but this just brings in more question. Why does King Solomon have a Court of Demons?" Unless...he was a Demon himself? My eyes sharpened. ''That''s possible.'' as soon as I concluded this, i looked at the Throne sitting Infront of me, and at the grand grandeur of the golden Throne room. Lace''s Dungeon. The Demon Lord of Entropy. What was a seemingly ''ordinary'' Artifact like this doing in such a ce? But why does it say Solomon''s Ring, and not Lace''s Ring. Or even Lace''s Dungeon instead of Solomon''s Dungeon? ''How are the two rted? Could Lace be Solomon? Or was Solomon Lace, or some kind of rtive or something? "This is getting troublesome." I knew I''d eventually get tangled up with the Demon race eventually after that vision, but this was just too soon. I restrained a sigh for the moment and continued with the descriptions. This was the part I wouldn''t enjoy. ... [>FLAW<] [{7777 Years of Unluck} Description: You shall never know peace, unluck follows you like a shadow. Note: This Ring can not be taken off once put on.] ... Another difference between Artifacts and regr items aside from the stark difference between power and abilities...is the presence of a w. But... "What the fuck is this?!" ws were probably an aspect to bnce out the power scaling between Artifacts. They were like the drawbacks, risks, or requirements of the Artifact in question. And these ws could be anything, depending on the Artifact. I still didn''t know much about Artifacts or Items, or aspects concerning this topic, but I had never seen a shitty ass w like this before. 7777 years of unluck...this was basically cursing me. Worse yet, I can''t pull the ring off!! The first thing that came to my mind when seeing this w is... "I don''t want it! Take it back! I''m already miserable as I am now, no!!" I pulled at the ring on my finger desperately, but the damned thing refused to budge. Then I did the next only thing I could do. "Meta!!!!! Help!!!" I whined. In response, a system window red before my eyes. ... [Warning! Warning! External interference has been detected. You have been cursed. Luck stats have been debuffed.] __ __ [Luck: (-7777) ] ... I really have been cursed!! Then Meta said. [Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done in a case like this. The ws of Artifacts are mostly absolute and follow an order of authority. They are designed to keep in bnce the power''s offered by the Artifact in questio¡ª] "Bullshit! What is fair about this?!" But after trying to pull it off a couple of more times, even I was slowly beginning to bepelled by Meta''s exnation. Yes. I was screwed. I started at the sted ring in my hand and had a dark thought. "... It''s just one finger." [...Your kidding.] But I wasn''t... My life was already shitty...my luck was probably already the worse. If I had something like this, I''d definitely die the next time I tripped over! I chuckled sinisterly. "I''ll cut it o¡ª"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om [Even if you did that, the ws of Artifacts are absolute.] Meta suddenly said, and continued. [There''s most likely a reason the Ring can''t be taken off, and with this thought process, there''s most likely a mechanism set in ce in case the wearer decides to test it.] "You''re saying something could happen to me if I try to continue to force the ring off?" [...] It''s official, I hate this world. I had to suffer a shitty w, and be under threat of something much worse happening to me even after taking my finger because of the same damned w. [Affirmative.] Meta responded curtly, but her words were deep enough to leave me with doubts. Again, my experience in this topic was vastly limited, and the only thing I had to lead me on was Meta. The system has also proven in numerous, and in its own twisted and sick ways how much it wanted me to live, and even now, Meta was stopping me from cutting my finger, despite it being an almost insignificant injury. After all, I was sure there were measures for me to heal a chopped off finger in this world. So for Meta who has seen me suffer far more detestable and bloody damages to stop me from cutting off a single finger meant that the consequences could be severe enough to actually and utterly kill me. Staring down at the Ring of Solomon with disdain, I had a thought... Artifacts are scary as fuck... [But there might be a way.] Meta suddenly injected and I felt a small spec of hope. "Ooh, Meta, you Deux ex machina, you may be shitty, but you always pull through when it counts!" As expected of a System that was supposed to be my cheat in this twisted and broken world. Meta ignored myment and continued coldly. [Only another authority can challenge an authority.] I was quick to pick up one what get words meant. "An Artifact can negate the effects of another Artifact!" That made sense. So there really was still a chance I could get rid of this damed w. [Affirmative. And perhaps maybe the answer may lie in the next reward.] Meta concluded and went silent. The next reward... I shifted my gaze. There were still two more glowing orbs of light floating before my eyes. Aside from the w, the Ring of Solomon had its own immense advantages, and this was just one of three rewards I was allowed to return with. ''I wonder what the other two are...'' maybe one of them held the answer to resolving the w of the ring somewhat. With that expectant thought, I didn''t hesitate to stretch my hand unti the second orb. Just like before, the light vanished and dissipated, and what appeared in my hands this time...was a ck obsidian mask. Chapter 49 Mumurs Mask What appeared in my hand was a ck mask made out finely carved dark ebony wood. It was a rather terrifying and fiendish mask to look at actually. Its features were like that of a horned demon writhing in mes or things you''d see right out of your nightmares. But at the same time, I couldn''t help be marvel at the level of craftsmanship. It was a terrifying mask, but was very life like. Disturbingly so. The craftsmanship was particrly splendid with the details. Every curve and denture was perfectly in ce. And the surfaces of the mask was lined with slight dark silver details that blended neatly to the demon in mes. That''s what I called it, demon in mes. "Am I supposed to wear this?" I felt like I''d have nightmares for days. Plus, what exactly am I supposed to do with a mask? With that question, the description appeared before my eyes once more. ... [Name: Murmur''s Mask Type: Artifact Rank: Mythic ss: King Tier: 5 Description: There once was a legendary traveler, an adventurer who sought out the wealth, secrets, and the truths of the world, and indeed he seeded. He heard a whisper...the loudest murmur about the truth of the hidden of the world, but unable to withstand it, he ran mad. The whispers plunged him to insanity, and towards the end of his insane life, he carved a certain mask, and inside of it, are the hidden forbid truths... left within are the whispers and murmurs. Note: the enigmatic mask is said to hold the whispers of a thousand secrets and allure.] ... "It''s another Artifact." Hey, wasn''t I supposed to be unlucky? To my pleasant surprise, the second reward was another Artifact, with the name Murmur''s Mask. The description was quite a lot more descriptive and detailed whenpared to the description of the Solomon''s Ring. But it also had its own fair share of disturbing information. ''Are all Artifacts like this?'' I said inwardly. [Artifacts are sort of mementoes or items or charms which have gained certain degrees of individuality, often influenced by the long span of time spent with their original owner''s or certain events. Every Artifact tells a story about a period long gone or forgotten. Or one toe.]N?v(el)B\\jnn ''So Artifacts are objects which have developed a sort of individuality after a long period, and due to certain events?'' That was more or less what I understood. That''s kind of disturbing.... I think I had heard about something very simr to this in some folklore back on earth. ''Every Artifact tells a story, about one long gone....or one toe.'' Deep. Disturbing. But deep. I dismissed the thoughts, went through the description one more time, then continued on to the Enchantment. There were just three Enchantments this time,, with one almost simr but theoretically different to an Enchantment of the Ring of Solomon. ... [>Enchantment<] [{Unyielding Secrecy}: Whoever dons Murmur''s Mask is enveloped in an imprable veil of secrecy. All attempts to pierce the silence - be they mundane, through magic, maniption, or even divine will - shall be met with an unyielding whisper. Note: the mask ensuresplete secrecy of the wearer, repelling all attempts to uncover the truth. This is with the exemption that the wearer isn''t already recognised as the one behind the mask before donning it.] [{Faceless Stranger}: You are a traveller with a thousand faces. Note: This enchantment allows the wearer to wear the Faces of strangers, with high level energy consumption, and apanying risk. As a stranger, you are never to appear more than once.] [{Whisperer}: The Murmur''s Mask weaves a web of truth and lies, and ushers desirable promises. As one who bears the curse of the truth, you possess the wonder of allure in your voice. Note: this is a hypnotic suggestion thatpells most others to your bidding, but often be warned, even you might fail do distinguish truth and lies.] Additional enhancements Charm: (+5) Aura: (+5) Intelligence: (+5) ... And to top it off, was a totally random seeming skill called Faceless Stranger. What was that? And the note at the end was just... Well I guess if a stranger appeared over again a few times, they wouldn''t be as much as a stranger as the first time they appeared? Was it something like that, or was there a much deeper meaning? Regardless of what it is, I''d have to find out. The Whisperer Enchantment was probably the most easiest to understand, and the most confusing? [The Enchantment seems to grant you a certain enthrallment to your voice, but also warns you against abusing it.] I stared at the ck fiendish and and mysterious mask. "So basically anti-divinity, allows me to change faces to a certain degree, and gives me a hypnotic voice.." It seemed like a rather simple Artifactpared to the Ring of Solomon. Somehow...I was slightly disappointed? But the Enchantments weren''t anything to scoff at either. Immediately, I began cooking up scenarios where these could be useful. Faceless Stranger coulde in handy the most, but the mask also warned about a risk that it wasn''t clear about. Heck, it even had a risk about the Whisperer Enchantment as well. After all this it would be totally unfair if I got a w. But life was a bitch. ... [>FLAW<] [{The Loudest Murmur}: Peer into the Abyss, and the Abyss peers back into you. While wearing this mask, the wearer shall be constantly beseeched by the corroding whispers and murmurs hidden within. Note: For each time this Mask is worn, the wearer looses a portion of their sanity and humanity, and plunges closer and closer to corruption the longer it is used. ... "Wh... what''s up with these fucked up ws?" I couldn''t stop my eyes from twitching. I looked at the fiendish ck mask with intricate ck silver details and grimaced. When I flipped it over, there was this strange and illusionary allure that attracted me to it. I could almost hear faint and indistinct whispers, pleasurable and yet dreadful. They spoke of promises, truth ..and desires. All of it... everything can be mine, if I just put on the mask- ... [External influence has been detected! Initiating defcon protocol sequence two!] [Ding! Skill {Immersion} level??? Has forcefully offset the mental influence.] ... My head slightly throbbed as I felt a faint hazy fog lift from my mind. I blinked my eyes, stared at the mask and uttered in a trembling breath. "Wh-what just happened?" This Mask was dangerous! Even just by staring at it, I was tempted to put it on. Immediately as I realized this, I looked away from the mask. I somehow managed to survive thanks to the system and that strange skill. "Sigh...I need to get out of this ce quickly to make sense of most of the things that has happened to me." I grumbled and shook my head before turning to thest orb. Next was the third reward finally. The third orb of light patiently floated before me, and just like the other times, I outstretched my had for it, and the glowing orb dissolved and dissipated into specs of light. Then an overflowing presence devoured through the environment and the atmosphere stiffened. -BOOM! I felt a transient and intangible pressure bore down on my shoulders and I immediately found it hard to breathe. I couldn''t move, but my knees wouldn''t stop shivering. Every blood cells inside of my body trembled uncontrobly as the intensity didn''t cease. ''Uggh...wh-what is this?'' In my hand was a long,rge bronze and silver spear that was emanating a truly oppressive aura throughout the Throne room. The silver and bronze colored spear felt incredibly heavy in my hand that it made me wonder just howe I was still holding it up. It was an exquisite weapon. One that stood way taller than me. Even for a spear, this one wasrge and domineering. I barely couldn''t find it in me too look up at its tip. As I held the spear my hands trembled and the oppressive aura forced me to grit my teeth. "L...like I''d bow to a spear!" Hoarder release! Ruler''s Authority! Instantly, like a geyser, my presence and Aura exploded forth from my body in two folds and shed against the oppressive aura of therge spear. -WHOOSH! -BOOM! It felt like the wind collided against each other down at the Throne chamber and the air reverberated slightly once more. I forcefully released the Aura the Ring of Solomon devoured and hoarded from me, and used the Ruler''s Authority enchantment to boost my presence. I didn''t manage to supress the overflowing aura of therge spear, but I was better able to stand my ground against it. At least now, I no longer had the instinctive urge to bow. And instead, welding my explosive presence magnified by the ring, I forecfully raised my head and looked straight up at the spear with a dark expression. ... [Name: Goliath Type: Weapon Artifact Rank: God-yer ??? ss: ??? Status: Iplete ??? Description: The God ying Spear Goliath, a devastating weapon used by no other than the King of Entropy himself! Feared by the heavens, dreaded by Demons, this spear has transcendended all realms and has never failed to pierce anything. s, this is but a replica. Note: this is an iplete Replica. All seals, skills, Enchantments and Status will be unlocked once all the fragments of Goliath have been obtained.] [Ding! You have obtained a Fragment of Goliath] [Fragments: 1/5] [>Enchantments< {Bond}: This spear can only be lifted and used by the one bonded with it. {Sky Break}: Even the skies shudder at the Goliath. Pierce the skies, and defile the earth, there is no target Goliath can''t ''reach'' {Thunder Coating}:You have unlocked the thunder elemental attribute of the spear which allows you to wrap the Goliath indefinitely in thunder and lightning.] [Note: gather more fragments to unlock more features.] ... What the fuck? Rank God yer. This was the first time I was seeing such bullshit! Chapter 50 Smile and Calamity After the Artifact description and summary, I was somehow able to withstand the pressure from Goliath which suddenly became more quieter. It was no longer releasing waves of oppression, but it still distributed a rather chaotic, and disorderly pressure into the vicinity. How the hell am I supposed to bring thisrge thing with me? With the way it was spewing out it''s aura, it was like walking around with a bell jingling down my neck for all to know. Just as I thought that, a specific portion of the Description window was highlighted, and more information was quickly recorded. ... [The Bond enchantment allows Goliath to reside in the soul of its owner, and will obey their call and summons at anytime.] [Ding! You have gained a Soul Artifact Weapon of a God-yer rank no less! You have gained experience points!] ... When did I start gaining Exp! The bronze spear dissolved into fragments of light and quickly disappeared into my body. And immediately, at the same time, I felt strangely full. What does the system mean by I have gained experience.... This was the first time I was seeing a message like this. In the first ce, Meta already admitted to not having Exp as one of her features. This was what made leveling up and Ranking up seriously a pain. Could this also have to do with the Sequence authorization too? I thought, and it made sense. New features would be avable once I got stronger and raised my authorization, Meta never missed a chance to say that to me. But a God ying spear, huh.... Now that the Goliath had vanished, calm once again returned to the Throne room. I finally had the chance for my thoughts to race, but all the same this wasn''t the right moment. It was safe to say, the third and final Reward I received was something beyond any of my expectations. No, actually, all of the rewards weren''t something I would have seening from a mile away. They were all high ranked Artifacts, and thest one was the most terrifying. In the end, the return I got from clearing the dungeon was immense. Aside from the ws, each artifact was immensely powerful and highly advantageous for me and my future prospects. "Sigh. I feel like so many things has happened today at once.'' ... [Congrattions! All rewards have been received. With this you have sefulpleted the Dungeon of Lace. Please step forward and take your ce on the Throne to exit.] ... The Dungeon''s red system screen popped up next to me and informed me of what to do. With the rampage of Goliath now settled, there was no longer any reason for me to keep the two Enchantments of the ring active. Immediately, I felt [Hoarder] quickly sap away my strength to make up for the energy I used up. And as for [Crown''s Veil], well....the immense amount of pressure I had exuding from my body ceased and instantly became thin but vague. I felt a significant portion of my low energy drop and vanish into the damned ring before taking a step forward for the tall throne. Finally it''s all over, I thought, managing a weak smile. I climbed the small stairs of the tform raising the Throne and slowly made my way up. Thest four weeks were like a horrible nightmare. I suffered quite a lot, and died a few times, but meh, nothing I couldn''t handle. Ah, but this was still only the beginning. In a way, this was kind of like a small break...a vacation from the more drastic matters that awaited me outside the walls of the Dungeon. I still had to figure out the Vision, and the new features of the System. I had to make preparations for the Demon King''s descent, and find out more about who the man dressed in ck is. There was also the very matter of this dungeon. Inheritance Dungeon of Lace of Entropy. What was something like this doing out here? And just how unlucky am I to stumble upon it. I nced at my left shoulder from the corner of my eyes. There was a silver blob of smile, my newestpanion. My familiar. I withdrew my gaze, and drew in deeper my thoughts. Could all of this be a coincidence? Lately, I was really beginning to doubt my reality. The System...there was only so little I knew about it. It gave me an ufortable feeling, from Meta''s unexpected interferences to the sudden coincidences or scenarios I find myself in. I can only hope I was only imagining this. But hope was fleeting. Ah, want am I doing? Even if the System truly is using me, haven''t I already decided It''ll be a mutual understanding? The System...The Great Cmity...The Demon King...The man in ck...all of it, I was still too weak to go against any of these principalities. At the moment, I could only continue to let Fate toy around with me as it''s bitch. I could only grit my teeth. And smile. Smile. Smile , smile and smile. In the end, I''ll be the one who''sughingst. The magnificent Throne loomed directly before me. The system said I should take my ce on the Throne to find the exit. So if I sat right on it, then this whole Dungeon event will be over? Looking back as thest weeks, andmenting what the future held for me after this ...yeah, this really was like a vacation inparison. More of a thrill ride, really. Got my heart racing a few times, and other times, it out right stopped beating. I started at the Thronenguidly, then sat on it. The bright gold silver throne was cool to the touch, and filled me with a sense of magnificence. "Woah, is this how kings feel? Overlooking everything else from above below them..." I had to admit...it wasn''t all that a bad feeling really. "Well...as long as I''m still here even if for only a while longer, I guess I might as well enjoy this vacation to the best of my opportunity." I mused and sat back wholly on the throne. I leaned my left hand against the broad arm rest and propped the side of my face right against it. I raised my legs and crossed them loftily against the throne. Then from above, with a faint smile, I watched everything below. "Hmm..." I drummed my right fingers against the other arm. The faint smile on my lips became more pronounced. "Not bad." Sitting on a Throne... wasn''t a bad feeling at all. "I could get used to this." s, my vacation hade to an end. Looking back, maybe me finding this dungeon was one way or the other for the best. I managed to level up a few times and got stronger. I found an Aurora Tree, a special type of tree made from the pure almagamation of pure Aether. Even so, it was one with a fruit that only came around once every thousand years. I obtained the blessing of Aether and experienced almost boundless growth in my talent and the quality of Aura I could now use. I decided to call it higher Aether. And even my body was refined as a result. I refined my arcane skills, and even managed to sessfully design my art, and even got it recognized as one by the system. I made a breakthrough in Armament. I learned and unlocked a few new skills, granted I had to almost die to do that. I grinded a few levels and brought my overalls power level close to the very peak of the Mortal Rank. I was now very close to breaking through into Eta Rank, with only a few more levels to grind. And towards the end of it all i even made an unlikely newpanion and got a familiar. Although it was a slime. An allegedly powerful one. There''s also the revtion of the future I got from the vision. It wasn''t much now, but knowledge of the future was still indispensable and valuable. It all depended on how I made use of it. I made breakthroughs in various aspects and even unlocked my next sequence and new features of the system. And finaly, I gained three powerful Artifacts that added to my arsenal. Yes. In the end, all''s well that ends wel¡ª "Bullshit!" Is that what it expected me to say?! Amidst my internal ranting, an expansive bright light spread from underneath the Throne from an illusinary magic circle that unraveled. Bright rays of light shot out of it and engulfed my sitting figure like a tractor beam, and the rest of the Throne room from behind the curtain of light began to haze. I was finally returning back home. ... [Congrattions on clearing the Hidden Quest, [Lace''s Dungeon]. You have performed splendidly and your achievements will be rewarded.] [Ding. You have obtained a Fragment of ''Entropy''. A Power to break the restraints...Chaos resides in your soul.] [You are recognised as the heir of Lace. New title has been acquired.] [You have taken one step closer to something beyond a ''Human''] [You have unlocked the Karma feature.] [You have umted a lot of ''Karma''. You are close to unlocking your Stigma.] [Ding! You have unlocked the privilege of Job ss Quest Selection.] [You have gained an aspect of Demon Lord Lace''s legacy. A Legacy seed has been nted in your soul.]] [You have gained new skills.] . .n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om . [Ding! Additional rewards and notifications will be distributed.] [Your hidden attribute, [???] Is fully resonating...] [Congrattions on your achievements, First Prince of Cmity.] ... [A/N: Character image of Victor and Adrienne are now out!] Chapter 51 Changes -Two dayster. I woke up to a familiar buzzing resounding noisely in my head. With a twitch, I slowly opened my eyes and there was a translucent blue screen hovering before me. ... [You have unread messages.] ... ''What the fuck, Meta...'' I groggily scolded. I was exhausted, and I felt like crap, but the incessant system message wouldn''t quit it. "Haaa. How long have I been out?" [One day.] I see. Two days have passed since I escaped the Dungeon of Lace. I was back in my room, embraced in thefort of my own bed, but it took me an entire day to recover from all of my lost strength. Either physically, mentally...and even emotionally. But thatst part is going to have to take a while. With an unrestrained groan, I rolled out of my b- -Thud. "Oof!" No, I literally rolled out of my bed and fell to the ground. The small thud bounced through my body, but even then I didn''t feel the need to get up. The floorboards felt cold, different from the warmth of my bed, but this also provided a different kind offort. I starednguidly at the system screen hovering before my eyes, when a small mass of something bounced against my bare chest out of nowhere. It was a small blob of silver slime that was the size of a football. I nced at the slime fleetingly before withdrawing my gaze "Morning, Ham." I saidnguidly. At that moment, my eyes sharpened as my body jerked up from the floor. Someone''sing! I grabbed the first fountain pen I could find from my desk and leaned forward, but then I realized my Danger Sense wasn''t set off. Before long I heard the tapping of feet mildly approach from outside, followed by a gentle round of knocking. Then a soft mild voice said from the other side of the door. "Young master, are you awake?" The voice belonged to a maid of my family, and when I realised this, I rxed. Now that I knew this, I recognized the presence. With a restrained sigh I put down the pen and responded. "Uh, uhm...yeah. I just got up." I was still in a battle hardened and highly sensitive since I left the dungeon and any presence or movement that wasn''t mine sent me into high alert. In a second, the maid responded. "Do you require any assistance?" I snapped out of my thoughts, shook my head and sighed. "No, it''s fine. That will be all now." I dismissed the maid. The next moment, I heard the slowly distancing of feet as it retreated away from my room. I felt the maid''s presence draw distant and sat on the edge of my bed. "Well at least that got me to fully wake up." I mused. Thest thing I remember from the other day when I returned was telling my family and the servants not to disturb me. I told them how I was probably going to pass out for the rest of the day and two. The maid from now was probably just here to check up on me. The four weeks I spent in the Dungeon was equivalent to four days spent in the real world, just like Meta said. My parents were a little worried over my sudden disappearance, but since I returned on the fourth day, I was able to cover it up as me getting wrapped up in hunting, and then training. After that, I returned straight to my room and took a nap. And that''s how I was here. I rubbed my slightly akin head and looked up at the system notification. ... [You have unread messages] ... Oh yeah, there were a lot of notifications since the moment I defeated the Silver Sentinel actually. Some of them I managed to skim through, while the rest were just saved elsewhere till ater date. Since then I haven''t been through any of the messages. ''I didn''t even think I had an inbox.'' With a mentalmand, I opened my messages, and multiple tabs with long and short strings of text sted my vision. The synthetic dings and vibrations were enough to make me feel dizzy that I had to shot my eyes for five seconds and groaned. ''Couldn''t the damend system arrange all of it orderly?'' Whileining and cursing out Meta from underneath my breath, i skimmed through the numerous tabs disying numerous messages. They were mostly congrattionary messages and random system messages. Some of which no longer mattered at the current time. And others were surprisingly new skill notifications and rewards. Ohh, I remember at the final moments before I left the dungeon, I received some rewards for a hidden quest I didn''t know about. As the notifications were numerous, I skimmed through them all and set aside the ones that stood out to me the most. ... [Congrattions, you have unlocked a new skill, {Lock On}] [Skill: Lock On Level: 1 Rank: Common Skill description: Increases your proficiency and aim with projectile weapons by 15%] ... [Skill {Danger Sense} has leveled up >>> Danger Sense level 2!] [New features have been unlocked] ... [Skill: Immersion Level: ??? Rank: ??? Skill description: ??? ] ... [You have umted a lot of experience. You have been rewarded.] [Blessing of Aether Attribute has evolved. You have attained Higher Blessing of Aether.] [The Aether that flows through your body is unique.] [You have obtained the inheritance of Lace. His will resides Iin you.] [Seed of Ether has been devoured. Your Aether has now be Ether, a higher sequence of Aether. A qualitative change has happened to the base of your existence.] [Higher Blessing of Aether has be Ether Blessing.] [You are now on the right step to something beyond Human] [>Stats< Aura >>> EtherN?v(el)B\\jnn Ether: 25 (+2) Description: Ether is a higher ne of Aether. An irregrity created by the King of Entropy himself, to break the mold and defy the matrix. The base of Ether is the inversew of Aether; you can now use both Mana and Aura.] [Ding! You now have a new familiar; additional Extra Skills tab have been added....] ... And the list went on and on. "This is... amazing." And I wasn''t just talking about how long the notifications and strings of messages were. I really did reap a harvest from the dungeon in more ways than one. I got a new skill, upgraded one, and realised one. So the mysterious skill of before is called Immersion...I mused inwardly. Even now there''s still no level or rank for it. It doesn''t have a description, but I''ve more or less understood to an extent what it does. The Immersion skill was just as it was called. It was me resonating deeply with the system, in other words Meta. That exined why the visions I see are painfully realistic. Enough so that I end up dying in them. It''s like a highly realistic virtual reality goggles that replicate pain and all other human sensation and stimuli. A fully ''immersive'' RPG. Also just like the final instance with my battle against the sentinel. Immersion had been activated subconsciously then, and my stats experienced and immense boost. And this skill also seemed to have multiple functions, but when I thought if it, it all boiled down to one in the end. "I see. So that''s how it." Whenever Meta took control of my body, that was my body being fully immersed with the system. When it took control of my mind to show me the visions, that was also me being one with it. There was also the time at the Dungeon when it offset the influence of the Murmur''s Mask. That was it likely taking control of a portion of my mind. And the time I was fighting against the Silver Sentinel. I felt one with the System, on an almost existential level. I could see everything from Meta''s perspective, and had a temporary qualitative boost in my overall abilities. For the meantime, I think that''s the highest in of use for the Immersion skill. In more simpler words: Immersion was my cheat. Thinking this, the edges of my lips curled a little darkly. At that point Meta interrupted haughtily. [Are you finally recognizing my greatness? Bow.] My eyes twitched. This bastard... I sighed. "All that aside, it seems I''ve had a lot of changes happen to me, huh." Most apparent is my Aura. No, I believe I should call it Either now. "Status." ... __________________ ___________________ [Name: Victor Bright Level: 27 Rank: Mortal Race: Human ss: Null Familiar: Hamlet the Silver Slime Hp: ??? ________ ________ Strength:- ??? Speed:- ??? Agility:- ??? Constitution:- ??? Luck:- ??? Ether:- 25/25(+2) Intelligence:- ??? Charm:- ??? ______ ______ >>>>> [ACTIVE SKILLS] {Appraisal} Level 2 Rank-: Rare ... {Lock On} Level 1 Rank: Rare ... {Immersion} Level??? Rank-:??? ... >>>>> [PASSIVE] {Danger Sense} [Description: Sense any iing danger ahead of time.] Level: 2 Rank: Common ... >>>>> [EXTRA SKILLS] [Partial Mimic] [Partial Slime Body] [Link] . . ____ ____ {Ether Blessing} _____ _____ {Ether Art; Armament} (iplete) -Proficiency level: Beginner- _____ _____ Not bad. ____ ___] __________________ __________________ ... There were a few reflecting changes in my status screen, but the Summary got me reeling. Not bad...what kind of remark is that? I dismissed the status screen and got up with a sigh. I threw my hands up and stretched beforezily walking across my room. There was still a lot more messages I had to go through, and even discover how far the extent of the changes I''ve received went. Ah, I also had to check out my new artifacts, and the Extra skills mentioned by the system from Hamlet. The vision was still in my minds, yet to bepletely interpreted. I felt there was need to make some modifications in my initial n and outlook of the world. A world gued by Demons and the Demon king...all of a sudden it became a clich¨¦. I gave a self depricating chuckle and sighed again. "Survive... whatever happens, just survive." That was all I needed to do. And in order to survive I just had to keep grinding. The harvest from the dungeon was bountiful. Even Meta couldn''t belittle my progress any longer, judging from that silly remark. I stopped before a tall, full length mirro hung against a wall in my room and gazed at my reflection. Four weeks spent in the dungeon.... despite it being only four days having passed outside, those four weeks reflected on my body. As far as physical appearance went, but it wasn''t much. My brown hair had grown a little longer and messier, and the glint in my gold eyes were sharper and brighter. I was only 15, but even I had to admit my features were getting cut. My bare chested upper body was almost white and pale I had a few scars and bruises left from myst battle with the sentinel. Since I didn''t die and respawn, my wounds weren''t automatically healed. "Even for an Awakened - one of just Mortal Rank - it''ll take time before my wounds heal. And then there are the scars." I had trust in my improved metabolism and healing factor which was passively boosted from my stay, but it was kind of sad seeing my usually wless body this bruised and battered. It reminded me of my days on earth as an underground fighter. I ran my fingers throughout my messy brown hair andnguidly shrugged. I chuckled. "Ah, well. Scars are a man''s marks of honour." Chapter 52 Spring Thoughts "It''s thin... it''s so thin...!" Weeks after returning from the dungeon, I still haven''t adjusted to the faint presence of Aether in the outside world. The Aether is so thin!! I felt like a fish out of water; it was almost suffocating! Was this what Meta meant? Was this supposed to be my alleged Blessing?! Ah, I don''t want it... The truth was, it wasn''t like there was a sudden decrease in the quantity and quality of Aether in the world while I was gone; I had just grown so used to the overabundance of Aether in the dungeon, that now, anything less was barely sufficient. ''Is this what it means to be addicted?'' It was like when a poor man who was raised and lived his entire life in poverty finally stumbles on a well or riches and luxury, and finally tastes the good and bests parts of life... only to tumble back down to a depricating living once more.N?v(el)B\\jnn Yeah, that kind of thing. I have already tasted life! Anything else Is a counterfeit! And the worse part was, this would make leveling up from here on harder. Sigh. It''s ironic how everything seemed much easier down at the Dungeon. There, all I had to think about was what to have for dinner and breakfast. But out here, in the real world, the weight of all my responsibilities have fallen against my shoulders. The more I thought about it, the more my time in the dungeon felt more like a vacation. Is this what they called Graduation Googles? Releasing another mncholic sigh, I stared up at the expansive blue sky. There was not a single cloud in sight, and the azure blue sky remained like an almost illusionary mirror. I was currently standing outside in a vast in of grass, on a cool spring afternoon. Next to me, impaled deeply in the ground were a volley of wooden javelins standing upright. And across from me, a few meters away were targets and training dummies staring at me. I took a break from my hunting activities for a while to sort out my thoughts and explore the new skills and changes in my body. I was bored and I just decided to throw some spears and practice my aim. Restraining another sigh, I grabbed one of the javelins next to me and pulled it out of the ground and easily raised it in my hand. ... [Skill {Lock On} has been activated.] ... Applying the minimum force, I threw the javelin spear forward as it ripped through the air and traveled across the in. The wooden javelin pierced through and hit one of the targets right dead in the middle. Now, I know what this might look like: ''you can''t call it training if you use your skills...'' well maybe it really is what it looked like actually. The truth was, I''ve been doing this a lottely. Everyday, I''de out to the court yard like this and throw some spears, or shoot some arrows. It''s how I''ve been able to cope with my stress and clear my head these days. Who knew pierceing things was a great way to sort out one''s thoughts and bring peace of mind. So I wasn''t just here to practice my aim. I was here to think of and re-evaluate my next steps in this life. Things are clearly a lot more different than I thought. I pulled out another javelin from the ground andunched it into the air at the target meters away from my position. I felt the wind caress my skin and my mind wandered. ''The Demon King is descending.'' No, better still. The Demon King will descend sometime in the future. Haa...what am I supposed to do about that? Ah, I don''t care anymore. I''ve thought about this over and overtely, but I still have no clue. I grabbed another javelin and threw it again. The world can just burn- I''m kidding. I watched the javelin strike the center of the target and sighed. There''s still a chance. The Hero...the one to challenge the Demon king, he was thest and final hope of this world. Er...but didn''t he fail? Wasn''t the whole world dead by then? The world ending was a bad thing, but to be honest, I was more worried about myself. The quest asked me to survive a great cmity; in the vision,the Demon king descend and the entire world was wiped out. Clearly, I wasn''t in it. Well in the first ce, maybe I never really even existed in the world shown in the vision. That was a reasonable spection, in the first ce, I''m not Victor Bright. I am, or was formerly, Zach Harper who now currently inhabits the body of the alleged Victor Bright. Maybe my current existence was an anomaly of some sorts - some kind of variable for the future? "Mhm. Makes sense." I nodded. I''ve asked myself this countless times already, how am I supposed to survive that?! And there were the mysteries and questions, meanings and symbolisms iid with the vision I needed to decipher. I shook my head deeply. It can''t be helped, I''m to weak and incapable to do anything like this. If I wanted more answers from the system, I had to first of all get stronger and unlock the third Sequence. Maybe then I''d also get new features just like now. While I was in thought, I stared at my left hand. On my ring finger, there was a smooth golden bronze ring resting fittingly around it. Ever since that day, I still haven''t been able to take the damned ring off. Since I haven''t gone out much in thest couple of weeks, I haven''t gotten much chance to thoroughly test the effects and Enchantments of the ring, and even my other artifacts. I''ve mostly been avoiding the Murmurs Mask too. That thing...was just damn scary. As for the God ying spear, Goliath, I have zero intentions of letting that thing out. At least not where there''s a human civilization. Not until I''m able to thoroughly wield and control it''s power, which I suspect will be once I''ve ranked up a few times, or havepletely collected and found all of its missing fragments. Until then, I''m keeping it locked in my soul. It was also a notorious weapon, a replica, of the original used by Demon Lord Lace; I couldn''t be careless with showing it around. Goliath was without a doubt, my strongest card in my arsenal. In the worse case scenario, Goliath would be my trump card for if something truly bad happens. And it has to be something really, really drastic enough for me to pull out a weapon belonging to an actual Demon Lord. Same thing applied to the Solomon''s Court enchantment of the Ring. As a whole, I had to make some research into who exactly...or what... Lace was. It sounded troublesome that I''ve been branded his heir. Apparently now chaos resides within my soul. I drew my gaze from the ring and and looked at the blue skynguidly. "Oh yeah...now that I think about it, I no longer have Aether." Instead, the Aura that flowed within my body was changed to Ether. The system called it a higher ne of Aether, and an inverse of the universal energy that was created by Entropy. From what I''ve seen, it still worked normally just like how it was when it was still Aether or Aura, only a bit slightlore erratic and chaotic. I could still use my Art in the same manner as I did before, with only a qualitative boost to the output. Meta said with Ether, I was no longer only limited to just using Aura, but even had the capacity to use Mana. That clearly meant I could use magic! Ether wasn''t the opposite of Aether. It was just a higher, unique form of it that followed the inversews of the original which was that Aether was split in two aspects; Aura and Mana respectively. But Ether does the reverse of that, and retains the two aspects. Ultimately, it''s like the opposite of Aether, but not entirely literally. Ether was like the freer form of Aether from what I''ve seen. Something that goes beyond the naturalws. Unlike the way it sounds, Ether doesn''t cancel out or negat Aura in anyway, it was just like a purer more refined form of it. As for how I ended up with it, this was probably the ''inheritance'' from Lace. After all, the system said it was Lace who discovered the higher form of Ether. At that moment my mind drifted like the nonexistent clouds in the sky, I felt a presence quickly approach me from the side. I turned my head to look and saw a young woman with short ck hair that reached her shoulder and was styled in a type of pigtails. She wore a frilly ck and white maid outfit with my family''s crest. She was Nina, my personal and assigned maid. Noticing my gaze, Nina stops and lowers her head respectfully in a greeting. "Will you be joining the family for dinner tonight?" She simply asked. I shoved my hands into my pockets and hummed thoughtfully for a while. "No. Tell my mother and father I''ll be out for a while. I might return a bitte for dinner, until then, I want you to bring it to my room on my notice." Nina nods and shows a little smile. "Thedy will be a little sad..." She was refering to my mom who has be extra clingy this past few years since Adrianne barely came around anymore now that she started attending the Academy. Speaking of which, she should be in her final year by next year, huh. I smilednguidly at Nina and said as I walked passed her. "Tell my mother we''ll have plenty of time to spend with each otherter." "And ,what might you be doing before the evening?" Nina asked from behind, and I didn''t stop to turn around as I casually responded. "Visiting an old friend." Ah, I need to hunt. Chapter 53 Sanity is Overrated I shortly returned back to my room and sat on the edge of my bed. There, doing who knows what, I found my sted Slimepanion sitting at the very middle. Suspiciously, I stared. "You...what were you doing?" Hamlet just stared...at least I think it stared. Slime''s didn''t have eyes, I''ve confirmed this. So maybe saying Hamlet stared at me should be more of an expression in the future. Yes. I''ll take note of that. "Give me ''that''." I stretched my hand forward and said to Hamlet. The next second, he spat out a ck obsidian object carved out of ck wood. It was the Murmur''s Mask. The terrifying looking mask fell into my hand and I held it up. As for where the mask suddenly came from, the answer was pretty obvious. Apparently Hamlet had a special skill capable of storing certain items in its stomach. Again, do Slimes have stomachs? No. This too was just an expression. In any case it was just a skill that turned out to be really convenient. Since bonding with Hamlet over the Familiar contract, I gained some new skills, but unfortunately that wasn''t one of them. But at the same time, I was kind of relieved? I mean, how would I store items in my stomach? And how would I get them out? ''Let''s not think about it.'' tacitly, I agreed internally and turned my attention to the Mask. "I think it''s about time I embrace my new artifact." I said with a slight crooked grin. The w of Murmur''s Mask, quite honestly, was terrifying enough to make me have second thoughts in ever trying to use it. But it was an artifact. Wouldn''t it be a waste if I didn''t use this? It was already bad enough that I had to keep Goliath a secret and release it in only extreme emergencies. The only other stable Artifact I had was Solomon''s Ring which would be perfect if it weren''t for the damned w. 7777 years of unluck. Damn. I''ve thought seriously about it over thest few days and I finally decided to confront the mask. At the very least there had to be some manner of way I could use it. That was what I thought. And then I remembered what happened back at the dungeon. I had the Immersion Skill. My logic was simple, if I could use the skill, or Meta, to offset the whispers and murmurs that would try to corrode my mind, wouldn''t I be able to use the mask? Thest incident already confirmed that the skill at least had some manner of preventing me from sumbing to the ''truths'' and ''secrets'' hidden in the mask, so the idea seems feasible. "Your sure this will work?" I said pensively while staring at the mask. Meta''s response came with a slight buzz. [This was your idea.] Oi! Now she''s denying me! ''But you said there was a possibility right? I mean, you were able to do it thest time.'' [Yes. It is true that the Immersion skill can offset some of the negative effects of the Artifact, but this is only to a limited extent. In more urate words, the Skill doesn''t cancel the effects, but slows and dys them enough for you the user to retain your original state of mine.] The w description of Murmur''s Mask said: ''...For each time this Mask is worn, the wearer looses a portion of their sanity and humanity, and plunges closer and closer to corruption the longer it is used.'' And as strict with its wording as the system hase to be, that meant I could trante this very literally. Each time I wear the mask, and the longer I do, I lose a portion of my sanity and humanity. Gradually my soul bes Ccorrupted from the Whispers. What Meta was trying to say was that the Immersion skill wasn''t a counter or a remedy; it merely dyed the effects slightly. That meant even if it was more slower than intended, I would still be gradually running mad. ''Goddamit...this mask is diabolical...''I thought grimly. "So there''s no way around it? Like, at all?" It was a fruitless question, even I knew. I could already guess in what manner Meta would respond. [Thews and authority of artifacts are absolute.] ''Figured.'' Even if I had some type of Mental Barrier skill, I can''t stop my mind from corroding and eventually getting corrupted. I stared at the mask in my hand and silently enjoyed the sense of mystique and mystery that surrounded the detailsmited to it''s carving. Despite how it looked, the ck mask was smooth to the touch and very light. It had the depiction of a demon crowned with twisting horns and fiendish fangs burning in ck mes. There were two endlessly ck holes where the eyes were supposed to be. Looking at it, I couldn''t even see the end or the other side. That was for the outeryer and appearance of the mask, on the inside it was