ã€ŠLegendary Architect of Apocalypseã€‹


 Chapter 1 Earth for Practicals

    The world had turned into an absolute nightmare. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but corpses. Even if someone was alive, they could only wait to die.

    The streets were covered in corpses of people whose flesh had turned dark gray. There was a disgusting stench of death everywhere, making it hard to even breathe. Only flies could be seen, feasting on the remains of the fallen.

    A young boy, no older than twelve, was running across the blood-stained street, holding a little girl in his arms.

    Her skin had started turning a grayish hue, her breathing already becoming weak. Her body was growing colder by the minute.

    The boy knew that he had to get her to a clinic.

    Even though he knew that no clinic in the world could help a person after they were infected with this virus of death, he didn''t want to believe it. He didn''t want to give up hope.

    "Just hold on a little more. We will be right there." His own breathing was haggard, but he was still trying to talk to his sister, trying to keep her awake. He knew that if she closed her eyes, she was never going to open them.

    As the boy ran with all his might, his worn-out shoes kept slipping on the road covered with blood.

    He tried his best to maintain his balance; unfortunately, it was all for nothing as he tripped over a corpse, his ankle twisting beneath him.

    With a cry of shock, he fell, his sister tumbling from his grasp. He landed hard, scraping his hands on the ground.

    "Anya!" he screamed, rushing towards her. He held her close, his fingers frantically searching for a pulse, a sign, any sign, that she was still alive.

    He pressed his ear against her chest, praying for the faintest sound of a heartbeat. But there was only silence.

    He had lost her. She had finally closed her eyes forever, leaving him all alone. This apocalypse had taken everything from him.

    The boy held the girl''s lifeless body close to his chest, his screams echoing through the desolate streets. The silence that followed was almost deafening, broken only by his own breathing and the insistent buzzing of flies.

    The world had turned into an absolute nightmare, and he was trapped in it, alone.

    He couldn''t remember how long he stayed there, holding Anya, his tears mingling with the blood staining their clothes.

    He wanted to scream, to rage against the unfairness of it all, but all he could manage were choked sobs.

    "I''m sorry," he mumbled. "I''m so sorry."

    He didn''t know how long he had stayed there. He was hungry, but more than that, he was broken. He had prayed for the gods to take him, instead of his family. But here he was, still alive while everyone else died.

    He couldn''t help but wonder if it was some cruel joke being played on him. His body had grown so weak that he couldn''t even sit straight anymore.

    He lied on the ground, next to his sister''s body, surrounded by hundreds of corpses.

    "If the virus won''t take me, I will do it myself." He closed his eyes weakly, pulling out a knife from his pocket.

    He had thought about doing this multiple times, but for Anya''s sake, he remained strong. But now, there was no point. The world was already brought to ruin. He didn''t want to stay here to watch more misery.

    He aimed the knife at his chest, holding it with both hands to have enough strength. For one last time, he glanced at his sister before looking towards the sky that was covered in clouds, as if it was going to rain.

    With the first drop of rain falling on his face, he pushed the knife deep in his chest, believing to be freed from this misery.

    "Let''s go to heaven together, if there is any." He whispered as his blood merged with the rain water, trucking down his body.

    Even though he normally didn''t believe in the afterlife, in this moment, he wanted to believe it.

    ....

    He didn''t know how long it had been since the world turned dark, but he was once again able to feel his body. The pain of the knife in his chest was gone.

    Although he still felt a little weak, it was nothing compared to his last moments.

    "Is there really... an afterlife?" He abruptly opened his eyes, appearing extremely shocked.

    He looked around, observing his surroundings, trying to understand what the afterlife was like. He had heard about living in the clouds, or angels being everywhere, but this afterlife looked much different. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Instead of being in the clouds, he wasn''t even outdoors. He was inside a small room, only two meters wide and three meters long.

    It looked too lackluster for heaven and too good for hell. Inside the room, there was only a bed large enough for one person, a wardrobe, and a mirror.

    He felt like this wasn''t heaven or hell. But it was also too real to be a dream.

    Confused, he walked over to the mirror, looking at his reflection. And what he saw left him even more surprised.

    He looked to be the same age as he was on earth, but his features were different. There were no scars or wounds on his face anymore. Even his hair was different.

    On earth, he had dark hair. Now, he had silver. His clothes were also very different, unlike anything he had seen before.

    "Just what is this place?" He wondered just what was happening to him.

    "Mother!" Elias was lost in thought when he heard a loud shout coming from outside.

    "Mother! You won''t believe what happened!" The voice, seemingly belonging to a boy slightly older than him, came again.

    This time, Elias couldn''t resist his curiosity. He opened the door and walked outside, wondering who was shouting.

    "Why are you shouting?" a lady, dressed in a luxurious black gown, stepped down the stairs slowly. "What happened?"

    Before the woman could even reach the bottom of the stairs, the young man, seemingly seventeen years old, rushed up and hugged her in excitement.

    "Mother, I passed my Practical Exams! I was so lucky to get a weak world like Earth for my practicals! It only took a few months! Hahaha!" he exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement.

 Chapter 2 Blood of Ashborn

    "I never thought the virus you acquired for me would be this strong. You should have seen it! They were dying like insects, with no one to even claim their bodies!"

    The boy placed his mother back on the stairs, appearing extremely proud.

    "Shhh!" the woman, who had been happy until now, suddenly turned serious. "Don''t ever mention this again! If anyone finds out that I helped you..."

    She didn''t finish her sentence, but the young boy understood her implication.

    The practicals assigned to the Destroyer Class were tasks they had to complete themselves, using the abilities they had received during their awakening.

    He was a Virus Master, but he wasn''t skilled enough to create a world-destroying virus. Even if he could create one, he couldn''t be certain it could overcome the immunity of the randomly selected world for his practical exam.

    He wasn''t like the Tower Creators or Dimensional Gate Makers who could destroy worlds using external help.

    He had to ensure he didn''t fail, and that''s why he asked his mother for help. If she hadn''t had a Virus Grandmaster secretly create a virus for him, he wouldn''t have been this fast, even if he succeeded.

    "Unfortunately, even though the virus was strong, it still took three months. I wasn''t the fastest to pass the exams. There are many in the Destroyer Class who completed their practicals in a much shorter time."

    "You don''t have to worry about them. You still passed. Your father will be so happy when he hears. You are not useless like a certain someone." The woman patted her son''s head.

    "You should go and rest. I will contact your father to deliver the good news." She rushed upstairs, leaving her son behind.

    "Heh." The young boy also walked upstairs, going to his own room and disappearing into the unknown.

    Hidden in the shadows, a boy of twelve stood frozen. The mocking laughter of these people was like a knife twisting in his gut. His fists were clenched so tightly his nails drew blood.

    This place was neither his heaven nor his hell. It was a real place that left him disgusted. This place belonged to the people that destroyed his world and his family, all for some so-called exam?

    Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. It hurt to know that the life of his family was nothing but a plaything for these people.

    From their words, it became clear that his world wasn''t the only world that suffered through the artificially created apocalypse.

    When the world was being ruined by the virus, he had repeatedly asked gods for help, wondering if it was nature''s way of punishing humanity for their sins. It turned out to be nothing more than a joke for the people that played gods.

    "Young Master Elias, what are you doing here? Wait. Are you... crying?"

    Elias, lost in emotions, hadn''t noticed anyone approaching. The voice startled him, pulling him from his daze. He looked up to see a man standing before him, his facial features hidden by the dim light.

    "Are you worried about your awakening ceremony tomorrow?" the man asked in a gentle voice.

    Elias furrowed his brow while his face seemed to be frozen in time. He didn''t recognize the man. If he was calling him "young master," did that mean he was a servant of the house? Didn''t that mean he was also a significant member of this disgusting family?

    "Is that blood?"

    Before Elias could even ask a question, the man noticed the blood staining his palm.

    "You... Did Lady Jane hurt you again?" The man sounded helpless. Clearly, this wasn''t the first time he''d witnessed such a sight.

    ''Lady Jane? Is he talking about that bastard''s mother?'' Elias frowned. Why would she hurt him? Unsure of what was happening, he simply nodded in response.

    "Sigh... Come with me." The man, covered in a dark cloak that barely revealed his eyes, picked Elias up into his arms and vanished into the darkness.

    Elias felt a rush of wind brushing against his skin. The man moved at an impossible speed that defied the laws of physics.

    When the man stopped, Elias found himself back in the room where he had first woken up.

    "I can never understand why she goes this far." He sat Elias on the bed and walked over to the wardrobe, picking up the first aid box that was always kept there.

    It was clear that the man wasn''t joking. Elias was hurt so often that he kept the first aid box in his wardrobe.

    The man walked back to Elias and started dressing the wound. "You are also a son of the Ashborn Family. Just because you are..."

    He abruptly closed his mouth, as if stopping himself from saying something that could never be taken back.

    For the next few moments, there was absolute silence. Even though it stung a little, Elias didn''t make a sound.

    "You should stay in your room and avoid Lady Jane. If you successfully awaken, I''m sure that she will stop targeting you." After finishing the treatment, the man walked back to the wardrobe and put the first aid box back.

    "You said I have an awakening ceremony tomorrow. Will I be as strong as you after going through it?"

    The man was about to leave the room when he heard the surprising question from Elias.

    Elias should have known the answer to that question already. Then why was he asking? Was it simply an excuse because he wanted to talk to someone?

    "You have the blood of the Ashborn Family. If you awaken, unless you are extremely unlucky, you will receive a class much stronger than me."

    "What are the classes?" Elias'' questions didn''t stop.

    At this point, the man was certain that Elias was using this as an excuse to talk. He just didn''t want to be left alone.

    He sighed and walked back, sitting on the bed next to Elias. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even if Elias wanted to hear from scratch, he was willing to do that. If it could make Elias happy, then it wasn''t a problem.

    "There are three main categories of classes. The first is Creator, which includes many subclasses like Mages. The strongest subclass under Creator Class is the World Creator."

    "The second class is the Destroyer. It includes classes that hold immense destructive power, mainly responsible for bringing ruin to worlds."

    "And the third class is a unique one, called Auxiliary. It includes professionals like Alchemist, Artificers, and other such classes."

    "As you are of the blood of Ashborn, you will definitely awaken the Destroyer Class. I''m sure you don''t have to worry about it. After all, there has never been a case of an Ashborn awakening anything other than the Destroyer Class."

 Chapter 3 Entry of a Wild Beast

    "Is the Ashborn family really that great?"

    Elias Ashborn might have been a descendant of the Ashborn Family, but he didn''t believe himself to be the same person.

    He couldn''t accept being a part of the family that took everything from him. He was not Elias Ashborn. He was just a person who had taken over this body.

    This family had nothing to do with him. If anything, they were a target for him. He needed to find out everything he could about them.

    He couldn''t afford to let a false relationship imprison him, making him forget the reason he was here.

    This place was not his heaven. This was not his afterlife. This place was only one thing for him. It was an opportunity. It was an opportunity to repay the favor of what they had done to his family.

    As the man heard Elias''s question , he couldn''t hide the surprise on his face. His eyes widened, as if he couldn''t believe the question came from a descendant of the Ashborn family.

    "To call the Ashborn family, great, would be an understatement," he said, not even keeping his voice down anymore.

    "The family may have grown somewhat weaker over the years, but they still hold immense influence. Their name alone carries incredible value, to the point that the Dimensional Academy doesn''t even dare test descendants for qualification."

    "You will understand the value this name holds, and the burden that comes with it, when you enter the Academy for the awakening ceremony."

    Following his explanation, there was a period of absolute silence. The man also realized that he might have gone a bit too far. No matter what, how could he raise his voice against a descendant of the Ashborn Family?

    "Apologies. I shouldn''t have raised my voice. I... I didn''t know what took over me. I will take my leave." He stood up, unable to hide the guilt he was feeling.

    Before Elias could say anything, the man stepped out of the room, disappearing in the shadows. The door closed on its own.

    "After everything that happened, what''s wrong with a little scolding? He didn''t have to run away," Elias mumbled, lying back on the bed.

    After talking to the servant, Elias realized that the people of this family treated the Ashborn Family like gods. Even after knowing what they were doing, no one had any objections to it.

    Even the servants of this family didn''t care about anything other than the interests of the family. No matter how good the servant was to him, he couldn''t trust that person.

    If he wanted to take the family down, he had to do it alone. And the first step towards his goal was a successful awakening. He needed a Destructive Class that could bring the world down to its knees.

    Although it was disgusting, he had the blood of the Ashborn Family. His chances of awakening such a class were much higher. He was even looking forward to the awakening ceremony tomorrow.

    ....

    For most of the night, Elias stayed in his room, unable to sleep. He was thinking about the awakening ceremony and the class that he might awaken.

    It was the most important thing for him. Only with a good class, he could bring the Gods of this world down to their knees.

    It was only when he heard the sounds of celebration coming from outside, he started paying attention to his surroundings.

    At first, he wasn''t interested. It was clear that a celebratory banquet was being thrown for the bastard of the family that destroyed his world.

    Eventually, curiosity got the best of him. He decided to check out the people of the family, especially the so-called father of the person he had possessed. He couldn''t stay hidden in his room forever.

    Elias stood up and walked over to the door. As he was only going to check out the banquet for a brief moment, he didn''t care about changing his clothes.

    He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it to open the door.

    "Hmm? It''s locked from outside?"

    Everything started making sense to him. He might be a son of the Ashborn Family, but it was evident that he wasn''t wanted.

    The Lord of the Ashborn Family didn''t care about him. As for the Lady of the Family, she was even worse.

    They didn''t even treat him like a son, as if worried that he might embarrass them. Let alone invite him to the banquet, they didn''t even allow him to step out of his room when special guests were here.

    "Since you want to keep me here, that makes me want to go out even more."

    Normally, he wouldn''t have been so impulsive. But he couldn''t accept the fact that these people were enjoying the death of everything he held dear.

    He went back to his bed and picked up the bedsheet, wrapping it around his body to give him some cushion. After preparing, he ran forward with all his might, hitting the door with his shoulder.

    There was a loud thud, but the sound was buried in the music that was being played outside. Meanwhile, the door only moved a little, but didn''t break.

    It was not a door that could be broken with the strength of a young boy, who was barely twelve years old. Elias should have stopped before he injured himself more.

    Albeit, he wasn''t prepared. He was like a wounded beast that wanted freedom. He ignored the pain and the risks. He stepped back, and once again ran with all his might.

    Again, and again, he kept slamming on the door with all his shoulder. Even after his shoulder dislocated, he didn''t stop. He was like a person that had been obsessed. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Initially, no one paid attention to the sound of the door being banged. But with each passing second, the sound became louder and louder until someone finally noticed it.

    A middle aged man signalled for the music to be stopped, certain that he heard some strange sound.

    After the music stopped, the sound became even more clear. Everyone was able to locate it. It was coming from a room that was barely noticeable.

    "Is that the room of..." Amidst the crowd, there was also a Head of the Ashborn Family. He was looking at the door, his eyes narrowing.

    "It is nothing. We just keep a pet beast there. It occasionally goes wild." The Lady of the House took the lead, convincing everyone that they didn''t need to pay attention to it.

    "Resume the music. Let''s get back to the celebration!" She told the musicians that were especially hired.

    "It is risky to keep a pet that keeps going wild. You should find an opportunity to put it down, or it might be dangerous," one of the guests to the Lady of the House.

    The lady smiled, agreeing with the other person. "You might be right. We will take care of it later."

    She raised her glass of wine, giving a toast to her son. She could see her husband still paying attention to the room, but she held his hand innocently, taking her back to her son.

    Everyone had almost stopped paying attention to the door, when they heard a sound even louder.

    The impossible had been achieved. The door had been broken by a child who was only twelve years old. What they saw, left then aghast.

    It was a young boy whose head was bleeding, which painted most of his face red. He truly looked less like a human and more like an injured beast.

    The boy had his body wrapped in a bedsheet that was also covered in his blood. The boy removed the bedsheet, only using his left hand as his right shoulder had clearly been dislocated.

 Chapter 4 Greetings, Father

    "It''s a boy?"

    Many guests were unable to hide their surprise as they subconsciously looked towards the Lady of the Ashborn Family.

    Hadn''t she said that it was some crazy beast inside that room? Why did it turn out to be a boy? Who was that boy?

    Some of the guests were more perceptive than the rest. They easily noticed the similarities in characteristics between the young boy and the Lord of the House.

    They had heard that the Ashborn Family also had another child who was twelve years old. Was this the child?

    They felt uncomfortable, as if they had seen something that they shouldn''t have seen. Even though they realized the identity of the boy, they kept their mouth shut, not wanting to say anything.

    The Lord of the House, still silent, gazed at the young boy. His expressions were unreadable, unlike his wife who was like an open book.

    The lady of the house was almost gnashing her teeth at the sight of Elias, the child that should have lived his life away from the limelight.

    She was even worried about his intentions. Just what was he planning? If he said anything unexpected, it might be too embarrassing for the Ashborn Family as there were many representatives of the other families here.

    The long period of silence was only broken when one ignorant man asked, "Lord Ashborn, who is this?"

    "This is my youngest son." Lord Ashborn said, without the slightest shift in his expressions.

    He couldn''t lie about it, especially since Elias was already going to attend the awakening ceremony tomorrow.

    Though many knew about Elias'' existence, the child born from the woman Lord Ashborn had loved most, they didn''t know the complicated truth. This was also the child Lord Ashborn resented most.

    Initially, Elias didn''t even know what his so-called father in this life looked like. Fortunately, he made his identity clear by answering the question.

    "Greetings, father." Even if he looked battered and broken, Elias gave a greeting to the man.

    Elias didn''t expect a response from the man that barely acknowledged him. After all, he truly didn''t consider him family in the first place. For him, this was all but an illusion that he had to break someday.

    He walked past the guests, drops of his blood falling on the ground, creating a trail.

    "Elias, what are you doing outside? Weren''t you feeling sick?" The Lady of the House took the lead, trying to gain control of the situation.

    Elias simply ignored her, not even acknowledging her presence. He walked past the entire group, reaching the table where the food and snacks for the guests were prepared.

    He picked up a plate that was filled with something to eat, using his only hand that was still functioning.

    He carried the plate, and returned to his room, not uttering a single more sentence. At the doorway, he paused, casting a chilling glance back at the guests.

    "Enjoy your celebration," he said, his voice laced with a bitter irony. "It''s not often my dear brother successfully destroys a world."

    "That brat!"

    The boy, barely seventeen years old, clenched his fist as he glared at Elias'' back. This was supposed to be his day. It was a day to celebrate his achievements, but that brat had taken the limelight from him. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Many guests were looking at Lord Ashborn, thinking that he was at least going to send people to help Elias heal.

    Unfortunately, the reality was even more chilling. Lord Ashborn simply turned his back to Elias'' room, telling the servants to change all the snacks on the table.

    He pretended as if nothing had happened, as the celebration came back on track. The only thing that was different was that Lord Ashborn could occasionally be seen frowning.

    ....

    Elias closed the door after returning to his room. He could hear the sound of celebrations returning to the hallway, but he didn''t care.

    He placed the plate on the bed and walked closer to the wall with his dislocated shoulder. Although he hadn''t personally done it in the past, he had seen many people correct their dislocated shoulders with force.

    He tried to imitate the same thing, not expecting any help to be sent for him. But this was not a movie. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn''t do it. If anything, it hurt even more.

    As he was about to give up, he heard a cracking noise on his last try. His shoulder was finally at the right place. It worked.

    Next, he walked to his wardrobe and brought the first aid box. Looking in the mirror, he started clearing his wounds.

    The pain was almost killing him, but not as much as the hunger. After giving himself first aid, he walked back to the bed and started eating.

    As the food was prepared for important guests, it was truly delicious. It was definitely a thousand times better than anything he had eaten on earth during the end times.

    "If she was here, she would have loved these sweets."

    He didn''t know exactly when it happened, but his eyes started getting wet. The sweets didn''t feel so sweet anymore, but it was enough to save him from hunger.

    He only finished half the plate and put it aside, falling on the bed in weakness. He fell asleep out of exhaustion.

    ....

    "Young Master, it''s time to leave! You are going to be late for the awakening ceremony!''

    Elias woke with a dull throbbing in his shoulder. He hadn''t slept this deeply in what felt like a lifetime. The repeated knocking and the servant''s anxious voice dragged him back to reality.

    "The awakening ceremony. Right."

    He glanced at the half-eaten plate next to the bed.

    "I''ll be there in a moment," he called out, immediately getting up from the bed.

    He didn''t know exactly what kind of place he was going to, but he had to change his clothes. He couldn''t go there with bloody clothes.

    The Ashborn Family wasn''t going to stop him from the Awakening as a descendant being scared of the awakening meant he wasn''t confident in the bloodline.

    To save the dignity of the bloodline, they had to let Elias take the awakening. Especially since many people had known about his existence already.

 Chapter 5 Between the Dimensions

    He splashed some water on his face, the coldness making him wide awake.

    He stared at his reflection, noticing a young pale face, his forehead covered by messy grey hair. His eyes were filled with a weariness that no twelve-year-old should have possessed.

    He pulled out the only attire in his wardrobe that looked like it hadn''t been touched even once, unlike his other clothes that were clearly not kept well.

    It was evident that this attire was prepared for the awakening ceremony. No matter how he was treated at home, he represented the Ashborn Family when he was taking part in the awakening ceremony.

    He wore the new clothes and left the room, finding the servant waiting nervously outside.

    "This way, Young Master," the servant gestured, leading him through the corridors of the Ashborn manor.

    Elias followed the servant, realizing this was the first time he would truly see this world. He would finally witness the civilization that could manipulate the fate of other worlds.

    If he had to bring this civilization to its knees, he had to play by its rules. And the awakening was the most important step in that direction.

    He was led out of the mansion, only then grasping the reality of the world he had landed in.

    Right outside the mansion stood a grand spaceship, more magnificent than anything he had ever imagined.

    Its sleek, silver body was shining brightly under the sun. There was a symbol of the Ashborn Family on the body of the spaceship which was slowly moving from one place to another, as if it was truly alive.

    The ship was at least two thousand meters long, and so wide that even if a thousand people stood shoulder to shoulder, they still couldn''t cover its width.

    Elias couldn''t even take in the entire ship in one glance, and standing behind him was the mansion, which was even bigger than the ship.

    As he had been limited to just one room, he hadn''t realized how grand the Ashborn Family Mansion truly was.

    He was led towards the ship that was going to escort him. When they reached the entrance of the ship, Elias saw a person stepping out, as if he had been waiting to welcome him. It was his ''brother''.

    "Well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence," he said, not even trying to hide the sneer. "Don''t embarrass yourself too much there, half-breed."

    Elias smiled, his own expression being unreadable.

    "I wouldn''t dream of it," he replied. "I will make sure that I won''t disappoint you, in this life."

    He sidestepped his brother and continued on his way, leaving the golden boy frowning. For some reason, he felt as if something was wrong with the way Elias spoke, especially his last sentence.

    Elias was brought to a room that was definitely more grand than the place he had been staying previously. There was even a large window from where the outside space could be seen.

    Elias watched the ship rise in the air, with the Ashborn Mansion becoming a distant sight.

    The ship sliced through space. Even if the stars zoomed past the ship, he could barely feel the ship moving. It was just too stable. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "This is their civilization..." Elias mumbled, looking at the scenes that one could only see in their dreams.

    The black holes were said to be a scary existence that could destroy everything that they swallowed. But the ship entered a black hole, everything in the surroundings turning completely dark.

    For the first time, the ship felt a little unstable, with occasional trembling like earthquakes. Elias even felt like some solid object had slammed against his window, but it wasn''t strong enough to break through.

    For a long time, the situation remained the same. It only became better when the ship stepped out of the darkness through another back hole, reaching the destination.

    The darkness was lifted and Elias was able to see outside the window again. And what he saw left him even more mesmerized.

    The sky was bright blue, similar to earth. But more shocking was that there were hundreds of ships that were just as grand as this ship, each carrying a different family''s symbol.

    This was the world that he had heard the servant mention. It was their destination, the world between the dimensions.

    It was the world where the greatest and most magical of the academies was established by great families of various dimensions, the Ashborn Family being a part of it.

    It was said that even the weakest students of this world were strong enough to kill millions of people of lower worlds.

    This was the world of Dimensional Academy, and also the place where his awakening ceremony was going to take place.

    After reaching the world, it didn''t take long for the Ashborn Family''s Ship to land in an airstrip that was so large that it could be called a world in itself.

    Elias was escorted out of the spaceship by a servant of the Ashborn Family. Along the way, he also saw his brother Dreke.

    The two of them stepped out of the ship, one after another. From the other ships that had landed in the airstrip, even more youngsters stepped out with their own entourage.

    Dreke landed on the airstrip and looked back at Elias. He wanted to say something, but in the end he rolled his eyes and tore a talisman that he was carrying.

    "Have the worst of luck, half breed." His voice was left behind before he disappeared.

    Elias didn''t pay attention to the mockery of Dreke. He was more interested in his surroundings, especially the others that were stepping out of the ship.

    They were all the same as Dreke, responsible for so much destruction around the world. However, as long as their own world wasn''t affected, it didn''t matter to them.

    They were simply playing with insects whose lives didn''t matter for them after all.

    "Elias Ashborn!" Elias was brought out of his daze, hearing a voice.

    "Yes?" he responded, but the other person didn''t say anything else.

    Before Elias could react, the other person simply grabbed his hand and disappeared with him.

 Chapter 6 The Crazy Ashborn Descendants

    An unknown force seized control of Elias''s body, freezing him in place. His surroundings turned into a blinding white void as a strange force pulled him.

    The strange sensation stopped just as abruptly, and Elias found himself in an entirely different place. The airstrip had vanished, replaced by an unfamiliar landscape.

    "Teleportation?" He frowned as he looked around him, noticing that the person who had brought him here was nowhere to be seen.

    He was surrounded by a vast, circular hall that seemed to stretch into infinity. There were huge pillars spread across the hall that were so tall that he couldn''t even see their end.

    He didn''t understand why these pillars were even here, since there was no ceiling. It was as if they were supporting heaven itself.

    High above, he saw a blood red sky, where black thunder flashed occasionally. It was a scene that felt like it came straight from some nightmare, but he wasn''t alone here.

    There were more youngsters in the fall, with the youngest being twelve years old, and the oldest being the same age as his bastard brother.

    Unlike him, the other youngsters were perfectly calm, even as they were suddenly teleported to this place.

    "Is this the place of awakening?" Elias thought. He had a lot of questions, but he couldn''t see any adult in the place to answer him.

    He selected the person closest to him, and tried to approach him to ask more about the ceremony. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Roarr~

    Suddenly, there was a loud roar that came from heaven. Through the clouds, a giant creature flew out, revealing its body that was even longer than the airship.

    Calling that creature a monster was only an understatement. Elias was frightened, subconsciously taking a step back, stumbling over his feet, falling to his butt.

    Many youngsters saw Elias fall on his back. Sneers curled their lips as they looked down on the idiot who was so easily scared. A few could even be seen laughing, but most ignored him, their attention fixed on the pillars instead.

    Only one boy, slightly older than Elias, approached him.

    "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, offering a hand to help Elias up.

    "Thank you," Elias mumbled, reaching out. But just as their fingers were about to touch, the boy stepped back, frightened.

    His eyes widened in horror, fixed on Elias''s chest where the insignia of the Ashborn family gleamed.

    "Ashborn Family?" he gasped, his voice ringing out across the hall, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

    "A child of Ashborn?" The people who had been snickering, turned extremely serious. The name of the Ashborn Family carried heavy weight, especially since their bloodline was considered a peak destructive bloodline.

    The Family Head of the Ashborn Family was considered one of the few Overlords of the Era that even the Royal Family had to respect.

    The Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family had also made a name for himself in the Thousand Slaughter Battlefield, receiving many awards.

    The fourth child of the Ashborn Family was the weakest when it came to talent, but even he was a Virus Master that had passed his practical in just three months.

    They had heard that the fifth child of the Ashborn Family was going to attend the Academy, but they didn''t expect to find him so soon.

    Even the people who were focused on the pillars were forced to take a second glance at the boy that everyone was laughing at.

    Elias shook his head lightly, forcing himself up, not expecting any more help. He finally understood what his servant meant, when talking about the influence of the Ashborn Family.

    Although they hid it very well, he could see fear in the eyes of most of the youngsters. There were only a rare few that were looking at him with great interest.

    "I-i am sorry." The young boy, who had tried to help Elias, lowered his head.

    He didn''t expect to get involved with an Ashborn. Even worse was that he was so shocked that he couldn''t control his actions and stepped back. He wasn''t sure if he had offended an Ashborn.

    He still hadn''t forgotten the stories about the Ashborn Family after all. The most well known was the story about the Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family, who had killed everyone in the Destroyer Class.

    No one even knew the reasons behind his actions. Many families went to ask the Ashborn Family to take responsibility, but the incident was buried without any consequences.

    The Second Son of the Ashborn Family was just as crazy, if not more. He had killed a Professor of the Creator Class, to show off.

    As if continuing the family tradition, the Third Son of the Ashborn Family had gone one step beyond. Instead of killing the people at the academy, he had killed the entire family of the academy student that had offended him.

    After all that, he took that student as his personal servant. After graduation, no one knew the fate of that servant.

    The only person who could be called slightly normal was the fourth Ashborn child. Although he bullied those who were weaker than him, he hadn''t done anything too crazy.

    Finally, one more Ashborn had arrived in the Dimensional Academy.

    Was he going to be like his fourth brother, who was strong for the weak and weak for the strongest? Or was he going to be like his first three brothers, an absolute overwhelming psychopath? That was the question in everyone''s mind.

    Although his initial impression was that of a coward, none could be certain about the reality. Was that cowardice a false facade? Was the boy playing a pig to eat the tiger? That seemed more likely.

    Why else would an Ashborn be scared of the Beast of the Academy, when the Ashborn Family had even worse chaotic beasts.

    ''An Ashborn in our batch, huh. This is going to be fun." A young boy smiled, looking at Elias. Even though he was thousands of feet away from Elias, he could still see him clearly.

    "The youngest Ashborn. Should I kill him right here?" A girl in another direction frowned.

 Chapter 7 Climbing the Heaven

    Many unwanted gazes were focused on Elias, who had finally calmed down. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that this wasn''t a friendly place.

    He could see fear in the eyes of most of the youngsters, but beneath that fear, hostility was lurking. They were eager to strike him down, to see him fall.

    For now, fear kept their hostility in check. But the moment that fear was overwhelmed, that hostility was going to consume him, just as it had consumed his world.

    He had forgotten what kind of place this was. He was alone, both at home and outside. The only things keeping him going were his memories and a burning desire for revenge.

    Even if he had to walk over the corpses of these people, he wasn''t going to let them turn him into a stepping stone. He was not going to be used again.

    As he made up his mind, he hid his real self behind a false facade. It was as if he had worn a mask of false emotions, not letting anyone see what was truly inside.

    His gaze turned cold, and he looked at the sky. The huge beast in the sky, that had the body of a centipede had long since disappeared inside the clouds, with the lightning only intensifying.

    Amidst the lightning, he saw something else appear high in the sky. This time, it wasn''t the figure of a beast, or even a human.

    It was an eye... A giant eye in the middle of the sky. Looking at it, he couldn''t tell if it was a human eye or a beast.

    The eye had dual pupils, one being pitch black and the other being pure white. Each pupil was looking in a different direction.

    "The Awakening Ceremony begins." A voice appeared in everyone''s head.

    Many of the youngsters fainted from the voice alone, their minds overwhelmed. The hooded figures appeared again and teleported away with those who had lost consciousness.

    The awakening ceremony had already ended for those who couldn''t even remain conscious after hearing the voice.

    Even Elias barely managed to keep his sanity when faced with the voice that sounded like the screeching of a banshee. It was a thousand times worse than someone scratching a rough board with their nails.

    "Approach the pillar closest to you," the voice appeared again, being even worse this time.

    Many tried to close their ears with their hands to protect themselves from the voice, but it was just as useless. The voice was appearing directly in their heads.

    Even more people passed out, and just as before, they were dragged away from this place.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the youngsters followed the voice and approached the heavenly pillars closest to them.

    Elias also did the same, even though he was a bit disoriented because of the voice.

    Many people were trying to approach the same pillar, but when they saw that Elias was approaching them they stopped midway and selected other pillars.

    It was the same with other descendants of the high ranking families. Until the awakening ceremony was over, no one wanted to offend the big families, especially the Ashborn.

    There were many pillars that were surrounded by more than ten youngsters. Fortunately, the pillars were wide enough that even if hundreds of them surrounded it, they couldn''t cover a pillar.

    There were only twenty or so pillars that were monopolized by individuals, with Elias being one.

    Only when Elias was looking at the pillar from close, he could see that the pillar didn''t have an even surface. There were some parts of the pillar that were sticking out, barely enough for a grip.

    Elias suddenly had a really bad feeling about this. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In the stories, the awakening ceremony was simply placing their hands on a stone. Did they simply have to place their hands on the pillar? But then why was there this uneven surface like a path was being created to the top?

    He really hoped that it was just a coincidence. He really hoped that the awakening ceremony wasn''t what he was thinking. It wouldn''t make sense!

    "Start Climbing. The higher you can climb, the closer you shall be to the awakening!"

    As if a fear coming true, the voice asked them to do exactly as he was worried about. This awakening ceremony had turned into a nightmare.

    It would''ve been better if he had a stronger physique, but the boy he possessed was mostly starved, having barely any muscles. At this rate, could he even climb this pillar whose top couldn''t even be seen?

    Was he going to fail this Awakening Ceremony? Was this the reason he was barely fed anything at home? Because the Lady of the House knew what was going to happen in the Awakening Ceremony?

    None of these questions mattered anymore. Even if he had to break his body, he had to climb the pillar. He had to receive a destructive class at any cost! He couldn''t afford any less!

    The other big family descendants had already started climbing. Some of them had even climbed a few meters within the first few seconds, as if they were in a race against time.

    Elias also reached out his hand, finding grip in the shallow crevices of the pillar. The pillar was extremely cold, almost freezing. Still, for Elias, it was nowhere close to the cold that he had felt when holding the lifeless bodies of his family members.

    He pulled himself up, his muscles almost screaming in protest. Years of neglect had weakened this body, and every movement took a lot of effort.

    Above him, the pillar stretched endlessly into the storm clouds where the giant centipede had disappeared.

    How high did they have to climb? What awaited them at the top? And what would happen to those who fell? He had no answers.

    The only answer he knew was that he had to climb, even if his body fell apart. Everything he wanted, waited at the top of the pillar.

    For the other youngsters, atop the pillar was their class that could help them rise in society. But for Elias, on the top of the pillar, was something that would help him destroy this society itself.

    He gritted his teeth, ignoring the burning in his arms and the tremor in his legs.

 Chapter 8 He has failed

    Elias started climbing the pillar of heaven, not knowing exactly how it would help a person awaken their class. Was there something at the top? Or was there some secret in the process itself?

    He didn''t even have enough strength to pay attention to the other youngsters as he was barely hanging on. Even the slightest mistake could send him plummeting to the ground.

    Unlike him, the others were doing much better. Even the weakest of them had climbed higher than Elias, who was giving his all to climb each inch.

    In a different space, many people stood surrounded by a myriad of mirrors. But none of the mirrors showed their reflections.

    Instead, the mirrors showed the youngsters participating in the awakening ceremony, with the descendants of powerful families as the focus of attention.

    "Is that your youngest?" a woman, shrouded in darkness, asked. "I must say, he seems quite lackluster."

    Her gaze was entirely focused on Elias, who looked like he could fall any second. His arms were already trembling, with his fingers almost on the verge of breaking.

    Next to the woman, stood a middle-aged man. Even when he heard the question, the man didn''t respond.

    "He hasn''t even climbed five meters yet. That looks like the worst performance I have seen throughout the years," another man said, not hiding his smile. "It looks like the Ashborn Family has finally run out of their luck."

    "Look at my son, he is already in the lead. He will definitely awaken successfully, getting the greatest class ever." he further said, not hiding his smirk either.

    Almost everyone in this place was the Leader of the Founding Families of the Dimensional Academy.

    It was a tradition for them to arrive and watch the performance of their descendants during the awakening ceremony. However, this was the first time that the Ashborn Family Leader had arrived.

    Many thought that it was because he was expecting a lot of things from his youngest son. Was that young boy really that great?

    With the appearance of the Ashborn Family Head, many had started to overestimate Elias Ashborn. But now, that overestimation had resulted in nothing more than mockery.

    "If he fails, then it simply means that he was useless from the beginning," Ashborn Family Lord opened his lips after a long time, uttering only a single sentence that left everyone stunned.

    They had heard the rumours that the Ashborn Family Lord didn''t like his youngest son, but they thought that these were just false rumours.

    After hearing his words, they couldn''t help but wonder if there was some reality to those words. Did the man not come here to cheer for his son, but to simply watch him fail?

    The Ashborn Family Lord didn''t look even the slightest bit disappointed at his son''s performance. If anything, he seemed like that was exactly what he wanted in the first place.

    That left many people wondering. If he already knew that his son was going to fail, then why did he even let him participate in the awakening?

    ....

    Back at the Awakening Ceremony, the first person had already climbed halfway up the pillar before becoming exhausted and barely holding on.

    The boy took one hand off and brought out a small gem from his pocket. He placed the gem in his mouth, which immediately helped him recover his stamina.

    There were no rules against using external objects in the Awakening Ceremony. Throughout the centuries, these objects had been used for the successful completion of the ceremony.

    Just like the young boy, others also placed the gems in their mouths when they could no longer resist the exhaustion. Unlike them, Elias was holding on by himself. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Three hours passed before the first person climbed to the top of the pillar.

    A few minutes later, another person reached the top. Within the next hour, all the descendants of the Major Families had reached the top of their pillars.

    Meanwhile, many from the weaker families had failed to reach the top. They didn''t have treasures to help them, and eventually fell from the pillar.

    As they were falling, the hooded figures appeared again. They grabbed those who had failed and disappeared with them.

    After seven hours, there was not a single person who was still climbing the pillar except Elias. All of them had either reached the top, or fell to the ground.

    Elias, on the other hand, wasn''t even halfway up the pillar. He was still climbing on, even after his arms had almost grown numb.

    He could only give himself a little relief by giving rest to each of his arms occasionally. Even if it was looking impossible to reach the top, he still kept climbing at his slow pace.

    After two more hours passed, Elias had finally barely finished climbing one percent of the pillar.

    He was drenched in sweat and his body was literally begging him to give up. He was starting to feel as if he might really die if he didn''t give up, but something inside him didn''t let him give up.

    He was obsessed, just like he was on the day, running alone with his sister''s body. Even then, his heartbeat was reaching a dangerous level, but he didn''t stop.

    "If death it is, then death I shall accept," he mumbled, reaching out his right hand to hold on to something higher.

    ....

    "Is he still climbing?"

    "Why doesn''t he give up? Does he really think he can reach the top?"

    "At this rate, the ceremony won''t end until he either reaches the top or falls down. How long are we going to wait here?"

    "Do you still think he can succeed? It''s only a matter of time before he fails. There''s no suspense in it anymore. I''m leaving."

    Initially, many observers were curious to watch an Ashborn fail. Now, even after close to fifteen hours had passed, the boy was still climbing like a snail.

    They had already grown bored and started leaving. To them, it was clear as day that Elias was simply wasting his time.

    As for watching him fail, they could always ask for a recording of the ceremony later. They didn''t have to be there personally.

    The mirror room, which had been filled with the Leaders of the Major Families, was now almost empty. There was only one person left behind, watching Elias climb.

    It was the Leader of the Ashborn Family.

    "Isn''t that enough? Just end the ceremony." He raised his head, as if talking to someone that couldn''t be seen. "He has failed."

 Chapter 9 Gods are pathetic...

    "Interference isn''t allowed," an unknown voice echoed in the room of mirrors.

    "But if it is you, then it is possible. There''s no point in keeping up this farce. Just fail him," the Ashborn Family Lord said, without the slightest change in his expression.

    For a long time, there was only silence.

    "Just this once..." The silence was broken only by a long sigh. Following that, another long period of silence fell over the room of mirrors.

    At the same time, another change occurred at the Awakening Ceremony. As if controlled by an unknown force, the giant centipede emerged from the clouds, flying down.

    It was flying straight towards the pillar that Elias was climbing. Not only did the beast come flying with its giant body, but it also let out a powerful roar that sent a heavy gust of wind straight towards Elias. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias was climbing the pillar like a lifeless being in a daze. He came to his senses as he heard the roar, his body reacting instinctively.

    He almost fell off the pillar, his grip weakening. Fortunately, he somehow managed to hold on even as his robe fluttered strongly with the wing like a flag.

    That was just the beginning. The beast didn''t stop and came straight down, its massive body flying past Elias, who was horrified but still didn''t react as he had before.

    The centipede flew past him, leading him to believe that it wasn''t going to hurt him. They wouldn''t allow interference in the Awakening Ceremony, after all.

    However, he soon realized that he was wrong. Even as the centipede flew past him, its tail was different. Just as the tail was about to move past him, it struck him, sending him flying off the pillar.

    Elias was sent flying through the air, with nothing to hold onto. From this height, there was no surviving the fall.

    He was so focused on climbing the pillar that he hadn''t seen what happened to the others who fell. He didn''t see them being teleported to safety. He simply thought they had all fallen to their deaths, just like he was going to.

    He was going to fall. He was going to die. This was it. He knew that he should have been scared, but he was strangely calm. He had been living on borrowed time anyway, hadn''t he?

    Maybe this was for the best. If he couldn''t awaken a class, how could he have his revenge? He could only live as a weakling in this world, unable to do anything but watch his enemies enjoy their lives in luxury.

    It was better to die than to live through that disgusting reality. He looked down and saw the ground rushing up to meet him, but instead of terror, he felt... calmness.

    The centipede, satisfied with its handiwork, returned to the clouds, disappearing into the unknown.

    The hooded figures below looked up, their faces hidden in shadow. None of them understood why the Academy Dean''s pet had suddenly gone crazy, making a participant fail.

    In any case, it wasn''t something they had to worry about. They simply had to do the jobs they were assigned, which was to make sure no participants died during the awakening ceremony.

    One of them left to catch Elias, his failure marking the end of the ceremony.

    Elias closed his eyes, accepting the fate he had been granted. However, even as he closed his eyes, the scenes that flashed through his mind weren''t of the life he had lived in this world.

    He saw his real family, sitting around a dining table. His father was telling them about his promotion, and his sister was asking him to take them on vacation to celebrate.

    As his father was about to agree, he suddenly started coughing. Everyone thought it was just a normal cough, but it never stopped.

    At that moment, he didn''t realize that his life was never going to be the same again. What about his next life? Was he going to be born in another similar world that was going to be toyed with like this?

    "Gods are pathetic..." he mumbled under his breath, slowly opening his lifeless eyes.

    He wasn''t sure if the people from the Academy were watching him. Still, even in his death, he at least wanted to let out all his frustration, cursing them with all his might. For once, he wanted to act childish and stop holding back as there was nothing else he could do.

    He took a deep breath, gathering every bit of strength possible.

    "You-" he started roaring like an injured beast.

    He had only uttered a single word when he saw the hooded figure teleport before him.

    The hooded figure reached out his hand to grab Elias, who was so surprised that he forgot what he was about to say. Was he going to be saved? But was there even a point in surviving if he failed awakening?

    He didn''t know anymore. He simply saw the hooded figure reach out to him. Unfortunately, before he could even touch Elias, a lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking him.

    The hooded figure lost all mobility, falling to the ground lifelessly. He wasn''t the only one who fell.

    In a secret realm of the Dimensional Academy, the Dean was sitting with a glass filled with the legendary dew of the life plant. She was about to drink it when she suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood, her face growing extremely pale.

    Her eyes widened in horror, feeling her connection with her pet centipede being forcefully removed. There were only two ways to remove the connection, the fastest being to kill the contracted beast.

    Everything happened so fast, that she was certain that someone had killed her pet beast. And with her contracted beast''s death, she had also been injured.

    "Who dares to kill my pet?!" She stood up, the corner of her lips still stained with blood.

    She summoned a mirror and looked at the Awakening Ceremonial Ground where her beast was supposed to be staying.

    She saw the giant centipede, falling from the sky. It didn''t have even the slightest of life force. It was completely dead.

    It was clear that her beast had been killed, but she couldn''t see any culprit who was capable enough of achieving that. Was the person who did it, still hiding? She wondered.

    "Do you think you can hide from me?!" A third eye opened in the middle of her forehead. "Let''s see how long you can hide!"

 Chapter 10 Deans Fear

    A third eye opened in the middle of her forehead, filled with an unknown power that could see through the mysteries of heaven and hell.

    The Dean gazed into the mysteries of the awakening ceremony to find out who had killed her favorite pet. She thought she was going to find the cause behind her pet''s death, but something wasn''t right.

    All she was able to see was a dark mist that clouded her vision. An unknown force was preventing her from seeing through the origin.

    "If you think you can stop me, then think again!" Her third eye started shining a blood-red shade, tears of blood trickling down.

    She forced her way through the wall of dark mist, finally able to see the other side. And what she saw left her horrified.

    She saw a horrifying scene, as if she had been caught in some illusion. But that illusion felt so real that it was hard to differentiate between illusion and reality.

    She saw a scene where half the Dimensional Academy was in ruins. Monsters roamed all over the academy, killing whatever came in their sight. There were even monsters that she had never seen before in her life, despite traveling across a myriad of dimensions.

    She also found a body lying on the ground, with a big hole in the chest. The body belonged to move other than herself. She wasn''t breathing anymore, and even her soul was extinguished.

    Next to her corpse was a person who looked like the culprit. The person''s back was facing her, so she couldn''t see their face.

    All she could see was that their right arm was a cybernetic arm that looked like it was made from mythril or some other godly material.

    Many drones floated around the person, as if they were the sun and the drones were planets encircling them.

    Suddenly, one of the drones sensed her presence, flying straight toward her. A laser was fired straight at her, so fast that she didn''t even think she could dodge it.

    As soon as the laser struck her, the Dean woke up, clutching her chest, finding herself unable to breathe. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Just what had she witnessed? She didn''t understand. What was that scene? Why did she see it when she was trying to see the cause behind her pet''s death?

    Her entire body was covered in sweat as she gasped for breath, almost falling to her knees. Initially, only her third eye was bleeding, but now blood trickled out of her other eyes, as well as her nose.

    ....

    Meanwhile, Elias was still falling to his death. He braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, he felt a strange sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating on air.

    He opened his eyes to find himself suspended in mid-air, as if the gravity of this place had disappeared entirely.

    Unlike him, the lifeless hooded figure didn''t stop falling. He fell to the ground, his skull cracking with blood splattering everywhere.

    After he came to a sudden halt, Elias thought that he was going to land on the ground slowly. On the contrary, his body started rising higher and higher.

    He also flew closer to the pillar that he had been climbing. He wasn''t allowed to hold the pillar anymore, but his body was still flying towards the top of it.

    It had taken him so much effort to climb the pillar previously, but this time, he didn''t even have to move a single finger as his body rose up, controlled by an unknown force.

    Was it the pillar that was helping because he was illegally removed from the awakening ceremony? He wasn''t sure. His mind was simply overwhelmed to think straight.

    He was flying so fast that the wind made him close his eyes. It was only when his body came to a slow halt that he opened his eyes and found himself above the clouds, with the top of the pillar present before him.

    The force gently pushed him forward, making him land on the pillar. Only then, did that unknown force disappear.

    Elias stumbled on the pillar, barely regaining his balance to prevent falling face-first onto the floor. He was still on the edge of the pillar, but there was nothing that could be seen from there.

    He couldn''t see what was down, or how high he had actually arrived. It was akin to a separate realm that was created on the top of the pillars, that was separated by the clouds.

    His heart was still racing, but he didn''t have time to spend calming his chaotic heart. Instead, he observed his surroundings.

    In the center of the pillar, he saw a small stone table. On the table, there was a small transparent crystal sphere.

    "Finally, there''s that crystal." He approached the stone table and placed his hand on the crystal sphere.

    The moment his fingers touched the crystal sphere, the crystal that previously looked cheap and insignificant, started shining.

    Under the effect of the sphere, Elias started feeling sleepy. He tried to resist the urge, but he couldn''t do it. Only removing his hand from the sphere looked like a solution, but that could very well mean failing his awakening, so he didn''t do it.

    Instead, he tried to use pain to stay awake. He pinched his cheeks as hard as he could, even slapping himself but nothing helped. Within seconds, his eyes closed on their own and he fell on the table, his hand staying unmoving on the crystal sphere.

    ....

    After what felt like an eternity, Elias opened his eyes. However, he couldn''t see the table or even the crystal sphere anymore.

    He wasn''t on top of the pillars, and there were no clouds beneath him. Instead, he was back on earth, lying on the bloody ground, surrounded by bodies that had been completely devoured by an unknown virus.

    There was a knife stabbed in his chest, but he couldn''t feel any pain anymore, as if his body had grown numb.

    "Was it all a dream?" He couldn''t be certain anymore. Was he simply dreaming about another world on the verge of death? Had he never left Earth?

    He tilted his head to the other side and saw a familiar body that belonged to his sister. She was not breathing anymore, her skin as pale as snow.

    "So it was a dream indeed..." He didn''t know how to react. Should he be relieved? Or should he grieve? His mind was in shambles.

    "Oh, one of them is still alive?" A voice came from the distance. A series of footsteps was heard, drawing closer.

    Elias opened his eyes and looked at the source of the footsteps, seeing a man that he had seen before. His pupils started trembling in disbelief at the sight of the person.

    It was the brother he had seen in his dream. He was accompanied by people who had Ashborn Family Insignia around their chests.

 Chapter 11 Target

    Why was an element of his otherworldly dream appearing in reality? Or was this a dream instead? Was he still in the awakening ceremony? The more Elias thought about it, the more confused he became.

    He even felt like he was starting to hallucinate as a semi-transparent screen materialized before him.

    ...

    Awakening Mission: Kill the person who left the deepest trauma in your heart.

    Mission Grade: Depends on the method of completion.

    Mission Reward: A suitable awakening class, based on the method of completion and soul compatibility.

    ...

    It took him a moment to focus on the screen that was seemingly issuing him an awakening mission.

    He was reminded that he was taking part in the Awakening Ceremony, which had finally begun when he touched the crystal on top of the pillar.

    Ever since he learned that his so-called brother was behind the destruction of Earth, he had been planning to kill him. He always thought his class would help him kill that bastard.

    He never thought that he would need to kill him to even get a class in the first place. Moreover, this wasn''t even reality. Even if he killed that bastard here, it wouldn''t affect anything in the real world.

    Unfortunately, his situation wasn''t good for completing this mission. The mission just had to be in a situation where he was on the verge of death with a knife stabbed in his chest.

    He couldn''t even move a single finger, let alone be able to kill that bastard.

    If he could move, he would have taken the knife from his chest and attacked the young man. But even then, he didn''t think it was possible.

    There were many people around the young man, belonging to the Ashborn Family. If he were to attack, they would definitely stop him.

    He had already seen how strong even the servants of the Ashborn Family were, let alone the guards that came here to protect a descendant.

    Even if he somehow managed to get past them, Dreke Ashborn was just as dangerous. He was strong. No, calling him strong was an understatement.

    Elias wondered if this awakening mission was mocking his helplessness? At least that''s what it felt like.

    "Why is he still alive? Why didn''t the virus take his life?" Dreke Ashborn asked out loud, finding it hard to believe that there was a person who could survive the virus created by a Virus Grandmaster.

    "Is he immune to the virus?" A guard suggested. "Young Master, maybe you should try a different virus."

    "Is there even a need to try a different virus? Why not just kill him directly?" Another guard chimed in, trying to catch the attention of the young master.

    "He is a part of this world. That means he is a part of this test. I need to have him be killed through indirect means, using my abilities. That''s the whole purpose of the practical."

    He had to destroy this world using a virus to pass the test, so he brought a virus created by a grandmaster. But the young man was somehow immune to it.

    If he killed that man directly, it was a failure for him. He couldn''t afford failure. He had to kill the boy, using his abilities.

    "Shift him to the temporary lab. I will create a new virus that will definitely kill him." Dreke told his men to drag Elias back and to make sure that he didn''t die. "I will not let an insignificant insect make me fail!"

    Elias, unable to lift even a finger, was at their mercy. He was dragged away by the guards of the Ashborn Family.

    A spatial cube was used by Dreke to create a lab in this world, which carried all the toxins that he had managed to gather throughout the years. Some of them were so toxic that even giant beasts could be killed with a single dose.

    Still, he didn''t use those toxins directly. He had Elias tied to a patient table before drawing the knife out of his chest.

    The excessive bleeding was also stopped, thanks to the initial treatment which was just enough to keep him alive, albeit suffering from pain.

    From that moment onwards, began another nightmare for Elias. Every day, Dreke created a new virus that was injected into Elias'' body. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even if the virus wasn''t as strong as the virus that had ravaged the earth, they were still the best that Dreke could create.

    Throughout the day, viruses spread through Elias'' body, taking control of all his bodily functions. He could only scream in pain as the virus destroyed his body from the inside.

    Still, to Dreke''s surprise, Elias survived every day. It made Dreke feel as if he had found a good research subject to create the greatest virus, one that was even stronger than the virus of the Grandmaster that he used on Earth.

    Every day, he tested the virus, improving it even further. He was also extremely cautious to make sure that he wasn''t infected in the process of creation. Even if he had some immunity to viruses, thanks to his class. But it wasn''t absolute.

    On the tenth day, the sun had started setting in the sky when Dreke came to check on Elias'' condition, who was barely alive.

    "It looks like the virus is reaching perfection. Just a little more modification and it might be the end." Dreke never looked as pleased as he did now, not even on the day when he was boasting about destroying Earth.

    Having gone through so much torture, Elias had almost forgotten that this was a test. If it wasn''t for the screen that was a constant reminder, he would have already gone crazy, confusing it with reality.

    Unfortunately, even if it was not true reality, it was still extremely painful. It would have been much better to be dead by now than to suffer this constant torture at the hands of the person he wanted dead.

    "Is this awakening ceremony or a punishment for me?" He couldn''t help but wonder. The pain and confusion seemed to have no end.

    And yet, deep down, he still held onto a glimmer of hope that this would all lead to something better in the end.

    If he gave up now, then all this torture would be for nothing. He had to succeed in the trial, no matter the cost. But at the rate his body was being broken, he was certain that he wasn''t going to last another day.

    He had to do something before morning. He had to get out of here. But how? His hands were still tied to the table, and he didn''t have the strength to move.

    The virus had already destroyed most of his body, from the inside out. He could even see his flesh that had started to rot. He had no control over his facial muscles, and he was constantly drooling through no fault of his own.

    "Mmmm!" He tried making a noise as he couldn''t say a word anymore.

    "Aaaaa!" He tried again. He needed something... anything! Just a little help was all he needed.

    "Aaaaaaa!" With great effort, he roared even louder, hoping to catch the attention of anyone.

    There was no human who was still alive on Earth. So the only people he could hope to catch the attention of were the guards outside this lab.

    Albeit, his voice fell on deaf ears, and no one came inside the lab. Through the night, he was lying alone inside the lab, like a puppet of fate.

    Eventually, the dreadful moment arrived. It was the morning of the day that was reserved for his death.

    The door opened, and Dreke stepped inside the lab, carrying a fresh smile on his lips.

 Chapter 12 Back from the dead

    Dreke stepped inside his lab, looking forward to the final iteration of his virus, which was on the verge of perfection.

    "I heard you were making some noise last night?" He walked over to the side and donned a white coat covered in protective insignias.

    "Were you that excited to enter your last day?" He picked up a syringe and walked over to Elias.

    Elias could barely focus his eyes. His vision had grown so weak that he could only see a shadow approaching him.

    Using the syringe, Dreke drew out Elias'' blood that had already turned black. The red traces within the blood were barely visible.

    It was a miracle in itself that Elias was still alive, which was what made him such a perfect test subject for Dreke.

    After taking the sample, he went back to the desk and began observing it.

    "It looks so beautiful." He couldn''t hide his fascination with the functioning of the virus he had created. Now that it was on the verge of completion, he could finally see what was missing.

    He quickly rushed to the wardrobe, pulled out a green insect, and returned. He crushed the insect and started mixing it with Elias''s blood sample, making the virus even more dangerous.

    "You are really lucky. You are the first person to experience the most perfect virus that I have created."

    He couldn''t hide the grin on his face. With this, he was one step closer to his next evolution in his class.

    He approached Elias, and inserted the syringe in his arm. The syringe was full with the virus, but Dreke only injected half of it, which was more than enough to kill an earthling.

    He saved the remaining half, for further research in the future.

    This time, he didn''t leave the lab. He watched the onset of the virus as black lines appeared all over Elias'' body, his body started twitching fiercely. However, thanks to the restraints, the trembling of his body was contained to the table only.

    "So perfect... The virus will ignore all immunity as it destroys your organs from inside, melting them from within. So struggle... struggle as much as you can. Make it more enjoyable for me! Let me see my masterpiece at work!"

    Elias roared in pain, his voice turning completely hoarse until nothing came out of his throat. His skin had already started decaying before, but it was literally melting in front of Dreke''s eyes.

    Even his bones had become visible, as if his flesh was clawed out by someone. After what felt like an eternity of torment with no escape at sight, everything came to a stop.

    Elias'' body stopped trembling. His heartbeat soon followed, accompanied by his breathing. He was dead, but the virus was still wrecking his body from inside.

    "Hmm? He is already dead?" Dreke looked like he was at a loss. He thought Elias would entertain him more, until the virus destroyed every single fragment of his body.

    He was left completely disappointed as Elias died in front of him within seconds of the final virus being released in his bloodstream.

    "If only he lasted a little longer, it would''ve been more fun. Whatever. He lasted much longer for insects of this lower world."

    Even if he was disappointed, he couldn''t do anything else. He took the syringe with him and returned to his table. He placed the syringe in the side and picked up a diary.

    He started writing everything that he had witnessed today, just like he was writing an experiment journal.

    ....

    Elias'' heartbeat had stopped, and so did his breathing. However, there was something that Dreke hadn''t taken into account.

    Even in a near-death state, Elias''s mind was still strangely active. If one were to measure his brain waves, they would have seen much more activity than any normal human could bear.

    It was as if he were living a nightmare within a nightmare. Even as his flesh kept melting, his chaotic mind was becoming even more active, trying to keep him alive.

    A weak heartbeat arose within his heart. Even though his blood was poisoned, his heart was starting to struggle to supply it to his veins.

    His lips trembled as they separated, letting him breathe through his mouth. His body was starting to wake up as the virus raged chaotically inside him.

    Abruptly, Elias opened his eyes. He couldn''t feel the pain anymore. Or rather, his body had already grown numb to it. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t say anything. No, he couldn''t say anything even if he wanted to. He couldn''t even see the mission screen clearly. All he saw was a blurry shadow of the world around him, tainted with black blood trickling down from his eyes.

    As his skin had started melting, the restraints had loosened. He pulled his arms down. Fortunately, he couldn''t see them. If he could, he would have only seen a nightmarish sight where only bones were visible for the most part.

    He also freed his legs, which was much harder as his feet hadn''t melted enough. As he pulled his feet, the chains literally clawed at his flesh before he was finally able to free his bleeding legs.

    Elias moved aside and landed on the ground. Even he didn''t understand how he was still alive in this state, or where he was getting this strength. It would have been much easier to just accept death than to go through this.

    He knew that if he thought about it, he might really succumb to the allure of accepting death over suffering. Still, the fate of his world was deeply imprinted in his mind. It didn''t allow him to give up.

    If he gave up, then he could never forgive himself.

    Elias dragged his weak body, leaving a trail of black blood behind. He didn''t even know if he was approaching the right person, as he could only see a shadow.

    Had Dreke already left this place, sending some servant to clean up the lab? He wasn''t sure. The only thing he knew was that he had to bet everything on this one chance.

 Chapter 13 Creators Agony

    Elias slowly approached the shadow, but he didn''t attack right away. It didn''t matter if it was Dreke or his servant; all of them were stronger than him.

    Even when he was perfectly fine, he couldn''t defeat them, let alone now when he could barely raise his hand. He was on his last breath and didn''t have the opportunity to gamble.

    This was his last opportunity. Everything he had suffered here was for this moment.

    He reached out his hand and picked up the syringe-like object that was lying on the ground.

    Dreke sensed some movement on the table. He frowned and looked in the direction of the syringe, only to notice that it was no longer there.

    Confused, he turned around, only to see a bloody figure that looked like a humanoid monster that had come straight out of a horror movie.

    He was taken aback and didn''t react in time. By the time he could react, it was already too late as Elias stabbed the syringe straight through his chest, pumping the entire virus into his heart.

    Dreke stumbled back, his eyes widening in disbelief. He pushed Elias back, and quickly pulled out the syringe, but it was too late. The virus had already entered his bloodstream.

    "You! What did you do?!!" he stammered, his voice trembling in disbelief. He, the creator of death, was now staring it in the face. The virus that he had perfected to defy all protection, had entered his body.

    He had barely finished creating the virus and hadn''t even started working on an antivirus. Even if he started now, it felt like it was going to be too late.

    Elias opened his lips, as if trying to say something. Unfortunately, even as his lips moved, no words came out.

    If he could speak, Dreke would have heard his own words being fired back at him. "Make it more enjoyable for me, my precious test sample."

    Even if it was not reality, but he had finally succeeded! He had taken down Elias. As long as the virus was as dangerous as Dreke said, then there was no escape for him. Both of them were going to die here.

    Elias felt his strength finally failing him, and collapsed to the floor. Still, he had no regrets anymore. Even if it was not reality, but hearing that bastard''s painful cries was a sight to behold.

    For Elias, this was not the end. Instead, this was just the beginning. It was fine with false Dreke, but he wasn''t going to give such an easy death to the real one. Instead, he was going to make him regret being born in this world, and targeting his family.

    Just like the fake Dreke was suffering, he was going to make the real one suffer even more. Not just him, but everyone related to him.

    Elias had completed the trial, but he didn''t want to leave this place yet. He wanted to listen more. He wanted to listen to Dreke roar like a beast as his body melted with all his organs.

    Dreke, meanwhile, felt a burning sensation spreading through his veins. The virus was now consuming him from the inside. He stumbled, his hand reaching out to steady himself on the table, knocking over vials and instruments in his panic.

    He looked down at his hand, watching in horror as black veins started spreading across his skin like webs of a spider.

    "No... this can''t be happening," he gasped, his panicked voice growing weaker.

    He crashed to the floor, landing with a thud beside Elias. Dreke was gasping for breath, his body wrecked with spasms. He tried to speak, to curse Elias, or even call his guard, but the words were caught in his throat.

    Just like Elias, he had also lost his vocal chords. He couldn''t say a single syllable.

    Elias, despite his own agonizing pain, felt a flicker of satisfaction. As his consciousness faded, he saw Dreke''s body twitch and melt, mirroring his own suffering. The virus didn''t discriminate, as it was devouring its creator.

    After five minutes of pure nightmarish torture, Dreke finally took his last breath. He had died, and Elias'' trial was over. He could finally leave this cruel imitation of earth and his torment.

    As Elias couldn''t see anything until the last moment, he didn''t notice the screen that appeared to congratulate him on his success.

    It also graded his performance, but he couldn''t even see the grades.

    ....

    After what felt like an eternity, Elias slowly opened his eyes. He wasn''t in the lab anymore. Instead, he was lying on a table, his hand still on the crystal in the center.

    The crystal wasn''t shining anymore, as if it had already served its purpose. The Awakening Ceremony was complete, and Elias had passed.

    He was the last person to pass the Awakening Ceremony, and it had taken much longer than for the other youngsters. However, he couldn''t care less.

    He was only curious about the class he had received, as it was going to decide how he could destroy everything he aimed to destroy.

    He wanted a Destroyer Class, something that could bring this world to its knees. However, he didn''t know how to even check his class.

    "Status Screen?" he called out, trying whatever came to mind. Albeit, nothing appeared in front of him.

    "Class?" He tried something else, but the outcome was the same. Elias tried again and again, but he just couldn''t find the trigger word.

    At this point, he even started wondering if there was a trigger word in the first place. He had to ask someone else, but he was all alone here.

    He walked over to the edge of the pillar''s surface and looked down, seeing only clouds. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Can I even get down from here?" he scratched the back of his head. He had somehow reached the top, but getting down was just as hard.

    "Hmm? What''s this?" While he was looking at the clouds, he saw some strange information appearing in the corner of his vision.

 Chapter 14 Extraction and Merger

    Elias looked down from the pillar. Through naked eyes, he could only see dark clouds that made it impossible to judge the true height he was at. Still, something strange materialized before him.

    A line appeared, seemingly connected to the clouds. The line rose upward and then turned left, connecting to an illusory screen filled with unfamiliar information.