different. There were strange and almost indistinct carvings and runes designing the interior. Just like the details outside and the rest of the mask, they each had a dull silvery ck colour. I could hear the mask call for me. I could feel it tempt me just like before. But since I was aware of it this time, I was better able to restrain myself. At that point, Meta whispered into my mind. [Do you still wish to use the Artifact Murmur''s Mask despite the level of risks and danger the w provides?] She sounded like some of those rification and warning messages when your selecting a game character. The kind that would go like ''do you choose h h h as your character?'' Honestly, it made meugh and chuckle a bit. But it wasn''t only because of that. I found it genuinely funny that Meta would ask me such an obvious thing. "Hahaha...is that a question, Meta? Do I have a choice?" Myughter echoed through my empty room and the edges of my lips curled into a dark smile. [...] "So I just run mad if I use this? Sure, no problem. I just so happen to be a little crazy already. In the first ce, who even decided what was sane, and insane? Huh? Isn''t sanity overrated? It''s just a damned concept - a matter of perspective in the end. And in actuality, sanity isn''t what keeps us surviving in the world - wether it''s back on Earth, or here in Aethoria..." My smile widened and my heart slowly raced with dark glee. "It''s the madness within that does." Without a second more thought, I brought Murmur''s Mask to my face. *** Victor didn''t hesitate to wear the fiendish mask of a demon with twisting horns. He felt a cold chill enveloped his mind and body, as the still coldfort of the mask embraced his face. It was surprisingly morefortable than it looked. It was like it was made exactly for him and was fitted nicely. As the cold chill spread through his body like a numbing thrill, Victor felt his consciousness grow a little faint and drift like fog as indiscernible whispers and voices...murmurs filled his heart and mind. The painful ravings intensified and Victor felt a splitting headache as if his head was being axed into. His head pulsed and his mind thrubbed like a beating heart. A myriad of information filled his mind and burned at his existence. His messy brown hair that was slightly longer was swept back and slowly turned a pale white, reaching just the base of his neck. The process was slow as if his mind and body was slowly getting invaded by something else. Someone else. "Aaargghk!!" Victor grabbed his head and let out an earth splitting groan. His fingers dung into his whitening hair fruitlessly and his eyes underneath the mask was slowly turning bloodshot. And just when the ravings seemed like it would only get worse, the Immersion skill was activated forcefully. ... [{Immersion} Level ??? Has been activated.] [{Immersion is being used.]N?v(el)B\\jnn ... The ravings quickly receded slightly, and the sharp splitting pain that assaulted Victor ceased until it was just a mild throbbing that was at the level of a disturbing nuisance. Now that he had regained a gap of respite, Victor sucked in a deep and a sharp gasp from behind the mask. His hair was still white and his chest was heaving, but he was no longer on the throes of corruption. ''Three seconds! Barelly three seconds and I nearly died!'' His thoughts were stark and dark. His bloodshot eyes that were short of bleeding under the mask shook with a smile. Yes in the end, he was still smiling. The edges of his lips hung crookedly and his face had turned pale despite the cold touch of the mask. He had intentionally not activated the skill to test out how Murmur''s Mask took effect, but the results had been far beyond his expectations. At that moment, Immersion was measurdly activated, but he hadn''t given up control of his body to Meta, or neither was he experiencing another vision. With this, Victor confirmed another suspicion of his. Immersion really isn''t just an ordinary skill after all. It''s like it has separate and different grades for different situations. Right now, I don''t feel anything different or strange even though it''s activated. I could move my body freely and there are no image''s shing across my mind. Understanding that the skill does work to an extent in offsetting the effects of the mask is good, but I also have to discover the conditions or degree of Immersion... Victor rapidly gathered his thoughts though he was still in pain. With all this questions, he had an inkling that Meta wouldn''t give him a suitable response. Not now at least. So he shoved it to the back of his mind and unsteadily rose to his feet. Immediately he stumbled forward, about to fall to the ground when he managed to catch himself. Hamlet, the evolved silver slime was against the floorboard silently overlooking everything. Victor could sense and feel the intentions and feelings of his familiar. There was worry, but he easily ignored that. Instead, with a crooked smile, a pale face hidden behind a fiendish ck mask, and unsteady steps, he made his way to his mirror against a wall and looked at his reflection. "Huh? My hair is different." He muttered from beneath the mask as his voice came out somehow darkly. He touched the now white strands of his formerly brown hair and mesmerised at himself on the mirror with a dark chuckle. "I resemble the fucking devil." Chapter 54 Good Boy The future that awaited me was bleak. The darkest possible ever, and the only way I had to possibly survive was to get stronger. To do that I realized I had to utilize whatever means that I could. In this life, I may have been casual and dismissal about the impending cmity, but that was probably because I was just ignorant and didn''t know too much then. But it was different now. The Demon King is descending. The world will be wiped out and the hero will lose. Fuck the bullshit he was saying about how if his mes still burn, he will never give up. The bastad already lost the moment everyone in the world died! I at least know I can''t rely on the hero for my survival now. In the first ce, that wasn''t even an option because of the system. I had to survive by my own means, by my own power. "Hehe... "A hollowugh left my lips. I used to cry about how unfair it was for me and how the universe seemed to enjoy putting me through all this torture, but wasn''t the Hero having it much harder than I was? I only had to think of my survival, while they had the entire weight and existence of Aethoria on their shoulders. "Ah, I''ve been selfish." I chuckled. But that was what has kept me alive this long at least. ''Technically, I already died a few times.'' If only the sted Hero was at leastpetent enough, maybe I wouldn''t even be in this situation. I wouldn''t have to be under the threat of existential wipeout. In the end, it all boils down to me and my strength. That was why I couldn''t disregard the Murmur''s Mask no matter how diabolical it''s ws were. It was an Artifact, and an artifact that was and could be an aspect of my power. At this point, anything that would remotely increase the chances of survival during the Cmity, I would take it, whatever they were. I looked at the figure in an onyx ck fiendish mask and slightly longer swept back white hair that was staring back at me. The whispers and murmurs weren''t entirely gone, they were just momentarily suppressed. I could still feel my mind slowly be corrupted and swell. Putting on the mask gave me a strange impression now that I had Immersion activated. It was like being a whole different person. Aside from the haunting whispers I heard, and the throbbing headache in my head, everything else felt cool and detached. I gave a depressingugh from behind. This self of detachment...was it what it meant to loose my ''humanity''? Murmur''s Mask really was a diabolical artifact. Without wasting any more time, I took the mask off with a little resistance. After all, the longer I kept it one, the more corrupted I''ll be and the more of my emotions and humanity is erased. And the closer I''d plunge into depravity. As soon as I did it, I watched my hair revert to its original colour and form: brown and messy. "Huuu. Wearing the mask really makes me seem like a different person in both appearance and demean." I looked at the mirror and studied my appearance. My eyes were bloodshot and my face was pale with a crooked smile. My head was still throbbing painfully but it was something that I could handle. It seemed like a small bacsh to wearing the mask but I was fine. I sighed and with a mentalmand, dismissed the Immersion skill. Then I nced at the ck mask I was still holding and smiled. "Sess." With this, I had grown stronger again. *** After that, I took a small bath to refresh myself and set out like I intended to since the beginning. I confirmed the Murmur''s Mask could still be usable despite it''s w so there wasn''t a reason keeping me back at the mansion until sunset. "Since it''s been a while, why don''t I go hunting a little...and besides, I had an old friend to visit." A little different from my usual hunting get up, I wore a ck long coat over a ck shirt, and ck pants. Since there was no reason to carry my luggage and weapons with me any longer, I shoved them all down Hamlet''s stomach! It was at times like this the sted Slime was at least useful. [Shouldn''t you be nicer to your familiar?] ''Try getting killed a few times and you be nice.'' with a snort at Meta''s unreasonablement, I closed the door behind me. The afternoon was slowly drawing to an end, and letting the evening breeze blow through. Somewhere in the forest, I just decimated an entire hunting pack of Dire Fanged Wolves. [Ding! You have in a level 17 Dire Fanged Wolf] [Ding! You have in a level 17 Dire Fanged Wolf] [Ding! You have in a level 17 Dire Fire Fanged Wolf...] [...19 Dire Fanged Wolf...] The system messages dinged and buzzed in my head, but I couldn''t feel even the slightest trickle of energy or essence fill my body. No, it was there. But it felt even more meager and underwhelming than before. With a disappointed sigh, I pulled the head of my spear out of the punctured skull of the dead beast while muttering silently to myself.... "I remember when I used to have so much trouble with thes guys. It wasn''t much, but maybe I really havee a long way." The four weeks I spent in the dungeon had made me a lot stronger than it seems. But things were only going to get harder from here. I stared at the piled corpses of the wolves. They had silver, steel like fur and de like fangs protruding from their mouths. Tight rolls of powerful muscles were hidden beneath all that fur and yet each of them died with a single blow from my spear. They weren''t the first pack of beasts or monsters I encountered. It was the same for most others from before, but no matter how much I killed and killed for thest two hours, not a single level up message. "Haa... I''m too high level." I never thought the day woulde when I''d say that. ''No. I never wanted the day toe when I''d say that.'' But in the end I was still only Mortal Rank, roaming about the bottom of the food chain. In the face of higher ranked entities, I wasn''t much different from these wolves. Shaking my head despondently, I spun my spear and walked away from the corpses, before ncing at Hamlet that was next to me. Then I grinned and pointed. "Eat." Of course I was pointing at the corpses. They might not be worth much as experience, especially for someone like me who''s body is imbued with higher Aether or Ether now, but they could still be useful. Yes, even while after they were dead. Hamlet had an interesting skill after all. But totally aside from that, I just really enjoyed putting this slimy bastard through misery. Hamlet quivered a little before approaching the wolf corpses. Then it''s blob like body that was the size of a football suddenly ergened and expanded. Hamlet spread open like a wide and devastating maw that instantly devoured all of the bodies and blood in one fell swoop, leaving not even a single trace behind. In a second it was over. My grin turned crooked and wry.N?v(el)B\\jnn I can never get used to seeing that. "What a terrifying slime..." I muttered weakly. And that slime was my familiar. Hamlet''s form reverted to its usual small, round and unassuming appearance, as he gingerly bounced across the ground and reached my feet. It was hard for me to forget that Hamlet was in truth a Rank Hero evolved monster of the Slime sequence, the silver sentinel from the dungeon; but it was once in a while like this Hamlet really proved that to me. "...I bet you enjoyed that, huh." I was at a loss for words to be honest, but I had to act pompous to identify who was the boss between the two of us, although Hamlet could easily do to me like he did to the wolves. I pried my gaze off the slime and turned back to the forest. ''Damed monster!'' "Alright let''s get going, you bag of slime." I clicked my tongue and said as I continued into the forest. *** Deep within a dark cave where the light failed to prate the thick carpet of gloom that shrouded it, a resting monster with pitch ck, lustreless fur that blended with the darkness suddenly moved. It raised its long snout then rose from the ground, looking ahead. It had lightless ck eyes and stood slightly over fifty three inches, with four furry tails blooming behind it like enthralling flower petals. Something... something had infiltrated its territory. The Midnight Fox could tell. The darkness deepened around it''s body. And just then, a figure in ck stepped out of the heavy shadows. It was a young man wearing a long ck coat, who''s features were shrouded by the gloom. His pair of striking golden eyes glowed and glinted brightly in the unceasing darkness that filled the cave. They were cold and distant. And most of all, they looked down at the king of the Den. The king bared it''s fangs and growled as the darkness turned deeper around it''s tails. It lounged forward to attack and pounce against its invader when a cold voice suddenly rang out a single word. "Hamlet." Then something in the darkness surged. It was like a wave. An indistinguishable mass spread open from the feet of the young man and devoured the darkness, along with the King without a trace. It happened so suddenly that the Midnight Fox was unable to react in time. Out of nowhere, something swallowed it and it was devoured. And as the king of the Den was taken care of, the heavy, imprable darkness that filled the cave became lighter and more natural. It was still deep inside the cave, but at least now, the young man felt that the light of the day could at least finally spread its rays inside. As the darkness lifted, Victor''s lips tore a slight smile as he looked at Hamlet. Then he said meaningfully to his familiar. "Do that thing." The next moment, Hamlet melted and expanded outward. It''s slime body shapeshifted and adjusted like viscous molten silver as it took a familiar form. It was of a menacing dark silver wolf, with lightless ck eyes and long furry tails like flower petals. The ceasing darkness and shadows of the cave seemed to converge and bow towards its feet and the smile on Victor''s face turned into a wider grin as he patted and praised ecstatically. "Good boy." Chapter 55 Stranger [1] Hamlet had a special Unique skill. Monster Mimic. It was a special skill a Demon King Slime had that allowed it to take the form, appearance, skill and nature of any living creature it devours. It didn''t just copy a monster and it skills, Monster Mimic allowed Hamlet to literally be the monster and rece it''s existence. From the way I saw it, it was an unfairly overpowered ability. But that ability was also part of my arsenal now. One of the skills I received since I made Hamlet my familiar was an Extra skill called ''Partial Mimic.'' This was like a lesser and downgraded version of the Monster Mimic that allowed Hamlet to be the living creature it devoured. Just like the name implied, mine only let me imitate, and mimic certain few characteristics of the victim. The only downside is, I''m not allowed to choose what I might end up copying. But the good side is, I don''t have to be the one devouring the victim, Hamlet was good enough and any monster he devoured would automatic also be a part of me. Something like that. With Partial Mimic I can obtain only a single characteristics of the victim, unlike Hamlet who literally bes their existence and possesses all of their aspects. The characteristic I obtained from the Midnight Fox this time was a pleasant suprise. ... [You have received a new Attribute, {Lesser Midnight Blessing}] [Description: you have obtained a fragment of the shadow and darkness attribute and your affinity towards darkness has risen slightly. You will experience a slight increase in all stats when surrounded by your innate element.] ... The aspect I got from the monster this time was a new Attribute! Thest few times I tired Partial Mimic on other Monsters or animals along the way, I ended up either getting a part of their body or physical characteristics. ''Those are deeply unsettling, so I have zero intentions on using them unlesspletely necessary in the future! Why did I even get the weird idea of devouring a chicken again? Ah well, in any case the loot this time was an Attribute. These things were actually quite rarer than Skills toe about apparently and my only other attribute was the one I got from eating the fruit of Aurora back when I was still at the dungeon Midnight Foxes were beast type monsters with considerably high affinity for shadow and darkness, and this was evident thest time I attempted to invade their den. Those guys gave me a really hard time honestly. The description said I received a ''fragment'' of the shadow affinity, this was quite literal as always as the Partial Mimic skill only allowed me to receive a part of a characteristics of the Monster Hamlet devoured. I didn''t get a skill that let me blend into the darkness or manipte the shadows, but the Lesser Shadow Affinity gave me a passive increase in all stats when I''m surrounded by my element. Just like those sted foxes! "Hehehe...it was a gamble, but it all worked out in the end." Considering it was a slim percent chance that I''d end up with something as useful as a Skill or an attribute like this, especially when I''ve be less confident of my luck - due to certain reasons - I was pretty lucky this time around. Enough so to make me suspiciously nce at the cold bronze ring on my finger. I looked at Hamlet who was still in a cross form of the Midnight Fox, and a Dire Fanged Wolf and smiled slightly before petting his furry head. "Heh, I guess you can be pretty redeemable at times." ''But I''ll still make you suffer.'' I added inwardly. Hamlet seemed to enjoy my praise as I felt it transmit it''s intention towards me. "I came out here without expecting much initially, but now I''ve got a part of my spirit lifted." It also seemed like I''ve made up a part of my mind from where to go from here, and how to proceed for the future. I initially came out to the forest to hunt and clear my mind and seek revenge over the king of the den. But with that single decision, I''ve aplished all of my reasons for doing so. My life after this...will definitely only get harder for me in the future. But with what I''ve seen Hamlet do, and how I''ve onlye this far one my own.... maybe... just maybe, I might have a chance. ''I can''t get stronger if I continue to stay at the mansion.'' this fact held true now more than ever, since I returned from the Dungeon as a peak Mortal Ranked Awakened. "Well, that''s it for today then." I patted Hamlet onest time and decided to return home a little earlier. The new Attribute has really put me in a good mood. Since I already told Nina to tell my parents I won''t be attending dinner with them anyway, I decided to just take a short detour before returning back home. ''It''s been a while, maybe I''ll just look around the fief first.'' There were a few parts of my family territory I haven''t been to in a while. Even though we were like a small noble family, the Bright household,plimentary of the Solvainnes, owned a small region and territory with a small town and a few viges along the outskirts. It was there I found out about the hunting quest for eradicating the Den after all. The sun was still up, there was still a couple of minutes more before it was sunset. And by the time I went through a path through the forest, deep orange rays had already carpeted the empty sky. The sun was already hanging precariously over the horizon. It was at that point in time I noticed a smallmottion from afar. I was untop an elevated cliff in the forest when I saw it. A tall trail of smoke climb the orange sky. And it wasn''t just one of it, countless smoke trails rose up and billowed. It was still far, but with my improved senses, I could smell the scent of a fire. ''Something''s happening. That spot... that''s where one of the viges on the periphery of our region is...'' I recognized the location from my memory. ''What''s happening? Bandits? '' My suspicion was justified. Banditry was quitemon in regions like this. Especially in small viges. I also remember there was some talk about them from father sometime ago...I said inwardly then a specific thought came to me. As I stared at the smoke trails from afar, an indiscernible grin made it to my lips. "Ohh? What''s this? Is that amotion, I dare see? Where? A small helpless vige under the attack of bandits? Oh, no, no, no. We can''t have that, can we? Right, Hamlet?" Hamlet who was still in a wolf form strangely let out a woof. "I guess it can''t be helped then. As the first son and second child of the Brigh household... I''ll have to do whatever I can to protect my region." I shook my head andmented exaggeratedly. Who knew I''d get a chance to test out a few things this early? With my heart pumping excited- ahem! I mean... With a burning sense of passion and obligation! I set out to liberate an oppressed vige from the dark viins! Yes! For obligation and nothing more! Quickly, I jumped on Hamlet and took off. For my country! (Lol) *** Amotion was brewing. A small vige under attack. It was a raid from a group of notorious bandits in these parts. The terrorised viger''s scurried around the ce with panicked expressions, and horror. Turmoil and chaos swept the vige like a storm. Men donning ck and wielding weapons like short swords, whips and dagger scurried around the ce, chuckling darkly as they relished the sight. Off to the square of the vige, there were horse drawn carriages lined, with iron cages held on the back. The vigers were hunted and gathered together to the square. There, they were binded and restrained. Many cried and screamed for help. Their voices were lost to the descending sun behind the distant horizon. Evening was quick toing in. The radiance of the sky was quick to dim. The bandits dragged their victims, mothers and children, and hauled them all together into the cages. They would make fine merchandise to the ve traders across the borders of the kingdom, they said. "Hahaha!! Round them all up, boys! What a fine catch we got today. Hahaha!" The darkughter rolled like an omen of dread to the vigers. They watched with helpless horror as the bandits set fires to their houses and properties. Their valuables and wealth were stripped and piled in one of the cages that was filled with the bright gold, silver, and tinum glint of coins and jewelleries. That was their loot from their previous target. As the carnage only continued to unravel, the rays of the sunpletely deserted the world. Nighttime had finally fallen. Finally, it was dark. -p. A ck coat fluttered lightly in the wind. "What''s this?" A dark and cold voice resounded above the turmoil. It was a voice that instinctively sent dread through the backs of all those who heard it. The bandits immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up. The crying vigers raised their heads and stared above as well.N?v(el)B\\jnn Then everyone froze. Their eyes shivered with unrestrained chill. There was a person...no, it was a Demon. Sitting on top the edge of one of the carriages in the viges Square, a mysterious man with white hair that reached his neck, wearing an all ck outfit and a long coat, looked down on the world from above. But what truly struck them with an indiscernible sense of horror and dread was his deamen. And the ck fiendish mask he had on. A brawny man with a shaved head and deep eyes, who was the first one to snap out of his reverie stepped forward. He was the boss and leader of the band of rampaging bandit. In his hands, he had short dual battlel axes glinting with a dull silver light. He looked up at the mysterious stranger who was sitting on top the carriage from above and frowned. "And who are you?" He asked in a deep voice. The night had only just descended entirely and the bright silver moon slowly rose into the sky. The shoulder''s of the stranger slowly began to tremble as a deep, dark and twistedughter left his throat. "Mhmhmhmhmhmhm..mhmhahaha!!" It started from a low rumble to a dark and explosive boom. The sinister voice that seemed to hold the promises of dark truth filled everyone with unease. "Who am i?" He said. "Me?" He chuckled ominously. The stranger ced his gloved hand against the mask resting on his face and tilted his head slightly. A cold chill suddenly spread through the surroundings as his voice reverberated darkly. "Guess." Chapter 56 Stranger [2] "Guess." The stranger said vaguely with a slight chill. The bandits winced and their expressions contorted with a frown until one of them stepped up again.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Alright, pal. Why don''t you get off there and scram before it''s toote, huh?" He tried sounding confident by giving him the option of turning away. The mysterious man wearing a ck mask with white hair silently stared down from his position without responding. Casually, he dismissed the words of the thug and swept his gaze across the surroundings. At least more than half of the vigers were gathered at what resembled the square. There were children and women binded and locked in cages, and the men and fathers wer brutalized and maimed. Buildings were set on fire and burned and propertiesy damaged on the broken streets. From behind the mask, the stranger finally said in a sinisterly dark voice as he returned his gaze to the bandits. "I''ve been wondering for a while now; isn''t it proper to lower your heads?" "Huh? What was that, you bastard?" "Lower who''s head? Who''s the fucker anyway, boss?" The bandits roared in outrage at the mysterious stranger. It had been less than a minute since he arrived, but they were slowly growing impatient for some reason. The stranger''s demean and aura was subtle and oppressive. It made them constantly cold and uneasy the longer he kept quiet. So unknown to them, they wanted to get rid of him and everything done before any longer. The mysterious man behind a ck mask didn''t show any obvious reactions to their cursing and words, and this only managed to push the nerves of the bandits and everyone closer to the edge. The boss with a shaven head stepped up again. He raised his hand and arched his back. The next moment, he unleashed one of his short axes through the air as it whipped through and curved straight for the stranger. The stranger didn''t move an inch. He just sat there, with one raised leg, and watched the weapon fly at him at a fast speed. The short axe with a dull silver sharp de bent and threateningly struck the top of the carriage, just next to the position the mysterious man was sitting with a sharp thud. "That was a warning. The next one won''t miss." The man with a shaven head who threw the axe said threateningly. ''I was aiming for his right shoulder but in the end I still couldn''t do it...'' inwardly he added grimly. The two ck holes where the eyes were supposed to be in the mask were dark and empty. Those empty gaze made his mind and heart waver, and he instead shifted his aim at thest minute. ''The next one, I really won''t miss.'' the boss tried to hide and mask his thoughts. He clenched his second axe in his other hand and red forward. The night was still. The full moon continued to climb higher and higher up the night sky behind the stranger, its rays casting a silver halo over his figure. The terrifying mask suddenly became more fiendish to look at. The stranger didn''t move. He drummed his left gloved fingers were a certain ring was underneath against his knee and finally said coldly. "Let''s try this again." The next moment, the dark and empty gaze in the ck mask seemed to deepen. "Bow." The next moment, an intangible pressure bore down against the shoulders of the bandits, forcing them to their knees. Their necks hung and their heads forcefully lowered. A stifling and oppressive pressure filled their minds and drilled their bodies with a strange horror. It felt as if the weight of the skies had fallen against their shoulders like an anvil, and an indiscernible fear and sense of inferiority bored through their existence. They didn''t know when they fell to their knees. They didn''t know when the began to hold their breaths. Yet, not one of them raised their heads. No one dared to in the presence of an authority. The bandits were the ones suffering the full weight of the stranger''s influence, but even the vigers gathered at the square felt the atmosphere grow thicker abnormally. They suddenly watched all of the bandits fall to their knees and bow for no obvious reason, but they weren''t affected in the same way. They only subconsciously lowered their gaze, not daring to look up at the figure in ck instinctively for whatever reason. ''Wh...what is this?!'' the minds of the bandit''s were filled baffling horror and sudden fear. The felt like they were in the presence of something man wasn''t supposed to gaze at. "P... please! Stop..." One of the thugs tried to raise their head, but the insufferable, intangible weight wouldn''t let him. It felt like if he tried to force it any longer, his head would probably fall off and roll. The lofty figure observed the groveling and trembling thugs from above and looked down. "Begging? Are you begging me?" His dark voice was strangely symphonic but filled his victims with dread. "Okay." The next second, all of the oppressive pressure and bloodlust cease like it never was, leaving the thugs a small breath offort. For only a single second. They heard a voice. "Hamlet." Then out of nowhere, something surged from withing the shadows of the figure, spread open, and devoured the kneeling thugs like a wave. The vigers watched with stifled horror, unintentionally holding their breaths. Tears were in their eyes, but they were afraid to cry. They wanted to scream, but they were afraid to utter a sound. They watched the bandits who had terrorised and oppressed their vige be devoured, leaving nothing behind. There was no blood, no disemered limb, no piece of cloth nor shadows left. They were gone. As for what was responsible for this, the dark mass that swept like a shadow underneath the night surged and moulded into the form of arge silver wolf with, ck markings and four fluffy tails that bloomed like flower petals. It was an immensely enchanting beast, but one that also instinctively drew dread. The enchanting beast just stood there, in the embrace of the shadows. It''s only pierceing deep silver eye coldly swept through the vigers, making them shudder. Once they realize the beast only watched them and made no attempt to attack, the vigers slowly began to retain some level ofposure - as much as they could in a terrifying situation like that at least. The apprehensive and oppressive feeling from before had vanished. The bandits that had raided their vige had vanished. All that remained was the partial waste that had be their little town and home. And the lofty figure behind a mysterious mask. Slowly, one of the vigers, a young woman, not older than the age of 18, turned feverishly towards the direction. Her hazel eyes gazed at the mysterious stranger who remained aloof and indifferent and exuded a passive cold aura and authority. His white hair that reached his neck fluttered gently in the night wind. The silver moon climbed high above behind him, casting an enchanting halo that glistened like pixy dust against his back. The ck garments he wore made a striking contrast to his hair, and the terrifying mask he wore was deeply unsettling. But there was a strange solemnity to his being. The lofty figure just sat there silently. He had yet to move since the bandits disappeared. As the gaze of the young woman deepened in strange enthrallment, the masked man moved his head and met her gaze. She froze. Her breath was stuck in her lungs and her fingers trembled. He was looking at her. Or at least that''s what she felt. "Wh- who are you?" She gulped and managed to say. The rest of the vigers dared looked up equally, in dark curiousity and anticipation. The masked man raised one of his gloved hands to his mask and rose up. His long coat fluttered behind him in the wind and the moon formed a strange halo over his head. He didn''t respond and coldly stared. The next moment, a powerful draft of unnatural wind blew through the square and disoriented the vigers. By the time they came to, the mysterious man had disappeared. Along with him was the fearsome beast of earlier. Where he once was untop the carriage, was an empty space. In the end, he didn''t even leave a single trace behind. "Hm?" As she stared at where he previously was, the young woman noticed something. The carriage that was filled with the loot of the bandits, their jewelry, gold, and diamonds....half of it was gone! The carriage was now almost half empty! As for how he could actually steal it without a single one noticing, they didn''t know. They also didn''t know why he didn''t just take it all. Perhaps it was his way of payingpensation for the damage the vige had suffered? His way of showing sympathy? Or something else? Nobody knew. In the end he left without even dropping a name. It was finally over. As the girl stared at the moon hanging above, she let out a struggled breath of relief and sped her hands together next to her chest, and said in a small voice like a whisper. "Thank you." That was the first appearance of the traveler. *** Victor stepped out of the darkness some distance away from the vigers. He stumbled and immediately took the wooden ck mask off, as a system message notified in his head. [{Immersion} has been deactivated] Beads of sweat rolled down his ashen pale face and dropped down from his chin. His white hair reverted to its normal brown and style, and Victor had his whole world throbbing with a hazy pain. "Dammit..." He cursed with a pale smile and took a step forward. His legs quickly gave out, and his consciousness faded. Victor fell forward to the ground , and felt a soft, squishy and cool surface embrace him instead. Hamlet had been swift in breaking his fall and inted it''s body to form a cushion. Victor''s bloodhot eyes were half close and in a haze, but the young man with a reckless attitude still smiled as he stroke his familiar and uttered in a weak and faint voice with a chuckle. "Thanks..." After that, he gave into the pain and exhaustion, and Victor Bright passed out. *** Second chapter to make up for my missed day. Please vote! Chapter 57 Tea Time It was a fine and splendid morning in Spring. At the moment, I was sitting in an open air pavilion in one of our courtyard and enjoying some tea. Standing in my wait was Nina who professionally waited at my call to the side. It''s rxing...I thought with a smile. Here it was like I was shunned by all the impurities of the world. Yes...this was the kind of life I wanted to live. Peaceful and serene, with a touch of luxury. I raised a small tea cup to my nose and took a pleasant sniff of the aroma from the tea. A twisted smile curled down my lips as I tried to imitate some of those high brow individuals from noble households. Ah, right, don''t forget to put your pinky finger out... there. "Mhm-hm-mhm-hm-mhph..." I gave a ''high-brow''ugh and courteously sipped my tea. Gently, I ced it down and said sonorously. "Fine weather we''re having, Nina." I raised my chin and nced to my side with a smile. My personal made beamed a bright and beautiful smile as she responded in kin. "Yes. The weather''s been lovely these days." I nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, splendid for tea. You know you can join me, right? I''m not that big on formalities." I said. Nina''s smile was blinding...not as blinding as my sweet sister, but beautiful at the very least too... "I appreciate the graceful offer, young master Victor, but I''ll have to politely decline ¡ª this time too." I gave her a look and shook my head lightly with a small smile. "I thought you''d say so. You know, Nina, I see you more as an older sister than a maid. Just like Adrianne. You''ve been with me since she left after all. If you ever need anything or have something to say, ever... don''t hesitate to tell me. It''s the least I can do for yourpany all these years." Since the mood was splendid, I took the time to directly show my appreciation to the presence Nina has provided me these years. I really wasn''t kidding when I say she was more than a maid to me. It''s actually been especially hard without seeing my sister, Nina couldn''t fill that gap, but maybe it''s because we weren''t that far apart in age did I feel some level of familiarity like this. Nina smiled and lowered her head in a bow. "Yes, I appreciate it." Since Nina was adamant on refusing my offer, I had no intentions on forcing her and continued with my tea. A ck feline appeared in my line of vision with a small purr. I suspended the raised tea cup before it could reach my lips and nced at the little creature. It pawed it''s little way here then leaped to the table where it sat and began licking its paws. Instinctively my eyes twitched. Just then, Nina said with emotion. "Your deeds about taking in stray and wounded animals and caring for them long enough until they are ready to return back outside is truly admirable and awe-inspiring, young master. This fine maid is pleased...mhm-hmm". She wiped a small tear from eyes. "..." I didn''t respond and simply faced forward. ''This young master is sorry!'' The cat was obviously my hateful familiar, Hamlet. He was currently in the small form of apletely ck cat with particrly striking silver eyes. Goddamit, this damed monster is freakishly good at stealing the existence of others! ''I asked you to add to our arsenal, not be a damned cat, you bastard...'' I directed my venom and bloodlust through my intent at the cat which suddenly froze and whimpered backwards. ''That''s right, run.'' What Nina talked about was Hamlet going around and Mimicking whatever creatures and animals he devoured anding back to me.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Thanks to this bastard, I now have a long list of totally unrted and useless characteristics! ''I said hunt a powerful and terrifying monster or die trying, not steal our neighbours cat!'' yes, yes, I recognized that cat too! Then Nina dreadfully said and my back straightened. "That''s strange too. What a coincidence, I heard Madam Godfrey recently lost her cat too." ''Again. This young master is sorry!'' "Ah...hahaha. I-is that so? That''s too bad, then. Madam Godfrey r-really like that cat, didn''t she?" I stuttered sheepishly. Nina solemnly nodded with emotion. "Yes, yes. She really did. Was all she talked about whenever she visited." I''m skining my slime alive today, it''s decided. I promptly made my mind as I red silently from my side. Hamlet, in cat form, tried to avert my gaze and took the initiative to leave. Restraining my emotions, Iughed sheepishly then gave a sympathetic sigh while shaking my head. There was a small white piece of envelope with a familiar insignia on the table next to my tea set. I nced at it and took the opportunity to change the subject. "This is from my sister. It came a while ago, but I still haven''t gone through it." It happened while I was still in the dungeon. When I got back, I was too emotionally upied and overwhelmed, that I totally forgot. And there''s the stunt I pulledst night too. ''Speaking of which, I wonder how that vige is doing?'' Dorian, my father, will definitely be getting news about it. I''ll have to stylishly check with him and find out what he knows. Hehe, but my performance gave me a really cool idea. Perhaps there might be a way, I Victor Bright, can live a peaceful and serene life, away from all the impurities, while doing what I have to do at the same time. Musing to myself silently, I decided to check out the letter finally. "Should I leave?" Nina who was next to me said as she noticed what I was about to do. I turned and smiled and raised my hand a little. "There''s no need. I don''t mind." With that, I unfolded opened the letter from Adrienne and began read. "¡ªDear, brother. How are you? I hope this letter meets you well..." ''A...'' I pursed my lips as a tingling feeling filled my che- "¡ªIt better." ''Scary! I can literally read the bloodlust from the letters!'' Feeling the back of my clothes slowly drenched with sweat I continued reading the letter. "¡ªAs you know, I am currently in my final year at Aegis. It has been a truly fruitfull and encouraging journey at the most prestigious Hero academy in the whole Human domain. I have been able to be much more powerful than before, and I feel like I might be close to breaking into Quadra rank in about a year more and a half, although I haven''t told anyone else but you yet...." I paused and the smile on my face froze. ''Monster!'' As a matter of fact, it was actually revealed years ago that Adrianne had indeed already been Awakened before the Bloodline ritual. It was just as I thought. That meant, she Awakened, at about the same time I did. No, I Awakened around the same time she did, yet she had alreadye this far. It had to be noted, the average age of for awakening, is from the earliest 13-16 years old. That meant, Adrianne awakened a few years earlier than that to prove her talent. Well...I did too, but that was mostly because I had Meta and the system. In any case, Adrianne and I were more or less supposed to be equal...no that''s not right. Despite being of the same Ranks, the talents of Heroes usually can''t always bepared. Adrianne was far more talented. Without a doubt, this revtion caused her price as a beacon for the Branch families, and even the Main household to grandly skyrocket. There was a little controversy then, but it was all resolved when the elders sat around and looked at the prospects my older bro sister provide for them. Thest time I saw Adrianne, almost two years ago...she was still just a newly advanced Hero Rank. Not even close to the preciple. Surely, a major part of her advancement is due to the support and resource the family has spent, including sending her to The Aegis. So while I was intentionally impeding my progress to avoid attention, Adrianne was using everything she had and received to boost hers. Suddenly I wanted to cry. But I was d for her. The stronger Adrianne can get before the Cmity, the better for me. ¡ª"... You''ve finally Awakened, right? It''s been about a year or so now? And considering your rank...it shouldn''t take you more than two years, if even, to Rank up to Mortal. Yes. It''s a little risky, but that''s the minimum requirement..." ''Requirement? What is she talking about?'' I leaned my face casually on my arm which was ced in the table and continued reading. "¡ªYes, there''s still enough time, so it''s very possible. I''ve heard from Mom, and dad, I know you''ve worked hard while I''m away, so I''m sure you can definitely do it. Vic, in one year, I want you to be a Mortal Rank at the very least. You might already be now, actually if I consider your period of awakening. But that''s even better. Mortal rank is the basic requirements, but anything above is also highlymended. Yes. Vic, have you ever thought of going to the Academy?" Chapter 58 Aegis "¡ªVic, why don''t you trying to Academy? Aegis is definitely worth it''s title of a highly renowned and influential Hero organisation. As someone who has experienced their facilities first hand, I can definitely vouge for it. Victor, I want you to seriously think about this...I only want the right thing for my sweet younger brother. If youe to Aegis, you will definitely be more powerful." ''Hoh. The academy, huh..''. I mused inwardly as I read Adrianne''s letter. To be honest, I was considering ittely. I just found it a little surprising and unexpected that Adrianne would be thinking the same. ''Actually, no. Considering how she is, it''s no suprise. She would propose this sooner orter...'' I was already closely leaning towards the optiontely since I got back. It was between either, somehow get into the Academy, or venture out into the world. I nned on giving my family some bullshit heartfelt excuse about self-discovery and what-not, then seek out thing''s like Dungeons, or even Inheritance dungeons too. Those things were terrifying, but very effective. I would just travel the world and gather different sources of experience and slowly raise my strength. I also had to seek out the fragments of Goliath, and I also wanted to learn more about Lace and a few other necessary things I took note of. Maybe I''ll be an Adventurer or something of that sorts. Honestly, it was a wild shot in the dark. But as long as I had the system, Meta with me, I knew I''d definitely get stronger. It beat just remaining in thefort of the mansion by leagues. I drummed my fingers on the table in thought. ''What do you think, Meta?'' [AEGIS poses better prospects for you] Meta said. I hummed a little before saying: ''borate.'' There was a slight buzz inside my head as Meta promptly replied. Her synthetic and illusionary voice echoed in my mind. [For starters, it''s a specialized facility which has already groomed and develop countless powerful individuals. It''s provides resources that many could fail to afford in a lifetime. While venturing out to be an Adventurer has perks of its own, in manners or experience and maturity, it is also a blind shot in the dark. Anything could happen during one of your travels, anything could go wrong. Inheritance Dungeons, or even ones on nearly simr ss to the Dungeon of Lace of Entropy, are nearly almost nonexistent. You may be an Adventurer or Traveler for years, but still he unsessful. In the end, it''s a matter of luck.] ''And I''m seven thousand years behind luck... literally.'' Well, I guess it''s decided then. I''m going to Aegis. [That would be the most eligible course. In the end, once you graduate and still harbor simr thoughts as now, you will even be more eligible to be on an Adventurer or Traveler and continue with your goals.] Meanwhile, I only had a limited period of time to choose the Academy. Meta''s words better put perspectives in ce. Going to the academy was the better option of the two. I summarised all of my thoughts and interactions with Meta in a few seconds before Nina could notice then turned my attention back to the letter. After that, Adrianne mostly just described how her life was going and things like that. Apparently she was scouted by multiple organizations, and is amongst the top three top students of Aegis. This meant, Adrianne was Inrge demand from all over. The letter concluded with my sister threatening me to send a reply as soon as possible. By the time I was done, my tea had turned cold. I didn''t mind too much as I slowly got up. "Is there something?" Nina who patiently and devotedly waited by my side all this time said with a small bow. "No, not really. I''ve had my fill for now. I''ll be taking a small walk for fresh air, you''re dismissed untilter. Go have some rest, Nina." Saying so, I smiled and left the pavilion. A pleasant and warm draft of wind blew past and whipped through my hair. Now then...I had to figure out what to do with all that money I madest night. "Ah, that''s a pain. I was originally going to use it to fund my adventures, but I guess it can wait. Why does it sound like I''m whining over having too much cash..." Silently, I decided to leave all my loot inside Hamlet for the meantime. It doesn''t hurt to have extra cash, and it would definitelye in handy sooner orter. Having idle thoughts, I took a casual stroll round one of the annex buildings. Before I head to Aegis, there were only a few things left to do. I stretched my hands over my head as I yawned tiredly. Ah, it think it''s about time I make a fake breakthrough to ''Mortal Rank''. Since the moment I Awakened, I was intentionally dying my progress and advancement to hide it. If I became too strong, it will gather unnecessary attention on me. But as this continued, it became less and less necessary and easier to hide thanks to Adrianne who was deflecting all of the attention from me. Then I found the Ring of Solomon that allows me to hide any aspect of my existence as I wish. There was no longer any need to slow down. I could now really continue to get stronger while hiding. [All that said, for the current you, it''ll take at least a year or close to breakthrough from Mortal Rank to Eta Rank.] Meta, my ever charming system, whispered into my mind. ''All because of my damned Blessing of Ether attribute...'' well, not quite. I might be a Mortal Rank Awakened, but my body is definitely slightly more stronger and developed because of my extended exposure to higher quality Aether. Now nothing short of that quality would barely suffice to raise even my level by one. I was still getting stronger like any other Awakened of my rank, but it''s...kind of like, my standards are just higher and different.