    ......

    Material Composition: Tears of the Sky (98 percent), Breath of the Divine (1.5 percent), Dust of Creation (0.4 percent), Essence of Lightning (0.1 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 200 Meters

    Material Stability: 20 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .......

    "What is this?" Elias sat on the edge of the pillar, looking at the strange information. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn''t seeing things, but the information remained.

    Was it something all awakeners were able to see? Or was it something unique to the class he had gained? He wasn''t certain.

    "What does it mean by ''extraction possibility''?" He felt like a high school student forced to take a college graduation exam, with unfamiliar terms appearing before him.

    His gaze shifted back to the crystal lying in the center of the pillar, atop a table.

    Just as before, another line appeared before him, connected to the crystal. The other end of the line was further connected to a semi-transparent screen that showed him more information.

    .......

    Material Composition: Stone of Evolution (95 Percent), Soul of Judgement (3 Percent), Incarnated Laws (2 Percent)

    Weight: 15000 Kg

    Diameter: 0.1 Meter.

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: None

    ....... S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Is this information giving me an analysis of the things I try to focus on? But there''s no way this information can be true. How can a small crystal sphere be so heavy?"

    Elias stood up and walked back to the table. He grabbed the sphere with both hands, trying to pick it up. As the crystal had already stopped shining with the end of his ceremony, he didn''t have to worry about being pulled inside the trial anymore.

    He held the crystal firmly and tried to raise it, but even with all his might, he wasn''t able to lift the crystal even an inch. Let alone lift the crystal sphere, he couldn''t even move it sideways.

    "It is really..." Elias didn''t complete his sentence, becoming more certain that the information was correct. The small crystal was truly 1500 kg.

    Even though it was so heavy, the table was still able to hold its weight. Just what kind of objects was he seeing? It was as if everything he had seen in this place were divine objects.

    He looked down at the table, and just as he focused a little, more information appeared in front of him, confirming his assumption.

    ........

    Material Composition: Bone of Ancient Dragon (100 Percent)

    Weight: 300 Kg

    Height: 1.2 Meters.

    Material Stability: 90 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Highly Possible

    ........

    Everything had started to make sense to Elias. He was finally understanding what he was seeing, truly able to analyze even the objects that seemed divine in their descriptions.

    Even on Earth, dragons were creatures of myth and legend, and here he was, looking at a table made from an Ancient Dragon''s bones.

    There was only one thing he didn''t understand. It was still that single section of information that talked about extraction.

    "Extraction is highly possible." He frowned. "Is it talking about extracting the materials from the object? But how can I do that?" Even though he knew it was possible, he didn''t know how to do it.

    "It''s not as if I can just touch it and say, ''Extract,''" he muttered, touching the table in a self-mocking manner.

    However, the moment the word escaped his lips, he felt the information screen tremble. A new screen materialized in front of him, asking for confirmation.

    ........

    Would you like to progress with extraction?

    Yes No

    ........

    Even he was in disbelief that it worked. Although he still didn''t completely understand the true meaning of extraction, but he still said, "Yes."

    He wanted to know what was going to happen. He had completed his Awakening. If he was going to be scared of his own abilities, how could he have his revenge? To become stronger, he couldn''t be scared of his own abilities, even if they were unknown.

    The table started shining brightly, and the pressure was so overwhelming that even Elias was pushed back by a few meters, the winds around the table becoming more intense.

    It was so bright that he couldn''t even see anything. He was forced to close his eyes, covering his face behind his arms while firmly planting his weak feet on the ground.

    After ten minutes, the winds calmed down. It was accompanied by a loud noise that was accompanied by the pillar itself trembling like an earthquake had just arrived.

    Elias slowly lowered his arms and looked ahead, being left awestruck. The table was nowhere to be found. Inside, there were a few white bones that were lying on the ground, neatly packed in a stack.

    Next to the bones, there was a small crystal. With the disappearance of the table, the crystal had fallen on the pillar.

    The pillar was strong, but even it couldn''t bear the true weight of the crystal, as a minor crack appeared where the crystal had fallen.

    "These are the bones of an Ancient Dragon? So this is what extraction means. I can truly extract materials, even from divine objects as long as the information shows that it is possible."

    Although he didn''t know exactly what he could use the dragon bones for, they were still precious.

    Still, there was another problem. This place wasn''t his backyard. Even if he took the bones down, they would most likely be taken from him. The academy wasn''t going to let him keep something like this.

    Moreover, he didn''t even know how to get down himself, let alone manage it while carrying these bones.

    "Should I just leave them here for now?" he thought, sitting beside the bones. Subconsciously, he reached out his hand, his fingers gently caressing them.

    He couldn''t believe he was actually touching the bones of a mythical beast. Although leaving it behind was truly a loss, did he have any other options?

    "Hmm? There''s still that line?" It was only later that he noticed that even after extraction, a description line was still connected to the bones.

    He traced the lines and saw that the information had changed a lot. Moreover, a new section had appeared.

    ........

    Material: Bone of Ancient Dragon

    Weight: 300 Kg

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Merger Possibility: Possible

    ........

    "Merger?" Elias subconsciously mumbled, his fingers still on the ancient dragon bones. The word again triggered something.

    ........

    Would you like to progress with the merger?

    Yes No

    ........

    Just like before, another screen appeared before him, leaving him even more confused. Did it mean he could return the bones to their previous state as a table?

    To test the theory, he said, "Yes."

    He thought the table would be constructed again, or rather the extraction would be reversed. But the reality was quite different as another screen materialized in front of him that he hadn''t seen before.

    ........

    Please select something to merge the Bones of Ancient Dragon with.

    ........

    The moment Elias saw the screen, a thought came to his mind.

    "Can I merge them with anything? If that''s what merger means, then..." he looked at his hands, thinking about an absurd possibility.

 Chapter 15 Experiment no. 1

    Elias thought of an absurd possibility. If he could merge the dragon bones with anything, what if he tried it on himself?

    It was a dangerous notion that could lead to his death if anything went wrong.

    He might die before even starting his true journey. Was it right to take such a risk without sufficient testing? He knew it was foolish, but this time, he wanted to be foolish.

    With his weak and frail body, he couldn''t even have climbed the pillar if there hadn''t been an interference that gave him a free pass, thanks to the pillar''s laws.

    He was scared. He could even feel his heartbeat rising as he thought of changing his body. Was he still going to be human if he did that? Or was he going to become a monster?

    His mind was filled with thoughts related to things that could go wrong, especially since there was not enough information.

    "To think that I could still feel scared after going through all that." He could see that his hands were trembling slightly.

    He had made up his mind. He couldn''t take these bones down to test them. Moreover, there wasn''t any other living being here for trial and error.

    The only living material that was present for testing, was himself. He was like a crazy scientist that was trying to test his experimental drugs on himself, something that even Dreke Asbborn would never have tried.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t think that he had any other choice. He couldn''t take these bones down. He wasn''t strong enough. If he left them behind, then he might never be able to get them.

    How long was he going to take to find some divine materials like this? His body was already broken multiple times before, and it was simply the beginning.

    Even in trials, he had almost gone crazy to pass it. Every step of the way, he had to come across death. Could he afford to be scared of it? He didn''t want to believe it.

    "Merge the Bones of Ancient Dragon with myself," Elias said, tapping his chest lightly.

    .............

    Materials selected for merger: Elias Ashborn, Bones of the Ancient Dragon

    Material Compatibility: 50 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 57 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    .............

    Elias took a deep breath. There was no going back once he confirmed the merger. This was his last opportunity to change his mind.

    His instincts screamed at him to give up, especially since the success probability was barely above the halfway mark.

    "Proceed." Elias closed his eyes and agreed.

    The moment he gave permission, the process began. Unlike before, he wasn''t pushed back by the storm that appeared around the bones. Instead, he was at its core.

    The bones of the ancient dragon became more condensed, as they were previously much larger than Elias''s body. They flew straight toward him.

    The wind surrounding Elias started cutting his skin, making him scream like a beast. It was as if someone had made a long vertical cut across his arm from shoulder to wrist.

    The bones of the ancient dragon flew inside his body through the opening and started merging with his original bones. Even as his skin was sliced, he wasn''t bleeding, as if his blood were perfectly still.

    He was like a patient completely awake while undergoing surgery without anesthesia. He could feel everything, even the slightest cut.

    He felt excruciating pain, as though every cell in his body was being torn apart and reassembled. The sensation was unbearable. He wanted to scream, claw at his skin, do anything to escape the torment, but he couldn''t even twitch a finger. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once his arms completed the merger, the wounds healed on their own, and larger cuts appeared across the rest of his body, with more bones flying toward him.

    Time lost all meaning. It could have been seconds, minutes, or an eternity that he spent trapped in that pain.

    He had thought he couldn''t experience worse pain than he felt in the awakening trial, but every second proved him wrong. Even outside the trial, he was still a test subject. The only difference was that he was a crazy scientist as well.

    Although he didn''t know how much time had passed, he was certain that it was much longer than the extraction process. Fortunately, he was on top of the pillar. Even if he screamed at the top of his lungs, no one could hear him.

    He didn''t have to hide his pain anymore. He didn''t have to hold it back, and hide it from the world. He could let out all his agony and pain through his beastly roar.

    Throughout the entire process, Elias didn''t lose consciousness. He wanted to see everything. He wanted to see the complete process, especially the end of this experiment.

    Even if he was going to die here, he wanted to die knowing what happened. He didn''t want to die while unconscious.

    Moreover, he was the scientist that was experimenting with merger ability. As a scientist, he wanted to know every valuable data point that he could gather, especially since this wasn''t the last time he was going to use this ability.

    This was just the beginning for him.. a beginning of his eventual transformation into a calamity that devoured everything.

    After what felt like an eternity, the storm around him finally disappeared. The last cut on his forehead also healed. There were no bones left to merge. The merger had been completed successfully, and the pain was finally over.

    Normally, after a surgery, one could still feel the pain. But Elias couldn''t feel even the slightest trace of anything as he fell on his back, exhausted.

    It was as if everything that he had witnessed just now, including him brushing past death, had been nothing but an illusion. However, only he knew that there was nothing fake about it.

    It was simply the effects of the merger. Lying on his back, he looked at the blood red sky. There was no smile on his lips, nor was he celebrating his first step into evolution or his survival.

    There was only one sentence that escaped his lips, as he gasped for breath, "Experiment no. 1, successful."

 Chapter 16 A forgotten world

    The room of mirrors was filled with absolute silence, with only one person remaining. It was the Leader of the Ashborn Family, one of the very few Disaster-Class existences in the universe.

    He was Silas Ashborn, who ruled the Ashborn Family with an iron fist. Many people even called him an emotionless beast, who couldn''t care less about things like family or friends.

    "Are you going to offer me an explanation?" Silas broke the silence, his question directed towards the Dean of the Academy.

    Only a few people in this world could talk to the Dean of the Dimensional Academy in such a manner, and Silas was one of them.

    His gaze never left the mirror, which displayed the names of those who had completed the awakening ceremony. At the end of the list, one particular name caught his attention. It was Elias Ashborn.

    "Do you really want an explanation?" a voice came from behind him. A portal opened behind Silus, and a woman stepped out.

    Silus turned, observing the woman''s pale face. She looked to be in her early thirties, but Silus knew she was much older than that. She was almost as old as him.

    Normally, she appeared perfectly healthy. However, for some reason, she looked like she had been through a lot. Silus could still see faint traces of blood around her eyes, as if they had been bleeding recently.

    "Why do you look so bad? Were you in a fight?" he asked. "That''s not it. If you were fighting someone to the point of injury, the battle would have shaken this entire realm. I wouldn''t have missed that. Then how...?"

    "You still have the gall to ask me that question? Isn''t it because of you?!" the woman glared at Silus, unable to hide her frustration.

    "Because of me?" Silus furrowed his brows. "I don''t remember fighting you. If I had, you would be missing at least a few limbs by now."

    "It''s because of your request. I tried to remove your son from the trial. It seems the trial had some laws that didn''t allow it. My pet, who interfered, was killed as punishment. With my Spiritual Pet''s death, I also suffered a heavy backlash."

    She didn''t tell Silus about the vision that she had seen, as she herself didn''t understand it entirely. The only thing she was able to confirm was that her pet was killed because of the interference.

    "There was a rule like that? How did you not know about it?" Silus asked.

    "How am I supposed to know? Do you think we go around interfering in the Awakening Ceremony every day?" the woman snapped. Although his tone was neutral, she felt a hint of mockery.

    Even though Silus didn''t say it outright, she could feel that he was calling her useless and incompetent.

    "Since we never interfered in the Awakening Ceremony, it seems we never triggered the rule. If I had known about it, do you think I would have sent my pet to die?!"

    Silus didn''t question her anymore. Although it was a surprising revelation, it did make sense. It wasn''t as if they had created the awakening stones themselves. There were many things about these stones that they didn''t know.

    No one knew who created the awakening stones, or even how they originated. Did they come into existence naturally through cosmic chaos? Or did someone analyze bloodlines and create the awakening stones?

    Many people tried to analyze them, but no one had any answers. All they knew was that the evolution stones and the heavenly pillars were discovered in a ruined world.

    No one knew how the world was destroyed. Even the people who had retrieved these awakening stones and other artefacts from that world, never mentioned anything about that world.

    There were no records from that world. It was as if that world''s entire existence was erased from recorded history by those who discovered it. Many people tried to find that ruined world, but it was never discovered again.

    "You need to compensate me. I''ve lost my dear pet because of your request. You need to find me something more precious!" the Dean of the Academy told Silus, bringing him out of his daze.

    "Find one yourself. It''s not as if you completed my request." Silus lazily answered as he walked away. The Awakening Ceremony was over, and to his surprise, Elias had succeeded, albeit with some luck.

    "You''re as hateful as always," the Dean frowned, watching Silas leave. "If you don''t compensate me, should I collect that compensation from your youngest? After all, it''s also because of him that I lost a pet."

    "Do as you please," Silas waved his hand as he stepped inside a portal. "You can kill him for all I care."

    He disappeared inside the portal, which soon closed. The realm of mirrors again returned to silence, with only the woman left behind.

    She blankly looked at the place where Silas had disappeared. She didn''t understand if he was being serious or not. Was he truly going to be so carefree if she actually killed Elias?

    ....

    Elias was completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place between his father and the Dean of the Dimensional Academy.

    He was still overwhelmed by the fact that he had actually succeeded with the merger.

    "It doesn''t feel much different." He sat up after catching his breath. Physically, he couldn''t see any changes in himself. His body still looked as frail as ever, but he was less exhausted over time.

    He could feel his stamina recovering much faster, and his bones felt a little stronger than before.

    He stood up and walked closer to the heavy crystal sphere. Grabbing it with both hands, he again tried to raise it, curious if his strength had changed at all.

    He still couldn''t lift the sphere off the floor. Despite that, he felt elated. Even if he couldn''t raise the sphere, he was still able to move it horizontally, something that was impossible for him before. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It did increase my strength. Though more tests are needed, this is certainly a good start."

    After confirming the usability of the merger, he rushed back to the edge of the pillar, remembering the other object. It had mentioned the possibility of extraction, albeit a low possibility.

 Chapter 17 They are mine

    Elias sat on the edge of the pillar, bending his body forward as far as possible to reach the clouds. Although he could extract something, he still needed to touch it.

    Unfortunately, the clouds were much lower than the pillar''s top. Even as he bent forward as far as possible, his fingers were unable to reach them.

    "Come on, just a little more!" he exclaimed, reaching out as far as he possibly could.

    The composition of the clouds was even more impressive than the Dragon Bones. Even if he could extract just one material and merge with it, it was extremely useful to him. Before returning, he wanted to take as much as he possibly could.

    ............

    Material Composition: Tears of the Sky (98 percent), Breath of the Divine (1.5 percent), Dust of Creation (0.4 percent), Essence of Lightning (0.1 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 200 Meters

    Material Stability: 20 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .............

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t touch the clouds no matter how hard he tried. He had to get down from the pillar, just as people had climbed up.

    He started checking the pillar, trying to find the handholds that were used for gripping. Once he found a handhold, he carefully moved down, putting one foot above the protrusion on the pillar.

    Not wanting to fall to his death, he moved extremely slowly to make sure he didn''t slip. Fortunately, his hands didn''t feel as weak as before. He wasn''t trembling anymore.

    Although it was hard, he managed to hang on the side of the pillar and started moving down. Occasionally, his foot missed the opening in the pillar, but he was able to keep his balance with his arms alone.

    A few minutes later, he finally reached the same level as the clouds, unable to see anything around him. He could only see the mist that formed the clouds.

    He stabilized his body with one hand and touched the clouds with the other.

    "Extract!" he commanded.

    Right after he finished the command, he grabbed the pillar with his other hand, expecting a similar storm as before. He didn''t want to be sent flying again. With the trial over, nothing was going to save him.

    Just as he expected, a storm appeared around him. The storm was so heavy that it blew off the clouds that weren''t at the core. Only a small section of the sky had been cleansed of the clouds, thanks to the storm that had appeared.

    The other participants had already returned to the ground, including the descendants of the other major families. Many of them were waiting to be led outside, but they were told that there was still one person who had yet to return.

    All of them were waiting for Elias, growing more frustrated by the minute.

    "Hmm? What''s that in the sky?" a youngster called out, pointing at the sky.

    The others also looked up and noticed a small storm near one of the pillars. Around the storm, the clouds had disappeared, which allowed them to see the sky from the ground. It was something they had only seen from the top of the pillars before.

    "Isn''t that the pillar selected by that Ashborn kid?" another youngster asked. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Wait, is that him hanging by the side?!" another person exclaimed, seeing the figure of Elias, who looked like a small dot, stuck between the pillar and the storm.

    "Where? Why can''t I see anything?" Most of the youngsters weren''t able to see Elias, their abilities and class being much weaker.

    Meanwhile, the descendants of the major families had gained much better classes. They could see Elias as clear as day. What truly surprised them was the storm.

    They could feel that it wasn''t a normal storm. There were no such storms in this place before, after all. It definitely had something to do with Elias.

    "Just what exactly is his class?" many of them wondered.

    All of them were observing the storm, which grew weaker by the second before it completely disappeared.

    High in the sky, Elias was hanging by the pillar like a koala trying to hold on. However, unlike a koala, he couldn''t afford to fall.

    Fortunately, the storm was pushing him away, which helped him hold onto the pillar. He couldn''t even imagine the consequences if the storm had been pulling him instead. It would have been a nightmarish difficulty.

    Still, only after the storm disappeared was Elias able to sigh in relief. At that moment, multiple screens started materializing before him, one after another.

    ...........

    Tears of Sky: Extraction Failed.

    Breath of the Divine: Extraction Failed.

    Dust of Creation: Extraction Successful.

    Essence of Lightning: Extraction Successful.

    ...........

    Even though he was only able to extract two out of the four materials, he still felt glad. With the low possibility of extraction, he had been expecting a complete failure after all, having prepared for that disappointment.

    With the disappearance of the clouds, he saw two small crystal vials materialize, each smaller than his fingers. Looking at them, he felt as if they couldn''t even hold more than a single droplet of water.

    One vial was deep blue with a small lightning symbol around it, while the other was light brown, each made from a crystal that felt similar to the awakening crystal.

    He quickly reached out to grab them, only for his expression to turn to panic. Before his hands could even reach the vials, they started falling.

    "No, no, no!" Elias exclaimed in disbelief, but there was nothing he could do. Even if he jumped after them, he couldn''t catch them.

    At this point, he could only hope that they wouldn''t be destroyed in the fall, which seemed almost impossible. Still, he quickly started climbing down. Even if the vials weren''t broken, it would be a disaster if they were taken by someone else.

    After a few hours of climbing down, he finally reached the floor. He saw that the vials were still intact, but his expression didn''t look good.

    Both vials were in the hands of another person, who was also a descendant of one of the few major families.

    "They are mine. Can you hand them over?" Elias asked, not thinking straight. He simply reached out his hand, demanding his items.

    Elias didn''t know why, but he heard many shocked gasps around him, as if he had committed some great sin.

 Chapter 18 Becoming a beast

    Elias could see the young boy''s attire, which was even more luxurious than his own. The boy also had an insignia depicting an eagle that seemed to be flying while carrying a snake in its claws.

    Elias didn''t know much about this world, but he could tell the boy was from a family just as high-ranking as the Ashborns.

    Moreover, was it simply a coincidence that he could see a snake being destroyed by an eagle in that insignia? The symbol of the Ashborn family was a snake devouring its own tail, like an ouroboros after all.

    "Is he seriously expecting him to return those things? Did he forget what kind of relationship their families share?"

    "The Esterin family and the Ashborn family are like water and fire. There''s no way this will end peacefully."

    Many in the surroundings had started whispering amongst themselves, subconsciously taking a step back.

    If two descendants of the major families actually started fighting right after getting their class, then it was definitely going to be a disaster that they didn''t want to get caught in.

    "I don''t see your name written on them. Can you prove they belong to you?" Rey Von Esterin raised the two vials, having no intention of returning them.

    Although he didn''t know why Elias wanted them, he could feel that they were extraordinary, especially since they''d appeared from the clouds of heaven. Moreover, if a descendant of the Ashborn family needed them, he had all the more reason to keep them.

    "As far as I know, I''m the one who found them on the ground. Seems to have nothing to do with you," he said, keeping the two vials in his pocket.

    "Everyone knows they belong to me!" Elias exclaimed. "They fell from my hands!"

    Rey arched a brow, feigning innocence. "Oh? Everyone knows? Then let''s have a show of hands, shall we?"

    He surveyed the surrounding youngsters. "If even one person here agrees with your story and accepts that they belong to you, I''ll gladly return them to you."

    Elias''s gaze swept across the faces of the other awakeners, but he was only met with averted eyes and a frightening silence. No one wanted to help him; they were too worried about their own safety.

    Even those from major families, who weren''t scared of Rey, didn''t raise their hands. They were mere spectators, entertained by the conflict, indifferent to the winner. Their gazes were filled with mockery, like gods enjoying the spectacle of a world devoured.

    It was exactly the same way that his brother was looking at earth when it was being destroyed by the virus of his own creation.

    Elias didn''t feel sad that there were people who were scared, but what made him absolutely disgusting were the descendants of the major family. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They were never going to help him. Although this place was called an Academy, in reality, it was a world where the strong devoured the weak.

    Rey Von Esterin was simply enjoying watching the despair on Elias'' face. It felt even more precious than any object that he might have taken from Elias.

    ''This is just the beginning. I am absolutely going to destroy you. Through you, I will drag the entire Ashborn Family to hell...'' The corner of his lips crept up, but his eyes were still extremely cold, as he hadn''t forgotten the reason he was doing all this.

    The descendants of the other major families also looked disappointed in Elias. They thought they were going to see some action, or a battle where the two were going to reveal the strength and weakness of the class that they had gained.

    Unfortunately, Elias looked like he was already broken. They could see him shivering, feeling as if he was scared.

    "If this is enough to break him, then it is quite a disappointment." A woman who was watching the spectacle lazily, mumbled.

    "I thought he would be like the Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family who went on a killing spree, and killed the Eldest Son of the Esterin Family. It seems like he''s even worse than even the fourth son."

    She sighed, seemingly bored and turned around. She started walking away, not interested in this anymore.

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a laughter started echoing in the surroundings. The sound of maniacal laughter broke the scary silence.

    The girl turned around, her frown deepening. She looked at the source of the laughter. To her surprise, it was coming from Elias, who until recently looked like he was broken.

    Elias covered his face with his palms, unable to stop his laughter for some reason.

    "Did he go crazy? Why did he start laughing out of nowhere?" Almost everyone had the same question in their minds, as they saw Elias laughing.

    "I seem to be turning into a goldfish." After a long time, Elias stopped laughing, lowering his hands to reveal his eyes that looked entirely different than before. "I keep forgetting that I am not amongst humans."

    Although his eyes were still the same shade and same color, something was different in them. It was as if it was a completely different person.

    He was repeatedly reminded that he couldn''t rely on anyone else. The people here were not humans. They were beasts, who were hiding under human skin. This world was not for the kind.

    If he wanted something, he could only take it with his own hands. He had to become a beast if he wanted to survive in this cruel world. He couldn''t ask for kindness from others. Instead, he had to leave his own kindness behind.

    So what if they were from the major families? So what if they were descendants of families that held great power? If they wanted to make him into their stepping stone, then he could only run wild.

    "I keep treating trash like humans." His fingers brushed through his hair, pushing them back, as he raised his head.

    "Have you finally lost your mind?" Rey asked, but instead of getting an answer, he saw Elias rushing towards him.

    There was already less than a few meters of distance between them. Before he could even react, Elias had covered the distance.

    The next thing that everyone saw made their jaws drop. Many even looked in horror, unable to believe what they had seen.

 Chapter 19 Snapped

    Rey Von Esterin had come to the Awakening Ceremony with two goals in mind. His first goal was to receive a high class. His other goal was to crush the descendant of the Ashborn Family.

    He thought that both of these goals were easy to achieve, especially since he was a genius. He had already completed his first goal with a successful awakening.

    As for his second goal, he was looking for an opportunity, or even an excuse, to crush Elias Ashborn. The opportunity came unexpectedly as two vials fell from the sky, which Elias desired.

    He didn''t miss the opportunity and rushed to pick them up. He wanted to destroy Elias Ashborn. He was even more elated when he saw the crushed expression on Elias''s face.

    He thought it was going to be a fun year. He was going to thoroughly ruin Elias. At least that''s what he thought. Then why? Why was he on the ground, lying on his back?!

    He couldn''t believe it, but the pain of being slammed on the ground was still fresh.

    Before he could react, Elias appeared in front of him. He grabbed Rey by the throat, raised him in the air, and then slammed him against the ground.

    The sound of Rey being slammed on the ground was so loud that it echoed in the ears of everyone who saw the scene.

    By the time Rey came to his senses, he felt his face turn red in embarrassment. Was he really slammed on the ground by someone who looked like he didn''t even have the courage to raise his voice?

    "You¡ª" he exclaimed, but before he could even utter another word, a fist connected with his face.

    Even after slamming him on the ground, Elias didn''t stop. It was as if he had completely snapped. One after another, punches kept landing on Rey''s face.

    His face had even started bleeding. Even Elias''s fist wasn''t unharmed, as the flesh on his knuckles had also started bleeding, but he didn''t stop.

    He didn''t care about the pain or anything. He had bones that were reinforced by the dragons, which made his punches even stronger.

    Only a short moment had passed before Rey''s entire face was covered in blood. Some of the blood splashed even landed on Elias'' face, who didn''t even bother to wipe them.

    Everyone who saw the scene was left watching in silence. They had assumed that the youngest son of the Ashborn Family was a weak sheep that was born in a family of strong wolves. Only now, they were realizing that he was not a sheep but a bloody hound.

    With the fourth son of the Ashborn Family, they thought that the Ashborns were becoming less bloodthirsty and crazy. They were realizing that the fourth son was more of an outlier.

    The youngsters who didn''t come from the major family, were even more scared of the youngest son of the Ashborn Family. They were even worried if Elias was going to take revenge on them because they didn''t help when he needed it.

    Their hearts had started beating faster, watching the fate of Rey Von Esterin. If even the descendants of the Esterin Family weren''t safe, then what about them?

    Only the descendants of the other major families were watching the scene in amusement, not having even the slightest trace of fear on their faces. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They were simply observing Elias, trying to guess what kind of class he might have gained. Was it a class that strengthened his body? Normally, classes like these were strong at the start but in the later stages, they were considered one of the weakest classes.

    Rey had momentarily been overwhelmed by Elias'' attack. He was punched again and again, until even his nose was broken.

    For the first time in his life, he felt that he might actually die. He had to do something! He had to use his class to fight back, since Elias was doing the same in his eyes.

    A wind blast originated in his palm, which he shot at Elias. The wind blast crashed against Elias'' chest, sending him flying back.

    "I will kill you!" Rey stood up, spitting a mouthful of blood. A few of his teeth were also spat out amidst that blood.

    He used his robe to wipe the blood off his face, at least enough so he could see things thoroughly.

    Elias was attacked by the wind blast, which had sent him flying back. Normally, an attack like that, if made from such close proximity was enough to kill a person, shattering all their bones.

    Rey was surprised to see Elias still standing. His clothes were torn, revealing his bloody chest. But it didn''t look like any of his bones were shattered, as he was standing straight.

    Although he was surprised, it didn''t make him hesitate. Initially, he only wanted to teach Elias a small lesson in the awakening ceremony, saving the best for later. But now, he had changed his mind.

    Elias had thrashed him in front of everyone. He could only wash that shame with Elias'' blood.

    Both of Elias'' fists were clenched, as he still stared at Rey Von Esterin, with no intention of holding back either.

    Many descendants of major families were looking at the scene like vultures. For them, it didn''t matter who suffered. As long as the two families went to war, they were going to grow even weaker after the war. It was certainly only to benefit their families.

    "Finally, this is going to be fun. No matter which of them dies, it will get interesting. It is even better if both of them die. Their families might really go to a war, just like last time! And this time, it probably won''t end with only a few thousand deaths!"

    There were many who were watching winds starting to condense on Rey''s palms. The more condensed they were, the more dangerous it became as an attack.

    The silence before the storm was over with Rey shooting out multiple wind blasts. Elias also started running towards Rey.

 Chapter 20 A beast marking his territory

    Rey unleashed a barrage of wind blasts. But instead of cowering or dodging, Elias charged headfirst toward the destructive wind spheres that looked like giant storms condensed into small spheres.

    "He''s insane!" someone gasped from the crowd.

    "Is he trying to die?" another exclaimed. "A Strengthening class is strong, but it''s the worst possible class when facing a mage who is far away!"

    Even Rey was momentarily stunned by Elias''s reckless advance. He had expected Elias to try to run or dodge, and had already prepared for that. Even if Elias were to dodge, there was no escaping for him.

    After all, even though this was his first time awakening his class, he wasn''t ignorant. His family had gathered data about almost all the classes, and he had learned about almost all of them, including their strengths and weaknesses.

    He already knew what kind of class he had gained, including the abilities he could use right from the start.

    Even if Elias tried to escape, Rey still planned to crush him. However, to his surprise, the brat was coming straight for him. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A grin appeared on his bloody lips. Even if Elias was a fool, he was a doll that was going to die faster because of his recklessness. Wind blasts were faster than Elias, and Rey knew he couldn''t dodge them all.

    Elias also knew that it was impossible to dodge them. That''s why he wasn''t planning to dodge them in the first place. He already saw something that gave him a crazy idea.

    He didn''t know if his idea was going to work. But even if it didn''t, so what? Even if the wind blast was going to hit him, so what? As long as they couldn''t shatter his bones, he would still advance.

    Everyone saw Elias rushing toward the first wind blast. He reached out his right hand toward it without stopping.

    "Does he want to lose his hand?"

    "He has truly lost his mind! It looks like the youngest Ashborn is going to die today."

    Even though Elias was rushing toward Rey, many thought that he would be wise enough to try to avoid the wind blasts, even if it was hard. Instead, he was reaching out for them, extending his hand as if trying to catch them.

    The moment his fingers touched the outer layer of the condensed wind sphere, his lips moved as if uttering some words.

    Fortunately, everyone was focused on the wind sphere, not on Elias''s lips. Not a single person there heard Elias whisper, "Confirm Extraction."

    The moment the words escaped his lips, the entire surroundings was shrouded in a large storm that originated with Elias at its core.

    It was similar to the storm that had appeared in the sky to everyone''s surprise. The only difference was that it was smaller. But even then, it was strong enough to hide Elias from everyone''s view.

    Elias used extraction on multiple wind blasts, but even then, he wasn''t completely successful.

    One of the wind blasts struck his body, but instead of being pushed back, Elias maintained his momentum and pushed forward. The impact, taken by his bare body, wrecked him even more.

    Multiple loud bangs resonated within the storm. Many had already started looking at the storm with pity, certain that Elias was dead. The moment the storm disappeared, they expected to find Elias''s corpse. Or at least that''s what they thought.

    The more certain they were of Elias''s death, the more shocked they became when they saw a bloody figure emerge from the storm, rushing toward Rey Von Esterin.

    With the storm propelling him forward, he was even faster, as if he were flying. Elias, now within striking distance, launched himself at Rey.

    Rey''s eyes widened. He had thought Elias was dead, which made him stop attacking. He frantically tried to condense more wind around himself for defense, but it was too late.

    A heavy scent of blood accompanied Elias''s bloody fist as it connected with Rey''s jaw. Rey felt like he was experiencing nightmarish deja vu. It was the same way he had been attacked before.

    The impact sent Rey stumbling backward, his vision blurring. Before Rey could recover, Elias was upon him again. Rey, overwhelmed by the beastly assault, could only raise his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself with another wind blast.

    Elias noticed what he was trying to do. However, he didn''t plan to fall for the same trick twice. With his left hand, he grabbed Rey''s throat, and with his right hand, he continued his relentless attack.

    Rey attacked with a wind blast, and once again, Elias was sent flying. However, this time, he brought Rey with him, maintaining his grip around the man''s neck.

    Even after the two of them landed in the distance, the punishment didn''t stop. The brutality left many people aghast, as Elias didn''t seem to care about his own safety.

    The crowd watched in stunned silence as Elias unleashed his fury. The boy they had dismissed as a weakling now looked more like an untamed beast than a human.

    Rey was left like a broken mess, his face covered with fresh blood. He even felt as if his skull was starting to crack. For the first time, he felt like he might actually die here.

    The pain and fear was overwhelming, but even more scary was the fact that he couldn''t escape. Even if he attacked Elias, he wasn''t going to be free as Elias was holding onto him like a lion holding on to its prey with their teeth.

    There was no one to help him. Just like they were spectators when he was bullying Elias, they were spectators when he was on the verge of death. He was so overwhelmed that he eventually passed out, his arms falling limp on the ground.

    "He has already passed out. Isn''t that enough?" Elias'' fist again came down, but this time, it didn''t connect with Rey as he felt like someone had grabbed his wrist.

 Chapter 21 Reaper of the Academy

    Elias felt someone grab his wrist. He raised his head, looking at the hand that seemed to belong to a woman.

    The hand had simply touched him, and Elias felt his body growing weaker for some reason. Was the woman using some unknown ability to weaken him? He couldn''t be certain.

    He raised his gaze further, observing the woman''s face. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, but her presence felt extremely heavy.

    She was wearing a long dress that wrapped tightly around her body. But what caught Elias'' attention most was her hair. They were alive.

    He wasn''t someone who paid much attention to myths, but even he had heard a little about an entity called Medusa. The woman in front of him looked just like Medusa, her hair made of living venomous snakes.

    Even if she didn''t look physically strong, there was something dangerous and unsettling about her.

    "If you don''t stop now, he will die," the woman said, releasing his hand. Even though she freed him, she didn''t take her eyes off him. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Her gaze carried a warning that it was truly time to stop.

    "Who are you?" Elias asked, taking a deep breath. Now that he had calmed down, he could see that Rey had truly fainted.

    While distracting the woman with his question, he slipped his hands into Rey''s pockets, searching for something. He found the two small vials that had been taken from him.

    He grabbed the vials and hid them in his fist before withdrawing his hand. Even though many people had already seen the vials, he didn''t want this woman to see them.

    The children might not be able to recognize the extracted elements inside, but he couldn''t be certain about the woman. He didn''t want to take a risk.

    She was too old to be a participant in the Awakening Ceremony. Most participants were twelve or thirteen years old. That meant she was likely a member of the Dimensional Academy itself.

    He subtly inserted his bloody hands into his pocket while standing up. He kept the vials there, saving them for later.

    "Huh?" The moment he stood up, he felt as if his head was spinning. When he was fighting, he was so overwhelmed that he had started ignoring the condition of his body.

    Only when he relaxed was he able to feel how broken his body had actually become. It wasn''t just Rey who had lost blood; he had also lost a lot, his chest still bleeding.

    He stumbled on his own feet, feeling as if his body didn''t have even the slightest strength left. Was it adrenaline that had been keeping him moving before? He wasn''t certain. All he knew was that he was about to pass out as well.

    The only good thing was that he had taken the vials back. He could finally sigh in relief as he fell forward, not even having enough strength to raise his hands to protect his face.

    He passed out and didn''t know what happened next. He wasn''t awake to see the woman reaching out and stopping him from falling.

    "Sigh, why are Ashborns always so troublesome?" the woman rubbed her forehead, holding onto Elias with one arm. "I thought after ''that monster'' left the academy, it was going to be calm."

    She snapped her fingers, and two shadow guards appeared around her.

    She handed Elias to one of them, and Rey to the other. "Take them for healing. If any of them die, it''ll be a bigger headache for the Academy."

    "Yes, Professor." The two shadow guards nodded. They raised the boys and prepared to leave.

    "After they are healed, bring them to the Class Measurement Hall. You have half an hour," the woman said. "Oh, and keep them away from each other. Otherwise they might start fighting again."

    "We will remember." The Guards agreed before disappearing with the two boys.

    "As for the rest of you..." The woman shifted her focus to the other youngsters.

    "Are you disappointed that none of them died?" she asked, particularly focused on the descendants of the big families that were on the same level as the Ashborn and Ester family.

    "We don''t understand what you are talking about." Some of the descendants innocently answered, but their eyes didn''t hide their intentions. In this place, everyone was a predator.

    The woman could only sigh. "Let''s go."

    She didn''t ask them anything else. She knew there was no point. The descendants of the major families were always self-centered. Nothing she said was going to get through to them.

    For some reason, this scene felt particularly familiar to her, with many schemes at play. Something similar had happened in the past, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Destroyer Class at the hands of the Eldest Ashborn Child.

    She wasn''t sure if the past was going to repeat itself or if something even worse was going to happen. In any case, it had nothing to do with her.

    In the past, she hadn''t stopped it. Even now, she wasn''t planning to interfere. If these predators wanted to rule over this hunting ground, they could only rely on themselves.

    She opened a portal in front of her and told the others to enter without further explanation.

    The other children didn''t need an explanation in the first place, as they already knew the process.

    After witnessing the horrifying battle between the two descendants, many from the weaker families had gone silent. Their eyes were filled with fear. But after the portal opened, a spark of excitement returned.

    "Finally, we can go for Class Measurement."

    "I hope I get into the Creator Class! I don''t want to be with the Ashborn Descendant! He''s a monster!"

    "Same here. That child will definitely be in the Destroyer Class. I don''t want to be anywhere near him. I still haven''t forgotten the story about the fate of the destroyer class that was completely annihilated by an Ashborn."

    "Are you talking about the Reaper of the Academy? Didn''t he go missing, though? I heard that Ashborns searched for him everywhere after he went missing, but they couldn''t find him."

    "Shh. Don''t talk about that! We better avoid mentioning those powerful families."

    The conversation abruptly ended as the children realized this wasn''t the appropriate place to discuss such matters. They followed the others and entered the portal, vanishing from sight.

    Only the Professor remained. Their conversation hadn''t escaped her notice.

    "Reaper of the Academy, huh..." she mumbled, stepping into the portal herself.

 Chapter 22 Seraphina

    ....

    There existed a garden in the Dimensional Academy. It was said that this was one of the most beautiful places in the Dimensional Academy where many exotic flowers and herbs could be found.

    The scenery alone was enough to make people lose themselves in the garden. In the middle of the garden, there existed a pond that was filled with crystal clear water, with rare fishes swimming within.

    A silver haired woman was sitting at the edge of the pond, with her feet inside the gentle water that had healing properties.

    She was holding a cup in her right hand, which was filled with tea that was freshly brewed from the rare herbs of the garden.

    She was the owner of this place, and it was her sanctuary. It was the place where she came to be with her inner self and relax.

    Unfortunately, the serene atmosphere was broken as a shadow appeared behind the woman.

    Before the shadow could speak, the silver haired woman asked, "Aren''t you supposed to be at the Awakening Ceremony?"

    "Lady Seraphina! We have two injured. We need you to heal them," the shadow spoke, his voice sounding extremely urgent.

    "Can''t you see that I am taking a break? Unless they are about to die at the very next moment, wait for me to finish my tea." Seraphina completely ignored the Shadow and took another sip.

    "It''s the descendants of the Ashborn and Esterin Family," the shadow responded.

    As soon as the woman heard, she spat out a mouthful of tea. The Esterin Family alone was troublesome, but the Ashborn Family was even worse. If something happened to them because she was taking a break, then she couldn''t imagine her future.

    "Cough, cough. Why didn''t you say that before? Will you take responsibility if something happens to them?" She stood up, unable to hide her flustered expressions.

    The cup in her hand disappeared as she turned about, revealing her face that was as pale as a sheet of paper. Her long ears were akin to an elf, and her beauty matched.

    She quickly left the Garden, and returned to the Medical Facility. Outside the facility, she placed her palm on the scanner. It took barely a fraction of a second to complete the scanning, and the mechanical door slid open.

    Seraphina rushed through the white corridors of the Medical Facility, her long silver braid trailing behind her. The shadow guard struggled to keep up.

    "Just how badly are they injured?" Seraphina asked. "Please tell me they are not on the verge of death?"

    "They both lost a significant amount of blood, Professor," the shadow guard reported. "The Esterin descendant in particular... his wounds are severe. He might actually die. The Ashborn Descendant is much better, but he has also bled a lot."

    Seraphina rubbed her forehead, realizing that things were even worse than she had thought. The Esterin family had already lost their eldest son at the Academy. If their youngest child died here as well, it would be a true disaster.

    "Bring the regeneration tanks immediately!" she ordered before pushing open the door. When she entered, she was met with the sight of the two boys lying unconscious on separate medical beds.

    As Rey Esterin had the insignia of his family on his clothes, she was able to identify him. It meant the other person was the descendant of the Ashborn.

    Elias was a mess of blood. Deep wounds criss crossed his chest and arms. His normally pale skin was ashen, and his breathing was shallow.

    "He pushed himself far beyond his limits," she muttered, more to herself than the shadow guard. "Such recklessness...typical of an Ashborn."

    Rey Von Esterin was even worse. His entire face was broken; he was struggling to even breathe. It was a miracle that he was still alive. Compared to him, Elias''s condition seemed heavenly.

    Soon, two transparent cylindrical tanks were brought in, each filled with a deep blue liquid. She picked up Elias and placed him inside one of the tanks. The shadow guard was instructed to place Rey in the other, which was filled to the brim.

    Both of them sank to the bottom of the tanks, floating like test subjects in some horror lab. However, even while submerged, they were still able to breathe. No, their breathing became even better.

    Their bodies were greedily absorbing the blue liquid, which helped stabilize their condition. As long as they were in the regeneration tanks, they would be healed within a few hours. However, Seraphina didn''t want it to take hours.

    With a wave of her hand, she summoned two orbs of healing energy. She placed them inside the tanks, making the healing energy grow even stronger.

    The orbs floated over the boys'' heads, bathing them in a soft, emerald light. Seraphina closed her eyes, focusing her concentration to channel her power into their wounded bodies through the orbs.

    "Lady Seraphina, can they be healed in twenty minutes?" The shadow asked, before offering an explanation. "I have to take them back to the Measurement Hall."

    He was only given thirty minutes to bring them back. And he had already lost a few minutes in the process.

    "They will be fine in a few minutes." Seraphina took her hands off the tanks, finishing what she had to do. "Just let them stay inside these tanks until they wake up."

    Through the transparent glass, she could see the wounds of the two youngsters healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    "That''s a relief." The Shadow Guard sighed in relief, before remembering something. "In that case, please allow me to take one of them to a different room."

    He was told to keep the two of them away, so that they didn''t start fighting after waking up. Now that everything had stabilized, he decided to take one of them to a different room and let them heal in peace.

    He selected Elias, as the boy was in a better condition and didn''t need constant monitoring. He grabbed the cylindrical tank out of the room, leaving Ester behind with Seraphina.

    S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 23 True Essence of an Architect

    After the condition of the two descendants was stabilized, Seraphina could finally relax. She sat on the chair, watching Rey heal.

    "The two of them barely awakened, and they are already so fierce. It seems like I will be extremely busy this year." She let out a sigh. "There goes my peaceful life."

    She talked to herself, bringing out the cup of tea that was still warm and fresh.

    Although the atmosphere was not as relaxing anymore, it was still better than nothing. She had a feeling that this was probably the most peaceful it was going to be this year, as another Ashborn beast had arrived.

    "They say that history finds a way of repeating itself. I really hope I don''t witness the birth of another Aliath Ashborn," she mumbled before taking a sip of the tea that didn''t feel sweet anymore.

    ....

    Elias was floating in the tank, where the blue liquid had almost turned transparent, as if all the medical efficacy had been used to heal him.

    Even though he was not as badly hurt as Rey, his body still greedily devoured the essence faster than Esterin did. Not only did his body heal his wounds, but his weakened state was also gone.

    His body didn''t look as fair as before. Finally, he looked more like a descendant of a decent family.

    It was said that he would wake up within five minutes. However, only a minute had passed when he suddenly opened his eyes.

    He found himself floating in a liquid that felt like water but was denser. He didn''t panic. If it was dangerous, he would have already been dead after all.

    Through the liquid and glass, he looked at his surroundings and saw he was alone in a room. There was no one else there.

    He was surprised that he was able to breathe inside the liquid. His body had never felt better.

    He looked at his arms. Previously, it had looked like he had nothing but bones. There was no mass on his body. But now, he looked like a normal twelve-year-old was supposed to look.

    He touched his chest and noticed that there were no wounds. All his wounds had healed and it didn''t hurt anymore.

    ''Is this thing used for healing?'' he thought, as he reached out his hand to grip the top of the tank''s walls. He pushed his body up and jumped out.

    He was already bare-chested, as his clothes were torn apart in the battle. Only his pants were somewhat intact. The first thing he did after getting out of the regeneration tank was check his pockets.

    Only after he verified that the two vials were still there was he relieved. He really wanted to try merging with them, especially since the first merger had already helped him a lot. He wanted to see how this merger could change him for the better.

    Still, he controlled his urges and didn''t bring out the vials here. Although the room felt empty, he couldn''t be certain that there was no one here.

    If there was any place which could ensure some semblance of privacy, it was the toilet. He was sure that if there was a room, there was going to be a toilet here as well.

    There were two doors in this room, both being made from some unknown metal. He ignored the bigger door as that felt like the exit of the room. He selected the other metallic door.

    The door didn''t have any doorknob, or any handle to hold it. He wasn''t even sure how to open it. Did he have to push it? Fortunately, he didn''t have to think much about it. The moment he reached near the door, the door slid open as if it was mechanically operated.

    Looking at the door, Elias felt quite interested. Although earth also had doors like these, something was really fascinating for him about these mechanical things.

    He didn''t have time to waste so he didn''t think much about it. He stepped inside the toilet, that was just as grand. It was one tenth the size of the room where he came from, but it didn''t mean it was small.

    The toilet was five meters wide and seven meters long with almost all facilities, including shower and bathtubs. There was also a small glass room which he didn''t understand the purpose of.

    He didn''t think much about it and pulled out one of the vials at random from his pocket. It was a light brown vial, which contained the Dust of Creation. He opened the vial and a thick scent spread out. The scent felt similar to the scent of wet sand.

    ........

    Material: Dust of Creation

    Weight: 1 Gram

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Merger Possibility: High Possibility

    ........

    He was relieved to see that the merger of this material was highly possible. Just like before, he tapped his chest and said, "Confirm Merger."

    He braced himself for another storm, and closed his eyes. He was prepared for the pain, but to his surprise, no pain came. Even the storm was nowhere to be seen.

    He opened his eyes, and was greeted with something unexpected.

    ........

    Materials selected are incompatible. Please select another material.

    ........

    "Huh?" Elias looked on in disbelief. This was the first time he had encountered the incompatibility. Was he not compatible with this merger? Then what could he even use it for?

    He kept the vials back in his pocket and opened the next vial, which contained the Essence of Lightning. He again tried to merge it with himself.

    ........

    Materials selected are incompatible. Please select another material. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ........

    "Just what is this?" Once again, the same rejection came. His body wasn''t compatible with these materials.

    "Do I have to use it on some lifeless material?" he frowned, lost in deep thought. "Or do I need to create something else with these materials?"

    At that moment, he didn''t realise that it was with this thought, he came across the true essence of his Class. His fate was shifted to a different path, one that was going to change the universe forever.

 Chapter 24 Eliass Class

    "Are you inside?" A sudden knock on the door caught Elias'' attention.

    He quickly kept both vials back in his pocket and walked over to the door, which opened as he stepped near it.

    With the door opening, Elias was greeted by a person who looked less like a person and more like a shadow. He couldn''t even see the face of the person, as if darkness itself had taken human form.

    "It''s good to see that you are awake. Please wear these clothes and return to the Measurement Hall with me," the shadow said, revealing the pair of clothes it was carrying in its hands.

    Elias'' shirt was already destroyed, and even the rest of his clothes were covered in blood. He couldn''t return to the Measurement Ceremony like this.

    "Although these clothes aren''t as fancy as the ones that you were wearing, it''s the best I could do." The shadow even sounded apologetic.

    It didn''t wait for Elias to respond and left the room, saying, "I will be waiting for you outside. Please try to be fast."

    Elias returned to the bathroom, and took off his old clothes that were stained with blood. He entered the shower, and washed off the blood that was all over his body.

    After quickly washing off the blood, he left the shower, water dripping down his body. He wore the new clothes that were left behind by the shadow. He shifted the two small vials in the pockets of his new pants before finally stepping out of the hall.

    As soon as he left, the shadow grabbed his hand. Elias again felt as if he was pulled through space. Before he could even react, he noticed that his surroundings had changed.

    He was in a closed space that looked like a hall. In the hall, he noticed many other children that had taken part in the Awakening Ceremony with him.

    There was a giant stone slab in the center of the hall. The children were going to the stone slab and placing their hands on it.

    Next to the stone slab, there was a screen. When a child placed his hand on the stone slab, certain information appeared on the screen.

    ............

    Class: Auxiliary

    Sub-Class: Blacksmith

    Class Grade: D

    Highest Potential: B

    ............

    The child who had touched the stone slab, stared at the screen in disbelief. It was as if all his dreams had come crashing down.

    There were three main classes in this world: Creator, Destroyer and Auxiliary. He had received the class that was considered the worst of them all.

    Even amongst the Auxiliary Class, he received the Blacksmith which was only at a Grade D. He didn''t even dare raise his head in embarrassment.

    He simply turned around and walked to the south side of the hall, standing with other children that looked just as dejected.

    Those of the Creator Class were standing in the left side of the hall, feeling quite proud and relaxed. A few of them looked even arrogant, as they had received a higher grade class.

    The right side of the hall was taken by the Destroyer Class. Elias had just arrived and he could already see the gazes of those people.

    Many of them looked dejected. However, it was not because the Destroyer Class was bad. Instead, it was because Elias was also supposed to be in the Destroyer Class.

    Elias also noticed Rey Esterin, who had arrived here before him. If looks could kill, then Rey would have killed him a thousand times over. However, he seemed hesitant.

    Elias wasn''t sure if it was because he was scared from the past beating, or if the Professor had warned him against creating any disturbance in the Measurement Ceremony.

    Rey placed his hand on the stone slab, and a few seconds later, the information on the screen changed.

    ............

    Class: Destroyer

    Sub-Class: Elemental Mage

    Class Grade: S

    Highest Potential: SS

    ............

    "SS Rank Potential... Not bad. It means you can evolve your class up to SS Grade." It was rare to hear compliments from the Professor, but even she looked pleased. This time, there were quite a few good seedlings.

    Rey Esterin looked at his information. He had already guessed his class, but the highest potential still surprised him.

    He felt extremely pleased. An Elemental Mage was able to use magic of all elements. In the battle, he was only able to use wind-element magic, but that was only because he had just awakened.

    Although the end of the awakening ceremony was embarrassing for him, it had somewhat made up for it. His class was only going to get stronger. Moreover, even if Elias was strong now because of his physical-type class, he was only going to get weaker.

    He looked at Elias, unable to hide his hostility.

    "Don''t forget that this is not the place to fight. Go and stand with the others of the Destroyer Class," the Professor told Rey, who nodded and moved aside.

    He knew that he didn''t have to be in a hurry. Elias was definitely going to be in the Destroyer Class with him. He could always wash away his shame.

    Almost all the children had finished their measurements. There was only one person left, and everyone was looking in his direction.

    Elias stepped forward, and approached the Measurement Stone. Just like before, he was able to use a line that led to the information about the Measurement Stone.

    .......... Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Material Composition: Soul of Judgement (94 Percent), Stone of Evolution (5 Percent), Incarnated Laws (1 Percent)

    Material Stability: 70 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    ..........

    The Stone Slab had the same three materials as the Awakening Stone. Only the composition was different.

    In the awakening stones, the stone of evolution was ninety five percent, but here, the Soul of Judgement took the majority. The two stones certainly had the same origins.

    He was curious about the origins of the stone, but more than that, he was curious about his own class.

    Initially, he was worried that his skills might be exposed. But the information didn''t contain skills, which made him more comfortable.

    He placed his hand on the stone slab, and looked at the screen.

    The moment he placed his hand on the stone slab, the information of Rey disappeared from the screen and new information appeared.

    "Hmm?" The Professor frowned looking at the screen. "Is this for real?"

    In another space, the Dean of the Academy also stood up in disbelief. "How is this possible? How can an Ashborn be... that?"

    She was looking forward to seeing the class that the descendant of the Ashborn had received, especially since almost all the Ashborn Descendants had received monstrous classes in the past, except a rare few.

    She was even more interested after hearing about the fight between Elias and Rey, where Rey was almost destroyed. However, this was not what she expected.

    ..........

    Class: Auxiliary

    Sub-Class: Architect

    Class Grade: SS

    Highest Potential: #

    ..........

    "He''s an auxiliary?" Rey also looked in disbelief, until he burst out laughing. In the silence of the hall, his laughter echoed loud.

 Chapter 25 Manipulation

    Elias Ashborn had received the Auxiliary Class. Even if people of ordinary families received this class, they were left disappointed. But now, the son of one of the founding families had become an Auxiliary.

    It would''ve still been salvageable if he had a good sub-class. However, he was an Architect. It was a class that had never appeared before, but everyone understood what it meant.

    There was already a profession called an architect. They were people who were responsible for planning and building infrastructure.

    Looking at the name of the sub-class, everyone thought that it was the same thing. It was a class that was even worse than a Blacksmith, who could at least make weapons.

    The Professor was also at a loss for quite some time. She remembered the moment she grabbed Elias'' hand to stop him.

    At that moment, her instincts had made her feel as if she was holding something extremely dangerous. She thought it was because his class was dangerous. Was it just her misconception? She wasn''t certain anymore.

    Elias''s father was in a Destroyer Class. Even his four elder brothers were in the Destroyer Class. She thought Elias was going to be the same. She had expected many scenarios, but in none of those scenarios, Elias had Auxiliary Class.

    Elias took his hands off the stone slab. While everyone was focused on his Class, he was observing the Grade.

    The others were looking down on his class because they had no knowledge of it, but he had already received a taste of this class. Unlike the people born in this world, he wasn''t biased toward a particular class.

    Although he would''ve liked to have the Destroyer Class, he knew that his class was much more than Auxiliary. In his eyes, this class was more destructive than anything.

    He didn''t say anything to anyone. He didn''t care about their strange gazes as he silently walked over to the Auxiliary Class.

    As he walked away, everyone''s attention was focused on him. No one noticed the information screen, where the word "Auxiliary" started flickering, with the shadows of other words appearing for a brief moment.

    If one were to observe carefully, they would have seen "Destroyer" and "Creator" appear on the same screen in place of "Auxiliary" amidst the flickering. However, the information soon disappeared.

    With that, the Measurement Ceremony was over. The classes had been assigned, and the children were divided into three groups.

    The ones in the Destroyer Class were looking extremely relieved. Even if Elias didn''t have a good class, they were glad that he wasn''t in the same class as them.

    The Creator Class was also paying particular attention to Elias, especially the ones that had watched his brutality before.

    The most disappointed were those in the Auxiliary Class. They couldn''t believe their bad luck today. Not only had they received the Auxiliary Class, but they also had to be in the same group as Elias Ashborn!

    Almost all of them maintained a safe distance from him, as if he was some kind of plague.

    The Professor came out of her daze. Even though it was a shocking revelation, it was the reality. Moreover, she even felt somewhat relieved that it had happened.

    It was a good thing in her eyes that Elias was in the Auxiliary Class. If he was in the Destroyer Class, then he was definitely going to fight Rey in the future until one of them was dead. If he was in the Auxiliary Class, it meant there was going to be a safe distance between the two.

    Moreover, no other major family descendants had received Auxiliary Class, so even if Elias didn''t have a powerful class, he could still basically lord over the Auxiliary Class with the help of his family name alone.

    "Now that the measurement ceremony is over, all of you can leav-" the Professor opened her lips, telling everyone to leave. However, just as she was about to complete her sentence, she came to a sudden stop.

    She suddenly frowned as she looked above. She asked in a low voice, "Are you being serious? How will we justify that?"

    Out of nowhere, she had received a message from the Dean.

    "But if we do that..." She tried to speak, but she was again stopped as the Dean insisted over something.

    Eventually, the Professor could only sigh. She couldn''t go against the instructions of the Dean, even if the orders didn''t make sense for her.

    "Fine. I will do as you ordered." She rubbed her forehead in frustration.

    She looked at Elias and said, "Elias Ashborn, you will be in the Destroyer Class. Move over to the right group."

    .....

    "First Silas Ashborn asked me for a favor, and now you... Are you happy now?" Back in the realm of the mirror, the Dean looked back.

    Behind her, a man was standing. The middle-aged man was dressed in royal attire. Each article of his clothing was a treasured artifact that could even resist attacks from mythical beasts.

    On his chest was a marking that looked like it depicted an eagle soaring through the sky. The eagle was carrying a bleeding serpent that was on the verge of death. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The man didn''t have any presence and felt like a ghost. However, the Dean knew his identity wasn''t simple. He was the Patriarch of the Esterin family.

    She had thought that the Patriarch of the Esterin family wasn''t going to attend the Awakening Ceremony. However, just when she was distracted by Elias''s measurement, he appeared behind her.

    She didn''t know how, but the Patriarch of the Esterin family, Kiel von Esterin, had learned about the incident during the awakening ceremony where his son had almost died.

    She had thought he was going to create trouble, but he simply asked her for one favor in exchange for forgetting the incident.

    His favor involved sending Elias Ashborn into the Destroyed Class so that his son could take revenge on his own. He wasn''t going to allow Elias to escape to the Auxiliary Class.

    Kiel Esterin didn''t say anything else. He simply turned around, leaving after achieving what he wanted.

    "I know what you want. But don''t forget that the child is still an Ashborn. If something goes wrong, it might be your son who dies," the Dean reminded the Patriarch of the Esterin Family. "If that happens, you can''t blame the Academy as this was your request."

    The corner of Kiel''s lips crept up. A portal opened in front of him.

    "You think too much, Freya," he said before entering the portal.

 Chapter 26 Eliminating Variables

    Elias approached the Destroyer Class. Even he didn''t understand why he was assigned to it when he was an Auxiliary. Still, he felt somewhat relieved. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t know what each class was taught, but he was certain that the Auxiliary Classes could never help him learn what he truly wanted to know. He needed to learn the tricks of the Destroyer Class, especially since his purpose was similar.

    He walked over to the right side of the hall and stood next to Rey Esterin and other descendants of the major families who were standing at the front of the group.

    "All of you can follow the envoys. They will take you to the professor assigned to your class. That is it for the ceremony." The woman, who looked like Medusa, turned around after taking another subtle glance at Elias.

    A portal opened in front of her, and she also left.

    The Creator Class was the first to leave through another portal opened by the envoy standing before them.

    Next was the Destroyer Class, as another large portal opened.

    Rey Von Esterin stepped forward, but not before whispering in Elias''s ear, "Welcome to the slaughterhouse, little lamb."

    He stepped inside the portal. Even though Elias was in the Auxiliary Class, most people from the Destroyer Class looked somewhat scared of him. They didn''t walk past Elias, as if waiting for him to enter first.

    Elias also stepped inside the portal, and only then did the others follow.

    .....

    Elias had thought he would appear in a similarly grand hall, where the professor would be waiting for them. But the moment he stepped out of the portal, he started shivering as freezing winds brushed past his skin.

    As far as his eyes could see, there was only snow. The sky itself was covered in clouds, with snow continuously falling.

    "What is this place?" Not just him, but the others also looked just as surprised.

    They didn''t understand where they were, but looking at the sky, it seemed like an entirely different world. The sky here was different from what they had seen in the Dimensional Realm.

    They couldn''t even find the professor anywhere. Many of them turned to the envoy to ask him questions, but he had also gone missing. Only the youngsters of the Destroyer Class could be seen in the surroundings.

    Rey was the first to react. He formed a protective layer of wind around him, to keep the cold winds away. The others also took action to protect themselves from the cold.

    Even those who didn''t have any artefacts to protect themselves from the cold, used extra layers of clothing.

    Only Elias was left behind. The clothes that he wore initially, protected him from extreme cold or extreme heat. However, those clothes had long been destroyed.

    He was wearing the clothes that were given to him by the Shadow Guard temporarily, and it had no protection.

    Since he couldn''t take any protective measures against the cold, he decided to embrace it. It wasn''t as if the cold was going to kill him, even if it was uncomfortable.

    Boom-

    Suddenly, a loud explosion resounded. Elias walked toward the source of the explosion, but someone ran past him.

    He rushed forward, without any caution. He was certain that if there was an explosion, there was life. It was probably the professor calling for them, or so he thought.

    Elias followed him, and the others kept pace. However, unlike the first person, they didn''t seem to be in a hurry.

    He watched the young boy running with all his might, as if it were a race to see who could reach the professor first.

    "Arghh!" A loud cry echoed as the person suddenly disappeared. The roar grew more distant with each passing second, making everyone more cautious.

    They soon reached the place where the boy had vanished and only then realized what had happened. They were on a cliff covered in snow. The snowfall also lowered visibility.

    The boy was in such a hurry that he didn''t notice anything amiss and fell off the cliff. The first death had occurred in the Destroyer Class, and it happened before they could even see the professor.

    Again, the explosion resounded. They saw a bright light in the distance, and the sounds of explosions only grew more frequent. It was less like a signal and more as if someone was fighting.

    "D-did he die?" A girl asked, cautiously peeking off the cliff.

    "He was a fool. It''s better if fools like him die fast, or they will only make our class look worse." Another boy chimed in, not having any pity for the boy.

    Rey was also looking at the distant explosions. However, his gaze soon shifted to Elias, who was standing at the edge of the cliff. A little push, and he would fall off the cliff and die.

    He started condensing wind in his hands, as if wondering whether he should do it. He wanted to kill Elias with his own hands, but in his present state, he wasn''t sure if he could.

    He had to master the other elements to crush Elias so that he didn''t repeat the same mistake as last time. However, that was going to take time. If Elias dropped out of the academy by then and returned to his family, would he ever have his revenge?

    Although this didn''t feel like the perfect revenge, it did eliminate all variables and ensured that Elias was going to die at his hands.

    Still, attacking someone from behind felt cowardly. He at least wanted to face Elias when he killed him, to see his face contort in horror.

    "Elias?" he suddenly called out.

    "Huh?" Elias turned around, hearing his name.

    The moment he looked back, he saw the grin on Rey''s face.

    "Have a safe trip to the afterlife." Rey tossed out another condensed wind blast, which was almost impossible to avoid.

    He didn''t send just one wind blast, but multiple, to make sure Elias couldn''t dodge.

 Chapter 27 Prison of Frost Apocalypse

    Rey Esterin attacked Elias, not even giving him enough time to react. He was certain that this was the end of Elias Ashborn, the person who had almost killed him in the Awakening Ceremony.

    "Isn''t this place getting a little too lively?" a feminine voice called out, and a figure appeared in front of Elias, who was prepared to use Extraction to protect himself.

    Seeing the unknown person, Elias was momentarily lost. With her appearance, the surroundings became even colder.

    She didn''t even have to move a finger to stop the attacks, as the condensed orbs of wind blast froze into thick ice. The Wind Blast itself froze and fell to the ground before it could even reach Elias.

    "Who are you?!" Rey exclaimed, shivering in the cold. Even his artifacts and his wind protection couldn''t stop the frost from affecting him.

    He looked at the girl in front of him in disbelief. She looked barely any older than him, yet she was able to stop his attacks with such ease.

    Even Elias was initially shivering with the increased cold. However, just as the cold began to infiltrate his body, he felt a warmth rising from within his bones.

    The cold had triggered something within the Dragon Bones that resisted the cold. In the entire place, almost everyone was shivering, except Elias.

    "One of you is already dead. I would get scolded if too many of you died before we even began the introductory class itself. So please hold back for now," the girl said before retracting the extra cold, and things returned to normal.