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om By level 35, I''ll break through and be Eta Rank. I''m currently level 27, that''s eight levels away. It didn''t seem much, but it is. Especially for me. One year. Meta estimates I''d gather enough energy in one year from now. I''ll have to work two times...no...four time harder than others now. The depressing thought made me smile. I stopped behind one of the buildings and leaned against the wall while I raised my head and stared at the drifting clouds and blue sky. If I attend the a academy, that might be thetest before I make a breakthrough. Until then, I can pretend to be Mortal rank here to raise my chances of being eligible to attend Aegis. The minimum age is 16. I''m currenlt 15...so all of my ns and the things I had to do more or less tallied with one year. With that, my next course of action for the following year isplete. I''ll make adjustments due to the corresponding changes or information I may find. Until then I''ll do my best to rank up, and get into Aegis. I''ll utilise Thier facility, and all the resources that can provide me to get stronger. Once I graduate ¡ª if by then it isn''t toote ¡ª then I''ll be a traveller. I''ll explore the world and seek out the answers to my questions. Who is Lace? What is the System? What exactly is the Cmity? How do I survive? How does it concern me? When will it begin? I guess it was time I actively began. The hero already failed me once in the vision I saw. I had to prepare countermeasures for that apocalypse. My family...me, everything. Relying on that burning bastard would definitely be the end of me. But if possible, maybe there was also a way I could use the hero. Ah, but that would require me finding him out first. Chances of that are expectantly low, to be honest. I had no idea who they were, all I knew was they burned with bright illusionary mes ''The future can be changed.'' if the System could show me that vision and assign me a quest that requested me to ''survive'' that meant if was possible. In the vision, everyone was dead after all. There was a slight possibility, a small chance ¡ª maybe in a separate timeline or multiverse ¡ª that the Hero won - Well, the n is still the same anyway. I''ll adjust my set of actions with any corresponding sequence of events that happens along the way. If I don''t find the Hero, good. If I do find them, even better. I don''t know what exactly I''d do, but I''ll think of it then. The hero failed once, but they''re the Hero for a reason. ''They can be useful.'' if not for the world, then for me. As long as I have to survive I''ve decided I''ll utilise whatever option or resources I can find. To live the life I want, I''ll do anything. Of course I still n to live leisurely, that thought hasn''t changed but is only even more reinforced! I''ll get stronger, but it isn''t just to survive the Cmity, it''s to rule my own destiny. Wether be it the Hero, the Cmity, the Demon king, Meta, or the one responsible for all this.... I''ll live. I''ll live and survive and take my own fate into my hands. I''ll lead my destiny myself, and I''ll destroy whatever stands in my way with whatever means necessary. This was my second life. This was my redemption. The damend universe knows I''m not bending the knee this time. "Haha...haha hahahaha..." And to achieve all that, Aegis will merely be a stepping stone. I was full of dark ecstacy as Iughed. There was sadness, grief, anger, dark excitement, and disgust inside of me. All of which were targeted at myself and my measly existence of course. So it was a self mockingugh...one of sinister promise. I made up my mind. In one year, I would attend Aegis. ???AUTHOR''S NOTE??? Hey, guys. I want to start with assigning stone goals, and awarding extra chapters, and I''ll need your help and support. As this will be my first official time, let''s start small. ?For every 10 Golden Tickets, One extra chapter ?For every 20 powerstones, One extra chapter. The target and goals will be effective from now, and so I hope you continue to support me. Thank you for everything. Chapter 59 Wake Up, Prince Charming RUMBLE¡ª! RUMBLE ¡ª! I wasying under a fractured red sky where thunder rumbled and fissures broke the heavens in devouring cracks. ''What...'' The rubbled ground I wasying on felt hot, and my bones were crushed and shattered. I felt bruised all over. My skin was burnt and I couldn''t find it in me to muster enough strength to raise a single finger. The familiar sensation of blood clugging my lungs filled me, the salty iron taste was dominant inside my mouth. My head was throbbing, sending pangs of pain through my brain. I watched the world literally copse and fall around me. The broken red sky shattered and rained down like boulders. Thunder rumbled like the bellow of a hungry beast, and dark silver streaks of lightning arched through the sky. I felt the slight touch of a warm, and unsettling liquid spread out from underneath me. ''Is that my blood...'' I thought, but I couldn''t muster the strength to speak or move my lips. It felt like the body didn''t belong to me. Like I was viewing all of this through a ss mirror. ''Then why does it hurt?'' I did know the answer to that. No, not quite. ''Immersion?'' as soon as I had that thought, I heard a faint voice from my side. "Did...did it have to end this way?" It was a faint voice. It was hoarse, but gentle. A voice filled with pain and anguish as it spoke to me. When I heard the voice, my previously numb and indifferent heart pulsed mildly. I was filled with an indescribable emotion. It was subtle and suppressed, but it was definitely there at the depest corners of my heart. Of this body''s heart. It felt like... longing. Desire. Nostalgia. Pain and anguish. But not from my broken body...but it was something from the depths of my existence. While I drifted amongst the strange and powerful emotion I felt, the soft voice filled with misery and sadness continued to painfully utter with regret. "We could have gone back... Is this what you wanted? All of it this?" The voice was pained, but it''s simple sound filled me with a sweet sadness. Somehow, I felt like I''d always longer to hear the voice. No. I''ve always longed for the owner behind it. But what was the voice talking about? ''Go back? To where?'' Who even was speaking to me? The voice...it sounded feminine? I wasn''t sure, but it was deeply familiar. Maybe it was just another aspect of this strange body and illusion. ''I'' didn''t recognise the voice, but ''this'' body seemed to be beyond familiar with it. -Rumble! Rumble! The World shook once more as another portion of the red sky fell to the ground above me. Just then, ''I'' finally managed to muster the strength...the motivation to move my head only slightly. I turned to sluggishly face the direction of the voice, and right next to me, my gaze stopped at the presence of two steel armour boots. It seemed like whoever I was speaking to was standing over. I want to see.... I want to see their face... One more time, let me see it... Longing. That desire burned in this body''s suppressed heart. ''Why?'' As I thought that, the edge of its bloodly lips slow curled up self-deprecatingly as I managed to look up. I traced my gaze over the boots, slowly raising it past the shin, and over the knees. The person was a figure in lusterless and ruined armour. They were covered in blood and wounds, and their left hand was missing. I want to see their face... With that emotion burning feverishly inside of me, I raised my gaze straight for the figures head. But immediately I winced. ''It''s bright...'' It was too bright. It was like there was a burning silver halo surrounding their face. All I could see were faint wisps of long white hair dancing erratically in the stale wind. I could barely make the outline of fair skin tainted with dry blood.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om I couldn''t clearly see their face, but I could feel the gaze the person sent to me. It was one of sorrow. Of pain. Of regret. Hoarsely, ''i''ughed. The actions hurt, as it felt like my lungs were burning. But this body still did it anyway. Then softly he spoke. He outstretched his left hand slowly and weakly as if to reach and behold the person. "... You''ve always been so bright...like the sun... Like the mes you burn. Hehe...you were always so blinding too look at, ah, and at some point....that radiance... used to be mine. Cough..." I coughed out a puddle of blood, but continued with my smile. But... "And at some point..." That radiance.. "...I lost it." I lost it. My outstretched arm weakly fell back to the ground. A deep and gnawing sense of lost consumed me. No. The loss has always been there. Just among the many other senses and emotions ''i'' forcefully sealed away for my goal. ''My goal?'' What was my goal again? Was it worth it? ''Ah, I can''t remember. No. I don''t know. This is just an illusion... right?'' Then why? That feeling of lost ''Why does it hurt?'' As I painfully pondered my unclear emotions, the vast ''illusionary'' world began to crumble before my vision. The scene was dissipating like ash in the wind. ''No...'' I gazed onest time at the blinding halo of the figure and attempted to reach out ''No.'' I didn''t want to leave. ''No! Don''t go...'' Those words... ''Don''t leave me again... Please!''. I couldn''t say them despite wanting to. With thest vestiges of the vision, I watched the armoured figure reach out a hand to me. ''Ah.'' I wanted to reach out for it. But in the end.. ''...This is how it should be.'' ...I smiled. The next moment, the vision fell and my world turned ck. . . . . [Skill has been deactivated] A synthetic voice red inside my head, and an illusinary window shed through for a quick second. I couldn''t see what it said as it vanished as soon as it flickered. I felt my consciousness coalesce and solidify as my eyes slowly fluttered open Sunlight. That was sthe first thing I saw. It was bright. ''Ah. It''s just like...'' Huh? Just like what again? Wait. What was I just doing? Strangely I couldn''t recall. Just then, [GET UP!] Meta''s sudden loud voice boomed inside my head and forced me to jolt up. I rolled on my side and easily fell off my bed to the wooden floorboards with a mild thump. "Oof." A strained groan only managed to leak from my lips as I felt the blunt impact roll through my body lika a mild stimtion. But it only seeded to drive away my drowsiness for only a little, but that was enough to get me mostly awake now. "Ugh... What the hell, Meta..." I groaned as I rubbed my be and rolled to my side, then reseted on my back. "Ahh..." The floorboards felt so cold, and the world felt so fake. [Rise and shine, young master. Your prince charming has arrived.] Meta snorted mockingly inwardly, but I didn''t pay attention to that. I noticed that my hazy vision was because my eyes were wet and moist. I could feel a trickle of liquid trail down the corners of my eyes and over my ears. I raised my hand to wipe my eyes, and discovered they were tears. ''What? Am I crying?'' Why? Eh, if kind of feels like I''m forgetting something... I wasn''t sure. But, just then, [What? Did you fall and get a booboo? Does it hurt?] Meta said and the edge of my lips twitched in annoyance. Wasn''t this system getting more bold with its insults? ''Who''s fault do you think that is?'' with a small snort, I rubbed my eyes onest time and forced my body to sit up. Right next time me was my bed with the white sheets ruffled from what just happened. I was sitting up against the floor half naked, and a portion of the sterling sunlight filled my room from a nearby closed window. With anguid nce I swept my gaze through my otherwise empty room. It was a bit different from my usual one. -DING! A high pitched chime resounded in my head, and Meta said systematically like a system prompt. [You have one new notification.] She was obviously still mocking me by doing this, but regardless, I still let Meta continued. The next moment, she said something that nearly forced me to choke on my saliva. [The Academy Evaluation is today. You have less than forty minutes to get ready, and get your white ass moving.] Then there was a slight vibration from a ck bracelet wrapped around my left wrist. -Vmmm! -Vmmm! Then I remembered... [[ Daily reminder. Dear, Junior Cadet, Victor Bright, you have less than forty minutes until the start of the evaluation. Please arrive in time at the requested location toplete the final process of your admission into the prestigious institution. ¡ª The Management.]] That''s right. I was at the Academy. . . [A/N: Second half of the first Volume begins, starting....now] Chapter 60 Evaluation [1] [[ Daily reminder. Dear, Junior Cadet, Victor Bright, you have less than forty minutes until the start of the evaluation. Please arrive in time at the requested location toplete the final process of your admission into the prestigious institution. ¡ª The Management.]] I stared at the translucent window screen projected from my bracelet before me and cursed bitterly. "Shit!" I waste. No, not quite. "I''m fuckingte." I waved my left wrist and quickly shot up to my feet. The white bedsheets ced on my bed next to me fluttered lightly as a result of my sudden actions, but I didn''t bother or spare it a nce. I jerked my head to the sides and swept my dorm room with a nce. What was I looking for? I had no idea! I looked down at my body. I was half naked and only wearing a piece of pajamas. ''Pants.'' For now, let''s take off the pants. "Dammit, Meta, why didn''t you wake me up earlier?!" I cursed and gritted with clenched teeth as I struggled and wrestled with the soft fabric or my pants that refused toe off! [I don''t know what your talking about. I''m a system, not an rm clock.] Strangely enough, I could visualise Meta shrug her nonexistent shoulders in my head. No! No time for useless thoughts. Get your pants off and get naked first- ...that sounded so wrong. I didn''t bother to respond to Meta, and instead focused on quickly getting ready. In time, I was out of those sted pants of mine and hurriedly went to freshen up. At the moment, I was currently in a rush to get out of my room for an appointment of some sort. Aegis was very particr about punctuality and keeping to time. I was careless. Never once had I thought that I would also have to redo this part of my life since my Transmigration. Dammit. It was a sincere blunder on my part...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It took me ten minutes to get out of my pajamas, brush my teeth, and roll out of the bath. Then an extra eight minutes to find my pants! "Shit. Now I can''t find my socks..." Ah, I hate this stage of my life. The waking up early for school and loosing a pair of socks on ate day part. "Fuck this. {Appraisal}!" [Skill {Appraisal} level 3 has been activated.] The details of the world the filled my vision changed significantly with various informations and windows popping up. With a frustrated thought, I dismissed all of those, and instead peered through solid objects to find those dammed socks! I looked through the roofs, through the walls, and through the floorboards. Eventually, after a sted couple of minutes I found the location of my hidden socks. "Meta, how long left do I have before the Evaluation begins?" I asked apprehensively and Meta promptly responded [Not more than twenty minutes.] Then she brutally said. [You won''t make it.] ''Fuck you!'' While swearing at my luck, and very supportive system, I believe I made thest finishing touches and quickly headed for the door without looking back. I was in such a rush to get out quickly that I didn''t even bother to straighten my uniform, or fix my messy hair. My bed was undone, and my room was in shambles and litered with pieces of clothes scattered all around, after turning it upside down for searching for my damned socks. I gave my room onest exasperated look before closing the door shut behind me. And without a moment notice to waste, ''Run!'' I bolted down the empty hallway. *** "Ah...how did ite to this? Just where have I gone wrong, Meta?" Ah, right. It was right from the moment I decided to attend the Academy. Ouuu, then I spoke a lot of hot air, didn''t I? That was one year ago. Right now I was walking down a long and seemingly grand empty passageway, lined with tall and wide windows on the left that were drapped and covered in burgundy wine curtains. Each piece of curtain was embroidered with a specific design. It was the academic insignia of Aegis; a resplendent shield donned with a sterliing crown that was swirling with what resembled twinkling stars at the top, and a few other details. In front of me, leading the way, was a middle aged man with already graying hair. He was wearing a rather high quality and stylish ck suit. His graying hair was nearly styled and his back stood straight and tall as he briskly walked forward. All of this just contributed to giving him a rather respectable and professional bearing. Kind of like those butlers of high level households. ''Ah, he is a butler though.'' I wasn''t sure of the details, but yeah, he more or less was. This middle aged man was assigned to lead me, who barely made it in time for the evaluation, to the room or suite it will be held. As a result of my myte entry, I was the only one who was currently being led down the empty passage. My back was slightly hunched and my shoulders were stiff. Was I nervous? No. I was unmotivated. No. It would be more urate to say... ''I''m exhausted.'' I was burned out. The energy and stamina I spent panicking and sprinting all the way here from my dorm room had left me an empty and unmotivated shell. Of course the physical exhaustion was just all in my head. I was an Awakened at the peak of Mortal Rank, a sprint halfway across Campus wouldn''t leave me entirely depleted physically. But I was mentally exhausted anyway. I nced at the straight back of the Middle aged butler leading me, and didn''t restrain my urge to yawn. Just then, I heard him say in a crisp and concise voice without turning around. "The details of the evaluation will be briefed and introduced to you once you have arrived at the location. Until then, I can only wish you the best of luck, and for you to do your best." ''...Even his voice sounds professional.'' quite frankly, half of what Mr. Butler said went out the other end of my ear. But I more or less understood what he was talking about. In a matter of seconds more, the Middle aged man in a fancy ck suit, stopped with poise all of a sudden. Finally... "We''re here." I heard him say. ...we had arrived. Inguidly raised my gaze and shifted it off the back of the man and stared forward. Just before us, at the end of the long and empty passageway, were tworge and exquisite wooden doors. The two frames stood imposingly, exuding a certain amount and type of pressure. And behind that door... ''Hmm? There''s a lot.'' I cocked my head slightly. I could feel a vast number of various different presence. The middle aged man who led me here didn''t linger on formalities or anything. He briskly walked up to the double doors, and fluently pushed them open before me. ''Welp, I guess this is it.'' I restrained a sigh, and instead took in a deep breath. As the doors were pushed open, I could slowly feel a number of gazes converge to my figure. The doors were pushed entirely open, until the room on the other side was leftpletely exposed to see. There wasrge number of people,. students like me, in uniform, who have alsoe to be evaluated. They waited and loitered around arge hall with some forming groups, and others leaning against the walls or columns. Inadvertently as the door was pushed open, and as thest, and unexpectedly final person to arrive thiste, my single appearance garnered a lot of attention. Before entering and without making an obvious show of it, I swept my gaze through those I could see already. There were all sorts of gazes directed at me, and a majority of them were seemingly probing me. ''Checking out thepetition, huh." I casually thought, then smiled inwardly. ''That''s too bad for you then.'' they had no chance of discovering anything from me. And just as expected, in a second, all of the gazes slowly averted from my figure, some easily disregarding my presence like I wasn''t worth the attention. I didn''t mind the sudden cold and aloof looks of dismissal I received, and felt the cold touch of a bronze ring on one of my left fingers before stepping into the room. The butler nced at me onest time as I walked past and nodded. Then just as elegantly as he did before, he closed the wooden doors shut behind me. After that, a middle aged woman rushed up to me with a clipboard in hand. She had on a pair of thin framed sses, and her light brown hair was styled neatly in a professional bun. She was wearing a ck suit just like the man from before. She coldly scrutinized me. But, though I said that, her gaze only lingered for less than two seconds before disregarding me Then she said in an empty voice. "And you are?" I didn''t mind her attitude and indifferently responded. "Victor Bright. Code number: 688801." I said curtly. The next moment thedy scanned through whatever was in her clipboard and eventually nodded. "Await your name and call, then head straight in for the room at the end of the hall." She coldly said and turned to walk away. I had already taken my gaze of her retreating back, and turned to taking in the rest of the sight of the packed hallway. Then Izily said. "Roger that." [A/N: Iing bonus Chapter for the 20 more powerstones!!] Chapter 61 Evaluation [2] [Bonus] The Evaluation at Aegis was one of thest final procedures in a long list of the admission processes before an aspirant is fully acknowledged as a student or cadet. Well, not quite. Technically, we were already students of the academy which could already have been given off since everyone present in this hall is wearing the same academy uniform. As long as one seeds to pass the initial requirements, and screening at the beginning, then they''ve already been admitted. All that was left was the clearance stage, and the Evaluation that would follow. The wide hall was packed full with over two hundred students. It was a bit of a pain for me to get through without often going, "Ah, my bad." "Oops, sorry pal." "Groped you behind? I have no idea what your talking abo-" Of course thatst one ended with a p too swift I barely followed it. ''Ah, now my face stings.'' right there at that moment, I made a mental note. Never look forward to the p of a blossoming Awakened youngdy. Shuffling through therge crowd, I walked across the wide hall and found an empty standing space avable next to a wall. Avoiding the gazes of others, I leaned my back against it and left my arms in my pocket. Less than a secondter, everyone had looked past the smallmotion caused while I was moving through the crowd. It was like they didn''t seem me worthy of even their attention or their gazes. Ah. It was whem I finally fully took in the scene fromy position did I realise something. This hall... "Isn''t it kind of stuffy in here...?'' ...is full crazy oppression. There was a transient tension that hung suspended in the air over the impending evaluation. Actually, it was like a sh of different tension. There was an entire storm hurricane of it happening inside the hall. ''Damn, if they keep this us, then even I might end up getting nervous.'' I pulled at my tie and murmured inwardly. Part of the stuffiness in the air was caused over the nervousness that followed the Evaluation. I could see the minute traces of anxiousness and apprehension lining the faces of many present. Those were the ones who were most worried about their own personal oue, and exuded at least one-fourth of the tension in the air. I moved my gaze slightly. There were also those who were wary and cautious of thepetition surrounding them rather than themselves. These belonged to the group of those who were wary of potential ''talents'' that were bigger and greater than theirs. The gazes that convergened on me during my arrival were mostly made up of these numbers. Aegis was a great andpetitive institution, and these people were always on edge about someone more talented one-uping them. These people constituted to about two-fourth of the tension. And finally ... I shifted my gaze slightly again, imperceptibly. There were those who were brimming with so much confidence and arrogance, that it was just overwhelming. These people could easily be spotted from the level ofposure and bearing they had. They weren''t nervous of their personal oue that would follow the Evaluation, neither were they worried of talents much better or greater than them. They were the best. Wether they meaned to transmit that intentionally or not, their overflowing confidence andposure did that for them. It flowed out from this individuals like a tidal wave, stirring the weaker hearts and minds of those fretting over one reason or another. And that in turn, contributed to the ravaging storm of tension and emotions that brewed a hurricane inside the hall. "Hah..." I sighed. As for me, I was one of the rare few, or possibly only one, who didn''t ssify amongst the three main types of people current. Was I nervous? No. Was I confident? Not quite either. It was more like, I wasn''t worried, or didn''t care too much about the oue. It was already inevitable. I was in a grumpy mood that just found all of this a honest pain, although I knew it was necessary. I also more or less knew what to expect from this ''evaluation'' from what I heard from Adrianne and Meta already. As I waited patiently from my spot, various names and students were called and mentioned ahead of me, who nervously, or elegantly walked into the Inner room behind the doors at the end. I pretended to ignore the tension and exchange of nervous and wary gazes that were flying around between the students in the hall and just stood silently, waiting for my turn which would probably be in a while. asionally, the mentioned students who went into the Inner room would return and ultimately leave the hall. During those frequent moment, most of the gazes and attentions from the others would deeply and intensely converge on their retreating figures, closely observing even their most minute facial expressions or actions to get a hint of their oue. And as time passed, the situation only continued to thicken. All in all, it was a pretty downcast and domineering atmosphere in here. Felt like I could suffocate if I remained any longer than an hour more. Fortunately, " Junior Cadet, Victor Bright. Student ID: 688801, please step forward for your evaluation." I didn''t have too wait any longer. A crisp and stern voice came from outside the doors of the inner room, highlighting my turn. And once again, all of the gazes present converged towards my sole figure. ''Finally.'' I breathed a sigh of relief and exhaustion as I pushed my back off the wall and slowly approached the door. I shuffled through the partially dwindled number of the crowd. Their gazes were sharp and intense, filled with all sorts of emotion, but I ignored them. Unlike thest few times, the looks persisted quite a little while longer than before. But by the time I was close to walking through the wooden door, most of those gazes had already diverted from my figure, casting me with their ''indifference'' and aloofness. Before I was gone into the room, no one else was giving me the time of day any longer...N?v(el)B\\jnn Or so I thought. "Hm?" There was one. ''...What?'' I felt the particr gaze of a single person that stood longer on my back after everyone else had already turned away. I had a pretty high perception and was very sensitive to most things around me so it wasn''t hard to notice. I was curious. I didn''t stop walking, and only indifferently shifted my gaze to the side towards the direction the lingering look came from. Amongst the crowd, it was a young girl. I couldn''t clearly imprint her features in my mind from the distance and the short moment. But she stood out particrly because of what happened next. She seemed startled and clumsy as she tripped on her own feet the moment I turned to nce at her. ''What the hell?'' That was... actually kind of amusing. I heard her slight high-pitched yelp and suppressed a smallugh before turning away and continued through the door. A small passage continued from behind the wooden frames, before me. Thedy from before who mentioned my turn then said to me curtly. "Just continue forward down this path. You can''t deviate." I gave a small nod and did as she said, as the doors closed shut behind my back. It didn''t take even up to a minute before I finally arrived at a wide room at the end. It seemed like arge open space, with wide walls that were far separated. It had a certain chill and vibe to it, as all the walls, floor, and ceilings were painted pure white that was so pristine and neat, that they seemed to glow. Scattered around the wide room that was nearly half the size of the hall from before, there were what resembled cubicles, or work stations neatly aligned, and isted from one another with partitions. The formed three rows and columns, and I could spot the backs and figures of students undergoing their evaluation inside some of them. I received some instructions and slowly walked into one of the vacant cubicles. It really did seem just like an office station, to myplete bafflement. There was a seemingly simple desk set up, and on the other end of it, sat a young woman with neatly styled ck hair. She wore a stainless white shirt and smiled warmly as she gestured for me to take a seat right next to her. I responded with a silent nod and sat across her from the small desk in-between us. Within that short span, i swept my gaze through whatever I could find on the desk and in the station. And only one particr gadget really caught my attention. It was a spherical ss like orb ced at the center of the table, on a small stand that supported the orb. It''s surface was unreflective, and waspletely see through, giving it a kind of empty feeling. And of course, ''This is it.'' I knew exactly what that ''device'' was. Just as I had that thought, I heard the soft voice of thedy opposite me and raised my head slightly. "Now we will begin your talent evaluation." . . [A/N: One bonus Chapterplete. Reminder; 20 powerstones = an Extra Chapter 10 Golden tickets = an Extra chapter too So see you next time!] Chapter 62 Evaluation [3] The Evaluation. It was a final process to the long admission system, after the aspirants sessfully passes the entrance exam, or fulfil the standards and requirements. Thinking that, my nose involuntarily twitched. I...more or less passed the exam. Somewhat. I mean...I was here, right? I suppressed those hollow thoughts and nced at the transparent ss orb. Then, "We will now begin your evaluation. Please have a sit." I heard the gentle voice of the young female staff sitting across from me. I nodded only mildly and pushed the seat back, before doing as she suggested. My gaze was still on the crystal. There was a slight level of apprehension and confliction inside of me. I knew what would happen next. During the Evaluation, the aspirants ''Talent'' as a ''prospect'' was gauged and measured. This final detail would be added andplimented to our overall results from the entrance exam, and a corresponding ranks would be given by the end of it all. That was what Adrianne said, and Meta even confirmed to this. Knowing all this, it would be normal that I had no reason to feel nervous despite knowing what to expect. Well, not quite. The evaluation had every reason to have the one getting evaluated all nervous. After all, their corresponding talent may as well, more or less, determine their future in the world of Awakened. But I was nervous, for the same reason, but not... It was exactly because I wasn''t sure how it''ll turn it, but separately from how others might think. I also don''t know my Talent prior to this, and even Meta doesn''t seem to be able to give me an answer. All sorts of thoughts filled my mind. And there''s that too... For starters, I was slightly different from most Awakened. The female staff then began to introduce the system and how the evaluation would go. "...The Evaluation, as you may already know will be revealing your ''Talent'' and potential, which will be added to your culminative result from the exam. And from there, a corresponding ranks will be assigned to you at the start of the semester..." They were all things I was already aware, but I silently listened through it while hiding my thoughts behind a casual visage. Seeing me intently pay attention, thedy smiled a little.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "The Talent ranks are equivalent from Beta Rank to Cand, or Prospects are graded from 1 to 5. But do note that the readings of one''s Talent using the method may not always be certain. That is for the reason that, one''s Talent may change or develop over time, although hardly. And, it is also impossible to directly gauge the precise wavelength. We can only give a rough estimate of the prospect, so to say." I listened. Pretended too. She talked a lot in detail about the system, but they were all things I was already aware of prior to this moment. In other words, whatever the results may be is only a rough estimate of my talent as a prospect. It''s expected. Awakened, or Heros, were a rather sporadic group of people. One can never know what can happen. I was a good example. What I had running through my veins was Ether. An inverse or counterpart of Aether, which followed contradictory and sporadicws. I didn''t realise early at the beginning, but simply by possessing this power, I''ve gone off the regr route of a normal Awakened. And although the changes or effects weren''t actually obvious, it had more to do with my future and morphed innate talent. I was someone who could use both Mana and Aura. Someone who''s body has been refined by a rare fruit of Aurora, and my Core was more robust than a usual Mortal Rank hero like myself. I could use more Aura or Mana than an average Hero my rank, and possessed a wider range of prospects and future talents. ''Those aren''t normal.'' Also, wasn''t Ether the legacy of a Demon Lord?! Wasn''t that bad? That was something I had to hide. That was why I was a little edged about what my talent may be. It was also why Meta ims she can''t provided an estimate either. Even the System couldn''t read my Ether and judge my estimated talent... In other words. I was an anomaly. Of sorts. "To begin, all you have to do is ce your hand on this orb and inject it with a little of your Mana or Aura. This item will gauge your Aether density, flow, purity and nature, and overall talent which will be represented in readings..." I restrained myself from letting out a breath and slowly raised my right palm. ''There''s no use thinking about it now.'' Sealing away my thoughts, I casually ced my hand over the ss-looking orb. As expected, it was rather smooth to the touch. Without much of an expression, I injected a little of my Ether into the device that was a quasi-artifact actually, and did as the staff said. ''Density...flow... purity, and nature. Should I be at least confident in the purity and density of my Ether? I mean, the fruit of Aurora helped me drastically improve all my Aether rted abilities right?'' And even after I acquired Etherter on, the [Blessing of Aether] attribute didn''t vanish, and instead became the [Blessing of Ether]. Was it safe to judge then, that I still had the effects of the blessing even with Ether now? Regardless of my uncertain thoughts, the ss orb soon glowed with a resplendent radiance as I continued to inject a little of my energy. The surface of the orb became warm, and in turn, I felt something transient invade my body through my right arm. Meta...the system hasn''t reacted, that means it''s not something remotely harmful, I thought as I pushed down traces of unease amd worry. As a result of that I had confidence, and judged there was no danger. So I didn''t panic and continued on with the process. It was a lie to say I wasn''t remotely nervous about the oue. I could almost feel my heart pounding behind my chest. In the meantime, the amiable female staff was observing the screen of what resembled a tablet in her hands on the other side. There was a small professional smile, something probably there to ease the worries of the aspirants during the evaluation. But the thing was. That smile was slowly falling apart. ''Fuck.'' It had only been less than eight seconds, and I already knew something was wrong. That...is not the expression of someone when everything''s alright... The friendly staff''s expression slowly fell and became contorted. I could see shock, I could see perplexion, and I could see outright bafflement. I watched with shallow breaths as the staff constantly looked between the tablet screen in her hands, and the glowing orb under my palm. "Huh?" Eventually, she managed to mutter. A strange smile made it to her lips as she looked up at me. Instinctively, I retracted my right arm and returned the look. "Uh-uhm...it appears there''s been a mistake..." "A mistake...?" I repeated slowly. "Y-yes. It seems like the device might be broken. Huh, that''s strange. It was also working just a while ago before your turn..." I silently heard her mutter towards the end. Why was she acting like this, I had no idea. I decided to remain silent, to avoid implicating myself if there was truly something wrong with Evaluation, until she addresses it first. "I see. So...what do we do then?" First of all, let''s go along with it and see where this goes... The faltering smile on the staff quickly fixed as she professionally regainedposure. "There''s no need to worry. If the device is faulty, all we need to do is get another one." She said, matter of factly. In response, I only nodded. "Then excuse me." I silently watched as the staff got up from behind her desk and left. She seemed to be in a little hurry,but tried to hide it. While her back vanished, I leaned back slightly and sighed deeply. "..." It didn''t take more than a minute, for the female staff to return. And in her hands, was a new and different crystal orb, just like the first one. She ced it carefully before me with a smile. "I''ve made sure of the functionality of this one. There should be no more errors." Her smile was steady, she seemed rather confident. After that, I simply repeated the process. I raised my right hand and ced my palm over the orb. I injected a trickle of my Ether and felt a transient tug through my arm and into my body. Once more, I watched the orb light up slightly. And once more, I watched the expression of the staff drop and crumble. "Th-this is..." Did the device really discover something about me then? I restrained my thoughts and automatically withdrew my hand. The staff raised her head too look at me with aplicated expression. "... I''m sorry. Excuse me, but this isn''t something I can establish with just my own judgement. I''ll go get the manager quickly, please wait." "Ah..." Before I could do anything, the female staff rapidly said and rushed away in a hurry. ''Manager?'' My face crumpled up lightly, but while she was gone, I cast my {Appraisal} skill on the orb. "Nothing..." There was nothing strange about it. Neither was there with thest one. Was the fault, or something, really from me then...? The female staff wasn''t gone long. In only a short matter of time she returned with a middle aged man wearing a ck suit, whom I presumed to be the aforementioned manager. He had a rxed expression on his face, which probably meant it didn''t seem like the situation was as bad as it seemed. Quiet honestly. Seeing his expression put me at ease slightly. The manager reached for the tablet like device and nced at it. There was a slight faltering in his expression. It was so subtle it was almost unnoticeable, but such details have be harder for me to miss during the past year. Regardless, the manager calmly nced at me with the same expression he came in with and his lips cooly parted as he said. "Talent Evaluation, Null." Chapter 63 Evaluation [4] There were eight corresponding Talent Ranks for a Talent Assessment or Evaluation. These assesments held the same Ranks as the power scaling of Awakened, namely from Beta rank to Cand progressively. In simpler terms, this meant that if an Awakened is Evaluated or Assessed to have Mortal Rank Talent, or even Cand rank talent, then it was very much likely for that Awakened to grow powerfully enough to reach the very pinnacle of the current Awakened system. It meant they were very likely to be Cand ranked Heroes. Same thing applied if their Talents were estimated to be Mortal, then they had a higher chance of making it to Mortal Rank. Same with Hero Rank, Quadra, Scribe...and so on. The point was, A Talent Evaluation or Assesment was literally directly equivalent to the potential of an Awakened. But both the words Talent and Potential are honestly vague, so in most cases, these Evaluations aren''t always exactly right and only provided a vague estimate that was more or less opened to interpretations. One can be estimated to be a Mortal Ranked talent, but end up breaking through all the way to Hero or Quadra rank. In the end, Talent or Potential can not be calcted, and only estimates can be made. There were also other variables that could constitute to the Talent of an Awakened throughout their lives. Awakened Heroes, after all, were a pretty sporadic group of people. But those cases and scenarios were actually in the minority. They weren''t rare, but they weren''t necessarilymon. It was actually kind of hard to find Awakened like that. In the end, the results of an Evaluation were mostly ny-eight to ny-nine percent right in most cases. The remaining one percent was left up to the various types of variables that may appear or happenter. So it also wasn''t odd to have a second Evaluationter, or even a third one. One''s Talent deeply influenced and mattered to an Awakened''s worth and standing in the world of Heroes. No. In the World of Aethoria as a whole. But... "...this....this doesn''t make sense." I muttered, the pure absurdity of it all hanging over my head like a guillotine. But I stared at the crumpled piece of paper in my hands that contained my data and analysis and results from my Evaluation. "How is it possible that my Talent is null?! Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Null... Didn''t that just mean I didn''t have Talent at all? Null is zero, right? No. Null is definitely zero! Not Beta Rank, but outright zero! "Bullshit." In the end I couldn''t stand the sight of my Evaluation result paper and crumpled it before stuffing it into my pocket. ...no matter how senseless it was, I still couldn''t afford to loose the paper... "Haa..." I ruffled my hair with my fingers and breathed out deeply. I had just stepped out of the building used for the Evaluation, and it was only until the doors were finally shut close behind me did I feel the strange and numerous gazes stop probing my back. I could almost still hear the whispers of shock and disbelief of the other cadets who were present when I had been evaluated. I took in another breath and stared nkly at the campus spread out before me. ''For now let''s find a seat and sort this all out.'' There was no point in agonizing and panicking over what just happened. Fact was, it already did. What had happened and happened. All that was left was to calmly piece together my thoughts and determine my next course of action. Quite frankly, I was certain my evaluation was dead wrong. The fact I was an Awakened alone was already enough proof of that. It was also why even the staffs and other candidates were that perplexed. I walked for a few minutes and eventually found a bench in what was like a park-like area and took a seat. Languidly, I watched as various students in uniforms and people walking by. It was still quite early, I guess. The Evaluation generally began by 10 am in the morning, and took about an hour before my turn. The current time was probably about 12:30, or even aste as 1:00. Wait then, isn''t thatte? Ah, whatever. Point is, it''s still just noon. ''Null talent...'' From what I know, there has never been an Awakened with that level of Evaluation ording to my knowledge. ''Meta, what do you think of this?'' as I watched the scenery drag on, I calmly asked Met inwardly. [There are numerous ws found in the evaluation, and the evaluation system as a whole.] Even Meta admits my Talent assesment was far from the truth. Null Talent meant, Zero talent. No Talent. That literally meant, I had no hope as an Awakened. Even Heroes with the lowest ranked Talents, had Beta Talents, or Mortal Talents. That meant, their peak and prospects were permanently, or majorly limited to Beta Rank or Mortal Rank. But here, Null Talent meant I wasn''t even an Awakened at all. Did that make sense? Clearly, I could use Aura...and even Mana. I even had ess to skills, and possessed a more sturdier body and abilitiespared to an average mundane human. Not to mention... ... [Rank: Mortal ] ... I was an Awakened at the pinnacle of Mortal Rank. I was already this close to my next advancement and breakthrough. All of this pointed towards my evaluation and talent assessment being pure bullshit. And I could only think of one reason. It also seemed like Meta was aware too, of course she was. I leaned back on the bench and sighed exhaustedly. "Haha... I knew it. In the end it''s because of that right?'' Ether. In this case, this was my own ''variable''. It made reasonable sense when I thought about it. The primary energy of the world and Awakened is Aether. For starters, for one to awaken, one needed to be aware of Aether in the world and in their bodies. But after the Dungeon of Lace incident, the primary energy inside of me has been reced by the mysterious and enigmatic energy that was Ether. Though, in actuality the two didn''t seem to be that much vastly different from each other, I had always known for a while now that, Ether is way more than it seems. For starters, it allowed me to use both Aura and Mana. In the end, the ''legacy'' of a Demon Lord couldn''t be just as simple as a change in name, right? And perhaps Ether may be more than just an Inverse of Aether that allowed me to use both Aura and Mana. But that was something I''ll have to discover on my own eventually.