    The children sighed in relief, as the excess cold was gone. They could finally breathe.

    The girl snapped her fingers, and cold winds started blowing, making all the children behind her rise in the air. They flew around her until they were in front of her, standing in a group.

    "Now it looks much better." She started clapping like a happy child.

    Only now was Elias able to see the face of the person. The girl was dressed in a beautiful white gown that looked untouched by the snow. Her snow-white skin seemed to complement the frosty scenery.

    The most fascinating thing about her was her identity. The way she talked, it became evident that she was the Professor they were supposed to meet. That could easily justify her strength.

    If she was a Professor, then it meant that she was much older than she looked. Despite that, she looked like a child. Had she frozen her aging as well? he thought, before quickly shaking the thought off.

    Rey clicked his tongue, frustrated that he had failed to kill Elias.

    "Next time, you will not surv¡ª" He tried to warn Elias again, but this time Elias didn''t hold back either.

    His fist easily broke through the dense layer of wind protection that was surrounding Rey. He punched Rey in the face, sending him flying away. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What are you doing?" the Professor asked Elias, narrowing her eyes. She had just warned them against it, and they were ignoring her already?

    "You said that we can''t kill others. But you never said anything about not breaking a few teeth," Elias answered.

    He had already had enough. This was the second time Rey had tried to kill him. Just because he couldn''t kill him here, didn''t mean he was going to let Rey walk all over him.

    "What is your name?" The Professor asked Elias, who was wearing ordinary clothes. He didn''t even have any family insignia, which made him look like he was from an ordinary family.

    "Elias Ashborn." Elias answered.

    He didn''t know what kind of bias the professor might have against him if she thought he was from an ordinary family that couldn''t compare to the Esterins. She might even try to help Esterin deal with him.

    He intentionally told her his complete name to make sure that she understood that she couldn''t afford to pick sides. He thought the girl would react with shock at his family name, but to his surprise, her reaction was completely different.

    She didn''t show any intense reaction. She simply asked, "You''re Aliath''s youngest brother?"

    Aliath Ashborn... Elias had heard that name many times, especially since he came to the Academy. He was the eldest son of the Ashborn family, who had left his name almost everywhere.

    There was no record in the Dimensional Academy that was not broken by Aliath. There wasn''t a single professor who wasn''t scared of Aliath when he was at the academy.

    In some aspects, Elias felt that Aliath was even more intimidating to people than his father, the patriarch of the Ashborn family.

    He could only nod in response to the girl''s question, wondering why she asked about his Eldest Brother instead.

    "Did you know my eldest brother?" he asked the girl, wondering if they were friends in the past. Had she studied with his brother or something?

    "Why wouldn''t I know him?" the girl asked. She didn''t say anything else, but from her tone, it didn''t seem like she was talking about a friend. Elias had a foreboding feeling. Just what had his brother done?

    Had he made a mistake by telling her his family name? He wondered. Then again, he was sure that it was only a matter of time before she found out about his identity.

    ''Does she have some enmity with Aliath?'' he thought, finding it hard to read the girl''s face. The childlike innocence was nowhere to be seen anymore.

    Rey could also be seen returning, wiping the blood off his lips. He had tried to kill Elias, only to be hit again. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

    He was even frustrated at the Professor. If that person hadn''t interfered, he might have actually succeeded in killing Elias. But now, that opportunity was gone.

    Even if he were to fight now, he was going to be at a disadvantage. Once again, he was back at the first stage where he needed to learn other elements.

    "I have a feeling that you two want to kill each other. Although I did say that I can''t allow you to kill each other before the class, I didn''t say that I wouldn''t give you an opportunity," the girl said, and with her reaction, Elias grew even more certain.

    She was letting it out on him, while appearing to be unbiased.

    "Do you see this world?" she asked all the children, spreading out her arms. "This is a world that is suffering through a frost apocalypse! And for your first class, this will be your prison and your battlefield!"

 Chapter 28 Humans of Frost

    "Can anyone here tell me why the Destroyer Class is given such importance in our world?" Lilian posed a question to the children who had been assigned to the Destroyer Class.

    "Unlike the Creator Class, we can''t create anything to help society. We can only destroy. So why? Why are we given such importance?" Her gaze swept over the children.

    "Is it because it''s one of the strongest classes?" a little girl answered, but with a hesitant expression.

    "Anyone else?" Lilian didn''t comment on the answer and asked again.

    "It''s because the others are scared of us," a boy answered, appearing more confident than the girl before him.

    "If they''re scared of you, why don''t they just kill all of you? Why bother training you?" the professor asked, leaving the boy stunned.

    For a moment, silence fell over the room. It was only broken when Rey chimed in, "They can''t kill us precisely because they are scared. However, they are not scared of us."

    "They are scared of the Parents, the strongest beings of the Destroyer Class," he explained.

    For the first time, Lilian seemed satisfied with the answer. "It looks like you''re not a complete fool."

    Hearing her words, Rey''s lips twitched. Was she praising him or insulting him? he wondered.

    "That answer is correct," Lilian said, her voice rising so everyone could hear her clearly. "The reason we are given importance is because they are scared. The moment they stop being scared is the moment that you would be eliminated without hesitation."

    "For now, your Parents are keeping the balance along with other Seniors of the Destroyer Class. But there will come a time when the next generation will have to take over. When your parents are gone, you will need strength."

    "Your strength can not only protect you, but also protect your future generations. Here in the Destroyer Class, we give absolute importance to strength! Only those who are strong deserve to survive."

    "Throughout your time at the academy, you will have to fight for your evolution. You might have to walk over millions of corpses, so that one day you can instill the same fear in the hearts of your enemies as your parents do."

    "To make sure you understand this," she said, clapping her hands. A shadow guard appeared behind her.

    He walked forward and placed a mechanical box before Lilian, and disappeared as swiftly as he had appeared.

    Lilian placed her palm on the box. It hummed softly, verifying her identity before slowly opening to reveal its contents. The large box seemed to be filled with black analog watches, their hands already ticking. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "There are exactly seventy watches inside." After opening the box, she stepped back. "Each of you will take one and wear it on your wrist."

    While the others quickly followed the professor''s instructions, Elias was lost in thought. The box seemed to have been prepared long ago.

    There were initially seventy-one people who had awakened the Destroyer Class, but only seventy watches were prepared. Did she already expect one of them to die? Or rather, did she want it to happen?

    The test was only prepared for seventy people. It wasn''t that she arrived too late to save that boy. Instead, she was probably watching it happen.

    Even though she looked like a good person, she was still a Destroyer. To reach this stage, she must have destroyed more worlds than he could count. It was normal for life to lose all value in her eyes, as long as it wasn''t someone high-profile.

    He also walked forward and picked up a watch, again noticing the information about the materials it was made from.

    ......

    Material Composition: Eliestus Metal (40 percent), Teleportation Stone (10 percent), Detection Stone (9 percent), Chronarium Crystal (15 percent), Voidsteel (10 percent), Hide of Phase Panther (6 percent), Starlight Glass (10 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 10 millimeters

    Material Stability: 95 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .......

    Just as he had expected, the watch was far from ordinary. Most of the materials seemed somewhat normal, but the teleportation stone and the detection stone stood out from the rest.

    After picking up a watch, Elias walked back. Like the others, he wore the watch on his wrist. If it was dangerous, he could always use extraction on it.

    "Now, let me tell you more about this class." The Professor raised her hand. Her ring started shining and shot out an illusion. Multiple semi-transparent screens appeared all around the students, created by the illusion.

    On one of the screens, Elias saw an apartment building shrouded in snow. Many corpses were lying outside, frozen.

    In another scene, he saw a hallway where a group of men were knocking on a door. When the door wasn''t opened, they broke it down and rushed inside.

    They started beating up the person inside. They left the person bleeding, taking all the food the person had saved as they left.

    In the next screen, they saw a room that looked like it was from the same apartment building. The only difference was that the room was warm, and comfortable.

    There were heaters running inside the room, keeping it warm. Even though there was no electricity, the owner of that room seemed to have generators within his room. The man was sitting on the couch, eating snacks.

    On another screen, he saw a grand mansion under attack from all sides. People were trying to break in, but the mansion''s owner was trying to stop them using some unknown spatial power.

    The next screen showed mutated beasts attacking a village, only to be stopped by another man that also had some unknown power.

    There were even screens which showed scenes that could only be described as truly evil. People were being sold for a can of food.

    There were hundreds of such screens, each showing how far humans could fall for their own survival, or how they used the powers that they gained in an apocalypse for their pleasure.

    "What you see is the current state of this world. I have been preparing for this stage for a few months. And now it is in the perfect state for your first class," Lilian said.

 Chapter 29 Three Ways

    "Are you the one who created this frost apocalypse?" Elias asked, as that''s what her words implied. She also had the power to control the cold, so it all started to make sense.

    The only thing he didn''t understand was the power that people in this world were using. Did they also use Awakening Stones?

    He couldn''t help but ask, "Do their powers also have something to do with you?"

    "That is correct. However, unlike you, their powers are not permanent," Lilian nodded as if there was no secret to it. "I only used something that allowed them to temporarily gain abilities. However, none of them know that their abilities are only temporary. They seem to believe that it is some kind of mutation."

    "Some of them even think that just because they have stockpiled items worth billions of their currency, they can survive for an eternity," she said, not even having the slightest sympathy for them. "It is always fascinating to see their efforts to survive. However, they were never destined for it."

    Hearing her words, Elias could clearly see a glimpse of his brother that ruined earth. Then again, everyone in the Destroyer Class was the same. For them, all these lower worlds were a playing field, either used for training or entertainment.

    This world''s fate was the same as the fate of his world. In some aspects, it was even worse, as these people were living under a false sense of hope.

    Although it seemed pitiful, he knew that he couldn''t afford to have any sympathy for them. If he grew weak because of his emotions, then he was never going to achieve what he wanted.

    Even if he had to go against his own consciousness, he couldn''t take a step back. For him, whether it was a lower world or a higher world, they were all his stepping stones.

    He didn''t question Lilian any further and waited for her to continue with her explanation about the first class.

    "Your first class will last for seven days. Those who fail to get satisfactory scores will be expelled. And if you are unlucky, you might even be killed by the other participants before the seven days are up."

    "You will get your initial rankings based on your scores. The person with the highest score will also get an additional reward. That person will become the Leader of your class and will gain certain additional privileges in the future."

    "How will we be scored? Does it depend on the number of people that we kill in this apocalypse?" a girl asked, breaking her silence.

    Just like Rey and Elias, she was also a descendant of a powerful family, but for some reason, she didn''t stand out much. She was like a ghost that could erase her presence.

    Even Elias seemed curious about her. He remembered seeing her multiple times, but every time he took his eyes off her, it was as if he completely forgot about her.

    "There are three ways to gain a score. What you said is the first and most recommended method, as that is the purpose of this test. It will make sure that you come to terms with the deaths of people around you. It will also help you have your first evolution if you are lucky enough."

    "The more people or beasts that you kill, the higher your score. The moment you press the buttons on your watches, you will be teleported to a random part of this world. That will be your domain. Only the people you kill within your domain will be counted toward your score."

    "For every hundred ordinary living beings, you will get one point. For every human with special abilities, or a mutated beast, you will get one point."

    "For fairness, we have ensured that every domain has almost the same number of people. If there are multiple people with the highest score, the time taken for completion will be given priority," Lilian explained.

    Many appeared satisfied with her explanation. If it was only about killing the people of this world, then it was truly a safe test for them. Even if they couldn''t get the highest score, at least they could survive.

    They just had to make sure that they weren''t in last place. They didn''t care about the lives of the people of this world. They only cared about their own lives.

    It was much better than fighting against other classmates, many of whom were much stronger, like Elias, Rey, and the other descendants of the Founding Families.

    "What is the second method of getting a score then?" Rey asked the Professor, believing that it couldn''t be that simple.

    "The second method is to kill a classmate," Lilian answered, sending chills down the spines of those who had just relaxed, thinking that they were safe.

    "There are a total of seventy domains. You can enter the neighboring domain of your classmate," Lilian continued with her explanation.

    "If you kill ordinary people in their domains, it will only help their score. However, if you kill your classmate instead, you will get all the points that your classmate has gained. That classmate''s domain will also become a part of your own domain."

    "Just remember that the upper limit on the deaths of classmates is ten. If ten of them are dead, your first class will be over right there, and the scores will be tallied."

    Many were horrified at the revelation. Didn''t it mean they could actually die if their domains appeared next to the domains of the descendants? S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If they were amongst the unlucky ten, then they were as good as dead. Just what kind of class was it? Did they come here to learn or to die?

    Unlike them, Rey looked very satisfied. As long as he was in his domain, he had time to become stronger and develop more Elements. After that, he could go straight for Elias if his domain was nearby.

    "You said there are three methods? What is the third method?" Elias was the last person to ask the question.

    They had already covered killing people of this world or their classmates. If there was really a third method, then it was strange. He didn''t think it had anything to do with killing.

 Chapter 30 The only person that came close

    "Forget about the third method," Lilian said with complete seriousness. "It''s something no one has ever been able to complete. But if you''re curious, I''ll tell you a little about it."

    "The third method gives you the highest points and ensures that you become the highest ranker even if you don''t kill a single person from this world." As she spoke, the other youngsters grew curious about her words.

    Was there really a method that could secure them the highest rank right away? But if even the Professor was saying it was better for them to forget about it, given their abilities, they could only wonder how dangerous that method was.

    "The third method simply requires you to..." She stepped forward and looked Elias in the eyes. "...save this world. After seven days, all life forms here will go extinct, even if they survive your onslaught."

    "This world will only last for seven days, and after that, I will have to put an end to it. So the third method, for you, is to make sure that this world lasts more than seven days."

    "What?" Rey raised his brows, realizing the absurdity of the third method. They had to protect this world from being destroyed at the hands of the Professor? Didn''t that mean they had to kill the Professor before the sunrise of the eighth day?

    No wonder he had heard his brothers complain about the difficulty of their first class. He had tried asking them for details, but they hadn''t given him any. They only told him never to even think about going for the third option if he didn''t want to die.

    The others also thought that the third option was completely absurd. It was impossible for a student who had just awakened to stop the Queen of Frost.

    It seemed as if this option was simply there to mock them, to show them that even if they could destroy thousands of people with their abilities, there were still monsters they couldn''t touch without true strength. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "There has only been one person who ever came close to completing the third option in their first class, but even he failed in the end," she said. "So you''d better not waste your time on it unless you want to lose a few limbs."

    "The person who came closest to completing the third option... Was it Aliath?" Elias asked, feeling that he finally had an inkling about the reason behind the sourness between Lilian and his eldest brother.

    Lilian didn''t answer Elias, but her emotions seemed to fluctuate before recovering quickly.

    She ignored his question and returned to the main topic. "All of you, press the first button on your watches. It will teleport you to a random location within your domains. If you press the second button, it will show you the map and the boundary of your domains."

    She turned around and walked back towards the cliff while the sounds of explosions continued in the distance.

    "Your time starts now," she stated, holding her hands behind her back.

    Even if she didn''t answer him, her silence was enough for Elias to confirm his assumption. This woman was not a classmate of his eldest brother.

    Instead, she was the Professor of the Destroyer Class when his eldest brother first joined. It meant she was much older than even his eldest brother.

    Although he wanted to know more about her relationship with the Ashborns, he could feel that he wasn''t going to get any answers.

    The other children also started pressing the first button on their watches, disappearing into nothingness. For them, it was a race against time. They had to get familiar with the domain as soon as they could, before the others could even think about targeting them.

    Rey glanced at Elias before pressing his watch and disappeared as well. Only Elias was left behind, watching the distant back of Lilian.

    "If you''re thinking about attempting the third option right now, then you should remember: you will die the moment you move." Lilian didn''t even look back, but her warning was stern.

    Around a million spears made from ice materialized all around Elias, as if taunting him to move. A single movement from his feet, and the spears would rain down on him.

    Elias looked at the spears, having no doubt that he would die if he moved forward. Even extraction wasn''t going to save him when the number of spears was so high.

    In the end, he didn''t say anything and simply pressed the first button on his watch, disappearing as well.

    After all the children were gone, Lilian was the only person left behind. All the spears that she had conjured turned into specks of frost that merged with the atmosphere.

    She raised her hand, gently touching her forehead. As her bangs were moved aside by her fingers, a deep scar came to light. No amount of healing in this world had managed to heal the scar she had received.

    ....

    Elias disappeared from the mountain of frost. His body traveled through space, where he felt as if it was being pulled from all directions.

    That feeling only lasted for a fraction of a second. He appeared in a different space that was cold, but not as cold as the mountain where he had come from.

    The moment he appeared in the room, he immediately started observing his surroundings, especially since the room felt familiar.

    It took him a moment to realize that it was the same type of room he had seen on one of the screens. It was an apartment in the building, where a group of men had barged into someone''s room to snatch their food.

    It was the same apartment where he had seen a man who seemed to have some unique abilities of his own. On that screen, he had seen that man have the time of his life in the apartment that he seemed to have prepared in advance for this apocalypse.

    Tuck~ Tuck~

    As Elias was preparing to check other rooms of this apartment, he heard a heavy knocking on the door.

 Chapter 31 You are not the predators here

    "We are here from the Social Welfare Committee. We are here to collect resources that can help more people survive. Please open the door," the voice came from outside as the knocking on the door intensified.

    Soon, the knocking turned into banging. "If you have resources, please don''t be selfish and donate some of them. And if you don''t have any, then we can give you some to help you survive. Please open the door for us!"

    Elias didn''t have to think much about the identity of the people outside. They were the same people who had just beaten up an old man, robbing him of whatever little food he had. As for sharing food with the needy, one would have to be a fool to believe that.

    Despite that, Elias walked to the door and opened it for the outsiders. In any case, the door wasn''t sturdy enough to last long if they tried to break it.

    As soon as he opened the door, the people pushed him aside and barged inside as if it were their home. They didn''t even ask Elias if he had any spare food and simply started searching for whatever they could find.

    "There is nothing here?" The group soon returned after searching all over the place. All they found was a corpse in the kitchen that seemed to belong to a person who had starved to death.

    After returning, all of them surrounded Elias. They could see Elias''s weird clothes which didn''t have even a speck of dust.

    Even though he was a child, he looked wealthy just from his clothes alone. But more importantly, he didn''t seem as if he had been starved for even a day.

    "Where did you hide your food?" one of them asked, pointing a hockey stick at Elias''s face, who simply looked at them as if they were fools.

    Even a wind blast couldn''t break his bones. Did they really think a mere hockey stick was going to hurt him? Even more foolish was their greed when the world was going to die in seven days.

    "There is no food." Elias raised his hands as if showing that he was empty-handed.

    "Do you think we are fools? You don''t look like someone who has been starving. You are in even better condition than us! You must be hiding a lot of food!" The bearded man glared at Elias, grabbing him by the collar. "If you want to live, tell us about the hiding place!"

    He didn''t seem to have any sympathy for a child. Even if it was a child who stood between him and food, he was willing to do anything.

    He tried to raise Elias in the air by his collar, but even as his muscles bulged, he wasn''t able to lift Elias higher. It was as if Elias weighed hundreds of kilograms.

    He didn''t understand how the child could be this heavy. Just what had he been eating? In the end, the man simply gave up on trying to raise Elias. Even if the situation was confusing, he didn''t think much about it.

    "Why are you even talking to that child? Just break a few limbs, and he''ll answer us like a parrot," another man said, pushing the bearded man aside. "There is no point in wasting time." S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He raised the hockey stick and said, "Kid, if you want to blame anyone, blame your own stupidity for not realizing that the world has changed! It''s a world ruled by strong predators like us! You should be grateful that I''m willing to teach you a lesson."

    He swung his hockey stick at Elias''s arm, as if trying to break it while ensuring he didn''t die before answering. However, before the stick could connect, Elias caught it.

    "You''re right about the rule of the strong," Elias said, letting out a sigh. "But you seem to be living under a misconception. You were never a predator."

    The man tried to pull the hockey stick back, attempting to free it from Elias. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t retrieve it. Instead, Elias snatched the stick.

    The man looked in disbelief. How was the child able to snatch the stick from him when he couldn''t even resist? There was something extremely wrong about the child.

    "Are your muscles just for show? You can''t even beat up a child?" another bulky man laughed heartily, looking at the scene.

    He pushed the man aside, clenching his fist to punch Elias in the stomach. However, once again, he seemed slow in Elias''s eyes.

    Elias moved the hockey stick, slamming it into the man''s face. The impact was so strong that the stick broke into hundreds of pieces on first contact, and the man was sent flying.

    Elias looked at the broken hockey stick. Only a small part of it remained in his hand, which he tossed aside.

    Meanwhile, the men watched the bulky man fly like a toy. He slammed against the window. The window shattered from the impact, and the man fell out of the apartment building.

    Almost everyone there was in disbelief. What had they just seen? Many even wondered if they were dreaming, subconsciously stepping back from Elias. The chilling winds that were rushing in from the broken windows, made them realize that this was not a dream.

    Elias didn''t approach them. He walked past them, toward the exit.

    Watching him leave, many sighed in relief. Although they didn''t understand why this boy was so strong, they didn''t want to fight him.

    They had already lost all their courage. The others who had arrived with physical weapons like chains and sticks, hid them behind their backs, not wanting to give Elias any ideas.

    They were relieved to watch Elias leave, but their faces fell when they saw him stop before the door. He held the door and slowly closed it from the inside before turning around.

    Many of the men gulped heavily, having an extremely bad feeling about this.

    In other parts of the world, the situation was even worse, especially with Rey Esterin. He was like a beast let loose in the world.

 Chapter 32 Intelligence and Merger

    "Is he going to kill us?" The group of men who had barged into Elias''s room sat huddled together in the corner. They had their arms wrapped around their legs like children, many of them shivering in the cold.

    They were staring at Elias, who was sitting before the closed door, not even paying attention to them. The young child seemed lost in thought while playing with the brass knuckles that he had taken from one of them.

    It made the men even more afraid. "He might be thinking about ways to torture us. Should we try to fight?"

    "You''re talking about a child who could send the strongest of us flying. If we had a gun, it would be a different situation. But now, we have no chance. We can only hope that he doesn''t kill us all."

    The discussion was short-lived, as almost everyone realized how hopeless their situation truly was. They were simply at the mercy of the young child.

    While the men were discussing amongst themselves, Elias was looking at the brass knuckles, while holding a small blue vial in his other hand.

    ....

    Materials selected for merger: Brass Knuckles, Essence of Lightning

    Material Compatibility: 5 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 80 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    ....

    The information made Elias confirm a few assumptions. Not everything was compatible with everything. Essence of Lightning wasn''t compatible with him, but when it came to a lifeless material, the compatibility increased.

    He didn''t confirm the merger. He closed the vial and kept it back inside his pocket. His mind was going through a lot of thoughts as he looked back to every material that he had come across.

    If he could merge materials with lifeless things, then it was definitely going to make those objects stronger, but it didn''t seem like the best use of these rare materials.

    If he could merge them with living beings, then it would''ve been so much more useful. Using them on lifeless objects felt like a great waste.

    Lifeless objects didn''t have intelligence which felt like the biggest flaw to them. If there was a way to solve this problem, he had a feeling that it could open up a whole new realm of possibilities.

    "Lifeless objects... Life... Intelligence... Judgement..." He mumbled, his thoughts growing even more jumbled.

    The moment his thoughts reached that point, he remembered something. Wasn''t there another material that had caught his attention?

    During the awakening ceremony, something had saved his life. While it was just a lifeless object, it certainly had some kind of intelligence if it could judge outside interference in the awakening ceremony.

    He also remembered the materials that the Evolution Stone was made from. Amongst the materials, there was one that stood out from the rest.

    "Soul of Judgement... What if I get the Soul of Judgement?" It was another crazy possibility, but he knew that he had to try it at any cost.

    It was good to have powerful materials, but if he couldn''t merge with them, couldn''t he simply make them more intelligent instead? Even if it was an absurd thought, it gave him a sense of direction.

    "The Evolution Stone doesn''t have an extraction possibility, but the Measurement Stone does. If I can successfully extract the Soul of Judgement..." He didn''t even complete his sentence, but his thought process was clear.

    His lips curved up, forming a smile. It had been a really long time since he last smiled, but his eyes seemed to have gained some semblance of life again.

    He kept the brass knuckles in his other pocket, and finally shifted his attention back to the men who were on the other side of the room.

    Seeing his smile, the men were trembling even more fiercely. They wondered just what kind of brutal torture method had this child thought, which made him smile like a demon.

    They flinched at the sight of Elias standing up.

    "W-we can help you!" One of them exclaimed, frightened out of his soul. "We are more useful to you alive!"

    "And how can you help me?" Elias asked while approaching the men. Even if they were somewhat strong by this world''s standards, in the grand scheme of things, they were useless.

    They weren''t even worth a fraction of a point each. Even if he killed all of them here, he couldn''t gain even enough points to become the second last ranked person in this test.

    "We have saved some food. If you come with us, we will give you all the food that we have managed to collect! It can help you survive for months!" The man stated, really hoping that Elias wouldn''t kill them.

    "Didn''t you say I am hiding a lot of food? If that is the case, why would I need your food?" Elias asked innocently, letting the young man at the loss of words.

    "That..." The young man looked at others blankly, as if waiting for them to say something.

    "Boss, I have a poor mother waiting at home for me!" Suddenly, one of them slammed his head hard on the ground, almost begging for his life. "I had no choice but to rob others! Please don''t kill me!"

    One after another, the others also started doing the same thing, talking about their family members that depended on them.

    "I also have a little brother! I also had no choice! We could either rob, or watch our families die!" Another person spoke up as tears streamed down his face. "If you were in our place, wouldn''t you do the same thing? In this godforsaken place, is there anything more precious than family?"

    Elias didn''t know if they were being honest, or just trying to play the sympathy card. However, they were right about one thing. If he was in their place, he would have done the same thing.

    If the only other option was to watch his family die, let alone rob others, he would even be willing to kill. Unfortunately, he was never given a choice.

    Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 33 Confirm Extraction

    "We promise that we will never try to rob anyone if you let us go!" the men said in unison, feeling as if they were somehow swaying Elias. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Their plan was working. Even if he was strong, he was still a child in their eyes, someone who hadn''t seen the cruelty of the world. It was normal for him to fall for emotional tricks.

    At least that''s what they thought until Elias responded.

    "What do the lives of your families have to do with me?" he asked, calmly wearing the brass knuckles on his fingers. "When you were trying to hurt me, did you think that I might also have a family?"

    "We weren''t trying to kill you! At most, we would''ve hurt you!" one of the men exclaimed, having a really bad feeling about this. "We told you, we had no other choice."

    "I also have no other choice. I hope you can understand..." Elias mumbled, looking out the window at a world that was slowly being covered in an embrace of snow.

    "You bastard, you never intended to let us go in the first place!" A man jumped at Elias with a knife in his hand. Even if he had to fight for survival, he was willing.

    "I thought you weren''t trying to kill anyone?" Elias asked, dodging the knife. He grabbed the man''s wrist, twisting his arm behind his back.

    "Argh!" the man groaned in pain, the knife dropping from his hands. He was turned around and tossed out of the window, falling to his death.

    "Make things easier for me..." Elias picked up the knife and tossed it before the men, as if waiting for them to attack him again.

    "Are you mocking us?" The men, even if they were scared, picked up their weapons. Although they wanted to avoid a fight, there didn''t seem to be any other choice.

    Unfortunately, the faster they came, the faster they were tossed out of the apartment to their deaths. Before long, the entire room was left empty with only a knife and a few other cold weapons left behind on the floor.

    "Would I have fallen for their words if I hadn''t seen their actions on that screen?" He picked up the knife, his fingers brushing against the sharp blade. "I wonder."

    He stepped out of the room, fiddling with his watch. He pressed the second button, which was said to hold the map of the entire domain that belonged to him.

    As soon as he pressed the button, a holographic map appeared before him. Contrary to his expectations, this wasn''t just a map of his domain. It was the complete map of this world.

    There were seventy domains marked on the map, each with a black line that wrapped around it. Each domain had only one blue dot, which he believed depicted the others from the Academy.

    Most of the blue dots were near the center of their domains, but a few were rushing towards the borders. It had barely been an hour since the test began, and things had already started heating up.

    There were several red dots in each domain. Even Elias wasn''t sure about their meaning. Did they show humans with abilities? he wondered.

    "Is that green dot representing me?" He looked at the green dot in the center of his domain. There was also a smaller red dot, which was right here he was.

    There was one more dot that stood out from the rest. It was a beautiful, bright white dot. It was the Professor, who was watching over the world.

    There was also a third button on the watch, which the professor hadn''t explained. He pressed it, and another hologram appeared. This time, the hologram formed a list of names, with something akin to scores written next to them.

    There were already a few who had gained over a hundred points, which was equivalent to them killing around a thousand people each. This world had really become a hunting ground for them, with each of them fighting for the top rank.

    The list was refreshed every second, and the scores only kept rising. At this point, Elias was even more certain that it was impossible to catch up to their scores by following the first method.

    There were only two options for him. He could either kill the top ranker and take that score for himself, or he could turn the third option into a possibility. He wanted to try both methods, but there was one thing he needed for them.

    He walked to the stairs and started checking upstairs to find the human with abilities who was staying inside this apartment building.

    Although it was said that he could get one point by looking at people with abilities, Elias looked at it differently. One one wasn''t worth anything in the grand scheme of things. What held more value was their abilities v

    The people with abilities were targets for others. But in his eyes, they were extremely useful. Each of them had an ability that was unique. Although these abilities were temporary, it didn''t matter to him. It wasn''t as if he was going to live here forever.

    He only needed those abilities for seven days. It didn''t matter if it was the second method or the third option. It was only possible with their help, especially since he didn''t have any elemental abilities.

    Although searching throughout the entire building was a time-consuming process, he finally found his destination after an hour. He stood in front of an apartment.

    Even the door of this apartment looked different from the rest, as if someone had spent a lot of money to have it reinforced. This couldn''t have been possible after the apocalypse arrived. It only meant that the person knew that this apocalypse was about to arrive.

    Elias knocked on the door and waited for a response, but even after a few seconds, no response came. He knocked again, but the result didn''t change.

    The person inside the room didn''t open the door, which made Elias rub his forehead in frustration.

    "Fine. I''ll let myself in." He placed his hand on the door and said, "Confirm Extraction."

 Chapter 34 Ability Extraction (I)

    ....

    "How do I look?" Inside the apartment, a young woman stepped out of the room, wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt that came down to her thighs.

    She flaunted her curves as she walked towards the man on the couch. She sat on the man''s lap, planting a kiss on his lips before he could even answer her questions.

    "You are truly a vixen, aren''t you?" Leo said, breathing heavily as he moved his head back. Just a few months ago, he could never have imagined a life like this. But now, he was living like a prince, with one of the prettiest girls in the building in his arms.

    He had completely changed his life. In this life, he wasn''t the simp that was chasing after a woman in an apocalypse, only to be betrayed by her. Instead, he had taken a different path after getting a vision of the future that was accompanied by another ability.

    "Only for you," the woman said, biting on Leo''s neck.

    "You better," the man smiled as he picked the woman up in his arms and started walking towards the bedroom.

    Right then, he heard the knocks on the door which made him frown.

    "Is it those idiots trying to rob resources again?" He completely ignored the knock.

    He had already reinforced the door. They could never break through unless he allowed them inside. He also had weapons in his storage. Even if those thugs somehow managed to break through, they were simply going to die.

    He didn''t pay any attention to the knocks, and approached the bedroom with the girl in his arms.

    Just as he was about to step inside the bedroom, he felt a sudden rush of wind that came with such a force that it sent him flying inside the bedroom. The woman also fell off his arms, hitting her head on the corner of the bed.

    "Are you alright?" The man quickly recovered and rushed to the woman. He also brought forth his gun, preparing for the unexpected.

    "I am fine. It''s just a little bleeding," the woman rubbed her forehead, feeling sharp pain.

    Even if the man felt sad that his woman was hurt, he was relieved that it wasn''t anything serious.

    "Don''t leave this time. I will be right back," he told the girl before removing the safety lock on his gun. He stepped out of his room to see who was responsible for this.

    He felt his hands straight, and his gun aimed at the distance as he stepped out of the room. His eyes kept searching for any kind of presence in the place, but he didn''t find anyone there.

    All he could see was that the door was missing, and everything inside the hall was in a mess because of that storm.

    He thought about approaching the exit to see if those people were hiding in the hallway outside, but he felt a sense of danger. He quickly turned around, aiming his gun behind him.

    The moment he looked back, he felt something grab the gun in his hand. The gun was snatched from him, and taken by the intruder, whose identity even left Leo surprised. It was... a child?

    The child aimed the gun back at him, his fingers resting on the trigger.

    Leo thought about trying to snatch the gun back from the child, but he was worried that there might be an accidental fire which might kill him. Even if he had abilities, they didn''t grant him healing or immortality.

    "What do you want?" he asked the unfamiliar child, his gaze only briefly shifting behind the child. He saw his girl was approaching Elias silently with a wine bottle in her hand like a weapon. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He also moved his hand behind his back, opening his spatial storage to bring out another gun stealthily. Now all he needed was a little distraction for Elias, so he could shoot him without being shot in return.

    "I just want to talk. I hold no hostility towards you. If I did, you would be long dead," Elias said, trying to hold the gun steady.

    Even though he hadn''t used a gun in his past life, it didn''t feel any more complicated. He had already seen the guns of his world, and this gun felt quite similar. This world was truly more or less identical to his original works.

    "What do you need from me? Do you want food?" Leo asked, trying to keep Elias distracted. He held the gun firmly in his hand, his fingers on the trigger as if he was prepared to shoot Elias the moment he had an opportunity.

    The woman also approached Elias silently, until she was right behind him. This was the opportunity and Leo was prepared to take advantage of it.

    The woman raised the wine bottle, and with great force, she brought it down, slamming it on Elias'' head.

    Leo also reacted at the same time. There was no way Elias could be thinking straight the moment he was hit. He stopped hiding his gun, bringing it forward. A loud bang was heard, which was accompanied by a painful cry.

    Blood trickled down Elias'' forehead while glass pieces of the wine bottle fell off his body. Behind him, the woman was standing like a frozen statue in place, her pupils trembling.

    "Leo!" She suddenly screamed, running towards Leo, who was crying in pain, holding his bleeding hand that was shot.

    The gun had fallen off his hand, sliding straight to Elias, who bent forward and picked up the second gun as well. He used his sleeves to wipe the blood off his forehead before it could fall in his eyes.

    "I thought it was going to work. Did I overestimate my approachability?" He wondered, looking at Leo who looked at him with great hostility.

    He moved his left hand. A mini portal opened in front of him. He wanted to bring another gun, even if he had failed once. However, this time he didn''t even have the opportunity to bring out the gun as another bang was heard.

    The bullet travelled through his forearm, making him cry like a wounded beast.

    "It looks like there are no opportunities for us to work together." Elias said, but he didn''t look disappointed.

    He had already seen another possibility the moment he physically saw Leo, especially with the detailed screen that appeared next to him. He didn''t need collaboration anymore, as a new path seemed to be open for him.

    ......

    Material Composition: Human (99 Percent), Temporary Ability Core (1 Percent)

    Weight: 65 Kg

    Height: 1.8 meter

    Material Stability: 50 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .......

 Chapter 35 Ability Extraction (II)

    Looking at Leo''s bleeding hands, Elias was able to confirm that he didn''t have any abilities that allowed him to heal.

    He wanted to avoid an outcome like this, but Leo had done that to himself by not listening to him. He had no intention to fight, since using others was more useful than using those new unfamiliar abilities himself.

    Still, he had no choice. Leo couldn''t help him anymore, especially in the kind of state he was in. It was almost impossible to rely on him, which meant he could only try to take that ability for himself.

    If that ability could merge with Leo, he was sure that it should also merge with him. Even if it was a temporary ability that only lasted for a few days, it was still just as useful for the purpose of this test.

    "Stay away from him!" The woman wrapped her arms around Leo, dragging him away from Elias.

    "I told you, I don''t want to kill you people. I just want to take something, which never belonged to you in the first place," Elias said while approaching Leo. "If you don''t stop moving, I might have to do something even more. Please don''t make me do more than I have already done."

    The woman wasn''t faster than him, and there was no escape for them either. She could only watch Elias tuck one of the guns behind his back, and place his hand on Leo''s head.

    "Confirm Extraction," Elias mumbled as soon as he came in physical contact with Leo. Once again, a similarly powerful storm appeared with Leo at the core, sending the woman flying back again.

    Even Elias was pushed back by a few steps, before he managed to firmly plant his feet on the ground and resist the winds.

    The storm wrecked the room even more, lasting longer than the previous storm. However, the moment that storm disappeared, beautiful scenery came into sight.

    Leo was sitting on the ground, his eyes wide open. There was a small energy orb floating above his head. He didn''t know what that energy orb was, but it was clear that Elias wanted it.

    He reached out his bleeding hand that was still trembling, trying to hold the energy orb. But before his fingers could touch it, he saw a smaller hand grab the orb and take it.

    Elias took the energy orb, and walked away from the couple. He entered their bedroom, and immediately tested his theory.

    "Confirm Merger."

    .............

    Please select materials for merger.

    .............

    "Elias Ashborn," he stated.

    .............

    Materials selected for merger: Elias Ashborn, Temporary Ability Core.

    Material Compatibility: 70 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 95 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    .............

    "Proceed."

    Once his confirmation came, Elias saw the energy orb fly straight inside his body, with an even stronger storm taking control of his surroundings, as if protecting the process from any outsider factors. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Meanwhile, outside in the hall, Leo was still bleeding. Although the bullets had only hit his hands, and it wasn''t life threatening, it still hurt like hell. The loss of blood wasn''t little either.

    He needed treatment. He tried to open his storage domain to bring out some first aid materials.

    "Hmm?" It was only then, he realized what had happened. He wasn''t able to open his storage realm which was holding billions worth of items that he had stolen right before the apocalypse arrived.

    The reality had finally started setting in, as he understood what that energy orb was. It was what granted him the abilities to create that storage realm! It was the thing that Elias wanted, and the reason that everything happened.

    He had lost everything, including all the materials he had stockpiled for this apocalypse. He didn''t even have enough for his medical treatment.

    He simply looked blankly in disbelief, thinking that this might be the end. He still didn''t understand how Elias knew about his ability, or where to find him. Did he also have an ability? Just how many people in this world had gained abilities?

    Many thoughts were floating in his head, but he knew that all of it was useless now. It didn''t matter how many people had abilities, as he had already lost his ability. It was once again the same useless person that he used to be before the frost apocalypse arrived.

    He saw the woman stand up, and walk away as if she had also realised that he was useless now. She had also given up on him, abandoning him.

    He let out a self-deprecating laughter, falling on his back.

    "Don''t worry. I will make the bleeding stop!" Suddenly he heard the voice of the woman, which was accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

    He weakly looked to the side, observing the familiar face of that woman. She was holding a first aid box in her hand, and pulled out the bandaid and other necessary items.

    "I have already lost my abilities. I have lost everything. Shouldn''t you abandon me and find another protector?" he asked the woman, not understanding why he was even asking that. It was good for him if she was here with him so help him.

    "You fool, do you really think I will abandon you? When I was on the verge of dying from hunger, you had faith in me and accepted me. How could I leave you now?!"

    The woman responded sharply, as if she had been wronged. "It doesn''t matter if you have those abilities or not. You will forever be mine!"

    The man couldn''t believe his ears. He opened his lips, but no words came out. He could only watch her in a daze as she tried to stop his bleeding.

    At this point, he was really regretting his decision of attacking Elias when he was simply trying to talk to him. He had placed both their safety at risk because of his overconfident actions.

    Inside their bedroom, the storm finally calmed down after close to half an hour, the longest it had ever taken for Elias.

    Fortunately, the incoming notification didn''t leave him disappointed.

 Chapter 36 Then survive

    Elias walked out of the bedroom, and saw Leo that was getting first aid. However, with the door broken, the cold had rushed inside, which made his conditions even worse.

    He walked closer to the young man, who still glared at him. However, more than himself, he was worried about the safety of the woman that had refused to leave him. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You are not a child. You are a demon!" He exclaimed, catching a glimpse of his gun in Elias'' left hand. "You already took everything from me! Are you still not satisfied?"

    Elias didn''t offer any explanation or self justification. It was true that he had hurt this man, no matter the reason.

    "If you think I am a demon, then you haven''t seen a true demon yet," he stated, walking past the couple as if he had no intentions of hurting them any more.

    "If you want to have revenge, then survive. If you can''t even do that..." He didn''t finish his sentence and stepped out of the room.

    Walking through the hallway, Elias pressed the button on the lower right side of the watch, opening the map again. Just as he thought, the red dot at his location had disappeared. There was no other person at this location with abilities, except him.

    His eyes moved and he shifted his focus on the next red dot in his domain which was the closest to him.

    After coming to this world, he had thought that he was going to learn more about his abilities, but he had a feeling that his own abilities weren''t enough to complete this test in the way he wanted.

    He needed more abilities, even if they were temporary. He needed something that could overwhelm the Frost Queen who believed that no one could defeat her.

    "Seven days, huh?" he mumbled, walking towards the building''s windows. Outside, a thick layer of snow already blanketed the land, rising up to the height of the fourth floor.

    He needed a proper exit, and this was the fastest one he could find. He pushed open the window, letting in a powerful cold wind, accompanied by flecks of snow.

    He climbed onto the windowsill and jumped. He wasn''t worried about breaking his legs. If there was one thing he didn''t lack, it was sturdy bones.

    The moment he leaped out, he closed his eyes. He fell, keeping his feet pointed downward.

    He soon reached the height of the fourth floor, his feet touching the top layer of snow. But gravity didn''t make things easy. His body broke through the first layer, sinking as if he were being completely devoured.

    He had to crawl his way up through the snow until his face was finally outside. His breathing became rough and heavy, as if he had literally drowned.

    He dragged his body out of the snow, and lied on top of it, slightly exhausted as he looked at the clouded sky, with snow flecks constantly raining down.

    The weather of this world was becoming more extreme with each passing second. It didn''t seem like an exaggeration when the Frost Queen said that this world was going to become completely lifeless on the Eighth Day.

    Lying on the snow, he opened the storage realm that appeared in the form of a spatial portal before him. Fortunately, he didn''t have to struggle with this temporary ability like he had to do with his main class.

    The moment he absorbed the temporary ability core, he received the basic information about the ability. It even felt as if it was a part of his body that he could manipulate willingly.

    Was this knowledge a part of the ability core to help humans learn their use faster for this test? He wasn''t certain. The only thing he knew was that it had worked in his favor.

    He looked inside the storage realm, which had a huge space. Inside, there were a lot of vegetables and fruits, still kept as fresh as the day it was placed there. There were even thousands of warm dishes that seemed to have been freshly prepared and delivered right before the frost descended.

    There were electronic machines, weapons, drones, and even vehicles like luxury cars and tanks. Just looking at the scene inside the storage realm left Elias surprised, making him wonder how Leo had even managed to gather all of these things.

    Most of those cars and tanks were already useless in this weather, but there was one thing that looked like it could be useful.

    He brought out a snowmobile from the storage, making it land on the snow before him. Even though he had never driven one, he didn''t think it was going to be much harder, especially since he didn''t have to worry about his age or height with the vehicle''s build.

    Even if he broke a few of them in the process of learning, he didn''t have to worry. There were already tens of them in the storage.

    Unfortunately, it was only when he tried to start it that he realized how hard it was. He couldn''t start it at all. There was a key already inserted, but even after twisting it, nothing seemed to change.

    He tried for half an hour, but nothing changed. He was starting to get so frustrated that he had to resist the urge to simply abandon this piece of metal.

    He understood when to give up. Even if it looked simple, he couldn''t start it. He needed help. Fortunately, he had something that could easily help him convince people now.

    He shifted the gun to his right hand and walked over to the fifth floor window of the apartment building where he just came from. He broke the window and jumped inside.

    Merely ten minutes had passed, before he came out with a group of twenty people, all looking pale at the sight of the gun.

    All twenty of them started observing the snowmobile. With the gun aimed at him, they didn''t think they could afford to mess around. Those of them that knew anything about the snowmobiles, told Elias what he was doing wrong, and helped him start it.

    After they helped him, they quickly stepped back, not wanting the child to have even the slightest semblance of threat that might make him shoot.

    "Ah, so that''s what it was." Looking at the process, Elias couldn''t believe how simple it was. He even wondered if he was a fool to not be able to guess these things.

    He opened the storage realm, and brought out hundreds of cans of food, and tossed them towards the group of people.

    "This should be enough for you to last for seven days. If you can live beyond that, it depends on this world''s luck." Elias climbed on the snowmobile, and used the method of riding it that was taught to him and left.

    ....

    On the eighth floor of the apartment building, the woman had finally managed to stop Leo''s bleeding. However, with the door broken, they knew they couldn''t stay there any longer.

    "You stay right here," she told Leo, who was sitting with his back against a wall. "I''ll go and see if there''s a suitable, safe apartment for us to move to."

    Even though she said she was going to find a different apartment, he knew she was actually going to look for food.

    All their food was in his storage, which had been taken. Now, there was only a little bit left, which might not even last a few days. He felt ashamed that he could only rely on her.

    "What?!" He suddenly heard the woman''s loud cry. He came out of his daze and rushed out, worried for her safety, thinking that the child might have returned.

    It was only when he stepped out of the apartment that he understood why she had made such a noise. No one was there, and there was no threat.

    What truly shocked her was that there were hundreds of cans of food left outside their apartment. Not just food, but water and other necessities were also there.

    There was also a gun that was lying on the ground, accompanied by multiple magazines that were full.

    After months of frost apocalypse, no one could afford so many things. It could only come from his storage. Did Elias leave them here? Leo''s mind was in a mess.

    "Why?" he mumbled, unable to understand.

 Chapter 37 Thought so

    ....

    Cold wind whipped through his hair as Elias sped across the snow-covered landscape, the snowmobile''s skis kicking up the beautiful white snow.

    It was his first time riding a snowmobile, but it was a truly fascinating feeling. It proved easier to ride than he had anticipated, especially after he had gotten it started. He didn''t even have to worry about keeping the balance.

    His bones kept him warm while he rode, but the cold winds that brushed against him made him feel colder. It was as if a perfect balance were being created, one that didn''t feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

    Unfortunately, the ride didn''t last long. He soon reached his next destination, where another red dot was hovering. He stopped the snowmobile and got down from it.

    He zoomed in on the holographic map to see the precise location of the red dot. He followed the direction on foot, and ended up before a tall tower.

    The apartment building with the ten floors felt nothing before this Tower that had at least fifty floors. He could even see lights through some of the windows, as if this tower still had electricity.

    "It will take some time."

    Elias took a note of the windows where he could see light, as it seemed much more time consuming to search through the entire tower.

    He walked closer to the Tower, and broke the windows, taking a shortcut. He jumped inside the Tower, only to be met with an even more gruesome sight.

    There was a thick scent of blood everywhere, and the entire hallway was littered with lifeless bodies. These people hadn''t died from hunger. Instead, it was more as if they were killed by some kind of beast.

    He walked past the bodies, wondering just what kind of thing he was here to deal with. Was the red dot he saw, not a human but a mutated beast instead?

    Across all the floors, it was the same scene. But a single person in this entire building was left alive. Even the rooms that were still lit up, were just as lifeless.

    It took Elias almost half a day to check most of the floors, until he reached the highest floor. The outside world had started to turn even darker with the arrival of night, marking almost the end of the first day.

    Elias stepped on the last floor, certain that the mutated beast was on this floor, especially since the blood on this floor felt more fresh than the lower floors.

    He approached the room where the red dot was supposed to be present. Once he was at the coordinates, he kicked the door open and walked inside.

    "Hmm?"

    Inside the room, he had expected to find a mutated beast responsible for the slaughter, but the reality was completely different from his expectations.

    There was no beast here. All he saw was a woman dressed in a long, tight-fitting gown. Her long dark hair came down to her hips. He couldn''t even discern the gown''s original color, since most of it had turned red from blood. And none of that blood belonged to her.

    The woman was standing behind a large desk, looking out a huge window that seemed to cover the entire back wall.

    ............

    Material Composition: Human (99 Percent), Temporary Ability Core (1 Percent)

    Weight: 55 Kg S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Height: 1.7 meter

    Material Stability: 5 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .............

    He didn''t even have to ask her if she was responsible for everything that he had seen, as the material composition already gave her away.

    Just like Leo, she also had a temporary ability core. But the material stability seemed abysmal. Even Leo had fifty percent stability, while she only had one tenth of that.

    "You have a really good scent," the woman said, without even looking back.

    "Why did you kill them?" Elias asked, approaching the woman.

    "Are you here to avenge them?" the woman asked, looking at Elias'' reflection in the glass before her.

    Although she was surprised that the person was only a child, she didn''t find it impossible. Just like she had gained her abilities, it made sense that there were others as well. She had already known something like that.

    "Why do you think we were given these cursed abilities?" she asked Elias, her voice sounding a little melancholic. There was no coldness in that voice that could have belonged to a mindless killer.

    She seemed to be questioning the meaning of her existence and these abilities, as if she already had a feeling that it wasn''t a treasure but a curse.

    Elias already knew the reason these people had received these abilities. It was simply for them to become entertaining prey.

    For many, these abilities were helpful for them. But in reality, these abilities painted a big red mark on their back that they couldn''t escape from. For them, it wasn''t wrong to call them cursed abilities.

    In other domains, many of these ability holders had already died while he was going around collecting abilities. Others were in a race against time to collect the highest score as the names of top ranked kept switching back and forth.

    He could always take points from the others after they worked hard gathering them. His main priority for the first six days was simple. It was to collect as many temporary abilities as he could.

    "Why did you kill them?" he asked the woman while the distance between them was reduced to merely a few meters.

    "Because..." the woman mumbled as she slowly turned around. She finally revealed her face, which was covered in fresh blood of her prey that was yet to dry.

    "They were delicious," she said, the corner of her lips creeping up in a devilish manner. Suddenly, she jumped forward at Elias, her arms transforming into a beast''s claws that came straight for Elias''s neck.

    "Thought so..." Elias pulled out the gun hiding behind his back, and shot the woman straight in the middle of her forehead.

 Chapter 38 Completion of Incomplete Preparation

    Elias raised his gun, and the woman''s expression distorted. However, before she could react, the deafening sound of the gunshot echoed across the room.

    The bullet tore through the monstrous woman''s head before exiting through the back. It was only stopped by the bulletproof glass behind her, which was now covered in minor cracks.

    Elias stepped aside, letting the woman fall where he had previously been standing. Blood spilled out of her head, mixing with the blood on the ground that had belonged to her prey

    Her sharp claws retracted the moment she died. In her normal form, she looked no different from an ordinary person. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias observed the woman, seemingly lost in thought. He had seen her abilities. Even though they were decent abilities, capable of killing many ordinary people, they didn''t seem particularly useful to him.

    Even more concerning was the woman''s behavior, as if this ability were controlling her instead of the other way around. Did he really want an ability that might turn him into something similar? He wasn''t certain.

    "It was a waste of time after all," he sighed, finally walking away. He decided to give up on the ability, which seemed more harmful than useful to him.

    He walked down from the Tower and left through the same place he had entered. Returning to his snowmobile, he began searching for his next target.

    Over the next few days, he moved from one part of his domain to another, extracting the temporary abilities from people and merging them with his body, improving his strength along the way.

    It took him four days to cover most of the ability users in his domain, leaving only one person who was still evading him.

    This person was also the most confusing of all, as their marker would disappear in one part of the city and reappear in a completely different area, as if they were teleporting.

    Since they didn''t stay in the same place for long, it made it even harder for Elias to catch them. Adding to the difficulty, he could see the other domain owners approaching his domain.

    Now that it was the fourth day, almost everyone had begun trying to explore other domains. Seven people had already disappeared from the rankings, having been killed by others. That left only three before the entire test was going to be over.

    At the moment, Elias was ranked last in the ranking. He knew that he couldn''t waste time chasing the person who could teleport. He had to put his final plan into motion, even if the preparations weren''t complete.

    He changed his target and went to intercept the other rankers who were about to reach his domain.

    ....

    In a neighboring domain, two rankers walked side by side. Though they were supposed to be rivals, they seemed overly friendly with each other.

    One of them was a lean boy with restless eyes. He kept looking at his rank, unable to hide a satisfied grin.

    "Just a bit more," he said, looking at the twelfth ranked name, which belonged to him. "A bit more, and we''re in the top ten. Teaming up was the right move."

    The other boy had a much larger size. Not only was he eight feet tall, but his body was also very bulky, which made him look like a small mountain that was moving.

    He laughed, paying more attention to the map.

    "Of course. It''s safer to hunt together than alone. At this pace, even if we ran into one of those descendants..." He trailed off, the word leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

    "Don''t talk about them," the first boy said, a shiver running down his spine. "Those guys are monsters. They''ve got the top five locked down. I never want to meet them, even with you around to help me."

    Even working together was useless. He knew a powerful descendant could still kill them, no matter how many weaker opponents they defeated.

    The descendants were frightening, but even more dangerous was the family behind them. Even if they could somehow fight those descendants together, they couldn''t afford to kill them.

    "Don''t worry," the larger boy said, shaking his head lightly. "I was just talking. I don''t want to run into them any more than you do. That''s why I picked this domain. The owner hasn''t left his territory in four days."

    "That''s right. Even after all this time, he didn''t try to leave his domain. He is most likely a coward, and a weakling," the lean boy said, his grin returning. "We can take over his domain easily and grab more points. The top ten is within our reach!"

    There were no official prizes for being in the top ten, but they knew it was a major achievement, something they could boast about for the rest of their lives.

    Soon, they reached the boundary of their domain. On the map, they could see the mark of the other domain''s owner, who didn''t seem to be far away either. It was as if that person was also approaching them.

    "Even if he is a coward, he doesn''t seem to be a fool. He has already noticed our presence. Prepare to kill." The bulky boy clenched his fists, and his body began growing even larger.

    His form transformed into that of a giant, standing fifty feet tall. Even his skin had turned to an unbreakable stone.

    He stepped forward and entered Elias''s domain. The lean boy followed behind.

    He started floating in the air as his eyes started shining in a golden shade. Even his hair started changing colors, and turned brighter like the sun. The flecks of snow that even touched his body, evaporated.

    ....

    "This wasn''t it either. Just where is his domain?" In an entirely different place, Rey Esterin was sitting on the back of a bleeding boy, who was struggling to breathe.

    He let out a tired sigh, and conjured a ball of condensed flame, an element that he had just started to comprehend in the last four days.

    He got off the boy, and tossed the ball of flames at the boy. As soon as the ball of flames touched the boy, his body started burning, his painful cries echoing loud. Even the falling snow couldn''t stop the flames to save him.

    With the boy''s death, Rey''s score increased in the rankings again. He again took back the first place on the rank, winning another domain.

    He shifted his attention to the next domain, and started flying with the help of his wind element. It was as if he was eager to find something, or someone.

 Chapter 39 Top Ranker

    The giant walked toward the approaching marker of the domain''s owner. He was prepared to stomp on that person. He wanted to kill this domain''s owner before he could even have time to try anything else.

    Soon, he saw something approaching him in the distance. The snowfall was so strong that he couldn''t see everything clearly. Still, he was certain that it was the target as their movement matched the movement of the marker.

    "I will take him," the lean boy said while bringing out a small knife from his pocket. The knife began shining with a bright golden light as soon as it was held by him.

    He tossed the knife toward the approaching figure before it could even get too close to them. The knife flew like an arrow fired from a bow, going straight for the approaching snowmobile.

    It hit the snowmobile, and a loud explosion appeared, with a bright light covering a radius of tens of meters. Even the snow underneath evaporated under the effect of the explosion.

    None of them saw anyone escaping from that explosion. It was clear that the person was caught in the explosion and died.

    The lean boy smirked. "That was easier than I thought. No wonder he didn''t have the courage to leave his domain."

    He approached the site of the explosion to see if there were any remnant limbs of the person left behind, or if he had completely disappeared.

    When he reached the center of the crater in the snow, he saw pieces of metal lying around.

    In the middle of the crater, there was a watch that had been caught in the explosion. Only that watch remained unharmed, as it was created by the academy.

    It was the watch that was given to all the Destroyer Class students for this test. If the watch was here, it made him even more certain that the person was actually dead.

    "That must have brought me to the top ten," the lean boy laughed.

    "Don''t forget that I will be taking the target in the next domain. I also need to enter the top ten." The giant, feeling a little underwhelmed, began returning to his normal form.

    He had at least expected there to be some fight, but the reality was completely different. The battle ended before it could even begin.

    "Of course. As per our deal, the next domain owner will belong to you. Both of us will enter the top ten," the lean boy looked at his friend with an innocent smile on his face as he confirmed.

    Although he didn''t show it on the surface, deep down, he had multiple thoughts in his head.

    ''You fool, as if I would ever be satisfied with the top ten. When the test is about to be over, I won''t waste a single second stabbing you in the back to take your scores as well. With that, I will certainly enter the top five.''

    The bulky boy had a similar thought, but on the surface, he also smiled brightly. Their cooperation was on the verge of ending as the test was drawing to an end.

    The lean boy opened the ranking, looking forward to seeing his name in the top ten.

    It was only when the ranking appeared before him that he saw that his name was not in the top ten. He hadn''t gained a single point, which should''ve been impossible.

    "How could this be?" he asked in disbelief, looking at the watch before him. "Could it be that he..."

    At that moment, his expressions distorted as a realization struck him. They had been fooled! The marker wasn''t for the owner of this domain, but for the owner''s watch.

    Just because no one had done something like this, he hadn''t even thought of a possibility like this.

    "He''s not de-" He tried to speak as his eyes began changing colors to the golden shade again. Unfortunately, it was too late.

    He coughed out blood, feeling a sharp object stabbing through the back of his neck. His eyes widened in disbelief, seeing the tip of a knife coming out from the front of his throat, covered with his blood. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Trembling, his pupils turned to the bulky boy, who looked even more frightened, as another knife was thrust into the back of his neck.

    In his giant form, his skin was almost impenetrable. But when he wasn''t using his class and abilities, his skin was ordinary and provided no extra defense. Even an ordinary knife could pass through his physical defenses, just as it had happened.

    The knives were left thrust in their necks, as the two of them fell to their knees, watching a figure walk past them. It seemed to be a young boy, who bent forward to pick up the watch that was lying in the middle of the crater.

    They watched him wear the watch on his wrist before he slowly turned around. When they saw the face of the person, their pupils trembled even more violently.

    They realized where they had gone wrong. They were truly fools to believe that the owner of this domain was a coward.

    The owner of the domain was the monster that had even wrecked the person who was currently ranked first in this test, in front of everyone. Was that something they could call the actions of a coward?

    They had truly come across a descendant, and their fates were exactly what they had assumed in a situation like that. They couldn''t even fight back as they were defeated.

    Their dreams of entering the top ten were shattered. Let alone returning proudly as a high ranker, they couldn''t even return alive. Fresh blood trickled down their throats, staining their clothes as they fell on the snow, lifelessly.

    They couldn''t enter the top ten, but Elias was different. After killing them, his score rapidly jumped. He appeared in the rankings as the seventh-ranked person.

    Many people were wondering about his silence since he was at the bottom of the ranking. Some of them had even stopped thinking about him. But with his appearance in the top ten, they had a feeling that the equation was starting to change.

 Chapter 40 Aliaths only failure

    It was only the fourth day, and nine rankers had already died. The threshold for ending the test was ten deaths. One more death, and the test would end before the seventh day even arrived.

    The highest-ranking participants became even more active, as this was their last opportunity to gain the top rank and the promised reward. All of them started going after the markers of other domain lords.

    The weaker domain lords also didn''t want to be the ones who died right before the test ended. The moment they saw other domain lords approaching them, they started running from their own domains.

    They wanted to survive, at least longer than another unlucky domain lord.

    Everyone was in a race against time. Meanwhile, Elias was standing silently, observing the two bodies before him.

    "Confirm Extraction." He placed his palm on the lean boy, whose ability had caught his attention. Even though he had never tried to extract permanent abilities, he wanted to test it at least once.

    Even though he was trying it, he already expected a failure. Unlike those with temporary abilities, those from the Academy didn''t show a Material Composition screen.

    With them, there was no screen that told him if extraction was even possible. He was prepared to be disappointed when he tried his skill.

    ..............

    Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

    ..............

    "Hmm?" Elias was prepared for failure. He already expected some kind of error, but the message that appeared left him slightly intrigued. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It didn''t simply say that extraction was impossible. It said that extraction had failed because his Evolution was insufficient. Did this mean his extraction ability would become stronger if he evolved his class?

    He didn''t want to be too optimistic based on a simple message, but it made him a little hopeful. He moved on to the bulky boy who looked less like a child and more like a fully grown adult.

    "Confirm Extraction."

    ..............

    Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

    ..............

    Once again, a similar error appeared. Elias was even more certain that the first message was not an error. There was truly a possibility of extraction. He was simply missing something.

    With every passing moment, he was learning something new about his class. And each revelation made him realize just how many possibilities his class actually held.

    "This is good. With this ability, I might be able to..." He looked at his hands, which were covered with the blood of the two that he had just killed.

    If he wanted to have revenge, then he needed to become someone like Aliath whose name alone was enough to make people flinch in fear. If he couldn''t even surpass Aliath, then how could he bring the Ashborn Family down?

    "I will surpass him..." He clenched his fists and stood up. He walked away from the two bodies that were slowly covered in a blanket of snow, buried without anyone there to even retrieve their bodies.

    Elias jumped out of the crater, and called forth another Snowmobile from his Spatial Storage. While he still had these temporary abilities, he wanted to put them to good use. And the best use he could think, was to complete something that even Aliath had failed in.

    He climbed on the snowmobile, and started rushing forth. For the first time, he left his domain. But his target wasn''t another domain lord. His target was the one that brought this apocalypse to this world.

    His target was the existence that was worth the highest point in this test. It was the Frost Queen. She was the only existence that could make him reach the first rank before the test ended.

    ....

    The Frost Queen stood on the cliff with her hands behind her back, holding a file. Even as snow fell across the entire world, it didn''t touch her. It was as if she were a forbidden existence to the snow.

    "It''s just like that day," she mumbled, overlooking the world embraced by frost.

    "Ah, to think that the test ended so fast. If it went on a little longer, I could''ve finished you off." The mocking words were still fresh in her mind.

    She subconsciously touched her forehead. She didn''t know if she should be grateful that she survived that day or be furious that she was made to live through such disgrace. Sometimes she thought that death would have been a better outcome.

    Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the scene from that godforsaken day when she had received the wound on her forehead. Whenever she thought about that moment, her fists clenched involuntarily.

    It was a scene that she could never forget as long as she lived. Aliath was standing next to her while she was lying on the ground.

    The boy was only twelve years old at that time, but he was still carrying a spear that was twice his size. That spear was aimed at her forehead, its tip making her bleed.

    There was no snow anywhere in the surroundings. There were only signs of a battle that had flattened an entire cliff.

    Aliath also had a watch on his wrist that was constantly beeping. It was the automatic reminder that the test had ended, as the highest number of deaths had been achieved.

    If the test had ended a little later, the spear wouldn''t have simply entered a mere inch into her forehead. It would have passed through her skull. She was certain.

    Because she survived, it didn''t count as the completion of the third method, and Aliath didn''t receive any extra score. He was ranked tenth in that test.

    Only a few people knew the reality of that day. It wasn''t that Aliath couldn''t get the first rank. It was simply that he went for the hardest option and ran out of time at the last moment because of variables related to other participants.

    Many believed it to be the only moment of failure in his life. Aliath could tell others what he had achieved, but he didn''t seem to care about it either.

 Chapter 41 Blame Your Brother

    Lilian could never forget that day. That''s why, every time she encountered another Ashborn, she struggled to control her emotions. She was always wary of their intentions, worried that another Aliath might appear.

    Fortunately for her, the other children of the Ashborn family, though frighteningly talented, were not as monstrous as Aliath had been from the start.

    When she heard that Elias was also an Ashborn, she was taken aback. She couldn''t believe she hadn''t been informed that another Ashborn had entered the academy.

    She quickly sent the students away after telling them about the trial. When they were gone, she immediately requested information on Elias''s measurement ceremony from the academy''s administrative department.

    She received the complete file on Elias Ashborn, including everything that he had done from the moment he stepped inside the academy. It also mentioned his battle with Rey Esterin, which left both of them injured.

    On the last page of the file, there was information related to his Measurement Ceremony. Even though she looked at the information with her own eyes, she found it hard to believe.

    That person was from the Auxiliary Class? Was he pushed into the Destroyer Class simply because of his family name? She wondered, unaware of the true reason an Auxiliary Class student would be sent to the Destroyer Class.

    Still, she was somewhat relieved to know that Elias wasn''t a threat. Even if he seemed a little unusual, he was still an Auxiliary. What could an architect do? Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t harm her.

    Just to be certain, she kept an eye on the rankings for the first few days to see the scores of the Destroyer Class participants. Every time she glanced at the rankings, she found Elias at the bottom, his points in the single digits.

    After a few days, she stopped checking the lower rankings that often, becoming more certain that Elias wasn''t a threat. If anything, he was even weaker than the fourth Ashborn Child.

    Lost in memories of the past, Lilian didn''t notice a person walking towards her amidst the heavy snowstorm.

    Elias had completely erased his presence using one of the temporary abilities he had merged with. He also used another ability to make his body lighter which allowed him to walk on the snow without leaving footprints or making any noise.

    To ensure that Lilian wasn''t alerted of his presence yet, he had even stopped using the Snowmobile when he was a few kilometres away from the cliff. From that point on, he had been running in the snowstorm to reach the top of the cliff, wanting to get here before the test could end.

    He pulled out a dagger and approached the Frost Queen, who was gazing into the distance as if she hadn''t noticed his presence at all. He was completely focused on her, knowing that this might be his only opportunity.

    He took a deep breath, and once he was ready, he used the same method he had used to kill the two rankers.

    To his own pleasant surprise, his dagger successfully hit the target. It stabbed through the woman''s neck. However, before he could celebrate, he noticed that something was wrong.

    There was no bleeding. He didn''t even hear the woman make even the slightest noise, as if she couldn''t feel anything.

    Right before his eyes, the woman''s figure started turning into an ice sculpture, which began cracking until it broke into thousands of pieces that fell to the ground.

    Once again, thousands of ice spears appeared all around him, and he came to a realization. The Frost Queen was still alive, and he had clearly been entrapped.

    Since the Material Composition didn''t show anything strange when he attacked, he was sure that the person he struck was really the Frost Queen, but still, she had managed to survive.

    It made him believe that she had some ability that helped her switch with an ice statue at the last moment to save her life. If she truly had an ability like that, then it made it even harder for him to take her down.

    "It looks like I really underestimated you," Lilian''s voice reached his ears, appearing from behind him. "You are just as ambitious as he was."

    Elias slowly turned around and saw the Frost Queen standing in the distance, completely unharmed. She didn''t even have a single scratch on her body, and her clothes remained pure, untouched by the impurities of this world.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t kill you. I don''t want your family to come after my head. But I will definitely make sure that you learn your place." She raised her right hand, and the hundreds of ice spears around Elias started trembling.

    The winds became stronger while her bangs moved, occasionally revealing the deep scar on her forehead.

    Ever since she was defeated by Aliath, she had been working harder to become stronger. In the future, she wanted to challenge Aliath again. Unfortunately, while Aliath grew up, he became even more monstrous.

    Until that man graduated, Lilian never had the courage to challenge him, despite being a teacher at the Academy.

    Even if Elias was different from Aliath, her anger and shame of the past had overwhelmed her. What she couldn''t do to Aliath, she wanted to do to Elias so she could calm her anger.

    "If you want to blame anyone, then blame your foolishness and that arrogant bastard brother of yours!" she exclaimed as she suddenly clenched her fist.

    Simultaneously, the hundreds of sharp ice spears fell, aimed at Elias. Even if she said that she wasn''t trying to kill Elias, her actions didn''t give the same impression.

    An attack like that was strong enough to kill almost anyone in this world, especially a child who had only gained his Class less than a week ago.

    The moment those spears struck, the cliff itself trembled, with snow flying in all directions. The impact of the attack was so strong that even the participants of faraway domains felt the trembling, as if there had been an earthquake. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Most of the cliff was destroyed, just like the cliff was destroyed in her battle with Aliath. The only difference was that she was the winner this time, and she didn''t regret anything.

 Chapter 42 Plans for Aftermath

    Lilian had destroyed the entire cliff, not holding anything back. It was the new strength that she had gained after training throughout the years, and going through another evolution.

    Even as the cliff was destroyed, Lilian remained unharmed, as cold winds kept her floating in the empty space where a cliff used to be previously.

    She knew that destroying Elias wasn''t going to erase the shame that she had suffered at Aliath''s hand. She was fighting against a twelve year old child after all. Still, she didn''t seem to care.

    Her mind was not in a stable condition, as the memories of the past kept flooding her mind. She didn''t think about the kind of backing that Elias might have from his family.

    It took a moment for the realization to set in. Elias wasn''t just Aliath''s brother but also the youngest son of the Ashborn Family.

    "What have I done?" She mumbled, looking at the destruction that she had caused in her anger.

    If she had simply injured Elias, then even if it was a serious injury, she could have passed it off as her trying to teach him. But if he was dead, then it was an entirely different thing.

    She landed on the ground, her expressions turning grim.

    "I-i need to find a way to shift this blame to someone else. I... Right! I can shift the blame to another participant! I just have to make sure that not even a shred of his body is left behind for any verification!"

    Her thoughts were racing at the speed of light as she tried to think of ways to deal with the aftermath. There was no oversight from the academy in this world. She was the only one who knew what happened here.

    "Didn''t Rey have some enmity with Elias? If I can just shift the blame to him, the two families would be fighting with each other. They will never have time to think about anything else!"

    She made up her mind that she was going to ensure that no evidence was left behind. She could always repair the frost cliff with her abilities after all. The moment she came up with a plan to deal with this mess, her expressions eased a little.

    Cold winds started wrapping around her body, slowly lifting her up as she made up her mind to put the plan into motion before the test was over.

    She had only risen a few feets in the air when a pale hand came out of the snow beneath her feet. The hand grabbed her ankle.

    Lilian''s eyes widened in disbelief. The cold winds that had covered her surroundings, was her domain. As long as something moved within those winds, she could sense their presence. But if something moved beneath the snow, she was just as shocked as she didn''t see it coming.

    She was forcefully pulled down inside the suffocating snow. However, she reacted quickly and turned into a lifeless statue of ice, her real body appearing hundreds of feet away.

    Her expressions were somewhat panicked, as this was the second time she seemed to have fallen for it. If she was a little late, she might have actually died.

    She was in disbelief that Elias had survived her first attack. If that was the case, then he already knew that she had tried to kill him. It was too late to take a step back.

    She had to ensure that Elias was dead, so he could never tell this to anyone else. Now that she already had a plan to deal with the aftermath, she didn''t have to hold back.

    She raised her hand, and more ice spears materialized in the hundred feet radius of where the hand had come out. She didn''t give him any chance, as the spears came crashing down again, making the earth tremble once more.

    ....

    "Earthquakes are becoming too often. Is it a sign that the world is about to be destroyed?" Rey Esterin frowned, as he stepped inside the next domain whose owner was still alive.

    He was already holding the first rank, but more than that, he wanted to find Elias to show him his new abilities.

    "This test better not end until I kill you," he mumbled, as he increased his speed to chase after the marker of the domain owner which was rushing away.

    .... S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Is this world really going to end?" In an apartment building, Leo was sitting in front of a window, looking at the world that had lost its color, only to be embraced in a thick layer of white.

    "Don''t talk nonsense. This world will be fine. We will survive, and everything will return to normal!" A girl hugged him from behind.

    "I really hope..." Leo mumbled, not knowing why he was thinking about Elias at a moment like this.

    He was curious as to what that boy might be doing? Was he also hiding like them, waiting for the world to end? Or was he doing something more important?

    ....

    Earth trembled as thousands of spears fell to the ground, but for some strange reason, Lilian didn''t feel relieved. It was as if her instincts were warning her.

    "I don''t need to blame my brother..." A voice came from behind her, as if a ghost had materialized right there.

    "Why don''t you just die?!" Lilian exclaimed as a powerful frost explosion originated from her. Thousands of small fragments of ice materialized around her and shot outward.

    They pierced through the body of the person who had materialized behind her, like bullets.

    The woman looked back, watching Elias standing behind her. She could even see fresh blood. This time, she had really gotten him.

    At least, that''s what she thought until she felt the same sense of danger. Another presence materialized behind her, like that of an assassin.

    She found it hard to believe. Elias was right in front of her, so who was behind her? The question made her expression darken.

 Chapter 43 Aim

    She attacked the person behind her, killing him as well. She didn''t want to take any risks. Only after killing him did she look back and see the person who had appeared behind her.

    Looking at him, she was again at a loss. The person looked completely identical to Elias. There wasn''t even the smallest difference. Moreover, the second Elias was also bleeding.

    It was impossible for there to be two Elias. No, had there really been two in the first place? The moment she thought about it, her expression darkened.

    Did Elias really survive her first two spear attacks? What if the two attacks were successful and had killed him? It meant she had already killed four of them, but none of them were real.

    "Where are you hiding?" she roared, her voice spreading far and wide.

    She didn''t know how Elias possessed so many abilities in the first place. He could erase his presence and even lower his weight to avoid leaving any footprints. He also seemed to have incredible strength. And now, he also had this ability to create what looked like clones?

    Normally, a person only had two abilities after they awakened. Only after their future evolutions did they receive more abilities related to their classes. So how could someone from an Auxiliary Class have so many abilities when he had only awakened a few days ago?

    "Stop hiding like a coward! Didn''t you want to kill me?!" Lilian''s voice grew even louder as she started rising into the air to get a better view of her surroundings.

    Moreover, as long as she was in the air, Elias couldn''t appear behind her to attack. It was much safer in the sky than it was on the ground.

    While Lilian screamed at the top of her lungs, someone was keeping an eye on her.

    About five hundred meters away, a young boy lay on the cold snow. His body, mostly covered by it, blended into the surroundings.

    In front of him, there was a sniper rifle that was constantly aimed at Lilian.

    ''Just as I thought... She can sense the presence of people around her. It''s like some kind of domain, but it doesn''t seem to expand too far or she would''ve sensed me.''

    ''Still, a surprise attack is useless. And her ability allows her to escape death by turning into an ice statue. There seems to be only one solution. She needs to be killed before she can even sense danger.''

    Elias had a good idea about Lilian''s tricks, at least the ones she had revealed so far. For now, his experiments seemed to be going well, but he was far from complete success.

    ''If I had more time on my hands, it would''ve been better to conduct more experiments. But for now, I can''t give her time. I have to go by the data I have collected so far.''

    "All of you go and attack her," he said. "Distract her and buy me some time."

    The moment he spoke, multiple clones of his rushed towards the destroyed cliff from every direction. There were over twenty of them, their presence surprising Lilian.

    All of them used a different ability as they attacked Lilian, who was in the sky. There was even one that could fly and attack from above.

    Looking at their attacks, Lilian was also at a loss. How did they have so many abilities? Moreover, these abilities felt awfully familiar to the temporary abilities that were granted to the people of this world for this test.

    "I really hope one of you is real." Lilian also grew serious as frost armor appeared around her body.

    A beautiful robe appeared around her body, made from the ice dragon''s skin, which strengthened her defense even more. The real battle had begun as she tried to kill every Elias that appeared before her.

    Meanwhile, the real Elias remained far away from the battle. Still, he could feel the impact of the battle.

    His clones were being killed left and right, and Lilian seemed to be enjoying it. No matter how many abilities they had, they couldn''t compete with the Frost Queen. Temporary abilities were just that... weaker versions of their real counterparts.

    Moreover, Lilian had lived for over a century. She had been teaching at the academy for a long time. If she didn''t even know how to counter these temporary abilities, then it would''ve been more surprising.

    "This clone creation ability is quite useful. It helped me get a lot of useful data. The only flaw seems to be that the clones don''t have my traits or class. They are like normal humans. But for me, that isn''t a problem."

    The moment he received the temporary cloning ability, he had already planned everything. He didn''t use the ability cores on himself. Instead, he used the ability cores on the clones, giving one to each of them.

    Even after that, he knew that they weren''t strong enough to challenge the Frost Queen. But he didn''t want that in the first place. He simply used the clones for two reasons.

    The first reason was to get more data on the Frost Queen, her abilities, and fighting patterns to make sure that there were no flaws in his main plan. As for the next reason, it was even simpler.

    He used these clones to distract her so she couldn''t see the real thing that was coming, even if she had a domain. Her domain was overwhelmed by so many presences and attacks. There was no way for her to see every small thing in her domain now.

    It was the perfect opportunity that he had been waiting for. He stabilized his breathing as his fingers moved to the trigger of the sniper rifle.

    He knew that a sniper rifle wasn''t enough to kill someone like the Frost Queen, but that was only when it was an ordinary rifle.

    He had already ensured that the sniper rifle wasn''t ordinary anymore.

    ......

    Material Composition: Sniper Rifle (80 Percent), Essence of Lightning (15 Percent), Dust of Creation (5 Percent)

    Weight: 15 Kg

    Length: 1.2 Meters

    Material Stability: 75 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    ...... S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 44 Surpassed by the present

    Elias looked through the sniper scope, aiming for the Frost Queen. His fingers rested on the trigger. With the dense frost storm, his sight wasn''t clear. Lilian was also moving a lot while killing his clones, which made it harder to aim.

    Every few seconds, Elias had to readjust the rifle. And every time he did, it became useless again as the Frost Queen moved.

    He tried to keep his emotions in control, to not grow impatient. Even the most perfect weapon was useless if the person using it wasn''t good enough. He didn''t want to miss the target because of his impatience.

    He adjusted the aim again. This time, he didn''t aim directly at her. Instead, he aimed for an empty space near her, as if predicting her next movement based on her recent movements and the presence of his remaining clones.

    Once he settled down, he took a deep breath and started waiting for the right time.

    In another part of the world, Rey had discovered another Ranker. Even if the Ranker had tried to run, he couldn''t outrun the person whose class itself allowed him to rule over winds.

    "I really hoped that it would be him. It looks like he is quite lucky." He created a sphere of condensed flames and tossed it. The flaming sphere struck the legs of the running Domain Lord, making him fall down, groaning in pain.

    "Let me go! I haven''t done anything to you!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs as he tried to stop the fire that was burning his legs and spreading upwards.

    Unfortunately, the flame didn''t stop. Even as he rolled on the snow, the flames didn''t disappear. Only the pain of burning became stronger.

    "Oh, believe me, I really wished it wasn''t an insignificant person like you," Rey landed before the boy, who was screaming in pain like a mad person.

    "Unfortunately, the test will end after one more death. If I don''t kill you, and the one at the second rank kills the tenth person, I might lose the top rank. Hence, you must die!"

    He gathered another sphere of condensed flames, wrapping it in dense winds to make it even more lethal. He aimed it at the boy, and released it.

    "Now!" Elias pulled the trigger the moment Lilian stepped into his view. Lightning flickered around his sniper rifle as a golden bullet shot out, leaving a trail of lightning in its wake.

    The bullet traveled through space at a speed many times faster than a normal bullet. Even the snow that neared the bullet evaporated into nothingness as the bullet entered the ice storm like a spear tossed straight from heaven.

    At the same time, Lilian killed the last clone, turning it into a sculpture of ice. She tapped the ice sculpture gently. Cracks spread across the ice sculpture, and the last clone shattered into thousands of pieces.

    "How long are you going to hide behind these useless clones?" she roared like a wounded beast, the storm around her growing even denser. "If you want to kill me, then come yourself!"

    She continued, "I hated your brother, but at least he wasn''t a cowar-"

    Swish!

    Her pupils trembled as she watched a golden bullet flying away from her. She lowered her gaze and looked at her chest, which had a small hole right where her heart was supposed to be.

    "Is that... blood?" she mumbled, her trembling hands touched her chest. She couldn''t even remember the last time she had bled.

    She tried to freeze her wound, but it was too little too late. The bullet passed through her heart, something that could not be treated by just freezing it.

    She knew that she had to return! Only at the Academy could she be treated. She opened the portal to return to the Academy, but as she tried to move, she felt an electric current coursing through her body.

    "Arghh!" She roared, but this time it wasn''t the roar of anger like before. It was pure pain as lightning spread throughout her body, destroying it from the inside.

    Beep.... Beep... Beep...

    Elias was focused on Lilian, and didn''t care about the constantly beeping sound on his watch. He didn''t even know when it had appeared. His finger again moved on the trigger and another bullet shot out.

    The portal was opened in front of Seraphina, connecting to the Medical Facility of the Academy. The elf-like professor who had healed Elias previously, looked at the portal, wondering who was arriving.

    She waited for a few seconds, but no one stepped through the Portal. She grew curious, even worried that something bad might have happened to the person who opened this portal, especially since no one connected to this place for no reason.

    If they weren''t stepping through the portal, did it mean they were seriously injured? She was worried.

    "Prepare for an emergency!" She commanded the other staff at the medical facility before rushing through the portal to check herself.

    The moment she stepped out of the portal, she was left stunned. In front of her was Frost Queen Lilian. She was bleeding, and her pupils were trembling in fear.

    "H...elp..." Lilian struggled to utter a single word, as her body refused to listen to her. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Who did this to you?" Seraphina asked as she rushed to help Lilian. However, before she could even touch Lilian, she saw a golden light flash before his eyes, disappearing as fast as it appeared.

    At the same moment, blood splashed on her face. Her face was filled with horror, as she looked at Lilian who now had a hole right through her skull.

    Horrified, she stepped back, worried that she might have entered a battlefield. At this point, she was worried about her own life, and ran back through the portal, her heart racing in fear.

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    The beeping sound drew closer to Lilian as she fell on the ground. She could hear the footsteps of someone approaching, but she couldn''t see anything. The constantly beeping sound felt so familiar, as if it was mocking her.

    It looked like the past had repeated itself. No... It was surpassed by the present in some ways.

 Chapter 45 The Second Brother

    Seraphina returned to the Medical Facility, her heart still pounding uncontrollably. Though she was a Professor at the Dimensional Academy, it was only because of her healing abilities. She didn''t have any offensive skills.

    She was still in disbelief about what she had seen. Someone had killed Lilian, right in front of her eyes. As she belonged to the species of the Elves, her face was already pale. But it looked even paler now.

    She immediately sent a message to the Shadow Guardians, who were responsible for security at the Academy, informing them about what she had witnessed.

    Within minutes, the Shadow Guards rushed into the lab. They took swift action. Even though the portal had closed, they still managed to locate the other side of the portal through the remnant spatial displacement traces.

    The Shadow Guards opened another portal, connecting to the same place. They all rushed through the portal, to save Lilian if possible.

    With the arrival of the Shadow Guards, Lilian also felt more confident about her safety. Even though she was still scared to return to that place, she gathered every bit of courage she had.

    If Lilian even had a single breath left, then she was needed there to save her. She didn''t stay behind, as it was a matter of life and death of another Professor.

    The moment she stepped out of the portal, she heard another loud banging sound. Shd couldn''t see anything as the Shadow Guards were standing before her, unintentionally blocking her view.

    Their behaviour made her even more confused. Her brows raised as she wondered why they weren''t moving to find and kill the culprit.

    She moved to the side, trying to see through the gap between two shadow guards. And what she saw, left her frozen in place.

    Lilian was lying on the ground, the snow beneath her turning red in her own blood. Next to her was a young child that she had seen before.

    "Elias... Ashborn..." she mumbled, feeling a chill run down her spine. Elias was holding what looked like a long sniper rifle. It was aimed at Lilian, who seemed to already be dead.

    Bang~

    Elias pulled the trigger once more, as if trying to ensure that she was truly dead. Now that he had already taken this step, he wasn''t going to let her live for her to come back for revenge.

    She finally understood why the Shadow Guards weren''t moving. It was a different matter if it was an enemy from outside that had hurt an Academic Professor. But in this case, the person responsible was a student from the Academy.

    Moreover, he wasn''t an ordinary student. He was a descendant of the Ashborn Family.

    Through the history of the Dimensional Academy, there had only been one time where a Professor had died at the hands of a student. Today marked the second time something like this had happened.

    Seraphina didn''t know what to even think about this. Was it her fault? Just a few days ago, she treated Elias because he was hurt. And now, he had killed a Professor already.

    One of the shadow guards brought a communication device and whispered something in it, before keeping it back.

    "Is she dead?" Elias asked the Shadow Guards, who were standing in the distance, looking at him in silence.

    "She died a long time ago," the Shadow Guard that had carried Elias to the Medical Facility the first time, answered.

    "Can she be brought back to life?" Elias came to the main question that had been troubling him. The upper world was more advanced. He wasn''t sure if they could bring the dead back to life yet.

    "She is already dead. It is impossible to bring her back to life as she used to be," the Shadow Guard answered. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He thought for a few seconds before he continued, "At best, she can be brought back as an undead by a Necromancer like your second brother. But even if that happened, she would be much weaker. She would also lose all her independent thoughts and personality."

    Elias had heard a lot about his Eldest Brother at the academy, but this was the first time he was hearing anything about his second brother.

    "That''s impossible! Becoming an Undead is disgraceful!" a voice spoke up, filled with disgust. "You become no different than lifeless zombies that only live for your master''s sake! The Academy will never allow someone like her to become the property of a Necromancer!"

    Elias'' brows raised, hearing the voice that seemed to belong to a woman. The Shadow Guards moved aside, looking at the woman who seemed to be hiding behind them.

    "Who are you?" Elias asked, as the woman didn''t look like a Shadow Guard.

    She also seemed to have a different temperament from the professors that he had seen before. As he was unconscious when she treated him, she felt like a complete stranger to him.

    Seraphina flinched, as Elias'' hand was still on the trigger while he talked to her. Even though the fun wasn''t aimed at her, she still froze temporarily.

    The gun was clearly not ordinary if it could destroy Lilian to this extent. She even wondered if this was some treasure of the Ashborn Family.

    Before Seraphina could answer, another portal opened nearby. "You Ashborns can never stop troubling me, can you?"

    ....

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    The watch of every student was beeping at the same time, marking the end of the test. With the end of the test, the markers of other rankers also disappeared from the world map, making it impossible for them to find others.

    Many of them looked relieved that they had survived until the end. While there were also a few like the ones from rank second to fifth who had failed to kill the last person to snatch the first rank. They looked quite disappointed.

    At the moment, the happiest person was Rey Esterin as he looked at the ashes of the ranker that he had killed, right before his watch started beeping. He was certain that he had retained his top rank.

    Even if he had failed to find and kill Elias, he still looked pleased that he had taken the first place. He was even looking forward to the special reward that was reserved for the first ranker.

    Even if the Professor told them that the first reward was simply a position of the leader of the class, he already knew that the first rank''s reward was something even more special.

    "That Growth Stone is mine..." he smirked as he opened the rankings like the rest of the rankers.

 Chapter 46 Is the Dean trying on bully my little brother?

    Rey opened the rankings, looking straight for the name that was above all else. But the moment he saw the name, he felt like he was in a nightmare.

    "This is impossible..." he mumbled in disbelief. That name didn''t belong to him. Instead, it belonged to someone that never should''ve been here.

    The appearance of the name at the top rank felt like it was mocking him. That person wasn''t even in the top five. How could he get first place? Unless he killed others from the top five, it should''ve been impossible for him to make such a large jump.

    His gaze moved down, trying to see if the others in the top five were dead. He found his name at the second rank. The names of other rankers had moved down by one rank, but their names hadn''t disappeared.

    It made him even more confused. How did Elias take the top rank if the other high rankers were still alive? Even if he killed everyone in his domain within the last few seconds, it still wasn''t enough to cover the gap.

    There was only one other possibility that could help one take the top rank that appeared in his mind.

    "No, that''s absurd! There''s no way he could do something like that!" he shook his head in disbelief. "It must be some bug! That''s right. That must be why I don''t see a score in front of his name!"

    He tried to make sense of the situation, as Elias'' name was the only one in the entire list which didn''t have a score assigned. The section about their scores was completely blank for him.

    ....

    "You Ashborns can never stop troubling me, can you?"

    A portal opened in the sky. Before anyone could even step out of the portal, Elias felt a heavy pressure descend on his body. He tried to resist the force, but it was so overwhelming that he was forced down to his knees.

    The Shadow Guards also went down on one knee, but their situation felt different. It was clear that they weren''t forced down. They went down on a knee willingly, as if to welcome the one that was arriving.

    The only person left standing was Seraphina who was looking at the portal in the sky. From the portal, a person stepped out, stepping on the air.

    Elias clenched his teeth, as he looked up. The force had kept him pinned in place. It felt less like an accident, and more as if someone was intentionally trying to show him his place.

    Looking at the sky, he saw the person who had stepped out of the portal. It was a woman, who he didn''t recognise either.

    Still, looking at the way that the Shadow Guards behaved in front of her, it was clear that she held a higher position than the Professors.

    The woman came down, as if a fairy descending from heaven. She landed in front of Elias, her beautiful amber eyes observing the boy that she had only seen through the mirrors before.

    She didn''t even spare a second glance at Lilian''s body, as if she already realized what had happened. Instead, she looked more focused on the Sniper Rifle in Elias''s hands.

    "That looks very interesting," she said, her voice seemingly carrying a strange charm. She waved her hand, trying to make the gun fly straight to her hands with her aura.

    "Hmm?" She revealed quite a surprise as the gun simply refused to move, as if her aura couldn''t even connect with it, unlike with Elias.

    "How fascinating." She reached out her hand, grabbing the Sniper Rifle. "What an interesting weapon."

    She tried to take the weapon from Elias'' hands, but Elias resisted, not releasing the gun even as his body was being suppressed.

    "It is mine!" Elias exclaimed, but the woman didn''t seem to care. She forcefully snatched the Sniper Rifle from his hands, almost breaking his wrist in the process.

    "Do I look like a thief?" she asked Elias, while observing the weapon.

    She couldn''t see through it at all. It felt like a very strange weapon, one that was at least a high-level treasure. What surprised her even more was that she couldn''t control it.

    She was curious how Elias had even gotten his hands on it. Did his father give it to him? No, that was unlikely. The way his father behaved, there was no way he would give the youngest something like this.

    "I am just taking it so you don''t hurt anyone else," she said, not even caring about the validity of the excuse. "I don''t want you to go around hurting other Professors."

    She was really curious about this weapon, especially the way it was made. She could feel a strange sense of familiarity with it, or at least with some material used to make it. It reminded her of the lightning that had killed her pet beast.

    "It was part of the test! She told us that we had to kill her if we wanted the highest rank," Elias exclaimed, trying to stand.

    He used every bit of strength he had, rising a few inches from the ground, but just as he was about to stand up, the woman simply waved her hand, making the pressure even stronger.

    Elias came crashing down again, his knees hitting hard on the stone beneath him.

    "I know about the test. I won''t take your top rank from you. But you still can''t be allowed to have a weapon like this. It''s too dangerous. If you want it back, tell me where you got it from, and I might consider returning it," Freya stated, her voice still as carefree as ever. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Dean, but taking someone''s personal property is..." the Shadow Guard that had helped Elias tried to speak. However, he quickly closed his mouth when he saw the woman glare at him.

    "I will send another Professor to take over your class and reward you according to your rank." Freya turned around, opening another portal as if she was already about to leave. However, she didn''t forget Lilian''s body.

    Lilian''s body started floating in the air, controlled by Freya''s abilities. As she walked towards the portal, the body floated behind and followed.

    "Is the Dean trying to bully my little brother?" Freya was about to step inside the portal to leave when she heard a man''s voice that made her stop.

 Chapter 47 The Necromancer

    "Aren''t you a little too old to be bullying a child?" Elias heard the voice, which, surprisingly, came from behind him. He hadn''t even felt the person''s presence, even though he was speaking from right behind him.

    The only thing he could see was that the remnant snow in the surroundings had started turning dark, losing any semblance of life it contained.

    He felt a tap on his shoulder, and to his surprise, the pressure that had been pushing down on his body disappeared entirely.

    "You are...?" Elias stood up and looked behind him. He saw a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. However, he couldn''t be certain about the man''s true age.

    The man didn''t look strong. He had dark circles around his eyes, as if he hadn''t slept for months. He looked somewhat gloomy and bored.

    He wasn''t even dressed as lavishly as the rest, or had any family insignia on his clothes. He was simply wearing a loose t-shirt and jeans.

    He stretched his arms and yawned. "Can you return that little toy to my brother? And while you''re at it, can you also give that body to me? For research, of course."

    "How long have you been here?" Freya asked, frowning at the sight of the troublesome person. This man was the reason she had come here in such a hurry to take Lilian''s body, after all.

    "Who knows? I''m too sleepy to remember things properly..." The man rubbed his eyes, trying to keep them open. He looked as if he could fall asleep at any moment.

    "I can''t give you Lilian''s body," Freya stood firm in her decision. There was no way she was going to hand over Lilian''s body to this person.

    Lilian thought that the man was at least going to argue, or try to throw a tantrum, but he didn''t seem to care in the least. "I''m too lazy to argue. Just return my brother''s toy in that case."

    Even if she wanted to investigate the weapon, she knew that it was a better deal. It was something that didn''t belong to her in the first place.

    It had been fine when she took the weapon from a child who wasn''t favored by the family, as he couldn''t even complain to anyone. But with this man''s arrival, things were different.

    If it spread that she stole things from children, she could only imagine how embarrassing it would be. It wasn''t as if the man cared about her reputation, unlike others who were here.

    "Fine." Before the man could change his mind, she tossed the sniper rifle back to Elias, before rushing inside the portal with Lilian''s body.

    Elias caught the Rifle, looking in disbelief. Was it really the Dean of the Academy? Why did she look like she was running away from a plague?

    The others also didn''t stay behind. Seraphina and the Shadow Guards also left, leaving only the two of them behind.

    Elias was still curious about the man''s real identity. He had heard the man call him little brother. Did it mean he was also from the Ashborn Family?

    It couldn''t be the Eldest Brother as he had been missing for a long time. Other than him, the only brothers that he hadn''t seen were the Second and Third Brother.

    He didn''t think that there would be someone in this family who would help him, let alone one of his brothers.

    "Did you make it?" the man asked Elias, his eyes barely open at this point.

    Elias nodded. There was no point in hiding it. He was going to make even more impressive things in the future, after all. He couldn''t keep hiding these things.

    "Interesting..." The man ruffled Elias''s hair before walking past him. He didn''t say anything else, simply taking a few steps forward.

    He lazily tapped his foot on the ground, and two skeletal hands came crawling out of the snow, followed by the rest of their bodies. But what stunned Elias most was that they were holding something.

    Each skeleton seemed to be pulling a hand out of the snow. When they pulled the source of those hands out, Elias almost froze in place. It was Lilian''s body! She was right here. Then what did Freya take?

    "Shhh..." the man gestured to Elias before walking away. The skeletons carried Lilian''s body and followed the man inside the portal, disappearing.

    "It seems like you don''t recognize me. I won''t blame you. You were only a few months old when I last saw you." Just before entering the portal, the man left behind a few sentences. "My name is Elten... Elten Ashborn. I''m your second brother, and also a Professor at the Academy."

    After Elten left, the world returned to complete silence. Only Elias was left behind, looking at the portal as it slowly closed.

    "Second Brother..." he mumbled, remembering the stories of the Second Son of Ashborn.

    Even if he wasn''t as famous as Aliath, he had also made a name for himself. He wasn''t considered any less crazy than the other Ashborns, even if he didn''t seem that way.

    He was the person said to have killed a Professor of the Creator Class. Not only that, he had even tried to turn that person into an undead, only to be stopped by other Professors.

    In the Academy, he was known as the Lazy Necromancer. At least that was what people called him behind his back, as no one dared to say that to his face, even if they had all the courage in the world.

    "Confirm Extraction." Before the other Professor could arrive, Elias started extracting the Essence of Lightning and the Dust of Creation from the sniper rifle.

    The gun returned to its normal form, and he kept the two vials back in his pocket. Even if someone were to snatch the rifle, it didn''t matter.

    Even as he finished extraction, he didn''t stop thinking about Elten. "To think that he became a professor at the Academy... But when did he switch the bodies?"

    He felt as if something was out of place.

    sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 48 Cat and Mouse

    ....

    Elten returned to the Academy, to a space assigned to him. The space was completely dark, with not even a flicker of light visible.

    "How was he?" A voice came from the darkness the moment Elten entered.

    "He was better than I expected," Elten lazily answered. "I also received an unexpected gift from him, it seems."

    The moment he finished speaking, the Skeletons arrived, carrying Lilian''s body. For a moment, there was only silence. A shocked gasp could be clearly heard in the silence.

    "Is that...?" The voice was unable to hide its surprise. "Did you kill another professor?"

    "It wasn''t me this time," Elten yawned. "I already promised Father that I wouldn''t kill another professor unless they tried to hurt me. They don''t give me that opportunity, even if I try to provoke them."

    He opened a drawer, finding its precise location despite the darkness, as if he could see everything there.

    "Are we going somewhere?" the voice asked, watching Elten bring out the badge of the Ashborn Family that belonged to him.

    For the most part, it was a useless badge that only signified Elten''s identity as a pureblood Ashborn. However, there was something special about it.

    It had a hidden formation that allowed Elten to gain access to the Ashborn Family''s battleship. He rarely used it, so it was simply collecting dust there.

    "We need to leave for a week, before the Dean realizes that she has the wrong corpse and seals the space to prevent me from leaving. That transformation spell won''t last long," Elten said, swiftly opening a formation to their battleship.

    "It should take a week to bring Lilian back as an Undead. After that, I can always return. The Dean can''t do much after that point. Oh right, while you''re at it, write a few leave applications for me and get someone to deliver one to the Dean''s office."

    "You... And here I was wondering how that woman allowed you to take a Professor''s body after she went so far to stop you last time..." There was a deep sigh, followed by the sound of a pen moving over paper.

    Once the week-long leave application was written, he rolled the letter into a scroll and placed it in the mouth of a zombie bird. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The bird flew out of the place, finding its way out of this space. It went straight to the Dean''s office, instead of her official residence.

    Meanwhile, Elten also finished his preparations and opened a portal to the docks where the Ashborn Family''s battleship was docked.

    He used the badge to open the gates of the ship and entered, accompanied by the Skeletons that were carrying Lilian''s body. The ship started rising, and soon it left the Dimensional Realm, its destination unknown.

    From the moment Elten left Elias, to the moment he left the Dimensional Realm, it didn''t even take half an hour.

    A few more hours passed from that moment onwards. The Dean''s face grew blank as she stared at Lilian''s corpse that she had brought.

    The transformation was being undone as the time limit had passed, and the body was returning to its real form. It wasn''t Lilian''s body! It was just a random corpse that had almost been rotting.

    "Elten!!!" She roared, watching Lilian''s face change.

    She reacted quickly, realizing what had just happened. She was fooled, and there was only one person who could have done this! She was wondering when Elten reached Frost World, but it was clear that he had been there before she even went there!

    She quickly rose in the sky and sealed the space of the Dimensional Realm, before going to find Elten. However, the moment she reached there, she came to realize that she was too late.

    Elten had already left the Dimensional Realm. A leave application was sent to Freya''s office, but another was left on the stone table in his room.

    "Respected Dean, I seem to be a little homesick. It seems I don''t have any classes to teach for the next week, so I thought I would go and stay with my family for a week. I should be back in a week."

    Freya clenched her fist, crushing the leave application, if it could even be called that. She went to check the docks and saw that the Ashborn Family''s battleship was missing.

    "You evil Ashborns!"

    ....

    Elten had already gone far from Freya''s reach. While the ship traveled through space, its next destination was already fed to the automated systems.

    He started preparing for the completion of the undead ceremony.

    "Do you think Freya will take her anger out on the little guy?" the voice came again, questioning Elten.

    "I don''t think she has the time for that. Don''t you know what''s coming for her? It would be wise for her to care about her own matters at the moment. It''s not as if going after the little one will change anything for her."

    "That does make sense." The voice seemed to be in agreement. "By the way, did you give him that thing?"

    Elten was busy with his preparations when he froze in place at the question.

    "You forgot, didn''t you?" the voice asked. "That''s why I told you to get some rest. Your mind simply stops working when needed."

    "I was distracted by Lilian''s corpse. Freya also arrived so suddenly. You can''t blame me for forgetting," Elten answered, realizing that he had made a little mistake.

    "Isn''t that the only thing Aliath asked you to do not long before he went missing?"

    Elten frowned. For a moment, it appeared as if the sleepiness in his eyes had disappeared and he gained seriousness again.

    "I will give it to him after I return. It''s only a week. It''s not as if the world will fall apart if he doesn''t have it for a week. That thing doesn''t seem to have any particular use after all."

    He brought out a knife, distracting himself from his mistake. He shifted his entire focus to carving his seal onto Lilian''s skin, which was one of the most crucial steps in the undead ceremony.

    The voice didn''t ask any more questions. Only the sound of footsteps could be heard, as if the other person was walking away. "I hope so."

 Chapter 49 The New Professor

    Elias sat in the snow, unaware of the battle of wits that had just taken place between Elten and Freya. He was thinking about Elten, trying to determine what kind of person he truly was.

    From their initial interaction, Elten had seemed kind to him. But was that a facade? Or was that the real him? That was the question in his mind.

    When exactly had he switched their bodies? It had certainly happened after he killed Lilian, but before Freya''s arrival. That meant Elten was already here while he was being suppressed.

    Even though it looked like Elten had arrived to save him from Freya, it was clearly not his primary reason. He had come here for Lilian, probably after hearing about her death.

    "I need to learn more about the descendants of the Ashborn Family." Even if Elten truly had good intentions towards him, he couldn''t completely trust him. He had to know more about them and take precautions to protect himself.

    He was lost in thoughts when he felt his surroundings becoming brighter. Something that felt like the sunlight, fell on his hand. He slowly raised his head, looking at the sky that had started to brighten.

    The clouds were disappearing, and the sun was becoming visible. He could even feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lay on his back, falling onto the snow, letting the sunlight embrace him in its warmth.

    With Lilian''s death, the world was being freed from the effects of the Frost Apocalypse.

    With no external force to manipulate the atmosphere, it was naturally healing. The snowfall had already stopped, and snowstorms were becoming a rare sight all over the world.

    Elias didn''t know what to feel about that. Had he saved the world? Did it even matter, as it wasn''t his world?

    "I wonder what they must be feeling," he mumbled, thinking about the citizens of this world that were finally free from this nightmare. "They probably can''t believe it. They must be thinking that it''s a dream."

    He couldn''t predict their thoughts. He simply guessed their thoughts, based on what he might have thought if his world was saved as well.

    Just like he thought, the citizens of this world, at least those who had survived, stood before the window, looking at the sky outside. Some of them even pinched themselves hard, to wake themselves if this was a dream.

    Many of them stepped out of the houses, basking in the sunlight. Was it truly the end of this frozen apocalypse?

    Even though they had tried to convince themselves that this apocalypse was only temporary and everything was going to return to normal, but even they didn''t believe it.

    Now that they could see the sun, whose existence had almost been forgotten, they couldn''t take their eyes off. Even if tears trickled down their eyes, they stared at the sun.

    "It''s really the sun..." Standing near the window, Leo was also looking at the sun, his heartbeat rising uncontrollably.

    Just at the last moment, it was feeling like the world was going to end, with earthquakes being rampant. And now, the world had become peaceful.

    He turned around, and hugged the woman tightly, "We are going to live! We are going to survive! The nightmare is over!"

    "It''s over..." The woman also hugged him tightly, unable to stop her tears. They went through so much in these last few months, and finally they seemed to be free from this hell.

    She knew that it wasn''t going to be easy in the coming weeks as the snow wasn''t going to melt anytime soon, but it was still the beginning of their new life.

    "Do you think he knew this was going to happen?" Leo suddenly asked, thinking about Elias.

    He had always wondered why Elias asked him to live even if this world had become hell. Was it because he knew that the world was going to recover? Or was he responsible for this recovery instead? He had a feeling that he was never going to receive the answers.

    The other rankers also looked at the sun recovering, which made them more confused. They were told that this world was going to die, even if their test ended earlier. So why was it recovering?

    They waited to be brought back to the cliff by the Professor, but even after a few hours passed, they weren''t teleported back. Many of them even started walking towards the cliff, where they had seen the mark of the Professor before the test ended. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ....

    After half a day had passed, someone stepped out of a portal that opened before Elias.

    "I''m late!" the man exclaimed, breathing heavily as if he had been running for a long time. "I was lost. I accidentally ended up in another world and came across those from the nightmare tribe. Those bastards wasted so much of my time!"

    He soon noticed Elias as the only person there. "Ah, sorry for my language. Where are the others?"

    "They are not back yet," Elias answered while standing up. He had thought that the others would be teleported back on their own the moment the test was over, but it didn''t seem to be the case.

    "Ah, my bad. I''m a fool. Of course, they won''t be here since the test ended with Lilian''s death." The man facepalmed, remembering the fact that this test ended with Lilian''s death. If the Professor itself died before the test ended, of course they didn''t bring back the other from the class.

    The man seemed to have a very lively personality, which didn''t match what Destroyer Class Professors were known for. However, there was something really odd about him.

    The moment he talked about Lilian''s death, he didn''t seem too fazed. It was as if it were a completely normal thing to him that Lilian had died at the hands of a twelve-year-old child.

    Even more surprising was the fact that he was so frank before the person who had just killed Lilian.

    The man activated a formation that activated the hidden formation in the watches. Those who were alive were teleported back.

 Chapter 50 Sentencing the World to Death

    All the rankers who had survived were brought back. They didn''t even have time to be relieved about their return before they saw the condition of their surroundings.

    The cliff had been flattened, and there were signs that a battle had taken place there. There were also some traces of blood on the snow that had just started to melt.

    When they saw this sight, and thought about the person who had suddenly climbed to the top rank, they could already guess a few things.

    Their thoughts were further verified when they saw another Professor there, with Lilian nowhere to be seen.

    "Where is Professor Lilian?" Rey asked the man. Even if all the evidence pointed toward the same thing, he still didn''t want to believe it. How could Elias kill a Professor? Even he wasn''t capable of doing that!

    "I have good news for you, and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" the Professor asked Rey, who was really hoping that he was simply overthinking. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Did Lilian have something else to do, which made her leave early? At least that''s what he wanted the situation to be like.

    "Bad news," he told the Professor. If that good news was what he was thinking about, then there was no significance of any good news for him.

    "The bad news is that your Professor Lilian, is dead. Which means all the effort that you went through to get the top rank, is useless now." the man said, as if he could already see that Rey was the second ranked in this test.

    Hearing those words, Rey felt like someone had pulled the ground from beneath his feets. He was thinking that this was a bug that Elias took the top rank, but it became clear that it wasn''t a bug. Lilian was really dead.

    He looked at Elias, his pupils trembling. He thought he was going to kill Elias and wash the embarrassment that he suffered, but he seemed to have become even stronger, and more dangerous.

    If Elias could kill a Professor, then couldn''t he also kill him? He had already established an enmity with Elias, and there was also the enmity between their families.

    He could feel a red target being painted behind his back. He never thought he was going to feel the same fear again, but here he was.

    He wasn''t alone who was feeling this way. Even the Descendants of other major families were feeling threatened.

    "What''s the good news?" Rey asked, holding his hands behind his back to prevent anyone from seeing his trembling hands.

    "The good news is that I''m your new Professor!" The man spread out his arms, like he was revealing some grand news. "Aren''t you excited?"

    Almost everyone looked at him blankly, not understanding why they would be excited over getting a new Professor when they didn''t even get to know their old one. They were still trying to come to terms with the revaluation about Elias.

    "Aww, you''re so excited that you can''t even say anything. Don''t worry. We will get a lot of time in the future," he said, as if he didn''t have any awareness about the true thoughts of the children.

    "After all, I''m not going to die anytime soon," he further added, subtly glancing at Elias. His face carried an innocent smile, but something about his words felt like a warning.

    "If Professor Lilian can be killed, what makes you certain that you can''t be killed?" a girl voiced out her opinions, raising her hand.

    "Huh? Is that supposed to be a question?" The man tilted his head sideways in confusion. "Isn''t it because I''m not as trash as her? She was the weakest of the Professors, after all."

    "Anyways, that''s enough talking. We are already running late. We need to return to the Academy, as this world has already been assigned to someone." He snapped his fingers, opening a returning portal. "I also have to give you the rewards."

    "What do you mean this world has been assigned to someone? Are those from the Creator Class also going to take the same test?" the same girl raised her hands, asking another question.

    "Those twats from the Creator Class?" The man burst into laughter. "It''s not them. They have already been taken to the Beast Realm to pick a soul beast. This world is assigned to your Senior from the Destroyer Class for her practical exams."

    The man didn''t seem like he was going to explain any further, but his words were enough to make Elias flinch. It was the second time he was hearing about the Practicals of the Destroyer Class.

    His sharp reaction didn''t go unnoticed by the man, who was slightly amused. "Don''t tell me you really thought you saved this world? All you did was sentence this world to a different and maybe crueler death."

    "Anyways, that has nothing to do with us. We are returning." He waved his hands, and all the students flew straight to the portal, their bodies not being in their control. Even Elias was the same, as he was pulled inside the portal.

    Right before he entered the portal, he looked at the bright sky. It was true that the world was going to be destroyed, no matter what he did. There were some things that couldn''t be changed.

    The only thing he achieved was to take the top rank. There was no other significance behind his actions, and that reality was just setting in.

    Elten, Aliath, Freya, Lilian.... This world was truly for the strong. Everyone else was simply a pawn, dancing to their tunes, being foolishly led to believe that they could break out of the mould.

    The only way to gain control of one''s fate, was to become an existence that was untouchable, even for someone like Freya.

    The people of the frost world were celebrating getting a new lease on life, unaware that this was not the end, but the beginning of their true nightmare that would have made them beg for return to the time of the Frost Apocalypse.

 Chapter 51 Responsible Seniors

    Elias was brought back to the Academy, along with the other first-year students of the Destroyer class. After the Professor''s arrival, the portal leading to the World of Frost closed forever.

    "How does it look? This is the building for our Destroyer Class. Majestic, isn''t it?" The Professor placed his hands on his waist and puffed out his chest as he looked at the grand building in front of him.

    Elias looked at the grand structure before him, which looked far from normal. It wasn''t that the building was ugly, not exactly. It was just... strange. Built from some kind of obsidian-like stone that seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it, the structure felt slightly intimidating, as if it were alive.

    Normally, he could see the material composition of most lifeless things, but he couldn''t see anything with this building. He wasn''t certain if it was because the building wasn''t quite dead, or if there was another reason.

    Did he need to evolve further to analyze a grand structure like this? He couldn''t be sure. The building was spread out for hundreds of kilometers. He looked left and right, but he couldn''t even see the end of it on either side.

    There was only one gate, located in the middle of the Academy, but the door was closed. There was a pillar on either side of the gate, and a statue that looked like a gargoyle was sitting on each pillar.

    It was only for a brief moment, but he felt the eyelids of the gargoyle statues move.

    Even more intimidating, was the giant dragon that was wrapped around the tower on top of the building. The dragon wasn''t a statue either. It was a living, breathing dragon.

    The dragon was holding a giant beast in its claws and biting it. There were other beasts in the sky that kept flying straight towards the dragon, as if they were being controlled by someone to fly straight to their deaths.

    "It looks like something out of a nightmare," a girl with bright pink hair, standing next to Elias, mumbled. "It won''t fall on us, will it?"

    The Professor, seemingly oblivious to their unease, laughed. "This building has stood for centuries. You don''t have to worry about anything. It''s completely safe."

    Boom~

    He had just finished telling them that the building was safe when a loud explosion was heard. The hundred-foot-tall gate of the building flew off, coming straight for the Professor.

    His lips twitched as he raised his hand, catching the metallic gate, which was as heavy as a mountain. Everything was a blur as the students saw a green shadow rushing out of the building, roaring like a mad beast.

    The Professor simply swung the heavy gate like a bat, his movements being faster than even the shadow. A loud noise echoed as the gate hit the creature, sending it flying into the sky.

    Only then were the students able to see the creature. It looked vaguely humanoid but at the same time beastly.

    It was at least fifty feet tall, with green scales on its skin. Its head was disproportionately large, with a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, each one longer than a man''s arm.

    The beast was so heavy that even the fifty-inch-thick gate bent in the middle after hitting the creature.

    The creature roared as it was sent flying into the sky. It felt like it was trying to balance itself to come down and attack the man again, but before it could even move, giant claws grabbed it. A dragon got hold of it and chewed its head off.

    "What were you saying about being safe?" someone asked the Professor, looking at the bent gate in his hand. They hadn''t even entered the building, and they had almost died without even doing anything.

    The Professor scratched the back of his head, tossing the hundred feet tall gate aside. "It is a rare sight. This place is very safe otherwise. Your Seniors are very responsible."

    Boom~

    Almost all the students looked at the Professor blankly, as an even louder explosion was heard. They saw the windows of the second floor shattered, with a large cloud of black flames rushing out.

    A figure flew out amidst the explosion, as if caught in it. The girl, who seemed to be only seventeen years old, fell right between the Professor and the students.

    Even if she suffered through a loud explosion and had some of her skin burnt, she seemed largely unaffected. Even her burnt skin was healing on its own, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    She simply stood up, and patted her clothes. "It looks like the ratio was wrong. I need to adjust it again."

    "Ah, Professor Grey, what are you doing here?" She took a moment to notice the others in her surroundings, reacting all surprised as if they were the ones that had appeared out of thin air.

    Grey''s lips twitched uncontrollably. "Can''t you idiots be responsible for one day?"

    "Professor, have you seen a green Gorgonar nearby?" Another person came running out of the building, seemingly looking for something.

    Grey took a deep breath, realizing that it was almost useless to talk sense into these idiots. There were just too many of them.

    He simply pointed towards the top of the building.

    "Thanks Professor," the young man said, as he looked in the direction that Grey was pointing. "What the..."

    The moment you looked above, he saw the Gorgonar being completely headless in the claws of the dragon which was chewing with great love.

    "Professor, your pet is eating my Gorgonar!" the boy exclaimed, almost in a panicked tone. "I spent a lot on it! You have to compensate me!"

    His words made the students of first year Destroyer Class realize that the dragon belonged to Grey. And the two youngsters seemed to be their seniors. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Grey''s serious expressions disappeared and a smile returned to his face as he called the young man forth.

    "Come, I will compensate you."

    The young man approached Grey, wondering how the Professor was going to compensate him. Even the most useless treasure of a Professor was more useful than a Gorgonar. Unfortunately, his sweet dreams didn''t last long.

 Chapter 52 Work of Art; The Lost Child

    "Do you know what reward I''m giving you?" Grey asked the young man who shook his head, almost drooling at the thought of the reward he was going to receive.

    "This fool..." the woman in the back mumbled, as she looked at her batchmate with pity. "He''s in for a world of suffering."

    "How about a free trip to the Nightmare Realm for a week?" Grey asked the young man, grabbing his shoulder.

    "Ha... haha... you''re joking, right?" he asked as a wry smile appeared on his face. What kind of reward was this? It felt more like a punishment.

    "Am I?" Grey smiled in response, but his smile felt slightly colder.

    "Uh, now that I think about it, I have to prepare for my next class." He tried to free his shoulder, but the professor held onto his shoulder firmly.

    "Don''t worry. I will send someone to apply for leave for you. You can have fun without worrying about anything here," Grey opened a portal.

    The moment that portal opened, a frightening aura spread out. Screams could be heard, coming from within the portal.

    "Professor, wai-" The boy tried speaking, but before he could even complete his sentence, he was tossed inside the portal like a toy.

    "You stingy professor!" The young man cried out as he fell inside the portal. The portal closed on its own, and with that, the screams and the terrifying aura also disappeared.

    "I-is he dead?" One of the first year students asked, feeling a chill run down his spine. Was a senior killed just like that? They thought that Professor Grey was more easy going than Lilian, but he seemed to be even harsher.

    "He isn''t dead. Even if he doesn''t seem like that, he''s quite talented. He''s like a cockroach that can survive anywhere. He will return in a week, perfectly fine," a reply came from the woman, who had come flying because of an explosion.

    "Ah, should I have told him that I beat up a few from the Nightmare Tribe a few hours ago? They must be quite enraged right about now." The girl had just finished speaking when she heard the Professor thinking out loud.

    The girl looked at him blankly. The Nightmare Tribe was dangerous in itself, but if they were beaten, the entire tribe would be infuriated, which made them even more dangerous. Was it really something he should have forgotten to consider?

    "It seems like he''s going to suffer more than I thought," she mumbled. "Well, he probably deserved it."

    She began to rise in the air and flew back towards the building before the Professor noticed her. Just as she was about to slip through the grand entrance, an unseen force seized her, and pulled her backwards.

    She landed with a thud before Grey, her composure momentarily shattered.

    "Did you need something, Professor?" she asked, feigning innocence.

    "Fix the gates before returning," Grey commanded, his voice being just as carefree as ever. "Oh right, the windows as well."

    He didn''t even wait for the girl to answer before gesturing for the new students to follow him, clearly impatient to move on. They had already wasted far too much time.

    "But Professor, the gate wasn''t broken by me!" The girl cried out, but her words fell on deaf ears and the Professor didn''t react. "I know you can hear me!"

    The Professor still didn''t answer her. His fingers simply moved a little, and the girl was sent flying towards the door, as if implying that she needed to get to work.

    The girl''s face puffed up, as she watched the Professor leave. "It''s not as if he is going to watch over me. I can simply sneak out and assign this task to some juniors. If they don''t listen to me, I can always beat them up."

    ....

    "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. This place is perfectly safe," he told the first year students, seemingly erasing the chaotic scene from his memory. "And your seniors are quite responsible... Well, most of them."

    "Come along now, we have much to see!" He brought the children inside the building, and only then could they see just how grand this place actually was.

    Elias walked inside the hallway, observing the surroundings. He could see paintings hanging on the walls. The paintings were also far from normal, as they seemed to be alive.

    There were people depicted in the paintings, and he could see that the eyes of the people depicted in the portraits were moving, as if following him.

    There were also a few paintings which depicted a man drowning, gasping for breath. The man was looking at him as if begging for help. Another painting depicted a person whose eyes and lips were sewn with blood-red thread.

    ...

    Material Composition: Human (40 Percent), Painting of Imprisonment (40 Percent), Laws of the Painter (20 Percent)

    Weight: 50 Kg

    Material Stability: 90 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    ....

    "''They are real people?" Elias frowned, able to see the material composition of all the paintings.

    Normally, he was only able to see material composition of lifeless things, or beings who were merged into something through outside forces. The paintings looked far from lifeless, which left only one possibility.

    Most of the material composition was the same, the main components being the Painting of Imprisonment and Law of the Painter. The only material that was different between these paintings was the subject inside them.

    In most of the paintings, humans were the subjects. However, there were also a few paintings that had beasts, elves, or even some unknown beings that he had never seen before. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What are these paintings?" he asked Grey, especially curious about the Painter whose law was used in these paintings as a component.

    "They''re works of art created by the Painter. They are beautiful, aren''t they?" Grey stopped for a moment and looked at the paintings, seemingly appreciating them.

    Elias also looked at another painting, which depicted a child crying next to his mother''s lifeless body.

    "You seem to have good taste in paintings. That one''s called ''The Lost Child.'' It''s one of his best works." Grey appeared next to Elias and looked at the painting he was observing.

 Chapter 53 Painters Secret

    "Who are the people inside these paintings?" Elias asked. "Are they being punished for something?"

    "I don''t know much about the history of these paintings, but I do know about that one." Grey pointed toward another painting.

    He moved over to the previous painting, which showed a human whose eyes and mouth were stitched with a blood red thread.

    Only the man''s ears were left untouched, as if wanting him to hear everything, including the footsteps of people walking past him. However, he couldn''t see them. He also couldn''t open his lips, to express his pain.

    "It was a painting made just last year. If I remember correctly, his name was Estefan. He was a Fifth Year Student of the Auxiliary Class. He saw Painter do something, that he shouldn''t have seen,"

    Grey told the students Estefan''s story that he thought they might find interesting. He also wanted them to know more about Painter as they were going to interact with him next.

    "The Painter punished him by enslaving him in his paintings. He stitched Estefan''s eyes with which he had seen things. He also stitched that mouth close, as if to make sure that he couldn''t tell anyone what he saw."

    As he reached this point, he appeared to be struggling. His face was slightly red, but it wasn''t from anger or fear. Instead, it looked like he was trying to stop himself from laughing out loud as he remembered that incident.

    Unfortunately, he failed to control, and burst into laughter. "That fool really thought that just because he stopped him, no one was going to know about the things that Estefan had seen. He really underestimated me."

    It took him a long time to control his laughter, as tears almost appeared in his eyes. He still remembered Painter''s face when he told him that he knew.

    "What did he see?" Elias asked Grey, who seemed to know a lot about it. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I can tell you. It''s not as if Painter can kill me. But you''re different from me. If you know his secret, are you certain that you won''t end up as his next painting subject?" Grey offered Elias an opportunity to know Painter''s secret, but more than an offer, it was a warning.

    Even if Elias wanted to know more about Estefan''s story and Painter''s secret, he understood that it wasn''t the time. Knowing this secret was like a ticking time bomb.

    "You know what, I have changed my mind. It''s not fun if I''m the only one who knows about it."

    Before Elias could even react, Grey went down on a knee. He whispered something in Elias'' ears, ensuring that only he could hear it.

    Even if the other students couldn''t hear the secret, they had heard that it was a secret that might bring more hostility to Elias.

    If the Painter was really an existence which could even destroy a Fifth Year Student of the Creator Class, then he was definitely a dangerous existence. Many of them felt like they might be able to take advantage of this situation.

    "You..." Elias looked at Grey in disbelief. That man... He never told him any secrets! He just whispered some random words in his ears, while making everyone else believe that he was telling him a secret.

    He didn''t know any secret of the painter, but almost everyone believed that he knew about it. Even if he tried to explain, no one was going to believe him. They were simply going to think that he was trying to protect himself by lying.

    He knew that he had ended up in a trap. But it wasn''t a trap that seemed to originate from hostility. Instead, it was more like a trap that originated from Grey''s amusement.

    "If you can kill Lilian, I''m sure you can also find a way to protect yourself. Please make it fun. You''re an Ashborn after all," Grey said before standing up.

    "Oh right, I think I forgot to tell you. Your next class is the Beast Selection Ceremony. And the Painter will be in charge of that," he said, making Elias''s frown deepen.

    This was a worse trap than he had thought. He wasn''t even given time to prepare, and he was already going to meet the Painter, who had entrapped so many souls in those paintings, hanging them at the entrance for the world to see.

    "Let''s get going. You shouldn''t be late, or you''ll fall behind the Creator Class." He clapped a few times, catching everyone''s attention, which was already on him in the first place.

    He took the lead, with the children following him. Many of them were looking at Elias with glee, especially Rey, who had been most worried about his safety before.

    Rey didn''t know that Elias had used external weapons. To him, Elias was an existence that was dangerous enough to kill a Professor. If Elias didn''t die soon, then he might come for him next when he was least expecting it.

    If the Painter killed Elias, then it couldn''t be any better for Rey. He wouldn''t even need to get his hands dirty in the process.

    ''What a pity. I wanted to kill him myself, but it looks like I won''t even have an opportunity,'' he thought, not accepting the fact that he was scared. Even now, he tried to convince himself that he wasn''t afraid of Elias.

    The long corridor seemed to stretch for an eternity. For Elias, it felt even longer as he seemed to be thinking about the Painter. The only good thing was that his temporary abilities like storage were still with him.

    The abilities were supposed to last for seven days. As the test ended earlier, he still had a few days left. He didn''t know exactly how long these temporary ability cores were going to last. It might even last longer than seven days, but he prepared as per the worst.

    The Professor soon came to a halt in front of a door.

    "We are here."

 Chapter 54 A little help

    "Go ahead," Grey said, but he didn''t open the door for them. He simply stepped aside, gesturing for the others to go first. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias was suspicious. He didn''t think the door was as simple as Grey made it out to be. It was especially strange since he couldn''t see the material composition of the door. He stayed back, letting the others test the waters.

    "What''s there to be scared of? It''s just a door." Rey was the first to move. Even if the Professor was dangerous, he believed that he wouldn''t kill him.

    He was a descendant of the Esterin family. It would be different if he did something wrong and was killed during class. But if a Professor messed with him here for no reason, even the Academy would have a hard time dealing with the consequences.

    He placed his hand on the door and pushed. However, the door didn''t budge.

    "Is it locked?" Rey frowned, using even more force to push the door, but it still wouldn''t move.

    "It''s not opening." He looked back at the Professor in confusion. "Is there a special method to open this door?"

    The Professor simply smiled at him. "There''s no special method."

    "Then why isn''t this door opening?" Rey didn''t know what he was doing wrong. Was it because he wasn''t strong enough to push the door open?

    He had many questions and wanted further clarification. But before he could even ask the Professor, he noticed the strange expressions of the others.

    Even Elias was frowning while looking at him. Or, to be more specific, he was looking behind Rey. He saw the wooden door coming to life as a mouth appeared in the center. The mouth extended from the door, slowly approaching Rey.

    "What''s wrong?" Rey asked, wondering why everyone was looking at him so weirdly. He was puzzled and turned back. But the moment he looked back, his expression darkened.

    He reacted fast and conjured his flames against this monstrosity that seemed to be made from wood. Unfortunately, before he could even react, darkness appeared around him as he was eaten by that mouth.

    His flames flickered uselessly against the shadows, unable to hurt that thing even if it was made from wood.

    "Aah! He''s eaten alive!" A shrill cry rose as many of the lower ranks in the class were frightened by the sight they had seen.

    They started stepping back in fear as the door didn''t return to normal. Instead, the mouth was still extending towards them, with the beast seemingly hungry even now.

    Elias looked at the beast, if it could even be called that. Was Rey killed just like that? It felt unreal. He was a descendant of the Esterin Family. He wasn''t a random person that could be killed like this.

    Even as Rey was eaten, the Professor did nothing but watch. Something was definitely out of place. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed for Rey to be dead.

    If it was anyone else, he might have believed it. But it was different for the descendants of the Major Families. If it wasn''t the case, then they would''ve tried so hard to save Rey Esterin''s life during the awakening ceremony.

    Elias was trying to put the pieces together as that monstrosity approached him. He was ninety percent sure that it wasn''t dangerous, but there was still that ten percent hesitation.

    "Don''t worry. It''s not dangerous. He''s just messing with you. Just step forward and let it take you to the Land of Fables." Out of nowhere, a voice appeared in his head which stunned him. He looked around him, but he couldn''t find anyone who could have spoken.

    This voice didn''t belong to Professor Grey. It also didn''t belong to any of the children, as it felt like the voice of an adult. He even wondered if he was hearing things. But it felt too real to be his imagination.

    Moreover, the voice seemed to confirm his assumption. Rey was alive, and this thing was not dangerous.

    Instead, it might be the way that this ''door'' was opened. It was just as the Professor had said; there was no special method to open this door.

    Instead of staying in his place, he stepped towards the monstrosity.

    "Hmm?" The Professor appeared to grow somewhat interested as he observed Elias. He thought that they were going to be scared and try to run away until he told them the truth, but it was different from his assumption.

    "Elias Ashborn, huh. Not bad." He nodded in satisfaction.

    When Elias came closer to the door, it ''ate'' him as well. The other descendants of the Major Families were not far behind and did the same.

    Some of them already knew the secret of this door and just wanted to see some fun before entering, but with Elias'' entrance, they knew that the fun was over.

    After the descendants of the major families entered, the rest also started realizing that something was wrong. There was no way that the descendants of the major families were going to kill themselves intentionally.

    "It''s the Guardian of the Forest of Fables. Just do as the others did, and enter," Grey also chimed in, telling those who were still scared.

    Once his official confirmation came, the weaker rankers became even more confident and approached the door, getting eaten as well. As for the ones that were still scared, Grey simply sent them flying into the mouth.

    Grey was the last person. Even if he was a Professor, he had to follow the same method as well. Soon, he also disappeared, leaving the corridor completely empty.

    After Grey left, the sound of footsteps appeared in the corridor. Almost all the subjects in the painting trembled at the sight of the person, as if they had seen a ghost.

    They were trapped in a nightmare inside the paintings, but still they appeared so frightened of the person, as if he was worse than their punishments.

 Chapter 55 Corruption of a Lost Constellation

    ....

    Elias was swallowed by darkness as the door consumed him. The next moment, he felt heavy winds rushing against his body.

    When the darkness disappeared, he understood the reason for the heavy winds. It wasn''t that the winds were strong. It was simply because he was in the middle of the sky, falling to what felt like a certain death.

    He was hundreds of meters high, with a black forest below. Even the trees here had black leaves, instead of the normal green he was familiar with. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t see Rey anywhere, which made him think that Rey had already landed. Rey was someone who could use winds to survive a fall like this.

    He was different. He couldn''t use winds to soften his fall. If he fell from this height, even if his bones were intact, he wasn''t sure he would survive.

    "Come on, think of something..." He started thinking of things that could help him, and if there was anything like that in his inventory.