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The true potential and properties of Ether... But back to the topic. "That evaluation device... The Orb couldn''t gauge my Ether, could it?" [Negative.] "Haaah." That was it. Mystery solved. Case closed. It''s almost ironic and funny. When I thought about it, I almost chuckled. "Ah... I was so worried about having Ether be discovered in my body, to the point I was contemting hiding it''s trace with the Ring of Solomon." But rather than having my Ether been found out, it was what masked my evaluation. Ether is the inverse of Aether; the words of the description rang clear even at this moment. That device was obviously specially made to evaluate the talent of Awakened by measuring the quality of their Aether and a other aspects like that. It wasn''t manufactured with the capacity to estimate something like Ether , which waspletely unheard of. The device couldn''t ''read'' my Ether like it was supposed to for Aether, and as such, my Talent evaluation came out as this. As zero. Nothing. As nonexistent. In a way, it wasn''t wrong. In the end, I really didn''t have Aether inside of me. "Hehe..." I let out a small self-mocking chuckle. "Wait, does that mean I''ll never get to realise what my real Talent is then?" Ah. While I was fixing in the nks, I suddenly thought about a small problem. "Hey, Meta, you sure you really can''t tell me what my Talent is? Huh?" [That is currently impossible. Ether is a variable, and besides, it''s not like it matters to you.] Ah, well. I guess Meta had a point. Beta, Mortal, Hydra or even Cand. What does any of it even matter at the end of this road for me? My path probably lies further beyond. As of now I''ve no basis on the advance ranks and their strength. So I can''t exactly say if even being Cand-rank will be enough to survive the vision. Haaa... ''I feel like I''ve been sighing a lot just today.'' Ah, I could feel my head throb just from thinking about how my evaluation may cause me some pains. I mean... Yes, maybe I''ve been attempting on being low-key over the past few years, but I was thinking there''s no point for doing that now anymore. Suddenly discovering I didn''t have talent... I wasn''t sure if I was to consider it being convenient or not. Now definitely, no one will be expecting much from me. Damn. I can already almost imagine how Adrianne may react. ... 20 Powerstones... already again. Really killing me, guys¡ª I mean, it! Really killing it! Bonus Chapter iing then. Also, I''ll be going privilege soon, but more details on thatter... Chapter 64 Prophecy [1] [Bonus] In the end, I decided not to think much about it and returned to my dorm room for the remainder of the day. There was no point in agonizing over what had already happened, and no point in stressing over the reactions of my family and sister. That''s because, right from the moment the results of my evaluation came out, my talent assessment and over all results was sent directly, and firstly to my family. Which meant... "I''m fucked..." [Rank 1499] Last ce. I wasst ce... I was staring at the overall result of both my entrance exam and talent assessment. Ah, those dreaded numbers seemed so mockingly bold for me. It was a couple of days after the Evaluation, specifically, it was Monday. The start of a new week. Prior to today, I received a message on mymunicator that all newly admitted aspirants should attend their respective sses and receive their overall results from both the examination and Talent assesment. And so, that was where I currently was. I was standing before a wide door entrance to a ssroom while staring at my ranking results from the assesment and exam at mymunicator. Oh, yeah. This was weird too. No. I always knew Aethoria was weird since the beginning. But aren''t these things just cellphones? I was confused. This is a fantasy world, right? Ah. In any case, something akin to a cellphone from earth, but fundamentally different, was in my hand. There was a message I was reading off it''s screen. I''ve only just been newly admitted into Aegis but I could already feel a headache. This was why I never liked school. Rank 1499... ''Shit. Ahhh, Adrianne''s going to kill me!'' "Could you please move out of the way?" A crisp and stern voice brought me out of my thoughts from behind, and I turned around to look while putting away mymunicator. There was a young girl with ming red hair, and vermilion red eyes that were sharp and cold staring at me. She had looks and an indomitable presence that demanded heads to turn and eyes to gaze. The look in here eyes were rather stern and cold, and her long bright red hair fell in waves behind her back, giving a faint illusion of a cascading sea of mes. For a moment, staring into those aloof red eyes almost made me want to lower my head and shudder. She was stunning. She was insanely beautiful , but something about her made me feel unsettling. What is this? Am I getting intimidated? I restrained my thoughts and impulses from surfacing on my expression and quietly moved out of the way while apologising lightly. "Ah, excuse me." I stepped to the side and gave way for the red haired girl, who silently and confidently walked past me without as much as a nce more. ''...A ssmate... perhaps?'' I would have mistaken her for an instructor or a staff if it weren''t for the fact she had on the Aegis first year uniform which perfectly entuated get charm. I mean. She had a really terrifying and suffocatingly cold face, even for me. And I''d know. I had an older sister like that. In any case, I didn''t think much about the encounter and turned back to staring at mymunicator again. "First year ss A." I redirectedy gaze up at a que that hung over the door frame with bold letters and numbers. ''A-1'' was what it said. Strange.'' I felt strange now standing just before the entrance. What the hell is this? It wasn''t like I was getting cold feet or anything. Sure, maybe my time in Aegis might have a few more rocky parts ahead, but the absurdity of everything was what was getting to me. "Did I... really make a full circle and end up going back to school again in my next life?" That was my gripe! Fate is a bitch, but reality is no less. Eventually, I ended up going through the open door, and as soon as I did, I felt a number of gazes and attention converge towards my figure. Before I went in, I could hear the various voices and chatters of those inside, but most of all the noise ceased the moment I stepped in. Well, it didn''tst for too long. If for a second, everyone seemed curious about who it was, that curiosity turned to utter indifference and dismissal quickly. As long as I had the Crown''s Veil enchantment of Solomon''s Ring active, I could make myself seem as insignificant and unassuming as was possible. Although there were still a few rare gazes that lingered a little longer. As expected. The story of a Null talent Awakened would have spread somewhat already. I ignored the gazes and attentions of everyone and swept my gaze across the ssroom. It was sorge to such a degree that I felt it was unnecessary. Just how many of us will it take to full the entire ce? It was quiterge with high rows of benches and desks arranged in a simr fashion as college ssrooms. There were already a few of my ssmates present before me, and quite a few of them seemed to have already made friends or acquaintances. Quite contrary to what I expected, it wasn''t all that awkward. In any case, shunned from the looks and gazes of those present I made my way to the legendary window seat at the back corner, away from the front rows where everyone else mingled. I was already being ignored thanks to the ring, so might as well solidify my ce as the ss loner, right? [...sad] ''You''re sad!'' Hmph. I couldn''t be bothered too much by interaction. If I wanted to do so, I would lose half a reason for using the effects of Ring of Solomon. It wasn''t like I actively intended to avoid making any interactions or ''connections'' with my ssmates or anyone. It was more like it''ll be even harder now for me to do so, due to certain obvious reasons. Even I realise It''ll be necessary for me to interact with them at some point. I ced my things down on my desk and took a seat, beforenguidly staring into empty space. I was never really good in school back on Earth, and it wasn''t just academy wise. I always felt out of ce, and often found it hard to rte with others. I was something of an introvert at the beginning actually. Although that changed over the experiences I made, now that I found myself back here, it feels almost like I''ve subconsciously regressed back to that mentality. But I also knew it was more than that. I nced at the students who would be my ssmates for the next three years. All of these people...these children...I viewed them as characters in a y. They would all die, and I will be thest one standing. I alone. Surrounded by a sea of corpses and ruin. Sounded like a serious case of eight grade syndrome, but because of that, I found it hard to deeply rte with them. In the end, I couldn''t help but see them as insignificant. No. It was pity I felt. ''... Ignorance is bliss, huh.'' Well, I wasn''t here to make friends anyway. Aegis only served me one purpose. To get stronger and survive. "Though that said..." I stared back at my result in mymunicator. "I really studied my butt of for this exam too..." No shit. Thest one year was by no means easy for me. Adrianne was particrly excited when she found out I agreed to attend Aegis. And then came a longsting series of torturous home schooling! It was also the first time I really, really, tried to put effort into studying for an exam in both of my lives. I felt like a highschool graduate bursting liver to get into his College choice. I knew I couldn''t possibly be be ranked first, or even top 30, but deadst ce wasn''t something I sawing... -Drip. Without realising, I was already tearing up with a painful smile. Adrianne is going to kill me. The reason for my rank is obvious, however. My Talent assesment yed a big role in it. Maybe my individual entrance exam result may not be as bad, but my talent evaluation as zero literally meant I was bottom at the rank throughout everyone else in the same year with me. Hence why I wasst ce... But in all honesty, and to be factual, I didn''t think I was anyhowcking whenpared to the others. If anything, I was confident I far surpassed over half of the first years in experience, and skills. In the end, the rankings are just mere numbers and don''t directly reflect one''s true abilities. This held more truth for me. Staring at my ssmates with such a thought, made me wonder. "I wonder what''s the standard for the top ranking first year..." Now, I''m curious. ... [Skill, {Appraisal} level 3 has been activated] ... Using Appraisal, I took a swift summary of the stats of my present ssmate. But what the hell is this? Horrendous. Medicore. Barely average at best. These guys weren''t anything all that. There were a number of Mortal Ranked, with only a few Beta ranked, but none of them were anywhere close to being peak-level. Well, my standards were high since I grew up side by side a genius, so maybe I was being a little too harsh in my evaluation. To beginning with, the minimum standards of Aegis was Mortal rank. But there might be a few exceptions from what I''ve seen.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om But. ''Oh?'' There were a few which caught my attention. . [Bonus chapter 1/1plete, now breathe in and let it sink... please. The second half of the first volume just began with the Academy arc, and believe it or not, even I have to adjust to the setting in a bit. The pacing of the next chapters may seem slow, or all over the ce with a t sided story progression and characters introduction, but it''ll get better soon And it''s almost that time again, I''ll be locking chapters really soon and hope you support me. Ps. Take your time for the next stone goal, really...] Chapter 65 Prophecy [2] With bright ming red locks of hair, the girl from before sat ahead of me at the front row with a posture that exuded boundless grace and charm. Staring at her made my eyes wince slightly. As expected. ''She''s dazzling.'' Not as dazzling as Adrianne, but dazzling nheless. And I wasn''t the only one to think so. ... [Name: Deandra Lunar de La''curt] ... ''A Mage, huh.'' Deandra was a Mana user. I was able to see one''s ss after Appraisal leveled up over thest year. ''Deandra Lunar de''Curt...'' something about that name sounded familiar, but that was beside my reason for probing her. "... She''s good." ==== ... Strength: 24 Speed: 26 Agility: 25 Constitution: 24 Mana: 30/35 Luck: 30 Intelligence: 36 Charm: 34 ... ==== Terrifying potential. Strangely, I didn''t need an Evaluation device to tell. For a Mage, her stats appeared to be well bnced and more inclined to her job ss. Strength, luck, intelligence and charm. She was the package. ''I wonder what her ranking is.'' Having that fleeting thought, my gaze strayed to a different figure. It was yet another girl who''s looks drew the gazes of the others to her position. She had tinum long hair, and icy red eyes. Her skin was fair, and almost white. There was a strangely oppressive, intimidating , and cold aura surrounding her, quite different from Deandra who''s own almost made one want to stutter. Her''s was different. It was down right intimidating. She continued to stare icily into empty space with a sullen and distant expression. But suddenly. As if she felt my gaze, she turned slightly. And instinctively, I froze. Pressure. So much pressure in one gaze that made me freeze in ce. It felt like being gazed by a predator. ''W...what is this?'' There weren''t many things that could shake my psyche, and I was pretty confident in my mental fortitude above all of my skills. But here I was. My instincts screamed at me. This person was strong. Unintentionally, I ended up holding my breath as a blue screen flickered before my eyes. ==== [Error! Error! Error] [Host''s level is too low to read the targets stats. Summary may be provided.] ... Name: Ceres Walker Level: ??? Rank: Hero ??? ??? ??? ??? . . . ... ==== I restrained my anxiety and casually pretended to look away. ''Ceres Walker...'' She was someone I might have to remember to be slightly watchful of. After learning my lesson, I didn''t go probing further at my ssmates stats and remained hauntingly still in my seat. At some point Ceres had diverted her chilly gaze away from me and the stifling sense of oppression I felt from her had lifted slightly. Although my mind was still heavy, it was only because I thought of how to best avoid, or minimise my direct interaction with someone like her. ''No. She won''t suddenlye up and confront me for looking, right...?'' That was a sceptical thought, actually. I knew she was strong, two ranks higher than me even, but I knew nothing about her. And it also wasn''t like I was actually looking for people to pull to my side. Ceres Walker was just someone I deemed as possibly sensitive for now. Well at least now I didn''t have to think too hard about who Rank one was...half jokingly, I mused inwardly with a subtle hollow chuckle. But in retrospect, there was no way someone like her would look at someone like me. In any case, for now I''d pretend like nothing happened. It would do us both well if everything goes like that. "Silence." It didn''t take too long after that for a young woman in a suit to walk in. Raven ck hair tied in a long ponytail that reached past her waist, and donning a fitted suit, her violet ssy eyes coldly swept over each and everyone of us, filling the room with a certain chill. It looked like our ss teacher had arrived. Her simplemand plunged the previously noisy ss into silence. The beautiful young woman walked up to the front of the ss and stood behind a podium and stared silently at us. "..." Then she just stared. "..." And stared. "..." And stared more. "..." ''What in the world...'' I believe everyone of us thought this as the strange silence continued to stretch. I swear I could see the light in her ssy violet eyes turn hazy and faint. Wait. The lost expression she had on right there... ''It can''t be, right?'' She couldn''t possibly have... "Snore~" "She fell asleep!" Everyone shouted in disbelief. Immediately, our instructor flinched and wiped the drool off the edge of her lips. "S-silence!'' she tried to sound domineering again, but it was hard to take her seriously with saliva trickling from her mouth. ''At least wipe it all.'' I wanted to face palm and hide myself in embarrassment for some reason. This person... there''s no way she could be our instructor, right? "Ahem." She raised her fist to her mouth and coughed, before assuming her previously cold demeanor. Her gaze swept through us once more. "I believe we all are here now..." It was as she said, therge ssroom was mostly filled at this point, but everyone turned to nce at the figure who was standing just outside the door with their head poking out. The person took a step out when he noticed all our looks and scratched the side of his face embarrassingly. "U-uhm. I-is this First Year ss A?" He had pale white hair like snow during winter, and deep blue eyes that were maising. As soon as I saw him, something tingled deep inside of me. A vague sense of familiarity. Where had I seen him before, I couldn''t tell. But there was certainly something about him that gave me goosebumps unconsciously. The ck haired instructor coldly turned at him. The iciness in her gaze turned colder and the boy recoiled a little from pressure. "And you are?" The instructor said.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om But at that moment... "I''m Alex..." Something flicked before my eyes. ==== [[Appraisal] has been forcefully activated...] [Error! Error!] [Target possess too much information. Summary will be provide¡ª] [ERROR!] [Revising information] [ERROR!] [Revising Information] [ERROR!] [Revising information] [ERROR!] [Revising Information] . . . . ==== ''What in the world is this?'' My head kept buzzing with notifications incessantly. First of all Appraisal was forcefully activated and my eye stung. Then came a long string of unfamiliar notifications, with each one making my head throb. Then... "Alexander." Everything went red. ==== [Warning!! You have met the Hero of Prophecy] ==== Chapter 66 Prophecy [3] ==== [Warning!! You have met the Hero of Prophecy] ==== ''Ah...?'' I couldn''t stop gaping at the odd system notification. Unintentionally I redirected my gaze back to the boy with pale white hair and ghostly blue eyes. "It can''t be...'' At the same time, scenes from a not so distant memory, something I would never forget even if I wanted to, shed through my mind shortly. They were memories from the second vision. The mysterious figure draped in pristine white mes, that they were almost transparent suddenly became clearer in my mind. Immediately, I felt a chill run through my body as I stared at him. ''Wh-what is this?'' ''Meta, you''re not messing with me, are you?!'' If this was a sick joke, then it wasn''t funny. No, wait. I needed to calm down. Nothing changes. In the end, nothing truly changes. I seems like... I''ve encountered the Hero much earlier than I expected. How was I supposed to know we would attend the same school, and the same ss no less!? What kind of y is faith making me dance to again...?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om I mean, I did harbor intentions of eventually searching for the hero, if it were possible, and discovering whoever it might be at some pointter, but this... This is... It''s all so sudden, it''s absurd! Did this fucker really just walk into my hands on a silver tter? For obvious reasons, I didn''t have the best impression of the Hero. I mean, the dumb fuck let the whole world burn after all. I had no intentions on being hopeful or relying on the Hero because of this. If I had to survive, it was clear I had to do it by my own power. But regardless, the Hero who will fight against the Demon King during his descent was someone who should have immense powerful and influence. At the very least, he had enough power to still be alive even after the world was dead, and survive direct confrontations with the Demon King from the vision. To me, he was like a diamond in the rough. It''s one thing about having strength, but it''s a whole other about knowing how to use it. And I already deemed it. The Hero wasn''t someone who deserved such a power. No, he was someone unqualified. But what if...I could utilise that power for myself? I had to remember, this shouldn''t be me mistaking it as relying on the Hero to hopefully survive. No. I intend to use the Hero as one of the many means to encourage my survival. If he couldn''t use his abilities properly, then he just needed someone to help him do so. I would be that someone. ...All that said, this was too sudden. I also don''t think the system would casually give out notifications like this as a joke. This was like the first or second time I had seen Meta, the system react this strongly to something. On that note, this wasn''t anything that I could see remotely affecting my ns. I only happened to find who the Hero is a little early, although I''m still unprepared. But that changes close to nothing. I already decided to take subsequent actions during corresponding scenarios like this. Yes. Rather than get flustered and agonozie about this, my next move will be to calmly observe. Just like with Ceres, I''ll merely be an outsider, and an onlooker, until I''ve determined enough. It took a breath for me to organise my thought, and I casually redirected my gaze. "Alexander..." The instructor nced at the young man, and nudged him to take a seat with her chin. "Sit down." Alexander awkwardly nodded slightly before making his way through the rows of seat and finding an empty space for himself. As I watched this short and stale interaction, I still had questions. I tried using Appraisal on the guy, but nothing worked. I couldn''t see his stats. But I felt it was for a different reason than an overwhelming difference in strength and rank like between Ceres Walker and I. ''...He doesn''t give off the aura of a Hero ranked Awakened or higher...'' From what I could gauge from his aura, Alexander was strong. But by how much, I wasn''t sure. Was he stronger than me? It vaguely felt like it, but I couldn''t tell. But I was confident I had a shot of we were to go against each other. At least for now. But I couldn''t utter those same words for Ceres. At best, I would be able to get away from a fight with her. Whatever the case may be, I can''t be certain about the status and power level of Alex. He could be just like me and have some type of suppressor active. But none of it exined why I couldn''t see his stats with my skill. ''Does...does it have something to do with his status of being the Hero...?'' I wasn''t sure why, but that sounded like my most usible lead. In the first ce, the system didn''t outright deny my ess to probe his stats like with Ceres. If anything, if seemed like it was almost unable toprehend it? Or struggled to find a way to present it to me. It was also the first time I had seen such a long string of strange and unfamiliar notifications like that Too much information... That was what it described it as. Questions. I had more questions. Those things never seemed to run out. But putting aside all that, there was a certain chill I still had running through my body since the final notification. The system message... ''Why did it say ''Warning''?'' "Silence." I turned my head and heard the instructor say sternly from in front of the ss. Her straight and stern face had no ripple as she sullenly gazed at us, until she finally began to speak. "I believe we all should be here now, so I''ll start with an introduction." I pushed the matter of the system messages to the back of my mind for now and paid attention to what the woman, who I presumed to be our ss teacher was about to say. "My name is Wrenna Marlowe, and I''ll be your homeroom Instructions from now on. You can just call me Instructor Wren. Before I get on with what I need to say, we''ll have roll call first to make sure of anyone still missing." The young woman...Wrenna, or Wren for short, picked up a small and t looking book which she ced previously on the podium, and said in her usual cold and impassive demeanour. "Signify your presence when you hear ranking number called." ''Fuck me sideways...'' Immediately, I cringed from my seat. ''Roll call? Might as well announce I''mst ce with a radio...!'' Cold and uncaring of my emotional struggles, Instructor Wren continued. "Rank 1...Ceres Walker. "..." There was a silent chill that permeated the atmosphere of the ssroom for a moment after Wren called out. It was to be expected. Many may not have realised, while others may have earlier on, but... "... Present." The top ranking first year was indeed their ssmate. A cold and beautiful young teenage looking girl with tinum blond hair curtly responded and raised her hand. All of the looks of awe, admiration, anxiousness, and curiosity that was sent at her was indifferently dismissed almost like Ceres didn''t even notice them. I was half-joking when I said that Ceres was the top ranking first year, but this confirms it. Wrenna continued on with the roll call. "Rank 2, Deandra Lunar de''LaCurt." "..." A more different kind of hush spread through the ssroom this time. Different from the time with Ceres, it was more like all of the cadets involuntarily held their breaths at the mention of that name, and each turned to look at a specific figure with ming red hair sitting straight at the front. There was a strange sign of anxiousness on their faces. ncing at each, it was more than obvious, I was probably the only one who didn''t truly understand what the fuss was all about. Regardless. The Second Top Ranking First Year Cadet didn''t respond to her name. The aura around Instructor Wren became sharper. "Number 2, do well to respond to your name and answer when asked a question, regardless of you status or standing outside. Here at Aegis, none of that matter, and insubordination will not tolerated." Each words were spat out with an icy chill. The violet of Wrens eyes became sharper and colder as her gaze bore down on No 2. "Don''t make me repeat myself." ''Status?'' I wondered, and made a few connections. Aegis was an institution asrge as an organisation, but the academy belived in equality amongst it''s numbers. Talent and skill was more prioritized than status and family influence as shown by how they assign each students of each year a rank. That means No 2 was probably someone of high standing family outside of the Academy? ''Ah.'' it was then I realised. The red haired girl hesitated for a brief moment before raising her head. I couldn''t see what type of expression she had in since I could only stare at her back from behind. Then her voice coldly rang out. "Rank 2 Deandra Lunar de''LaCurt, present, Ma''am." Without realising I let out a sigh and leaned back. "Seems like we''ve got a member of the imperial family." Chapter 67 No. 1499 [1] Instructor Wren didn''t linger too long on the issue and went on with the others. After the first two students who were the First and Second ranked first years respectively were called, there wasn''t as much hype or tension with any other. Just because we had the first two top rankers in the same ss, didn''t mean all of the top 30 or 50 were present. In fact, aside from Ceres and Deandra, and a few others, the ranks quick dropped to just far below 50. "Rank 625, Nicodemus Kodrey. "Rank 635'', Aiden Nightshade . . . . Rank 787, Alexander Crossfield... . . And, Rank 1499... Victor Bright." I coughed. "... Present." There was a slight moment of hesitation in Instructor Wren''s gaze when it got to my turn. Her cold eyes were zed over but the look was quickly rposed. ''What was that all about?'' "Good. It''s seems everyone is here. You all present are the privileged and lucky ones to make into the Institution. While I''m here, there are a few things I''d like to say, as your assigned teacher, before sending you off for the rest of the day. In Aegis, it is all about skill, ranks, talent and efforts, but I''ll cut the introduction speech because you will be hearing it soon at the orientation anyway." Instructor Wren paused. Her gaze was unmoving and filled the room with silence. All of the eyes of everyone was converged on her with utmost focus, making Wrenna nod almost indiscernibly. "On the first week of a new academy calendar, there won''t be much you''ll be doing. As newly admitted first years, a special orientation and congrattory ceremony will be held in a few days. After which, a wee and social banquet will be hosted in your name for each of you to get to know each other. ss curriculum will officially begin by next Monday. And until the time of the orientation and banquet by the end of this week, you will be taking lightmon sses, and introductions to the various departments..." Instructor Wren droned on. As I listened, I noticed they were things I already knew. Things I was forced to know, drilled into my head by Adrianne ahead of time. Various departments existed in Aegis, as well asmon and Specialized sses. There were even kinds of Majors, and all that.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om At some point, after the first week when the first year curriculum officially begins, each of us will have to fill an application and submit a form mentioning our chosen specialized sses which we will be offering for the first term, or even the entire year. But before that, we had to go through all of them each... I felt like my head wanted to explode just thinking about it. And this was supposed to be like some kind of free week off for us. "Further details and informations will be sent to your respective bracelets linked with yourmunication..." -Beep -Beep -Beep Just as Wren said that, my bracelet suddenly vibrated and beeped. The same thing was happening all over the ssroom with the others. "Seems like it''s already here. Well... The Freshmen Orientation will be held on Wednesday, and it is strictly mandatory for all first years to be present without exemption. Failure to attend will be dealt promptly with a severe punishment, or even outright expulsion." The faces of the students paled at Wren''s words, and some even gulped. Wasn''t expulsion too harsh? Just when some of us barely managed to get in, too. "Your ss schedule and timetable will be re-fixed after the week and sent to yourmunicators. And for now, a preliminary schedule for this week have been assigned as a guide." Just as she said, there was a new ''file'' which had been sent to mymunicator at some point without me noticing. "And that''s all there is to say to you in person like this. The rules, and safety guidelines of the institution will be briefed at the Orientation. With all that said, I can only give you a personal advice, this time not as your instructor, but as a party who has been long involved in Aegis for years now." Wren''s face deepened as she said. She exuded a different level of pressureced with her words that made even I want to focus intently on she was about to say. "Talents and efforts prevail." Her words were simple ''do your best'' but the meaning was terrifying. Nothing less than your best. Those who are unable to keep up are immediately discarded without a second thought. ''Aegis is putting psychological pressure right from the get go with the ranks.'' I could already see some of the ssmates expression waver and pale. What can I say? I mean, I more or less expected this, after hearing about it from Adrianne. After saying all that she wanted, Instructor Wren rounded up. But just about when she was to exit, leaving us to our own devices for the rest of the day, she suddenly stopped and looked up. Her gaze undeniably met mine and I froze. "Number 1499, meet me after this." Leaving those cold words behind, Wren exited the ssroom which was plunged with an ufortable silence. Herst words indirectly drew some attention to me, and a few burdensome looks and curious whispers filtered through. "Haaa..." I let out a deep breath then got off my seat. ''Dammit. I wonder what she wants...'' Wren''s cold gaze at me was imprinted deeply in my mind. Undoubtedly, she had already left an impression on me. Casually, I exited the ssroom. There was nothing else on the schedule aside from attending homeroom, so I decided to go see the instructor immediately to get it all over with. *** Though that said... "That woman... At least tell me where the hell I''m supposed to find you." A few minutes spent nearly getting lost, I groaned and ruffled my hands through my messy hair. "Haaa..." Wren had asked me to see her after homeroom and introduction, but I had no idea how she expected me to do so without telling me where? At least there had to be some kind of faculty room or something, right? Or maybe a teacher''s lounge? For now, I''ll start searching for those. Worse case, I could just ask for directions. Resolving myself once again with yet another sigh, I dragged my feet and went around pointing for directions until I finally located what was like the teachers'' faculty room of they first year, or something. I found the particr office of the stern looking, yet admittedly clumsy instructor Wrenna with her lustrous ck hair tied up into a ponytail. I happened to just so catch her when she seemed busy organising arge and messy desk. "Uhm..." Wren paused her movements and raised her stoic face. "You''re here." She simply said. "You asked me to." I responded in kin like it was obvious. "Sit." Following her words, I took a seat across from the desk and waited silently. Wren pushed aside her current matters and matched her icy gaze with mine. Her motionless face spoke nothing of her intentions and thoughts, and those eyes that seemingly bore down on me were very burdensome. While it seemed like this stiffling staringpetition would onlyst, Wren''s lips parted coldly as she said. "Number 1499, what is your goal?" What...? "My goal...?" I was taken aback and repeated slightly. "Yes. Why are you here? What do you hope to achieve, and how do you hope to do so?" ''What the hell is this?'' It felt like I was being lectured by my ss teacher during my final moments as a final year just before applying for college. For a quick second, I observed the unmoving face of Wren and silently pondered her intentions. Then I scratched the side of my face and responded after a moment of hesitation. "I want to get stronger." I said. And Wren frowned lightly before easing up. "I see." Then the words that flowed from her lips next made me freeze. "Give up." I flinched and gaped slightly. "Eh?" "I said, give up." Wren continued in her usual manner without a ripple in her eyes or expression. She pulled out a long white sheet of paper and ced it before me. "This is a summary of your results and details." "Name, Victor Bright. Age, 16 Awakened Rank: Mortal Assessed Talent; Null Estimated value as a prospect: undefined. Overall rank: 1499" ''How rude!'' involuntarily, my eyes twitched. "You''re hopeless. You can''t...you won''t survive in the world of Awakened with your nonexistent talent. All of your efforts will be in vain. Give up, and drop out." Wren''s gaze were piercing and deeper than usual. Those violet eyes bore deeply into my being if threatening to chill my soul with the cold gaze. But internally, I sighed with relief. ''What, so that''s it?'' As expected, I was here in this situation on the note of my evaluation. But what the hell is this?! Estimated talent as a prospect, Undefined?! It sounded more like my evaluation as a person rather than a future Hero just dropped! ''In the end, having a Null talent really is going to cause me a lot of problems.'' looking up at the type of face Wren was showing me, I reaffirmed this thought solidly in my heart before speaking back. "I can''t." Chapter 68 No. 1499 [2] [Bonus Chapter] I ced my hand on the paper and slowly shifted it back across the table. "I can''t." "What...?" Wren seemed incredibly confused and shocked by my unexpected response for some reason. "I can''t drop out. I won''t. I can''t give up either." Slowly, I shook my head resolutely. Wren''s gaze became fiercer at my resistance, it felt like she would eat me alive! "Do you have any idea what you are saying or doing to yourself?" Her t tone grew sharper,ced with an evident chill that could make one hold their breaths. But. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. You may be right." My mind was calm, my heart was settled. I was unfazed at the end of it all. Wren''s expression flickered as if she hadn''t been expecting me to give an actual reply. All this while I had lowered my gaze to prevent meeting directly with her eyes since she showed me the paper. But this time, I slowly raised my head and calmly met her gaze. "Yes, maybe I''m making a mistake. But I can''t give up or drop out. Those two are out of the options. If I give up on even myself, what more is there for me in this life?" I wasn''t just bullshititng this time around. In the end, there was some level of truth in what I was saying. I knew better than others that my evaluation was dead wrong. But even then, that didn''t mean I could do anything during the Cmity or when the Demon King arrives. I wasn''t even confident that if I became Cand rank, I could survive. In the face of it all, I was weak, meager and insignificant. Just like how Wren is making me out to seem. The only difference is, Wrenna and I, Both our realities were different. To her, I was a stupid, pitiful, and untalented student, who''s effort would lead him nowhere without whatsoever talent. To me, I was an unfortunate transmigrator who''s only chance at redemption depended on my survival of an impending world threatening doom. I had no one to seek out and burden with this. I had no one I could rely on. Even still, I didn''t want to sumb and bend the knee this time, like on Earth. I felt a lump in my throat, and a haunting sense of emptiness in my gut all of a sudden. I leaned up straight and smiled subtly at Wren. "If I gave up on myself, then there''ll be no one else I could trust in. That kind of thing, I guess." It probably looked like a stupid smile, and in her eyes I was the epitome of child-like naivety right now. I couldn''t give up on myself, regardless of wether I wanted to or not. But Wren has no way of knowing that. She has no need to know of it. "Yes. I''ll work hard. Talent doesn''t define everything. Effort... You said so yourself, Aegis rewards effort. That means, if I work hard, then maybe I have a chance, isn''t that right, Instructor?" Wren was silent. I knew she wasn''t saying all this to mock or dismiss me. It was quite frankly, the direct opposite. The truth was, I already knew a bit about Wrenna Marlowe from Adrianne my sister. She wasn''t also her homeroom teacher or anything, but Wren had a kind of notoriety or poprity. She was incredibly harsh and cold, but it was simply her way of showing attention, and affection to her students. To Wren, she probably doesn''t want to see another young youth like myself, who seemingly has their life''s priorities disced. If I had no talent, then there was no point in this Field. I should just quit and find something better to do. Something more fulfilling. For the path I was working, Will be filled with nothing but thorns, hardships, disappointments and failure. That was they way she was looking at me. An Awakened''s talent not only determined their future prospects, but also their status and standing in the world of Awakened. A ''no talent'' hero like me saw no hope in this world. I really could die too. So Wren was trying to dissuade me and get me to quit before it was toote. Instructor Wren seemed genuinely flustered up by my stupifying response. Her eyes were wide end and sharpened and her facial muscles and expressions had turned as rigid as stone. Wren gazed at me silently for a moment before reverting to her usual demean. Somehow, she felt even colder and aloof this time around as her eyes shed with ill-hidden pity and contempt. "... You''re sister was smart." In the end, those were all Wren said to me. I wasn''t surprised Instructor Wren knew about my sister, the meaning of her words were sharp and clear. If she said that, I mean, what kind of face was she expecting me to make... Sheepishly, I stared back at Wren. Ah. The look she''s giving me.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Staring at it, call it instincts or whatever, but I knew. "Ah.... Yup." From that moment on. I was cklisted on Wren''s notebook. *** With all that said, Wren had nothing else to say to me, so the little discussion was over and I was free to leave. I walked out of the teacher''s faculty with a deep and exhausted sigh. First day and I already have a teacher who doesn''t like me. I didn''t need anyone to tell me I''ve left an unfavourable impression on Wren. It was also, perhaps a disappointment considering she knew my sister, Adrianne and how insanely talented and promising she was. So someone like me with absolutely no talent, and extremely naive, and needlessly stubborn was a big let down in paleparison. In the end Wren was only looking out for me in her own manner. But it was like I had shamelessly turned down her good will, with cringe worthy and stupid lines. Thinking back, maybe I got a little carried away? Rather than being detached, I let a portion of my real feelings mix with the situation. ''Oh well.'' I shurgged as I casually made my way down the hallway. In the end, it wasn''t that Wren would hate me now. She just held an obvious unfavorable impression and averseness for me. From this, I could more or less understand that, from now on, Wren will not be actively or directly involved with me. She''ll be more aloof and indifferent towards me in particr. But on the surface, of course she''d still do her duties as our home room instructor. But I can expect that, Wrenna Marlowe would hold no amount of expectations for me. To her I was a lost cause. But this matter has helped to bring forward and reaffirmed an issue that was already looming over my head like a shadow. ''My no talent assessment will be a more bigger issue than I thought.'' My thoughts were almost fleeting when all of a sudden, I arrived at a small ongoingmotion down the hallway. "What''s happening...?" For a short moment, I halted my steps and stared from the sidelines. There were arge group of students buzzing amongst themselves before a wall. I also noticed the presence of a wide board hung on it. From a nce, it was clear that whatever was the source of themotion that was ongoing. Since it was still quite early in the day, there were still a good number of students roaming about. Some, like me, watched curiously and quietly from the sidelines. While others took the initiative to go through the crowd. "Hey, I hear the Academy released all of the First years'' assessment to the public..." "Ehh? For real?! You mean my results are on disy...!!" Inadvertently I could hear a few whispers and more or less got a general idea about what''s happening. And as soon as I did, I wanted to cry. Aegis... Aegis is brutal... I mean... I knew it but... Even going as far as disying each of the cadets assesment results... It''s like the whole institution is after me! Of course, following this development... -Thud! "Woah, there. Watch where you''re going, you bastard." Someone suddenly ran into my right shoulder, and the sinister chuckle brought me out my thoughts. Sigh. In the end... I looked impassively at him. A guy with short ck hair and brown eyes, and a face that literally screamed delinquent on various keys was grinning ominously at me. nking his sides were two of his peers as their shoulders trembled while they chuckled. Slowly, imperceptibly, I noticed them entrap me in a corner. It was already bad since I was already standing against a wall behind me. ncing at the faces of the three bast- I mean individuals, my heart slowly began to race darkly. No way. Is this... Is this what I think is happening...? "Uh, dude, I was literally standing in ce when you bumped into me." Is he and idiot, was the kind of look I was giving him. The ck haired guy snickered and leaned closer to me. Then he uttered lowly. His voice like a dark growl. "What did you just say to me..." "...you no talent punk." Chapter 69 No. 1499 [3] "What did you just say to me, you no talent bastard?" The guy leaned closer to my face and said. At this point, it was a little, but a considerable amount of attention was slowly drawn towards us. I could feel the gazes of many, and hear the whispers of more. Some pointed, some watched with anticipation, and others with curiousity. As if relishing the situation, the ck haired guy chuckled with his peers surrounding me. He probably felt good about himself for picking on someone he presumed weaker. "Hey, is that him...?" "What? No way... You mean the guy with the lowest assesment? I thought that was just a rumour..." "I think he''s... Rank 1499... He''s on the board too." "No, it wasn''t a rumour. I remember. I was there when he''s assesment was revealed..." "Is that even possible? That''s pathetic. What''s someone like him doing here? Not only is his assessment the lowest, but he''s also ranked the bottom too..." Inevitably, I began to hear the whispers and feel the curious gazes directed at me. The hallway was already mostly packed with a small crowd of student, so the littlemotion I found myself in was already drawing unnecessary attention. And as if spurred on by the Whispers and fingers pointing my way, the short haired guy chuckled and pressed forward against me. "What? Cat got your tongue? Keke." Strangely, this was both oddly amusing, and unpleasantly annoying. I was already quite fund of situations like this from earth, but they were from so long ago, that experiencing it right now, with me on the victim side once more ¡ª it all seems like a dream. It took a short second for me to snap out of my reverie and assumed an indifferent expression. "Excuse me, but do you need something from me?" I said quietly. Judging from his uniform, I could immediately tell he wasn''t a senior, and was most likely a first year like myself. And the same was so from his two friends who circled around me from the sides. "Oh, no. Nothing much, really," In response to my question, the grin on his face curled slightly as he shrugged dismissively. Then he sent me a sly smile, leaning closer to exact some kind of nonexistent imposing pressure. "I was just thinking actually. Worried, is more like it. Might be a little hard for someone like you to survive in a ce like this. So me and my friends here are willing to help you out a little, eh?" "..." Extortion, huh... I restrained a sigh, and rubbed the bronze ring on my finger hidden in my pocket. "Oh, I see. Thank you, I appreciate the offer, but I''ll have to decline. I''ll be fine. If that''s all then..." "Huh? Where do you think you''re going?" Before I could leave, the guy reached out to firmly grab my arm and held me back. "Didn''t you''re mom ever tell you ¡ª" His grip around my hand tightened. "Don''t turn away when someone''s talking to you?" He said ominously next to my ear, his voice like a low growl vibrated in the air. I nced down from the side of my eyes at his firm grip against my arm. This won''t do... inevitably, I sighed inwardly and resisted the impulse to shake my head. If possible, I wanted to resolve this calmly and peacefully without any idents. It was already bad enough my Assessment was bringing me all of this unnecessary attention. In the first ce, it wasn''t supposed to be like that. But watching those bastards do as they like with me for only this long, I remembered an almost forgotten ancient and distant aspect of mine. No, a characteristic or personality trait of ''Zach Harper'' from ''his'' younger days at school. ''Ah, how annoying...'' I always had a bad temper, didn''t I? In the end... "Hey..." I uttered cooly. I couldn''t do it. I couldn''t let this bastard walk over me like that. "Hands off me on the count of three." This time it was I who leaned in closer to him and whispered into his ears A chilling cool filled my mind as my thoughts became cold as I calmly gazed at him. Then slowly, "One..." I counted... "Two..." "...H-huh? What''s this basta¡ª" "Hey, hands off already!" All of a sudden a different voice cut through the tension from the side, seizing the atmosphere momentarily and my thoughts halted briefly. ''What...'' I retracted my gaze and turned towards the source of the direction and... There he was. I wanted to choke! Why... No! What is this bastard doing here?! "Didn''t you hear me? I said, let him go..." A young man with pale snow white hair and ghostly deep blue eyes furrowed his brows threateningly as he stood before me and the bully. Alexander Crossfield... That damned hero himself, in all of his hateful glory... Stood imposingly before us! At first sight, I felt all of myposure crumble, and I wasn''t even the one who was directly receiving the fiery gaze and animosity from him. At a nce, Alexander was here to probably defend against my behalf, but... Why?! Don''te any close, you bastard! No! Stay away from me! Why are you here?! Why was he here? I was sincerely in turmoil about this for no reason. But why would he show up right here, and right now in a moment like this. What the hell is the Hero doing here? No, really, go back! I don''t want your help! Ah, but of course, all of my internal pleas fell on the deaf ears of the universe, and I felt a portion od my soul leave my body a I saw Alex continue to approach. Rather than walk away and disappear as I so desperately desired, the hateful bastard stepped closer and firmly grasped the hand that was holding mine. "What do you think you''re doing, picking on someone on the first day? Have you no shame?" He growled, and the face of the bully grew fiercer upon his intervention. He had an expression that inly said, who the hell is this fucker, and yes! I couldn''t help but agree! No really, who the hell is this fucker?! "Uhm..." Unable to withstand the odd situation any longer, I ended up humming. The guy and Alex kept holding eachother''s re,pletely dismissing my existence despite being being the victim and the center of attention. As if snapped back to reality, I watched the guy click his tongue, and his former grip around my arm slowly withdrew. At the same time, he forcefully broke free from Alex''s hold and stepped back slightly. I could see the pensive and stern faces of his pals by his side. In the end, even these idiots could understand that if this went on more than this, an incident might escte. There were still various first years as onlookers who held their breaths. Chances even were some among them might be the ones to invite a teacher or an instructor into this. The bastard''s face didn''t give much, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he could at least think thisplexly. He red at Alexander then turned back to me. I met his gaze with an unreadable gaze, masking my thoughts, as his scowl slowly blossomed into a sinister smile full of malevolence and malice. He shrugged. "I already said it, I was just helping out a buddy. It was nothing too serious." If he said so, then it probably should be... I thought silently, without bothering too much about his alibi incase thismotion does get to a teacher eventually. "You should be careful where you walk next time, pal." And with a chuckle, leaving those words behind, the three guys slowly walked away at a measured pace. The small crowd parted slightly along their paths, and slowly the figures of their backs vanished down the hallway. "Haa..." I sighed slightly. Surprisingly, that was actually a bit nerve wracking. *** "...Are you okay?" "Hm? Oh...uh, yeah. I''m alright, actually." What the hell is this bastard still doing here? After the smallmotion dissolved itself before anything could escte, I blended with the crowd and quietly left the hallway. I was standing right outside, under the midday sun when I heard a familiar voice from my side. Right by my side, next to me, was the hero of prophecy, Alexander with an expression full of concern and consideration as he looked at me. Upon my response, Alexander smiled warmly, dazzlingly even. For whatever reason, the snow white bastard had followed and stuck with me until now. I had no idea why he followed me outside either. ''Tsk.'' even his smile is hateful! Why did I hate this guy so much? No, no. It''s not a matter of actual hate, even I know that''s prematured. But ever since the second vision where I, more or less, first met him, I''ve had a partially unfavorable impression of the bastard. He still had the balls to boast about winning after the whole world was dead.