    Even if his temporary inventory that he stole from Leo, had things like modern fighter jets, they were as useless for him as a piece of junk metal. He didn''t know how to fly them. And even if he did, he couldn''t just get them to fly in the middle of the air without takeoff.

    "Right, it might be useful." He saw an object that didn''t look that hard to use. It was at this point, it was beneficial for him that the World of Frost was similar to his world. There were so many objects that were familiar to him, even if he hadn''t used them before.

    He quickly opened his inventory, and brought out something that looked like a thick nylon bag, and wore it over his shoulders, adjusting it mid air.

    Elias gripped the two handles dangling at his chest. He had never skydived before, but he''d seen enough movies to have a vague idea of what to do. He just hoped this wasn''t one of those faulty ones.

    With a deep breath, he pulled. For a terrifying second, nothing happened. Then, with a jerk that nearly dislocated his shoulders, the parachute opened. He was thrown upwards, as the parachute caught the wind.

    He looked up, and saw the parachute that had helped him stabilize in the air. The parachute seemed to be holding well. It wasn''t the smoothest ride as the wind kept toying with him, but at least he wasn''t falling to his death anymore.

    He glanced down and saw that black forest was still a considerable distance away, but it was approaching at an alarming rate. He could make out individual trees now.

    "Okay, what next?" he mumbled to himself, wondering how to land this thing. He''d seen people control parachutes to land precisely where they wanted, but it seemed easier said than done.

    "Aaahhh!"

    While he was trying to learn the methods to control his descent, a loud scream reached his ears.

    He looked into the distance and saw multiple figures falling from the sky, just as he had been moments before. The Descendants of the Major Families were quite calm, even as they fell, as if they had ways to protect themselves.

    It was the weaker rankers who were scared, plummeting uncontrollably.

    "Is this really supposed to be an academy?" Elias frowned. So far, the place looked less like an academy where they were supposed to learn, and more like a survival battlefield.

    He didn''t care much about the fates of the others. At the end of the day, they were the same kind of people who were destined to enforce the academy''s will in the future.

    Elias focused on himself and tried to steer the parachute. Although it wasn''t easy, he seemed to be getting the hang of it. At least, he was able to change directions to some extent.

    As for landing, he didn''t think much about it. As long as the fall was only a few meters high, it wasn''t dangerous for him.

    The moment he neared the forest, he freed himself from the parachute. He fell freely, while the parachute floated away until it was caught in the trees.

    Elias fell into the forest, but he couldn''t avoid the leaves and branches that brushed past his skin. Some of the leaves even sliced through his skin, leaving scars and causing him to bleed.

    Although not perfectly fine, he managed to land safely on his feet, surviving the fall. He sat down, taking a sigh of relief, lightly touching his cheeks that were blessings.

    The black leaves of the trees felt like sharp blades when they sliced through his skin. He wondered if it was going to leave scars.

    He opened his inventory again, and brought a mirror and first aid box. But the moment he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his gaze narrowed.

    He touched his cheeks, which were bleeding. But the blood wasn''t red. The blood that was coming out seemed to be black. He was certain that his blood used to be red, so why was it suddenly black? Was it because of the leaves?

    He quickly looked at his hands, to see his own material composition.

    ............

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9 Percent), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (1 Percent)

    Material Stability: 5 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low Possibility

    .............

    "Corruption of a Lost Constellation?" he was certain that there was nothing like this the last time he checked. Even the Material Stability had fallen drastically.

    It was the first time he had seen such low material stability, from the moment he had gained the ability to see these things. He didn''t know what it meant to have such a low material stability. Was it dangerous for him?

    He didn''t know what that corruption was, but it definitely didn''t sound like a good thing. He had to get rid of it.

    He tapped the back of his hand, and said, "Confirm Extraction."

    .........

    Warning. Material Stability is too low. Extraction might result in complete destruction of all materials.

    Probability of Completion Destruction: 99.59 Percent.

    Would you like to confirm extraction?

    .........

 Chapter 56 Missing Element

    Complete destruction of materials... This was the warning he received when he tried to extract the corruption from his body. The probability of failure was almost one hundred percent, with barely any chance of success.

    As he was one of the materials, the warning meant he might as well be signing his death warrant if he tried to extract it when the stability was so low.

    He didn''t know what this corruption meant, but to him, it was like a poison destroying his body from the inside. He could see the situation was even more drastic than he thought, as he saw the numbers on the screen change.

    ...

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (89%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (2%)

    Material Stability: 4.9%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    ....

    The stability had decreased even more, which made his expressions darken. The percentage of corruption had also increased by one percent, while his own share decreased by one percent in return.

    "Professor!" he called out, realizing that only one person could answer his questions about his situation. If the substance was poisonous, then he needed to find another way to remove it.

    Unfortunately, in a forest this large, it was nearly impossible to find where others might have landed. He could only make a rough guess based on the trajectory of their fall that he had witnessed earlier.

    Just as he had been hurt by the trees and become corrupted, he thought others might have experienced the same thing. But unlike him, they were descendants of major families who hadn''t been almost abandoned by their families.

    If he couldn''t find the Professor, then finding them was the next best option, as they might have a way to survive themselves.

    He started running in the direction where he had seen one of the Descendants fall. For some reason, he couldn''t remember the face or even the presence of that person, but he was certain he was going in the right direction.

    "Why is he running?"

    "Who knows? He seems to be in a hurry."

    "What a strange human. But he seems interesting. To think he managed to find a Constellation so soon."

    "Maybe he is going to celebrate with the others? I saw a few more of them fall from the sky."

    As Elias was running, he was being followed by some creatures that he could neither see nor hear. The small creatures were the size of a butterfly, but they had a humanoid form. Colorful wings came from their backs, which helped them fly.

    The Sylphs kept talking amongst themselves, as they followed Elias who was rushing through the dense forest of black trees. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Why would he celebrate it? I heard that humans were scared of death. It doesn''t make sense for him to celebrate with others."

    "Who knows? Most of the humans that come here are unstable. I can never guess what they are thinking."

    "The Constellation should soon take over his body. I wonder which Constellation it will be."

    They kept chasing after Elias, as their curiosity grew with each passing second. Even they didn''t know what kind of constellation was going to appear once the corruption completely took over.

    "Huh?" The Sylphs suddenly stopped, their expressions darkening. Their happiness vanished, as if they had become completely different beings, far removed from their childish selves.

    Elias also came to a stop, finally seeing another person. It was an old man standing in front of a canvas, holding a paintbrush.

    The old man had long white hair, left loose and flowing down to his waist. He wore a white robe, devoid of any color, as if it were a blank canvas representing the painter''s life.

    ''He must be the Painter,'' Elias thought, looking at the old man. Even though he hadn''t seen the old man paint yet, he was certain of his assumption, as the Painter was supposed to be here.

    The canvas before the old man was completely empty, and he was staring at it in silence, as if he had lost his inspiration.

    Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and his brush began to move. With only a few strokes on the canvas, he created a beautiful painting depicting a forest.

    The forest in his painting was not dark, like the Forest of Lost Fables. The forest he painted contained only lifeless trees that had no leaves.

    In the painting, a fire engulfed the trees. And in the middle of that fire, the man painted four small, fairy-like creatures.

    Elias looked at the painting. It felt so realistic that it seemed to depict reality. Even the expressions on the faces of the small creatures in the painting felt incredibly real.

    He hadn''t seen the Sylphs before. If he had, he might have recognized them as the ones who had been following him. The Sylphs had disappeared from this world and appeared inside the portrait.

    Within the painting, they were like statues, unable to move until the painting was completed.

    "Something is missing..." The man tapped his chin with the back of his brush, lost in thought. He looked at Elias and asked, "What do you think?"

    Elias was surprised that his presence was already noticed, especially since the old man had seemed like he was lost in his thoughts throughout this time.

    He approached the old man, remembering all the cruel paintings he had seen before, that were the personal hell of the people entrapped in those paintings.

    Looking at the old man who looked like he could fall at any moment from weakness, no one could have guessed that he was that cruel person, who could entrap even life within his paintings.

    Elias wasn''t a painter so he didn''t know what was missing in the painting from a painter''s perspective.

    "It is missing life," he told the old man, not wasting much time in thinking. He wasn''t someone who could go into the complexities of the paintings, but he did feel that the painting was missing a certain aspect of life.

    "Oh?" The old man frowned, paying even more attention to Elias. "Please elaborate. Why do you think it''s missing life?"

 Chapter 57 Gambling with the Painter

    "Why do you think it is missing life?"

    The Painter was truly intrigued by that answer. He had asked this question of many people, on many different occasions. But this was the first time he had received such a response.

    After all, life was the one thing his paintings weren''t missing. In every painting, he had captured at least one living being. How could his paintings be missing life?

    Elias gazed at the Sylphs in the painting. Even though he didn''t know where the painter had found them, all of his paintings were alive. This was something he had already noticed in all the paintings he had encountered.

    Even in the painting called "Lost Hope," many might have thought the subject was the mother that was punished with death, while her son sat beside her. But the actual subject was the baby instead.

    "Do you know what life is?" he asked the Painter out of nowhere. His question made the Painter frown.

    "Life is much more than mere existence." Before the painter could say anything, Elias continued, "Just because you are breathing, does it mean you have life?"

    "What is life, then?" the Painter asked after a long silence. He had never considered this question before. Wasn''t life simply what kept people alive? Was it really as complicated as this boy made it out to be?

    The more he thought about Elias''s question, the more he felt ignorant about life''s true meaning. Was this what was lacking in his understanding? But what was life? What was he lacking?

    "Life is..." Elias began, and the Painter listened intently. But after uttering only two words, he stopped.

    "Why did you stop? Tell me what life is!" The old man could barely conceal his impatience. He yearned to know the secret of life, regardless of its source.

    "Why should I tell you?" Elias asked lazily, his words causing the Painter to stare at him in disbelief.

    Was this boy serious? So many people at the Academy wanted to gain his favor, yet this boy acted as if he didn''t care at all. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Boy, do you not know who I am?" He glared at Elias, barely able to contain his astonishment.

    "You are the famous Painter of the Dimensional Academy that can entrap anyone in his paintings. I think I know some things about you," Elias answered without even the slightest of hesitation.

    At the moment, he had an advantage. He could see that the Painter had truly fallen for his trap. His curiosity got the best of him.

    Even if he was one of the most dangerous existences in the academy, he could be controlled with the right cards at hand. Painter had given him this opportunity by asking him about the things that his paintings were missing, and Elias didn''t want to lose this opportunity.

    "If you know about me, then shouldn''t you answer me? Do you want to be trapped in my paintings forever, suffering for an eternity until you''re willing to answer?" The Painter asked, as he moved his brush, almost touching the canvas.

    Just as little movement, and he could trap Elias forever, making him regret ever doing something like this.

    Elias also knew that it was the most important part of this entire scheme and he couldn''t show even the slightest of fear before the Painter. If he stepped back here, then he was going to lose all his advantage.

    It was a godly opportunity for him, and he had to take advantage of it before the others found Painter, and told him about the things about him knowing his secret.

    "You can entrap me in your painting for sure. And I won''t resist. After all, my family will get me out soon enough," Elias answered in a carefree manner as he stepped forward.

    He held the Painter''s wrist, and moved his hand forward, to make his brush touch the canvas.

    The Painter looked at him in silence, wondering why this boy was so confident that his family could save him? Just which family was he from? There were only a few families that were capable of making him hesitate, after all.

    "Which family are you from, to have such arrogance?" he asked Elias.

    Elias brought out an Insignia from his pocket, showing it to the Painter, who subconsciously moved his brush back from the canvas.

    There were very few families that could make him hesitate, and this insignia that had a symbol of a snake devouring its own tail, was one of the most well known families amongst them.

    "Ashborns..." he mumbled, finally realizing why this boy had such confidence. The Ashborn Family was like the nobility of the Dimensional Academy after all.

    Not only was his father the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family, which was one of the founding families, but he also had a brother who worked as a Professor at the Academy.

    Elias had already realized that most people at the Academy didn''t know that his family didn''t care about him, which allowed him to use their names without worries of getting caught.

    "Just because you are from the Ashborn Family, do you think I can''t kill you? If you don''t answer me, then I can just kill you right here. Do you not care about your life?" the old man asked, his tone growing colder.

    "Not as much as you might care about yours," Elias answered. He was once again gambling, believing that the man wasn''t going to kill him, as he was never going to get the answer that he was looking for.

    He also had to worry about the wrath of the Ashborn Family. He didn''t have a good enough reason to take such a risk, which was exactly why Elias did it before the man received the reason, like his secret being exposed.

    For quite some time, the Painter looked at Elias who didn''t show even the slightest of fear. It was as if he was truly prepared for death.

    "It will be a cold day in hell when an Ashborn gives up!" He let out a tired sigh, before asking him, "What do you want from me in exchange for that answer?"

 Chapter 58 Soul Beast

    "I want you to fulfill two of my requests," Elias said, wasting no time.

    "It will depend on the kind of requests you have, but go ahead," the Painter replied. He had already accepted that he would have to offer this child something in return. After all, it was much easier than incurring the Ashborn Family''s wrath.

    Still, he didn''t want to promise anything without knowing what it was, or if he was even capable of fulfilling the requests.

    "My first request is that, no matter what happens in the future, you will not hurt me, or use anyone else to hurt me," Elias stated his first request, being as clear as possible to avoid any loopholes. "Also, trapping me in a painting counts as hurting me."

    The Painter had been wondering what kind of requests Elias would make. Did he want some kind of treasure? Or preferential treatment? He was quite surprised by the first request.

    "Just that?" The request seemed too simple. In any case, he wasn''t going to try to hurt Elias after learning about his family, especially since he had no reason to.

    He didn''t realize that a reason was waiting for him, but Elias wasn''t giving him the chance to find out.

    "Fine. I promise you. Unless you, or your family, try to hurt me, no matter what happens in the future, I won''t hurt you in any way, shape, or form," he agreed, looking forward to hearing the second request that was tugging at his curiosity.

    "What is your second request?" he asked. If it was as simple as the first, he really didn''t mind this deal.

    "I want you to remove this poison from me," Elias said, pointing to the scars on his body, which were turning darker, seemingly due to poison.

    "The corruption of fables?" The Painter frowned, even more surprised. "It''s not something I can remove, as it''s part of the process. Your other classmates will have it too. Think of it as a ticket that grants you entry to the true Land of Fables."

    "Weren''t you informed about this? I thought the Ashborns would tell you, since your brothers had quite good luck in the Land of Fables when they came here."

    He was puzzled by Elias''s ignorance, despite being a member of the Ashborn Family. However, he didn''t dwell on it. The Ashborn Family was unorthodox, so it was beyond his understanding.

    "Part of the process?" Elias touched the scar on his face. Even though the bleeding had stopped, he could see that the corruption was still spreading.

    ............

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (88%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (3%)

    Material Stability: 4.8%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    .............

    The stability had decreased further, making him wonder how long it would be until it reached zero.

    "Just like the Creator Class begins by obtaining a Beast from the Land of Legends, the Destroyer Class begins by obtaining a Soul Beast from the Land of Fables. That''s why you were brought here in the first place."

    "Living beings can''t enter the true Land of Fables, which exists outside this forest. That''s why we use the corruption of fables. As long as you obtain a Soul Beast and successfully establish a contract, the Soul Beast devours the corruption from your body."

    The Painter explained, realizing that Elias knew absolutely nothing about this. Even the descendants of the ordinary families knew something about the Soul Beasts of the Destroyer Class, but Elias seemed completely uninformed.

    "And what if I can''t establish a contract with a Soul Beast in time?" Elias asked, feeling as if he were infected with a ticking time bomb.

    "Then the Fable will take over your body, erasing your true self. In that case, we generally kill the infected person, since there''s no possibility of reversing the corruption at that stage."

    It was just like Elias had thought when he saw his percentage decreasing in his material composition while the corruption''s percentage was increasing. Even though it was barely noticeable, this living poison was trying to take over him.

    "I can''t fulfil your second request, but I can help you in another way." The Painter pulled out a scroll from his pocket, waving it before Elias. "If you consider the second request fulfilled, I will give this to you."

    Elias didn''t even know what was in that map. He waited for the old man to explain more, but when the man simply kept waving the scroll, he was forced to ask, "What''s in that scroll?"

    "It''s the map of the Land of Fables that I have personally created. It''s more detailed than any map that the other major families might possess. It also has a Protection cast by me, which can save your life only one time, no matter what kind of attack you are faced with." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The map was a treasure that was personally created by the Painter. It was something that many people had begged him for, so their descendants could use it when they entered the Land of Fables, but he never gave it to anyone.

    Elias also knew that the map was a very useful thing, when he knew basically nothing about this place. His lack of knowledge was his biggest disadvantage at a place, but if he had this map, he might remove that disadvantage to some extent.

    "I will take it," Elias took the scroll from the man, which marked his second request as completed as well.

    "That''s perfect!" The old man seemed pleased with Elias''s decision. "Now tell me, what is the meaning of life? What is my painting missing?"

    Elias had only told him a vague thing, to get help from him. Now that he had received the help, he had to give some answers while trying to make sense of them. As for how successful that answer was, he could only try and then hope for the best.

    "Life is growth, be it physical, mental or psychological. Your paintings are a frozen snapshot of time. It might be artistic in your eyes, but if your paintings are alive, shouldn''t there be growth in them?" he asked the Painter, trying to be as vague as possible.

    Even if his answer was wrong, he couldn''t be caught. He just had to give a vague answer, and leave the other person to make sense of it in their own way. It was the advantage of philosophy, after all.

    "There you are." The Painter was lost in thoughts, when footsteps resounded in surroundings.

 Chapter 59 The Soul Contract

    Grey arrived, the other children following behind him. Surprisingly, not a single one of them had died, even though many looked frightened when they were falling from the sky.

    Except for the Professor, all of them had scars that had darkened, as if they were also suffering from corruption. The only difference was that their scars were much lighter than Elias''s.

    "Huh! Ah, yeah." The Painter was trying to comprehend the meaning behind Elias''s words when Grey brought him out of his daze. He stopped thinking about it for now, leaving it for later when he had more peace to meditate and think about it more.

    "Is that all of them?" he asked Grey, observing the children behind him. "Did you tell them about the corruption?"

    "Isn''t that your responsibility?" Grey shrugged, and stepped back, standing with his back resting against a tree as if he was nothing more than a spectator.

    "Tsk." The Painter didn''t like that he was disturbed at such an important time, but he also couldn''t do much about it.

    He started telling the children about the corruption that they were suffering, and the fate that they were going to experience if they didn''t succeed in establishing a contract with a soul beast in time.

    Everything that he told them was the same thing that he had told Elias. It made Elias understand why the Painter looked so surprised when he asked this as his second request.

    Even if he hadn''t used his second request, he was still going to be informed about these things. Still, he didn''t find himself to be at a loss as he had the improved map of the Land of Fables in his hands.

    He noticed Grey occasionally looking at the scroll in his hand. Even though Grey didn''t show it openly, he was surprised to think that someone like the Painter had given this map to Elias.

    He was curious about the kind of interaction that Elias might have had with the Painter before he arrived. Elias appeared quite cunning in his eyes. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Now, most of you may know the method of establishing a soul contract, but I''m sure there are a few who don''t," the Painter said, glancing momentarily at Elias in the distance.

    "There are two methods of establishing a contract with a soul beast. You can either beat them into submission, which is difficult since soul beasts are generally more willing to die than surrender. This is especially true for the ones with the higher grade."

    "The other method is to convince them to establish a soul contract with you in a peaceful manner. You can try to earn their trust, or even bribe them. The method you use depends entirely on you. As for how well you perform, it will depend on the method you select, and your luck."

    "When you have convinced them, you need to drop some of your blood on these gems, and have the beast eat them willingly. The Soul Contract will be completed." He opened a bag, and started tossing out a blood stone to each child.

    The last blood stone went to Elias, who caught it and kept it in his pocket.

    "If you are ready, then scram. Go north, and when you leave this forest, you will be in the Land of Fables. You can move together, take your separate routes or do whatever."

    The Painter was too lazy to explain any more. After finishing the basic explanation, he picked up his painting brush, and stood before his painting.

    Rey wanted an opportunity to tell the Painter about Elias knowing some kind of secret, but the Painter didn''t even give him an opportunity to say it.

    From the start to the end, only the painter was speaking and when he stopped speaking, he closed his eyes, appearing impatient.

    Still, he didn''t give up on this opportunity. He looked back at Professor Grey, and asked, "Professor, is he the Painter whose secret you told to Elias?"

    He made sure that he was loud enough for everyone to hear it.

    Even if Painter was focused, he still heard it. His eyes opened wide, as he turned to Rey abruptly. He grabbed him by his collar, and raised him in the air before asking, "Which secret?"

    "I don''t know which secret. Professor Grey only told it to him," he said as he pointed at Elias, appearing to be completely innocent as if he had no ulterior motives. "All we know is that it was some secret that made you trap a Senior in a painting."

    "You!" The Painter''s old face went pale as he glared at Professor Grey. He tossed the boy aside and rushed to Grey, asking him, "Is it true?"

    Grey didn''t answer him. He simply smiled in response. His silence felt more like a confirmation than a rejection.

    Elias felt a stare of death that came from the Painter. He raised his brush, as the canvas flew straight to him.

    "Unless you, or your family, try to hurt me, no matter what happens in the future, I won''t hurt you in any way, shape, or form," Elias said, reminding the Painter whose brush was about to move on the canvas, to trap him forever.

    The moment Painter heard these words, his brush stopped. He was in disbelief, finally understanding why Elias asked him for a promise like this. He had been fooled! The promise was a trap that was set for him.

    He was so frustrated, that the brush between his fingers broke into two pieces, falling on the ground.

    ''It seems like I was right. That boy is indeed very cunning. He already prepared for what was coming. It''s unlike any Ashborn I''ve ever seen before, who mainly deals with problems using raw strength.''

    Professor Grey silently observed Elias, who seemed unafraid when in this situation. Although it was somewhat boring for him that he couldn''t see Elias fight another professor, it was still a valuable revelation for him.

    If one had strength, then they could deal with every problem that was thrown at them. But if one had brains to accompany that strength, then that person was truly more dangerous.

    It was the second time he was truly impressed by an Ashborn descendant.

 Chapter 60 Greys Manipulation

    "So it was a trap..." Painter''s expressions darkened, as realization started setting in.

    "It was a deal. We both got what we wanted," Elias replied, knowing that the promise was the only thing holding that man back from killing him.

    As for how long that promise was going to be effective, he couldn''t be absolutely certain. That''s why he didn''t completely rely on that promise. Getting that promise was simply the first step of his plan.

    "Also, he didn''t tell me anything. He just made everyone believe that he told me something, so he could have some entertainment."

    If he told the truth to the Painter when he was getting killed, there was no way the painter was going to believe him. But now that his life was more or less secured, he didn''t have much of a reason to lie. It was at this point that his words held more value than before.

    As long as he could make the painter believe him even a little, it was going to be a success and the chances of that promise being broken were going to go down drastically.

    "He is telling the truth. I was just messing with him," Grey suddenly chimed in, sending Elias''s thoughts in disarray.

    Elias looked at the Professor with a puzzled look on his face. Was he giving up already? Whatever the case, it was helpful for him.

    "I didn''t tell him anything," he repeated. "I just wanted to see how he would deal with it."

    "As for you," He shifted his focus back to Elias, his voice growing more earnest. "You might think that I was trying to get you killed, but if you had failed, I would have still saved you. You wouldn''t die here, at least."

    Elias''s lips twitched. What did he mean he wouldn''t have died here? What was the difference if he was imprisoned in a painting? For Grey, it might be entertaining, but for him, it was a matter of life and death.

    Grey didn''t stop there, as he further stated, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn''t make it so obvious." S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had made everyone believe that he told Elias that secret. If Elias was killed because of this secret, then his death was definitely going to be linked to him. He wasn''t foolish enough to make it so obvious.

    The Painter grew silent. His emotions were all over the place. Was he fooled, or was he trapped? In just these last few minutes, he had been tricked twice already. All of it happened in front of so many children, which made him feel even more frustrated.

    "All of you, leave this forest now. I want to have some words with your Professor." He picked up the broken pieces of the brush. The two pieces of the brush merged together, as the brush returned to its original form.

    "Do as you''re told." Grey also said the same thing, understanding Painter''s intentions. "Come back, only after getting your Soul Beasts."

    It was clear that the two Professors weren''t going to talk. There was going to be something much worse, Elias didn''t want to be here when that happened. He was the first to start going north.

    "Hey kid, take this." He had just started leaving when he felt an unknown force control his hand. His hand reached out on its own, and caught a small green crystal that was tossed at him.

    "This is called a Growth Stone. It was the reward for taking the first rank in the assessment. When you are ready, and at a safe place where there will be no disturbance, eat it. It will help you go through your first class evolution."

    Elias looked at the Growth Stone that was given to him at a moment like this. He had a really bad feeling about this, as he saw the greedy gazes of others. It was different if others didn''t know about the use of this stone, but Grey had already told everyone about the use.

    A growth stone was something that could help with the first evolution, and there was no one here who didn''t want it. Even the descendants of the major families seemed to have greed in their eyes, which made Elias understand that this thing was rarer than he thought.

    He could see that Grey was again messing with him, but he didn''t have time to think about it. Without hesitation, he started running away to create some distance from them.

    He had to get away from the others before they tried to steal it. Unfortunately for him, others had also realized that the stone was useful for them.

    They were going to the Land of Fables, where they were going to be under no observation. If anyone was killed there, it could only be blamed on the Soul Beasts.

    Fortunately, the others were still cautious before him, knowing that he had killed a Professor. Although none of them saw how he did it, they were still careful. They didn''t attack him, and simply followed him.

    "Oh right, Elias! I forgot to tell you that all outside weapons are useless in the Land of Fables! So the treasured gun that you used to snipe at the Professor from your sneaky hidden position, will not work in the Land of Fables. So be careful and safe!"

    Elias heard the loud shout of Grey, which almost made him stumble. He wanted to turn around and curse out loud. Grey made his words appear as if he was warning him out of his worries for his safety, but it was clear that he was telling others to be less cautious of him.

    "He used a hidden weapon to kill the Professor like a coward?!" Rey exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. He was the most worried about his safety, but if Elias had simply relied on a weapon that was useless here, then he didn''t have anything to worry about.

    "A growth stone will be a waste on an Auxiliary Class! Why don''t you hand it over?!" he exclaimed, as he used the winds to increase his speed.

 Chapter 61 I dont need a weapon

    Grey informed everyone that Elias had relied on an external weapon to take the first rank, while others had relied on their own abilities.

    It felt truly unfair, since Elias hadn''t relied on his own talents. Moreover, a weapon that could kill a Professor could only come from the Ashborn Family. This meant he had relied on his family''s wealth to take the top rank.

    Rey was the most frustrated, since the first ranking would have belonged to him if Elias hadn''t cheated. This meant the reward for first rank also belonged to him, not Elias.

    There was no way he was going to let that Growth Stone go to waste on an Auxiliary when he could have used it for his first evolution.

    "You are still as shameless as ever, aren''t you?" The Painter frowned, watching the children leave for the Land of Fables.

    "What do you mean? I was just reminding him so he could protect himself better. Wouldn''t it be worse if he didn''t know that external weapons were useless in the Land of Fables? Imagine him trying to rely on them, only to end up dead as his treasure failed him?"

    Professor Grey was still as carefree as ever, as if he had done nothing wrong. In any case, he didn''t believe that Elias was actually going to die from this.

    He was certain that Elias was still hiding many secrets. Even if he looked like an innocent child, he was truly a dangerous being from inside. If that wasn''t the case, he wouldn''t have targeted a professor.

    Even if it was part of the test, it still left a sour taste in his mouth. Was it truly something he did for the test? Or was there more that was hiding within the surface?

    He wanted Elias to unravel himself, exposing all the secrets that he was hiding, including all his tricks. And if he died in the land of fables, then it was just his luck. It was simply going to mean that he had overestimated that child.

    "Don''t think I would forget the matter at hand. You shouldn''t have known that secret," The Painter said, as he moved his brush in the air. Even without the canvas, he was able to paint. It was as if the reality itself was his paint.

    "Come on? Is it really that big of a secret? Aren''t you a little too embarrassed about it? It was just a little rejection." Grey jumped back, creating some distance.

    "You! You really knew about it!" The Painter''s face turned red. It was unclear if it was because of anger, or embarrassment.

    "Aww, is your broken heart hurting?" Grey laughed, not even trying to be careful about his words. "But you can''t blame her. If you go around like an old man, who is going to like you? You should''ve shown her your true form."

    "I will kill you!" The Painter roared, turning his surroundings itself into a painting, in which Grey was trapped, along with him.

    "Are you sure you can, old man?" Grey raised his hand, forming an aura blade that rose from his hands. He sliced through the reality itself, cutting the law of paintings with brute force.

    The Painter wasn''t surprised either, as if he had been expecting it. However, it was just the beginning for him.

    "Today, I will create a true masterpiece!" he exclaimed. "I will call it, ''Grey''s Downfall'', and hang it in the corridors for everyone to see!"

    As he spoke, his white hair started turning darker. The wrinkles on his face also started disappearing, as if a disguise was being removed.

    ....

    Elias was being chased by the others, as he rushed for the North. Only a few minutes had passed, when he was able to hear the sound of explosions coming from behind him.

    The earth itself was vibrating with each explosive sound, as if the two professors had already started fighting.

    "Stop running like a coward!" Rey exclaimed, as he closed the distance between him and Elias. His body was wrapped in winds that made him faster than normal.

    He was faster than everyone else. At least that''s what it seemed like, as there were a few that didn''t seem to be giving it their all to catch up to Elias.

    The Professor had already lied to them once, about telling Elias that secret. Even though what he told them was likely true this time, they wanted others to take the lead first.

    They knew Rey was foolish, and impatient, which was why they wanted him to test the murky waters first. If he could successfully take the growth stone, then they could easily get involved as well.

    There were flames around his fist, as if it was completely prepared to bring Elias to ashes. Soon, there was only a few meters of distance left between them.

    Rey reached out his burning hand, trying to grab a hold of Elias'' head. He wanted to smash him on the ground, instead of simply burning him to ashes. He still hadn''t forgotten how he was smashed on the ground during the Awakening Ceremony.

    "Let''s see where you run now!" He laughed, as his hand was merely a few feet away from Elias'' head. It was only a matter of seconds before he grabbed him and smashed him on the ground.

    At least that''s what he thought, only for his eyes to widen as he saw Elias stop, and the distance suddenly decreased faster than he had assumed.

    Elias ducked his head, avoiding Rey''s blazing hands. He turned around, and Rey saw Elias'' palm before his face. He felt like he was having deja vu, as if something like this had happened before as well.

    He was moving so fast that he didn''t even have time to react, as that palm grabbed his face, smashing him on the ground instead.

    The moment his skull was slammed on the ground, Rey spat blood, feeling pain travel through his entire body. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Neither are you a professor, nor do I need a weapon to kill you!" Elias exclaimed, as he clenched his fist, slamming it down.

 Chapter 62 You better be worth it

    Rey was stunned by the fierce counterattack from Elias. Still, he wasn''t as weak as the last time they fought. Then, his winds had failed to hurt Elias. But this time, he didn''t have to rely on his winds alone.

    Instead of protecting his face, he grabbed Elias''s waist and released flames capable of destroying everything in their path.

    Elias felt a burning sensation that made him cry out in pain. He could feel flames burning his flesh and entering his body, threatening to melt it from the inside.

    At this rate, even if he killed Rey, his own chances of survival were slim. It was no different than being collateral damage in his efforts to kill Rey.

    He changed his plan and abandoned his attack, attempting to jump back instead.

    "Where are you going?" Rey asked, his blood-covered lips curving into a smile. Last time, it was Elias who had refused to let him escape, thrashing him relentlessly. But this time, he had taken control of the situation.

    The flames were wreaking havoc inside Elias''s body.

    "It looks like the Professor was right. You are nothing without your weapon! I can''t believe that I was beaten by someone like you," Rey said, mockingly as he used his winds simultaneously to raise Elias''s body in the air.

    His winds restricted Elias'' body, while the flames had already taken a hold inside him. The flames were destroying his flesh and organs.

    Rey also stood up, patting his clothes as he looked at the other children that were watching from the distance. He looked quite smug. Even if he was surprised by the initial attack from Elias, he still managed to deal with him alone.

    "The Professor was right. You are useless without your external weapon that helped you cheat!" he said, looking at Elias''s left hand. His fists were clenched, but he was sure that it was because he was hiding the Growth Stone in that hand.

    "It''s time for the Growth Stone to return to the person it belongs to." He reached out his hand, and grabbed Elias''s fist.

    Elias kept roaring, as the right side of his body had completely turned to ash, destroyed by the flames. The flames had even reached his face, destroying him thoroughly. Even his pained cries had stopped at this point.

    Before long, Elias was completely destroyed. Not even a single inch of his body was left behind, as ashes fell on the ground. Only with Elias''s death, the flames had stopped.

    Rey took the item from Elias''s hands before he was completely destroyed. He smugly looked at the small gem that he had taken from Elias. Finally he could have his first evolution.

    "Hmm?" The moment he looked at his hand, he started frowning. The object in his hand was not a Growth Stone. Instead, it was an ordinary stone that was picked from somewhere in this forest.

    "If it''s not the Growth Stone, then where did that Growth Stone go?"

    He was looking at his surroundings in disbelief, but there was nothing here. He could only see the ashes, that were the last remnants of the person that was supposed to be his enemy.

    There was no gem in those ashes. Did his flames burn even the Growth Stone? That should''ve been impossible. But all signs pointed towards that conclusion.

    "Rey Esterin, why don''t you give that Growth Stone to us? It''s better to have one extra friend, than one extra enemy."

    "Don''t listen to her. Give that Growth Stone to me. I will owe you a favor."

    Now that Elias, the bigger threat was gone, the other descendants shifted their focus on Rey, who they thought received the Growth Stone.

    "I don''t have the growth stone. All I found was this random stone," Rey answered, not even trying to hide his frustration. "If you want this useless rock, then take it."

    He tossed the rock towards the other Descendants. However, before the rock could even get close to the silent girl, it disintegrated into nothingness.

    "Are you sure you want to lie to us? We all saw you kill Elias. Who else will have that Growth Stone but you? Or are you saying that the Growth Stone was devoured by thin air?"

    "It''s not the time to be greedy. Hand over the Growth Stone, and I will let you go!"

    More and more descendants approached Rey, asking him to give them the Growth Stone. The more they threatened him, the more frustrated Rey became.

    "I don''t have the Growth Stone. And even if I had it, why do you think I will give it to you? Do you really think I''m scared of you?!"

    "If you''re not scared, then you should be. You had such a hard time dealing with someone like Elias. Did that really make you think you were some bigshot? Did you really let that arrogance get to your head? In that case, you might be in for a rude awakening!"

    A young boy cracked his knuckles, his long robe fluttering in the wind. On his robe, there was an Insignia of another Founding Family, that was no less prestigious than the Esterin Family.

    "You!" Rey was already upset that he hadn''t received the item that he wanted. And now he was being threatened?

    "In that case, why don''t you try giving me that so-called rude awakening?" He clenched his fists, and flames started burning around his arms. Winds gently wrapped around his feet.

    Within minutes, another battle began. This time, it was a battle that involved the descendants of many major families. All of them wanted the same thing, an object that could help them go through their first evolution faster.

    "You seem to be in really high demand. You better be worth it." Far away from the sight of the battle, a young boy was walking towards the North, playing with a small gem in his hand.

    Soon, he reached the end of the forest, and took his first step into the land of fables.

    ...... sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (87%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (4%)

    Material Stability: 4.7%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    .......

 Chapter 63 Ego

    "This is... the land of fables?" Elias felt like he had walked into an entirely different world the moment he stepped out of the forest.

    There was no sun or moon in the sky. There were not even clouds. Still, the world was filled with light, as if it were the middle of the day.

    Right outside the forest, he also saw the skeleton of a giant, a creature beyond recognition. The skeleton was so huge, that even if it was lying on the ground, it was still hundreds of feet high.

    The skeleton seemed to have been there for centuries to have deteriorated to this point. But the thing that intrigued him even more was a sword stabbed into the skull of the skeleton.

    If it was right outside this forest, then many from the previous batches of the Destroyer Class would have passed through this place. Yet, the sword was still there. Was this a trap? Or did they not think that the Sword was useful? Or could they not take the sword for some reason?

    He was intrigued by the sword, which hadn''t rusted even after such a long time. The blade still looked as sharp as ever, and the golden hilt was without even the slightest blemish.

    .............

    Material Composition: Star Metal (90 Percent), Ego (10 Percent)

    Weight: 100 Kg

    Material Stability: 99 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .............

    .............

    Material Composition: Skeleton of Armored Beast of Decay (Hundred Percent)

    Weight: 19000 Kg

    Material Stability: 90 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: None

    .............

    He looked through the material composition of the skeleton, and the Sword. But more than the skeleton, it was the Sword that caught his attention again.

    He didn''t know what significance star metal had in this world, but it was the second part of that Composition which made him more interested.

    The Sword had an ego? He wasn''t certain the sword having an ego meant the same thing that he was thinking about. But if it was the case, then he might have found the next piece of the puzzle... Intelligence.

    "I have to take this sword." He approached the skeleton, planning to claim the sword. He didn''t care if the sword was a treasure or not. Even if it was a useless blade, just the presence of an ego alone made it worthwhile.

    He kept the Growth Stone in his pocket and started climbing the skeleton of the Beast of Decay. He had to get that sword before the others stopped fighting and left the forest.

    Even though he wanted to undergo his first evolution, he saved it for later, when he was in a safer place. He didn''t know how long an evolution would take. If it was more than a few hours, it would be foolish to attempt it before leaving the forest.

    The first time he climbed the Pillar of Heaven, it was much harder. It had almost broken his body, but climbing the skeleton proved to be much easier.

    Not only was the skeleton much smaller than the Pillar of Heaven, but Elias had also grown stronger.

    Within ten minutes, he managed to reach the top of the skeleton, even with his smaller physique. He stepped onto the skull and approached the sword that was stabbed into its center.

    He couldn''t gauge the true size of the sword from a distance, but as he came closer, he gained a better understanding. It was a human-sized sword. Although it was a little long for him, it was still something he could wield without troubles.

    Looking at the size of the sword, he grew even more certain about something. The person who had killed this beast, was at least his size. At this place, the only people who could enter were the first year students from the Destroyer Class. Was this the work of another student of the Destroyer Class?

    A person could only enter this place once in their lives, and that person had entered the land of fables soon after his awakening, and killed this beast? Elias could only wonder about the identity of that person.

    He couldn''t see any symbols or carvings on the Sword. It was just a very plain sword, something that descendants of major families could never carry with them.

    "But why did he leave his Sword behind? Why was this sword abandoned here?" He wondered out loud as he reached out his hand to grab the hilt of the Sword.

    "Your father was abandoned here! You bastard, how dare you call me an abandoned item?!" S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Huh?" Elias subconsciously stepped back, hearing someone curse at him. The voice appeared the moment he touched the sword, but the moment he left it, the voice disappeared.

    "Are you the one who said that?" he asked, looking at the sword. But this time, he didn''t hear anything.

    Frowning, he again grabbed the sword, and the voice again appeared in his hand, cursing him incessantly. "Don''t ever call me abandoned! I will beat your seven generations!"

    "So you''re indeed the one that was speaking. I was right about the Ego. It''s intelligence!" Elias was pleasantly surprised. He didn''t mind the cursing. Just the fact that he could extract intelligence, was enough to make him happy.

    Having an ego was even better than having a Soul of Judgement. And if he merged the Soul of Judgement with an ego, he could only imagine the effects he was going to have.

    "It is incredible." Elias mumbled, as his heart started beating faster. "With this, I might create something truly..."

    "Hmph, at least you aren''t a complete fool. That''s true. I am indeed very incredible," the Sword sounded like it was proud of the compliments, that were meant less for the Sword and more for the ego within it.

    Elias knew that he had to take this sword at any cost. Its value had just skyrocketed in his eyes. For an Architect like him, this was the true treasure!

    He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands, and pulled it out of the skeleton. But instead of being happy, the Sword appeared to scream. "You fool, put me back before it''s too late!"

    "What do you mean?" Elias didn''t understand why the Sword was getting panicked.

    "It''s already too late. We''re royally fcked now," the sword answered, as if it had given up on life.

 Chapter 64 Lift

    Elias held the sword, surprised by its weight despite its size. It was heavy, but it felt perfect in his hands. He might have had more time to appreciate the sword if he hadn''t heard its panicked thoughts.

    "What''s too late?" he asked, genuinely confused. Before he could get a response, he felt the ground trembling beneath him.

    "We''re dead! Absolutely, positively, stone-cold dead!" the sword complained, barely refraining from cursing. "You''ve awakened this irritating thing!"

    Elias also came to a realisation, that it wasn''t the ground which was trembling. Instead, it was the skeleton itself that was moving. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Was this sword some kind of seal that kept this Beast of Decay in place?" He felt his balance shake, as the giant skeleton started rising.

    By now, things had become truly complicated. With the Beast of Decay standing, its true height was revealed. As Elias stood on the skull of the Beast of Decay, he was already hundreds of feet high, but after the skeleton rose, that distance became thousands of feet.

    Meanwhile, back in the forest, the battle between the two Professors intensified. Despite the ferocity of their fight, neither of them was wounded. The same could not be said for their surroundings. The forest was being destroyed by their attacks.

    "Why do I feel like I''ve forgotten something?" Grey wondered, blocking an attack. "Well, if I forgot about it, it can''t be that important."

    "Didn''t no one tell you about me before you came here? You fool, run!" the Sword scolded Elias, who barely managed to regain his balance. "Now that the seal is broken, even if you put me back, it will be no use."

    Elias didn''t answer. It was true that he hadn''t been informed about this sword. Was this another intentional mess created by the Professor? The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.

    "I wasn''t informed about you, or this skeleton. I thought it was dead," he said. "But even if I had known everything, I still would have taken you."

    Even if the sword was being used for a seal, he still would have taken it for the ego it possessed. The only difference would have been that he would have done so on his way back, after receiving a Soul Pet and completing his evolution.

    At this moment, he was utterly unprepared.

    "Wait, why isn''t it attacking us?" Elias had prepared to jump down when the skeleton would have tried to attack them. But to his surprise, the Skeleton Beast didn''t look like it had any intention of attacking him.

    It was simply walking away from the Forest of Fables.

    "Hmm? That''s strange." Even the ego of the sword agreed with Elias, finding it confusing. It had fought this Beast of Decay with its master. It knew the kind of monstrosity this thing was. So why wasn''t it attacking them?

    "Could it be that it has been in the state of partial death for such a long time, that its memories are damaged? That would explain why it''s not attacking us. It''s only moving on instincts," the Ego thought out loud, buzzing with relief.

    Even if Elias was as old as its master used to be, the ego didn''t think that he would''ve been as talented as its master. If it was with its master, it wouldn''t have to worry about dealing with the Beast of Decay. But now that it was with this new brat, it didn''t feel as confident in battle.

    "Kid, your luck is through the roof. You should be glad that this Beast seemed to have become retrded. If not, both of us would''ve been fcked today."

    "Where did you even learn to speak like that?" Elias asked, looking at the sword weirdly. As the ego''s voice kept appearing in his head directly, he couldn''t even focus on his own thoughts.

    He was trying to decide if he should attempt to jump from this height, which had a decent chance of hurting him. The Beast of Decay might also see him if he were on the ground.

    On the other hand, if he didn''t jump down, then he could simply wait here. It wasn''t half bad, since it meant his trip into the Land of Fables would take a much shorter time.

    Even if the Beast of Decay was moving on instinct, it was definitely going deeper into the Land of Fables, which was also Elias''s destination. The beast was indirectly helping him, by giving him a lift.

    He pulled out a map that had been given to him by the Painter to see exactly where they were going, and which of these two options were better for him accordingly.

    "Of course I learned it from my master. Though I''m ashamed to say that I couldn''t even learn one percent of his speaking skills." Elias heard the sword''s thoughts just as he started focusing on the map.

    "And who was your master?" Elias casually asked while trying to find the Forest of Fables on the map to have a reference point.

    "Heh, my master is a truly great person," the ego told Elias, like a fan talking about their idol to those who couldn''t care about their idol in the least.

    "He doesn''t seem like a great person if he abandoned you here. I''m amazed that you still don''t seem to hate him." Elias subconsciously mumbled, as his finger stopped at the Forest of Fables on the map, finally finding a reference point.

    If he was an ego, and he was abandoned in a place like this for such a long time, then could he really respect that owner? He didn''t think so. Still, it was none of his concern at this point.

    He kept his focus on the map. Based on the direction of the Forest of Fables from his location, he finally had the perfect orientation of the map.

    "Hmph, you know nothing!" The sword started trembling fiercely in Elias''s hands. "I''m sure he must have made a name for himself in the outside world. You just have to escort me back to him."

    "What was the name of his family... it''s been so long that it feels like an eternity has passed already." As the ego kept speaking, Elias was truly starting to have a headache. "Ah, right. It was¡­"

 Chapter 65 If youre lucky

    Even though Elias was curious about the previous owner of the sword, that didn''t change the fact that the sword was too talkative.

    Its loyalty to its previous owner was also problematic, especially since it was demanding to be taken back to him.

    "I remember it now!" the sword declared. "Every time he was with others, people would look at him with fear and address him as the descendant of that family. It was so annoying at the time."

    The Ego seemed to be lost in thoughts of the past, reminiscing about the good times.

    "If you knew the name of that family, you would have an easier time escorting me back. It was the Ashborn Family. That was his family''s name. My master was Aliath Ashborn, the eldest son of the Ashborn Family."

    Elias''s gaze was focused on the map, even though he split some of his attention to the sword. But the moment he heard the name, his fingers, which had been tracing the map, came to a sudden halt.

    "What did you say?" he asked, his frown deepening.

    The sword belonged to Aliath? As he heard the stories about Aliath from the others, he had formed a rough impression in his mind of a cold person who had no friends in the academy.

    A person like this had a sword with an ego that cursed in every other sentence? He would''ve even thought that the sword was lying, but that didn''t seem to be the case, as the sword was truly eager to return to its true master.

    "Have you heard of him? What am I even asking? Of course, you have heard of him. My master would''ve become a legend by now. But you don''t have to worry. When you take me back to my master, you will be heavily rewarded by him."

    "Who knows, if you''re lucky, he might even accept you as a personal servant. Just think about it! You will serve the eldest son of the Ashborn Family! Aren''t you excited at the thought? You can drool if you want. I won''t look down on you." S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias had already guessed that the owner of this Sword was someone strong. But for it to be his eldest brother, was a thought that never crossed his mind. It was especially the case since the sword was so plain and had no marking of the Asbborn Family.

    When he heard the sword speak, the thought of Aliath being its owner became even more distant. It was why this came as such a shock to him.

    He didn''t even know what to think about it. The ego became even more valuable to him with this revelation. Even if it was for a short time, this sword knew Aliath! Maybe it knew him better than even the others did.

    "Why did you go silent? Are you also one of those that get scared after hearing that family''s name? I told you, don''t worry. My master isn''t as bad as people make him out to be. He''s just misunderstood. You''ll see what I''m talking about when we return to him."

    "How do you know that he isn''t bad? You haven''t seen him for years. How can you be certain that he hasn''t changed? In this cruel world, is there truly anyone that could be called innocent?" Elias asked the sword. "Everything changes with time, even the people that you know."

    The sword had only been with Aliath when he was a child. At that time, he had fought with Professor Lilian, and then entered the Land of Fables. The Sword was left here, and didn''t know what happened after that time.

    It didn''t know that Aliath had slaughtered every single person in his class. Elias didn''t pretend to know about his reasons, or if he even had a good reason in the first place. He didn''t feel pity for the people of his class, as this academy was only for the people that were the worst of the worst in his eyes.

    He didn''t worry if Aliath was a good person, or a bad person as this was none of his concern at the moment. Even if he was a bad person, what could he even do about this? Moreover, that man had already disappeared a long time ago, even his life or death was uncertain.

    "Hmph, if my master became a bad person, it must mean that the others deserved it. There''s nothing wrong with it."

    "Maybe..." Elias trailed off, realizing that this wasn''t a conversation that could be concluded quickly. He shifted his complete focus to the map and removed his hands from the sword, effectively silencing the ego.

    The map had many locations marked as extremely dangerous. Meanwhile, there were a few locations designated as recommended.

    The map also indicated the highest grade of soul beast that could be found in each region of the Land of Fable. Looking at the trajectory of the Beast of Decay, he could see that they were headed toward the central region of the Land of Fables.

    Even though it was farther than the other regions, it also had the highest grade of Soul Beasts, according to the map. If he were alone, reaching the central region would be more troublesome, but with the Beast of Decay, things were a little easier.

    Atop the giant beast, it felt more peaceful. The chances of being attacked here seemed quite low, which made him consider undergoing his first evolution here.

    As per the map, they weren''t going to go past any danger zones, and it seemed like this was going to be the case for at least the next couple of days.

    He closed the map and stored it back in his storage space before touching the sword again. "I need to go through my first evolution."

    "Go ahead. Why are you telling me?" The ego scoffed, sounding somewhat grumpy after being ignored for so long.

    "I''m telling you because I need you to keep an eye on me."

    "Did you also lose your mind? I''m a sword. I can''t fly or fight without someone wielding me. How can I keep an eye on you?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ll make sure you can do more." Elias didn''t take the insult to heart, as he had already devised a plan.

    Hearing his suspicious words, the ego had a bad feeling about it.

    Initially, Elias had wanted to test it later, but now that he had a reason and an opportunity, he didn''t want to delay any further. He already had an ego and the other necessary materials. It was the perfect time for his main experiment.

 Chapter 66 Its Technology

    Elias looked inside his spatial storage, which was filled with many things. The majority was the food, but there were also things that were more important. All these things were gathered by Leo, even though he didn''t have use for most of them.

    It was as if Leo had simply robbed the supermarket, but also military establishments. There were many weapons, but there were even things that were more technologically advanced than guns.

    Inside the storage, there were Drones. For a moment, Elias had thought about using intelligence on these drones, but he quickly dropped the idea since these drones didn''t seem to have significant weapons.

    At most, they could be used to observe the enemies. Just looking at them, Elias could see that they had some explosives, which probably helped them explode once they crashed on the enemy. But it was only a one time thing, which didn''t seem useful for him.

    There were also some army tanks, but they were also not things that he focused on. Instead, there was one specific item that caught his eye, which seemed like the most useful thing in his storage.

    He was told by Grey that weapons were useless in this world. But what if the thing that he used wasn''t a weapon in the true sense, but it was much more dangerous than a conventional weapon?

    There was only one way to find out if that thing could be used in the Land of Fables, or not. It was through a proper experiment.

    Fortunately, this was the perfect place for experiment as he didn''t have to worry about his surroundings. They were on the skull of the Beast of Decay, which was even larger than multiple football fields joined together.

    At this place, he had not only enough height to avoid any observation, but also enough space. More importantly, the Beast of Decay was a strong entity, but also somewhat slow because of being asleep for such a long time.

    Even if there was thousands of tons of weight on the Beast of Decay, it was hard for it to notice. All the conditions were in perfect sync, almost begging for Elias to perform this experiment.

    He brought out something from the spatial storage.

    "W-what is that thing?" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The sword was less surprised by the fact that something had appeared out of thin air. Even Aliath had items that helped him store items in a separate space. But what made him more intrigued, was the purpose of the object that was large, and made of some metal.

    Even if objects like these existed in the upper realm in some shape or form, the sword was completely ignorant about it.

    The thing was taller than the Elias, and even longer. Its body was so smooth, that it looked as if it was crafted with extreme precision to slice through the air on its journey.

    "This might be called one of the most technologically advanced weapons of the lower world," Elias told the sword, as his fingers brushed on the smooth metal. "But even with weapons like these, those worlds couldn''t survive the onslaught of just one person."

    "The most advanced weapon? It looks weak and useless. I feel like I can slice it in half with ease. Just what is this frail metal? Why didn''t they use Star Metal to make it?" The Sword asked, sounding quite disappointed that this thing could even be called a weapon.

    "It''s weak indeed. That''s why, we are going to make it strong," Elias said, his fingers tracing through the leading edges of the wings, which were designed to cut through the air with minimal resistance, allowing it to achieve supersonic speeds.

    "It''s a machine that flies," he continued, patting the cold metal of the fighter jet. "Back in my world, it''s used for warfare, but it''s not magic. It''s... technology. And we are going to make it better. We are going to evolve this technology. And this will just be the beginning..."

    He didn''t know how to fly a fighter jet. He wasn''t a fool to believe that he could learn to fly something like this, just like he had learned the snowmobile. It was an entirely different beast altogether.

    Initially, he believed that this was going to be a useless thing for someone like him, but it was different now. He had an ego, and a few more rare materials that he had gathered throughout his time.

    If he could merge the jet with other materials like Essence of Lightning, then it might become even faster. The Dust of Creation had the potential to improve its duration and physical body. And lastly, the most important thing, which was the Ego itself.

    He also had a few other items that he had kept hidden with him. Finally he had a place where he could use them. So what if he couldn''t learn to fly it? If he installed an intelligence, then it was no different than achieving the most significant evolution.

    The Sword couldn''t fight for him when he was going through his evolution. But if he had a fighter jet that had intelligence, then it was no different than having a bodyguard that might at least try to protect him during his evolution.

    "How are you going to make it strong?" the Sword asked. "Are you a blacksmith?"

    "You will find out very soon," Elias answered, as he started bringing out the vial of Essence of Lightning and Dust of Creation, placing them on the Wings of the fighter plane.

    "Why do I suddenly feel cold?" the ego said, thinking to itself. Even it didn''t understand the strange feeling that it was having. Normally, it never felt cold.

    Elias didn''t answer the sword, and brought out another item, which was a watch that he had received in the World of Frost.

    Normally, the watches were supposed to be taken from the children after the test was over. But the Professor had been killed before the test could end. As for Grey, he didn''t seem to care about it, which allowed Elias to smuggle it here.

 Chapter 67 Most Significant Memory

    "What would you say if I told you that I could give you the ability to move?" Elias asked the ego, who still didn''t know his true identity or abilities.

    Elias knew that the chances of extraction were low, even if not non-existent. If he failed, the ego would be destroyed, and so would his hope, for now.

    The sword didn''t simply have an ego; it was an ego that had known Aliath. Its value was beyond that of a simple ego. Still, he knew that he had to do it. He didn''t have any room to feel regret or guilt about it.

    "If only." The Ego didn''t sound particularly enthusiastic, as it knew the reality. It was an ego. Even if it had intelligence, it wasn''t truly alive.

    Elias stepped back with the sword, getting away from the fighter jet so as not to get it caught in the storm that was going to be born during extraction.

    "I have an ability that allows me to extract things and merge them with other things. What if I said I''m going to extract your ego and merge it with that plane? If I''m successful, you can not only move to a certain extent but even soar through the sky."

    "You can do it?" the ego asked, sounding like it was still finding it hard to believe. What kind of absurd ability was this? Even the greatest of blacksmiths couldn''t move an ego from one weapon to another, as egos were born within the weapon itself.

    "I can do it," Elias told the ego, but he still hid some things. He wasn''t outright honest about the risks involved. If he failed, the ego might disappear forever.

    "Do it! Yes, do it right now! I want to move!" The ego exclaimed in excitement, but just as suddenly, it changed its tune. "No, don''t do that! What if my master doesn''t recognize me when we return to him? I don''t want to be forgotten by my master."

    "My master must be waiting for me. What if he finds that big chunk of metal ugly? I am fine the way I am."

    The ego sounded like it was sad as it rejected the proposal that might allow it to have some semblance of life. But its loyalty to Aliath was higher than its greed for life.

    "I don''t think you have to worry about that. Aliath isn''t waiting for you," Elias said, looking at the sword which still didn''t know the truth about its master. It still wanted to return to him, despite so many years having passed.

    "How do you know that he isn''t waiting for me? You''re lying. My master can never forget me!" The sword proudly stated, even sounding somewhat angry as it started buzzing.

    Elias did not argue back. He simply brought the insignia of the Asbborn Family that he was carrying with him. He showed the insignia to the sword and asked, "Do you recognise it?"

    "That?! Why do you have it? How are you related to that family?" The sword started buzzing even more violently, as if its mind was truly shaken at the sight of the insignia, especially since its master also carried something like that.

    It was the Insignia that was different from the normal insignia of the Ashborn Family. It had a different shape and color, being made from the true unbreakable obsidian. It was something that was only given to the direct descendants of the Asbborn Family.

    "My name is Elias Ashborn," Elias answered, before keeping the insignia back in his pocket. "I''m the youngest brother of your master."

    "Elias...?" The ego seemed to be somewhat lost as it heard the name.

    The ego had forgotten many of its memories throughout the time, but it hadn''t forgotten one particular memory. And it was the memory where it had heard this name.

    "Why did you say that my master isn''t waiting for me?" The ego asked, its voice sounding much weaker in Elias''s mind.

    If it was said by someone else, then it might have thought that they were lying. But if this person was truly Elias, then it was different.

    "Aliath disappeared a long time ago. It''s been largely believed that he is already dead. In this situation, I don''t think he has time to wait for you," Elias said, but he didn''t stop there.

    "That''s impossible! He can''t be dead! Anyone can die in this world, but not my master!" The sword buzzed so violently that Elias had to struggle to even control it.

    Elias knew that he had to calm the sword. He needed that ego to work with him, especially since he had no particular ability to control it.

    "I believe you! I also believe that my brother can''t die. He must be trapped in some place. That''s why, I want to save him! But for that, I need more strength. That''s why I entered this Academy, and if you help me, we might be able to find him!"

    The ego was absolutely loyal to his eldest brother, to a crazy extent. It was the biggest flaw of this ego. If he wanted to control this ego, he could only play around that flaw.

    If it wanted to believe that his brother was alive, then he had to make it believe that. He had to convince the sword that they could find his brother, no matter how long it took.

    "That''s right! My master must be trapped somewhere! We can find him!" The ego exclaimed. Even though it was still somewhat fierce, it seemed to be calming down a bit.

    "I promise that I will find my brother. It might take a long time, but I won''t give up. But for that, I need you to support me. So, will you?" Elias asked the ego.

    It was a promise that he intended to keep, but only when he was strong enough to fulfill it. By then, he might have many such egos, so it didn''t matter if he returned this one to his eldest brother. However, he didn''t think that his brother was actually alive. If he was, the Ashborn Family would''ve found him already.

    The sword was silent, still unable to forget the memories in which it had heard Elias''s name. This boy used to be just a child who was just born.

    That memory was also the most significant and unforgettable for it, because it was the first memory in which it had seen its master smile so bright.

    After a brief moment of silence, it said, "I will do anything you need. Even if you ask me for my entire existence, I''m willing to sacrifice it."

    "Then I''m about to begin." Elias had received a confirmation from the ego. He didn''t waste a single second, and said, "Confirm Extraction." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 68 Chaos in the middle

    A storm started materializing around Elias, with the sword at its core. The storm was so strong that even if Elias was holding the sword, his body was being pushed back with such force that it made him feel as if he was also being ripped apart by the fierce.

    Even clothes were being torn apart by the storm, and more scars started appearing on his body as the winds grew truly violet this time, cutting through his skin.

    More than the pain, he seemed to be worried about his clothes and the thing that was in his pocket. He quickly placed his hand in his pocket before they were torn apart, and grabbed the growth stone and the insignia of the family

    He held the two objects like his life depended on it, even as the remnants of his clothes flew off, leaving him completely bare in the storm.

    Amidst the sound of winds, he also heard another sound that he hadn''t heard during any extraction process before. He could hear the painful cries of the ego, which seemed to be roaring like a wild beast.

    As he had only performed extraction on lifeless things, he didn''t know that the extraction process placed such a burden on the materials that were being extracted.

    The painful cries continued for a long time, until they went completely silent. And after another half an hour, the storm also disappeared, giving Elias an opportunity to catch his breath.

    He fell on his knees, in front of a block of metal that had materialized after extraction. Next to the block, he also saw a small crystal sphere.

    .....

    Star Metal: Extraction Successful.

    Ego: Extraction Successful.

    .....

    He sighed in relief, looking at the information about the successful extraction. Both materials had survived. He picked up the two objects and walked over to the fighter jet, not caring about his scars or the fact that he was naked.

    He placed the two objects on the plane''s body. This time, he also placed his insignia and the growth stone on the plane before walking away to complete the final extraction with the watch.

    He walked away from the plane, traveling farther this time, before starting another extraction. The process was much less painful and shorter.

    The winds were also less fierce than before, which made him wonder if the pain was only present when he extracted things that possessed intelligence.

    What if he was someday able to extract true life? How painful would it be? That question appeared in his mind as he compared the experiences of these two extractions.

    .....

    Eliestus Metal: Extraction Successful

    Teleportation Stone: Extraction Successful

    Detection Stone: Extraction Failed

    Chronarium Crystal: Extraction Failed

    Voidsteel: Extraction Failed

    Hide of Phase Panther: Extraction Failed

    Starlight Glass: Extraction Successful

    .....

    The failure rate was much higher this time, but Elias didn''t feel bad. The material he truly wanted had been successfully extracted.

    He had received the Teleportation Stone. The only problem was that it was a very small quantity, only the size of a watermelon seed. The other materials were also in very low quantities, as they were extracted from a small watch.

    He wasn''t completely confident that they would actually affect the plane to that extent, but he picked them up anyway. Using them was better than not using them.

    If it was a normal situation, and he had more of such materials, he would have thought about doing a trial and error to come up with a better combination, but for now, he decided to use them all.

    He placed all those materials on the plane. After that, the first thing he did was take back his family Insignia and Growth Stone, scared that he might accidentally merge them with the plane if he forgot.

    "Confirm Merger," he instructed, reaching the final step.

    .....

    Please select the materials for the merger.

    .....

    Elias started tapping each of the materials that he wanted to merge. And the materials that he selected had a small red dot appear on them as a marker, which was also something that he hadn''t noticed before.

    Once he finished the selection, he stopped and stepped back.

    ....

    Materials selected for merger: X-86 Fighter Jet, Essence of Lightning, Dust of Creation, Star Metal, Eliestus Metal, Teleportation Stone, Starlight Glass, Ego.

    Material Compatibility: 64 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 76 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    ....

    "Even if it''s not the highest probability I''ve received, it''s not half bad. Proceed with the merger."

    After confirming the merger, he quickly ran back, unaware of the storm that was about to be unleashed by combining so many high-tier materials. He didn''t want to be blown away by it.

    He ran as far as he could, and as fast as he could, feeling the winds around him become unstable. The storm was intensifying and showed no signs of stopping. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Fortunately, it wasn''t strong enough to affect the hundreds of thousands of pounds of beast beneath their feet, a creature that didn''t even have flesh.

    After reaching as far as he could, he turned around and lied down on the ground, to further reduce the wind force that was acting against his body. He remained on his belly, and raised his head, trying to look at the storm.

    He could see lightning flickering inside the storm, another first time experience with a merger. The storm was truly dangerous, which made him feel that he truly might have died if he was at the core of that storm.

    The winds grew so strong that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, as tears started coming down the corner of his eyes that started turning red. In the end, he couldn''t keep watching and closed his eyes, placing his head on the ground as well, letting the storm rage around.

    ....

    In the central region of the Land of Fables, another chaos was brewing. A young man in his twenties resided within a grand palace.

    A scar ran across his face, starting at the top right of his forehead and extending as far down as it could go on the left side. On his chest was another scar that was even deeper. This one seemed to form a symbol resembling an ouroboros devouring its own tail.

    Next to the man was a table covered with hundreds of sharp knives. One after another, he picked up the knives from the table and tossed them forward.

    Each knife flew straight toward a portrait hanging on the wall, which already had hundreds of knives stabbed into it, making it quite hard to even see the portrait clearly.

 Chapter 69 The game begins

    Each knife struck the portrait, which depicted a young boy who looked barely twelve or thirteen years old. The boy in the portrait had short silver hair and wore a robe bearing the same insignia that was painfully carved on the man''s chest.

    The man picked up another knife, and just as he was about to toss it at the portrait, he heard the sound of the door opening. He quickly turned around and tossed the knife.

    The person at the entrance gulped down, as the knife flew past him, barely missing his face.

    "P-Prince Zesten?" The person stuttered, as his tail started fiercely shaking in fear. Even if he had a body that looked similar to a human, some of his physical characteristics were completely different in many aspects.

    "What do you want?" The man asked, frowning. Each of his eyes had dual pupils, which were focused on the person at the door.

    "The Beast of Decay appears to be alive. We can sense its aura. I believe it is returning," the man informed. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "He still has the courage to return?" Zesten roared, his voice shaking the entire palace.

    As he lost control of his emotions, his physical transformation became unstable. Horns erupted from his forehead, and dragon-like wings unfurled from his back.