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om And there was also the matter of the strange system notifications... "I''m d to hear that. Oh, my name is Alexander Crossfield by the way. But you can call me Alex if you want. You''re Number 1499, right? We''re in the same ss too!" Unexpectedly, he began to behave all familiar with me. No! Leave me alone, do not introduce yourself personally to me! We are not going to be friends! I had those words threatening to burst out of my mouth, when I curtly gave him a nce from the side. "...Yeah." Alex said nothing more and just stared at me. I nced forward and stared emptily into the vacant air. Phew, I almost got worked up back there... I thought, thinking back to a few minutes ago. Upon retrospection I might have gotten slightly agitated even though I was in control. It''s been a while since I''ve nearly lost my temper that way too... I restrained a sigh and turned to my side where a particrly exasperating gaze threatened to bore a hole through me. "...what?" Indeed, Alexander was still here, staring ufortably at me. Then he smiled brightly at me. "I said my name is name is Alexander." "I heard the first time." I nodded. "..." "...Haa... Victor. Just...call me Victor." I don''t like this "Hehe, Victor, it''s nice to meet you." Watching Alexander smiled and chuckle to himself with satisfaction, I felt something churn inside of me. Chapter 70 Orientation [1] -Click! "Haa..." With an exhausted sigh, I shut the door close behind me as I returned back to my room. I felt the weight of all of the day''s events weigh on me like lead. "What the hell, it feels like I''ve just run a marathon..." Of course, the exhaustion was all mental and in my head. Regardless, I stumbled to my bed and threw myself against it with a groan. My first day of school was trash as fuck. Since there was no other thing on my schedule for today, I could return early and do whatever I wanted. "Now what I want is too sleep..." But even I knew I couldn''t do that. Caught in theforting embrace of my bed and soft pillows, I thought back on thest day and reviewed upon my encounters and events. That was right. I couldn''t ck of immediately. There was still a whole lots of things for me to do. And so, with a begrudging groan, I forced myself up and pulled back my head. "Haa..." Running into the hero this early was certainly unexpected, but it doesn''t change too much of anything in the grand scheme of things. I was a little panicked earlier, but perhaps this was also good? It at least saved me the trouble of searching the world for himter. The only thing is, I''m currently unprepared to face Alex. Without a doubt, his existence is definitely the most sensitive, and someone like him is the number one most dangerous person to my life. As good as it was that I''ve found him, it was also equally delicate. Hmm, how do I put this. Musing silently I got up to my feet. "In novel terms, Alexander is like the main character and protagonist of a dark fantasy series. And protagonists are cmity mas, both literally in this case, and metaphorically speaking." As such, carelessly staying around him is bound to put me in more danger and unfavourable scenarios than is already necessary. "I''m kind of like the extra without a name..." I chuckled hollowly. And as an extra, I could either die of really easily in the background from getting swept up in the protagonist''s events, which is the iing Great Cmity, or try to leave peacefully. In this case for both ways, Alex is an entity that threatens my own existence, regardless of my choice. Even if I tried, I couldn''t leave peacefully as long as the Great Cmity still looms. "But he''s also the hero of this world. As much as he may have failed in the future, Alex is still very well needed. Even if I don''t like him, I can''t just kill him off or avoid him." Alex was necessary. That was a regrettable fact. Getting rid of the Hero ahead of time like this will be like taking up his responsibilities then. I didn''t want to be the one who goes against the Demon King. I couldn''t even if I wanted to. The system has already established my role and purpose in this world. "I have to survive." I couldn''t save the world. The mantle of hero belonged to Alex, and as for how all of this was somehow connected to me, I still had no idea. "...Not yet at least." -tap -tap While I was stretching and arranging my thoughts slightly, I was suddenly drawn to the sound of a light tappinging from behind me. Specifically from my window. "What the..." Meow! Right there, there was a ck cat tapping it''s paws again the ss. "Ah..." The side of my face twitched. "I was wondering where that bastard went all this time..." I pushed open the ss and let the furry ck cat leap into my room and on the bed. "Where the hell have you been? No, forget it. I don''t really want to know." It''s been over a year since I got Hamlet. That hateful slime that has gut me out and decapitated me during its Dungeon boss days has strangely been more content as a ck cat now. Often, at times, Hamlet would disappear and return randomly. It''s terrifying innate skill and attribute as a specie allowed it to take the form of any creature it devoured so that meant Hamlet had over a dozen looks and appearances, but is oddly mostly fund of being a cat. It was strange at first, but even now I still can''t fully get used to the fact it could shapeshift.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Meow. The ck cat jumped on to myps as I took a seat in the midst of my thoughts. "All that said, Alex is needed and can indeed be useful." I don''t intend topletely ignore him. One way or another, my survival is entangled with his fate. I couldn''t save the world, but it would be a shame if it was destroyed. Having all of these thoughts only made my mental exhaustion weigh heavier on me as I groaned and fell back against my bed. "Well, whatever. I''ll take corresponding actions to whatever that happens from now. For now I''ll just do whatever I can..." I came to Aegis to get stronger, but right from day one it was affirmed things will be more troublesome for me. ''Contigency....I have to make contingencies for that too.'' My assesment is both a burden and a curse. At least, no one will be expecting much from me, but at the same time I''ll be constantly looked down upon that situations like today will be regr. I wanted to avoid all kinds of unnecessary attention. "I''ll think about itter..." In the end, I murmured slightly in a muffled voice. I was more exhausted than I thought, and before I realized, I was already fast asleep. *** The first week of the semester, the Freshmen sses didn''t really have much of a schedule. Well, we did, but the timetable was one that was meant to give us an idea about how the actual one was going to be. That meant, whatever sses we participated during the Frist week will be revised by next Monday. It definitely also didn''t mean we were free toze around until the Orientation or after the banquet during the weekend. "Move those legs, you brats! Come on, faster, faster! Hap! Hap!" The loud booming of a voice that was more like the cry of an engine exploded just behind us like a roll of thunder, sending actual shockwaves behind us. "Ughhh!! No-no more...! I''m gonna die...!" A guy next to me was already a walking corpse with lingering regrets as he muttered half-dead. Gym ss. Right now we were currently running a massivep round a field, with a beast like instructor hounding us from behind. The main purpose of the first preliminary week was to get us introduced to all sses and used to certain aspects of it. One of them was, of course, the gym ss. Now, one would usually think, it''s just gym ss, aren''t you guys superhumans? But, yes, exactly. We are superhumans. Now imagine the scale of the field. "Victor!!" "Argh!" All of a sudden, a sharp voice came out of nowhere and I almost had a heart attack. Right next to me appeared a guy with pure white hair and deep blue eyes. Alexanderughed lightly at my reaction. "Pfftt! Sorry, sorry, i didn''t mean to scare you like th¡ª pfft.." "...What do you want?" It''s been three days since I ran into Alex in the hallway. We haven''t met directly ever since, since I''ve been actively trying to ignore him. But it was only inevitable that we''ll eventually meet again. "Hm? Oh, uh... Actually, I just saw you and thought... I''m not sure." I also discovered, he''s an idiot. "I see." I curtly said and increased my pace. It''s been almost an hour since the entire ss has had to run multipleps round, and I was beginning to slowly feel the burn. "Haah...haah..." The track field in Aegis was no joke. All of the institute''s facilities, everything was specially designed to amodate Awakened heroes of all ranks and to test them and push them to their limits. It was no different here. I watched as more than half of my ssmates sprawled on the ground, half dead with pale and sunken faces. "...these are pride of the Human domain." I heaved under my breath. "These are the pride of the human domain. Pathetic. Ptoi!" Hey, coincidentally, the instructor and I shared the same thoughts, as he spat. There were a few of us who were still able to stand and control our breathing like me, while the majority had their souls leaking from their lips. I was already used to this kind of training from back home. Running a few hundredps wasn''t enough to make me drop dead any longer, but I was definitely feeling the impact after five hundred, although I didn''t let it show. [You stamina has considerably improved a lot.] A familiar synthetic voice buzzed mildly in my head, and I wiped the trail of sweat beads against my face as I silently murmured. "How''s that supposed to make me feel when there are monsters like that guy?" Saying so, I side nced at a specific figure not to far away. "What can I say, as expected of the Hero?" Compared to even I who was still standing and barely panting, Alex didn''t even have a single drop of sweat on his pretty white face. Frankly, it was infuriating. I was really curious what his stats were...for some reason, i can''t ess them with the system. "Mwahaha! Well I guess this is fine for the first time. A lot of you punks have a long way to go, but we''ll call it a day for today. Now scram!" With the permission of the gym instructor, sses came to an end. ... [A/N: Second chaptering soon. And on a separate note... We finally have a discord! The How To Survive A Cmity discord is officially ready as of today. Feel free to join with the link on my profile. I''ll try to see if I can paste the link at thement section tho] Chapter 71 Orientation [2] [Bonus Chapter] The following day. I was seated in one of the numerous chairs packed full inside of an extremelyrge hall of an auditorium. The hall was packed full with all of the first year students, and each of us were currently giving a round of an apuse "Finally..." I could hear some say "It''s over..." The excruciating three hours long speech from the headmaster''s representative...was finally over. The distinct figure of a middle aged man with sparse grey hair, wearing a suit, could be seen waving lightly with smile as he left the stage. Strangely, both the headmaster, and vice-heaf weren''t present or avable at such a moment, and only a filling in representative cake to fill in for them with us. The round of apuse was booming from the numbers and the man who permanently took a painful three hours of our lives slowly exited the stage for a new group of people to rise to the podium.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A youngdy with cascading locks of wavy blonde hair, and gem like green eyes stepped up with a dazzling smile. Right next to her sides was a male with dark grey hair and dull red eyes, and a young girl with wavy green hair and amber coloured eyes. All three introduced themselves as the student council, with the blond as the president and representative. "First of all, we''d like to begin, once again, with weing all of you to the Aegis institution of Awakened Heroes, and congrattions..." The introduction went on from congratting and weing us, to an extended introduction to the academy. From there began a period of listing and identifying the dos and don''ts, and rules and regtions of Aegis. Some of which I was already familiar with and made aware of by Adrianne. There were quite a lot of them as this section went into explicit details, but in the grand scheme of things, there were only a few that actually mattered the most. It was considerable effort to keep my eyes open through the director''s representative speech, and then this. I always hated assemblies and orientations because of this... Aegis was very explicit with their rules. Strictly speaking. Most of them resulted in harsh penalties, like, straight up expulsion when broken. "The hierarchy in the academy is Purley determined by skill and talent. External status or influence have absolutely no power within the wall for the institution. The same applies to outside rtions and conflicts. As long as you are here, the only way to prove your standing is by your efforts. The academy will provide you with every possible facility you might need to facilitate your growth and improvement..." One of the most important part was the strict standing the institution took against external influences and power. Things like family influence or status mattered as little as dust inside of the academy. In simpler terms, in here, daddy can''t help you. The hierarchy, as she called it was entirely based on the ranking system which was made to encourage fiercepetitions. The lower ranking cadets receive less favourable treatments to the higher ranked students. If anyone was dissatisfied with their ranks, all they had to do was work hard to raise it. And at the same time, those whog to far behind will be cut off. It was a simple carrot and stick system, really. A truly terrifying one. "On that note, various chances and opportunities will arise during the school years and semester for you to raise your ranking. For example, during the special exams, mid-terms, or even finals." The President added with a crisp voice. Then her smile elongated, the glint in her green eyes sharpened. "The opportunities aren''t only limited to certain school events. We understand some of us might be eager to raise our ranks rather quickly due to certain personal reasons, that is why we have established a simple duel challenge system." "What? A challenge...?" "I think I''ve heard about that." Like a small spark, the president''s words ignited a whole me of interest and murmurs from the crowd. I silently watched from my seat, pretending to ignore the various voices and chatters of those next to me. The dueling system was just as the name implied. "You are always encouraged to challenge a cadet of a higher rank for their position in a battle of skills, wit, and technique. Whatever of your choosing, provided certain rules are followed and obliged to." "Duels must be carried out with the consent of the involved parties, and a stake may be made. Wether it be Ranking position, privileges, or anything else." "Simrly, on that note, a duel must be officiated and overseen by by the consent of an instructor. Any battles that happen outside the authority of the academy or teachers will be received as insubordination and a tant disregard to the Academy''s rules,ws and regtions, and a decisive punishment and penalty will be dealt. Same thing applies when one party forces a duel on another without their shared consent." "As duels to stake ranking positions are allowed generally, this is only possible with parties of the same year. It is a matter of choosing for the cadets to challenge a senior, but there will be no change in Ranking despite whatever the oue may be. That is only possible amongs ssmates of the same year." The President went on to exin in detail. The dueling system was a rathermon and popr aspect of the academy. A system that provides a small but significant chance for the cadets to disy their worth and drastically rise or fall in the ranking. It was as simple and straightforward as it sounded. A lowly ranked cadet may challenge one of a higher rank for their position. The oue may determine wether if the lower ranking challenger rises to his opponent''s rank, or ultimately remain in their initial position. But just as how one may achieve a higher rank from taking on higher Ranked individuals, one may also drastically plummet and fall to a rank much lower. The interesting part was, this was all determined by the ultimate oue of the duel. It''s implying that a higher ranked cadet that is obviously far more skilled and talented than their challenger might end up losing their initial rank for something lower. In the end, a fight isn''t only determined by skill and power, but also luck, wit and other factors... I mused silently to myself. So while a skilled and talented student drops in the ranking, a weaker and less skilled cadet may rise, due to some of this factors. That was why to many, the dueling system and the chance to challenge the higher ranked cadets was a massive opportunity to easily and quickly rise above. While I was half-heartedly paying attention, a sudden thought struck my mind and I pricked my brows "Ah." Wait. Couldn''t i just challenge someone of a sufficiently higher rank than me to rid myself of the lowest ranked cadet stigma? When I had that thought, I began seriously pondering it, but ultimately disregarded it. Well, at least for now. The bottom rank was definitely a pain, but it was my talent assessment that was the most burdensome for me. I couldn''t easily change that with a duel either. The orientation gradually drew towards its ending with thest congrattory speech and final words given by the council president and their representatives. From here, we were ''briefed'' about the system of the academy, and even lightly touched on the topic of the iing social event, the First Year banquet, that was scheduled for Saturday this weekend. The final speeches and thanks we''re made, and soon all of the students were flooding the exit on our way out. "Ahh, finally! I thought I my bones were going to rust if I stayed any longer." Murmurs of relief filled the massiverge crowd, most of them I could honestly sympathise with. "Hehe, I hear you. But at least now it''s over. Phew. I''ve got nothing on my ss schedule after this, what do you think we should do next?" ''Good question,'' I thought as I inevitably found myself unintentionally eavesdropping on a casual conversation nearby. The exit to therge auditorium was long and packed full with students who were leaving. Because of that, it made it a bit of a pain to squeeze through, and took some time before I could finally see the sun again. I stood just outside of the massive building and stared at the clear sky. All of a sudden, I was free and now my head was nk. The first introductory week of the semester was gradually reaching it''s end. And as from next Monday, the first year sses will begin in earnest. ''Something tells me it''ll be harder for me to be as leisure as I am right now.'' I grimly thought. I had a few reasons for thinking so. I stared at the sky a little longer before withdrawing my gaze with a sigh. The students continued to walk past me and expand as they gradually dissolved into the surroundings doing whatever they wanted. "It''s still a little early. There''s plenty of time, so I think I''ll finally do that." The most famed and renowned ''training facilities '' of the academy. And the main reason why I was here. Since I had nothing else to do, I finally decided to check out one of the prestigious training facilities the academy boasted about. I had other opportunities to do so before during the week, but I''ve subconsciously pushed back on it for a while and instead focused on adapting to my new life in the institution. I probably wasn''t the only one who felt like that. The first week was like a calm before the storm, so I was certain there definitely would be those who decided to maximise the leisure the week gives them before drowning and wallowing by next Monday. ''Not like I''m any different.'' I pried my gaze off and shuffled on my feet. With that, I decided on my next course of action. ... Chapter 72 Cat in a Box [1] The day was still young, and with nothing left to do, I decided to quit procrastinating and finally visited one of the Academy''s training facilities. Aegis wasrge beyond measure. And as a leading organisation in the World of Awakened, it had robust ess to some of the most finest and technological training facilities and resources. Gaining ess to those resources were the main, and perhaps only reason I even decided to go to school. Why else would I want to relive that part of my life again?! Ah, in any case, the facilities were wide and varying. Some with certain restrictions and ess. Whole others required certain privileges. It didn''t take me much time to find one of the training facilities. The institution had three years, from First Year to Third Year. Each of these years were separated across different designations throughout the academy. They were kind of like districts, but I wasn''t sure if the term was too grand or too little to describe it like such. Well in any case, since there were buildings fir first years, second years, and third years ordingly, it wasn''t alwaysmon to find a senior or junior roaming around one of the halls. It wasn''tmon, but it wasn''t a strange sight either. With the first year buildings, came certain First year facilities located in the designation. Arge and wide building structure akin to a massive dome that blot the sun and sky loomed before me. A truly humongous shadow was cast over my head in a shade. "First Year training hall." Surrounding the area were a different numbers of freshmen who were just so happening to be passing by for one reason or the other. I''ve heard about it from Adrianne before, but this was the first time I was seeing it for myself. I was only hoping with this I would be able the finally breakthrough to Eta Rank. But that was almost a pipe dream for me to be that lucky. "Phew..." I lowered my head and sighed lightly. As every other aspect of Aegis, there was a system in ce even for the Training halls and facilities. The Training hall was talked about a little during the Orientation and during sses, but it hasn''t been properly introduced. So I wasn''t really familiar with the whole process. I knew there were different levels to the hall, and that it was open from as early as sunrise to just after curfew. Since I have absolutely no other ns for the day, I nned to stay the entire time at the Training hall until curfew. *** Just as many other things to life, there was amon order for the training halls. In the end, despite their whole talk about equality before all and all that bullshit, there were a number of staggering restrictions if you know where to look. Hourster into the night by 10 pm, I grumbled my way back to my dorm room after working up quite a sweat. In the end, I really did remain at the hall till I was forcefully chased out by the one in charge. -Click. "What a disappointment!" I whined and threw my sweaty body over my bed after getting passed the door. I miscalcted greatly. No, it was an oversight from my side. [The facilities in the first training hall weremendable] my head buzzed light, as Meta inputted. "...Yeah but it''s all for naught if I can''t fully utilize it to their maximum potential." The context of this small back and forth was about my time spent at the training hall. I left feeling slightly dejected, but it wasn''t because the facilities were mediocre or average or lower than anything I expected them to be. No. It was because I was better. No, not quite. "I''m too better." I cried with an exaggerated sigh. At this point, I wasn''t sure wether tough or cry at myself. In the end, I didugh. It was hollow and self-depreciating however.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Hehe...to think that I''d be too strong for the First level training facilities. " The facility didn''t exceed my expectations, I exceeded the facilities. My stats and abilities were more powerful than what the ''meager first level'' could withstand. The longer I spent in there, rather than growing stronger, it was kind of the same way people could lose braincells from watching some dumb YouTube videos! I could almost feel my skills regressing slightly. [And because of your ''status'' you can''t request for higher permissions to the higher level facilities.] "Crucify me." At Meta''s unnecessary input, I rolled my eye. It was as Meta said however. Staring at the bright ceiling light casting it''s radiance over my room, I sorted through my troubled heart and thoughts. It had to be noted there were different ''levels'' to the training hall, and each level provided a different range of tools and facilities to help growth. For example, the First Level of the First Year training hall was specifically designed to amodate Beta, Mortal, and Eta ranks, from what I''ve seen. Anything probably higher than that, and the facilities would be absolutely useless to the student like it was to me. Now, hear me out. I said, Eta Rank didn''t I? I was at the peak of Meta rank, only a few more instances from breaking through, in reality. But Aegis didn''t know that. For all they knew, I was just an untalented Mortal Ranked Awakened who had no future in this line of job. After a quick scan and analysis with Meta, I discovered the halls were under surveince, for obvious reasons. Wouldn''t it be suspicious if, I, an alleged Mortal rank casually walked up to use an Eta rank equipment? Even then, I could easily y it off as just that. If they thought it was suspicious, then they thought it was. They weren''t able to procure anything else from me, and though it is odd for a Mortal to use Eta facilities, then that''s just it. They''d just ping me as an ''odd one'' who didn''t know his ce. But why do I say the word ''suspicious'' in particr? Feeling the heat of my sweat, I rose up from my bed. "Usually, that wouldn''t really affect me much if they just thought I was odd and didn''t know my strength and weakness. But I already have something that puts me in a really unusual ce with the academy." My talent assessment result meant there was an undeniable attention on my back. If something was definitely odd in all the meaning and sense, it was an Awakened hero at the Mortal rank, but was supposed to have absolutely no talent or possibility as a Hero in the first ce. Just then, Meta inputted. [The Evaluation is known to be wrong or change overtime. It is also impossible to entirely correctly gauge a prospect talent either, and the academy should know this. They might be keeping it under wraps for now to study you further, but you are not just a Null talent assessment in their eyes, actually.] Listening to Meta''s words, I lingered and lowered my head. Slowly, my eyes narrowed in agreement and understanding, although I already suspected such an oue. The Meta continued. [Rather than a nonexistent talent which is very obviously wrong concerning your rank and Awakened status, it is more that your real talent can''t be evaluated....] [In simpler words, you, Victor Bright are in a delicate and suspended state, where you could either truly have the lowest ranking talent assessment in history...] [Or the Highest ranking talent in all of humanity.] My lips parted, and a small chuckle escaped from my mouth. I recalled my summary sheet I saw at Wren''s office. Null assessment? Hah! In actuality, I was a highest priority asset, if not one of them. Until my true talent would be revealed, I was actually in a very uncertain state where I was both, or either, a very low assessed prospect, or the highest humanity has ever seen. It was either my talent was so meager, the device couldn''t properly gauge it and give an assessment, or that my talent was actually very great ¡ª so great, in fact, the device couldn''t gauge it too. [It is almost like that cat theory from your previous world. The one where a cat in a closed box of acid is in an omniscient state where it is both either dead and alive, until the box is opened will it''s fate be sealed.] Shr?dinger''s cat, was it... I mused with a smallugh. I was a bit caught of guard when Meta suddenly used such an unexpected analogy from earthto describe my situation. Hehe, well as amusing as she was, Meta was right. "Hah... I need a bath." Since I just returned from an entire day at the training hall, I was covered in sweat and stink like wet socks. "Tsk. That damned caretaker didn''t let me use the training hall bathroom to at least wash up before leaving...!" There was something like a locker room at the training hall, but since it was already way into curfew, I didn''t get the chance to wash off before returning back to my room. I walked into the bath after discarding my sweaty clothes and locking my door. While continuing to review my thoughts about the training hall, and how precarious my current state was. The only way for Aegis to determine what my true potential was, is to keep monitoring me. Haa... I came in with the intention of avoiding unnecessary attention, but that back fired rather splendidly. "Actually, nothing has gone as nned for me ever sinceing to this damned academy..." But, this attention might not be allowed bad depending on how I utilised it. Actually, i was in a favourable advantage and position. It was very obvious where the institution stance about me was at. It would be careless of them and premature to openly announce me as as an incredibly high prospect individual without being sure or knowing anything in particr. So instead, they did just the opposite of that; they made me humanity''s worst Awakened. In retrospect, this was usually enough reason for me to even get expelled when I think of it. Why waste resources on dead weight? But they needed to first of all observe me for a while before making corresponding judgement. -Shaaaa! The raining sound of the shower filled the bathroom, as pouring drops of water fell against my head shoulders, and down my back, drenching my body. "Hmm, my guess is that, soon they''ll begin applying pressure on me to reveal my true abilities, if I have any, knowingly hidden or unknowingly." They''ll probably do this by throwing me into certain types of situations to gauge my reaction and response. But. If by the end of all of it, nothing happens... I looked up at the shower faucet and revealed a strained smile as I raised the side of my palm raised against my neck. "I''ll get axed." Chapter 73 Cat in a Box [2] The initial problem of the training hall was much lesser in the grand scheme of things. It was actually something that could more or less be easily resolved if I was willing to take some risk. Knowing all of the conjectures I''ve reached today with Meta, if I went ahead to use a higher leveled facility, the academy will certainly ce some certain level of minor interest and attention to my actions. In fact, they most likely were already closely watching me without me knowing. Thinking so, I shuddered lightly and looked around the inside of my room. ...Meta said there weren''t any surveince devices or methods in the dorms, but now I found that strangely hard to believe. On the other hand, it could also do me well toe out with my true strength. It will be more advantageous of me to do so. There was a reason why each and every cadet was ranked, and why everyone wanted to have a higher rank too. The higher ranks came with certain privileges that we lower ranked and unlucky cadets could only dream off. One of them was the wider number of rights and opportunities. For example, I heard from Adrienne that the top 15 numbered cadets have specialised, and private training facilities and high-level equipment inbuilt in their rooms. Since the dorms weren''t monitored or under surveince like the general training halls, the private training facilities meant that the privileged cadet could train to their limits, and reveal all sorts of secret or family techniques without prying eyes. That was the main reason Aegis action didn''t have surveince in the dorms; it was because ofthe big and powerful families who had secrets, like ancestral techniques or abilities, which couldn''t be revealed no matter what. So while I had to be constantly cautious about those watching me in the training hall, I couldn''t disy the full extent of my ability and train to my heart content. While the privileged bastards could do just that and more. "No then, wouldn''t it be actually better if I really just came out then?" In dark realisation, I whined as I dried my body. Well, I was already beginning to n to do so to an extent. But of course I''ll have to hide a few cards to myself. I''ll reveal only enough to show promise for Aegis to invest into me as a prospect. I stood by my bed and reached for mymunicator. This things that was bizarrely like a phone stood out sorely to someone like me, in an unlikely world like this. I still couldn''t get used to seeing something this close to a phone like this... I mean, I knew Aethoria had a baffling blend of time periods and settings simr to earth, and ever since I left my family''s territory, I recently discovered once more that the world is actually more advanced than I thought. But still, it was almost strange. Dismissing my thoughts, and casually tossing away mymunicator, I was prepared to head for bed with nothing else left to do. When all of a sudden, I heard a knock from the other side of my door. "What? Who could it be at this time of the night?" It was hours past curfew by this time, there weren''t many cadets who would be roaming around thiste, so this visitor was definitely unexpected. In the end, there was only a single presence I could sense from behind. -Click! "Yes? Who is it...?" I pushed open the door cautiously, just slightly enough to peek out. "Apologies foring out thiste, good sir..." There was a middle aged man with folding wrinkles around his eyes, wearing a blue uniform and a face cap of the same colour. In his hands, he held arge cardboard box, and wore a smile as he looked at me. I nced down at the box. "Mail? Ah...!" The man smiled as I voiced a sound of realisation. "Yes. You have this delivered to you. You are Victor Bright, yes?" That was right. I remembered I was expecting a mail from home, with some some things I left behind or forgot back home. "Yes, that''s me. Thank you." I retrieved the cardboard box from the delivery man''s and sent him off before returning back inside. "Oof. I almost forgot about this." cing the box down before me, I sheepishly scratched the side of my face. It wasn''t an understatement to say, it escaped my mind with everything that was suddenly happening. "But really, what the hell did the family put inside of this thing? My whole room?" The size of this thing was crazy. How was I supposed to arrange and sort through all of it today?! "No one said anything had to put it all away though, right?" Yes, yes, indeed. Why do I have to go through the unnecessary trouble of scattering the items inside, into the dorm. Wouldn''t it be better if all the things I might look for were just in the box? Nodding inwardly, I decided to first of all go through its content, before putting the cardboard box away at a corner of my bed. ''I can just arrange itter...'' Izily thought. The first thing that caught my eye inside the box was a pristine white envelope sitted at the top over all other things. "A letter...?" And apparently, it was from Adrianne. I nced at mymunicator, "Why didn''t she just send me a text?" -Thump!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Immediately, my heart skipped a powerful beat and I felt cold. "Shit!" My results... By this time, I was sure my family had already gotten wind of my assessment and ranking. The person I feared the most from flipping out over it, was Adrianne who spent most of thest year ''training'' me and tutoring me back at home... And now Ie up as the bottom ranked cadet of the first years. Not one of the lowest, but the veryst. "H-haaaa..." It was with an uneasy heart, did I tear the envelope open and went through the letter. ¡ª"Dear, brother. I hope this letter meets you well..." Gulp! "Dear, sister, I''m more worried about when it leaves!" The letter went on. But contrary to what I expected, Adrianne''s reaction was more subtle than. No, it wasn''t just ''subtle''. It waspletely different. ¡ª"Vic? Are you okay? I heard about what happened, how are you doing? Your big sister is worried about you; father and mother are too. Vic... You haven''t written to us since. We heard about the result of your Evaluation, are you alright? Victor, your big sister is there for you no matter what, remember that. We''ll understand if you...if you decide to drop out of the academy. We''ll support you throughout whatever you want to do..." The first half of the letter went on in a much different way than i was expecting. I read the letter with an odd expression with a mix of confusion. "So..." I scratched the back of my head. "She''s not mad...?" With obviously no one else in the room but me, I said at myself. It was as if to make it more believable. "This... This is unexpected." To be honest, I was expecting an ear full. But Adrianne and the rest of my family were more concerned about how I was faring emotionally after hearing about my Talent evaluation. They weren''t paying attention to my bottom ce ranking at all. I skimmed through the rest of the letter, with a little daze. ¡ª"Here are the things you left behind at home. Knowing you, I know you might still want to stubbornly continue so I still sent them anyway. It will be very insensitive for someone like me to say, I can understand how you might feel, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, or what decision you decide to take from here, I will always support you. I''m on your side, Vic ¡ª then, now, and ever. ... that is also why, I brought you a present..." "Sis... Sniff-sniff." Ah, my cute older sister has grown so bold and sweeter with words... Damn, I was expecting a scolding. My Evaluation was definitely a pain and annoying, but it wasn''t like I felt depressed or bad about it, so all of this much love and support from my family almost makes me feel bad. Like it was all kind of wasted on someone like me. "But what''s this about a present?" The answer was on the next paragraph of the letter as I continued. ¡ª"There''s a first year banquet right, right?-" "No way." I froze. ''I-it can''t be...'' my exoression slowly fell as I looked at the letter. ¡ª"Hehe... I bought you a suit!" It was sthen I noticed the first thing I could see in the box aside from the letter, was a smaller cardboard box. And in it, was probably the present Adrienne left for me. Ah yes, the banquet. It wasn''t like I forgot about it, but I just really wasn''t paying it much regard or anything like that. As the only son to a small noble household, I grew up attending a few banquets and simr socials like this back when I was younger. I honestly found banquets and party''s suffocating. Both in this life, and back on Earth, actually. I didn''t hate them, but I didn''t like them either. Since I also didn''t have any particr thoughts of the iing banquet, and I also didn''t gave a good outfit, I was already thinking I''d just skip it and train instead. So Adrianne''s sudden gift waspletely unexpected to me. ¡ª"The Academy can be a tough ce with lots of different characters, where talent and skills rule the top of the hierarchy. Vic, if there''s anybody, anyone who ever tried to bother you, ory a single finger on your hair, I''ll make sure they''ll pay for harming my little brother." As always, Adrienne knew well how to potray her bloodlust through her letters. I felt my skin crawl, and my back drenched lightly for that paragraph. But at the same time, I was also d. The letter didn''tst too long after that, as she slowly concluded. ¡ª"You should write back home so we can know how well you''re doing. Also, include yourmunicator address so I can easily reach you more quickly than through letters." Ah. I was wondering Adrianne didn''t just send a message through themunicator, I really hadn''t shared contacts with my sister. . [A/N: hey, guys, it''s finally that time. I''ll be going back to go premium after this. And thanks to all those who have supported me this far, and i hope you continue to do so, if you can. 20Ps bonus Chapter will be out soon. Thank you.] Chapter 74 Banquet [1] [Bonus Chapter] In the end, after making a mental note to write back to my sister with my contact details the next time, I put away therge box and letter andid down on my bed. I made the final summaries to my cumtive thoughts of the day. Partially, I had an obvious sense of relief from the letter. It felt like a heavy chest had been lifted off my shoulders. Adrianne and my family weren''t mad, and we''re even more worried. But considering the truth about everything and what I had done, I also had mixed and slightlyplicated feelings. Did I truly deserve such warmth andfort from these people? When I thought that, I immediately concluded it was a depressing process. For that moment, I shook the thought out of my heart. In the end, my mind only ever kept returning back to my uncertain state and standing in the academy. "Really," I sighed deeply and shook my head, "things have be so unnecessarilyplicated since I came here. Not once have anything gone ording to my ns or expectations." Muttering that to myself, I inadvertently directed a nce to the bronze ring on left arm finger. Unknowingly, my eyes twitched as a strained smile crooked in my lips. "... Just my luck." The w of Solomon''s Ring was a weird thing I still haven''t managed to crack open or understand. Unlike the more direct and clear w description of Mumur''s Mask,the w of Solomon''s Ring was more vague and iffy. No, it was also quite clear with its words, uncannily so and more than I appreciated, but even then it was still strange. "You shall never know peace. Unluck follows you like a shadow... Yeah no matter how one sees that, it''s definitely a curse." I refuted. What made this terrifying and uncertain for me was the word, ''Unluck''. That could be or mean anything, at different times and situations. This made the w very hard and dangerous to decipher. But strangely, or fortunately, I haven''t encountered any situation that was irreversibly unlucky or dangerous for me. There were a few instances when unexpected things happened, or certain things didn''t go my way and such, but that was the extent of it. The only difference between when I didn''t have the Ring, and now when I do have it, was probably that my overall luck had be unstable and annoying. "Sigh. With this damned Ring, I''m sure things will only get more unlucky and harder for me." Grumbling as I slowly sumbed to my faith, i stuffed my face into my pillows and slowly became limp. ''...The banquet is in two days.'' a Saturday. I shifted my gaze slightly and looked at the cardboard box sitting at a random corner of my room and just stared silently at it with aplicated expression. Tsk. ''How annoying...'' I stuffed my face back into my pillow against the embracingfort of my bed. ''Let''s just go to sleep for now.'' The night was quitete, and the banquet was still two days away. I had enough time to make up my mind by then... *** The first Year Social Banquet, that was what it was called. The first ever small social event hosted by the academy at the beginning of a new school year, each year. A ''small'' wee celebration and event where the Freshmen gather together to mingle and grow familiar with their new peers who they will be studying side by side with for the next three years. Aegis was the most prestigious Hero academy in the Human domain: it was a ce where all sorts of incredible, influential and talented individuals gathered. If there was ever a ce where one could hope to make the right connections, then The Academy was just that. It was also an institution which took in the various heirs and children of powerful, to small noble and prestigious families. Heck, even this time they had the Imperial princess no less. And so, while the first year banquet wasn''t necessarily deemed mandatory for all freshmen to attend, many wouldn''t make the mistake of missing such an opportunity. To them, it was like taking the first official steps, although many more simr chances in the future may arise. In the end, it was the first impressions that mattered. Standing next to one of the buffet table filled with all sorts of beverage and dishes, I stared at the bustling hall with a sullen expression, while wearing half of the suit Adrienne got for me. There was the sounds of instrument and music being yed at the background, and the wide banquet hall was filled with a dim, almost dreamy light to set a type of mood. I could see as the various different kids and cadets in shy dresses and suits sit around tables, or form groups and chatter amongst themselves. And amongst them... "Ah, there it is..." I mumbled to myself with a scoff as my voice was drowned by the snorous sounds of music and liveliness. The fake smiles, facades, and not so subtle disy of superiority. "As expected of a social banquet...as suffocating as a always." Even from earth, I never really enjoyed all this, despite my position often being one where I had to lead with a smile and a velvet glove. "Victor." At that moment, while I was aimlessly standing around doing nothing in particr, a familiar voice called out to me from behind. I barely stopped my face from twitching, schooling my expression into a neutral mask as I turned around. "Alexander..." Of course he was here, Alexander is also a first year. The pale white haired Alexander in a rather stylish and fancy looking suit gingerly walked up to me from crowd, with a ss of wine in hand. He disyed a handsome irksome smile that made me want to p it off and said. "Is something wrong?" "Wrong?" I pricked my brows and repeated. Alexander nodded slightly. He walked closer and stood next toe me, then said with a small smile. He pointed at his face. "You don''t seem to be enjoying yourself, you have this constipated sullen re." ''Consti¡ª?! I''ll kill this bastard!'' A murderous spark red within me for a short moment, but I extinguished it and gave a fake smile. "...Rude. I was born this way." Gulping down the contents of the wine ss that was next to me on the table, I reigned down my bloodlust and murderous intent and said. "...What about you? You seem to be enjoying yourself." I side nced at Alex and the wine he had in his hands, and the stylish suit he had on. As if he noticed my subtle nces, Alex gave a wry smile and sighed, slumping his shoulders. "Haa... actually¡ª I''m not sure. So I guess I''m in no ce to say what I did to you..." Hemented with a small dryugh. He pulled slightly at his cors with a helpless grimace that only went to make his pretty face more hateful. "It''s all suffocating. I''m not really sure what to do, I''ve never really been fund of things like this." While Alex was whining like a brat next to me, I silently observed a small amd passing detail. ''Never been fund of things like this? Ah, right. I guess Alexander might actually be from some influential or Noble family too.