    "I sent that bastard to kill the child who gave me these scars! Not only did he fail to return with the bastard''s head, but he lost?! And now, he dares to return?! Did you come here with this information, expecting me to be pleased and reward you?"

    The man who had informed Zesten began shaking fiercely. He was so frightened that he fell to his knees and began banging his head on the floor. "Please calm your anger, Your Highness!"

    "I didn''t come here to tell you about him. I-I just wanted to tell you what his return signifies. Didn''t we know that he was sealed with that evil boy''s sword?" he asked. "After that, we tried to pull out the sword to free him, but the sword only burned our people!"

    "We even tried to get some humans to move the sword, but they couldn''t move it, even after we killed them. But now the Beast of Decay is returning. It means the seal is broken."

    "So?" Zesten frowned, wondering what he was trying to say. So what if the sword was removed? It didn''t matter anyway, as they couldn''t even use the sword that burned the fables the moment they tried to hold its hilt to control it.

    "The High Priest told us that the sword was tied to that boy. Except him, no one could hold it. Unless..."

    "Do you mean that person has returned?!" Zesten asked, his fingers subconsciously touching the scar on his chest.

    He could never forget that person, who had given him this would. He was just fifteen years old at that time, while the boy was only twelve. The person even stole the greatest treasure of the Central Region.

    "I don''t think that person has returned. A person from the land of living can only enter this place once in their lives, when they are younger than twenty."

    "So it can''t be him. But the high priest told us of another possibility. The only other person that can use that sword, is the one that holds his blood. It means that someone has arrived, that shares his blood. It''s either his son, or his brother."

    "As it happens, it seems to be that time of the year when this from the land of living also starts arriving. If we can take that person, then we might be able to negotiate the return of that treasure. If we can use it to open that place, then we might be able to leave this place!"

    The man stopped banging his head, after informing Zesten about his theory. He raised his head, to see his reaction.

    Zesten seemed to be lost in some thoughts. "And if I leave this place, I can hunt that bastard and kill him with my own hands after returning these scars to him! Last time, I was just a child. But now, I am something else entirely."

    "That is right. We just take that treasure back before the humans realize what that thing is truly capable of," the man exclaimed.

    "Good! Find the High Priest! Tell him to locate the presence of that bastard''s blood! We can use the other children to send that bastard his brother''s arm with my name carved on it, along with the message to return that item! I wonder what kind of face he will make when he sees it!"

    "It shall be done as the wishes of Your Highness..." The man placed his claws on the ground and pushed his body up, before rushing away.

    Meanwhile, Zesten picked up another knife. He tossed the knife at the portrait, "Now, the game begins."

    ....

    "It''s finally over." Elias approached the new and improved X-86.

    The merger had taken what felt like an eternity, the process lasting over six hours. But finally, it was done, and Elias could see the result of his creation which truly felt like a miracle.

    The overall shape of the fighter jet remained the same, but he could feel a few very significant differences. Occasionally, he could see lightning flickering on the surface of the plane.

    The Star Metal had further improved the fighter jet''s physical strength, while the Eliestus Metal imparted its durability. Even the glass was further strengthened by the crystal.

    When he checked the material composition, everything seemed to be as expected. The only thing beyond his expectations was the jet''s weight, which had doubled. It made him wonder if it could still perform as expected.

    "It shouldn''t affect things too much. I think the lightning will take care of it," he thought. Still, he considered testing the flight capabilities.

    He reached out his hand, and his fingers touched the jet. "Are you there?"

    "Shh, don''t disturb me! I''m trying to understand this thing! So much to learn! Ah, what''s that? Nice! So it does that!"

    Even though he was shushed away, Elias felt relieved. The ego seemed to be safe. And more importantly, it could truly comprehend the technology of this fighter jet, as if it were a part of its own body, solving one of his biggest worries.

    "When you''re finished learning, how about we take a trip to the skies?" he asked.

    "Hmph, what do you think of me?" The ego scoffed.

    Just as Elias thought it was rejecting him, he saw the glass move, and the entrance to the cockpit opened.

 Chapter 70 Is it that bad?

    "Before you get inside, I want to ask you a question," the ego said, just as Elias was about to get inside the jet.

    "What question?" Elias frowned, wondering if there was something wrong with the merger that the ego wanted to ask him about.

    "Why are you naked?" the ego asked, making Elias''s face go blank.

    He had almost forgotten that he wasn''t wearing any clothes since they were torn off during the extraction process. He was so immersed in the creation of the evolved jet that he didn''t have time to consider anything else.

    "Because I like it this way," Elias sarcastically answered as he started rummaging through his Spatial Storage to find clothes.

    "Interesting. That''s a very perverted hobby, but I won''t judge you." The Ego went silent after offering a few comments.

    If the ego was a human, Elias might have slapped the back of his head for this comment, but hitting the jet was only going to hurt himself. So he ignored those comments and brought out the clothes.

    Even if the clothes from earth weren''t as sturdy or classy as the clothes of the upper realm, they still got the job done of getting his body covered.

    He wasn''t picky with the clothes, and simply wore the clothes that were in his size, which he could find the fastest. He quickly wore a pair of black jeans that created a stark contrast with the white t-shirt.

    "Better?" he asked the ego, while donning a white overcoat on top.

    "Much," the ego replied. "Though I must say, the contrast is a bit sharp. Like a penguin wearing a tuxedo backwards."

    Elias rolled his eyes. "You''re a terrible critic, you know that?"

    He climbed into the cockpit, and looked at the various screens and switches that were present. Just looking at them was enough to give him a headache, even though he wasn''t meant to pilot it.

    "It''ll be a short test flight, and we will return right here. Still, you''re not allowed to fly before the Beast of Decay. Alright?" he asked the ego, warning it repeatedly as if he didn''t have complete confidence in it.

    "I''m the most reliable ego in this world. You don''t have to say twice," the ego sounded grumpy, as the sound of engine roaring resounded. The lightning that was flickering around the jet, became even stronger as it started moving.

    The jet moved in the opposition direction of the Beast of Decay, going behind instead to avoid getting detected. Even if the Beast of Decay was slow now, it still had eyes.

    "While you''re inside, do you want me to teach you how the controls work?" the Ego asked Elias, who was simply looking out the glass, feeling the jet catching speed.

    Elias didn''t need to learn the ability to fly these things, but he still wanted to agree. He wanted to know as much as possible. Unfortunately, he couldn''t satisfy his curiosity as this was only supposed to be a test flight.

    He had to return and focus on his evolution. The time that he had for this short test flight was far from enough to learn anything, even if he was being taught by someone.

    "Maybe next time," he said as the jet started rising in the air. It soon soared through the sky, leaving the trail of lightning behind.

    The fighter jet rushed through the sky at supersonic speed. It was the first time Elias had flown, if he was to ignore the fall he had suffered from the Pillar of Heaven, which did make him feel like he was flying for a brief moment.

    Watching the landscape outside getting smaller as the jet soared higher was a surreal feeling. For quite some time, he remained in a daze, observing the vast world. From this height, even the giant Beast of Decay looked like a small dot on the horizon.

    "How are you feeling?" he asked the ego, as he couldn''t find any problems with the jet''s evolution.

    There were no problems with the increased weight of the jet, and the speed seemed to have increased even more than he anticipated.

    "Everything seems to be fine. The only thing is that I feel hungry for some reason," the Ego said. "It''s a really strange feeling. I wonder if there was something about it among the things that I skipped when learning about this thing." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The moment Elias heard these words, his expression darkened. That was right; he had forgotten another important thing. Even though he had evolved the jet, it still ran on fuel. That problem was still existent, and he hadn''t checked how much fuel it had.

    "Let''s go back," he told the ego with extreme urgency. He looked through the various dials to find one that could represent the fuel in reserve.

    "Can we go back a little later? It''s fun to fly through the sky," the ego answered, appearing somewhat rebellious.

    "We don''t have time for this. You''re feeling hungry because this jet doesn''t have enough fuel. Evolution hasn''t solved that problem. We need to get back before we..."

    Elias was in the middle of speaking when his eyes fell on the fuel gauge. The gauge was on the red mark, and a red light had also started beeping repeatedly.

    "Something is wrong! I-I can''t..." the ego also exclaimed, as the jet started losing balance, along with altitude. "F*ck, are we going to die then?"

    Elias almost felt like facepalming himself. It was foolish of him to ignore the risks just because he had an intelligence to control the fighter jet. At this rate, both of them were going to die!

    Even if he had strong bones, he wasn''t going to survive a fall from this height inside this box of metal that was further reinforced.

    He could try to eject, but his jet was still going to crash, along with the ego, which was just as big a loss as anything.

    "You''re silent! Is it that bad? Are we really going to die?'' the ego asked Elias, as their descent became faster and more uncontrollable.

 Chapter 71 Fked up luck

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    Loud beeping noises had filled the cockpit, as if reminding Elias that the situation was more dire than he had initially thought. They didn''t even have enough fuel to even slow down their descent. They were truly going to crash.

    "Not sure about you, but I might truly die," Elias told the ego, watching the surface getting closer at a frightening speed.

    "F*ck. I couldn''t even enjoy the freedom properly and I''m going to die. Waaah! Why is my luck so f*cked up?" The ego started complaining, almost sounding like it was crying.

    Elias didn''t even know how to react to these words. Shouldn''t he be the one panicking? The ego was connected to the jet. As long as even the smallest part of it existed, the ego was probably going to survive. He was different. He would be crushed.

    "Open the cockpit, I have to try something," he exclaimed, as he started opening the seat harness to free himself. He couldn''t stay here and wait for death. He had to survive, and protect this jet.

    "I..." The ego started stuttering, before going completely silent.

    "Don''t tell me you can''t open that either?" Elias started rubbing his forehead, as the realization started setting in. Everything that could go wrong, had started going wrong.

    He clenched his fist, and punched the glass, trying to break it so he could get out. But no matter how strong his bones were, his strength wasn''t enough to break the glass that was reinforced with the Starlight Glass of the watch.

    Even if it was only a small piece of Starlight Glass, when merged with the glass of normal fighter jets, it still created something stronger.

    Normally, it was supposed to be a good thing as it provided him more security when he was inside. But that same advantage had become shackles for him.

    Elias had no other choice but to go with the most drastic option, the success if which wasn''t certain.

    "I''m going to extract! The storm might slow our descent and protect us to some extent. It''s going to hurt!" he exclaimed, as the jet was merely tens of kilometres away from hitting the ground.

    "What?!" The ego exclaimed in shock as Elias placed his hand on the deck.

    "Confirm-"

    "Wait! Stop!" The ego screamed louder, as the roaring sound of the engine echoed inside the cockpit. The front side of the fighter jet started rising, as if it was returning to control.

    On the ground, there was a small pond, in which a woman was bathing. Next to the pond, there was a heavy sword that was at least ten feet long. Just looking at the sword made it look like it was almost impossible for an ordinary human to even pick it up, even if they were to put all their strength into it.

    The woman was immersed in her bath, when she felt the winds becoming stronger. She didn''t think much of it, until she heard something strange. She also felt something approaching her.

    Frowning, she raised her head, and saw an unknown metallic object coming straight for the pond. She quickly jumped out of the pond, revealing her bare skin.

    She rushed to the sword, but before she could grab it, a rush of water came flying out of the pond, accompanied by intense wind pressure. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The fighter jet had also slowed down, and regained its balance. It was merely a hundred meters away from the ground when it turned straight, and rushed ahead, leaving a trail of lightning behind.

    "It was not an attack on me?" the woman mumbled, as she held the sword even as droplets of water trickled down her body. "What a strange bird."

    She lowered her sword, and didn''t attack. The space that had started to break apart the moment she held her sword, started healing when she dropped her intentions of attacking.

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the fighter jet, Elias was also at a loss for words.

    "What does this mean?!" he asked his ego, as the fuel gauge rose, reaching the halfway mark. Did the ego learn to convert lightning into fuel? But that was unlikely. It could only mean one thing.

    They never ran out of fuel! The ego was messing with him, pulling a trick that had almost frightened him to death. He had never felt as angry in his life as he did now.

    The Ego had not only lied to him, but also manipulated the fuel gauge to make him believe that they were really out of fuel.

    "Did you find it funny?!" he roared, finally losing his temper, which was a rare sight.

    "I... I just wanted to-" the ego tried speaking but it wasn''t even allowed to finish its sentence.

    Elias cut him mid-sentence, raging, "Return before I start dismantling you!"

    He had thought about maintaining a friendly relationship with the ego, but it was taking such unfair advantage of his kindness?

    Only he knew how many thoughts he had gone through in these last few moments, almost scared that he might die before he could even finish taking his revenge.

    The ego wanted to apologise, but it couldn''t utter a single word, scared that it might upset Elias even more. It swallowed its words, and went silent, feeling extreme guilt over its actions.

    The fighter jet returned to the Beast of Decay from behind, and landed on top.

    Elias jumped out of the cockpit after it opened, not saying a single word to the ego. Initially it wanted to ask the ego to protect him when he was going through his evolution, but he didn''t do that anymore.

    He simply walked away, still furious and filled with a multitude of emotions that he had tried to suppress, ever since he had woken up in the upper world.

    "I was wrong..." the ego mumbled, watching Elias leave. But Elias couldn''t hear it, as he wasn''t in physical contact with the fighter jet.

    Elias sat down, far away from the fighter jet. He pulled out the Growth Stone, and consumed it right away even if his mental state wasn''t perfect for it.

 Chapter 72 First Evolution

    The Growth Stone felt like a lump of fire as it went down Elias''s throat. It burned, but not with physical pain. Instead, it was strange, unfamiliar heat that quickly spread outwards, like warmth reaching into every cell within his body.

    There was no pain for the first few minutes, but when the pain arrived, it came like a storm that made him grit his teeth. The burning sensation within his body intensified and became more painful. The extreme pain made it hard to breathe as his vision turned red.

    Amidst his blurry vision, he saw multiple system screens appearing all around him. However, all of them were glitching so badly that he couldn''t even read what was written on them.

    The more he looked at the glitching screens, the more he felt as if his head was splitting apart. It was so painful that he was forced to close his eyes, as tears trickled down his cheeks.

    The Ego watched him look like he was dying in pain, and grew frightened. Why was he going through such pain? Wasn''t it just his first evolution?

    As far as he knew, the first evolution was not supposed to be this painful. Even though it took a long time where one couldn''t afford to be distracted, that was the extent of the first evolution. Why was Elias''s evolution different!

    Even more shocking was that he had seen Elias''s eyes turn blood red before he closed them. The Ego wasn''t sure if it was imagining things, until it saw tears of blood trickle down Elias''s cheeks.

    There was no question about it. Something had truly gone wrong in Elias''s first evolution. It wasn''t the evolution that could be achieved with just an ordinary Evolution Stone!

    He wanted to help Elias, but he wasn''t human. He couldn''t even touch Elias, let alone try to help him. There was no one there that he could even ask for help.

    "A-are you alright?" he asked, as loud as he could. But when Elias wasn''t in contact with him, his voice was almost non-existent, and no one could hear him.

    "What do I do?!" The Ego also started panicking, trying to think of something. Unfortunately, there was nothing that it could do, except watch.

    ....

    Inside the Ship of Elten Ashborn, the ceremony of turning Lilian into an Undead was still ongoing.

    Elten was so immersed in the ceremony, that he didn''t notice a light coming out of his pocket. There was an item that had started shining brightly, but that light went unnoticed.

    If Elten had seen that thing, he would have been stunned as well. It was the object that he was supposed to give Elias right after the Awakening Ceremony.

    It was also the thing that he went to the Land of Frost to give to his younger brother before becoming completely distracted by Lilian''s Corpse.

    From the moment he had received this object from Aliath, it was the first time this useless object had shown any change, and it went completely unnoticed.

    ....

    As Elias went through the evolution, his body also started changing. The silver hue of his hair started changing as his signature Ashborn Silver hair became darker.

    Black roots started to appear, spreading through his silver strands like ink in water. Within moments, his hair was entirely jet black, completely different from the silver it had been just moments before.

    The veins on his face and neck became more visible with an unnatural dark energy that seemed to crawl just beneath his skin. His frail muscles also started to expand subtly. They didn''t become bulky, but they grew denser. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Bones of the Ancient Dragon also seemed to become more compatible with his body. His body was merging with the elements from its surroundings, greedily sucking everything around it to be used as nutrients for his evolution.

    The first collateral damage was none other than the Corruption of Constellation, which had invaded his body without his permission when he landed in the Forest of Fables.

    Normally, he would need to enter a contract with a Soul Beast to get rid of the Corruption of the Constellation. Even extraction wasn''t possible with such low material instability.

    It was different with his evolution, though. This time, he wasn''t extracting the Corruption of Constellation from his body. Instead, his body was merging with the Corruption to aid in his evolution.

    The corrupt merger, initially inflicted by the Constellation as a form of poison, was being corrected, like a virus being utilized to make the body even stronger.

    Elias couldn''t see the screens, but his Material Stability was improving as his evolution progressed. The Stability went from 4 percent to 50 percent within half an hour, and it only continued to climb with each passing second.

    The only problem was that the process wasn''t painless. Moreover, the effect of corruption on his mind, although weakened, was not completely erased.

    There was another change happening inside Elias''s body that had nothing to do with normal evolution or even the Corruption of a Constellation.

    ....

    Elias didn''t know how much time had passed during the evolution or when he had even passed out. The only thing he knew was that his body had never felt better when he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself lying on his side.

    The first thing he saw after opening his eyes wasn''t his surroundings. Instead, it was a system screen.

    .........

    First Evolution has been successfully completed. New Abilities have been unlocked.

    ...........

    "It would''ve been much more helpful if you could tell me the abilities outright instead of letting me guess," Elias complained, but he knew that was impossible. Just like last time, he would have to guess his own abilities.

    At least that''s what he thought until he saw the system screen change.

    ............

    Instructions Received. Ability List is being summarized.

    ..........

    The words on the screen changed once more, and a proper list appeared. The list arrived with a summary after each of the mentioned ability.

 Chapter 73 New Abilities

    The system panel that appeared before Elias felt like an upgraded form. It wasn''t semi-transparent anymore. He couldn''t see through it.

    It looked as though it existed in the physical realm, and not just the illusory one. He even felt as if he could reach out his hand and touch it. Moreover, there wasn''t one such system screen, but two of them.

    The words on the system panel were also different. They looked less mechanical and more like they were written by a real person. And the handwriting wasn''t unfamiliar to him.

    He recognized that handwriting, as it belonged to him in the first place. It helped him understand the things that were written better.

    The first screen showed him a list of his old abilities that seemed to have evolved along with him. Meanwhile, the second screen showed him the two new abilities that he had gained.

    .............

    Evolved Abilities:- S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    1) Extraction has evolved to Precise Extraction. You can select specific materials within the material composition to only target them for extraction.

    2) Merger has evolved to Advanced Merger. You can now merge incompatible materials with living beings. The success probably may vary.

    .............

    .............

    New Abilities:-

    1) Extraction Control: Things that you have extracted, or merged, will be linked to you. You can summon them to you, as long as they are within the same realm. If the extracted material has sentience, the Extraction Control would ensure that the sentient can''t disobey you.

    2) Analysis: Allows you to analyze not just materials, but also living beings. You can access more data, aside from material composition, including potential use cases and stats.

    3) Creation Comprehension: You will be able to comprehend the things that you extract, or create to a greater extent. Effects may vary.

    4) Storage: You will be able to store things that you extract, or create with a merger.

    .............

    The first screen, which displayed his newly evolved abilities, was enough to pleasantly surprise Elias. But the second screen almost made his heart leap out of his chest.

    Almost all the new abilities he had received were extremely useful to him. And this was just the first evolution. What about the second evolution, or those that followed?

    The ability that he most urgently needed, was certainly storage since the storage realm that he could use, was nothing but a temporary ability.

    He didn''t even know when it was going to become useless, which was why he was already planning to take out all the important things from there before the seventh day.

    Another ability that he found extreme use for, was the creation control. With the creation control, he didn''t have to worry about the wavering loyalty of any ego that he could use in the future. He could command them to perfection, with no chance of betrayal.

    He didn''t know much about other abilities as he hadn''t tested them yet, but the description made him feel like they were also extremely useful abilities.

    With this evolution, he had received more things to test. And the thing that made him the most happy, was that he didn''t have to go around guessing the abilities or stumbling around to find what he could do.

    If he had to identify a flaw, there was only one. He didn''t seem to have received the one ability he had been anticipating the most.

    When he had tried to extract abilities from the students of the Dimensional Academy, he was informed that he lacked sufficient evolution. He thought that this time, he would have acquired that ability, but it was still missing.

    "Does it come after the second evolution?" he wondered. If that one ability wasn''t absent, he would have been much more pleased than he already was.

    He had heard that a person only received one or two abilities with their first evolution. Meanwhile, he had received four of them. Even though he didn''t get the ability that he wanted the most, the other abilities that came with the evolution had made up for it.

    He was in such a good mood, that he had almost stopped thinking about the behaviour of the ego that had upset him. In any case, there was no point in getting upset over it, especially since he had a way to ensure that something like this never happened again.

    The moment he thought about the ego, he started looking around. "Hmm? Where is that guy?"

    He couldn''t find the ego anywhere. It had disappeared. It made his good mood disappear, as he frowned, wondering if the ego had run away. Was he again fooled?

    If the ego was trying to return to their world to find his brother, then it was really foolish. It was going to end up before the two professors, who were simply going to destroy it with a flick of their fingers.

    "Please don''t be this foolish." Elias started worrying that he might already be too late.

    He didn''t know long he had been out. If it was a long time, then the jet might have already been destroyed to the point that he couldn''t even get back the materials that he used to evolve it.

    He really hoped that it hadn''t been a long time, as he prepared to summon it back with his newly gained ability.

    "Extraction Control." He used his newfound abilities. "Confirm Summon."

    There was only one thing that he had created, that was in this realm. He didn''t think he had to specify the thing that he wanted, as long as it wasn''t in pieces. And just as he thought, he wasn''t asked to confirm the target this time.

    He didn''t know how the jet was going to be summoned back, or if his ability could even manipulate the space to this extent. It was also his first time testing something like this after all.

    Fortunately, the skill seemed to have worked as a shadow started appearing in front of it. From that shadow, a fighter jet emerged that didn''t seem to be completely destroyed. Still, what Elias saw did make his expressions go dark.

 Chapter 74 The Lost Fable

    Elias saw that the jet was damaged, and the damage seemed to be more than he expected it to be.

    There were clear signs of damage all around it, with parts of the jet missing, as if they were bitten off. The wings of the jet also had deep claw marks. It was clear that the jet hadn''t returned without a fight.

    That still didn''t seem to be the biggest problem. Instead, the problem was that the Jet hadn''t returned alone. He could see someone stop the jet, that kept hitting the glass as if trying to break it. As the Jet was summoned back, another existence had come back with it.

    The damage on the jet seemed to be caused by that thing, which looked far from a human. It was clearly a beast, as it had a gryphon-like wings on its back, along with the body of a lion. It had sharp claws that seemed to match the marks on the wings.

    The claws of the beast were so sharp, that cracks were starting to develop on the glass of the Fighter Jet, on which Elias hadn''t managed to leave a single scratch when he attacked it.

    Elias was worried that the jet might have tried to return to the Forest of Fables, and might be attacked by the Professors. The reality was far different from his assumption, but not better, especially since the beast looked at him, like a prey.

    He had caught the attention of the beast, the moment that thing was summoned here with the Fighter Jet.

    At the same time, he was able to hear the voice of Ego, even though he wasn''t in contact with it. "You fool, why did you bring me back! I was trying to keep it away from you!"

    Even if the Ego didn''t know that Elias could hear him now, he still complained as he prepared to fly again to take that beast away by distracting him. It was certain that Elias was going to be hurt if he didn''t take this thing away.

    Elias was surprised by the fact that he could truly hear the thoughts of the ego. Was it because of the Creation Comprehension? He wasn''t sure. The only thing he knew was that he seemed to have misunderstood that ego in this case.

    Even though he hadn''t asked the ego to protect him, he did it willingly. He didn''t run away after abandoning him, intending to return to find Aliath. Instead, it had left to stop the beastly creature from attacking him.

    As the two of them could fly, the Jet distracted that beast and took him away to fight, even if it was to be destroyed.

    Its condition didn''t look much better either, as it looked like the glass could break at any moment. Elias couldn''t let that happen, as his creation was his treasure.

    He slowly stepped back, raised his right hand, and uttered a command, "Store."

    Before the glass of the jet could be broken, he kept it in his storage using his new ability. When he did that, he could hear the complaints of the ego becoming even more fierce as it felt like its body wasn''t under its control.

    The last thing that ego saw was Elias''s face, as he started disappearing. With the disappearance of the Ego, the beastly creature fell on the ground.

    It quickly balanced itself, as its eyes were filled with bloodlust while looking at Elias. This was the prey that he was after, and finally there were no distractions.

    "It''s been a long time since I''ve tasted fresh meat. I''m going to savor you for a long time," the beast said as it began transforming into a human form.

    Its gryphon-like wings remained, even in its humanoid form. Instead of hands, it had sharp claws that could slice through thick blocks of stone.

    "You can speak?" Elias asked, stepping back as he watched the beast transform into a humanoid form that looked more like a woman than a man.

    After transforming, the woman seemed to summon a white dress that materialized around her.

    "Analysis," Elias whispered under his breath, even as he directed a question to the beast.

    "Of course, I can speak. Did you think I am as incompetent as those insignificant fables?" the woman asked, reaching out her hand.

    A heavy gust of wind swept through the area, accompanied by an object flying at high speed. Only when the object came closer was Elias able to see that it was a heavy sword.

    The heavy sword was at least ten feet tall, that felt even taller than the woman when she was in her humanoid form.

    Elias was less interested in that sword and more interested in the details of that woman. Is she what was called a Soul Beast! Was this the kind of thing that he had to suppress?

    ............

    ~Analysing the entity¡­

    ~Reading the memories of the entity and the material composition¡­

    ~Analysing Stats¡­

    ~Forming Analysis¡­

    ............

    He waited for the analysis to finish as a loading bar appeared on a screen before him. Fortunately, the loading didn''t take long.

    ............

    Analysis has been completed. Details are being arranged in order of priority for better understanding

    ............

    ''Can you hurry up please?'' Elias thought, as he kept stepping back. With each step he took, he moved closer to the front side of the Beast of Decay, having a potential plan in mind that might be useful.

    ............

    Assigned Title: Harbinger

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: A

    Age: Three Thousand Four Hundred Years S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Description: A Fable that was born in the middle grade world of Felten after it was destroyed by a student of the Destroyer Class. On its quest for revenge, the Fable was destroyed, and it ended in the Realm of Lost Fables.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 70

    Defence: 90

    Speed: 150

    Magic: None

    Elemental Affinity: 60

    Hostility: 70

    Curiosity: 85

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 10 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 5 Percent

    ............

 Chapter 75 A Monsters Prey

    ''With that kind of success probability, you might as well tell me that I''m going to die right here,'' Elias thought, as he looked at the probability of both the use cases that were mentioned after the analysis.

    "Why do you look so scared?" The Harbinger asked Elias, as she kept stepping closer to him. "Should I promise you that I won''t make it painful?"

    "May I ask, how you won''t make it painful? Don''t you hate us?" Elias asked the Harbinger, as he also kept stepping back, wondering how long it was going to be until he reached the end.

    At first, he didn''t know why this world was called the land of fables, and why one had to be corrupted to even enter this world. He was told that living beings couldn''t enter this world.

    After looking at the analysis, more things started making sense. This place wasn''t really a world that came into existence naturally. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Instead, it was more like a prison for the Fables that came into existence from the unnatural death and chaos caused by the Dimensional Academy. He had a feeling that the Soul Beasts that they were told to partner up with were also these Fables.

    The Academy expected them to tame the myths that came into existence because of their hatred for them. The more he thought about it, the more messed up it became.

    The Creator Class had to take beasts that had nothing to do with them. At most, the beasts craved freedom and nothing more. But here, these so-called soul beasts wanted to devour them alive.

    "Hate you?" The Harbinger asked Elias, the corner of her lips creeping up. "Oh child, you overestimate yourself. You are just fledglings that don''t have the strength or influence to make me hate you."

    "I don''t hate you. But I do hate the person that you will become in the future," she added, as spatial cracks started appearing around the sword that she was holding. "So I will just kill you here, and maybe satiate my hunger before finding others."

    "Would you believe me if I said I don''t have any intentions of doing what you''re worried about?" Elias asked, even though he knew that the answer was no. He didn''t expect her to agree either, as he only wanted to buy more time.

    He might not be strong enough to fight her, but he was literally standing on something that was. The Beast of Decay was certainly a strong existence and had the potential to stop her.

    He simply had to make this brainless fool notice her by dragging that woman before him. Along the way, he looked back for a brief moment and noticed that he was almost at the edge.

    Just a few more minutes, and he could jump down. He had already prepared to summon the jet back as soon as he jumped. The woman was definitely going to jump after him, distracting the Beast of Decay.

    At least, that''s what he thought until he heard the Harbinger''s question. "Why are you stepping back? Do you expect this thing to help you?"

    It was as if she could already read his mind before he even put his plan into action.

    "Who knows? I guess we will find out!" Elias answered as he turned around and started running away, given that the distance wasn''t great.

    Soon, he reached the end and jumped with all his might, putting every bit of strength that he had into that jump.

    "Isn''t he underestimating me?" the Harbinger mumbled, as she raised her sword at the same time as Elias summoned the Fighter Jet after jumping off the Beast of Decay.

    He didn''t explain anything to the ego, and simply used the Extraction Control to make him fly away, as he landed atop the closed Jet, holding onto something with all his might to make sure he didn''t fall down.

    "W-what are you doing above me?" The ego asked in disbelief, as it thought about slowing down since the winds were so strong, looking as if they could send Elias flying at any moment.

    The only thing that was keeping Elias on the jet was his surprisingly strong grip. Even as the strong winds created problems for Elias, he still held on as he looked back, to see what that woman was doing.

    "Hmm?" The reality itself seemed somewhat warped as he caught the sight of the woman who was still standing atop the Beast of Decay.

    To Elias''s surprise, she wasn''t chasing after them. Instead, it was the Beast of Decay that caught sight of them. Even though it was like a fool, it still saw them as prey the moment that it saw them.

    The Beast of Decay reached out its hand, to catch them like an insect. However, at the same time, the woman also raised her sword, creating a giant aura sword that seemed to slice through the sky itself.

    She also started running forward, as her wings started moving, making her rise in the air. The moment she flew past the Beast of Decay with the heavy sword, she turned around to look at the Beast of Decay and brought the Sword down, like a punishment from heaven.

    As the aura sword came slashing down, it felt as if the space itself was cracked open. The arc of aura shot out, and cut through the impenetrable body of the Beast of Decay, as if it was nothing but an insect.

    Elias watched in disbelief as the giant''s body was sliced in two halves, with each half slowly falling in different directions as the space struggled to heal.

    The moment the two halves of the Beast of Decay fell on the ground, the earth trembled and a cloud of dust rose high.

    Elias saw the sharp eyes of Harbinger as she turned towards him, right before the cloud of smoke covered her, making it impossible for him to see her.

    "She is a monster!" The Ego exclaimed.

    "And that monster seemed to have started looking at us as prey. It won''t let us escape," Elias mumbled.

 Chapter 76 Hunt the Monster

    "She won''t let us escape," Elias said, coming to the inevitable conclusion. He had hoped that the Beast of Decay might delay her a little, giving him an opportunity to escape. Unfortunately, it became clear that that wasn''t the case.

    It was also understandable why even the evolved fighter jet wasn''t able to take that woman down, instead returning almost completely damaged. That woman was in a different league.

    If a Fable of a middle world was so strong, then what about the Fables of higher worlds? Were they also in this land? He didn''t even want to think of the possibility, nor did he have time for it, as his survival was on the line.

    "I will land for a little while. After I drop you there, I''ll distract her and let her go after me. You should remain hidden and run away when we''re not here!" the Ego suddenly told Elias, who was still holding on to the small, fractional gap in the hull.

    After seeing the display of that woman''s strength, the Ego knew that she was frighteningly strong. She could have killed him in an instant when he first went to fight her, but she had simply been toying with him, as if trying to see what this interesting metal bird was.

    Her curiosity was over, and now she wasn''t in the mood to play around. If the two of them didn''t do anything, then both of them were going to die.

    To help Elias survive, it could only see one option. It was to distract that woman, giving him an opportunity to escape, if possible.

    "There is also something that I have to say to you. I know that if I don''t say it now, I''ll never have this opportunity," the ego''s voice grew weaker and slower as it started descending.

    He knew that it was probably the last opportunity he had to say something and be heard. He had been in this godforsaken world for so long that he had almost forgotten what it was like to talk to someone and get a reply.

    Throughout the years, many people tried to pull him from the Beast of Decay, but none of them were successful. They couldn''t even hear his voice telling them that it was useless.

    The ego was tied to an object, and that''s where his life began and was meant to end.

    "I am sorry for before," the ego said as his wings sliced through the wind during his descent. "I didn''t have any intention of making a mockery out of you. I just... I was wrong."

    Elias gave him a second life and the freedom to soar through the sky. In return, he hurt Elias without intending to. He had wanted to apologise to him for a long time, and this felt like the last opportunity he was ever going to have.

    "I know that I deserve all your anger. I am a fool. Maybe that''s why my master left me here? Even though I don''t want to accept it, it might be true," he said, his voice appearing directly in Elias''s mind.

    Normally, even Elias couldn''t detect many emotions in the voice of the ego, but for some reason, the ego sounded a lot like a human at that moment. Was it a change that happened because of his evolution? It was unclear.

    "I was left here, abandoned. You were right. And the moment you pulled me out, deep down, I felt happy. So can you... not hate me?" he asked, knowing that this was his last time with Elias.

    After that, he was going to disappear forever. He even thought that maybe it was for the best that he disappeared, since he was only an annoyance for everyone.

    "It looks like I won''t be able to meet my master. When you find him, can you tell him one thing for me?" the Ego asked as the jet neared the ground. "Tell him that even until the last moment, I didn''t forget him. I was waiting..."

    The jet soon reached the ground, coming to a slow halt as the dust in the surroundings was just beginning to settle. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    When the jet was no longer flying, and the constant gush of wind wasn''t trying to send him flying, Elias could finally breathe properly. He jumped down from the jet, landing next to it.

    The jet started moving away from Elias, propelled by its engine''s thrust, leaving Elias behind. Even as the ego was leaving, it hoped that Elias was at least once going to say that he forgave him. Unfortunately, those words never came.

    "I would not tell Aliath anything for you." These were the only words that came from Elias, which left the ego somewhat sad. He was sure that Elias was still angry, but he didn''t blame him.

    The jet increased the speed, leaving Elias far behind. However, just as he started rising in the air, it felt a familiar yet unfamiliar energy surrounding its body.

    He felt his surroundings turning white, as if he was being pulled in an entirely different space, just like it happened when Elias kept him in the creation space.

    "What are you-" He tried speaking, but once again, his voice was suppressed as he disappeared. Only Elias was left behind, surrounded by a large cloud of dust.

    "If you want to tell him anything, then do it yourself," he mumbled. "Because your sacrifice here wouldn''t help anyone."

    He knew that he was the target of that woman. It was highly unlikely for her to be fooled by a trick like this. And even if she was, then it was going to take her a few minutes at best to destroy the fighter jet and return here. Where could he run in a few minutes?

    Either both of them were surviving this, or none of them were surviving this. And Elias wasn''t in the mood for it to be the latter. He hadn''t survived all this time to die at the hands of a Fable.

    "She is a monster who won''t let me live. That leaves only one path for survival." He took a deep breath, patting the specks of dust off his shoulders. "I''ll have to hunt that monster."

 Chapter 77 Forced Merger

    Since there was no escaping the Harbinger, Elias made up his mind to do something drastic. It was something that even he would''ve advised himself against if he had any other choice.

    Instead of running in the other direction, he started running in the direction that he had come from, going back toward the Harbinger.

    Even as the surroundings were shrouded in a cloud of dust, the Harbinger could see through everything clearly. After she had cut the Beast of Decay in two, she started paying attention to Elias, who was trying to get away.

    She wasn''t in any hurry to catch Elias, as she wanted to give him some hope that he could escape.

    Only when he was filled with hope could she crush it beneath her feet, just like the students of the Dimensional Academy did. She had no pity or sympathy for a child, as all of them were the same kind of people to her.

    It came as a surprise to her when things didn''t go as per her plans. Instead of running away and becoming relieved that he had gotten far away from her, Elias landed on the ground.

    Through the dust, she could see everything clearly. When she saw the jet moving away, she started smirking as she understood their plan of distraction. It also worked out in her favor, as it could make Elias even more confident.

    Once again, cold water was poured over her assumption as the jet disappeared. Moreover, instead of running away, Elias started running in her direction.

    She wanted the child to have hope of survival, so that she could crush it, but he didn''t seem like he was trying to run away in the first place.

    Even after seeing a glimpse of her strength, he was running toward her. The Harbinger landed on the ground with a frown, still holding onto the heavy sword.

    "Did that child already realize that it''s useless to run? Or is he scheming something?" She wasn''t certain what was going through Elias''s mind at the moment as he ran toward her.

    There was no way he could defeat her. Only newly recruited Students of the Dimensional Academy were sent to the Land of Fables, after all.

    Moreover, Elias was a child who was much younger than the Dimensional Academy Student who had destroyed her world. The student who had killed her had clearly gone through at least his second evolution, which was impossible for someone as young as Elias.

    .... S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The dust had completely settled by the time Elias reached the Harbinger, who stood before her Heavy Sword that was thrust halfway into the ground.

    "Have you come to beg for your life?" she asked Elias, who had been running for a long time.

    Despite his long run, Elias''s breathing was extremely stable, as if his stamina were limitless. Even he would have been surprised by it, if he weren''t immersed in other thoughts.

    "I am not naive enough to believe you will let me live if I beg." Elias stepped closer to the Harbinger, a sharp change to their first meeting, where he had tried to distance himself from her.

    He stopped only when he was within five meters of her. He glanced beside him, where the other half of the Beast of Decay was lying. It appeared like a mountain that was within arm''s reach.

    "Have you come to accept your death, then?" the Harbinger asked, pulling the Heavy Sword from the ground. Although she was uncertain of Elias''s intentions, she didn''t believe he posed a threat.

    It was clear that he was a weak child who had exhausted all his options. He was simply here because he didn''t want to run from the inevitable.

    "In that case, I will grant you a quick death." She approached him, without waiting for his answer. The moment she was within ten feet of Elias, she raised her sword as if it was as light as a feather in her grip, and aimed it at Elias''s chest.

    "If you want to blame anything, blame your luck for becoming a Destroyer," she said, as the top of her sword slowly started penetrating his flesh, painting his white overcoat red slowly.

    She was giving him a slow death, just like the death that her world had been granted at the hands of the Academy''s Demons.

    "Do you know what happened to the last person that asked me to blame others for my eventual death?" Elias felt the sharp pain as the heavy sword was slowly entering his chest.

    He raised his left hand, and touched the heavy sword, but he didn''t have the strength to stop it. Strangely enough, it didn''t seem like he had any intentions for that either. He also raised his right hand, and touched the Beast of Decay.

    Even though he seemed somewhat scared of the outside that might appear because of his plans, he didn''t hesitate in the slightest.

    He knew that running away from that woman was useless. He had already run out of materials to change the status quo significantly. In that case, the one way to survive was to get some new materials. And this time, he wanted to use that material on himself.

    "Confirm Advance Merger," he mumbled under his breath, using his upgraded ability for the first time that allowed him to merge with even the incompatible materials.

    He didn''t know the consequences of merging with incompatible materials, but he didn''t have time to care about it. As long as things weren''t drastic, he could always extract them. But if he died here, he could never return to life. The choice was clear.

    The moment he confirmed the Advanced Merger, a forced merger was initiated with the materials that he had selected. And those materials didn''t just include the Bones of the Beast of Decay, but also the sword of Harbinger, which held the essence of her own fable.

    A powerful storm rose with Elias at the core, and sent to Harbinger flying away. She couldn''t even hold onto her sword that was left stabbed in Elias'' chest.

 Chapter 78 Im a God!

    ............

    Warning! Incompatible materials have been selected! A merger may result in unexpected outcomes! Do you still want to proceed?

    ............

    A blood red screen flickered before Elias amidst the storm, as if offering him the last chance to halt the process.

    "It''s too late for second thoughts. Proceed!" Elias exclaimed as he accepted the merger, despite the warning.

    The confirmation made the screen glitch for a few seconds, before it finally disappeared. The storm around Elias only intensified, as the Sword in his hand started to disintegrate, the fragments of the sword flying inside his body to merge with him.

    The body of the Beast of Decay went through the same process, as it started transforming into specks of light that kept condensing with each passing second.

    Within minutes, the body of the Beast of Decay, that was the size of a mountain, was condensed into the size of a football. It flew inside the storm, forcefully merging with Elias''s body.

    Elias had thought that his previous merger process was painful, but this time, he truly felt what it meant to feel pain. He could feel as if his body was being split apart, a pain that even he couldn''t bear.

    It didn''t even take a few seconds, before his vision turned dark, and his body and mind started shutting down to protect him from this pain that could split his consciousness apart.

    It was like a protection mechanism to ensure that he didn''t completely break apart from the merger. Meanwhile, his body still kept going through the change.

    The Harbinger was sent flying by the storm. However, she managed to regain her balance as she landed on her feet.

    She looked at the storm that had appeared out of thin air, and asked, "Is that your last resort? Foolish. You should''ve allowed me to kill you. Because now it''ll be much more painful for you."

    She raised her hand, and summoned the sword that was left inside the storm.

    "Hmm?"

    She waited for a few seconds with her hands raised in the air, but the sword didn''t come flying for her. It made her feel strange.

    The sword was a part of her existence. It was supposed to listen to her, so why wasn''t it flying back to her? It was as if the sword was in a different realm altogether, far away from her.

    She tried again, but the situation became even worse for her as she coughed out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if a part of her existence was suddenly destroyed. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was the first time in a long while that she started panicking. Just what happened to her sword? She didn''t waste a single second and tried to force her way inside the storm, knowing that something was really wrong.

    Elias''s body was surrounded by a storm that protected his body during the merger. Even if Harbinger tried to force her way through the storm, she wasn''t able to. All her attacks were useless, as they were devoured by the storm.

    Unlike the chaos that his body was going through, Elias''s consciousness was in a much more peaceful place.

    He found himself standing in a dark space. He couldn''t feel any pain in this place, especially the one that his body was going through.

    As he was wondering if he had passed out, he noticed something else in this darkness. Right before him, there was a tall mirror.

    In the mirror, he could see a reflection. But that reflection didn''t look like him at all. The person in that reflection was much older, looking like he was in his early twenties.

    For a moment, he even wondered if that was still him. He looked at his hands, and managed to confirm that it wasn''t the case. His hands and body were still that of a twelve year old, but the reflection was of someone much older.

    As he walked closer to the mirror, he saw the reflection also stepping closer. It was truly a reflection that followed his movements.

    "Is this some subconscious trick?" Elias wondered, stopping just just a foot away from the mirror. He raised his right hand, and saw the reflection also raised its hand.

    Other than the age of the reflection being different, nothing else appeared to be strange. It felt like a weird dream, and nothing more. He stopped paying attention to the reflection, and started wondering about the status of his body.

    "I wonder what is going on outside. If I don''t wake up before the merger is complete, then will I die without even knowing what happened there?" he mumbled, as he started frowning.

    Subconsciously, his gaze fell back on the mirror as he was lost in thoughts. However, he noticed something strange. He was frowning at the moment, and there was certainly no smile on his face. Then why did the reflection look as if it was smiling?

    His frown deepened, as he started stepping away from the mirror, but the reflection in the mirror didn''t move back, which gave Elias a bad feeling.

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand came out from the mirror, belonging to the reflection. The hand grabbed Elias''s hands, and pulled him closer to the mirror.

    Elias was forcefully pulled inside the mirror, and at the same time, the reflection followed his movements, and stepped out of the mirror in a similar manner.

    "Hah, it feels much more refreshing now." The reflection, or rather, the existence that came out of the mirror, seemed quite pleased as it looked at Elias who was inside the mirror.

    Elias was hitting on the mirror to get out of there, but he couldn''t break through the mirror to get out.

    "It is useless, no matter how much you struggle. You will forever be trapped here. From now on, this body of yours belongs to me," the existence said, stretching his arms as if it had been a long time since he felt that way.

    "Who are you?!" Elias asked, as he kept struggling to get out of the mirror.

    "Did you forget me so easily, even after you took my corruption?" The reflection answered.

    "You''re a fable?" Elias exclaimed, his mind in a complete mess.

    He knew that he was corrupted by a fable that needed him to get a Soul Pet if he didn''t want to be taken over. But he was sure that the corruption was erased during his evolution.

    He had verified it with his Material Composition. Even if the corruption still existed, it should have taken a longer time to take over his body. So how?

    "A fable?" The existence asked, sounding disgusted. "Don''t group me with those embarrassing things. I''m a Constellation, or a god as you would call me! And now, this god will return to life through you!"

 Chapter 79 Everyone thinks that they are a monster, until

    "You brat, you almost ruined everything for me with your evolution." The Constellation looked at Elias in the mirror, remembering the horrifying feeling of almost being erased.

    "I don''t know what that scary ability was that suppressed my conscience to such an extent that I couldn''t even attempt anything. But I should thank you for weakening your conscience to such an extent."

    He wasn''t a fable that could be destroyed by a Soul Beast. Even the strongest fable couldn''t destroy his corruption. He was destined to return to life with time, as long as Elias didn''t die. But Elias''s evolution almost destroyed him.

    He could still feel the frightening power within that evolution that destroyed the corruption, which had intended to destroy Elias''s mind and body in order to accept him.

    Fortunately, that evolution didn''t destroy him completely. His essence and conscience were used for the merger to improve Elias even more, while he was forever suppressed within Elias''s mind as a useless existence.

    Even though he was upset with Elias for erasing his corruption, he was also somewhat glad that Elias created this weakness that allowed him a chance to be free.

    Moreover, with the essence of other fables that worked to further strengthen Elias, the Constellation felt that it was even better for him. Even if it wasn''t at its strongest, it was still able to fight back with this much, at least against a Fable of a middle world.

    The Constellation turned around and started walking away from the mirror, looking forward to returning to life after such a long time.

    "As a favor for taking your body, I will help you kill that Fable. However, don''t expect me to return this body to you. Just be a good child and stay here forever."

    When Elias''s mind was at its weakest, the suppressed conscience of the Constellation broke free. And now it had no intention of going back. It still had too many things to finish, especially things like settling the score with the person that had slayed a god like him.

    Within the mirror, Elias could be seen screaming something, but his voice never came out of the mirror. It was as if he was in a prison, that made it impossible for him to interfere with anything, just like the trap in which the constellation had found itself before.

    The roles had reversed, and Elias had ended up in that prison while his body was taken over by the constellation which returned to his body the moment that merger had finished.

    ....

    Harbinger tried to pass through the storm, but it was like an impenetrable fortress. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn''t break through. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In the end, she was forced to give up and wait for the storm to end, and for Elias to step out of it. She was sure that he couldn''t stay within that storm all his life. Even if it was a protective ability, it couldn''t last forever.

    Just as she had expected, a few hours passed before the storm began to weaken. The winds slowed, and the storm was on the verge of disappearing completely.

    She was even able to see the vague silhouette of Elias within the weakening storm, which looked quite different from before, as if it wasn''t even the same person anymore.

    After the storm completely disappeared, she was able to see Elias even more clearly. The person that appeared before her looked quite different from the one she had seen before the storm.

    There was no child there. The person was much taller, as if his body had grown significantly. He looked like a proper teenager.

    His clothes were mostly torn apart as he had grown older, revealing his well-toned body. But more than his body, and the lack of clothes, Harbinger''s eyes were focused on his left arm.

    She could see some strange marks that had spread all over that boy''s left arm. The patterns seemed to be alive, but more importantly, they were the same patterns that were on her sword.

    She could even see spatial cracks developing and healing around Elias''s left arm, an ability that she could use with her sword only. It felt like something that should''ve been impossible for him to do.

    She could see the changes that Elias had gone through, but her sword was nowhere to be found. She couldn''t even feel it anymore. Even the other half of the Beast''s body had gone missing.

    "What did you do with my sword?" she asked Elias, still in disbelief.

    It wasn''t just Elias''s left arm that had changed. His right arm had also gone through a change, as it was beginning with the essence of decay that belonged to the Ancient Beast of Decay.

    As the Beast of Decay had a giant body, the essence of decay didn''t feel that strong. But the essence around Elias''s arms was thousands of times stronger and more destructive, as if the entire essence of the beast of decay was merged with Elias''s right arm alone.

    Elias didn''t even look at Harbinger when she questioned him. Instead, he was like a fascinated child, looking at his hands, moving his fingers, and growing fascinated by them.

    It had been a long time since he had actually felt something. He couldn''t even remember how long. He started stretching his arms and even jumping around like a child who had just discovered a playground.

    His behaviour appeared quite strange, especially since he was doing such childish things in the body of a teenager when he barely had any clothes on. The top half of his body was completely bare, and even the lower half was barely covered.

    Harbinger''s expression darkened at Elias''s complete ignorance. It even looked as if he was mocking her. He wasn''t even paying attention to her.

    "Stop ignoring me!" Harbinger demanded, as her wings spread wide. She flew, and within a blink of an eye, she appeared before Elias, grabbing him by the neck.

    She raised him in the air, and asked, "What did you do to my sword?"

    "Oh?" Elias looked at the Harbinger. "How foolish of me. I almost forgot about you. Though I did promise that I will take care of you as a gift."

    "What are you tal-" The Harbinger frowned. However, before she could even complete her sentence, she saw Elias grab her arm.

    "Do you want to know a secret?" Elias asked the Harbinger.

    He didn''t even give her a moment to answer before continuing, "Everyone thinks that they are a monster, until they come across a real monster. And I... am... that real monster."

 Chapter 80 Dangerous Consequences

    Harbinger''s eyes widened, not from his words, but from the sensation creeping up her arm. The moment Elias touched her, a coldness began to spread from his fingertips.

    It was a sensation that was far more terrifying than anything. It felt like her very existence was being unraveled, thread by thread.

    She quickly released his throat and tried to move back, but Elias didn''t release her hand. His grip was like that of a beast, with a strength that shouldn''t have belonged to one person.

    "The existence of a fable is very interesting. The longer you survive, the more dangerous you become. Someone like you shouldn''t have been on the outskirts of this land. Were you waiting for the children?" Elias asked as he landed on the ground, still holding her wrist.

    The void emanating from him grew stronger, consuming her arm at an alarming rate. Already, it had reached her elbow, turning her flesh dark.

    "What... what are you?!" Harbinger screamed, her voice filled with a fear she hadn''t felt in centuries.

    Her wings flapped furiously, trying to lift her higher, to escape, but it was no use. Elias remained grounded, like an unshakeable anchor in the ocean.

    She didn''t understand how Elias was able to erase her existence to this extent. He didn''t even have a Soul Pet yet, so how was this possible?!

    Only a fable could completely erase another fable from existence, which was why Soul Pets were a necessity for the Destroyer Class. If it wasn''t for the Soul Pets, she wouldn''t have been suppressed by the person that had destroyed her world.

    Still, that person didn''t let his soul beast devour her; instead, he trapped her in the Land of Fables. She was trapped in this world, like the other fables, suffering while fighting for survival.

    They were just materials to be used as whetstones for the future generations of Destroyers. It made them even more hostile towards the students that entered the Land of Fables.

    If they became someone''s Soul Pet, then they were going to be forced to face other Fables. Either they were going to die in the process, or they would have to take part in the destruction of other worlds. None of them wanted that, especially not to work for these Destroyers.

    If it had been up to them, they would''ve killed all the students that ever stepped foot in the Land of Fables. Unfortunately, they didn''t have such freedom. They were tied by certain rules that made them unable to do certain things.

    The stronger fables were restricted to certain domains, and they couldn''t break free from those domains in the Land of Fables. Only when the students entered their domain did they have the freedom to do anything that they wanted.

    Only the weaker fables were allowed to roam free without any domains. She was one such existence that wasn''t trapped in a domain and could move freely.

    Despite that, she had been extremely cautious throughout the years, as many of the students that entered this land were like monsters.

    To protect her existence from other fables, she had ensured that she didn''t enter the forbidden regions of the Land of Fables, where more powerful fables, those that were born in higher worlds, resided.

    Throughout the years, she had survived by feasting on the weak fables, all so she could one day be strong enough to break her shackles.

    After suffering in this land for hundreds of years, she finally felt like she was strong enough. Despite that, she didn''t feel confident enough to hunt the students near the forest of fables.

    She stayed slightly farther from the forest, waiting for stray students, thinking that it was better to hunt them one by one. That''s when she saw the jet, she grew interested. She thought she had received stray prey.

    She was supposed to be able to destroy them easily. They didn''t even have a Soul Beast to erase her existence. At worst, she could just escape if she couldn''t win.

    At least that''s what she had thought. So how was it possible? How was a human devouring her existence? It should''ve been impossible for anything other than a stronger fable.

    Just what kind of a monster had entered the Academy this time, that could erase a fable without a Soul Beast? She was sure that she was going to die if she didn''t free herself right now.

    No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn''t free her from Elias''s grip. In the end, she grabbed her shoulders and ripped that arm off, separating another part of her existence and sacrificing it for her freedom.

    She didn''t waste a single second and started flying back, as she transformed into her beastly form of a lion-like creature with wings.

    The only difference was that she was missing one of her arms even in her beast form. However, even that arm which was separated from her body, had started transforming into the beastly claw.

    Once a part of her existence was erased, she couldn''t heal it anymore, at least not until she devoured other stronger fables.

    She didn''t have time to think about her arms anymore. She simply wanted to run away from the monster that could erase her existence. She had truly thought that she was a predator here, but the equation was turned on its head by this human.

    She wasn''t certain about the bizarre abilities that he had shown. Even if she was stronger, she didn''t want to fight.

    Elias watched the Harbinger fly away, while the decayed arm of hers turned into the purest form of fable''s essence, condensing into a small berry shaped sphere.

    "Please don''t run. I promised someone your life, as a farewell gift for him. It would be unfair if I break this trade after taking his body," Elias said, as he ate the small condensed sphere.

    ....

    Meanwhile, the real Elias was still trapped in the mirror, looking at a blood red screen.

    .....

    Warning! The action is not advised. It might erase all your mental protection and might have many dangerous consequences.

    .....

    S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 81 Astralious

    The real Elias was still trapped in a mirror, unaware of what was happening in the real world. He had tried to break free, but nothing he did worked.

    Brute force was useless and only made him feel even more trapped. It was as if the protection of his own mind was being used against him.

    Since nothing else worked, he tried his last resort. He placed his palm on the mirror and mumbled, "Please work."

    "Confirm Extraction!"

    He didn''t know if he could still use his abilities, as he wasn''t even in control of his body or his Bloodline.

    Most abilities were connected to a person''s body, and specifically to just one soul, which made him doubt if he could even use his.

    Fortunately, something did happen. A blood-red warning screen appeared before him.

    ....

    Warning! The action is not advised. It might erase all your mental protection and could have many dangerous consequences.

    ....

    "Confirm Extraction!" Elias yelled, seeing no point in mental protection when he was a victim of those very protections.

    ....

    Warning! The physical and mental state of the body is not optimal. Performing extraction is dangerous, and might have unintentional consequences! Would you like to proceed?

    ....

    This was the first time that he had received a second warning for the same action. But he didn''t stop here. The only alternative to doing this was to be trapped here for an eternity.

    He punched the mirror again and yelled, "Confirm extraction! Confirm extraction! CONFIRM EXTRACTION"

    It was his first time performing extraction in his own mind. Even though the target of extraction was only a small element of his conscience, he realized the kind of risks that it carried.

    He knew the longer he thought about it, the more he might start to hesitate. At this point, he wasn''t even hoping for the best but was gambling on it.

    ....

    "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?" the Constellation asked, gazing into the distant sky and appreciating its beauty.

    "Everything seems so beautiful when you are alive. I wonder how much the world outside has changed. Is that bastard still alive? I truly wonder. All I know is that things will get spicy when I get out of here."

    "Why aren''t you saying anything?" he asked, looking down at the body of the Harbinger, on which he was sitting as if it was his throne.

    Her beastly form was stained with blood, and her wings were ripped apart. One of her wings had already turned into essence and been absorbed by the Constellation. He held the other wing in his hand, using it as a fan as he admired the view.

    "You know, I really want to thank you. If it wasn''t for you, that brat wouldn''t have been forced to go crazy, giving me an opportunity to get out," he said, patting the Harbinger''s fur.

    To the world, she might have appeared as a fierce beast, but to the Constellation, she was like a small, cute pet, not even worthy of his attention.

    He thought out loud, "In fact, I should be rewarding you. In a normal situation, I might have accepted you as a follower and taken you out of here. But a promise is a promise, so I hope you won''t mind."

    He reached out his hand and stabbed it into the Harbinger''s chest, making her cry out in pain. Her core was being devoured, and she could feel her life and every memory disappearing.

    Even the memories of the world that was destroyed, which gave birth to her, were being taken away, including the reason for her existence.

    "Who... are... you?" The Harbinger asked, unable to even resist as her life was being taken away from her.

    "Are you also a fable?" At first, she didn''t believe it. But when that person talked about thanking her for letting him return to life, it made her understand what might have happened. It was the corruption of a fable!

    Normally, the person who was recently corrupted wasn''t strong right away. So she truly wondered just what kind of frightening fable she came across.

    Was it something that was born in a higher world, like the fables that ruled over their own domains that were forbidden for fables like her?

    If that was true, then she couldn''t believe her rotten luck. She found one student, and that Student itself was one that was already dead after being corrupted by a higher fable. If anything, she helped this fable, becoming his food.

    "Fable? Why does everyone keep confusing me with trash?" The Constellation asked, unable to hide his disgust. This was the second time within the last half an hour that he had been confused with a fable.

    "I am Astralious, the constellation of the Night Sky." It had been a long time since he had an opportunity to introduce himself. The last time he did that, was the day that he was killed by the person that he told his name sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "A constellation?" Harbinger''s pupils trembled, the moment she heard it. For a moment, she couldn''t even believe her ears.

    A Constellation was truly different from a Fable, that depended on their story and past to come into existence. A Constellation was an existence that was born, not from the destruction of a mere world, but from the chaos of the universe itself.

    Even in the world where she was born, a constellation was worshipped. She didn''t know what to feel about it. Should she be sad that she was dying? Or should she be happy, that her fable was being devoured by a literal god.

    It all started making sense to her. She had died, the moment she came across a constellation. There was no point in feeling sad about it.

    So what if she was dying? A god was being released into this world, something that could become a true Nightmare for the Dimensional Academy when he left this place.

    If anything, she started feeling glad, as a hint of a smile appeared on her lips. She disappeared, with a smile on her lips, as the last shreds of her story were devoured by Astralious.

    ....

    Crack~

    A crack started developing on the mirror that had trapped Elias.

 Chapter 82 Emergency Protocol

    Elias was surrounded by hundreds of blood-red screens that had started glitching, just like the time he was going through his evolution. But this time, all of them displayed only a single message.

    ............

    Warning! Mental Defences are being dismantled!

    ............ S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The cracks in the mirror started to grow until the entire surface was covered. Soon, the mirror shattered into thousands of pieces, and Elias was able to step out. But the process of dismantling didn''t stop with the mirror.

    The cracks that had started on the mirror had begun spreading outward, encompassing the realm where his consciousness resided. The entire realm of consciousness was breaking apart.

    Elias watched the cracks in his reality, and soon those cracks reached his own consciousness as well, as he watched his own skin start to develop cracks.

    The extraction of the mental realm was affecting his own mind, trying to dismantle it now that all protections were gone.

    "That''s enough! Stop the extraction!" Elias exclaimed, as the cracks rapidly spread across his body like a venomous snake coiling around him.

    ............

    Error! Extraction cannot be stopped before completion.

    ............

    The error only intensified the dismantling, and its speed increased. Soon, his entire body was covered in these cracks, which were trying to dismantle his consciousness from within.

    Elias looked at his reflection in the broken pieces of the mirror, which revealed his face, now covered in thousands of cracks, as if he were a statue being destroyed by the passage of time.

    He knew that extraction held a lot of risks, especially when he was using it on himself. He had taken a gamble, and he could see that he had lost.

    His own abilities were destroying him, and the only silver lining was that he wasn''t going to spend an eternity as a prisoner in the mirror.

    He took a deep breath and reached out his hand, which was covered in cracks. He picked up one of the glass pieces, bringing it closer.

    "Should I be sad that I am dying? Or should I be happy that a constellation is returning to that world in my place?" he wondered, looking into the shard of the mirror, as a small crack formed in the middle of his eye as well.

    "He might be able to bring more change than I ever could," he thought, feeling his head grow heavy. His thoughts had slowed, and he couldn''t think clearly.

    His consciousness grew so weak that he couldn''t even remain standing. He fell, still holding the mirror shard, as the entire realm around him shattered completely.

    He watched weakly, with blurry vision, as everything started turning dark. He was alone in this place, with only the fragments of the mirror that had once trapped him.

    ..............

    Warning! Mental degradation has reached a dangerous threshold. Please grant permission to initiate Emergency Protocols.

    ..............

    Elias could see that a new screen had appeared before him. However, he couldn''t see what was written on it. His eyes slowly closed, as he failed to grant any permission.

    ..............

    Permission has not been received. Please grant permission for emergency protocols!

    ..............

    There was absolute silence, as a blood-red screen kept flickering before Elias, but to no avail. The boy did not see or utter anything.

    ..............

    Permission has not been received. It is judged that the host is not in a state to consider emergency protocols. After analyzing the current status, Emergency Protocols are being forcefully initiated.

    ..............

    "That was delicious." Astralious had finished devouring the fable of Harbinger. He stood up and lazily stretched his arms.

    He looked in the direction of the Forest of Fables, where the exit from this place was hidden in plain sight. However, he could also sense that there were a few dangerous beings there. Now wasn''t the right time for him to go there.

    "I should bring some gifts for them while I''m at it," he mumbled, before turning toward the Central Region of the Land of Fables.

    He started walking towards the Central Region of the Land of Fables, where the domains of stronger fables were. He had already planned the chaos he was going to cause in the Land of Fables, to create an exit for himself.

    "If I can find some good followers amongst them, it would be even better. But I should keep my expectations low." He shook his head lightly.

    "Hmm?" He had only taken a few steps when he felt a sharp pain in his head. The pain was enough to make an ordinary person go crazy, but as a constellation, he only frowned, wondering what that was about.

    His expressions grew worse the next second, when he saw cracks starting to develop all around him. However, these cracks weren''t appearing in reality but only in his sight.

    "What did he do?!" he suddenly exclaimed, realizing that the problem isn''t in reality, but with his mind. As he hadn''t taken over Elias'' body after destroying his consciousness through corruption, there were many variables that were left behind.

    He hadn''t thought that those variables could create any problems for him since he had trapped that variable while taking control of this body. But something had seriously gone wrong.

    Within seconds, his condition grew even worse and he wasn''t even able to see anything. He thought about going back to check, but before he could even make a decision, he felt the same frightening force appear that had erased his corruption.

    His consciousness was forcefully pulled from within the body, and Elias''s body fell on the ground with a thud. Lying on the ground, he looked no different from a dead person. The only good sign was that his heart was still beating, albeit extremely slowly.

    Even as a few hours passed, Elias remained unmoving. Only his weak breathing escaped his mouth, making some flecks of dust on the ground fly.

    The sound of footsteps appeared behind Elias, and the gentle winds in the surroundings came to a sudden halt. The footsteps stopped right next to Elias.

    The owner of those footsteps grabbed Elias, and placed him on their shoulders, before walking away.

 Chapter 83 God of Night Sky

    Elias felt his consciousness being devoured, until everything went dark.

    He couldn''t feel any pain, or any sensation within his body. He thought that this was the end. But that feeling didn''t last for long, as he started to feel as if someone were flashing a bright light in his face.

    He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer surrounded by darkness or glitching red screens. Instead, he was seated upright, his back resting against something solid and smooth.

    He blinked, trying to clear the blurriness from his vision, and the world slowly returned to focus. He found himself sitting on a throne that was floating in an endless night sky.

    He could see many meteorites flying past him, but none of them dared to approach him as he remained seated like an overlord. Not far from him, there was a moon that didn''t need to rely on any sun to shine brightly.

    "Is this another transmigration?" Elias rubbed his forehead, finding the entire situation confusing. He was sure that he had been on the verge of complete destruction. So how did he end up here?