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Without much of a change in my expression, I ced the wine ss down and shoved my hands into my pocket. I swept a steady gaze across the bustling hall filled with the liveliness of the cadets then simply said. "It''s a social banquet, what else are you supposed to do but make friends?" Alex scratched the side of his face, taking in the same scene as I was. "I guess you''re right." "I am¡ª" "But you don''t seem to have any friends either." "..." I froze. A short moment of silence passed between Alex and I. Quietly, I sucked in a breath. ''Well yed.'' Then... "Isn''t that obvious?" I said seemingly indifferent, and shrugging my shoulders. I let Alexander do the contemtion of my words, and his expression amusingly slowly warped from a small grin, to a troubled and sorry look. My Talent evaluation and bottom rank would y a significant road block even if I wanted to make friends. I''m not denying it''s possibility, as there will always be odd balls and wackos like Alex in certain cases. As if he found it like he had said something insensitive indirectly, the white haired young man with silent next to me for a while. "A-ahem. I apologise." "... it''s fine." I really didn''t mind. "Oh, right. About that...do you still...get that happening to you?" Get that? ''Oh, he must be talking about the bullying incident.'' silently I thought. Actually, I haven''t found myself in such an exact scenario ever since that day. There were still a lot of piercing looks, scoffs, and jabbingments made about me each time I passed, but I haven''t been openly confronted as I was at the beginning. For now. In response to Alex''s question, my lips parted slowly as I said in consideration. "No...not really." Alex heaved a honest sigh of honest relife next to me. Then he said, looking at me, in a stern and befuddling scolding tone. "I''m d, that''s good. Remember, if you ever find yourself in such trouble, do not hesitate to report it to an instructor. As long as it''s not an official duel recognised by both parties, any forms of fights or bullying outside of that will face punishment." No, no, no. What is this? Why am I getting scolded this way? Even if what he says is true, it might apply slightly different for me. Instructor Wren was out of the picture, I bet she wouldn''t even give me a nce. And I had a sneaking suspicion, most other instructors wouldn''t either. So all of what Alex just said was something I rendered as futile. The asional bullying and snarkyments at my back were certainly going to be very annoying, but they were problems I would have to ultimately more or less solve myself at some point. But as if he could read a part of my thoughts, Alex purser his lips out slightly before adding. "Or if you''re somehow unable to... then, I''ll be there to help!" No, really... "...Why would you go out of your way to do something so troublesome? No really, i couldn''t understand why Alex would would be acting like we were close. Couldn''t he take a hint and realise I was trying to avoid him?! Alex''s expression didn''t really change much, but he went silent for about three seconds as if he was quietly contemting what to say. He held my gaze, and his lips parted. "Because we''re¡ª" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 75 Banquet [2] "Because we''re ¡ª" "ssmates! Got it!" Immediately, before Alex could finish that diabolical sentence, I cut in and said swiftly. ''Safe!!'' I felt my heart racing and pounding strangely in my chest. What the actual fuck? Was this bastard really just going to easily befriend anyone just like that? No, I mean I knew I made a small subtle jab about you not having friends, but that didn''t mean to have hopes for me being one of them! Getting involved with someone like you, was like begging for futher misfortune; I already had plenty! Ah, actually, quite frankly, staring at Alex right at that moment made me have a strange thought. In retrospect, if people like Alex and I hung out together, wouldn''t that be an abomination, and a curse upon the world?! The one cursed with misfortune. The Hero who would work a path of misfortune. These two separate bodiese together and coexist: it''s the end of the world! "Beacuse we are ssmates, yes. You''re right. That''s why you''re looking after me, thank you." Immediately,.I said once more and took a small step back. As much as it was advantageous for me to have found Alex this early and quickly, I still needed some reasonable distance to observe first. If I carelessly got too deeply involved with the future hero, my actions could produce a sort of unnecessary effect that may do more harm than good, not just to me, but to the future of this world. But then again, this world didn''t have a future either way... "O-oh, uh ¡ª right, we''re ssmates after all. We have to look after each other no matter what. Yes, th-that''s exactly what I was about to say. Ahem." Alex sheepishly stuttered, coughed and said with a slight red face tinged with embarrassment. Why was he looking like he got dumped though...? I hoped with this, I''d slowly subtly raise a sort of distance for our future interaction. Just enough that we don''t end up tied by the waist! While Alex and I engaged in a rather awkward scenario and conversation, the banquet continued to unravel uncaring of our thoughts or opinions. The soft melody from the music mixed with the lively and festive atmosphere, and it gradually turned slow and the mood subtly shifted. ''It looks like they''re going to hold a slow dance?'' I was a little beffudled. This was a banquet, yes, but it was more of ss part actually. So why slow dance? Well, it didn''t matter to me in the end. After spending a few minutes and seeing how the whole event goes, I nned to immediately return back. I was only here in due consideration to the efforts and feelings of my sister who went as far as getting me a suit. Aside from that, this banquet held no significance to me, and neither did I hold any significance to anyone else. Who would actually want to interact with someone of my caliber? Thinking that, I subtly side nced at Alexander standing next to me with a soft wistful and subtle smile. "Haa..." Slowly, I retracted my gaze and shook my head. I reached for a different wine nce and poured it''s contents down my throat. ''Weird bastard.'' "I''m leaving." Before I left, I at least had the small decency and consideration to say my goodbyes to Alex who spent the most time with me today. Without waiting for a response of any kind, I turned around and slowly made my way through the crowd for the exit. "Eh? You''re leaving? But why? The banquet literally just started." I heard Alex''s voice follow me from behind. By the exit was a middle aged Valet who was in charge of a hanging the coats and extra clothes of the guest. "I remember I have something to do." Without turning around to give a proper response, I retrieved my coat and said to Alex. "Huh? Uh, okay...if you say so I guess." Alex didn''t seem entirely satisfied by my reply, but who was I to carre for his opinion. I stood just before the opened exit, with the servant next to door and casually nodded at Alex before leaving finally. "Yeah." The banquet was held quitete into the evening, and even running well past curfew. Readtest chapters on empire But the time I decided to leave, the sky had gonepletely dark, greyed in by the night and stars. And with the night, brought with it was the cold and chilling wind. It carried an airy breeze that swept through my brown hair and kissed my skin. The event location of the banquet was at a private, andrge event hall almost bordering the edges of campus. In other words, it was a considerable distance for me before I could return back to the dorm. "Ah, what a pain..." The thought made me sigh and grumble. I was seriously beginning to actually regreting and wasting my time in the first ce. s, I had no other choice but to suck it up and walk. But rather than head straight for the First year residential area, instead my destination was the training hall again. That had always been my original goal. ''I still have to level up and rank up.'' I gritted my teeth slightly. Despite everything I''ve done thisst week, I''ve been unable to raise my level a single time. I mean, it was never easy leveling up, talk less of Ranking up, but it''s been like one year already and I was still stuck as a Mortal Rank I managed to hide it thest years but my frustration was palpable. I''ve grown more restless to grow stronger more quickly ever since thest vision all those months ago at the dungeon. Ever since, I found every single moment where I was doing nothing productive like this a waste and would spend it constantly training to raise my rank. With my talent and advantages, I was sessfully able to reach this far in Just one year, but was still just very short off taking that leap across. == [Level: 33] == ''Just two more levels from my next rank up.'' I dismissed the screen and sighed. Time passed. I arrived at the training hall in a few minutes. Surprisingly, it hadn''t been closed off for the day yet. Considering what was happening tonight, I found myself as the only one who was present in the entire hall. I pretended not to pay much attention to the camera and surveince measures and casually used the higher level equipment. If it truly was as everything I concluded, me doing this actually held no risk or danger. At most, if anyone else saw me fighting against dummies that were supposed to be way out of my league, they''ll call me crazy or odd. While the academy might only pay slightly more priority to my actions. ''Buy ultimately, it doesn''t matter as long as I don''t reveal too much.'' -Bam! I did stepped as the four armed golem smashed into the space at my side. It''s three pairs of beaming red lights for eyes drew a direction for my figure, and it''s upper body twisted unnaturally to follow up with its attack. A reinforced and powerful armoured first burst through the air at me. My warning senses screamed mildly sharply. I pushed off the toes of my feet, hoping to back step down distance to shave off some force from the impact, and raised the metallic training spear in my hands. The fist colided with the shaft of the spear, and I felt a small tremor rock my head''s as I was pushed back. ''It''s still annoying. Even if I decide I can use Eta rank equipments, I still have to be constantly conscious of what I show. I have to subtly lower my skills and reaction time in certain cases, although the training dummy replicates a small portion of an Eta rank as well. This makes it hard to react and fight back against the dummy which is designed to he higher ranked than me.'' my thoughts raced as I gritted my teeth. I did try to ride my momentum and fix my footing, as I simply let myself pathetically fall to the cold ground and roll with a small grunt. "Haa...haa..."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It''s my lost. ''Again.'' Damn this is frustrating. Once more, I silently realised how unfair the top ranking cadets were having it by having their own personal and private training rooms without any externally surveince. As I felt my shirtless back feel the touch of the cold ground, I stared up at the tall ceiling indiscernibly. Maybe I really should just go ahead and fuel one of those guys... Like a baffling coincidence, just when I had that thought, I heard the door to hall open, and someone stepped in. ''Someone aside from me at this time?'' Slowly I raised my head from the ground to look. And froze. "Ah..." With long pale silver hair, and bright red eyes that were icy like like ake in winter, the top ranking first year, No.1 Ceres Walker stepped into therge training hall in a sweatshirt and sweat pants with a sullen and distant expression. Instantly, I felt the whole atmosphere of the silent and serene hall subtly shift and change from her mere appearance. Perhaps maybe I was imagining it, but Ceres had a very distinguishable presence. ''Does it have something to do with being an Ascended Hero?'' Speaking of which, Hamlet as the Silver Sentinel did have this intimidating presence when he was finally noticed. ''It could also be a passive reaction because of therge disparity between our power levels.'' Status suppression. In any case... I watched with suprise as Cees arrived. Amongst everyone that could possibly show up right here right now, Ceres was amongst the least I expected. But I also had no reason to think so. Wasn''t she supposed to be at the banquet? No, maybe she bailed like me? Speaking of which, i don''t think i recall actually seeing Ceres at the social. While my mimd stirred slightly, Ceres cold and indifferent red eyes swept my way for a brief moment, making me stiff. She nced fleetingly between me and the golem before indifferently turning away. And like I never existed, Ceres never spent me another nce for the rest of the night. Chapter 76 Mondays Monday.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The most dreaded day of the week. ''...I don''t wanna go...'' With the first week and banquet over, the academy semester was officially beginning as of today. Which meant, official sses were starting. I stepped through the entrance of ssroom A-1. The bright scene of therge and expansive ssroom presented itself before me. In it were a number of familiar looking students scattered around. Some were in groups and chatting lively without seemingly a care for the world And a few others remained alone behind their seats. Amongst them, I spotted the family figures of a tinum blonde. The aloof and estranged Ceres was as always leaning forward against the desk of her seat. Her steady and unrippled red eyes were drawn to the front of the ss, her thoughts a mystery. After our unexpected encounter at the training hall during the banquet, Ceres and I have had no other particr contacts with each other. It didn''t even seem like we met. And after that, neither did I see her return back to the hall again. ''It really was a one time thing. Ceres has no reason to show up at the general training hall when she has better facilities in her dorm room.'' thinking that in passing, I passively shifted my gaze away from her before she could notice this time too. ss A-1 was enviably bright and lively for a Monday morning. ''How nice it must be to be kids. I envy their vitality and optimism.'' With the banquet hosted for the first year now behind us, and after the extracurricr week, different friendship and acquaintanceship have been made. With the exemption of only those with zero social skills, and loners. At the same time, I have also be something of a background myself too. No one really turned to monitor me as much as the Frist days before. It took a single nce for me to grasp the sight of the ssroom, while suppressing a sigh. "Hm?" Just then, while i still stood next to the door, I nced back over my shoulder and caught sight of Alex''s family figure approaching from down the hallway. He seemed to be in the friendlypany of a female cadet with light purple hair, who gingerly waved before rushing off towards the opposite direction as soon as i turned. The bright look on Alex''s face said they were acquaintances at best. ...So even that bastard really could make friends after all. "Yo." Alex spotted me in passing and waved. Before he could say anything else or approach, I nodded mildly and walked away.. Leaving the entrance finally, I silently headed to my seat at the back. In a few minutes, Instructor Wrenna arrived in time and promptly began homeroom. "The calendar has truly officially began. You''ve had one week to understand the scheme, and adapt to the Academy''s surrounding, so now the next thing step is to fill out your list and choices of special and extra courses. During that, you can freely pick from with the Combat department, Magic department, Alchemy department, or research department. And concerning each of the aforementioned main departments, and majors, more details will be exined..." The academy was arge and truly massive institution with thousands of students and resources. But there were four main and primary faculties which was of these cadets were distribut Faculty of Magic. Faculty of Combat. Faculty of Alchemy. And the Faculty of Research. These four principle faculties or departments held the main pirs of the Aegis academic system. It was also mandatory for each student to belong to one of the faculties and major in specific courses or subjects by the way. Well there were also smaller, and sub divided faculties branching underneath each of these mentioned four, but that required additional details and exnation forter. In any case, I had to chose a Faculty, and a corresponding major too since it was necessary. There was no problem there, since I was going to major in closebat under thebat department. Aegis had a special and unique academic system. By having a major that fell under one of these faculties didn''t necessarily restrict the cadets from not having any others, and some times in other departments. That was the part where, ''further details and exnations '' will be given. Without realising it early, my face subtly drifted to Alex''s back upfront. ''Hmm...I wonder what department that guy will go for...'' "You have until the end of the week to make up your mind and reach a decision about your chosen departments," the glossy ck haired, strict faced, and purple eyed instructor Wren added and continued. "But your course applications should be submitted by the end of the day. I believe you had enough time to make enough research." After giving a slight and brief introduction, and informing us about some announcements here and there, the first period continued on with the cold and aloof instructor eventually rounding up in the nexct fourty minutes, to an hour. Homeroom and the first period ended, and following our new and revised ss schedule, the next ss we had was Basic and General Combat ss 101. First, I think I should make a few things clear. In Aegis, there were three types of sses or courses. General courses where all students, irrespective of the departments or faculties, equally attend and we''re mandatory. Specialized courses, or Special sses where students of specific faculties, departments, and majors had different courses to attend ording to their corresponding parts. And just like the general sses, these were also mandatory to attend, and necessary to their departments. And Extra courses. Thest one were actually just like additional and extra sses which weren''t particrly mandatory to attend, or necessary to the students majors or departments. They were just mostly there to gain some extra credits, and have a slight more wider range. Extra sses weren''t necessarily the same as extracurricr activities either. And General Combat ss 101, or GCC for short, was amongst one of the many General courses which involved the entire ss. This was necessary. In the end, Awakened and Heroes, despite their affinity and skills at least had to be well familiar withbat to fight against the demons and other threats. "Alright, listen up you twerps! This will be your first official generalbat ss, and from today, I instructor Derrick Greybarn will be your leading instructor for your time as first years!!" Generalbat ss was held outside, in one of therge empty fields behind the massive gym building and training hall. The excessively loud person who spoke was a massive and brawny dark skinned middle aged man, with arms as thick as trees, and muscles that defined his lines and body from even underneath his equipped armor. He had shaven brows, and short pale orange hair. His build, and demeanor have him a particrly different type of intimidating pressures. Especially from his ferocious express that seemed like he''d beat up a thug just for running past him. Teacher Derrick''s voice was so loud my head thrubbed. He swept his gaze across the field at the entire ss, and his slightly dark skinned lips pulled and curled slightly. "Since this is only the first lesson, I''ll need to first of all gauge and test out your skills to judge your average level. We don''t have much time, and there are 37 of you in A-ss, so each of you will pair up in two''s, and then be split in two batches to maximise our time. A batch will have today, and the second batch will have the next session of this ss." Instructor Derrick soundly exined in an easy to understand manner. But there was still a remaining issue. I looked around at all of us. ''There''s 37 of us though.'' And it didn''t seem like I was the only one to notice this obvious fact. "Hahahaha!!" At the same time, the muscle bound instructor gave a rumblingughter. Enjoy new adventures from empire He yanked off the great sword sheathed in its scabbard and hanging behind his back before thrusting it into the ground. There was a wide and toothy grin on his wiled looking face as he looked at us from up front "Don''t worry about the numbers," he said, and raised one finger to his chest, "I''ll fill in the nk!" The faces of some of the cadets flicked at his troubling words. Even I thought that this was a little straining, although it was to be expected I guess. But in a case like this, shouldn''t the instructor have some kind of assistant? Managing a ss of this magnitude of such a ss, shouldn''t the instructor in charge have an assistant or two? ''Plus, If muscle Derrick ns to get involved personally, how exactly is he supposed to supervise the rest of us?'' he said he''d fill in the nks, but he should feel in his own nks first! I get that 37 is an odd number, the next course of action in this case would be to have one of the students participate twice, or have one exempted from the exercise entirely. And there''s what mattered. ''Ah, I was hoping I could skip out on it using that excuse too...'' yes! I heard about the macho Derrick Greybarn from Adrianne, who described this terrifying looking instructor as... charming. From that, I could vaguely guess that the first exercise would likely turn out this way, and so I was prepared to feign an excuse and step out under the pretence ofck of adequate members. I had no talent and was the bottom of my ss, Derrick wouldn''t bat an eysh for someone weak like me and let me do as I wish. But all of that now doesn''t matter. ''He''s going to directly fill in thest number himself because...'' I had a strange inkling as to why he''d suddenly do this. As the cadets openly expressed their uncertainty, the feral grin on Derrick''s face which put all of his white teeth on disy widened and he slowly turned and gave a look towards a specific direction. "Don''t worry, don''t worry. I already told you..." Yes, that was right. The instructor of the generalbat ss was a muscle head and a not so closet battle junkies. "I''ll fill in for the empty seat!" His target was no one else''s but the top of the guest year ss, Rank 1, Ceres Walker. [A/N: Two bonus chaptering soon] Chapter 77 General Combat Class [1] The macho, musclebound instructor''s target was none other than the top of the first year cadet, the mysterious Ceres herself. ''Actually, taking in the other factors concerning Derrick, this shouldn''t be too surprising...'' Derrick was known as a loud, and hot blooded instructor in charge of the first year generalbat lessons. From what I''ve heard, and what I was currently experiencing, he can be a lot impulsive at times, and feral. It actually was quite normal for him to soar with his students. The strongest of them. Ceres who was not only the top ranked of our ss, but was also a Hero Rank Ascended at the age of only 16 was a rare talent. And this was without considering what her possible talent evaluation was since I had no Idea of knowing. In any case, Derrick set up this whole process just so he could gauge blows against Ceres for a short while and test her skills. ''Haa... There goes out my idea of casually stepping out of the exercise.'' I didn''t even get to manifest the Idea, because I momentarily forgot about Derrick''s traits since I had only heard of them and never saw them in person. "Pick a partner and pair up in two''s." Thebat ss progressed as the entire ss hurdled and picked their partners when¡ª "Professor, I will like to pair up with Number one if it''s not too much to ask?" Unexpectedly, I actually heard someone say. Number 2, Deandra Lunar de''LaCurt with her ming red hair was standing unshaken before Derrick and the impassive Ceres. Immediately, Derrick''s lips parted into a smile. "Hoh? You do... You''re number two, Princess Deandra..." He said, using his gaze to size her up. At the mention of her status, there was no visible change in Deandra''s expression or posture. She simply, and calmly said modestly. "There is no need for the formalities. Here In the academy, I am only a fellows cadet, and you are prestigious instructor. Aegis doesn''t smile too kindly upon the use of external influence and status, so please, professor, just call me by my name or number." "Nice," Derrick chuckled. He rubbed his dark chin with a grin and stepped back. "I was originally going to be the one to test our little moms- I mean, our finest students but this isn''t bad too. A little disappointing for me, but not bad either. " He looked between the two young women, his nce as if to say he had no real judgement in the decision. In the end, it all matters if Ceres epts the pairing or not. To Derrick, it didn''t matter much. It was a great opportunity for him to see both the two top ranking first years in action, so he could gauge their skills and abilities in closeparison. And the same could be said for the other ssmates. Immediately z Deandra challenged, or rather, requested to be paired with Ceres, it immediately gained a crowd of anticipation and attention. Everybody wanted to see. Between the cold, detached and mysterious Ceres... And the aloof and charming princess of the royal family. Who was better. ''That''s obvious.'' But there was a fierce and unyielding look in the Princess'' eyes. This was only a simple practice spar, so there won''t be excessive disy of attacks. It would be hard for the two to truly go all out. Everyone dropped their own business and awaited the oue of this exchange with bathed breaths. And eventually, Ceres blood red eyes flickered only slightly. "Very well." She epted to be Deandra''s pair. "Haa..." For some reason, I unknowingly let out an exhausted sigh. "Hehehe. That''s the spirit. Warriors can use their actual weapons, and the spar will begin with two pairs for each round and for the first batch today. This is just a small exchange for me to understand where your skill levels stand, so any intentional fatal blows or attacks are strictly prohibited. Hmph, and don''t think you can escape my senses. Once you''re caught, you''re finished." Derrick gave thest warnings and details signaling themencement of the spar exercise. Pairs formed, and the ss was split ultimately in two batches. The first Batch cleared off slightly from the field and stood off at the right. While the second batch who will only have their turn likely during the next ss, stood off to the left, with the center cleared as the main stages. But there was still one problem. "..." Even if Deandra and Ceres ended up pairing, the initial problem wasn''t in any way affected by that unimpactful change. There was still 37 of us. ''Of course...'' and I was the one left out. Ah, I can already feel a headache thinking about what might happen next. The teams have already been made with the rest of the 36 cadets having joined up in pairs, leaving just me without a partner. A bit surprisingly, even Alex had managed to locate a pair. [What? Were you somehow having hope that Alexander would ask you to pair up after what you did? Isn''t that shameless?]My head thrubbed and I heard Meta say in vibrations. Why does it sound like I dumped someone only to get dumped by that same person...? "Shut up...!" I mumbled. "So you''re the one who''s without a partner, huh?" I turned around to look at Derrick who was already next to me.. Therge instructor stood over me with an almost indifferent gaze. "Hmmm, you''re cadet number 1499... Oh, the one with the null talent?" Rather than using names, most instructors of the academy referred to the cadets by their rank numbers. As if that wasn''t already good enough, I was more poprly known not as the bottom ranked, or 1499, but simply ''the one with the null talent ''. Honestly, I wasn''t sure what to feel about it. Regardless, I shoved the thought down and slowly nodded nkly. "...Cadet number 1499, present." I saluted and Derrick leaned his indifferent face closer. "You really are real. I''ve never heard of an Awakened with absolutely no talent, at least everyone has a small possibility and talent no matter how little but..." He said, and Derrick''s eyes seemed to ''gaze'' deeply intoy soul. "...Sir, in the first ce that is impossible. It is as you say, everyone has a small possibility..." I said, consciously sounding impertinent. Your journey continues with empire I was basically implying my talent just couldn''t be read. And even that had bigger implications depending on how one chose to view it. But I left the interpretation up to Derrick. ''It doesn''t seem like the entire institution is suspicious of my real talent with this...'' I silently said, judging from his reaction. The same was with Wrenna back then too. Meanwhile, Derrick narrowed his eyes scrutinizingly at my words as he looked at me. Then he scoffed. "Bold words; even I can''t barely feel a spec of energy from you. You really are bat shit weak.." B-bat shit...? At such a rebuttal I felt my fragile heart wince. Instructor Derrick leaned in close, and his indifferent gaze seemed to bore through my being. All of a sudden, I felt the the hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and the instinctive urge to freeze and hold my breath down. A Gaze from a higher ranked entity... It was like getting stared down by arger predator. Derrick was actively trying to probe me by force without even trying to hide it. I have the enchantment of the ring active, so I have no clue what he may ''see'' or sense from me, but the share sensation or feeling that was like having a hungry beast pierce throughout my being with a single powerful gaze was enough to put me slightly on edge and on guard. At least, I knew Derrick wouldn''t attack. And that was probably my only saving grace for not attacking first actually. I was honestly using all of my experience and fortitude to hold down all of my impulses and stood firmly. ''Aegis'' might be watching. I clenched my fist only slightly and resisted the instructor''s intimidation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om And so, Derrick Greybarn and I stared for only a second that passed like asting eternity. Then Derrick voiced in genuine and harmless intrigue "I really can''t feel anything from you. Even you''re presence; you''re standing just next to me, but it''s almost like you''re so...faint and insignificant. Damn, you really are pathetically weak that even your presence is vague enough." ''This monster...!'' I wasn''t sure what rank Derrick was, but was it intuition or instincts? The muscle head just nearly almost cracked the plot of the Crown''s Veil enchantment so casually... Beacuse I was so ''vague'', I wasn''t sure but when people looked at me or tried to sense something off me, they would ''casually'' look away from me while probably subconsciously thinking there''s nothing where i stood. I wasn''t sure how people perceived me with the ring actually, but I think I had an idea after Derrick''s words. Derrick leaned back. He was still probing me, but it was more like a cursory nce this time really. I didn''t feel the urge to quickly retreat or attack first. Then he snorted at me with grin. "You have fierce eyes at least. Almost pompous and cocky actually." "I''m sorry, sir. I''ll lower my gaze from now on." I said as I lowered my eyes slightly sheepishly. Derrick should have satisfied whatever curiosity he should have had for me by now. Alright there shouldn''t be more than what most people did. As someone who was a battle freak, Derrick Greybarn was only ever interested in the strong and promising. Someone who was batshit weak like me didn''t deserve a spec of his attention or care. But maybe because he was our instructor, and Derrick might have actually had a surprising sense of duty, that was why he came to scope me out even if it was just a little. ''Well now, it should be over.'' If I yed it well maybe I can still be able to sit out of the exercise... I looked back at the instructor, and sheepishly scratched the side of my face. "Uhm, sir, so about the exercise..." "Mhm? Oh that, that''s right. Pick a weapon." At Derrick''s words, I gaped slightly. "Huh?" "I''ll be your opponent." [A/N: 20Ps Bonus Chapter, done. One more bonus chapter for reaching 10GT iingter today, or after reset.] Chapter 78: General Combat Class [2] Chapter 78: General Combat ss [2] Derrick Greybarn was in every word, a muscle head. No offence. But that was the best impression I got from.him after meeting in person, and hearing about him from Adrianne. But this kind of people were simple to understand and read. It wasn''t like he was an edgy advocate for the strong, and goes on to say things like ''weakness is a sin, and only the string survive!'' or something like that. He just liked those who were strong, and didn''t really have much of an opinion for those who were weak. But it was different if the weak showed promise. Instructor Derrick''s thought process, as such, should be easy to predict and follow. He wouldn''t have much of an interest or opinion for the bottom ranked cadet. But I was a bit off on my reasoning. I also forgot, or dismissed a tidbit in the whole thing. Derrick wasn''t just a muscle brain. He was a muscle brain instructor ¡ª a teacher. As baffling as it may seem, even he had a sense of duty! Ignore thest ranked cadet just because he rankedst? That''s absurd and preposterous, when you think about it. What kind of teacher would do such a thing in an academy. In such a system like life, there are bound to be those whoe in first, second and bottomst. But that didn''t mean they were less human than those ahead or anything. "Take out a weapon..." Why would I think that Derrick would easily dismiss me in the first ce? "I''ll be your sparring partner." As such a supposedly simple minded person, they were also driven by a simple type of curiosity often. What could be more curious than, someone evaluated as the weakest prospect with zero talent ever? Even if it was small, that curiousity would be there in the minds and hearts of many. Things like, who? How? Is that possible? Although, perhaps not a major factor, all of this three points came together and yed a significant paths as a whole to why I suddenly found myself in such a situation. I stared straight at Derrick with a lost expression for a few seconds before blinking. Inwardly, I sighed. Off to the side, there was a rack of different weapons present, I made my way up to it and pulled out a long spear with a sharp tip. Apparently, real weapons were permitted in this exchange. But fatal blows and wounds were prohibited. Once I turned around, I found Derrick looking at me again. No, he nced at my spear for a brief moment without saying anything. ''Oh, yeah. Now that I think about it, this would be the first time for most of the cadets to use or pick a weapon. Is that alright?'' muttering inwardly, I casually looked around at the wide field. And as expected, the scene was just as I thought. The sight of the cadets awkwardly weilding one weapon or another. In such a situation where manyck actual or real experience with weapons, if they''re suddenly asked to pick one like this, most people would go with the seemingly most obvious choice. A sword. Perhaps, that was what Derrick was thinking when hs saw me naturally pick up a spear and walk back. "A spear... Alright, I''m ready when you are." Derrick nodded and walked back a little. But just then, I restrained a sigh, and felt a powerful force of rising battle intent surge from my side. -Whoosh. "Ah?" The wind was slightly riled up as it slowly sped up and brushed through my hair from the same direction. And just like the other cadets, even I turned towards the source with a slight baffled expression on my face. My lips parted to say something, but hesitated. I turned back to Derrick and said; "Uhh, what about thos two?" Right there, the two figures of Deandra and Ceres were slowly being shrouded in worryingyers of Aura and Mana. No, what was deeply more worrying and troubling was the degree of murderous intent and bloodlust their figures were emanating into the surrounding. Deandra was slowly being d in a ghostly flickering red hue, and her ming red hair slowly rose and scattered eerily. Strange, unfamiliar glowing red magic circles slowly unraveled against the ground underneath her feet and in both her hands, as Deandra''s Mana surged. Ceres meanwhile, was slowly d in an even paler and ghostly flickering greyish blue hue. Unlike Deandra''s, her''s didn''t seem as visually imposing, and neither did her usual cold and nk exoression so much as ripple at the intensity of her opponent. From a nce at it, I could tell. Ceres refined aura, instead, slowly focused and dwindled closely around her body and limbs. That level of control and maniption... Ehh, but what is up with that kind of bloodlust? These guys know it''s just a light spar, right? Right?! Was that alright, I frankly thought as I watched them. Yet, funnily, my heart was slightly beating quickly. ''What is this strange excitement like I''m about to watch a long awaited big battle...?'' I mused self mockingly. No, really though. Was this okay? Once again, I looked back at the Instructor and directed those questions with just my eyes. "It''s fine. I can both be your partner and observe the other students exchanges, so you''ll have enough of my attention too." ''No, that''s not really what worried about...'' Could this guy really be trusted as an instructor? In the first ce, shouldn''t he have an assistant...? While I pushed aside my thoughts and rising doubts concerning Derrick''s credibility as a teacher, I ignored the battle that was about to begin with the two top students, and took a natural stance before my ''partner''. I had my own battle to fight. And with the impending sh between No.1 Ceres, and No.2 Deandra, all of the attentions of the cadets were drawn to them instead. "Mhm. Now don''t try to hold back even if you''re weak. Regardless, I need to know where you are, and don''t even try to be coy with me and think you can pretend your way out of this. I''ll know if you aren''t giving your all and give you a failing grade!" The orange haired instructor with thick muscles warned with a squinted gaze at me. "... You''re not going to use a weapon?" I asked. Instructor Derrick just stood there and scoffed with a grin. "Nahh, that would be overkill for you. These are enough, just barely." He raised his right palm, and pulled at the edge of its glove with his left fingers. He''s probably not doing it intentionally, but this bastard instructor has a painful way with words... "Now,e on. Come at me with everything you''ve got. Attack me with the intent to kill me!" Derrick had an expectant grin on his face, and his thick arms were folded by bis chest, as he urged. I took in a small breath, and breathed out while lowering my head. "Ha... Kill is a big word, professor...'' Derrickughed almost mockingly at my statement. "What? I don''t think you should be worried about me. You just do your best." And so it turned out exactly like this. First official day at the academy, I fought a teacher as an opponent. Although it wasn''t a real fight, but a ss exercise, I''ve been warned to go full force without holding back anything to have my skills and level properly gauged and examined fro the future. Funny. I was just thinking it was about time too... I felt my grip against the silver spear tighten as I raised my head and looked back at the instructor. "Right." I nodded subtly. Derrick smile widened with a hint of glee. "That''s it. No.1499, that look in your eye, it''smendable..." "...Then... I''ming..." It''s about time I began to give Aegis a reason to invest in me. Immediately, I leaned forward and pushed myself off the ground, as the spear spun in my fingers. For a brief moment, I could see the expression of the instructor flinched with mild suprise, and his body tensed as if preparing to go on the defensive. Ever since the beginning when he said he would be my partner, Derrick hasn''t once shown any obvious signs he was on guard or cautious around me. Even when he took a casual stand with his arms nonchntly folded, and a smile that was obviously mocking and looking down at me, I couldn''t feel an ounce of worry or caution from him at me. But, for that very brief moment... Derrick Greybarn actually flinched. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Chapter 79: General Combat Class [3] Chapter 79: General Combat ss [3] Derrick Greybarn, the main instructor in charge of the first year General Combat course and lessons observed his new students with varying interests. And amongst them, were the cream of the crop. Rank 1, Ceres Walker. And. Rank 2, Deandra Lunar de''LaCurt. There were others, but these particr two showed enough promise to be the very top of their entire school year. Ceres who was already an Ascended at only 16, and Deandra, the princess of the kingdom who showed promise as a mage even amongst others her Rank. But it would be unfair to only show favour to just those two. There were still the third ce, fourth ce, and so on, who were also at least promising enough to rise to their positions above all others, although different and iparable to the first and second rank. They were still amazing too. But there were also those who were just thoroughlycking whenpared to those at the top, for whatever reason or circumstances. It was impossible for everyone to be winners, and everyone to be number one. There were always losers. There was always ast ce. Cadet number 1499, Victor Bright, was one such ''loser''. Ranked asst ce throughout his entire year. People like this really didn''t have any excuse to be bottomst, and so Derrick, although a teacher, didn''t really have an opinion for them the highest of opinions or thoughts. Same was for Victor, although his circumstances were... unique. In any case, Derrick did not have much of an opinion, nor expectations for someone his ss or standard, but he still had a duty as a teacher to his students at the very least. It was also why Derrick wasn''t expecting much from number 1499. But at that moment, Derrick couldn''t help but have an absurd and baffling thought as he watched the figure rapidly lunge recklessly at him as soon as the exchange began. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om His eyes widened slightly at Victor''s rapidly approaching figure. ''He''sing head on? Isn''t he a spear user? Why is he instead carelessly trying to close the distance by rushing in head on? He''s not raising his spear eith-'' that was Derrick''s first rebuking thoughts. Internally, he had already snorted and made up his mind on his evaluation of this cadet. Well it was expected. Not many of the students have actually held a weapon, or possess real experience inbat And it seemed like Victor, who chose a spear that was more suitable as a mid rangedbat weapon, was the same. But what was the predatory look in his eyes? There was an unshaken ferocity in the cadet''s eyes. His seemingly rookie movements were sudden and precise without a sign of hesitation or uncertainty. He was obviously making a dumb move by charging in head on against an opponent he clearly couldn''t win against, but the cadet''s eyes or action showed zero doubts nor uncertainty about his intent. He pounced immensely like a predator certain of its prey. And at the split moment Victor''s piercing gold gaze filled Derrick''s mind and vision, something bone chilling spread through the atmosphere of the entire field and made the air freeze. Bloodlust. Just then, Derrick''s mind blurred, and his instincts screamed and reacted. Without realising it, he had already swiftly moved to apprehend the target before anything else could possibly happen. Before Victor could fully close the distance in only a matter of a second, Derrick had moved twice the time faster than that and less than half the amount of the initial distance. "Huh-!" Victor couldn''t see what happened. The next moment, he felt his world spin and turn around, as he was swiftly mmed heavily into a hard surface. Victor grunted and groaned as one moment, the sky was in his vision, and the next, he had dirt in his mouth. With a powerful thud, he was mmed against the rough, hard ground. He nearly gasped and he felt a very constricting pressure tightly press against his neck and head, with his waist confined. "Heok-!!" Before Victor could realise what was happening, he found himself in a terrifying rear naked chole hold from behind. Therge, and thick muscr arms of Derrick the instructor were tightly wrapped around his neck, and pressed his head from behind, while his bulging legs coupled around Victor''s body like a powerful snake. -Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Victor, rapidly tapped the instructors arms as the colour was very quickly being drained from his face and he found it increasingly harder to breathe. "E-eok!! Give! I give! I give! Uncle! Uncle! You win! You win, sir! It''s my loss!!" As his voice increasingly became strained and thin, Victor desperately pleaded to be free from the choke hold. Derrick blinked down emptily, as he felt Victor''s struggling body in his grasp and looked a little dazed. Eventually, he withdrew his arms and let the poor cadet go as he got up. With a strained gasp and tears in the corners of his eyes, Victor sprawled to the ground like an unruffled piece of cloth as he earnestly prayed to whatever god of that world for letting him have the opportunity to see another day. His face was almost very blue, and cold sweat covered his forehead. ''Wh-what the hell happened...?'' Victor thought, as he gasped, and began a coughing spree. He held his hurting neck with his left arm and doubled over against the ground he continued coughing relentlessly. ''Ah, I couldn''t see what happened? Damn it, wasn''t he supposed to hold back?! I''m only a first year...'' he cried in his heart. Derrick meanwhile, stood over him awkwardly and coughed. "A-ahem! H-hmm, I see. Heh-heh, you''re still far from it and ultimatelycking, No. 1499." He looked down at the cadet who was still wheezing and coughing against the ground. Derrick wasn''t even sure if Victor was currently listening to him, but he continued to speak anyway, feigning the whole situation like nothing happy. "You''ll need to work a lot more harder, kid. Aegis isn''t home for the weak." Derrick''s words were demeaning and rebuking, but silently he thought in his conflicted heart. ''I reacted purely on instincts without thinking. What was that before? That pressuring gaze and overflowing murderous intent?'' He cast his gaze longer on Victor''s back. The cadet who was choking against the ground looked so pathetic and weak. ''...did I seriously just imagine that?'' Derrick''s thoughts wavered, but eventually he looked away from the cadet and his lips curled with a small smile. ''Interesting.'' "Well then, that will be all with you, No. 1499. Hm? If you''re hurt or injured somewhere, you can head to the infirmary. Better yet, you can just go sit somewhere and take a break, you don''t seem like you can stand on your own anyway. Hmph, you really are bat shit weak." Derrickughed, as he waved Victor off with the permission to leave. ''Th-this bastard...'' Victor restrained a very powerful curse in his aching throat and slowly got up after he regainedposure. Then he turned to the grinning instructor with his face that seemed so hateful and lonely; it looked like a fist was missing from it. "Yes, sir..." Victor nodded as he fought his impulse and desire to punch Derrick in the face. He turned around to leave, when he paused and looked up. ''What...?'' He rubbed his throat as he thought in confusion. ''Why are these guys staring at me?'' All of the cadets on the field were each giving him strange and bizarre stares like they''d seen a ghost. At the moment the entire ss had been stopped, and every single one of were looking at Victor with varying levels of confusion and strange looks. "What are you still loitering around for? What, you can''t walk by yourself and you need someone to carry you to the infirmary, No.1499?" Derrick snorted with yet another mockingugh. His words managed to draw the rest of the ss out of their brief reverie as the unspoken tension was broken like ice over them. Some of them looked at Victor and, then their dazed and confused expressions slowly changed into ridicule and mockery as someughed and snickered, mocking at his pathetic state and oue. "Pftttt!" Truly, his performance on the outside had seemed pathetic. "Well, he is the the no talent freak, after all... Pftt!" Victor could hear the mocking and insultive murmurs of his ssmates and his eyes twitched. He clenched his fist, and gritted his teeth. These brats... Victor thought as he sighed indifferently on the outside and turned to leave. The looks and snickers of his ssmates also left and ceased eventually, as the whole ss continued on with what they were doing before the interruptions. In the end, once more, just like every other time, Victor was casually shunned and forgotten by his ssmates. They turned their gazes and attentions away from him, and easily disregarded him. But as Victor''s dirty back slowly retreated from the field, there were still a few gazes that followed his figure until the end. One of them was the ss instructor. The other was Alexander, who stared off at Victor with aplicated expression of unease and worry. "..." ...And Rank 1, Ceres Walker. [A/N: And there goes thest of my stockpile...] Chapter 80 Duel [1] "Too much bloodlust?" [Too much bloodlust] Hearing the affirmation in my head, I held my neck and sighed. I raised my finger and nced at the Ring of Solomon. This artifact had somehow subconsciously activated very subtly and strangely to my emotions and intent during thest moments of my exchange against Derrick at the General Combat ss. Because of that slight gap, my disguised intent by the Crown Veil''s enchantment was subtly released and multiplied by Ruler''s Authority. But I''m not sure if Derrick or the others noticed, but it was most likely. In the first ce, Derrick wasn''t an opponent I was hoping, or needed to beat. It was just a light exchange to gauge my level, but i was ready to put considerable intent behind my actions by revealing a little. Even i wbated to see how far i could possibly match up. But the difference between Derrick and i was obvious, even without me holding back anything. That was just the difference between ranks. And that was how I identally ended up releasing a tad bit too much of my bloodlust. "Well, all is well that ends well.'' I sighed again and got up from the bed in the spacious, and well ventted infirmary. [It was over as soon as it began.] The synthetic voice in my head seemed to scoff as Meta sneered at me inwardly. At that, I actually didn''t have aeback this time around.N?v(el)B\\jnn "What was that about showing Aegis a glimpse of my true ability again? I got my ass handed to me without even realising how..." I mused with a hollow chuckle. Just then, I felt the presence of a person approach from one side, and the figure of the female staff currently in charge of the infirmary came into view. She swept her gaze across me oddly for a second, before she said. "Were you just talking to someone...?" Silently I nodded, then added dismissively with a shrug. "No, I was just murmuring to myself." After saying that, I reached for my coat and was about to leave when I was abruptly stopped by the next thing the nurse said. "You actually have a visitor." ''A visitor?'' I raised my head with a light frown. And then from behind the curtain, a yet another familiar figure appeared with a small smile as he waved lightly at me. Alexander appeared from the other side with a kild expression as he raised his hand at me. "Are you alright?" Alex touched his chin slightly and said. There was bandage wrapped around my neck underneath the cor of my shirt which he nced at, and i rubbed slightly impassively. "It wasn''t that bad." I actually really was fine. Derrick''s grip may have been powerful, but i wasn''t sure if the instructor had a better control over his strength or not, but he surprisingly didn''t crush my neck during that time. All that was left from the time i visited the infirmary was only a slight squeeze mark, but by then i had already forgotten tte slight pain and disomfort as it was already healed. But the nurse, nor Alex didn''t have to know that. It was why i could passively say i was alright that easily. With Alexander unexpectedly by my side, we exited the infirmary in a strange and ufortable silence. Judging by his presence next to me, it was obvious Combat ss was over or suddenly cancelled. Which also meant, i sessfully somehow managed to survive through my first main ss at the academy. The silence stretched long like a thread, but rather than feel intimidated by the awkwardness and presence of Alex, my mind was upied with my thoughts, evaluating my actions and the events of the General Combat ss. I had zero intentions of saying anything until we both made it for the next ss after this. Alex seemed to be of a simr state. There were times when his lips pursed and he made the attempt to speak, but hesitated at thest second. Whatever it was, Alex seemed to he contemting his words. And like that, time continued to pass. ...Until i couldn''t take it anymore. In the silence that drew on longer in the almost sparse hallway of the academy with only the sound of our rhythmic footsteps, i snapped finally. "Hey, if you''ve got something to say, just say it already." I nced at Alexander from the corner of my eyes, and spat out, slightly irritably. The white haired boy''s eyes blinked and widened slightly at my voice. It was almost as if Alex had been sharply woken from his reverie and back to reality, and he gaped slightly as he turned to stare at me dazedly. "Eh? Oh, i...i was just wondering if you''ve decided on a Faculty, or major." After a brief moment, Alex said with an awkward smile, and i cocked one of my brows inquisitively at him before rxing. "I have." Turning back to face forward as we continued to walk, i daid shortly. ''In fact, i already made up my mind on my faculty, major and specialized courses.'' "Faculty of Combat, Tactical Close Combat major." This was my most obvious choice. The three main departments were established to amodate the natures of the Awakened or Heroes. Awakened possessing an Aura core, and Aura were mostly considered Warriors or Knights, and would often fall into the Department of Combat as their chosen faculty gor obvious reasons. Awakened with Mana, and Mana cores, called Mages, or Sorcerer, or Mana users were more likely to choose the Faculty of Magic, or Faculty pf Alchemy. And if an Awakened possess either of those natures or characteristics, but chooses of his or her own will or preference, they may decide to choose the Faculty of Research. Now the thing was, upon closer inspection, each of these four mahor Faculties were all connected, and interconnected in some manner. A mage could also choose to have a Major under the Combat department, and when this happens, specialized individuals called Battle Mages, or War Mages are created often in the process. Same could be the the reverse for Warrior oriented Heroes who chose the Department of research instead. Although, Alchemy was a little different... ''I don''t really know much about that one too...'' I spoke matter of factly to Alex, and as expected, he didn''t seem all that suprised by my response or choice. I was an Aura user, a Warrior by nature, thebat department was my most likely option, as the department of magic required Mana users. ''Yes, matter of ''factly''...'' As Alex and i, side by side, drew nearer to our next ss, my footsteps slowly came to a stop as i stood with a casual and dismissive expression before an entrance. But deep internally, silently in my heart, i thought, estranged. ''But i no longer exists within the boundaries of facts and reason...'' [A/N: Sorry for the dy!] Chapter 81 Duel [2] ''I''m something that themon sense of the world no longer dictates or determine.'' i thought silently as i stepped into the ssroom. I had be someone who exists beyond the constraints and restraints of facts and reason, especially under such a topic. Different from other Aura users, my prospects and nature are no longer only thinly limited to the Combat Department. The Faculty of Magic. To be perfectly honest with myself, despite my nonchnt and easy going attitude outside while i answered Alexander like my choice and response was immediate and obvious, I''ve actually been thinking about this for a while now. If Ether allowed me to use Mana, which i still haven''t been able to confirm personally, that meant i was, or might be pretty eligible to Major under the department of Magic. But s, the constraints of ''Facts'' no longer fully contained me anymore, but they still existed in the rest of the world after all. It is utterly impossible and unheard of for someone who possess both the ability and nature of Aura and Mana at the same time. Or for an Aura user, to suddenly reveal he can suddenly use Mana out of nowhere. That was simply preposterous, and crazy. Impossible. I knew literally next to nothing about Mana, or Magic, even after possessing it for over a year now. I had practiced a few times with my Ether before in the past. The concept of Aura Maniption and sensitivity was vastly more different than the concept of Mana maniption and sensitivity. That was actually the full extent of my knowledge concerning that subject. "If i had to put it in simpler words, it would be that Aura feels more rigid, and thicker to manipte, kind of like a murky, and almost stationary stream..." "Hm? Did you say something?" Next to me, Alex tilted his head as he stared at me oddly. I shut my mouth and looked away as i realised i had somehow let my thoughts leak out. "It was nothing." I casually dismissed the moment, and took the opportunity to turn away from Alex at the entrance since the ss was soon about to begin. Aura was like the flow of a thick and murky stream, while Mana was like trying to grasp and manipte something as gaseous and free as air. Contrary to the viscous and liquid like nature of Aura, Mana was more gaseous and intangible. As someone who has be more ustomed with the viscosity and rigidity of Aura, it was an odd sensation. Ether. These two opposite and contrasting natures existed in this even more surreal energy. Perhaps, that was what made Ether a bit more chaotic and erratic to control. In order for me to use magic, I''d first of all have to learn it. ''It would be a lot more easier if i could just get my hands on a spellbook or Grimoire...'' With an expression that betrayed nothing of my thoughts, i took a seat at the back of the ssroom and swept a nce through the ss. The ssroom this time was different from our usual home room. Instead it was a kind of ''ss hall'' that was slightly morerger to hold an evenrger capacity. Immediately, this lecture hall was already filled and brimming with the chatters of cadets. "Hey, this will be our first real general course ss, right? I heard we''ll be merging with ss 1-B too." "Isn''t this kind of exciting?" "1-B? That''s the ss of the top 5th, 7th and 10th ranked cadet. Doesn''t that mean we''ll get to be in the same ss with the Second son of the Locke family?" "We''re already ssmates, you idiot. But o understand what you mean. Hehe, i actually got the chance to see himst weekend at the banquet." The lecture hall was literally buzzing with excitement, and i unintentionally picked up a few things from here and there. The reason for all the excitement and tension was because of the general ss that was about to begin. General courses or sses, actually usually, or asionally involved not only a single ss, but a merge between often two or more sses of the same year. Derrick''s General Combat ss from before was actually supposed to be an example. It was also one of the reason why an assistant instructor would be needed. Although this time it was different, and Derrick only decided to take on A-ss alone for some reason. In any case, excluding certain instances like that, General courses were bridged together with other sses. And in this case, it seemed we would be conjoined with B-ss. It was the first conjoined ss for ss A, and perhaps even ss B, too, for the year, since the semester has officially began, there was an ebbing tension and buzzing excitement amongst the cadets because of that. Looking around, i could already catch sight of a few unfamiliar faces mingling in with the crowd. But that was as far as my interest went on that topic. I filtered out the unnecessary chatter of the cadets and silently reflected. In time, the instructor in charge of the ss soon arrived through the door, and the whole room was plunged into silence with his gait. -Step. -Step. A young man with glossy ck wavy hair, neatly parted over his forehead and eyes stepped through the door. He was a fairly young man, tall with a chiseled, cold face and fair white skin. A thin ck round framed pair of sses sat against his straight and high nose bridge, hiding his hazel coloured eyes behind its transparent lens. -Flutter. -Flutter He wore a thick and flowing all ck robe draped over his whole body from his shoulders, that fluttered and ruffled only slightly as he moved. With light, and gentle thuds, his steps were precise and measured, slowly and powerfully resounding in the reimed silence. He''s heavy ck robe flowed and ebbed like tides of a dark ocean, moving almost surreally. "..." The instructor''s back was straight and exuded a boundless presence as he finally stood before the whole ss, silently, from the podium at the front. It was at that point we all finally got to get a clearer and forward look at the instructor''s face, and some cadets drew gasps at his sight from all over. "Gasp! Is that out instructor?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "No way, but he''s so young. He''s not much older than us, is he?" "Oh my gosh! Look at that face...!!" Most of the noise came from the enthusiastic females at the young instructor''s appearance. It was an appearance that rose questions and doubts concerning hos eligibility as a professor. But. Aegis would never be so tantly careless. ''A young instructor, a man who doesn''t seem to be in his mid twenties...'' In the end, what mattered in this part of the world wasn''t age. It was talent and ability. "I don''t recall anyone like that from Adrianne''s information...?'' i tilted my head slightly in thought. And besides, the current ss we were having right now, i don''t originally think the instructor in charge was someone this young either. The young professor at the front of the ss coldy red menacingly as he exuded an intimidating and chilling pressure. Silently, without a sound, he ced down his text bools against the podium, and his bastardly pretty face tilted upward slightly. His eyes turned even fiercer. Then, the instructor tapped a single finger against the surface of the podium as his lips cooly parted. "Silence." -Tap. An intimidating dark blue energy pulsed through the ssroom from his finger like a shockwave pressure, instantly reverberating through the room and atmosphere. I felt the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck prickle instantly as my eyes sharpened instinctively, as the blue wave of energy swept over my body like a sudden tide. ''Mana?'' No, Intent? With such a simple action, the instructor had spread a powerful, yet subtle release of his intent and once again seized the silence of the room. The faces of some of the cadets had turned pale and drained. While a few others were immediately put in edge and pensive like i was. "..." But regardless, nobody spoke. And in that silence, only one voice prevailed. "...Good afternoon, cadets. My name is Gale Cromwell. You can call me Instructor Cromwell, and I will be the one currently in charge of this ss." The young instructor, Gale''s voice wasyered and deep, easily catching the attention and notice of everyone. It held an undeniable resonance, and his cold fierce re persisted as he spoke. "Some of you may already know me. Especially those of you who will belong to the Department of magic eventually. I am the main instructor of a specialised course there, and I''m currently only present here as a fill in." And so, the young instructor flipped open one if his textbooks in the silence. As he lowered his gead slightly, strands of his his ck bangs fell over his face. ''As i thought.'' i crissed ky hands, leaned back and nodded silently. Gale was here as a kind of substitute. I really didn''t recall a yiyng instructor who was mych older than 25, although there was tge very usible chance that he was newly hired. And besides, the there are over a thousand Instructor''s and assistance in Aegis, it would bepletely impossible for Adrianne to know all of them. What gave me the confidence of my assumption was the ss subject. Once again, Instructor Gake tapoed aa single finger against rge podium ti converge attention. Differently this time, there wasn''t an oppressive release of bloodlust, and only a dull echo resounded. Then Gales voice followed. "Allow me to wee you to your first ss of the subject Rudimentary Study of the Awakened Society." GLe steppd away from behind the podium and approached the sits slightly. "Now...who can tell me..." His fierce gaze swept the taces of the cadets coldly as his low voice resounded. "What are Awakened?" Chapter 82 Duel [3] "What are the Awakened?" In the tame silence of the wide lecture hall, Gale Cromwell''s voice resounded. "Who are the Awakened?" He took a step forward. "In this ss, although i know many of you may find it irrelevant, unnecessary and a waste of time, as it is supposed to be a theoretical ss on what many in today''s world and society considers mon knowledge '' and ''facts'', we gain preliminary study and rudimentary understanding of the World of Heroes and Awakened. You cannot speak of the history and world of Aethoria without the mention of Awakened, or Heroes," he said. "The concept and presence of Awakened and Heroes have deeply imbeded themselves as major cornerstones of our world. Aegis for example; this is an institution established and designed as humanity''s foremost institute and organisation for the Awakened and raising future Heroes." Gale took another step forward through an aisle and stopped. "So i ask again. This Awakened we so much speak about, hear about, and even live amongst; what are they?" In response to the detailed yet concise introduction and question of the professor, a few hands were immediately raised, and some female cadet stood up gingerly to say. "The Awakened Heroes are special individuals, powerful superhumans who posses the extraordinary ability granted to them by Aether, as humanity''s heroes." She said with a raised chin, a self satisfied smile, and a puffed chest. Her gloating was short lived, as instantly a different cadet stood up and inputed. "I beg to differ, professor." "Huh? What are you..." The male cadet said, and the girl snapped her head around and red from her seat. Meanwhile, Gale Cromwell coldly turned. His lips parted sinctly. "borate." Readily, the male cadet responded. "First of all, there is a clear distinction between the ''Awakened'' and ''Heroes''. Awakened are super individuals with the ability to posses aspects of Aether and other special abilities..." "Isn''t that what I just said?" The femal cadet from before snorted, but the male cadet continued, undeterred. His next words drew a different kind of assertion through the room. "Heroes are the Awakened on the side of humanity." ''Bingo.'' Even i couldn''t help but silently nod in affirmation from my seat. "That''s..." A simr ripple spread through tte ssroom from the cadet''s words. Immediately, everyone, including the female cadet realised and understood. I leaned in my sit and crosses my arms. ''There''s a clear distinction between the Awakened and Heroes.'' Awakened was the geberal term for the tge overalls poption of super humans or super individuals who posses extraordinary abilities. ''But not all ''Awakened'' are ''humans''.'' ''Heroes'' was the Awakened on the side of humanity, who represented the human race. There was a thin and fine line. The distinction was clear. Viins. The young instructor Gale was silent and remained a somber gaze. He neither affirmed or denied theor responses as ye almost indifferently turned back and headed for the podium. "The term ''Awakened'' is broad. And so is it''s history. From what has been shared, i believe we all are at least more than familiar with the term." Instructor Cromwell reached the front of the lecture hall once more and turned to face the ss. "Rudimentary Study of the Awakened Society will dive into the history andmonce of the Awakened. And since this is the first ss, we''ll start with the basics." Gale said, and took a pause. "A little over a hundred and fifty years ago, ''worlds'' colided, and invaders crossed over into our realm. This moment signified the exact beginning our world, and humanity was pulled into a cosmic war of supremacy, extinction and survival, against other races. It was a loosing war on humanity''s side, one that spelt our indefinite doom and extinct." At this point, Gale''s Cromwell''s cold and stern race became sterner, and his deep voice became almost hauntingly somber. He spoke as if he were there all those years ago. "It was a battle unlike any other. A collision of realms and world''s, Supremes and deitys. And the world of Aethoria, our world became the center of it." His voiceyered. The atmosphere and mood in tye lecture hall drastically shifted. No one could look away, and were all drawn in as if they were possessed. Despite the fact, this was knowledge consideredmonce amongst the inhabitants of the world. "Aethoria became the battlefield, and mankind''s fall was all but written in stone. And it was in our darkest hours did Mankind ''Awaken'', to extraordinary abilities and power, and that''s where the term Awakening and Awakened emerge from." The exnations were all things i already knew even more about, so it was a bit hard to find that enthusiasm to immerse my self in the lecture. If anything, the details were even subtly unfurnished. After the Awakening of the human race during one of iur darkest hours, mankind were blessed with individualsmanding extra ordinary abilities to fight against our invaders in the vast cosmic scale war of extinction and superiority. The first group of Awakened were called ''Originals''. But there was something that set apart these people away from the other future awakened. Perhaps because it was in a time when the war against the Demons and other races was at its highest preciple, the ''first'' generation of the Awakened were absolute monsters. They were stronger, they were faster. They were better. The reason the world gave to them the titles of ''Originals'', is because the surviving Originals whoter became the human race''s greatest heroes, established theirnown grouos, families, and ns, living a long line of descendants and disciples. History says there were ten originals at the beginning, but only Seven are truly remembered even till this day. Those seven Heroes, became some of the most prominent Awakened families and ns in the human realm. It had to be said that Awakening isn''t gical or hereditary actually. In fact, natural awakening ispletely random actually. But Awakened from the Seven families are said to be innately more talented as Awakened. ''Although, it is said one of the Seven families went extinct and was wiped out quite recently...'' i actually wasn''t too deeply interested in this topic, so my knowledge was probably just as basic as anyone else. Even if i tried asking Meta, she would just give me the same things as in the history textbooks. Amongst one of the Surviving original ns, is the great Spear family, the Solvainnes. Although I''m only from a very distant branch household... I didn''t even know much about my supposed ancestors, outside of a few ambiguous sculpture and all that. When discussing about the current Awakened Society, it was impossible not to mention the Originals. Instructor Gale touched upon the topic in passing as the lecture went on. The students paid rapt attention, Gale masterfully seizing control of the mood and atmosphere professionally. Meanwhile, ''...I can''t.'' I couldn''t. They say the eyelids are the heaviest thing in the world, that sentence held terrifyingly true. While the ss was productively progressive, i battled my inner demons against falling asleep. ''Fuck... Meta, do something. Anything...'' my thoughts hazed, then buzzed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om A synthetic voice promptly quipped. [You''re a terrible student.] ''That has been established.'' Rudimentary Study of the Awakened Society was a theoretical ss, mostly surrounded around ss interactions often, since it closely dealt with things like history and all that. There was a long stretch of expositions, andimd boggling information that made sitting around a chore. I never liked history. [You never liked studying.] ''Why should i study when i have you?'' i snorted inwardly like it were obvious. Meta was like having a pocket sized alexa at all times. A pocket sized, and more irritating one. Time passed. "Like some of you have already said, the term Awakened is General. But not all of us are on the side of humanity''s. With great poweres even greater responsibility. Rather than the interest on the survivability of our race, there are those who hold only pute animosity, and even going as far as turning against mankind." The lecture finally came to an end with a few things said. Leaving a few meaningful words behind, the instructor, Gale Cromwell exited therge lecture hall. And, with that. I had no other sses for tge day, since I''ll be registering for my specialised courses and departmentter today and begin attending from tomorrow. I raised my head and wistfully stared at the high ceiling. Slowly, the packed lecture hall which was filled with both ss A and B student began to stir and rile, and slowly scatter. For a moment i just sat in my seat, before finally deciding ro live with the small crowd. The hallway was already bustling with cadets from otger sses for one reason or the other. The moment i steppd my foot outside and took another step forward i froze and my back straightened consciously. Ever since i returned from Lace''s Dungeon, and with Hamlet as my familiar, my base senses and perceptions have became vastly more sharper. And i was particrly more conscious against certain looks. There''s someone... My shoulders unconsciously flinched. I felt a boring and icy gaze threaten to run through my back from behind and slowly turned around. As i did, i caught sight of a pair of ssy red eyes intently ring at me from a distance. Instantly, my forehead was covered with sweat. It was Ceres. Chapter 83 Duel [4] -"Uuoooohh!" -"Woah, it''s finally happening!" -"Wow, are you for real? Is that guy actually crazy?!" -"Haha! Isn''t that obvious? Plus, who cares? He''s going to get beat anyway...!" The eruptive, and malicious sounds of cheers and excitement exploded from all around the open arena. The maliciousments drilled into my ears like sharp pikes and stabbed my esteem like knives. As i sighed, i couldn''t help but have my shoulders feel depressingly heavy as i tried futilely to filter out the words of the students who had immediately gathered to spectate from the seats. The location was arge arena, an open air theatre like one of those ancient roman diator arenas from earth. I stood at the center of its sandy stage that span easily over a hundred meters. The sun was high. I took in the malicious cheers and vote of confidences with a refreshing breath and smiled. ''Ah, what a beautiful day...'' ... maybe if i keep saying it, then the situation wouldn''t be as crazy as it actually is, i thought inwardly at myself. I was armed, and wearing protective gear with a spear in my hand as i leisurely stood. The hot air was buzzing, and i felt the countless amount of gazes of different kinds prate me from all over. -"Look at that bastard, is he actually smiling? He really is crazy, puahahahaha!" -"Lol, maybe he has something under his sleeves? Like a secret power l,.or something? He looks pretty leisure and confident though..." -"Ah, when is it going to start again?! I bet it''ll be over in one blow!" -"It''s crazy he even showed up. Well it''s already been established he''s crazy." -"Booo! Just drop dead already, you no talent bastard!" Thatst one came with a shoe at my head. ''What''s up with the crazy bastard this, crazy bastard that?! And who threw this?! a blue vein pulsed against my forehead. As i was about to engage my senses to fish out the bastard that threw a shoe at my head, a synthetic voice harmonically reverberated in my head. [Isn''t that because you challenged the top ranked cadet to a duel?] . . . This all came to be through a sequence of events, and we''ll have to go back a few days to exin the situation. *** A few days ago. And thus, time passed. "Huaaa." I raised my hand to my mouth as a i squeezed out a tight yawn while i stopped just outside my ssroom on another morning like this. The moment i did, i winced at a slight and sudden difort that came from my aching body and frowned. "I still haven''t healed yet..." I was just returning from the training hall from as early as it was opened until it was time for homeroom. It has been like a routine for me over the past few days. Immediately after my final sses, i spend the rest of the day in the training hall until curfew. Then wake up just as early when it''s re-opened the following day up until homeroom. Like that, i spent thest couple of days that went by in a mundane circle. "Hmmm..." As i hummed, i began silently regting and engaging my Ether through my body to supplement and speed up the recovery of my sire muscles slightly. The fact I''ve been unable to rank up even a single time was putting me on edge with each moment that went by. At this point, i was almost desperate. When in the training hall, i made sure to use every possible facility i had avable to me without restraint. So those who saw me, often saw me get beat up by a golem designed to be a rank higer than me, and such. My bottle neck was frustrating. It''s been almost a year, and I''m still this close to the next rank up. I came to Aegis to grow stronger, so it was frustrating that i haven''t made any progress at all, even if it hasn''t been up to three weeks since I''ve arrived. As my thoughts reached this area, my face grew grim. The scenes and images of the visions i saw all those time ago shed through my memory, and filled me with a sense of urgency. I waved my hand casually before my face and summoned the quest notification with a thought. ... === [DING!] A New Quest has been issued:- Type:- SURVIVAL Name:- Quest To Bing Stronger: Description: The {Great Cmity} ising...Get stronger and survive. Duration-: ... Reward:- ... Penalty:- Death, ??? ] === ... The blue transluscent screen appeared before my eyes as an invisible panel. Lately, ever since i returned from the dungeon, I''ve found myself asionally summoning the quest board from time to time like this. I would summoned it and just stare at it for a while to check for any new modification or update. Ever since, i felt like i really didn''t have much time for some reason. The duration on the quest was still left nk, but that was what troubled me the most. It meant it could suddenly update at any given time. And when it did... I was afraid it would mean that everything was real. ''Of course it''s real.'' i shook my head with a groan. I was no longer denying the reality and fact of this life since i saw thest vision. But the duration could be updated at any moment. That was enough ti kerp me on edge. ''I have to get stronger.'' I needed to rank up. And even after that, I''m still a long way to go. "You really aren''t a morning person, huh." While i was absorbed entirely in my thoughts, i heard a voice call out to me from the side. Alexander was suddenly right next to me with an odd expression. By this point, i had already grown use to his presence. Besides that, since i began my desperate schedule outside of sses I''ve been able to avoid Alex most of the times, except for during lectures and specialised sses. "Huh?" At Alex''s words i frowned. "You have this ferocious expression like the world is about to end." When Alex said that, i could only stare speechlessly. My mouth was hung open, but i just couldn''t say anything. The world did end, I''m looking at rge reason for it... Alex, finding my reaction somehow amusing, chuckled dismissively as he waved away and went it. "Homeroom will soon start, you should stop staring around like that. You''ll scare people off." ''Who is this bastard?'' With a small groan i suppressed my killing intentions, and looked away. For now, i set apart my encounter with Alex and dismissed the status panel hovering In front of me before stepping into the ssroom. Homeroom began in no time, with Wrenna taking her ce and starting roll call. "Number 1, Ceres Walker" "Present." "No. 2, Deandra LaCurt. "Present..." Wrenna''s voice eang out rhythmically as she called out tte cadets number in order. The list went on, and since i was still far off from having my rank called out, i blinked ky eyes and resummoned the quest status panel once again. -Tap -Tap -Tap Unintentionally, i began tapping my feet anxiously. I crossed my finger''s and leaned my elbows against my desk. Unease consumed me from inside like a swarm of fire ants. With narrowed and unsettled eyes, i swept yet another nce across the screen. ''No notification.'' Perhaps I had no real need to do this. Wouldn''t Meta just alert me if there were any future changes or something? ''What am i doing wrong? Is it something to do with the wrong training method? Or was it approach?'' unable to sit still and calmly, my thoughts anxiously raced. Just then. [Maybe you should take it easy.] I heard Meta say. Meta''s input mande me snort and roll my eyes. "I don''t want to here that from you." Meta was thest person...or thing in the world qualified enough to tell me that. And besides... "You''re a system right, my system? Isn''t there something cheat-like you can do make leveling up easier?" This would be the best time for a never before mentioned elixir or something toe in and save the day. At my jab, Meta went quite for a few seconds. [There are various methods to push and force a breakthrough through techniques, or drugs and equipments. But currently none are avable to you.] ''But the Academy surely has those means...'' i mused, my right knee incessantly vibrating. In the end, i closed my eyes and sighed lightly. There was only one way i could think of now. ''It looks like ''that'' is my only way for now-" "No 1499, when you hear your rank, signify immediately!" A sharp and ferocious voice snapped me out of my thoughts with a jolt. My shoulders flinched, and by the time i came to reality, i felt the ferocious re of Wrenna threaten to stab me to feath from in front. I leaned back and stood up with a cough. "Present..." Saying so, i chose to pretend to ignore the re the instructor was sending me and returned to my seat. After that, the cadets casually turned their attention and looks away from me and i restrained a sigh. Bu before i could fully take my seat, i caught sight of Ceres openly staring at me from the front. My shoulders stiffened slightly as i pretend not to notice and looked away.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It''s been happening a lottely. For some reason, Ceres has been ring at me whenever she could. ''it''s been since the General Combat ss...'' At first i ignored it, hoping it would stop, but three dayster, here i was. But for now, i had more pressing matters to worry about than the suspicious attention of the First ranked cadet of my school year. [Indeed, you''re right.] All of a sudden Meta''s voice hummed inside my head, and i showed a puzzled expression. ''What?'' [I really haven''t been offering my part as a ''System'' and your guide. Your strength is my purpose after all.] As Meta spoke, i heard a strange illusionary sound from the back of my head and my mind hummed. Meta''s strange and unexpected words suddenly made me feel strange. But before i could say anything else... [Ding! A new Side-quest has been assigned!] ... [New Quest Alert!] [Type:- Survival Name:- Quest to bing Stronger Description:- Challenge the number one student of your year to a duel. Duration:- ... Rewards:- +1 instant level up! Penalty:- ...] ======= ... Something crazy appeared before my eyes. Chapter 84 Duel [5] ''And the rest is self exnatory...'' -"Booo!" -"Crazy." -"Get beat already!" Hearing the boos and insults hurled unsympathetically at me, i stared forward with my spear raised on my shoulder. The sun was scorching, and under its radiant heat, a hot draft of wind swept through the arena. I nced sideways at one side of the spectators in the stands and i mused begrudgingly inwardly. ''Even if you say all that, it''s not like i want to be here either.'' And i really meant that. The first thing i thought when i suddenly saw the quest pop up a couple of days ago was: "What kind of crazy shit is this?" It was crazy and absurd, there was no way i was going to possibl- ''No, that was bullshit.'' I cast my head down and sighed. I had no idea what Meta''s intentions were for the sudden appearance of the quest. .... === [Type:- Survival Name:- Quest to bing Stronger Description:- Challenge the number one student of your year to a duel. Duration:- ... Rewards:- +1 instant level up! Penalty:- ...] === ... A sudden quest without a duration, or penalty, but offered an instant level up as a reward. And all i ''just'' had to do was challenge the first ranked first year in my hool year. ''No one can me me on this one.'' My actions were justified. Or rather... I yed easily right into Meta''s hands yet again. While i felt sense of dejection stir inside of me, -"Uoooooh, she''s here!" -"Is it finally starting?" The bloodlustful crowd exploded anew all of a sudden. The reason for the rekindled excitement was walking right Infront of me. -Step -Step I raised my head, and my lips nearly unconsciously pulled into a frown. The pristine image of Ceres gracefully revealed her from and presence through the dust raised by the passing wind. She was tall, her form and step exuded an intimidating weight. And her deep red eyes coldly pierced at me. But what i was still struggling a little to understand even by this point... ''Why?'' Why had Ceres agreed to a duel with me in the first ce? To prove herself? As the strongest and best first year? I didn''t think she had to though. Ceres was the only Ascended Hero amongst the First Year cadets as far as i knew. Especially if it was against someone like me who, inparison, rankedst. Or was it a form or sense of pride? Like, never turn down a fight or a challenge, no matter who its from? I didn''t easily decide to perform this quest either and mulled over it for sometime. I was intent on believing there had to be some sort of scheme or ulterior motive at y here, but no matter how much i contemted and thought about it, i couldn''t realise just what Meta was up to. Perhaps, there probably really was no scheme actually. I mean, it has already been established that Meta was a troll... Fact still remained, i was running impatient and ultimately decided to gamble. An instant level up The quest reward was more than enough to entice me. If i could get it, that''s one more step to Ranking up. Then I''ll just be one level behind Eta rank. But when the time came. -"Okay..." Ceres had said yes. -Step. As Ceres footsteps cane to a halt, she stood a few feets before me and stared silently. "..." "..." Then, her lips pulled downward into a twisting frown, and Ceres thin silver eyebrows arched and bent into a re over her eyes. For some reason, she was now ring at me. Her gaze was intense, overbearing and aloof. The weight of Ceres aura and presence was passively intimidating A little overwhelmed, i almost let my facial expressions crumpled and took a step back. "...Wh-what?" I couldn''t stop myself from stuttering. "You''re here." "Huh? I am." The unexpected words that followed made me tilt my head in puzzlement. Did she really expect me not to arrive or bail out at thest second? Bah! Victor Bright never turns away from a fight...! ''No, Victor Bright tries to survive, Zach Harper never turns away from a fight...'' even in such a situation, i still enjoyed the leisure of self deprecating sarcasticmentary to alleviate my stress. ''How nostalgic...'' Ceres gazeyered, it sharpened and became icy enough to make me want to recoil. "You''re bold, aren''t you? Or is it arrogance or confidence? Perhaps i should call it stupidity, than bravery." "..." I was speechless and baffled. Ceres was suddenly being savage with her words... As if misunderstanding my silence, Ceres Walker snorted and continued. Her voice and wordsced with irritation and animosity. She said with a heavy finality. "I''ll let this one slide, take back the challenge and drop off now." "..??" She''s... letting me go? At Ceres'' generous offer, i humbly declined by maintaining my silence. I could more or less understand where Ceres wasing from to an extent. ''I don''t think I''ve seen her talk this much either.'' and from this short interaction, i think I''ve seeded in somehow re-evaluating my opinion over this girl. She was here trying to give me, someone obviously weaker, an easy way out. She didn''t seem like the type yo enjoy trampling over the weak. I raised my spear and nted it into the ground. ''She''s a good kid.'' "I apologise, Ms. Ceres..." I looked at her and said. The icy expression on her beautiful white face was stoic but softened. "When i challenged for a duel, i didn''t think it was a battle of words." Ceres expression turned rigid at my words. I pretended not to notice, scratched my head and sighed before continuing. "You surprisingly talk a lot." Why the hell was i further antagonising her? Before this all happened, for some reason, Ceres had her eyes on me. Perhaps it was some type of interest or whatever, but by some ''twist of fate'' we both got the chance to duel against each other in a one versus one battle. ''I don''t know why, and probably I''m just feeling self important actually. But it would probably be better to end whatever interest or rtionship between Ceres and i here. For now.'' Having those thoughts, i took a deep breath and smiled sinisterly at Ceres with the tip of my spear pointing at her. "Hmph. You asked why before didn''t you? Isn''t that obvious? No.1 Victor, Bright... Doesn''t that have a nice ring to it?" [Scummy bastard.] ''...'' I couldn''t retort. Even i felt like cringing. I felt icky and awkward. I sounded like a shameless thrid rate viin of a clich¨¦ novel. Ceres'' cold expression dropped further. It was hard to tell since she was usually like a nk canvas, but maybe it was because i was finally seeing her up close like this and my heightened senses could detect some subtle shifts in her facial muscles. I kind of felt bad, and my body trembled with goosebumps from my cringe. Ceres was a good person who didn''t seem to enjoy relishing in the superiority of those weaker than her. She had given me the chance to walk away from this and save face. Well, as much face as i could possibly save at this point. She offered me an opportunity to avoid the embarrassment that woulde with my loss, but even that was just another type of embarrassment. ''And at the same time, I''m kind of pissed actually.'' Ceres, that bastardly good girl... Isn''t she actually more arrogant and haughty than she looks? Where does she get off thinking I''d lose? Hmph. ''On a regr day, i probably would, but i don''t think she has the right to indirectly imply that.'' Of course i wasn''t saying i could win on a regr day either... Ultimately, a part of my actions also had to do with my petty pride.