    "What are you doing here?!" Elias was still lost in thought when he heard a loud shout coming from the distance.

    The voice felt so familiar that even without looking in that direction, he knew who was speaking. It was the voice of the Constellation that had snatched his body.

    He turned toward Astralious and saw that person standing in the distance, his entire body tied in some kind of chains that kept him in place.

    "Did you also come to this next life with me?" Elias asked Astralious. He wanted to stand up and approach him, but he was somewhat scared.

    He was on a floating throne, so he was stable. But if he got off the throne, could he still walk properly? He was not on the ground, after all.

    "Next life?! What foolish thing are you talking about? This is not the next life! This is my first life... The life of the night sky," Astralious exclaimed as he fiercely resisted against the chains, trying to free himself.

    Unfortunately for him, he was trapped in those chains. Even if he wanted to free himself, he couldn''t do so. Despite being a constellation, he couldn''t resist the shackles of an unknown force that was stronger than that of a constellation.

    "Your first life?" Elias''s brows rose, as he tried to understand what was happening. Had he travelled back to the past? Or it was just him experiencing the memories of the constellation?

    He was sure that it was something that was done during the fragmentation of his consciousness. Was it the last attempt of his mind to protect his core, by letting him hide in other people''s memories that it could find?

    "I can vaguely understand why I am here. But what are you doing here?" Elias asked, Astralious, as he finally stepped down from the throne.

    If these were the memories, then he was sure that he wasn''t going to fall down. In the memories, he was more or less protected. Just as he guessed, he was able to stand on empty space, like a person walking on air.

    He didn''t approach Astralious like last time, and only walked around the throne, looking at the scenery that was beyond his imagination. This was the sight that not many could experience, especially without being inside some spaceship.

    "Shouldn''t you be controlling my body, and trying to escape from the Land of Fables?" He stood behind the throne, resting both his arms on it.

    "Are you trying to pretend? I was forcefully pulled here and trapped. Release me this instant!" Astralious raged, fiercely pulling his arms which made the chains clank.

    He wanted his freedom, but at the same time, he didn''t want anyone else to see his past either. It was a past that was embarrassing for him, as he had died, despite being a constellation.

    "Remind me again, what was the point of you taking my body, if we were both to be trapped here in the end?" Elias sarcastically asked, feeling surprisingly calm in a situation like this.

    He could accept that his body was snatched, as long as the person who did it hated the same people that he hated. He had accepted his death. But here they were, trapped, although in different ways.

    "Please tell me you killed Harbinger before being pulled here?" he asked, thinking of the worst possibility.

    If both their consciousness were in this place, that meant his body was no different than a lifeless doll. If Harbinger was still alive, then there was no point in trying to think of a way to escape from this place.

    Even if his consciousness was able to escape, there was no point if the body itself was destroyed by a fable.

    "Who do you think I am? I killed her instantly," Astralious answered, but not because he was asked a question by Elias. It was mainly because that question felt disrespectful to his abilities.

    "That is good news then. As long as no other fable finds the body, then there''s a possibility of returning," Elias mumbled, realizing that this might be for the best.

    Astralious was trapped here. As long as he could find a way out of this place, he could return to some semblance of normalcy. Moreover, once he was back in his body, he could simply extract Astralious from it with precise Extraction, erasing that threat forever.

    Unfortunately, things weren''t as simple. He was here for a reason after all. And that reason was for his own safety.

    He started pacing back and forth, wondering if he had to break free from this place, or if it was safer to remain, since it might be for the protection of his consciousness.

    "Oh, God of the Night Sky! Please save us!" sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Oh, God of the Night Sky! Please save us!"

    Alias was lost in deep thought when he started hearing voices echoing all around him.

    "Hmm?" He raised his head and saw many small portals opening around him, revealing worlds where people were praying to the God of Night Sky. But all these prayers seemed to be coming to him.

    "Are they praying to you?" Elias asked Astralious. "You must have been quite popular when you were alive."

    Astralious simply clicked his tongue, his expressions growing darker as he lowered his head in helplessness.

    Meanwhile, Elias looked through one of the portals and saw a place where thousands of people had gathered, praying. The scene looked very normal, as he had also come from a world where praying was common.

    Unfortunately, the normalcy didn''t last long as hundreds of beasts rushed into the crowd and started killing. The entire place was painted red with blood, but even in their last breaths, the people of that world prayed and begged to be saved.

 Chapter 84 You found me

    "Is that...?" Elias didn''t watch the scene until the end, and turned to Astralious. He had seen enough things like this to understand what was happening to the people who were praying to him.

    "Why are you surprised? Isn''t that what you people do best?" Astralious asked in return, raising his head. His eyes shifted to the portals, where the people who treated him like a deity and prayed to him were being slaughtered.

    "It seems to be the memory of the day that started it all." The memories of that day were still fresh in Astralious''s mind. After all, if not for this day, then everything would have been so different for him.

    "If I hadn''t gotten involved that day, then I would still be alive. But I couldn''t hold back. As a Constellation, if I couldn''t even save the last few people who worshipped me, then what was the point of being a god?"

    The scenes changed, and Elias found himself far away from that space. He found himself standing in the middle of the world that he had seen in the portal.

    When he came to his senses, he found himself holding a young girl by her throat. The girl seemed to be in her late teens, but there was a problem. The problem was that she was not breathing anymore.

    An even bigger problem was the attire of the girl. She was wearing the dress of the Dimensional Academy, and particularly of the Destroyer Class.

    The dress was somewhat different from what they currently used, but there were too many similarities. It was like the old version of the Dimensional Academy attire.

    "I had been ignoring them for quite some time, as they kept spreading like a virus to all worlds that were related to me. But I couldn''t hold myself back for an eternity, and this was the day that I descended to this world."

    Astralious''s voice fell in Elias''s ears, as he was also nearby, still trapped by the chains. The only difference was that he wasn''t resisting the chains now.

    Instead, his eyes were looking at the bloody scenery, a sight created by the corpses of his followers who were praying to him even until their last breath.

    Even though he had descended, he couldn''t save many of them. He was late. Almost half of the people of this world were dead in this apocalypse by the time he had descended.

    Elias had seen the apocalypse that destroyed his own world. But the current apocalypse felt even more brutal.

    The people of this world weren''t left to die with the passage of time as the apocalypse worsened. Instead, they were actively hunted by the Beast Summoner that was in his hands.

    "So you killed the Beast Summoner?" Elias asked, as he released the corpse of the Beast Summoner that fell on the ground.

    "That''s right. I killed her, as fast as I could," Astralious said, as his eyes darted to the distance, where he saw a young child hiding, looking through the small gap in the rubble.

    "I went straight for her, as it was the fastest way to end this. After she was dead, the beasts that were summoned by her, also disappeared. So I thought that it was finally over for now," he added, as he tried reaching out his hand towards the child who was hiding in the rubble.

    The scene changed once again.

    Elias found himself back on the throne, as if he was back at the beginning. But he knew that it wasn''t the beginning, especially since he wasn''t alone there. Astralious was still chained next to him, but there was something else there now.

    In the distance, he could see a battleship bearing the familiar insignia of an Ouroboros devouring its own tail. When the gate opened, a person stepped out of the battleship, not appearing to be in any hurry.

    It was a man who looked to be in his early twenties. A long coat was draped over the man''s shoulders like a robe.

    He had his left hand inside his pocket as he walked on the empty space, his eyes as cold as ice even though he was approaching a Constellation.

    Elias''s brows rose when he saw that person as it was someone he recognized. It was none other than his father, who looked quite younger there. It was Silas Ashborn, before he became the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family.

    "He is the one that killed you?" Elias asked, almost hiding his face in his palms. With each passing day, he could feel that his family tree was getting more and more complicated.

    It was as if he was surrounded by troublemakers only, and these troubles came for him in the end. Almost all the troubles that he had faced so far, were the making of his family in one way or another. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You know him?" Astralious asked, slightly taken aback that Elias recognized that person so fast.

    "When you took over my body, didn''t you see any of my memories?" Elias asked, bringing his face out of hiding. He thought that Astralious knew about his identity, which made him target him in the first place.

    "I would''ve received your memories after the corruption was completed. But you destroyed it before that could even happen. Why do you think I would''ve known anything about you?" Astralious scoffed, feeling extremely frustrated.

    It was as if the person that had kicked him to the ground was asking him about the reason he was on the ground. He might have thought that Elias was mocking him, if he hadn''t known better.

    "Then why did you corrupt me?" Elias asked.

    "You think I found you?" Astralious asked, looking at Elias in disbelief. "You were the one who found me. Each leaf in the forest represents a lost fable that couldn''t be captured alive."

    "All those fables are waiting to return to life. So it''s your bad luck that you found me when no one else could."

 Chapter 85 On Time

    "It''s your bad luck that you found me when no one else could," Astralious said, but he quickly corrected himself. "Looking at my condition, maybe it''s indeed my bad luck that I found you."

    "I had been waiting for such a long time for someone to fall there and be corrupted by me. When it finally happened, I thought I could finally return to life. But who would''ve thought that I would end up with someone like you?"

    He still didn''t understand what kind of abilities Elias had, which had helped him restrict the consciousness of a Constellation, and not once, but twice! He had never heard of anything like that.

    If he had succeeded in corrupting Elias, then he could have stolen his memories along with his body. It would''ve helped him understand this boy''s abilities better. Unfortunately, that ship sailed before he could even get on it.

    "Now tell me how do you know him?" he asked Elias, who was looking at Silas Ashborn with a very peculiar gaze.

    "I don''t think you want to know," Elias answered as he watched Silas approach him.

    Astralious already hated the fact that he was trapped by a child that he tried to possess. He didn''t want to rub salt on that constellation''s wounds by telling him that he was the son of the person that had killed him in the first place.

    He paid more attention to Silas. He hadn''t thought much about it when he first saw Silas in the Ashborn Mansion. But now that he was experiencing the memories of a constellation, he could truly feel the extent of Silas''s strength.

    Silas stopped before the throne. He brought his hand out of his pocket, and raised it. Elias stood up, thinking that he was going to be attacked. After all, he already knew the outcome of this battle.

    Silus didn''t attack. He simply raised his wrist, and checked the time on his watch.

    "I should be back on time," Silas said, not caring about his surroundings in the least.

    "That bastard!" Astralious clicked his tongue, remembering this moment.

    It was still as irritating as it was before. That man came here to kill a Constellation, and instead of worrying about battle, he seemed to be worrying about getting back on time.

    After checking the time, Silas kept his hand in his pocket.

    "Are you here to kill me?" Elias looked like he was in disbelief as the words left his lips, as if his body were no longer in his control.

    Until now, he could make some changes to the memory, but when it came to the core of the memory, everything followed the same path as it had before, even when he was supposed to be Astralious. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I have no interest in killing you. But that annoying girl Freya asked me for a favor. So I suppose we have no choice in the matter." Silas sighed. "If I don''t do it, she''ll never let me have a day of peace with her constant bickering."

    "Besides, does it even matter? You killed someone from the Academy. Even if I let you live, the Academy will still send someone to take care of you. They don''t tolerate any interference when it comes to their examination."

    "Examination? You call this an examination? They destroyed lives! This is not an examination! This is a massacre!" Elias exclaimed, again not seeming to be in control. However, even if he had been in control, he was sure that he would have asked the same question.

    "Don''t you find it wrong? If you have strength, shouldn''t you protect others, instead of using that strength against the weak?" he asked, his voice growing louder.

    "There are some things that are beyond anyone''s control. If the world was a good place, then believe me. No one would want to do something like this," Silas answered. "Unfortunately, the world needs its demons."

    "If you don''t stop, then I will have to stop you myself! You said they would send more people to kill me? Let them! If they send ten people, I will kill ten! If they send a thousand people, I will kill a thousand!"

    Astralious felt like hiding his face in embarrassment as he heard these words in his memories.

    Now that he knew the outcome of this battle, these words had become nothing more than a source of shame. Let alone killing ten people, he hadn''t even been able to kill the one person before him.

    It wasn''t even a battle of equals. He was simply thrashed, single-handedly.

    If others hadn''t seen this memory, he could have at least lied and said that it was a fierce battle that lasted for ten days and ten nights. He could have claimed that he barely lost by half a move after running out of stamina. But the reality was completely different, as was being revealed to Elias.

    Let alone lasting for ten days and ten nights, the battle didn''t even last ten minutes. Astralious was suppressed from beginning to end, even as his body was sent flying through the moonlit surroundings.

    Elias, having experienced the battle, finally understood why Silas was considered so dangerous. In the memory, Astralious hadn''t even managed to leave a single scratch on the man, despite being a self-proclaimed god.

    The only good thing about this memory was that Elias didn''t feel the pain. It was a replay of the past, but the pain wasn''t a part of it.

    After Astralious was thoroughly destroyed, Silas called out his Soul Beast, which flew out from the void.

    This was the first time Elias had seen his father''s Soul Beast, and it was an existence that looked no less than an absolute god, and more frightening than the creature flying through the skies fitting the awakening ceremony.

    "How was I supposed to know that his Soul Beast was also a Constellation?" Astralious scoffed, watching another memory that he wanted to forget. Until now, he had been thrashed by Silas, and now it was the turn of a Soul Beast.

    Silas''s soul beast flew toward Elias, but just as it was about to kill him, everything stopped. Elias saw a familiar screen materialize before him as the memories came to a halt.

    ................

    Emergency Protocol has been completed. Mental Recovery has been initiated.

    ................

 Chapter 86 Youve gone crazy

    "Emergency Protocols?" Elias looked at the screen, hearing this term for the first time. He didn''t remember seeing it previously, but it was roughly what he expected.

    Even if the protection mechanism from his mind was removed, the chances of complete collapse were still not one hundred percent.

    "It looks like the gamble didn''t fail." He sighed in relief, wondering if he was about to be sent back.

    "Hah? Wait!" The screen soon disappeared, and nothing changed. "What?"

    The memory started flowing in a regular manner, as the Soul Beast opened its jaws wide, devouring him and putting an end to these memories.

    With the end of the dream, Elias''s eyes opened, and he abruptly sat up, finding himself covered in sweat. His heart was beating so fast that it felt out of the ordinary.

    He looked at his surroundings, which felt quite normal, compared to the space where he was getting thrashed in Astralious''s memories. He was inside a room, with walls made from wooden boards.

    The room was far from spacious, and had only one bed that had a mattress that felt extremely uncomfortable now that he was awake. It was as if the mattress was filled with sharp grass.

    He was wearing a robe that reminded him of the old robes that were used in hospitals for patients. It was the only thing that was covering his body.

    "He reached out his hand to test if he was still in some kind of mental realm or if this was reality. A small portal opened before his hand, a gateway to his storage realm.

    "So it''s reality indeed," Elias mumbled as he pulled new clothes from his storage, similar in style to his older ones.

    He took off the robe after getting down from the bed and tried to put on the new clothes, only to realize that they didn''t fit him anymore. It was only then that he noticed he seemed to have grown, now having the physique of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old.

    ''Is this the effect of the merger?'' He put the clothes back, retrieved a larger size, and changed into them.

    "If you''re done appreciating yourself, shouldn''t you start finding our whereabouts? We aren''t in a garden."

    Elias had just finished getting dressed, when he heard Astralious''s voice. He quickly looked back at the source, and saw Astralious sitting on the bed, with a leg resting over the other, as if he was bored.

    "You..." Elias frowned, taking a step back. He thought that Astralious was trapped in his consciousness, giving him enough time to try to extract him. But to see him outside, left him at a loss.

    Is that what the Emergency Protocol meant? It had pushed out Astralious? But didn''t it make him more dangerous, since he wasn''t extracted?

    "What? You want to hit me?" Astralious stood up, and approached Elias, until the distance between them was only a few feet.

    "If you''re out of my mind, then why don''t you leave? We have nothing to do with each other anymore." Elias really wanted to hit Astralious, but he acted cautiously, wondering just what this person was planning.

    Even though Astralious was a threat to the Ashborn Family, that wasn''t his concern for now. He had more pressing issues, like finding out his whereabouts.

    If they were in a room, then there was going to be an owner to this place as well. And in this world, only Fables could live. It didn''t leave much doubt about the species of the owner of this place that brought them here.

    "You think I don''t want to leave?" Astralious asked, getting even closer to Elias, and soon he passed through Elias, as if he was simply a ghost.

    "You are..." Elias turned around, and watched Astralious walking towards the window, not even addressing the fact that he had just passed through him.

    "Correct. I''m not real," Astralious answered, coming to a halt before the window. "Congratulations... You have gone crazy and started seeing things."

    "Well, it won''t be the first time." Elias didn''t seem surprised, as if he had already come to terms with it.

    His muted reaction disappointed Astralious to some extent, who respected to see stronger reactions from a person that was told that they had just gone crazy.

    He didn''t know that Elias had already checked the situation with Analysis, and understood what was happening.

    "Enough, you boring brat. I am still trapped within your mind. I don''t know what that annoying ability is, but I can''t seem to free myself. I only gained enough freedom to cast protections in your mind to make you see and hear me."

    Astralious held his hands behind his back, like some great expert. "How about we make a deal? If you free me from this prison, I will try to find another host to take over. We will have nothing to do with each other, and you won''t have to worry about me either."

    "I will also owe you a favor that you can use anytime in the future. Isn''t that a good deal for you?" he asked calmly.

    Even though he didn''t show any eagerness for that answer, deep down, he really wanted to be free. He just didn''t want Elias to know how badly he wanted it.

    "I might have to disappoint you if that''s the case. I can''t free you since I don''t control that thing. Even I''m not sure how I''m still alive, or what the hell just happened."

    Elias also wanted to send Astralious on his way, to ensure that he wasn''t backstabbed in the future. Unfortunately, the only way to remove Astralious from his mind was through Extraction. But in his material composition, he couldn''t see Astralious anymore.

    He didn''t know if it was because it was something that had penetrated his consciousness deeper, because of the Emergency Protocol, but he couldn''t even extract him anymore, at least in his current state.

    .............

    Name: Elias Ashborn

    Age: Twelve

    Class: Architect (Rank 2)

    Class Grade: Ex

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 20

    Defence: 15

    Speed: 20 Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Intelligence: 55

    ~Elemental Affinity~

    High affinity with space

    ~Class Skills~

    Precise Extraction (B)

    Advanced Merger (B)

    Extraction Control (C)

    Analysis (A)

    Creation Comprehension (A)

    Storage (C)

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90% Percent), Core Essence of Mid-Tier Fables (4 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (3 Percent), Bones of Ancient Beast of Decay (3 Percent)

    Material Stability: 56 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: High

    .............

 Chapter 87 Trade

    "You''re lying! How could you not know about your own abilities?"

    Astralious turned to Elias and reached out to grab him by the collar. However, his hand simply passed through, making him curse his helplessness.

    "If I knew what was happening, do you think I would have chosen a memory where I was going to be beaten up as you?" Elias answered, as he passed completely through Astralious to approach the window.

    Astralious knew that his words held some merit, but he still couldn''t come to terms with it. If Elias couldn''t free him, then didn''t it mean that he was going to be in this state forever? S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Are you saying that I''ll be trapped here for a lifetime?" he asked.

    "It sucks, doesn''t it?" Elias answered, his tone holding a hint of mockery. It was the same fate that Astralious had left him with inside that mirror. He didn''t feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for that Constellation.

    In this world, everyone thought for themself. If that Constellation had an opportunity, he wasn''t going to hesitate even a single second before shoving him down the same fate.

    Elias looked out the window, trying to gain more understanding about his surroundings. However, it didn''t take him long to find another presence.

    Not far from him, he saw someone sitting in the middle of junk items, with a screwdriver in his hand. It was an old man, that had rough white hair, as if they hadn''t been cleaned for a really long time. Even his clothes were stained with dirt and oil.

    "Is that the Fable that brought us here?" he asked Astralious, who had already looked out the window before him.

    "Why should I tell you anything if you can''t free me?" Astralious lazily walked back to the bed and sat down. "Why don''t you go out and ask him yourself?"

    "You want a reason to answer me? How about the fact that your life is tied to me? If I go out and I''m killed by him, you''ll die as well," Elias answered, as he observed the Fable, who was more immersed in what looked like nothing more than metal junk from this place.

    "Should I be scared? I would much rather be dead than trapped for eternity." Astralious fell back on the bed, unaffected by the threat. He simply closed his eyes before continuing, "It won''t be my first time dying after all."

    "When did I say that you''ll be trapped for eternity?" Elias asked, seemingly confused by Astralious''s assumption. He knew exactly which threads to pull to convince this Constellation.

    He had experienced the same thing before. He had also chosen to gamble with his life because he didn''t want to be trapped for eternity. He knew that death wasn''t a viable motivation in this situation. But what about life that came with freedom?

    "What do you mean?" Astralious suddenly opened his eyes, looking at Elias suspiciously. "Didn''t you say that you can''t free me?"

    "I said I can''t control that ability. That''s what''s stopping me from freeing you. But what about the future? Wouldn''t I be able to control it in the future? It might take ten years, or a hundred, but it''s not impossible," Elias continued, tugging at Astralious''s greed for freedom.

    "If I live, then sooner or later, you''ll be free. Even I don''t want to talk to a ghost for an eternity, after all. But if I''m dead here, then we are both dead. If you die while trapped, you won''t even return to the Forest of Fables for a second try. There will be no do-overs."

    Astralious frowned, as the offering was just too lucrative. If his freedom was really on line, then he really couldn''t afford to let this boy die, at least until he learned how to free him.

    He stood up and approached Elias, saying, "You better keep your promise. Or you will regret it."

    Elias didn''t take the threat seriously. Astralious couldn''t do anything even if he didn''t keep up that promise. But still, he didn''t tell that to this Constellation that was extremely useful for him, just based on his knowledge alone.

    "Is that the same Constellation that brought us here?" He returned to the topic at hand, and repeated his initial question.

    "From what I can see, it''s a very high tier Constellation. It was definitely one that was born in a higher world," Astralious answered, looking at the Fable that had the form of an old man.

    "If it was my old self, I could''ve crushed him with a single finger. But in your current state, that thing is no different than a nightmare in this land that can''t be compared to that little girl that almost killed you."

    "Does that mean that we are at a dead end?" Elias wondered if there was another battle waiting for him. Even if the old man didn''t look special, if Astralious was complimenting him, then he was definitely a dangerous entity.

    "I don''t think that''s the case. If it wanted to kill you, do you think you would be able to wake up with your limbs intact? I don''t believe that fable is hostile to you, at least not yet," Astralious said. "Moreover, he probably wasn''t the one that brought you here."

    "And what makes you think that?" Elias asked.

    "Because a high-tier Constellation like him would probably be trapped inside a domain, unable to leave it," Astralious explained, remembering the rules of this place. "If these rules weren''t in existence, then the students entering the Land of Fables would''ve had a much harder time."

    "Maybe we were already in his domain when we fought the Harbinger?" Elias tossed out a possibility. "That would mean that he never had to leave the domain."

    "That''s also impossible." Astralious shook his head. "That little girl wouldn''t be foolish enough to chase you inside the domain of a monster like this."

    "You might not know the territory, but a fable that has survived for such a long time cannot make a mistake like that. We definitely weren''t in his domain when we fell," he further added. "That means someone else brought us here."

    Elias summarized, "Which means there''s at least one more Fable here, who might be as strong as the Harbinger. Just great."

 Chapter 88 Incomplete Fable

    "We need to get out of here," Elias said as he walked back to the door. Even if the old man wasn''t hostile toward him, he didn''t think it was a good idea to stay when things could change at a moment''s notice.

    He opened the door, prepared to leave. However, he wasn''t able to step outside. Instead, he took a step back, frowning.

    "Oh, you''re awake." A woman was standing outside the door, holding a tray with some sliced fruits that looked barely edible.

    The woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, stepped inside the room. She walked past Elias, and placed the tray on the bed.

    "You brought me here?" Elias asked, turning around to look at the woman. At the same time, he used Analysis to see just what kind of an existence this woman was.

    ...

    Assigned Title: Lycorice

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: C

    Fable Rank: Low Rank

    Age: Ten Days

    Status: Incomplete

    Description: A Fable that was born in the lower grade world of Earth after it was destroyed by a student of the Destroyer Class.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 8

    Defence: 9

    Speed: 12

    Magic: None

    Elemental Affinity: 10

    Virus Affinity: 90

    Poison Affinity: 95

    Hostility: 0

    Curiosity: 30

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 95 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 99 Percent

    ...

    "Elias looked at the woman''s Status Screen, which left him at a loss for words. Her stats could only be described as abysmal, as they were even lower than his own. In some parameters, some of her stats weren''t even half of his.

    He had thought that the person who brought him here was at least a Mid-Tier Fable like Harbinger, but this was completely different. Not only was this Fable weak, but she was also extremely young, born only ten days ago.

    There was another thing that he found strange about this woman. It was the world where she was born. It was said to be Earth, which was the same name that his planet had.

    Was this name a coincidence? It was also highly possible that there were other worlds that held this name, but that age gave him second thoughts.

    The woman was born ten days ago, and he had been transmigrated to this world roughly a week ago. It meant his world was destroyed at least more than a week ago, but not too long ago.

    Every sign guided him in the same direction. This was a Fable that belonged to his own world. Even though she couldn''t recognise him, they had the same origin. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s right. When I found you, you were still breathing, so I brought you back," Lycorice answered. "I knew that you would wake up, but the old man refused to believe me. He even scolded me for bringing you back. Can you believe it?"

    "Anyway, you must be hungry. Why don''t you eat something? I brought you things that even humans can eat safely. It will make you feel better."

    Lycorice didn''t seem to have even an ounce of hostility, when she should''ve been brimming with it. It made Elias really confused. The more normal she acted, the stranger she appeared.

    "What a strange fable." Astralious was just as confused as Elias. "Either she is a fool, or she is acting. You should be extremely careful around her."

    Elias didn''t react to his words, even if it was the only plausible explanation. If he hadn''t seen her status screen, even he would''ve thought that she was acting. But she truly didn''t have any hostility.

    "Why did you save me?" he asked the woman. "Don''t you know who I am?"

    "What do you mean?" Lycorice tilted her head sideways, looking genuinely confused. "Why wouldn''t I save someone who needs help? What does it have to do with your identity?"

    "Maybe she really is a fool. It might be for the best. Distract her here, and then sneak away. The door is already open. We should be able to escape," Astralious suggested, glancing at the open door behind them.

    The old man was distracted with that metal junk, and the woman wasn''t clever and could be easily fooled. It was the perfect opportunity to escape.

    "What? Aren''t you going in the wrong direction? The door is that way!" he exclaimed in disbelief as Elias passed through him, approaching the woman instead.

    Instead of going out the door, Elias went to Lycorice.

    He picked up the food that was on the tray. Even though the meal didn''t look appetizing compared to the food kept in his storage ring, it was still safe.

    Through analysis, he had verified that the food was not only safe but genuinely beneficial to him. Moreover, he wanted to talk more with this woman, who was possibly the last link between him and Earth.

    "Where are you from?" He sat on the bed and took a bite from the sliced pieces of the unknown fruit.

    ...

    Your strength has increased by 0.1

    ...

    With a single bite, he was able to increase his stats, just as the analysis suggested. The growth was slow, only 0.1 points, but the best part was that it could be stacked up to a certain extent.

    ...

    Your strength has increased by 0.1

    ...

    "He took another slice and experienced the same growth, which was lucrative given his low base stats.

    "I am from right here." Lycorice answered Elias. "Where else would I be from? You ask strange questions."

    "No wonder she is so foolish." Astralious was the first to respond to her answer, offering Elias an explanation like an expert on the matter. "She is an incomplete fable. What a rare sight."

    ''Incomplete fable?''

    "It''s what we call a fable that was captured before it could completely absorb the hostility of that world, and he formed," Astralious answered, hearing the thoughts that were directed to him. "Whoever captured her, must be a complete fool to not wait long enough."

 Chapter 89 Im not like you

    "That person''s stupidity worked in your favor. If you ever find him, you should thank him," Astralious told Elias, reminding him that he was lucky the Fable that found him was one that wasn''t yet hostile to humans.

    ''Thank him? Never!'' Elias frowned at the thought alone. If he was right, then that person was most likely his brother.

    There was no way he was going to thank the person that ruined his world. If it wasn''t for that person, then he would never be in this situation in the first place. Just thinking about that person soured his mood, and he tried to distract himself.

    He focused more on his current situation, and asked the woman more questions. The only thing he changed was that he didn''t ask her about herself. His questions focused more on the high-tier fable that was outside.

    "When you brought me back, did that old man say what would happen if I woke up?" he asked, slightly lowering his guard. The situation didn''t appear to be as dangerous as he had initially thought.

    Even if the old man outside was a high-tier fable, he hadn''t tried to kill him while he was asleep. This gave him the impression that the old man didn''t really care about humans, especially since young humans like him weren''t a threat.

    "I told her to send you away after you woke up. Is there anything else you want to know?" Elias received his answer, but it didn''t come from Lycorice. Instead, it came from above. Elias raised his head and saw a speaker attached to the ceiling.

    "If you are done, then you can leave now." The voice came again, accompanied by the noise of a hammer hitting metal.

    "I can understand why she doesn''t have any hostility towards me. But why don''t you?" Elias asked, having grown certain that the old man was able to hear everything they were talking about. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I am not like you. I don''t live my life filled with hostility, trying to destroy everything that stands in my path. I have no interest in you or the path that you people chose. So leave."

    Elias was repeatedly told to leave. Even Astralious was telling him to listen to the old man, since there was no benefit in staying in a dangerous place like this.

    They truly made him feel like he was an uninvited guest in someone''s home, which, in some ways, was also true. He wanted to ask a few more questions, but it didn''t seem like he was welcome there anymore.

    He wanted to say a lot of things to the girl, who was also from Earth. But he resisted the urge, worried that he might corrupt the blank piece of canvas that Lycorice was.

    "The fruits were delicious. Thank you for them," he thanked the girl, before jumping off the bed and landing on his feet. With many thoughts still buried in his heart, he left the room without looking back.

    "You can come back anytime you want! I have lots of fruits!" Lycoris exclaimed, watching Elias leave.

    Hearing her words, the old man almost facepalmed himself. Here he was, trying to make them leave, and she was inviting them back again.

    Sometimes, he really thought about telling her the kind of things that these humans did to innocent people outside, but he dropped that thought, just as quickly. He didn''t want her to have the same guilt that he carried for such a long time.

    "Fortunately, that boy is wiser than her. He won''t be back," the man sighed, confirming that Elias was truly leaving. The boy had chosen a direction completely opposite to where he had been sitting, still playing it cautiously.

    Only after the boy disappeared from his sight did the man go back to hitting the piece of bent metal, attempting to straighten it.

    "Hmm?" Only a few minutes had passed before his hammer came to a stop just before it could hit the metal. He looked in the direction where Elias had gone, feeling a number of powerful presences.

    "What happens to him after he leaves this place is none of my concern." He shook his head lightly and went back to hitting the metal plate. He could stop Elias from going towards the danger, but he didn''t even bother to try.

    Just because he didn''t have hostility for humans, didn''t mean he had to save all of them. They had their own fate. If the girl hadn''t saved and brought Elias back here, he wouldn''t have even bothered to let him rest here.

    ....

    "I was right about your luck. It''s quite good," Astralious observed, trailing behind Elias. "You even survived after entering the domain of a high rank fable. Destiny seems to have plans for you."

    He continued, his voice trailing off. "If only my destiny was as good as yours. Maybe I wouldn''t be trapped here. But it''s fine. After you learn to control your abilities, I''ll be free as well. It would be such a great feeling."

    He had only seen a glimpse of that Freedom when he was possessing Elias''s body, but that feeling lasted for a short time before he was trapped again.

    "Can you please be quiet?" Elias had been silent throughout the journey, but Astralious didn''t stop talking at all, making it impossible for him to focus on the map in his hand.

    He already had the ego that never stopped talking when it was outside. At least he could ignore the ego, but now he had something that was inside his head all the time. He couldn''t just stop listening to Astralious, even if he wanted.

    "Just stay silent for a few minutes. I''m trying to find our current location," he told Astralious, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. If anyone else had seen him talk to a Constellation in this manner, then would''ve been quite amazed.

    ....

    A group arrived outside the domain of a High Ranking Constellation that had told Elias to leave.

    "Is this the place?"

 Chapter 90 Bad Luck

    "Is this the place?" A woman''s voice, laced with a hint of impatience, broke through the silence. She stood at the front of the group, as she scanned the seemingly ordinary landscape.

    "According to the prophet, this should be the place," a man responded, his gaze fixed on a small handheld device. He adjusted a dial, as if verifying something.

    "If we go any further, we would enter the Domain of another Overlord. We should stop right here," he suggested with a frown, seemingly hesitant about entering the Domain of a High-Tier Fable.

    "If the location given by the Prophet is correct, then that human must be inside this domain. We can''t go back without them." The woman didn''t seem like she was in any mood to stop.

    "But it''s the domain of someone we can never defeat. If something goes wrong, none of us will be able to return." The man couldn''t believe that he was seriously being told to enter someone''s domain without their permission.

    Domains were only assigned to existences that were too dangerous to roam freely. If even the Dimensional Academy didn''t allow them to roam freely, then that was enough to let him know that it was a dangerous existence.

    "Have you forgotten the person we represent? Our Lord is not a mere domain owner. He is the true master of the Land of Fables. Do you think a random domain owner is going to dare kill us?" The woman arrogantly entered the domain, feeling the laws of the universe shift.

    "We just need to tell him the name of our Lord, and he will most probably welcome us with open arms," she added, gesturing for the others to follow her inside. "And if you''re still scared, you can return on your own."

    The group looked at each other. They were all mid-tier fables, but none of them dared to look down on a high-tier fable, knowing the kind of nightmare they could be. Still, they couldn''t just leave now, as another high-tier fable was waiting for them back home.

    They entered the domain as well, albeit unwillingly.

    "If that human is here, shouldn''t he be dead already?" One of the men asked, as his tail wagged behind his back in his nervousness.

    "If he is dead, then we still need to verify it. We need to retrieve his corpse at least," the woman answered. "Now stop asking unnecessary questions!"

    The rest of the group went silent, and none made any noise. Even if all of them were mid tier-fables, their strength and influence was different from each other.

    Amongst them, the woman leading them was the strongest. They could only take her down if all of them worked together. The woman was also closer to the higher ups back home, so they had no choice but to listen to her.

    The group moved towards the center of the domain, tracing the densest energy within this domain, trying to get to the owner of this domain to ask him about the human.

    Only ten minutes had passed, before the woman raised her hand, gesturing for the others to stop. Her heightened senses picked up the sound of footsteps.

    She signalled the others, before she jumped high up, landing on a tree branch. The others also did the same, and hid themselves on tree branches, spreading out in the area as the footsteps came closer.

    Soon, they caught sight of the person, who was responsible for these footsteps. What left them surprised was that it wasn''t a Fable. Instead, it was a human.

    He wasn''t wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy, and looked a little older than the students that generally entered, but there was no doubt about his species.

    The boy was holding a map in his hand, and trying to make sense of his surroundings as he approached the place, unable to sense anything strange in his surroundings.

    Occasionally, he could even be heard talking to himself, as there was no one else next to him.

    "He must be the one." Even though the woman had never seen the person that they were after, she was certain that they had found the target.

    They were looking for a person that their high lord wanted. There was no way that person was going to be something ordinary. The boy before them, also felt extraordinary as he had the aura of a fable around him, despite being a human.

    He was also able to leave through the domain of a high fable, without so much as a scratch. His clothes didn''t have a single speck of dust either.

    She couldn''t think of anyone else being able to achieve it, other than her target, especially since the location that they had received from the prophet was the same.

    She looked at the others, and gave a signal, telling them that it was their target. The others nodded after receiving the signal. Some of them even felt relieved that they found their target without having to come across the owner of this domain.

    They prepared themselves to intercept the human. The woman was the first to jump down, landing in front of Elias. The others also jumped down, circling Elias to leave no space for him to even escape.

    "You know, I think I was a little hasty. I take back my words. You might be the unluckiest person that I have ever seen," Astralious spoke before Elias could even open his lips. "You leave one mess, and end up in another mess."

    "How did you offend them now?" he asked Elias. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even Elias didn''t know the answer to these questions. He didn''t even see them before. There was no way he could have offended them. But they clearly looked like they were after him.

    "Can I help you?" Elias asked, observing his surroundings. There were a total of twenty mid-tier fables, which was quite a high number for a single person.

    "If you want to blame anyone, blame your family!" The woman told Elias.

    "Of¡­ Freaking¡­ Course," Elias rubbed the back of his neck.

 Chapter 91 Greatest Weapon

    "Elias almost felt like screaming out loud in frustration. He wasn''t even close to his family. In fact, he hated many members of his family, who had directly screwed with his life.

    Despite that, everyone who hated his family came after him, as if he was responsible for everything wrong that they had done.

    He didn''t even understand if he had been reborn to take revenge on the Asbborn Family or to deal with the ones that wanted to take revenge on them. Everything seemed to be going in reverse.

    "So which one should I blame this time? Brother? Father?" he asked. "Or are you trying something new, and it''s because of my mother this time!"

    "Are you mocking us?" The woman asked, finding his words to be very confusing. "If we didn''t have to take you back alive, you would''ve been dead already."

    She didn''t know that it was simply because he had gone through this multiple times already. He had almost grown numb to this threat. The only thing this kind of threat gave him was frustration.

    "And if outside weapons weren''t useless in this world, then you would''ve been dead," Elias responded weakly. If he could use the evolved guns, then he wouldn''t even need to talk to them. He could''ve simply blown their heads off.

    "Why would treasures made outside work in the land of the dead? Is that even something you should complain about?" Astralious reacted, crossing his arms. He didn''t even understand why Elias was complaining about such a thing, instead of focusing on the situation.

    "Around twenty mid-tier fables are here to drag me away. Don''t you think I''m allowed some leeway to complain?" Elias answered, realizing that the battle before him was worse than the time he had faced Harbinger.

    He could at least protect himself from the attacks of one person, using extraction. But if so many people were to attack him at once, then his abilities were also restricted to a certain extent.

    He initially didn''t take Astralious''s mockery seriously. However, a certain word spoken by him still floated in his subconscious. It took him a moment to consider that world, which made him frown.

    "Wait a minute. What do you mean weapons made outside won''t work? Does that mean if they are made in the Land of Fables, they will work?" he asked, his voice almost trembling at the thought.

    Was this what the Professor meant when he said that his treasure was useless here? Because it was made outside? If it was really the case, then weapons weren''t really useless here. It was only weapons that were made outside. Wasn''t that a problem that could easily be solved with his extraction and merger?

    "That''s right. Weapons made outside are useless here. But those so-called modern weapons, if made inside this world, aren''t useless. Didn''t you see the things that the old man back there was making?" Astralious asked, not understanding why Elias even appeared to be so surprised.

    Even a Constellation like him knew about it, even if he had been trapped in the Forest of Fables for such a long time, then shouldn''t Elias also know it? Sometimes he even wondered just which ignorant family this boy came from. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "In any case, why do you even need weapons? Don''t you already have the best weapons!" Astralious pointed at Elias''s hands. "Although the woman wasn''t strong enough to threaten me, the weapon that you devoured was not half bad."

    "Even I might have to put a significant effort if she had that weapon when I was taking her down. So I don''t know why you even worry about not having weapons." His voice was filled with uncertainty, as he wondered just what this boy was worried about.

    In his eyes, Elias looked like a boy that had the greatest weapon in the world, and he was still worrying about not having a small steel dagger.

    It took him a moment to realize, as his eyes lit up. He suddenly looked at Elias.

    "You don''t know, do you?" He asked. "Sometimes I really forget that you are a kid that is ignorant about so many things. Do you want me to teach you?"

    "Why is he talking to himself?" Many of the fables that had surrounded Elias were looking at each other strangely.

    The boy was surrounded from all sides with no path to escape. He was going to be dragged to a hell that was waiting for him. And instead of worrying about it, he was talking to himself like a mad person?

    Even the woman looked at him weirdly. Were they sent here to capture this crazy boy? Was this crazy person really the one that they were looking for? At this point, she was starting to have second thoughts, wondering if they had actually found the right target.

    "Are you going to keep gloating over it, or will you tell me how to use the weapons that you are talking about?" Elias''s lips started twitching, as he watched Astralious laugh at him. "Don''t forget that our lives are tied. If she caught me, then we can see how much you laugh."

    "Tch, you can''t even let me have a moment." Astralious clicked his tongue, but he didn''t waste any more time. "The weapon of that woman has become a part of you. After I devoured her completely, her core essence also became one with you. It should give you complete control.

    "So all you need to do is feel the essence of that woman in your right hand, and imagine the weapon that she was carrying, and release that essence in a controlled manner. If you release too much, then it will be dangerous. But if too little, you will fail."

    "There''s no point in worrying too much about this crazy person. Just capture him. After that, we will send someone to verify with the domain owner if this was the only human here." The woman also told her men to capture Elias, who seemed less and less like a threat with the passage of time.

 Chapter 92 Try taking it from me

    "Capture him!"

    As soon as the woman gave the order, a Mid-Tier Fables moved. Chains materialized in his hands, and they felt alive as they trembled with excitement.

    Elias, on the other hand, didn''t seem interested in them. He was still thinking about Astralious''s words that informed him that he could recreate Harbinger''s weapon. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was a weapon that he truly couldn''t forget after seeing it once, as it was the same weapon which had sliced through the ancient beast of decay in a single strike.

    The only problem was that he didn''t really know how to create it. Even though Astralious gave him some advice, it couldn''t be any more vague.

    What did he mean by supplying essence to his right hand? He had never tried it before. He wasn''t even sure if these instructions were enough for him to succeed in the first try.

    Still, he tried to follow that advice. Even if he failed, he could always use Extraction to protect himself temporarily, so he didn''t think it was too risky for now.

    He focused on his right hand that had devoured the woman''s weapon, and held the core essence of her weapon.

    He could feel an uncomfortable sensation in his hand the moment he tried focusing on it. It was as if something was constantly there, yet it was completely unfamiliar to him.

    While he tried to create the sword, he also held another item in his left hand, prepared to perform extraction if he failed, to protect himself temporarily.

    He pictured the weapon he had absorbed, which was something that he could never forget. It was as if the memory of the weapon was imprinted onto his very soul.

    He closed his eyes for a brief moment, focusing all his will on that image, on that feeling that he had experienced the moment he touched that sword.

    "There''s no point in closing your eyes. The world around you won''t just disappear," the man said, finding Elias''s cowardice amusing.

    He had been curious about the kind of dangerous person they were here to catch, but after seeing Elias, he was quite relieved. It was a task that couldn''t be any simpler. He raised his hand, and tossed the chains towards Elias, to capture him.

    As the chains flew towards him, Elias exhaled. He only relied on his instinct, remembering the feeling of standing before Harbinger when she was about to kill him.

    He slowly opened his eyes, as a faint glow enveloped his right hand. It grew brighter, sharper, and slowly started materializing, taking a physical form.

    His hands were no longer empty. He had recreated a heavy sword that was completely identical to the sword that was used by Harbinger. It followed even the smallest of details, including the size, which was almost twice the height of Elias.

    The only thing different was that it wasn''t a sword that was trying to kill him. Instead, it was a sword that felt more like a part of him. It was something that he had created, without relying on any of his class abilities.

    The sword was just as heavy as it was when used by Harbinger. However, for someone like Elias who had completely devoured Harbinger, it felt as light as a feather.

    He raised the sword and brought it slashing down. There was no excess force behind the movement. It felt like a completely normal slash. However, the chain that was flying towards Elias suddenly trembled as the sword came down.

    The chain tried to change direction, but it was too late. The moment that sword came slashing down, space itself was split apart.

    Even the chain was split in half. Although the chain was also a mid-tier Fable weapon, it had proven completely useless before Harbinger''s sword.

    "Impossible..." The Fable who had tossed the chain felt his entire body go cold as a bright light flashed before his eyes.

    His pupils trembled as he lowered his head, watching a thin red line spread across his entire body, starting from the middle of his forehead and going down.

    "Not bad. You succeeded on the first try. It seems you might be worth teaching after all."

    Even though Astralious offered Elias only a small compliment, he was secretly surprised that the boy had actually succeeded. It wasn''t just ''not bad''; it was truly incredible.

    "This sword is amazing..." Elias didn''t care about Astralious''s compliment. He was more immersed in the sword, which felt like an incredible weapon, even better than the Sniper he had evolved. It could even manipulate space.

    "Do you even know how to properly use a sword!" Astralious asked, trying to catch Elias''s attention, who didn''t seem to be paying any attention to him.

    "I will learn as I go by," Elias replied, observing his surroundings. "Good thing we have a lot of people to practice with."

    Since these people weren''t going to let him leave anyway, it was better to use them to improve his efficiency with the weapon.

    The other fables were still in a daze, wondering what they had just witnessed. A human had completely killed a fable. That in itself should have been impossible. But what left them utterly stunned was the weapon he was using.

    "Isn''t that Harbinger''s sword?" someone exclaimed after a long time, breaking the frightening silence. "How could a human possess it?"

    "Is he really human? Or are we facing another Fable?" another asked.

    They knew about Harbinger, a fable that wasn''t associated with any major domain. Despite that, she was a fable that had grown to a dangerous extent.

    Even their Domain Lord had been interested in Harbinger, mainly because of the weapon that she used. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to find that woman as she kept moving from one place to another, having no proper home.

    It was a shocking sight to see that weapon in the hands of a human, especially the one that they were here to capture.

    "How do you have that sword?" The woman leading the group asked. "It doesn''t belong with you! Drop that sword on the ground!"

    "Why don''t you try taking it from me?" Elias retorted, as he finally moved.

 Chapter 93 Its the end

    ....

    Bang~

    Bang~

    The old man was still hammering metal, trying to create something. He suddenly stopped, and looked to his left. He could see that a battle was taking place within his domain.

    "That weapon? Isn''t that the weapon of that girl?" he frowned, sensing the presence of a weapon that was extremely familiar to him. In fact, he had helped in the creation of that weapon.

    A weapon of a fable was not something that could just be taken from them. Even if they died, their weapons simply disappeared with them as they were connected to their existence and life.

    These weapons weren''t like the weapons of humans, that could change hands easily with each battle. His face was filled with confusion, as he couldn''t understand how that was possible, despite him being a high tier fable.

    "Old man, someone is fighting. Could it be them?" A young woman stepped out of the small hut, also looking in the direction of the battle.

    Even though the battle wasn''t loud, it involved mid tier fables that were the strongest existences after people like that old man. Their battles made her feel a chill and suppression.

    "I will go and check!" she suddenly said, and started running towards the direction. The old man finally moved, and appeared before her, blocking her path.

    "You will get hurt if you go there. In any case, you don''t have to worry. The people that you saved have already left this place. The people involved in that battle are just some unruly fables. That human has nothing to do with them."

    "But even if they are fables, isn''t it bad if they fought? They will get hurt." The woman looked at the old man with eyes filled with innocence.

    "They won''t get hurt. They are just playing around and having fun. If you go there, you''ll disrupt their fun. Won''t it make them sad?" the old man asked. "You just stay here. I''ll go there and make sure that nothing bad happens. If it''s me, they won''t even notice it. It won''t spoil their fun. Isn''t that better?"

    He didn''t give the woman any chance to speak, as he disappeared. At the same time, multiple metallic pillars came out from the ground, all around this area.

    A magnetic field flickered between the barrier, before a barrier rose up, surrounding this hut and the woman within, to ensure that she didn''t rush out to get herself hurt.

    The old man rushed to the sight of battle, hearing the sound of battle becoming even more intense with each passing second. There were many painful groans that couldn''t escape his senses that were accompanied by occasional explosions.

    The old man made himself invisible, as he reached the sight of battle. He didn''t interfere, and simply watched the gruesome scene, standing next to a tree, supported by it.

    The scene of battle was just as gruesome as he had expected. There were many fables lying on the ground, split in multiple halves. The remaining ones were attacking Elias at the same time.

    The old man felt like this might be the end of the battle, as the enemies had already familiarised themselves with Elias''s attack patterns, getting out of their initial shock.

    Even though Harbinger''s weapon was strong, it wasn''t completely invincible. If it was, then the girl wouldn''t have to act so cautious all this time. The people that were left in the battle were the strongest of the group, especially one particular woman.

    "Did you think that one powerful weapon is enough for you to stop us? If we weren''t told to catch you alive, then you would''ve been already dead! But that is fine. It''s enough playing around!" The woman exclaimed, as she raised her hand, revealing the dagger that she was hiding behind her back.

    She tossed the dagger at Elias, a weapon that was comparable to the sword of Harbinger. At the same time, the others also attacked Elias, targeting his arms and his legs to ensure that he didn''t die in the attacks.

    There were just too many attacks for Elias to stop with his sword alone. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "This should be the end." The old man said, almost able to predict what was going to happen. The only weapon that was targeted at his vitals was the dagger.

    Elias had no choice but to use his sword to block the dagger, but that was enough for the other attacks to target his limbs and make him unable to fight.

    If he tried to stop the other attacks with the sword, then the dagger was going to hit him. There was no way out for him.

    The old man didn''t intervene, since Elias was going to survive in the end. Moreover, it wasn''t his battle. Even if the battle was taking place within his domain, he had no interest in saving anyone, especially someone who might have a hand in Harbinger''s death.

    They had saved him once. It was already enough. There was no need to go to fight for him, since he didn''t know who had sent the other side here. If they entered his domain, then they couldn''t be from a weak faction either. It was just too much of a hassle to intervene.

    He had simply come to terms with the things that were going to happen, seeing that there was no other choice for Elias. However, what happened next, made him frown.

    Elias didn''t try to block the dagger. Instead, he used the sword to block the other attacks that were aimed at his limbs. The dagger simply came for his vitals.

    "Foolish!" Even the old man couldn''t control his shock at such a foolish decision. Was this boy really a fool? Did Harbinger die at the hands of someone like him?

    It was only when he saw what happened next that his shock turned into disbelief. Elias reached out his bare hand to block the dagger, while the sword blocked the other attacks.

    "Confirm Merger." He heard the words that were spoken by Elias, albeit faintly.

 Chapter 94 Weapon Creation

    "Confirm Merger," Elias commanded. He didn''t use his bare hands this time, despite the old man initially believing that would be the case. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As he moved his left hand, he temporarily opened a storage portal and retrieved a smaller gun, quite different from the Sniper he had used before. The portal disappeared before the dagger could touch it, and the dagger struck the gun instead.

    His instructions activated the moment the dagger touched the gun, resulting in the creation of a storm.

    Elias wasn''t at the core of the storm this time, so he quickly released the gun, which started going through the merger process with the core weapon of the mid-tier fable.

    Holding the heavy sword in his hands, he rushed out of the storm, coming straight for the woman, who seemed like she had suffered a heavy injury at the loss of her core weapon.

    The initial shock delayed her response, even though she saw Elias coming for her. The young boy raised his sword and brought it slashing down, creating another spatial slash.

    The woman watched the attack flying straight for her, her eyes widening as a trail of blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She wasn''t able to move. Or rather, her feet simply refused to move.

    She didn''t understand what had just happened. She had just attacked Elias, so why was she the one injured? Why couldn''t she feel the presence of her weapon, as if it had simply lost its connection with her, leaving her with a heavy injury?

    "Watch out!" A loud cry fell in her ears, and she felt a sideways push that sent her flying out of harm''s way. But the fable that moved her away was the one to get caught in the attack, watching the light of death flash before her eyes.

    "That was fast..." Elias didn''t chase after the woman. Instead, he looked behind him. He could see that the storm had started to weaken, which was completely different to the time he had personally merged with a weapon.

    Once again, a lot of attacks were raining on him, which he managed to handle, with a single slash of his sword. And the moment that storm subsided, he caught sight of the gun that fell on the ground.

    The woman had also come out of her initial shock after being pushed out of the way. She was hurt, but she knew that she was going to get even more hurt if she didn''t stop the man now. For some reason, the boy felt like a completely different person, than his initial self.

    "You are too dangerous! I can''t take you back alive! I will have to kill you!" She shrieked, as she transformed into her giant beastly form, rushing to Elias like a wild beast.

    Elias didn''t react to the loud shriek that almost sent his eardrums trembling. He reached out his hand towards the gun, and mumbled, "Creation Control."

    One of the constellations was right next to the gun. He reached out his hand to pick the thing that Elias seemed to be interested in. But the moment his fingers were about to touch the modified him, he saw the gun disappear into thin air.

    Bang~

    He suddenly heard a strange noise, which made him raise his hand. And the thing that he saw, made him fall flat on his butt.

    He saw the gun in Elias''s left hand, aimed at the beast that was right behind him. There was a small hole in the middle of the beast''s head.

    Multiple bangs resounded one after another, creating more holes in the body of the beast, almost destroying from within. The beast could feel her own essence being used in these attacks, which left her defences useless.

    She simply watched in disbelief, as a sharp pain travelled through her entire body, almost paralyzing her.

    "Sorry, I was distracted. Were you saying something?" Elias asked the mid-tier fable, watching her body tremble in rage, pain, and helplessness.

    Almost all the other fables were frozen in place, watching their leader, whose life was flashing before their eyes. Just what was this monster? Why were the things that he used so weird yet so frightening?

    The fable that had transformed into her grotesque yet true form tried to resist the temporary paralysis, forcing its body to take a few steps forward with all its might. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing, as the beast dropped to the ground, barely reaching Elias''s feet.

    Elias raised his sword and brought it slashing down, cutting the grotesque beast in half, even though it wasn''t in any condition to fight.

    "We need to get out of here..." a fable said to the others who were frozen in fear, having lost all their courage to attack Elias.

    "No one is going anywhere this time." Elias looked back, raising the gun in the direction of the other fables who were still in their human form.

    Multiple bangs echoed in the surroundings, as the fables kept falling one after another. Some tried to attack Elias, only to be killed. Others tried to run away, but their fate didn''t change.

    Only one person was left alive. It was the man who had suggested not entering this domain in the first place.

    He was still holding onto the mechanical device in his hand, but his fingers could clearly be seen trembling as he looked at the other fables that had been destroyed by a mere human right before his eyes.

    "Tell me who sent you?" Elias asked the man as the sword in his hand started disappearing, the essence of Harbinger returning to his arm.

    "D-Domain Lord Zesten sent us here to capture you," the man said, not even trying to resist.

    For him, his life was more important than his loyalty to Zesten. At worst, he would have to live his life in hiding, unable to return to Zesten''s domain, but it was better than dying.

    "Am I supposed to know who Zesten is? You will have to elaborate further." Elias started opening the map of the land that he had received from the Painter.

 Chapter 95 The boy is coming

    "Z-Zesten... He is one of the Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain," the man exclaimed, his voice louder than usual, to show his sincerity.

    He watched Elias intently, observing his reactions while hoping to discern some clue as to what this terrifyingly human would do next.

    Elias studied the map, his brow furrowing as he located the place marked as the Shadow Domain. It was a region in the central part of the Land of Fables, but it was marked as one of the most forbidden places on the map.

    While other domains were also dangerous, the Shadow Domain was in an entirely different league altogether, since it didn''t just have one Domain Lord.

    According to the description on the map, the Shadow Domain had at least five Domain Lords. The map advised them to stay away from that place at any cost, as the Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain were a nightmare level existence.

    "It''s a Domain that we call the King''s Land," the man explained, feeling slightly nervous at Elias''s silence. "Lord Zesten is considered one of the Kings of the Shadow Domain after his father passed away, passing all his experience and strength to him."

    "Why does someone like that want me? I don''t think I have made myself known in this land. Even if he hates my family for some reason, why would he want someone like me? How would he even know about me being a part of that family in the first place?"

    He was sure that he didn''t go around flexing his identity token ever since he entered this land. He had only once revealed the family badge, and that was also to the ego. It was impossible for this to be leaked.

    For a moment, he even wondered if it was another way for Professor Grey to be messing with him. Did he already leak the news about his arrival? But even that felt unlikely.

    "I don''t know the details of the matter. I only followed instructions. The only person that might have known about it, is..." He grew silent, his gaze shifting over to the lifeless beastly creature in the distance.

    Only that woman was closer to Zesten, and had the possibility of knowing the details about this matter. He was only a guide at best, and even a porter at times.

    Elias scrolled the map back, and kept it back in his storage. Even though the answer wasn''t what he was looking for, he didn''t regret killing that woman for a single moment.

    "That''s it for the question," Elias said, as he raised the gun.

    "You fuc-" the man mumbled, but the rest of his word was drowned in the loud noise that came from the gun. He fell on the ground, his eyes left open in disbelief until the end.

    Even though he had expected something like this, since no one could let their enemies leave just because they switched sides, it still felt surreal when he was destroyed.

    "You better devour them while you have a chance. If they aren''t devoured for a long time, they will return to the forest of fables and start waiting for their next life. It would be such a waste of resources," Astralious suggested, his gaze occasionally shifting back and forth between Elias and the gun in his hand.

    He had seen that weapon in action, and it had left him at a loss. He knew that Elias was somehow able to merge with the essence of fables, but it was the first time he had seen him merge the essence with something other than himself.

    The more he observed the boy, the more bizarre he appeared. Even a high tier creator couldn''t achieve something like this, but here he was, a boy who had awakened for less than a week, achieving something impossible.

    "I know what to do with them." Elias answered, as he opened a storage portal again. This time, he brought out more things that he had taken from Leo. And almost all the things that he brought were some kind of weapon machinery.

    He had two storage abilities at the moment, with only one being a temporary ability. The problem was that this temporary ability was holding most of his items, and he couldn''t shift them to his permanent storage since only things of his creation could be kept there. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Now, he came up with a better idea to deal with them. If he couldn''t keep anything other than his creation in his permanent storage, then he just had to upgrade these things as his creation. He even had the materials sent straight to him.

    He picked up the sniper rifle that he had used to kill the Professor. He placed it over the grotesque beastly creature that was lying on the ground, its essence slowly starting to disperse. Before it could completely disperse, he started the merger process.

    He moved over to other fables, and started merging them with other materials that he believed would be useful for him in the future.

    In the end, he called forth the Fighter Jet that was possessed by an ego, saving the best for the last. He placed the last fable, that had left him impressed in the battle, on top of the jet.

    "What is this? What just happened while I was not here?" The voice of the ego echoed in his head, feeling as if a part of its memories were missing.

    He was sure that they were being chased by a monster. And now that monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were other strange fables that felt just as strong.

    "I''ll tell you everything later," Elias answered, before starting another merger.

    Multiple mergers were taking place simultaneously, all around Elias who was in the center of the twenty storms that had separate origins.

    "Just what is this boy?" Away from the scene, the old man watched the storms. In the last few moments, he had seen the most shocking things of his life that he still couldn''t believe.

    Even if he was a high tier fable, he felt scared of the storms, a fear that seemed to originate from his core.

    Elias didn''t know that he was being watched. He was simply watching a spectacle of storms around him, like a chill guy who had discovered that his ability was useful even in this land, now that he had found a cheat.

    Even though the storms felt somewhat loud, there was something even louder. He could even hear his stomach growl, even though he had eaten a short time ago. The merger process, when applied on multiple items, made him even more hungry, as if strength for the merger was being taken from him.

    He opened his temporary storage and brought out something to eat, but as he was about to put it in his mouth, he heard a voice that made him stop.

    "Did you find that? Why has there been no update from your side?"

    He frowned and looked down, noticing that the voice was coming from the device on the ground that was being held by that man until his death.

    He picked up the device on his left hand, and pressed the only button on it. "Can you hear me?"

    "Why is your voice sounding so different? It doesn''t matter. Answer me. Have you found that human? Lord Zesten is waiting for the update!"

    "Tell him that the human is coming there. So he doesn''t have to worry," Elias answered, before he took his fingers off the device before using it in his temporary storage as well.

 Chapter 96 Taking the war to the Overlords

    Elias tossed the device into his temporary storage, making it impossible for the other side to contact him without his permission.

    "Are you really planning to go there?" Astralious asked, wondering if Elias was serious, or if he had just bluffed to throw the other side off his trail for a little while.

    "I was sent here to collect a Soul Beast for myself. Even if I don''t need it anymore, one might come in handy in the future. And now that I have my cheat back, what better time is there to do it?"

    Elias had initially planned to enter the Central Region to find a Soul Beast to remove his corruption. But even then, he had never planned to enter a place like the Shadow Domain.

    He had believed that all his tricks had become useless since weapons were useless in this world. But the realization that Astralious had given him made him realize that he wasn''t as helpless as he had initially thought.

    While he still had access to his temporary storage, it was better to put his resource to good use.

    At present, he didn''t really need a Soul Beast to neutralize his corruption, as that had already been removed by his body. But still, he felt a Soul Beast was something that could be handy for him. His father also had one, after all, which was even stronger than Astralious.

    "Is that really the reason?" Astralious asked. He didn''t know why, but he felt like it wasn''t the true reason behind Elias''s actions.

    If he needed a powerful Soul Beast, then he could always go for the old man in this domain. Why did he need to go to a more dangerous place like the Shadow Domain?

    Even if he had weapons, he couldn''t be ignorant enough to believe that they were enough for him to lord over so many High-Tier Fables in their own domain.

    He had been with Elias for a very short time, and the boy was still childish in some aspects. But this truly felt out of character for someone like him, from what he had seen so far.

    "Did you ever wonder how they managed to find me so fast?" Elias asked, as he watched the first storm slowly weaken.

    He walked over to the evolved item that had fallen on the ground. "They seem to have a way to trace me. If I don''t go to them, they will still come to me. This trip has already turned into a trap. So instead of waiting for them to realize what happened here and plan, I would rather go to them myself."

    He picked up the sniper rifle, noticing new marks that had appeared around it, brimming with the dense essence of a fable born from the death of millions.

    "That doesn''t make sense. So what if they realize what happened here? The stronger fables can''t leave the domain. They can only send mid-tier fables, which you can easily deal with." Astralious frowned, almost certain that Elias still wasn''t being completely honest with him.

    "But mid-tier fables aren''t good enough. At this point, I''m feeling a little greedy," Elias exclaimed after a brief period of silence. "Even if they tried to kill me, they can only send mid-tier fables. They are good materials, but I want more. I want stronger fables..."

    He was sent here to find a Soul Beast, but things had changed. The things that were supposed to become Soul Beasts had turned into a very useful material in his eyes.

    "If mid-tier fables can make these things so strong, then what about a high-tier fable? So I want to take advantage of the fact that they are trapped in their domain. In any case, they started it first." S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He removed the safety lock on the sniper rifle that had evolved for a second time, this time with a fable''s life essence.

    He raised the sniper rifle, aimed it into the distance, and pulled the trigger.

    "Bang!"

    A bullet, now imbued with the essence of the slain fable, tore through the air, leaving a visible trail in its wake. It seemed to bend space, distorting reality for a fleeting moment.

    The bullet travelled from one tree to another, leaving a fist sized hole in every tree that it struck with a single shot. But the bullet didn''t stop. It only disappeared from Elias''s view, going farther than his expectations.

    "Don''t you think you''re taking a little too much risk? Don''t forget that my life also depends on you," Astralious finally said, his voice a low rumble in Elias''s mind.

    "High Tier Fables can''t be compared to mid-tier ones, as they have already reached the realm of proper manifestation." He further stated, not wanting to take any unnecessary risk for Elias''s greed. "They are the apex predators of their domains. Even with your impressive weapons and strange abilities, you are still walking into a den of lions."

    Elias lowered the rifle, and tossed it back in his permanent storage, before moving on to the next item that had completed its evolution.

    "Lions, tigers, it doesn''t matter," Elias replied, his voice calm. "They''ve marked me. They want me. And now¡­ I want them. I want to see what kind of weapon a High-Tier Fable can create. I want to see the limits of what I can achieve."

    He glanced back at his temporary storage, a mental inventory of the raw materials Leo had gathered, only to be taken by him. He still had plenty of bullets, and a few other, more¡­ experimental items.

    "Besides," he added, picking up another item that was much larger than even the sniper rifle. "I''m not going in unprepared. Their weakness will become my strength."

    "Hah, you''re not going to listen to me, are you? If I wasn''t trapped here, I would''ve forcefully stopped you from doing something like this. But it looks like I''ll become no more than a spectator. Either I''ll watch you destroy yourself, or I''ll watch a miracle¡­"

 Chapter 97 A promise to someone

    Astralious desperately wanted to stop Elias from going to the Shadow Domain, but he was helpless. He couldn''t control Elias, as his own consciousness was trapped by an unknown force.

    He thought there might be a possibility of freeing himself, like last time, if Elias placed an even greater burden on his body, as he had after merging with the Fables.

    Unfortunately, the boy had done something even more bizarre, performing the merger with lifeless objects instead.

    At this point, all his plans had failed, and he could do nothing but watch Elias act as he pleased. The only consolation was that Elias was, at least, still alive.