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om -"What?! Look at that bastard!" -"How dare that lowlife to goddess Ceres!" -"Crucify the madman! Crucify him, i say!" -"Buahaha! Did he actually just say that?!" -"Even after the goddess'' disy of kindness and benevolence, the lowlife dares to..." -"In the end, isn''t 1499 just an attention seeker? There''s no way he actually thinks he can win, so why else would do all this if it wasn''t just for the attention?" -"Ah, now that you say so, that is possible." -"So he''s crazy, and an attention seeker." The crowds cheered and booed. It seemed like they got wind of a part of our conversation. I was amazed at how quickly and naturally human beings made justification and reached conclusions. Well i guess the first person to challenge the position and of number one would gain a lot of attention...i mused with a mumur. I moved my attention away from the curses and swears of the audience and turned back to face my opponent. "Ms. Ceres, are you ready?" I said in a low voice, gripping my spear. Ceres, her ever cold and indifferent mask, stared at me without an expression any longer. Her red eyes turned ssy and silently intense. Ceres reached for the broad sword next to her and thrust it straight into the ground beside her. She took a step forward at me, unarmed and raising her fist. Then Ceres coldly uttered, her voice more icy than ake in winter. "This is enough." Chapter 85 Duel [6] I hadn''t fully realised earlier, but Ceres choice of weapon was a broad long sword this time, andst time. But with a heavy dull sound, that same sword was stabbed into the sandy ground next to her, as Ceres approached me indifferently with her right fist pumped and clenched for me to see. "This is enough." A wryy, and dry smile made it to my lips. The difference in power between Ceres and i almost made the absence and difference of weapons nearly irrelevant. ''But still, isn''t she underestimating me too much?'' I shuffled backwards slightly. Ceres coldly and indifferently approached me with unhurried steps, the cries and cheers of the audience from the spectators seat bathed her in glory and showered me with awl like words and swears. "Well, Victor, you spoke a lot but now you have to put in a good performance." I tried psyching myself a little with empty words of encouragement. In the end, the goal wasn''t to win. I also wasn''t entirely expecting to get this far. I just had to challenge Ceres to a duel and fulfil the quest condition for my reward. But since I''ve already reached this point and no signs of an achievement popping off, it means I''m meant to see this through. Ceres is clearly confident, but it will also be my own undoing to think she''s underestimating me. Somehow, i kept getting that feeling. Watching Ceres seemingly harmlessly approach me with unhurried steps had my Danger sense tingling. At that moment, Ceres took a step forward and blurred beyond my vision. There was a subtle sound of exploding wind and powerful gales swept the stage. ''Shit!'' Danger sense cried out vehemently at the back of my head and i cursed. Reflectively, i back stepped, raising and shifting the spear in my hands preparing to block or counter attack how ever i could. I had no solid confidence that a single blow from from an Ascended wouldn''t at the very least knock me out. Thest time, it took a single hit from Hamlet, the Silver Sentinel to send me barrowing more than halfway to my death. -Bam! With an animated movement Ceres'' figure dashed Infront of me. Her indifferent face was unsullied, her silver white hair fluttered softly, leaving a flowing impression of a fantastical stream through the air. And her raised fist tore through the space like an asteroid. A crazy amount of pressure was exuded from her body, this close to me. At this rate, i was going to be one shotted. I gritted my teeth, as my senses raced and slowed down my perception by only a fraction. Inwardly, ''Armament...'' I chanted. I had raised my proficiency of my art over thest year, allowing me to channel it more faster, for shorter and momentary burst of movements and strength. Higher Aura seepeed and weaved through my internal muscle fibers, and my limbs exploded with a short burst of power. I rode my momentum, twisted my body, and side stepped a fraction of the distance and i moved my head. s, it wasn''t enough. "!!" Ceres was still fast. Too fast! Her t red gaze remained focused on my face throughout that moment as if to say ''I see you''. ''Monster!'' i couldn''t help but grin painfully. So instead, i channeled a thread of Ether into the ring on my finger and activated the [Ruler''s Authority] enchantment with a thought. Crown''s Veil was dispelled, and my presence and pressure exploded like and overflowing cup of water. But further manipting my Ether, i controled the intensity of my aura and instead concentrated it to a single point with my gaze. At Ceres. [{Ruler''s Authority}: Magnify your presence and authority with a single gaze. As a king, all subjects shall bow. Note: this induces a psychological paralysis on its victims, but effects may wane and vary depending on the mental fortitude of the victim and repeated exposure.] I felt a small tidal wave of something exude from the pores of my body, rumble, and scattered into the air. -Whoom! "..!" Ceres'' shoulders flinched and her red eyes ssed over as they trembled under my pressure. That split moment caused hesitation in her action, as her fist slowed down inches away from my face. -Pow! And like a steel bullet, Ceres fist ruptured through the speace my head previously was in. I utilised the split moment of hesitation to move out of the way, but still suffered a small gash to the side of my face just underneath my eyes. I furrowed my brows at Ceres, who unexpectedly, immediately withdrew away from me sharply. Her figure leaped backwards, as she quickly put some distance between us in a retreat. At the same time, Ceres lowered her body in a stance and reached for the side of her waist but froze yet again. Her sword wasn''t there. She had instinctively reached for ger weapon only to realize she had arrogantly dismissed ir right from the beginning. That meant, i was enough to have made the Ceres Walker feel threatened, even if for a short moment. As she realised this, Ceres raised her gaze and red at me from across, her eyes shed with wariness and a hint of tension. Meanwhile, i took a step back and rposed my bnce and wiped the wound on my face with my sleeve. That was close. I nearly had my head blown off. But with this... I had seeded in forcing Ceres backwards, and putting her on guard. Sweat beaded on my forehead and my brows furrowed. A crooked smile pressed on my lips. I wasn''t sure whether to cry orugh. To create an opportunity to dodge Ceres'' fist, I''d used the Ruler''s Authority Enchantment to boost my presence, while dispelling Crown Veil to stop masking my aura. But doing that might have alerted Ceres about a possible card i held. I''ve also seeded in making her more conscious of me. But, -"H-huh? D-did you see that?" There was more. -"No way... Did that guy actually..." -"...he dodged Ceres'' first blow. And not only that, why did she retreat like that?" A wave of murmurs spread through the audience at my performance. Since i canceled the Enchantment as soon as it served it''s purpose of making Ceres hesitate, my influence hadn''t immediately spread as far as the stands, or so I''ll like to believe. That was probably why the audience couldn''t understand Ceres''s reason for suddenly backing away. -"Hey, didn''t it actually get really chilly right now? Like it was somehow hard to breathe?" -"Huh? What are you talking about, and who cares?! Look, Ceres is about to move again." In that very breif moment of respite, Ceres Walker had regainedposure and leaned forward. With renewed wariness and conviction, she exuded undeniable animosity and intent at me that i could see it from her eyes. ''I should get serious too¡ª'' without using the full advantages of my artifacts and uniqueness, it was nearly impossible for me to subdue Ceres without killing her in a duel. In the first ce, i didn''t have to win. I also didn''t have any intentions on winning. Just... ''I should at least try to go down a little less embarrassingly.'' i thought, and grinned dryly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om And for that, i had just the perfect n. The arena was ensued with a cacaphony of noises, and as i stared at the figure of Ceres from across, i slowly raised my hands and breathed out a sigh. ''I''ve fulfiled the conditions of the quest.'' I pursed my lips then said. "I giv-" Those words never fully left my mouth. But before i could finish, Ceres had already be a blurred streak and my eyes widened before my vision trembled. A terrifying force of impact ran against my midsection as my eyes threatened to bulge from their sockets at Ceres'' attack. Before i could react to anything at all, Ceres had already thrown a diabolical fist into my stomach and my consciousness flickered as it slowly went dark. A painful groan, and bile left my lips. I genuflected from the impact, and my feet was forcefully raised off the ground. A painful sound of shattering bones resounded solely in my ears as my ribs shattered and fractured. The metallic and sickly taste of blood rushed up my throat, filling even my nose with its powerful smell and taste. ''...Khh, d-dammit...!'' -Bam! With a tremendous force, i was flunged halfway across the arena like a ragdoll and smashed into the pavement wall across from one side. The wall exploded into debris and chunks and pieces of rocks scattered outward and pressed against my body. The collision made my eyes roll backwards into my head. There was an almost illusionary ringing and chime in my ears. One hit... And the moment just before my consciousness fully dispersed like ash in the wind, through my hazy and dark vision, i watched the cold and indifferent figure of Ceres loom over me with a despicable expression. ''Th-this brat...'' She had taken me by suprise! Ceres seemed to be saying something at thest moments, but only her lips moved and her words failed to reach me. By that point, i had already lost consciousness. Chapter 86 Xavier Locke [1] Few minutes just before Victor and Ceres'' duel began. -"Uoooooh!" -"Get beat already, just drop dead!" The crowds from the stands were jarring with insults and excitement at the person standing indifferently in the arena. The whole colesium and stadium was awash with buzzing excitement. Through one of the entrances through the aisles in the seats, a young man wearing the first year cadet''s uniforms could be seen slowly and confidently walking through. A small, thin, and almost unsettling smile id on his lips. He walked through the aisles as the rain of cheers from tte audience continued, with his arms in his pockets. His smiling lips finally parted, and he whistled slightly. "Hoo..." Just then two of the students who were chanting at the aren in front of him suddenly turned their heads back to face him. Immediately, their exoressions brightened instantly as they readily greeted him. "Young master, Locke! You''re here!" "Young master..." The cadetughs and says softly. "I already told you guys not to call me that, we''re ssmates. Outsiders might get the wrong idea." He casually shrugs the topic off with a wave of his hand and looks around. Once more, he voices his admiration and suprise at the sheer size of the crowd present in the audience for the duel. "Wow, it''s like the entire first years themselves all came to watch, it''s incredible." He chuckled, his smile never leaving his lips. One of the male cadets in front of him swallowed and nodded in affirmation. "...Yes. That''s because of the duel. It somehow got out that the first ranked Cadet, Ceres Walker was suddenly challenged less than three weeks into the official start of the semester." It was the first ever duel of the semester, and the one directly participating was the top student. The news had spread far and wide immediately, and drew various attentions from all over. He said, and the other Cadet inputted and continued. "That''s right. It''s news that has been buzzing through the academy for the past few days now, so there''s a lot of people here to watch..." His words trailed off slightly. That was because the person he was talking to no longer seemed to be listening. Instead... "And the challenger?" The cadet''s curious gaze was directed to the arena, where an unremarkable seeming cadet stood as the challenger. A youth who''s characteristics and appearance seemed almost so insignificant, that it was vague. Perhaps, it was due to the distance, but his face and characteristics seemed blurry and uncertain to the cadet as he looked at him from the audience. The challenger seemed to have a nk look as he continued to ignore the curses and boos of the audience. He looked unremarkable and the only things that stood out about his iffy appearance were his brown hair, and striking gold eyes. But that was as far as it went. There was almost nothing else spectacr about him. Unintentionally, the curiosity in the cadet''s gaze waned and turned slightly disappointed. "That''s the challenger?" He turned to the two male students and asked with doubt. Puzzled, he tilted his head. "He''s..." ''...Weak.'' he began to say, but continued in his thoughts. The two students nodded like they understood and sympathized with him. The one who had challenged the top student to a duel...was someone unremarkable and nameless. The cadet sought through his memory; perhaps because of therge numbers of the first year, or maybe because of the ambiguous and vague appearance of the challenger, he couldn''t recall his face or put a name to him. "Yes. He''s the rumored no talent cadet who is at the bottom of the ranking." One of the male student sneered with a chuckle. "Can you believe that, young ma¡ª e-eh, i mean... Ahem. That guy is actually crazy enough to challenge Ceres Walker despite all odds." "The rumoured no talent one...?" The cadet, refered to as young master, muttered vaguely, and his already narrow eyes, slinted further in thought. That was right. He had heard something of that sort before; news, or rumours, about a Cadet with talent so meager, it was nonexistent. But ''he'' was never someone to be interested in those less remarkable and weaker than he was, so he never truly paid much attention to the no talent cadet. Up until then, he had only been scoping out the higer ranked students, and those with promising prospects and abilities. "Number 1499..." He slowly called out. The bottom ranked cadet. He was someone beneath his attention. "Well." With that thought, he easily dismissed the thought of Victor and raised his smile back to his face.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The challenger aside, he was more looking forward to the performance of the top student. After all. Ceres Walker...she was definitely someone he had to get his hands on. Someone he has had his eyes for ever since the beginning. ''I wonder what she''ll show me.'' his smile elongated, and his narrow eyes curved like cresents. Then he nced back fleetingly at Victor. ''Well considering the overwhelming difference, it''ll most likely be over before Ceres can do anything for me to see.'' he shook his head with a light disappointed sigh. If only the challenger was someone just a little bit more worthy, and wouldst past the first exchange of blows with Ceres. He was really looking forward to watching her skills and abilities in person. To him, Ceres Walker was a mystery. ''The Academy is hiding something.'' "Hehe. As expected, Lord Xavier is here for Number 1 to-" "Hey, didn''t he already warn us not to call him that in public!" One of the male student began, but was instantly shut down and rebuked by his peer. But s, it was toote by then. That littlemotion had gathered them some attention from around. -"Huh? Isn''t that Xavier Locke?" -"Just now, i also saw Number 2, and 10. Aren''t there a lot of top ranking first years present?" -"I saw some seniors too..." Xavier sighed as he felt the gazes and pointed finger turn at him. He shook his head with a light smile at the two male students before him and said. "It''s fine, it can''t be helped." It really couldn''t. Internally, he chuckled. ''I guess it was too much to think i could sneak in to spectate the duel without no one recognising me. But that''s fine too." After all, he was one of the top ranked cadets. Rank number 7, Xavier Locke and thrid son of the Locke family. He was a handsome young man with charming characteristics. He had wavy pale yellow hair brushed back, curved, narrow and nted eyes, and often wore a smile thatplimented an unsettling and calctive feeling surrounding him. But aside from his usually sinisterly curved eyes, Xavier Locke had considerable lools and enough charisma to match. "Ooh, it''s starting." On the arena at the center, Ceres finally arrived. Xavier shifted his gaze, and his narrow eyes opened slightly, revealing pale yellow pupils that glinted with curiosity. ''It''s starting.'' Reflected in them was the beautiful figure of Ceres approaching the centre of the arena briskly and confidently. Unconsciously, Xavier clenched his fist with hidden excitement, and his smile curved even more. "Hoo..." ''She''s strong.'' Even from the vast distance between them, Xavier could tell. It was from the way Ceres carried herself, exuding boundless confidence and form. Her appearance easily overpowered and masked over Number 1499, who was nothing inparison. Even from the audience seat, Xavier could tell. Surprisingly, Ceres arrived and offered the challenger the chance to walk away from the duel. To Xavier''s confusion she tried persuading Victor to cancel his challenge. ''Why is she doing that?'' Xavier wasn''t the only one who was puzzled by this development. But... ¡ª"Haa... You surprisingly talk a lot." The youth had sneered in response. At Ceres'' generosity, he spat in her face and mocked her. Watching this disy, even Xavier''s expression turned solemn with a slight frown. He had no opinion of the male cadet who wasn''t even worth his time, but now there was a single thought running through his mind. ''Pathetic.'' He was blindly arrogant. Someone who Xavier couldn''t even feel a spec of presence from spoke arrogantly and boldly to Ceres. ''It would have been a bit different if he at least has something up his sleeve... which he might, but i highly doubt. No matter how much i try, neither my senses, nor instincts are reacting to him in any manner. It''s like looking at an empty space...'' Truly, Victor was... ''Insignificant.'' It was a matter of innate ability. Xavier was confident in his senses for scoping out promising individuals which he was born with, and cultivated through his nature. But none of those senses spoke anything of Victor, which meant he truly was unremarkable. Further than before, his opinion of number 1499 fell yet again. ¡ª"... hah! Isn''t that obvious? First ce, Victor Bright, doesn''t that sound much better?" As if his disgraceful act wasn''t pathetic enough, Victor even went as far as disregarding Ceres position as top ranker, and the crowd threw jeers and boos at him for his behaviour. Wether Ceres was fazed by that or not, it was hard to tell. Regardless, she moved. After denying use of her weapon, the duel earnestly begun. ''Finally.'' Xavier clenched his fist behind his back with anticipation. But then... Something unexpected happened. ''Why did she...'' Ceres who clearly had the advantage throughout the first confrontation... Immediately backed away and retreated from Victor. At that moment, Xavier''s heart thumped and the back of his neck tingled with goosebumps that spread down his back and across his body. It suddenly felt like he stood bare and naked in the middle of a crowd with all piercing gazes and looks directed at him. A breath taking sort of chilling pressure enveloped him, but just as instantly, all of the sensation vanished. Leaving behind only a momentary instinctive tingle at the back of his chest, and his lungs short of breath. Chapter 87 Xavier Locke [2] Xavier was frozen on the spot, his breath forgotten in his lungs, and his palms felt moist. Xavier''s brows furrowed as he looked down at his syed-open fingers. "...my palms are sweaty..." When? Something unsettling crept around him. There was an almost overwhelming, chilling sensation that had nearly suffocated him just seconds ago. His thin smile vanished, and his nted eyes swept over the audience area, reced by vignce. But he couldn''t notice anything different. The crowd and audience were the same as before: showing mixed reactions at the arena, hurling insults at Victor, and singing praises for Ceres. Xavier pulled out a small napkin from his breast pocket and used it to wipe his suddenly sweaty palms and brows. Consciously, his gaze shifted toward the arena stage, where it lingered. "...Number 1499..." There stood Victor. He was taking small steps backward, wiping blood off his face. His expression was pensive, but he still forced a smile, as though it was nothing. Even now, Xavier couldn''t feel anything from him. ''Did I just imagine that?'' But that sudden reaction from his instincts was undeniable. Humans reacted to stimuli and sensitivity differently. Some reacted more aggressively, while others barely acted as if anything had happened. But Xavier had an innate talent for perceiving the abilities and potential of those around him, a skill that had only grown sharper as he matured into a man and an Awakened. Surely, at that moment, his instincts had reacted vehemently to something. "Master Xa¡ª I mean... Is something the matter?" one of the male students asked, interrupting Xavier''s thoughts. Xavier wiped away thest traces of cold sweat from his brow and palms, shaking his head slightly with a forced smile. He turned his gaze back to the arena, where Victor and Ceres stood apart, locked in a tense standoff. "No... I was just a little surprised. I didn''t think he would be able to evade even a single blow from Ceres, but..." The two male cadets nodded in agreement. "Yes, I agree, but it was probably a fluke," one said. "That''s true. That crazy guy was probably just lucky. To dodge a blow from an Ascended... I bet he''s used up a vast portion of his life''s luck. Hmph," the other snorted in mockery. "Indeed. It''s also obvious that Ceres Walker is holding back, judging by how she suddenly withdrew and stopped pressuring him. In the end, she''s still giving 1499 a small chance to try and redeem himself by fighting back. Everyone knows that if this duel were serious, it would''ve been over as soon as it began. In the end, it''s only thanks to Ceres'' kindness and benevolence that that talentless bastard hasn''t been one-shot and sent flying," the cadet exined exhaustively. His peers and some members of the audience seemed to share a simr opinion. It seemed almost unbelievable that the allegedly weakest cadet in the academy had managed to evade a blow from the strongest cadet¡ªsomeone an entire realm higher than him. How else could it be exined, if not that Ceres had obviously let him and gone easy on him? Such was the conclusion that the vast majority of those watching the duel conveniently reached. But Xavier was different. Just as he was about to be swayed by the same logic and dismiss the thoughts of Victor from his mind, Xavier forcefully recalled the earlier tingling sensation at the back of his chest. He remembered the sharp reaction of his senses and instincts and slowly touched the left side of his chest. He thought of a particr saying his father had repeated to him countless times since childhood: "Always trust your gut. The instincts of an Awakened are our greatest weapon. Never disregard your senses, and always be conscious and open-minded." Those words had been drilled into him so often that it felt as though they were designed specifically for someone like him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that a major part of Xavier''s life, up until the present moment, had been shaped by that mantra. It was also for that same reason... Xavier clenched his left chest. He couldn''t dismiss such a strong reaction from his senses. As Xavier continued to look at the arena, he spoke with his usual smile. "Hmm. And this Number 1499 has no prior recorded feats of this level?" he asked casually. The two male students nced at each other, pausing for a moment to think. "None at all. Even his academics and looks are unremarkable," one said. The other cadet''s lips moved as if he intended to say something but hesitated. Eventually, he gathered his thoughts and added to his peer''s words. "Well, even though it might still be a bit early in the semester, there are already a bunch of rumors about him, and most of them point to him being crazy," he said, pausing briefly before shrugging indifferently. "Some say they''ve seen and heard him scream and talk to himself a lot. Even his training methods are crazy and bizarre. Rather than using equipment suited for his level, he challenges resources far above him, like the training golems, and often gets beaten." The cadet spilled out all the rumors and entric details surrounding Victor to Xavier without much thought or consideration. As early as the semester still was, Victor had already be the subject of numerous rumors and stories without even realizing it. All of them painted a picture of a crazy, relentless, and untalented training junkie who didn''t know his limits or ce. Add to that hisck of presence in a room full of others, and he was often described as having a characteristic gloominess that made people want to avoid him even more. Xavier listened with a raised eyebrow. There was a lot being said about Victor, yet none of it seemed to hold any substantial value or impact. They were just rumors and mockery of Number 1499. Xavier was almostpelled to disregard the "crazy cadet" yet again but couldn''t stop remembering the sensation. Even when he turned back and focused on Victor, he still couldn''t sense anything from him. It was just as before, yet something was different. "Looks like both of them are about to move again," Xavier heard one of the male cadets next to him say, and his narrow eyes unconsciously widened slightly, as if he intended to capture even the most minute details of the duel with his vision and heart. He had been watching Victor closely all this while. Ever since Ceres had strangely retreated from him, Victor hadn''t moved. ''Even after barely managing to evade Ceres'' first blow, he doesn''t seem flustered or unbnced. On closer inspection, he has considerable coordination andposure...'' Xavier earnestly noted and praised inwardly. It was only when he finally began to look closely at Victor that he started distinguishing some aspects he had somehow overlooked before. ''No, it''s not a matter of simply overlooking or not noticing them,'' Xavier''s eyes narrowed yet again¡ª''1499 has skillfully masked his experience with subtlety and ambiguity in his otherwise unremarkable actions. Yes, indeed, sometimes the most significant things in life are often subtle, but not unremarkable...'' Xavier felt a rare, vague moment of enlightenment all of a sudden. ''Always be self-aware, keep an open mind.'' Suddenly, he began to reinterpret and see all of Victor''s actions from the beginning in a new and different light. His seemingly leisurely and nonchnt attitude at the start, the careless way he stood with his spear despiteing for a duel¡ªit all made sense now. At that time, Victor had seeded in making the audience and everyone else perceive him as worthless and unguarded. But the moment Ceres arrived, Victor had seemingly shifted casually on his feet. ''...But that moment solidified his defense.'' By presenting an initial form full of loose holes and openings, and through methodical misdirection on a level that could almost be considered supernatural, his experienced actions had gone entirely unnoticed by the audience¡ªand by Ceres. If Victor, who had been standing with a slouched posture from the beginning, merely rolled a shoulder, who would believe it had a more meaningful intent? ''Even I was fooled...'' Victor had expertly masked his true intentions behind subtle, minor, and seemingly casual everyday actions that went unnoticed by everyone. What Xavier didn''t know was that the Crown''s Veil enchantment of the Ring of Solomon was responsible for a significant part of this deception. It cloaked Victor in a "fog," distorting the senses and perceptions of outsiders. This allowed Victor to perform misleading actions as misdirection while concealing his true intentions. Even now, Xavier still couldn''t fullyprehend what was happening without knowing about the Ring. Each time he tried to focus his senses to observe or study Victor, he found his thoughts slowly drifting, often reaching conclusions on their own without him realizing it. The terrifying part was that Xavier would never realize his mind was being constantly overwritten and manipted by a ''fog''¡ªa deceptive veil. But Xavier was still sharp and cunning, with terrifyingly keen senses and instincts. He couldn''tpletely decipher Victor''s movements or experience, but once he began to notice the subtle nuances Victor made, it gave an entirely new meaning and interpretation to his actions. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* Xavier''s golden eyes rippled with realization, their almost illusionary surface reflecting the distant figure of Victor slowly raising his hands in what seemed to be an attempt to forfeit the duel. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* As the audience focused intently on the duel, the challenger, Number 1499, slowly began to raise his hands. "I give u¡ª!!" But before he could finish his sentence, Ceres moved, closing the distance in an instant. With a devastating blow to Victor''s sr plexus, she sent him barreling across the arena and through the air. Cadet Rank 1499 couldn''t utter another word as his body smashed into the wall and slumped to the ground, unconscious. One hit. In just one hit, Victor was knocked out cold. "Haa... In the end, it turned out the way everyone initially expected." "There was no way he could have dodged the second blow like the first time." The duel was over. Victory immobilized, and Ceres stood as the victor and champion. The audience shared their opinions andmentary amongst themselves as they slowly began to disperse. In the end, Victor had truly been taken down in a single hit before Ceres could disy anything particrly shy. He had been defeated purely by her speed and brute strength, without showing even a trace of opposition. "Haha, how pathetic. And he spoke so big earlier too..." People quickly forgot Victor''s miraculous feat of evading Ceres'' first attack and somehow forcing her to momentarily retreat. All they remembered was that Victor had been pathetically defeated in a single blow. But as the crowd continued to disperse, there was one cadet who stood in ce, unmoving, ever since the beginning. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* Xavier continued to stare at the arena stage where the duel had taken ce. The image of Victor being sent barreling through the air was seared into his mind, yet he couldn''t shake the incessant sound growing louder and louder in his ears. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* ''Huh? What is...'' Shakily, with a hand trembling from excitement, Xavier slowly reached toward his chest, where his left breast pockety. His narrow eyes were wide open, glinting with unmistakable intensity, and his crooked smile stretched into something savagely twisted. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* The resounding thumping grew louder and louder, the rhythm reverberating in his ears. ''Where is iting from?'' Xavier vaguely wondered, his shoulders trembling. The sound... *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* It was his racing heartbeat. Xavier''s crooked smile stretched further, tearing into a twisted grin. His golden eyes shone with an eerie, electric intensity. "Interesting." He had found a new diamond. One hidden in in sight, among a pack of coal. *** Meanwhile, lurking alone in the darkness of one of the numerous passage entrances and exits of the coliseum, stood a handsome middle-aged man with falling red hair and gold eyes that glinted like two yellow mas. He had a youthful appearance, tall and striking, with a knowing smile that tugged at his lips. His eyes narrowed amusingly as he watched from the shadows. "Interesting," he whispered softly to himself. Chapter 88 +1 Instant Level Up [1] "What were you thinking?!" The loud roar of Alex''s voice boomed in my head, dispelling all my lingering wooziness from just waking up. If i wasn''t awake before, now i most definitely was. "Ah, my head..." I held my throbbing head with a frown and tried to cover my ears. It hasn''t been up to five minutes since i came too. I woke up in the infirmary some time after the duel, and imagine my disappointment and horror when i rose to seeing Alexanda''s face. I gritted my teeth and hissed sharply at Alex "Why are you here?" "Are you actually insane? Why would you pull something like that? What if you got more hurt than you are right now?" My words easily flew over his head as Alex continued to rant like my mom. At first i was pissed, what gave him the right to nag me like that? But then even all of that energy was siphoned in the face of Alex''s rants. A hole of fatigue, despair and suffering was left behind inside of me. "Okay, okay... What even are you talking about?" For now, i decided to skip over the question of why Alex was here. ''If i let him keep talking, I''ll definitely be enlightened!'' i couldn''t see my face, but i was certain of having a despairing expression. I dryly looked at Alex who had a fierce expression. "Why did you suddenly challenge Ceres to a duel?" "Oh that?" I feigned nonchnce. "Don''t feign nonchnce! Why did you do that? You know who she is, right? She''s the the strongest first year. What suddenly got into you?" And once again... "Oh that? " I rubbed the inside of my ear and shrugged. "Just because." "Y-you...!" Alex didn''t seem satisfied with my response as his face seemed to go red. Well even if i tried to exin it to him, it''s not like Alex would believe me or understand. What''s with him anyway? It''s not like we''re close or anything like that. It might be good will, but i felt his persistence as quite annoying. "Wait hold on! It must be that..." All of a sudden, Alex perked up and said as i nced dryly at him. "What now?" He leaned in slightly closer, and Alex''s eyes zed with coldness. "You weren''t forced by someone to do it, were you?" Under such a gaze from him, i barely suppressed my body from visibly trembling. "Wh-what the hell are you going on about?" Forced? Well i certainly wasn''t intending on fighting Ceres in a duel, and only did because of the quest. Hmmm. Would that count as being forced? "Did anyone force...or bully you?" "Ah..." At Alex''s words I realised what he meant and made a small voice. "I see. So that''s how it is..." Alexander''s eyes narrowed ominously and he slowly leaned back. Something felt really unsettling and ominous from Alex''s behaviour if i let this misunderstanding continue, so i quickly tried to call it off. "No! No, i wasn''t bullied or anything. And would you stop hounding me like that, it''s bing really annoying." The best way to brush off Alex''s intensity was to be intense myself. And it worked. Alex quickly became remorseful. The dangerous glint in his eyes ceased and vanished, reced by embarrassment. "Ah, well, uh... I''m sorry...?" Hey, now. What am i supposed to do if you apologize for showing me concern? Suddenly feeling like the bad guy, i let out a sigh and slumped my shoulders. "..No. I was too much myself." I scratched the back of my head, "Thanks." Since it''se to this, Alex at least deserved a reasonable exnation for my recent actions. ''Plus I''m kind of terrified about what he would do to the guys he thinks forced me.'' i thought grimly with a trickle of sweat down my cheek. "I was curious." I said. Alex looked at me with a puzzled attention. "How strong is the strongest student of our year and if... I wanted to know the difference and disparity between us." I held a handful of the nket in my fingers and squeezed only slightly. I chuckled dryly and continued. "Maybe one day I''ll be as strong as Ceres. No, I''ll be better." Internally i shrugged indifferently. I said Alex deserved an exnation, but i said nothing about being honest. I just put together some sympathetic sounding words to appease to him and get him off my back. Well they weren''t entirely wrong either. Ceres was strong for my current standards, but she was simply a small wall i would ovee soon enough. My realityy more further and further than Ceres, or anyone else, could imagine. I turned to my side where Alex was looking at me with a gaze of mixed emotions. ''Maybe, Alexander might be the only one who could understand what i mean.'' Alex...he too had a fate and destiny muchrger and greater than anyone else in the world, including me. "If you put it that way, then i guess i can''t mindlessly attack you like that. Although i still think rashly challenging the strongest student and taunting her untop is too reckless! And Ceres too! Couldn''t she have gone a little bit easier on you? Look at you?" As Alex said, i was looking pretty pathetic actually. The extent of my injuries from the duel were considerable but not life threatening. A few shattered ribs and broken bones. But to me, it was no different than stubbing my big toe against a furniture. Damage like this no longer held any weight over me. Much less to talk of how I''ll be fine in a few weeks or two. But to Alex and others, i must be looking quite pathetic. Coupled with the manner i was finished off after all of my bravado at the beginning. One shot. The match ended in Ceres'' overwhelming victory as i was punched into next week. It''s been nearly a day since the duel was concluded and i was only just waking up. My wounds had been attended to while i was still out cold, and now i was currently wrapped in bandages round my torso, arm, and head. "Uh, it''s almost time for the closing of visiting hours, i should get going." After a while, Alex said as he slowly rose to his feet, his movements held traces of reluctance like he had something more to say but couldn''t. "Yeah."N?v(el)B\\jnn Then Alex promptly said. "And you too. You should get some rest after this. You really shouldn''t think of using the training hall in your current condition." "I don''t know what you''re talking about." I nced away from Alex. "Don''t act like you don''t know. In fact, everyone knows you spend more time in the training hall than your dorm. In fact, i bet if the hall was always avable throughout each day, we won''t even see you for ss." Alex words began to sound annoying again. I felt the need to shut him up. "When you stop talking, my wounds stop aching." Alex went speechless at my sudden at remark and stared with slightly widened eyes at me. I met his gaze nkly without looking away. Yes, let it sink in... The burn... With a deep and heavy sigh, Alex took his leave away from the infirmary. Somehow, his slumped shoulders looked painfully depressed. -Cluck! And by the time Alexander was gone, a deafening silence filled the ventted interior of the infirmary. I wasn''t sure oyf there were any other patients or admitted cadets inside aside from me, but i could literally hear a pin drop in the emptiness that ensued. "Finally..." I sighed deeply. I brushed my fingers through my brown bangs and lingered silently for a few seconds. "He''s gone." Alex was finally gone, leaving me alone with the chance to reflect effectively. I ced a hand against my bandaged chest. The broken bones and wounds around it thrubbed mildly, even though i had been putting uo a front in front of Alex. Despite everything Ceres went easy on me in the end. Outright killing a cadet in a duel was strictly against the rules. If Ceres was after my life with that single blow, i at the very least would be crippled right now. ''Damn. Now that i see it, it really was a gamble.'' It made sense why Alex and everyone would think I''m crazy. But in the end, the gamble paid off nicely. .... === [Type:- Survival Name:- Quest to bing Stronger Description:- Challenge the number one student of your year to a duel. Duration:- ... Rewards:- +1 instant level up! Penalty:- ...] === [Ding! Quest clear conditions have been met; -Challenge the number one student of your year (Ceres) to a duel. -Survive a duel.] [Ding! Quest reward(s) have been distributed.] - +1 instant level up [Lvl33 >> Lvl34] [Ding! You have leveled up! Lvl33 --> Lvl34!] [You have grown stronger.] === ... The quest statuspletion screen was screen was the first thing i opened my eyes to. Chapter 89 +1 Instant Level Up [2] .... === [Type:- Survival Name:- Quest to bing Stronger Description:- Challenge the number one student of your year to a duel. Duration:- ... Rewards:- +1 instant level up! Penalty:- ...] === [Ding! Quest clear conditions have been met; -Challenge the number one student of your year (Ceres) to a duel. -Survive a duel.] [Ding! Quest reward(s) have been distributed.] - +1 instant level up [Lvl33 >> Lvl34] [Ding! You have leveled up! Lvl323--> Lvl34!] [You have grown stronger.] === ... I woke up to the system notification screen hanging in front of my eyes a while ago. [You have grown stronger.] The familiar string of words which i haven''t heard or seen in a while appeared before me like a distant dream. Maybe it was because of that; a transient feeling of fulfilment and power rejuvenated through my body. As the unmistakeable sensation of leveling up spread throughout my being, i raised in a breath and sighed. ''Finally.'' this was the first substantial progress i had made in weeks and even months. Leveling up was really hard. Especially when i had to do so without gaining experience from hunting down monsters or beasts. The ironic thing was, i had high speed talent than an average Awakened for leveling up, but it was also what made leveling up harder and more arduous for me. I ced a hand to my chest. I''m not sure and I might just be imagining it but, perhaps it''s because I''vee one more step closer to ranking up, i feel like I''ve made a significant boost and increase in my power. Was that it? I was now level 34, one more step away from a breakthrough. But the single level up seemed to do amazing wonders for me. It''s either that or I''m getting high from leveling up after so long. I nced around the seemingly empty infirmary one more time and decided to get up. Since i was brought here to have my wounds treated immediately after the conclusion of the duel, i was wearing a ne coloured clinic gown, and my bare torso underneath was covered and wrapped with bandages. The bedsheets ruffled as i moved slowly and my toes touched the cold, sterile ground. Then i stripped down out of the in clinic gown to get a better look at my body and examine my new condition. My lean build was cut after years of intensive training that it would almost be hard to believe ot was the body of a 16 ywar old kid. Whenever i put on the Academy''s uniform zer, i appeared even leaner than i actually was. But underneath my skin were tight rolls ofpact muscles and power. I nced down at my arms and form. ''My body feels a bit lighter too.'' And did my wounds just heal a bit more as well? If this was my delusion, then my mind was admittedly adept at deceiving itself. ''No, I''m almost very certain that I''ve developed certain changes after leveling up.'' it was like an instinctive feeling. The changes weren''t that significant or apparent, but I could clearly feel i was better than when i woke up this morning. Thest time i broke through a rank all those years ago was sudden and out of the blue. Back then, i didn''t have the luxury of fully experiencing the gradual process or change like this. ''Just the purgatorial pain that came with it.'' Because of that, i wasn''t able to fully experience the exhration of reaching the final levels of a rank before breakthrough. ''I wonder if it would have felt like this?'' as i clenched and unclenched my fist, i thought. Regardless, it wasn''t a bad feeling. It was something i could get used to. Inadvertently, a sigh ended up pressing on my lips. I was greatfull for the level up quest in the end. As i was examining my bandaged body, i suddenly realised something. It was a vague and instinctive feeling. It was like a suffocating fog had finally been lifted around me, and a tall looming ceiling that stood above me had finally been revealed. But this time, the ceiling didn''t seem so unreachable and distant as it once was. ''I can feel it.'' i reached out my arm towards the looming ceiling slowly. ''My breakthrough isn''t too far off now.'' The +1 instant level up... With this, my longsting bottleneck had been shattered. *** I couldn''t sit still after that. I decided i had to actively examine the extent of the changes and the influence the instant level up caused in my body. I stepped into a wide sparring area of the training hall and activated one of the numerous golems. It''s bright red eyes beamed to life, as it''s joints produced mechanical noise and rotation. The almost terrifying looking dummy stood uop straight with it''s arm gripping a broad sword. The training golems provided in the hall were versatile and could be modified however one wishes. Rather than a broad sword, i could make mine wield a spear, or a bow instead. It was designed to be specialised in a wide range of different weapons and techniques to amodate for the different styles. The fact it held a long sword upon my arrival spoke about its previous challenger. But rather than go through the meager process of switching, i just let mine continue to wield its sword. And i too. I casual strolled up to a section of the wall which served as a weapon rack and pulled out a training sword. It was a typical long sword, but one with a blunt de. But it still hurt and could cause enough damage when handled in the right way. As i pulled out the sword, i performed a few random swings through the air to get ustomed to it''s weight and form in my hands. ''Hmm feels strange. As expected, i really am more better suited with weilding a spear now or a bow after all these years.'' Over thest year that went by, i had decided to spread my weapon experience to swordsmanship. Of course a year wasn''t enough for me to be a master of anything. ''In the end i only learned the foundation basics and fundamentals of swordsmanship.'' But to me, that was enough. It was already hard and tricky mastering two ore more different types of weapons. My basics with the bow and spear was stronger than with the sword because of the number of years of experience. And then there''s also the [Lock On] skill that raises my proficiency and aim with projectile, to long range weapons. Since i was going to spar with a golem in the training hall, i didn''t bother wearing a shirt whileing and stood half naked with my bandaged torso and in baggy clinic pants. The Golem''s default settings were somewhere around what a basic to mid Mortal ranked Cadet could handle. But of course, i turned it up and raised its difficulty. ...to somewhere around a low, basic Eta rank. -Whirr! The gears of the golems roared as the modified settings were registered. Immediately, the golem began to move. It pulverized the ground and sharply leaned forward with its great de raised. I took two calm steps forward and pointed my long sword in front of me then twisted. des shed and locked against each other as i seeded in sealing the jount movements in the Golems arm which held the broad sword. And then... -nk! With a small flick of my wrist, i disarmed the dummy and thrust straight into it''s right shoulder, permanently sealing It''s arm in ce. Therge broad de of the broad sword spun in the air and ttered to the ground with a loud sound. Soon only silence prevailed in the training hall after. In a single move, the spar was over. "This is..." My nk expression rippled as my eyes widened with a tinge of amazement. The golem...it was slow. Its actions and movements had seemed so sluggish enough for me to not feel even the slightest bit threatened by it''s hulking size and force. After deactivating the Golem, i withdrew my sword and stared at it with a silent appreciation. "That single level up is crazy." Level 34; the peak of the Mortal ranks. No. My peak Mortal Rank was... I nced back at the Golem. ...i was on par with a low level Eta rank. No, judging from what just happened, i was clearly slightly more stronger and faster. My lips curled to a slight smile. Ether blessing and the four weeks spent in the dungeon of Lace toning my body inside the aether geyser; this was my advantage. I required four times the normal amount of energy and experience to level up and get stronger, but possess slightly more elevated power than my peers. Enough so to slightly even almost transcend the borders of ranks. But that was still something yet to fully tell. Facing a mindless training dummy and an actual experienced warrior in a spar was very different. The oue could have also be different. But regardless, the was definitely a significant increase in my abilities.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om After such a victory and revtion, i got too excited. If i could match up against a basic Eta rank power while stil a Mortal rank, i wondered how far the chnage in my body went and cranked up the difficulty level further a bit. -Basic Hero rank. Two ranks ahead of me, and even transcending the realms and sses. This time, too... I was obliterated. -Bam! The ferocious sounds of de and that of the dummy shing onest time reverberated powerfully as i was flung away through the air like a ragdoll. I crashed and rolled against the ground, feeling my injuries crunch and my body thrub. That was the third round i had lost so pathetically. "Kurk! As expected, it''s still a bit too much for the current me and my injuries." I groaned as i rose to my feet. I still intended to sh again with the dummy, just like always, until it was finally time for the hall to be closed. Alex''s words cautioning me about avoiding the training room while i was still wounded didn''t even ur to me as i stood covered in my own sweat, my chest heaving heavily. But then while i was intently focused on the golem indifferently standing before and preparing to take a stance¡ª -Step -Step. Someone else arrived into the hall, their light steps diverting my attention slightly. I casually cast a fleeting gaze towards the entrance while i gave the silentmand for the Golem to begin it''s attack at me. ''Is it the caretaker again?'' for a moment i thought maybe the caretaker hade once more to force me to leave again. But the one who showed up and appeared instead made my body freeze and stiffen for a moment. Meanwhile, the golem charged at me and instantly covered the distance and unsympathetically smashed it''s de against me, sending me flying to the ground yet again. This time, i rolled, groaned, but paid no attention to the dummy and instead continued to stare at the entrance with a strained expression. ''What is she doing here?'' Rank 1 Ceres Walker stared coldy at me. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!