    The storms of the merger kept disappearing one after another, and Elias stored the items in his permanent storage in preparation for his trip to the Shadow Domain.

    There was only one item that was yet to finish merging. It was the jet, which had suffered significant damage in its fight with Harbinger. Amidst the merger storm, he could occasionally hear the ego''s thoughts, which described the process as extremely painful.

    Elias approached the storm of the last merger. Unlike before, the storms didn''t harm him. They tried to push him back, but they couldn''t even leave a scratch on his clothes, let alone his body.

    "Just a little longer. It will be over really soon," Elias said, disappearing into the storm. He entered the eye of the storm to watch the changes taking place right before his eyes.

    The old man who was the owner of this Domain was still in hiding, watching everything in disbelief. There were many moments where he thought about stepping out and revealing his presence to the boy, but the things that he saw, one after another, left him with very complicated thoughts.

    He looked at the tree that was right next to him, which had a fist-sized hole in it. He still wasn''t sure if Elias had managed to notice him, or if the shot that came in his direction, only slightly off, was just a coincidence. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    When the bullet flew past him, even he had felt a sense of danger. Even if that bullet couldn''t have killed him, it still would''ve left him heavily injured if he wasn''t careful.

    "Just what kind of monster did that little girl save?" the old man mumbled in disbelief.

    Something that made him even more shocked than the actions of the boy were his words. He was talking about going to war with the Shadow Domain as if it was nothing but an ordinary thing in life.

    Even if he had been able to leave his domain, he never would''ve thought about doing something like this, since the Shadow Domain had five Overlords that were the oldest existences in the land of fables.

    He might have been able to deal with one or two of them, but if he went against the Shadow Domain, which was ruled by five of them, then he was sure that he could never return alive, despite being a high-tier fable himself. And the boy was planning to do it?

    "He is truly strange. But what if he could truly do it? That might change everything..."

    He had many conflicting thoughts in his mind. At times, he wondered if it was better to kill an existence like the boy, who could use fables as nothing more than raw materials to increase his own strength. But at other times, he felt hesitant.

    He wasn''t sure just what kind of existence the boy was. If he was still hiding some things, then it might be no different than challenging death itself. Moreover, he had long promised someone that he wasn''t going to kill anyone, whether they were fables or humans.

    If he had to kill that boy, then he would have to break that promise, with no certainty of success.

    He took a deep breath and came to a hard decision. He slowly turned around and started walking away.

    "I''m not like them," he said to himself, not forgetting the reason he had made a promise like this. "I will not paint my hands red. I will only create... Unless he tries to..."

    He suppressed the conflicting thoughts and left the place, returning to the small hut where the girl was waiting to hear news from him.

    He hadn''t just reached the barrier around his hut when he heard a sound that caught his attention. He raised his head with a frown and saw something that looked like a strange, metallic bird soaring through the sky with a loud yet strange roar.

    The strange thing disappeared into the distance, leaving only a trail of lightning in its wake.

    "It looks like he left..." The old man mumbled, watching the trail of lightning slowly start to disperse.

    He didn''t know what was in the future of Elias. It looked more likely that the boy was going to die in the Shadow Domain, but if that didn''t happen, then the old man didn''t even want to imagine the kind of future that boy might create.

    "I hope I didn''t make a mistake by letting that girl save him..."

    He dispersed the barrier around his residence, with no threats left in his domain anymore. He walked over to his hut to check up on the girl, only to find her lying on the bed, innocently sleeping.

    He smiled, suppressing the troublesome thoughts that had been worrying him. He returned to his workshop and picked up the hammer, and started hitting the piece of metal again.

    After the piece was straightened, he used another tool to carve a number on the metal. "3781. This should be enough."

    He kept the hammer down, and stood up while carrying the piece that he had straightened. He carried the metal piece, and walked behind the hut.

    "Command, Seventy Three."

    Following his instructions, an opening appeared in the group, revealing metal stairs that were leading down into the unknown.

    "I hope we never meet again." He looked at the sky one last time, before going down the stairs.

 Chapter 98 Offer

    .....

    "Those bastards! I kept telling them that I didn''t have the evolution stone, but they never listened! They made me waste something so precious!"

    Elias was flying towards the Central Region of the Land of Fables, but there were other students of the academy that had taken a different path.

    Amongst them was Rey, who had gone towards the South after getting away from the messy battle. He didn''t still couldn''t believe his bad luck. He didn''t even receive the evolution stone, but he had to waste an escape crystal just to get out of the battle.

    There were still some prominent scars on his body, a gift that he received from the battles. He was even limping on his feet, as blood trickled down his ankles, yet to dry.

    Even he didn''t understand where the evolution stone went, after he killed Elias. It was as if the stone just dispersed into nothingness, leaving him behind to deal with a huge mess.

    "If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn''t have chased after him to take the stone. No... It was better than I did. If he had used the evolution stone, many variables could''ve appeared. So what if I was hurt a little? At least that bastard will be rotting in hell now!''

    Even though the corner of his lips were bleeding, he was still smiling at the fact that he had killed Elias and that he didn''t need to see his face anymore. He had taken revenge for his family by killing an Asbborn.

    He was even looking forward to the moment when he could tell his father about his success. He had done something that his brothers had never managed to do.

    In every generation, his brothers had fallen behind the Ashborn Descendants. But this time, he had achieved the impossible.

    "Now as long as I get the Soul Beast that my father told me about, everything would be perfect." He walked forward with a limp as he observed the map that he had received from his family.

    Just like other maps, this map also had some dangerous areas marked in them. But there were also some other marks that guided him towards his next destination.

    "As for the other bastards, I will deal with them later!"

    Just like Rey, the other descendants of major families also had plans of their own as they approached the Soul Beasts that they had identified before even setting foot in the Land of Fables.

    All of them were guided by their families and even given resources to make it easier for them to succeed.

    In a sense, it was less of a battle between the descendants and more of a battle between their families to see who could obtain a higher-tier soul beast.

    Almost all the descendants of the Major Families were aiming for a high-tier fable. The only difference was that the fables they targeted lived near the edge of the Land of Fables, their threat level being far lower than the Nightmare-Level Fables that resided in the central region.

    There was another difference between their approach and Elias''s. They knew their limits. They understood that they weren''t strong enough to defeat the High-Tier Fables.

    Even if they could defeat them, it was impossible to turn them into a Soul Beast as long as the fable was unwilling.Their approach was more about convincing a High-Tier Fable, using the schemes passed down by their families based on their own experiences.

    Some of them went south, some went east, and others went west of the Land of Fables. None of them even tried to go north, as they would need to pass through the central region for that.

    "I am Rey Esterin, a descendant of the Esterin Family. I have come to speak with you!" Rey was the first person to reach the domain of the Soul Beast he was targeting, but he didn''t enter right away.

    He knew that the moment he entered the domain, he would be at the mercy of its owner. He could even feel a heavy killing intent coming from within the domain. He stopped right outside the threshold.

    He took a small gem out of his pocket and tossed it inside the domain. "I''m sure you can see what this is."

    A few seconds passed before the earth started trembling as if something was approaching. Soon, a large beast came into Rey''s sight and stopped right before the gem.

    "A fragment of a Constellation''s Soul..." The Beast''s voice echoed, its eyes fixed on the item with greed.

    "I''m sure you understand what it means," Rey said, cautiously observing the frightening creature that could kill him in a second if it could step outside. "The complete soul can help you evolve into a Constellation, and my family holds the rest of it. Only we can help you evolve."

    "As I told you, I am a descendant of the Esterin Family. We had nothing to do with the destruction of your world or even your imprisonment. If anything, we are also enemies of the family that put you here."

    "If you agree to submit to me, not only will you receive your freedom from this hellish place, but you will also get an opportunity to evolve into a Constellation in the near future."

    It was said that one could never convince a fable to submit with brute force. The stronger the fable, the harder it was to tame it.

    Just approaching them was a shortcut to the afterlife. However, the same rules didn''t apply to people like him. He already had something that no fable could reject, especially a High Tier Fable with an extremely pure bloodline that was just perfect for it. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He brought out the bead that was used to take a beast, something he received from the Professor. He bit his thumb, and marked the bead with his blood.

    After completing the process from his side, he tossed the bead inside the domain. The bead rolled on the ground, only to stop before the beast.

 Chapter 99 Where is it?

    "If you want freedom, then eat it and become my soul pet. You will get everything that you could ever want. Or you could rot here for an eternity. I will leave the choice to you."

    He had taken a big risk by tossing the only bead that he had received, inside the domain. If he failed here, then he couldn''t even try to take another Soul Beast. But he didn''t care. He was absolutely convinced about his success.

    Just as he hoped, the Soul Beast didn''t think for a long time, his eyes shifting back and forth between the soul fragment and the taming bead.

    The beast started transforming into a humanoid form, with a dark aura materializing around her body, forming her clothes.

    "If I craved freedom, I could''ve left with other humans that came here throughout the years. But this..." She picked up the fragment of a Constellation''s Soul, her eyes turning red in greed.

    She didn''t care about freedom to the point that she would be willing to become someone''s Soul Pet. But there were two things that managed to convince her, hidden carefully in Rey''s words.

    "You said you also hate that family? If I become your Soul Beast, will I have an opportunity to bring them to ruins?" she asked, as she placed the soul fragment of the constellation in her mouth, feeling a heavenly taste that made her feel as if she was truly floating.

    "What if I told you that I already killed their youngest Descendant before coming here? What do you think? Do you think you will have an opportunity?" Rey asked, almost certain about that woman''s answer now. Her family was right!

    There was only one way to convince her. It was to use her greed, as well as her hatred at the same time.

    "Their downfall has already started. If you come with me, you''ll be able to watch it with your own eyes. And the key to leaving this place is right before you," he said, pointing towards the contract bead.

    The woman was certain that the boy was not lying. She could verify it with her own abilities, even if she couldn''t leave this domain. At least the boy really believed his own words.

    She picked up the contract bead, and consumed it, making Rey''s eyes light up. He had received his Soul Beast, becoming the first person in the current batch to do so.

    Once the woman consumed the bead, the domain started breaking apart and a bright light shot straight through the sky, marking the freedom of a high tier fable, a sight that was visible all across the Land of Fables.

    ....

    "What is that?" Elias was flying to the central region, far away from Rey''s current whereabouts. But even he could see the bright light shooting into the sky, as if someone had fired a really powerful arrow straight at heaven.

    "It means a high-grade fable has entered into a contract with someone from the Academy." Astralious chimed in. "You are really ignorant about even the most basic things."

    "A high-grade fable? How?" Elias frowned, looking at the bright light that was only getting stronger with each passing second.

    He had already seen how strong the mid-tier fables were. Without his weapons, even he would''ve struggled against them. So how was it possible that someone had already finished the contract, especially with a high-grade fable?

    He knew that the others in his class were strong, but they weren''t this strong. He was absolutely certain about this.

    "Just how did they do it?" he mumbled.

    Only a few seconds had passed when he saw another bright pillar shooting through the sky from a completely different direction. Someone else had also established a contract with a High Grade Soul Beast. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It looks like you are going to be left behind by your friends. Instead of going to the Central Region, you should also find a weaker domain and tame a soul beast. It would be a much better use of your time."

    Astralious was still attempting to convince Elias into giving up. Even if the boy didn''t need to get a Soul Beast because of his unorthodox abilities that allowed him to kill a fable on his own, it was still an advantage to have a Soul Beast that no one could ignore.

    "If you leave without getting a Soul Beast, can you imagine the kind of mockery you will receive from the others? We should turn around and find a suitable target."

    "Who said I won''t be getting a Soul Beast. I can find a suitable one while I''m collecting materials in the Central Region. I still have the contract bead," Elias said, as he opened his temporary storage to bring out the bead.

    "Hmm? Where is it?" The moment he looked inside his temporary storage, his expressions became strange. He couldn''t find the contract bead that he had received anywhere inside his temporary storage.

    He looked inside every corner of his storage, but the item was nowhere to be found. He subconsciously started checking his pockets to see if it was there, but even his pockets were empty. The contract bead was nowhere to be found.

    "Did I drop it somewhere?" He started looking inside the cockpit, even under his feet or at the place where he was sitting, but the result was the same. The soul bead wasn''t here at all.

    He tried really hard to remember where he had last seen it, but at the moment, nothing in his mind clicked. He had gone through so much in the last few days that there were a lot of memories that were just jumbled.

    "Did you already lose it?" Astralious asked.

    "I guess I did..." Elias sat down, letting out a tired sigh. "I think I dropped it somewhere. It''s probably as good as gone now. It looks like I didn''t have a Soul Beast in my destiny in the first place. But I''m really curious. Where exactly is that soul bead?"

 Chapter 100 Soul Contracts

    "Are you sure you can afford to be so carefree? What if a weak Soul Beast consumes it? It will be bound to you forever."

    In Astralious''s eyes, Elias was someone that was ignorant about the ways of the world. He didn''t know so many things, that should''ve been basic knowledge for a person his age that came to the Academy.

    Looking at the carefree boy, he wondered if this was one of those cases where Elias didn''t know about the risks associated with getting a useless Soul Beast as their first contract.

    "Nothing like that will happen. The bead needs to have my blood, in order to initiate the contract. Even if a Soul Beast consumes it, it''ll be useless without my blood."

    This was the explanation that he had received from the Painter when everyone was given these crystal beads.

    If this information had come from Professor Grey, then he might have reason to doubt it. But it came from the Painter before the relationship between them had temporarily worsened.

    That was also a possible explanation behind the binding mechanism, so he didn''t see a reason to doubt it. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Still, he looked at Astralious to confirm it one last time, and asked, "Am I correct?"

    "That seems to be right. But are you absolutely certain your blood didn''t touch that bead, even a single drop?"

    "Why would my blood..." Elias initially answered without thinking, but in the middle of his sentence, he paused and started thinking about it. He didn''t even know where he dropped it, so how could he be certain if his blood had touched the bead?

    If the bead was with him when he was fighting Harbinger, then it possibly could have come in contact with his blood. But if it had dropped somewhere before that, then the chances were much lower.

    "My luck can''t be that bad right?" he asked, but he only received a silence from Astralious in response.

    Even Astralious didn''t know how to answer that question, since he himself didn''t know what kind of luck this boy had. Was it bad? Or was it good? It looked like it was on the extreme ends of both these spectrums.

    He was unlucky enough to come across Harbinger, him, the high tier fable, and even the mid-tier fables that wanted to capture him. But he was also lucky enough to survive it all. So which was it? He couldn''t be certain.

    "I suppose we will find out," he answered after a long period of silence. "If you''re lucky, nothing will happen, or you might even end up with a strong soul beast. But if you''re unlucky, then..."

    He didn''t finish his sentence, and Elias didn''t want to hear either. He already understood what he was trying to say.

    "Can a person only get one Soul Beast in their life?" He asked Astralious, changing the topic from his luck.

    "Not quite. From what I know, a human can have multiple Soul Beasts. But it also depends on the number of times they have evolved. After every two evolutions, you can get one extra soul beast."

    "So if I have my second evolution, I can potentially have two soul beasts? What''s the total number of evolutions a person can go through then?" Elias asked, growing more involved in the topic.

    "Normally, I would have asked you how you could be so ignorant as to not even know this. But I suppose we have long gone past that point."

    Still trapped in Elias''s mind, Astralious subconsciously tried to facepalm, only to hear the sound of chains clanking. He wasn''t even able to slap his own head.

    ''Hah, this is going to be a long trip,'' he thought, looking at his chains.

    "Are you there?" Elias asked after a long period of silence.

    Astralious answered sarcastically, "No. I''m dead, literally."

    Elias opened his lips to respond, but he closed them before uttering a single word, as Astralious started answering on his own.

    "The number of evolutions a person can have depends on their bloodline and potential. That is why the stronger families have managed to maintain their dominance."

    "If you''re unlucky, you can only have one evolution throughout your entire life. If you''re lucky, there can be many more. The highest evolution that I had ever heard about was the principal of the Dimensional Academy, who had gone through the seventh evolution."

    "At least that was the case in my era. I am not even sure how the world outside may have changed in the time I was trapped here. Did someone manage to break past the eighth evolution? That is probably unlikely."

    As Astralious thought about the outside world, it made him feel even worse about the fact that he was trapped here. It had been such a long time since he had died, that he couldn''t even count the years.

    If Elias managed to leave the land of fables alive, then he was going to see the outside world for the first time after his death, something that he had only heard about while waiting throughout the years in the forest.

    "The Highest Potential..." Elias remembered the measurement test, which measured their potential along with their class grade.

    He had arrived late at the measurement ceremony, so he didn''t see what potential or grade the others had received, but his own potential was quite good from what he had seen. But that also made him worried.

    The number of evolutions that he could have, was quite high, maybe even comparable to the professor that Astralious talked about. It made him wonder just how many evolutions he had to even wait to get the ability that he really wanted.

    He thought that it was going to come with his first or second evolution, but now it didn''t seem so certain anymore. He even wondered just how strong his family actually was, especially his father.

    "What was the number of evolutions that the person who killed you had gone through?" he asked the one person he believed might give him a hint.

 Chapter 101 Rain hellfire

    "That freak... If I had to make a rough guess, I would say six. It was quite impressive given his age at that time. He might be on his seventh evolution already."

    Astralious wanted to have his revenge on that man, but even he knew that, as a Constellation, it was unlikely. Even when he was at his strongest, he couldn''t defeat that man. Now that he had weakened, it was only a distant dream.

    To be able to face that man, who could only have grown stronger, he needed something else. He needed to take over a human with a decent bloodline so he could play on the same field as the humans who could evolve.

    If possible, he would have loved to possess Elias, as the boy had some really fascinating abilities. He had only gone through his first evolution, but he could still trap someone like him.

    If he could possess Elias completely, then his future path could have been much better, especially since the boy didn''t seem to be from any powerful family that could threaten his existence.

    It was easier for the professors to find a fable possession, but even they couldn''t find a Constellation possession. Everything was served on a well-arranged plate for him, but he had failed.

    He didn''t think that he could possess Elias anymore, but the boy could still help him find a better host, so he wanted him to survive this land.

    "You should try to avoid that person or his family members at any cost," he reminded Elias. "If they found out about me, you would be in trouble as well. So quickly find a way to free me after you get out of here, for your own safety as well."

    "For my own safety, huh." Elias reached mildly. Out of everything that he had come across yet, the Ashborn family was the least dangerous for him since he was a part of that family itself.

    Even if they didn''t treat him well, he didn''t think that they could outright try to kill him. If they wanted him dead, he would''ve been dead already.

    He didn''t tell Astralious his real identity, and simply looked out the glass, watching another contract pillar short through the sky, from a third direction.

    Throughout the journey, he saw a few more pillars rising through the sky, while the previous pillars disappeared with the completion of the contract.

    He had counted the number of pillars of light that he had seen, and they roughly matched the number of major family descendents that had entered the Land of Fables with him.

    "It looks like none of them died in the battle, and all of them contracted a High Grade Soul Beast." Even though he had come to terms with it, there was still a little bit of jealousy that appeared in the depth of his gaze.

    "It isn''t the time for you to be distracted. We are almost there. Within three minutes, we will enter the Shadow Domain." Astralious told Elias, feeling the heavy essence of the fables, despite being trapped.

    "Do you have a plan? Or are we simply going to barge inside, hoping for the best?"

    "Why would we do something so foolish? Don''t you know there are better ways to fight a war?" Elias''s gaze regained his focus as he looked ahead. "Let me show you how we fight a modern war against an enemy."

    He told the ego to land on the ground, before they could even enter the shadow domain. The ego started going down, and soon landed on the ground, merely a short distance away from the Shadow Domain. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The cockpit opened, and Elias jumped out. He prepared to send the ego back temporarily, but he stopped when he heard the ego say something strange.

    "This place seems familiar. I think I''ve been here before," the ego said, his voice sounding somewhat confused as if he himself couldn''t remember completely.

    "If you''re not wrong, then you probably came here with Ali-" Elias subconsciously replied, but he stopped himself before he could utter that name, remembering that he had another guest as well.

    He wasn''t sure if Astralious had heard that name before, but for the time being, he didn''t want to take the risks of letting him know.

    He shook his head lightly and ended the conversation. Even if Aliath came here, that knowledge wasn''t very beneficial to him. That man was different from him, after all. Unlike Astralious, he wasn''t planning to enter the Shadow Domain like a brute force.

    He planned to enter that place, but only after arranging more materials for himself. And what better way, then to bring the materials to himself.

    He opened his Class Storage, and started bringing out a few things that he had created. "You know the best thing about this domain system? It''s that the stronger ones can''t come out. If you have enough resources, you can really rain hellfire on them."

    He brought out a heavy object that was even larger than him, and placed it on the ground. The weight of the item itself made the ground slightly tremble.

    ....

    Back inside the Shadow Domain, Zesten stood near the window, his hands behind his back. He looked out at the beautiful city that belonged to him.

    "You said the boy was captured? How long until he is brought here?" he asked, without turning around.

    "They should be back in a day, if travelling without rest," an old man answered from the back of the room.

    "I don''t keep you here for guesses, Prophet. I have already waited a long time. Give me a precise time when they will arrive."

    The old man''s lips twitched, but he said nothing. His eyes began to shine, and he started performing his calculations regarding Elias''s current location.

    The ceiling darkened under the influence of his abilities, and stars materialized above him, moving in irregular paths until they all came to a halt.

    "Hmm?" His eyes opened abruptly as he finished his calculation. "How is that possible? Even if they travelled at their fastest, they shouldn''t be..."

    He closed his eyes and opened them again, performing the calculation once more. But the answer he received from the stars was the same.

    "What is impossible?" Zesten asked, finally turning around. He saw only the old man''s face, trembling in confusion.

    "According to my calculations, he is... right outside the domain. How could that be?" he mumbled, but he soon noticed something in the corner of his vision.

    He rushed to the window and looked outside, watching something that was flying in their direction.

 Chapter 102 Advantage of the Rules

    "What is that?" The Prophet watched the strange object flying in their direction, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Based on its current trajectory, it didn''t appear to be heading for the palace, but it was still going to land somewhere within their territory.

    Even though he wasn''t sure what it was, he could sense that it was ominous. His instincts screamed at him.

    He raised his hand, and his eyes slowly turned black. A thin layer of darkness appeared before the object, creating a barrier to block it from falling.

    "What was that?" Zesten also looked curious about the strange object that had appeared in their territory.

    "Hmm? How is that..." The Prophet''s expression darkened as he saw cracks appear in his barrier. Before he could even complete his thought, the barrier of the starry sky shattered, and the object fell to the ground.

    Boom~

    The ground itself trembled as a large cloud of flames erupted where the object had fallen. The flames engulfed everything within a hundred-mile radius, and they weren''t ordinary flames.

    Even though they were at the palace, they could still hear the screams of the fables caught in the fiery cloud. Those at the center of impact were instantly destroyed. Even those farther away were not left unharmed.

    Zesten looked at the destruction caused by the object, which was even stronger than a full-strength attack from a mid-tier Fable. His gaze narrowed as he saw another object flying toward them, this time with a slightly different trajectory.

    "I expect an explanation from you about the origin of that thing by the time I''m back!" he told the prophet before flying off.

    He flew straight into the sky, in the direction of the projectile. The moment he drew closer, he reached out his hand to stop the metallic-looking object.

    Bang!

    The moment the object touched his hand, it exploded. A similarly large cloud of flames spread out, but this time, it was far enough from the ground to hurt anyone else. The only person it could devour was Zesten himself.

    A few seconds passed before the cloud of flames began dispersing, revealing a figure still standing in the sky, his long robe fluttering in the heavy winds.

    He was more or less unharmed, but his expression was unsightly as he looked at the small tear in his clothes. He patted his shoulder, extinguishing a small flicker of flame that had caught on him.

    "My Lord, are you alright?" The guards reached Zesten and asked him out of concern.

    "Go and help the others," Zesten answered while gazing into the direction where the object seemingly came from. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    His heightened senses allowed him to see far away, to the point that he was able to see a young boy standing a few hundred meters away from the Shadow Domain, next to another strangely shaped metallic object.

    "''I performed some calculations, and the attack seemed to come from the same place where...''" The Prophet tried to speak, but he still seemed hesitant as it didn''t make sense to him.

    "''It came from the place that you calculated for that human, right?''" Zesten asked coldly, already understanding what had happened.

    "''I...''" The old man was at a loss for words, realizing what it meant. He was so busy calculating the whereabouts of the boy that he failed to calculate the fate of those who were sent to capture him. He hadn''t even considered the possibility.

    He tried to explain why he might have failed, but before he could even utter a sentence, Zesten slapped him, sending him crashing into the palace walls.

    "''You have truly failed me this time.''" Zesten couldn''t believe that something like this had happened, and the Prophet hadn''t even known about it.

    He didn''t even spare a second glance at the Prophet as he started flying towards the border of the domain. The Prophet came out from the hole in the wall, the corner of his lips bleeding.

    Even though he was slapped, he still followed Zesten to the border of the Shadow Domain. But they weren''t alone. There were a few more prominent figures in the Shadow Domain who had sensed the disturbance caused by the explosions.

    When they heard that Zesten had left his territory, they grew even more curious and decided to investigate as well."

    It took Zesten merely a few seconds to reach the border of the Shadow Domain. But even he couldn''t go beyond that point, being restricted to forever be trapped within the domain as a high-grade Fable.

    He stopped on the other side of the border, looking at the boy that was merely a few hundred meters away from him.

    "Interesting. Looks like we caught the fish on the first try," Elias mumbled, looking through the scope on the Sniper. With improved vision from the scope, he was able to perform analysis on the person and verify that it was indeed Zesten.

    .......

    Assigned Title: Zesten

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: S

    Fable Rank: Peak-Rank Fable

    Age: Two Thousand Years

    Description: A Fable that was born in the Land of Fables. It evolved from a mid-tier fable to a peak tier fable after devouring his father, inheriting the essence of the high grade world of Zephyria that was destroyed in a great war between worlds.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 250

    Defence: 230

    Speed: 190

    Element: Shadow

    Elemental Affinity: 80

    Hostility: 95

    Curiosity: 0

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 0.001 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 0.05 Percent

    ......

    "Those stats are quite high." That was the first thought that came to Elias''s mind when he saw the complete results of the analysis.

    "He is not alone, it seems," Astralious said, watching others arrive from different directions within the Shadow Domain. "If I''m not wrong, the others are even stronger than him. You''re lucky they can''t leave the domain."

    "That''s why I could do something like this," Elias said, understanding full well that he couldn''t defeat them in a one-on-one fight with his current strength.

    However, that was why he came here in the first place. It was to take complete advantage of the rules of this world to strengthen himself.

 Chapter 103 Perfect provocation

    Zesten stopped just short of the barrier, his fists clenched tightly. He could see the boy clearly, who had facial features similar to Aliath''s, which convinced him that this was indeed someone related to that person.

    The sounds from beyond the barrier were muffled, distorted. Even with his heightened senses, he couldn''t hear what the boy was saying, but he could feel the other domain lords approaching.

    There were five domain lords, each of them ruling over a certain part of the Shadow Domain where they had established their own cities. Only on rare occasions could more than two of them be seen together. But now, all five were here.

    Four domain lords landed next to Zesten one after another, their presence so suffocating that even though they were restricted by the domain, Elias could still feel it.

    "Aren''t you going to introduce your friend to us?" one of the domain lords asked, her entire existence covered by a strange mist that made it impossible for anyone to see her.

    "It''s not often that we get a guest from the Academy," another domain lord said in a cracking voice, his skin covered in diamond-like scales that felt impenetrable.

    The third and fourth domain lords remained silent, as they observed the boy. A sense of familiarity flashed across one''s eyes, as a subtle frown appeared on his forehead.

    "He is nothing but a little child from the academy who managed to successfully provoke me. He is my prey, so you should leave," Zesten told the others, trying to dismiss them as quickly as he could.

    Even though he was frustrated about Elias''s attack, he still didn''t want others to know the boy''s identity. He wanted that boy for himself, as he was an important part of his plan.

    Meanwhile, Elias had a completely different thought process as he watched the domain lords talk amongst themselves, instead of sending someone out of the domain like he wanted.

    "It looks like the provocation isn''t strong enough."

    His fingers slowly moved to the trigger, and he pulled it, aiming straight for Zesten''s forehead. He didn''t think that he could kill Zesten with just this, but he had already accounted for failure when he pulled the trigger.

    As soon as Zesten finished speaking, his expression darkened and he turned back to Elias, watching something fly towards him, something much smaller than the projectile that had come for him before.

    He quickly reached out and brought his hand before his face, catching the bullet between his fingers just as it barely tapped the skin of his forehead.

    He lowered his hand and observed the bullet, which seemed to have a similar essence to the fable that was sent to catch the boy. It was the woman who was even somewhat close to him.

    His gaze narrowed as he clenched his fist, crushing the bullet within it. He soon saw the other domain lords looking at him strangely.

    "How interesting..." The domain lord within the mist mumbled.

    Zesten also found their gazes somewhat strange. He slowly raised his hand and touched his forehead. When he looked at his fingers, his expression became grim.

    This time, it wasn''t just a minor scratch. He was actually bleeding. The bullet had barely managed to graze his skin, so he wasn''t hurt, but he was still bleeding.

    "It managed to hurt me?"

    "It managed to hurt him?"

    Zesten, Astralious and Elias said at the same time, each looking more surprised than the other.

    The sniper rifle was upgraded with only the essence of a mid-tier fable, and a little remnant essence of lighting. He didn''t expect it to actually hurt someone like him. The reason he even attacked, was simply to provoke that person.

    "Arghhh!" Zesten''s disbelief slowly turned to raw rage, as he started screaming like a wild beast, flying towards Elias. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Unfortunately, he crashed against the barrier that only restricted the Domain Lords from leaving. But even though the barrier made him feel the pain of being bitten by thousands of poisonous ants, he didn''t stop slamming his fist against the barrier.

    It was the second time he had bled in his life. He never thought that he would ever bleed due to a human after the last time when he was much weaker.

    After his interaction with Aliath, he had promised himself that he was never going to let another human hurt him. He even went so far as to kill his own father to become the Domain Lord, and an existence much stronger than he used to be.

    Despite that, he was bleeding? And that too from a person that was related to Aliath? His mind had almost snapped as he thought about it.

    Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried to force his way out of the barrier, he couldn''t do it. He was only pushed back each time.

    "Even we couldn''t break free of the barrier. Does he really think he can?" The other domain lords talked amongst themselves, looking at Zesten with pity.

    They had never truly considered Zesten as one of them. He was always inferior in their eyes, and he had shown that again by getting hurt like this.

    There were only two domain lords that didn''t mock Zesten for getting hurt. They were more focused on Elias, seeing a glimpse in him of another person that had wreaked havoc in this place a long time ago.

    Both of them thought of a possibility, but none of them said it out loud. How could there be a coincidence like this?

    After failing multiple times, Zesten clenched his fist, punching the ground with all his might, making the entire shadow domain and beyond tremble.

    He roared out loud, summoning his strongest followers to the border. And within half an hour, almost the entire upper echelon that served under Zesten arrived at the place, leaving his city completely unprotected.

    "I want his head! Or I''ll have all of your heads!" Zesten raged, sending the fables that served under him out of the domain, many of them being strong to the point that they could be compared to a high tier fable on their own.

    "That worked a little too well," Elias looked through the scope, and started aiming. The materials were coming to him on their own, to make him stronger.

 Chapter 104 Growth

    Elias saw the horde of powerful fables rushing towards him, many in their beastly forms. But instead of fear, he felt a rush course through his veins. This was exactly what he wanted. It was as if a buffet of souls was placed right before him, which could fuel his growth.

    He calmly adjusted his scope and lined up the first target before he pulled the trigger.

    The enhanced bullet, filled with the fragment of the essence of a mid-tier fable and a trail of lightning, ripped through the air. It found its mark, piercing the skull of a creature that resembled a giant, armored wolf.

    The beast, caught completely off guard, fell to the ground, its life fading before its eyes. Elias didn''t pause to admire his handiwork, but instead moved the aim only slightly before pulling the trigger once more.

    Another fable in its grotesque beastly was charging forward, letting out a war cry. Amidst the roar, the bullet passed through the beast''s mouth, leaving a fist-sized hole as it traveled to strike another beast in the back.

    Elias saw another fable and centered his aim on the middle of its forehead. Another pull of the trigger, and another fable was destroyed. The fable stumbled as its roar was cut short before it collapsed.

    Even though everything was happening so fast, Elias felt as if he had all the time in the world as he moved from one target to another, his reaction speed getting better with each passing second.

    Even he didn''t know if the feeling of getting faster with each passing second was just his misconception, or if it was really happening.

    The only person that seemed to be certain about this phenomenon was Astralious, who was observing every movement and every thought of the young boy.

    He could feel that Elias was actually getting faster as he killed more fables, which should''ve been quite impossible in general. A fable could become stronger by devouring other fables, but that was unheard of amongst the humans.

    Moreover, Elias wasn''t even devouring the fables at the moment, but simply killing them. So it felt even more strange in his eyes. Humans could become stronger by killing others? From what he remembered, that didn''t seem to be the case in the past.

    A person could only become stronger through evolution, and not by killing others, unless killing others was the path that led to their evolution. Even then, strength came through evolution.

    ''Did the outside world really change that much since I''ve been dead? Or it is something about this boy...'' Astralious thought, watching the middle tier fables falling on the ground, one after another.

    "Before the fables could even come within fifty meters of Elias, they were killed.

    "He seems to be killing the ones that could attack from a distance first. What a clever boy. It''s as if he can see everything about these fables." One of the Domain Lords couldn''t stop himself from complimenting the boy.

    If it had happened once or twice, it could have been a coincidence, but they had seen it happen many times already. Only those fables that had the ability to attack at long range were prioritised the moment they stepped out of the domain itself.

    As for the rest, they were killed before they could get too close to Elias.

    "Within minutes, the space before the Shadow Domain was littered with the corpses of Soul Beasts, many of whom had even served as generals under Zesten. It was as if he hadn''t sent these soldiers to kill Elias, but rather to become vegetables on the chopping block for him.

    Every time Zesten heard the sound of a gunshot, he felt as if his soul itself was being torn apart by the constant mockery of that man.

    The painful sounds only stopped when the last mid-tier Soul Beast fell to the ground, creating a gruesome painting of death if one were to look down from the sky. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Is that all?" Elias asked, as he kept searching for the next target, only to fail. There was no one left standing outside the domain.

    He had been so immersed in analyzing and shooting the Soul Beasts that the world itself had started fading from his view. He was only now starting to wake up from that daze-like state.

    "How many did I kill?" he asked Astralious, not even realizing how many Soul Beasts he had killed in total.

    "Three hundred and seven," Astralious answered subconsciously.

    Even though he was amazed by the scenes he had witnessed, he had still been subconsciously counting the Soul Beasts that were killed by Elias, a number that he didn''t believe would ever be surpassed unless there was another monster in the future.

    "That''s it?" Elias still didn''t seem satisfied with the number. "Should I try provoking him more?"

    "Do you think fables grow on trees?" Astralious scoffed, unable to believe that this was too little for this boy. "I think if he had more that were strong enough, he would''ve already sent them out to kill you."

    "Just look at his face. If he could step out of that place, I don''t even want to imagine what would happen to you."

    "If he could step out of here, do you think I would be doing this in the first place?" Elias stood up, still holding on to the sniper.

    He did think about provoking other Domain Lords in the same way, but he was sure that after seeing what happened just now, they weren''t going to fall for this trick anymore.

    "Let''s collect the harvest." He kept the sniper back, and started walking towards the mountain of fable corpses that were littered across the field.

    Meanwhile, the ego was still in the back, lost in its own thoughts as he was trying to remember something. He was sure that he had come to this place in the past with his previous master. But why? That''s what he couldn''t remember.

    He had a really bad feeling about this, as if he was missing something really important. But he just couldn''t remember anything about that trip.

 Chapter 105 Why so serious?

    Elias walked towards the lifeless fables and retrieved a small gem from temporary storage.

    Unlike the items he had received from the academy, this small crystal gem was not special in any way. It was more like a toy from Earth, swept up while Leo was looting other storage spaces during the apocalypse.

    This time, he didn''t merge the essence of the fables with any weapons. Instead, he was using these gems as temporary storage vessels for the essences.

    He placed an ordinary gem on top of the corpse of the strongest soul beast he could find before moving on to another. He selected only twenty at most, so as not to overburden his body. His eyes occasionally shifted towards Zesten, who was glaring at him.

    "Do you really not have more of them to send?" he asked, jumping down from the small mountain of corpses. He stopped right before the domain border.

    "Boy, it''s very brave of you to talk from outside?" Zesten asked Elias, standing on the other side of the domain. "Why don''t you come closer?"

    Even though there was only a small line between them, it felt like they were worlds apart. Elias could cross the boundary and enter the domain, but Zesten couldn''t leave.

    Even though he was furious to the point that he felt a burning sensation throughout his body, he couldn''t do anything but drink that poisonous rage. Even his attacks couldn''t cross the border to strike at the boy.

    "Why don''t you send more people to bring me inside? You seem to have a knack for sending people after me," Elias asked, making sure that he stayed at least a few feet away from the border so as to not walk inside accidentally.

    "You are just as vile as that person." Zesten''s lips twitched, hearing the constant mockery in the boy''s words.

    Normally, a person would never dare look in his eyes when talking to him. They would always have their heads lowered in respect and devotion when addressing him, but this boy was looking straight in his eyes.

    The worst part for him was that these eyes were similar to the eyes of the person that had left such a deep and infuriating impression on him which he couldn''t forget until now.

    "Are you his son?" he asked Elias, his fists being clenched so tightly behind his back that his palms had started bleeding.

    "Younger brother," Elias answered, having no reason to hide his identity since the man was already certain that they were related.

    "How did you find out that I am related to him? How did you know my whereabouts? I had nothing to do with you. I wouldn''t even come here if not for the people sent by you. So how did you know? And why did you want me here?"

    "The younger brother, huh." Zesten seemed to be lost in deep thought, as he heard Elias''s identity. "Although not as dear to him as a son, he would still more or less care about you as a blood relative. It''s good..."

    Elias frowned, hearing the man talking to himself like a crazy man, not noticing a shadow starting to crawl out of the mountain of corpses, belonging to a fable that was yet to die.

    The shadow approached Elias, while Zesten remained talking to himself, in a bid to distract the boy from noticing anything strange.

    The other Domain Lords had also noticed it, but they remained silent. A few of them were smiling in amusement, while others had a disgusted glint in their eyes at the sneaky tricks of Zesten. But they also didn''t interfere as they couldn''t care less about the humans from the Academy.

    As long as Elias could be brought inside the Domain, they could also get a piece of the pie, which made them somewhat interested.

    "You know, you really have a punchable face. Did my brother beat you up or something for you to hate me?" Elias asked, raising a brow as the crazy mumblings of Zesten. "He did seem to have a habit of it."

    "Oh, I will tell you everything that he did." Zesten stopped talking to himself, and approached the barrier at a lightning speed, his eyes glaring at Elias. "We will have a lot of time to talk about the past. I will make sure of it."

    "We do have a lot of time." Elias nodded, as his left arm started shining under his sleeves, a heavy essence gathering in his hand. Within seconds, the essence condensed to take the form of a heavy sword in his hand.

    Elias swung his left arm as he turned around just as the shadow had finished materializing in the true fable''s down. A trail was left behind as the Sword sliced through the fable that was about to attack him.

    The spatial cracks itself formed around the shadow, as the body of the fable was sliced in two halves, both falling on the ground one after the other.

    "So why don''t we start now?" Elias asked, turning back to Zesten, stabbing the sword on the ground before him.

    As he waited for the answer, he also started the extraction process that needed only a simple command from him, even if it came from his thoughts themselves.

    "You!" Almost every muscle in Zesten''s face was twitching as he saw the last surviving fable outside this domain die right before his eyes, just when he had thought that he might finally get Elias inside the domain.

    That fable wasn''t even trying to kill Elias, but simply trying to push him inside the domain, so as to not release any killing intent that a few awakened could sense.

    As long as the boy was brought inside the Domain, he could handle the rest. But that possibility was also brutally cut apart with that heavy Sword which was awfully familiar to him as well.

    Storms started rising behind Elias as the merger process began. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Why so serious?" Elias asked Zesten, who was clearly having a hard time controlling his emotions that made him want to destroy everything around him.

 Chapter 106 Pushing the right buttons

    "Child, you are testing your luck!" Blood dripped down from Zesten''s palms, falling to the ground. The ground where his blood fell began melting, akin to coming in contact with acid.

    "If I hadn''t tested my luck, I would not be here in the first place." Elias took a step closer, his eyes never shifting from Zesten''s, even as only half a meter of distance remained between them, separated by a thin line.

    "Then test that luck and step forward!" Zesten roared, his hand transforming into a dragon''s claw that he swung at Elias.

    Elias remained still, watching the claw come for him. It was only when the claw struck the barrier that it was pushed back. Zesten was forced to take a few steps back, while the young child remained unmoving, not even flinching.

    Elias had already tested the limits of the barrier when Zesten was banging on it crazily, and he had complete faith in his own analysis. Zesten couldn''t cross the boundary, even by an inch.

    "I came here to find a Soul Beast. But you can''t even leave this domain. You are weak..." he said, pushing all the right buttons to provoke Zesten. "Looks like the rumours were exaggerated."

    He shook his head in disappointment and turned around. "I have no interest anymore. I will leave after I take what I''ve hunted."

    He walked back to the fables, which had already finished merging. He kept the small orbs, which had gone from ordinary to extraordinary, in his class storage before arranging more orbs for the next batch to merge.

    Throughout the day, he continued the process, creating more orbs that carried the complete essence of the fables, only taking short breaks to recover his energy or eat.

    A few domain lords tried talking to him, but he completely ignored them, as if he had truly lost all interest.

    Occasionally, a few middle-tier fables sneakily came out of the domain, but none could escape him, which only gave him more resources to work with.

    In the end, he managed to gather close to four hundred such orbs, each carrying the strength of a powerful mid-tier fable, many on the verge of becoming high-tier fables in the future.

    The combined essence that he had managed to gather was comparable to that of a high-tier fable, and it all went into his storage.

    He didn''t let anyone there see what he had done, or what he could do with those orbs. He only made it appear as if the orbs were some kind of treasure used to store the fables, and not to completely merge with them.

    Once he finished collecting them all, he simply stood up and started walking away.

    "Oh, right. Before I leave..." He stopped and looked back, summoning the sniper back again. He raised the gun, taking an aim.

    Zesten''s face was already red at his failure, but when he watched Elias raise that weapon, his mood that had barely stabilized, became sour again.

    Last time he bled because of that weapon because he had underestimated it. But this time, he wasn''t going to make that same mistake again.

    He was completely prepared to block that attack. Even though he had failed in capturing the boy, but it didn''t mean everything was gone.

    He might not be able to use the boy as hostage, but he still had ways to gain their freedom from this place, albeit something that was a little more risky. Until then, he couldn''t let Elias insult him even more.

    "Try it," he said.

    As if listening to him, Elias pulled the trigger. Zesten raised his hand to catch the bullet properly this time, but when he raised his hand, he noticed that the trajectory seemed a little different.

    Did the boy miss him? His lips were only starting to creep up on a smirk at the failure of the overconfident child when he felt a pained growth coming from behind. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The bullet had missed him, but it had still struck someone else, that was the main target of the bullet in the first place.

    Zesten slowly turned around, looking at the source of that noise. His expressions darkened, as he saw an old man with a hole in the middle of his forehead, his body falling on the ground with a thud. The prophet was killed.

    "That should be enough." Elias kept the gun back, and started walking away, not looking behind anymore. He could feel the ground trembling, and he knew why it was happening. But he didn''t care about it in the slightest.

    He wanted to take down Zesten, but it was impossible to do it when he was here, keeping an eye on him. Catching his attention and making him send mid tier fables out, was only the first part of his plan.

    Now that he had succeeded, he had to prepare for the second and most important part of his plan. It was to enter the Shadow Domain personally, but not before creating something that surpassed all his creations.

    "We are leaving." He talked the jet, with the ego still lost in thoughts, trying to remember something really important.

    The cockpit opened, and Elias jumped inside. He left the place, making everyone believe that he had truly left the place, having no interest in the shadow domain.

    "That was quite an interesting scene. So, how does it feel to be humiliated by a second person of that same family?" A Domain Lord asked Zesten, whose face had turned red in anger and humiliation.

    Almost all his elites were sacrificed. Even the prophet, who was an important pawn for him, was killed right before his eyes, and he couldn''t even stop it. Instead, he was more busy trying to protect himself. Just the thought alone left him red faced.

    He picked up the body of the Prophet, and turned around, not saying even a single word to the other fables. He started flying back to his own city.

 Chapter 107 Higher than Contract

    Zesten returned to his palace and tossed the Prophet''s body aside. He went down to the basement of the palace and stopped before a door that stood out from the rest, as it strangely had the symbol of the Dimensional Academy itself.

    "I will repay this humiliation a thousandfold." He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Once he was inside, the door closed on its own.

    ....

    Once he was far away from the Shadow Domain to the point that he couldn''t be seen, he told the ego to land on the ground.

    Once on the ground far away from any domains, he jumped out of the jet and stretched his arms. There was some regret on his face that he couldn''t take the Prophet''s essence and abilities since that person was killed inside the domain.

    At the same time, he was slightly relieved. Having analyzed that fable, he was certain that he was the reason that his whereabouts were revealed. Without that fable, he could be somewhat relieved that his plan wasn''t going to be seen anytime soon.

    "Keep an eye on the surroundings through the sky," he told the ego. "If you find any soul beast, you should be able to take it out yourself. And if you can''t, come here and inform me."

    Elias walked away from the jet, which soared through the sky on its own, to keep an eye on the surroundings and to intercept any enemies. Meanwhile, Elias sat down on the ground, and brought all four hundred orbs that he had created through the merger.

    He personally checked every orb, and its compatibility with his own body, especially the orbs that were created through merger with elite fables.

    The only problem was that almost all the orbs had compatibility in the range of ten to thirty percent with him, with only a rare few going to the forty percent range. He started separating those with the highest compatibility with his body, and kept them away from the rest.

    After a little more than an hour, he finally finished the separation and counted the orbs that were valid for merger with him.

    "Only twelve that have more than forty percent," he looked at the handful of orbs, which was quite less than he had initially expected.

    After his evolution, he could merge with even the objects that were completely incompatible with him, but after the experience from last time where he almost ended up getting trapped in his own mind, he didn''t try to take any excessive risks.

    He sent the rest of the orbs back, which were enough to create something comparable to a high-tier fable level creation. As for the twelve or so orbs, he kept them in his hand. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Any enemies nearby?" he asked the ego, which was still flying in the sky, not far from him.

    "I can''t see any. I only see a new pillar rising into the sky," the ego''s words appeared in his head, after a short period of silence.

    "Good. I''m going to be busy, and I might even scream. Just keep protecting me, until I wake up," Elias took a deep breath, and closed his fists with the orbs in them.

    "Is that even something you need to ask?" The ego retorted. He kept observing the ground from the sky, while still occasionally trying to jog his memories of the past.

    In the past, he might not be able to face someone like Harbinger. But after his second merger, he was confident that he wouldn''t need to run if someone like Harbinger came before him again, as long as that person didn''t carry that frightening weapon.

    "Confirm extraction." On the other hand, Elias started the merger process with the essence of Twelve Fables that were most compatible with him, evolving himself one more time without having to go through a class evolution.

    Once the merger process began, a default screen of his own analysis appeared, but his eyes were already closed, so he didn''t pay attention to it.

    If he had, he would''ve been surprised to see that his stats were higher than they were when he last checked them, even though he hadn''t done anything significant since then, other than killing mid-tier fables in large numbers.

    Even the fruits that he ate with Lycorice, only increased his strength stat by a few fractions of a long, but his current stats were still higher than they should have been.

    Another section was present in his analysis screen, different from his evolution class rank. And all of it has happened when the current merger hadn''t even begun.

    .............

    Name: Elias Ashborn

    Age: Twelve

    Class: Architect (Rank 2)

    Level: 3

    Class Grade: Ex

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 20 (+17)

    Defence: 15 (+15)

    Speed: 20 (+16)

    Intelligence: 55 (+10)

    ~Elemental Affinity~

    High affinity with space

    ~Class Skills~

    Precise Extraction (B)

    Advanced Merger (B)

    Extraction Control (C)

    Analysis (A)

    Creation Comprehension (A)

    Storage (C)

    ~Additional Skills~

    Fable Creation

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90% Percent), Core Essence of Mid-Tier Fables (4 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (3 Percent), Bones of Ancient Beast of Decay (3 Percent)

    Material Stability: 65 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: High

    .............

    A storm rose up around Elias, as the merger process finally began. And the storm only grew stronger with each passing second, creating a low pressure zone in areas around Elias.

    Even the ego momentarily lost its balance and had to apply more force to get away from getting caught in the storm that strangely kept growing wider and taller.

    Many students had seen pillars of light rising to the sky, that were signs of a high tier being contracted, but it was different this time.

    It was the first time that many around the Land of Fables were able to see what felt like a storm pillar, rising to the sky, with lightning crackling in the storm, that made the pillar shine even brighter than the pillars of soul contract.

    "Hmm? Do you know what that is?" Not just the students, but even the two professors were standing atop the trees in the forest, looking at the distant storm.

 Chapter 108 Accept the strength, and the burden

    "I have no idea." Painter shook his head. "I have never seen anything like this before. Usually, when someone contracts a high-tier soul beast, a pillar of light rises. But this... this looks like a storm."

    "And it''s growing stronger," Grey frowned, his eyes narrowing as he tried to peer through the distance. But even he couldn''t see through the storm. "It''s almost as if something is¡­ evolving."

    "Evolving? It feels similar, but it''s not quite the same. Still, it is still a very beautiful sight..." The Painter raised his hand, summoning a canvas from the ground, gaining inspiration for his next painting.

    He held the brush and started painting the storm while sitting atop the tree. "Hmm? I can''t capture it?"

    It took him a brief moment to notice that something was wrong with his painting. He was drawing the storm, but he wasn''t able to capture its essence. For the first time in a long while, his painting was completely ordinary.

    "Should we inform the Headmaster?" Grey asked, turning to the Painter. Just a short time ago, they were fighting with the intention to kill. Even their clothes were torn in places, but now they were sitting as if nothing like that had ever happened.

    "She is the only person in the Academy who can enter the Land of Fables again. I think it might be for the best to tell her. If something bad happens, she would be even more annoying to deal with. I''m already on probation because of the last time."

    The Painter affirmed the suggestion and told Grey to bring the Professor while he stayed behind.

    "Despite being on probation, you never learn." Grey stood up, scoffing at Painter. He leapt off the tree, and disappeared.

    "What''s the point of learning? She can''t fire me. But still I don''t want her to hear her lecture a second time. Last time it almost made my ears bleed." Painter rubbed his ear, remembering the annoyance he had to feel with, all because he made a small mistake.

    "It''s not as if that boy would''ve become someone great. So what if I..." He mumbled, before shaking the thought off his head. He shifted his attention back to the storm, which was strangely still growing.

    Meanwhile, within the heart of the storm, Elias was undergoing a transformation unlike any he had experienced before.

    The twelve orbs he had chosen, each containing the essence of powerful fables, were merging with his very existence. Pain, raw and intense, coursed through him, but he gritted his teeth, and proceeded through the merger.

    The storm raged around him, creating a physical manifestation of the fables that he was devouring. He could see Twelve shadows appear in the storm around him, each belonging to a fable that he was devouring.

    One of the shadows reached out its hand to Elias. In response, he also extended his hand, even though every movement made him more pain. The two hands came closer, until the shadow touched his fingers. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze in place.

    Elias felt the shadow started becoming blurry, as if its essence was entering his own body. He could feel black veins extending all over his arm, until they reached his neck, and slowly moving to his heart.

    He could feel his heart becoming heavier, but not in a physical sense. Instead, there seemed to be immense grief making home inside his heart, along with a myriad of emotions like regret and rage.

    These were the emotions that he was already very familiar with, but he could feel even more of these emotions. He couldn''t just feel his own sadness, grief and rage.

    He could also feel the emotions that these fables had gathered for hundreds of years. These were emotions that were almost overwhelming him when combined with his own emotions, suppressing the other emotions.

    He looked towards another shadow, which also extended its hand. He couldn''t see the face of the shadow, but he felt as if he could see it smile.

    "Accept everything that we own..." The shadow reached out her hand towards Elias. "Don''t let the past disappear..."

    Despite receiving the budget of the uninvited emotions, Elias still reached out his hand. His fingers again touched the shadow, and the second shadow also started disappearing, the essence moving inside Elias''s body. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As the second Soul Beast''s essence entered Elias, it also moved straight for his heart, as if making home there. Harbinger''s essence as well as the Decaying Beast''s essence also came to life, and moved to Elias''s heart, making it their new home.

    The third shadow reached out, and then the fourth. Elias kept accepting all of them, even as he was overburdened by emotions that were getting thousands of times stronger.

    He didn''t even remember his own last, yet tears were subconsciously streaming down the corner of his eyes, as he kept accepting the burden of others along with their strength.

    This time, he wasn''t just evolving in his class, but also in his species. He was going beyond the existence of a human, and becoming part fable himself, starting his own fable.

    The ego, hovering at a safe distance, watched the storm that now covered hundreds of miles around the area. Every time the storm grew bigger, the ego was forced to move away, growing worried that the storm might attract dangerous enemies.

    Unfortunately, because of such a large storm, the ego couldn''t keep an eye on the entirety of the surrounding. It was trying its hardest to circle around the entire storm to observe the surroundings, like the moon going around the earth.

    Just as it had expected, a few mid-tier fables were attracted by the storm.

    Even the high tier fables were growing interested in the strange phenomena, since they felt an aura that they had never felt before. It was like the aura of a new peak tier fable that was arriving in this world.

    The storm didn''t just catch the attention of the fables, but also the other students of the Academy that now had high tier soul beasts that weren''t entrapped in their domains.

    Rey was the first, getting on top of the beast as he rushed towards the storm to check. The others also did the same.

 Chapter 109 I accept your curse

    Elias had already finished merging with eleven soul beasts. He could feel his body changing. But unlike before, his body didn''t grow larger or stronger. Instead, for some reason, he became younger.

    With the bones of the beast of decay transforming into the essence of a fable and moving to his heart, his physique began returning to its state before the merger.

    From looking like someone in his teens, Elias returned to the appearance he had when he first entered the academy, matching the physique of a twelve-year-old.

    His clothes had become loose again, but he didn''t even register it. He shifted his attention to the last fable, which was also different from the other eleven shadows.

    At first, all twelve fables looked nothing more than shadows to him. But after accepting eleven fables, when he looked at the last fable''s essence, he saw something that wasn''t a shadow.

    He could see the complete physique of the fable, as if it was truly living existence. He could see her face as well, which made him remember her. She was one of the last few people that were sent by Zesten.

    It was also the person that he had killed at absolute priority since she was stronger than the rest of the fables that he had seen until that point, especially her long range ability.

    The last fable approached Elias, as if she couldn''t control herself either. She was being controlled by an unknown force that it couldn''t resist, being pulled towards the merger. She didn''t try to resist either, as she was certain that she had already died.

    The woman stopped before Elias, looking at him with her snake-like pupils. Her gaze fell on the object that had long since fallen out of Elias''s pocket after his clothes became looser. It was an emblem, with a symbol of a snake devouring its own tail.

    "Are you..." She uttered a few words, as her hands moved on her own towards Elias''s hands.

    Elias looked in the direction that she was looking at, and saw the emblem of his family.

    "Even in death, you people don''t leave us alone." She gave a self-deprecating smile, as her fingers touched Elias''s fingers. She could feel her remnants being absorbed, with her existence being erased completely, with no chance of returning to life ever.

    "If there is any justice in this world, then I curse you... You will suffer a fate worse than death in the future. All the sins of yours and your family, will return to you a hundredfold to you. You will pray for death, but death will not be merciful enough to come for you..."

    Elias looked at the woman with lifeless eyes, hearing her curse. His eyes looked tired, and in pain, all his tears having dried off. But he didn''t take his eyes off her, watching her fade into business.

    "I accept your curse." He opened his lips, as his hands gently closed to hold her hands. However, before he could grab her hand properly, she disappeared, turning into a lifeless essence of a fable.

    The twelve soul beast''s essence was also taken by his body, and moved straight to his heart. The fourteen essences, each coming from a different soul beasts, had gathered at the same place, each having a different characteristics and past associated with it.

    Many of them even countered each other like fire and water. But strangely enough, all of them remained in Elias''s heart silently, being held together by something that was strong enough to counter their resistance.

    The storm around Elias became more fierce than ever, as if it was a wild beast that was trying to devour heaven itself.

    Lightning started fiercely flickering across the storm. Spatial cracks also appeared all around it, as the merger within the storm had reached the last step. Just like the person within the storm, the storm also seemed to have multiple characteristics to itself.

    Sometimes, it was a lightning storm, but the next second, it was like a whirlpool made of water. Other times, it was a tornado of flames, and some times, it was even worse. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Within the storm, Elias felt the emotions becoming unbearable. At times, he even felt like putting an end to everything, and just letting everything go and sleep in peace forever.

    "Even if I want to die, death won''t be merciful..." He mumbled the worst of the curse that he had heard from the last fable. He reached out his hand towards the emblem of the Asbborn Family.

    He gazed at the carving on the emblem, depicting an ouroboros. Somehow, he felt extreme familiarity with the mythical beast that was on the emblem of the Ashborn Family.

    Just like the Beast was devouring its own tail, he was devouring his own existence to become something that he was never meant to be.

    "If death isn''t merciful to me, then let it be... I will accept all the sins..." He closed his hands, holding the emblem gently before standing up.

    ....

    "What is this strange feeling? Why do I feel like something really bad is going to happen?" Still underground, the old man had not noticed the storm that was visible across the entire land of fables.

    He was still working on completing his life''s work, but suddenly, he was starting to feel something strange. He didn''t know if it was his instincts, or just the unease of getting close to completion.

    Meanwhile, there was another person right above, who was peacefully sleeping in the hut, even during such a chaotic time.

    It was only when the windows were swung open with thud due to winds that her eyes suddenly opened. She also sat up, wondering why the weather was suddenly so bad.

    She tried to leave the hut to check, but as soon as she got off the bed, she noticed something lying on the ground next to the beg''s leg.

    "What is this?" She reached out her hand, picking a small bead-like object that seemed to have a faint trace of dried up blood on the surface.

 Chapter 110 Regret

    Rey was the first person to reach the grand storm, which had already covered an extremely large area. The Soul Beast stopped a few meters away from the storm, and the young boy jumped down.

    "Do you know what that storm is?" he asked the Soul Beast. Unlike him, the Soul Beast had been living in the Land of Fables for a long time, which made him think that it might know what it really was.

    "This is the first time I have seen something like this." The Soul Beast transformed into her human form, a long gown materializing around her mesmerising body. "But I can feel a strong life force on the other side. Someone is inside."

    "Is it another Fable?" Rey frowned, feeling the strength within the storm itself.

    If the storm caused by a fable was this strong, then he could only wonder how unique the fable actually was. Even if he couldn''t take another Soul Beast at the moment, he could still take some advantage.

    "I can''t be certain. It feels like a fable, but still... It doesn''t feel right."

    "Can you enter the storm to check?" Rey asked the woman next to him who had a contracted mark on the back of her neck, confirming her Soul Beast identity.

    The woman was also curious about the storm, so she approached it. She reached out her hand and tried to touch the storm, but she quickly pulled her hand back after experiencing a very strong resistance from the storm.

    It felt as if the storm was trying to devour her own essence when she touched it, which made her look at it weirdly.

    "It''s impossible." She returned to Rey, shaking her head lightly. Even though she was a Domain Owner in the Land of Fables, and someone born in a high grade world, she still couldn''t pass through the storm walls.

    "I don''t know what''s inside the storm, but I don''t think it is good. If it''s hostile, then I might be able to protect myself, but you won''t be able to. We should return," she told Rey.

    "How can I leave after finding something so interesting? What''s the point of having a soul beast like you if you can''t even protect me?" Rey looked at her with dissatisfaction.

    The Domain Owner sighed helplessly, not knowing what to do next. She even wondered if this childish boy was really someone who could help her become a Constellation and complete her revenge.

    She opened her lips to make him understand, but she stopped abruptly and looked at the sky with a deep frown. She saw something within the storm clouds, coming in their direction.

    "Hmm? What''s something like that doing here?" Rey was also a little taken aback. The object''s form factor felt somewhat familiar to him, but it wasn''t something that should be in the land of fables.

    "Are others also here?" He was certain that it could be the work of someone who came from outside, like him.

    The thought that someone else was also here reminded him of the treatment he had received. It made him even more eager to have his revenge, now that he had a high-tier soul beast.

    "Bring that thing down. Someone must be inside. Don''t kill them outright," he commanded the soul beast, and the symbol on the back of her neck started shining. "I want to punish them myself."

    The Soul Beast''s lips twitched in frustration, and she somewhat regretted her decision to become a soul beast.

    Previously, no one could command her. But now, she had no choice but to follow orders, at least until she became a Constellation. She didn''t have any freedom to resist a command until then. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You better make me a Constellation fast after we leave!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth before transforming back into her beast form.

    She leapt into the sky, rushing after the jet, which had also noticed her. The Soul Beast pursued the jet, running on the air as if it were solid ground.

    "What the heck is that?" The Ego also watched in disbelief, almost losing his wits. He thought he was going to face some mid-tier beasts that weren''t tied to the domains, but the first existence he saw was none other than a high-tier Soul Beast.

    "F*ck! Why is my luck so rotten?" he cursed out loud as he reacted by launching a missile.

    The missile streaked through the air, leaving a golden trail in its wake. The Soul Beast, however, merely flicked her massive claws, sending a blast of concentrated wind that detonated the missile prematurely.

    The explosion rocked the sky, but the beast remained unharmed, her eyes fixed on the jet.

    The ego had already realized that everything was useless against a high-tier beast, which made him curse his luck even more. When he was prepared for a low-tier beast, a mid-tier beast came after him. And when he was prepared for a mid-tier beast, it was a high-tier beast.

    He quickly turned in the air and started flying as fast as he could, to at least drag the beast away from this place. He didn''t know that the beast had already failed to enter the storm, despite being a peak existence in this land.

    There was only one problem for him, though. He wasn''t faster than the Soul Beast, which was quickly catching up, right behind the jet.

    The beast raised her claws again and swung down to bring the jet down. But just as she was about to connect, she felt a sense of death looming over her.

    She quickly reacted and jumped to the side, watching a golden streak barely miss her. She looked back in disbelief, trailing the trajectory that seemed to have come from within the storm, which was growing weaker and slowly disappearing.

    As the storm grew even weaker, she was even able to see a vague silhouette within. The silhouette raised his right hand, and the jet that was flying away disappeared mid-air, materializing right next to him.

 Chapter 111 Something beyond

    "You are awake! I was almost scared to-" the ego exclaimed in excitement as he returned to Elias''s side. But when he looked at the boy properly, he could barely utter the next word. "...death."

    Elias looked the same as he did when they first met, but something was different about him. His eyes looked somewhat lifeless as he held on to a small emblem in his hand.

    His eyes were a little bloodshot, the whites crisscrossed with a lot of tiny red veins. The irises seemed dull and clouded, like a sky that was about to rain. They held a hollow and exhausted look. There were even a few dark circles under his eyes.

    "What happened to you?" The ego mumbled, watching Elias who looked like he had gone through a lot within the last few hours.

    Elias looked back at the ego''s physical body and smiled, "Nothing happened to me."

    Even though his words said otherwise, the ego could see that smile couldn''t be any more hollow.

    "I am sorry for leaving you out for so long. You can return and rest now. I will handle the rest." Elias reached out his hand, gently touching the jet.

    "Wait, I still have to say-" the Ego tried saying something, but before it could complete, it disappeared. It was sent back to the class storage.

    Even Astralious was confused about what had happened to Elias. The moment the merger began, everything around him seemed to have turned black, and he couldn''t see anything.

    It was only now that he was able to see properly, and he was left utterly confused. He wanted to ask Elias what had happened, but at that moment, even he chose to remain silent.

    Elias''s old clothes burned into nothingness. New clothes materialized around his body, accompanied by a long black robe that slid across the floor as he stepped out of the storm, or what remained of it.

    "It''s you!" Rey exclaimed in shock the moment he saw Elias. "How are you still alive?!"

    Even though he could see a familiar silhouette within the storm that had reminded him of Elias, he didn''t believe it. He had killed that child with his own hands. So how could he be alive? But after the boy stepped out of the storm, he couldn''t deny it anymore.

    He thought of all the possibilities, and only one made sense to him! He had been fooled! He never killed Elias in the first place. That''s why he never found the Growth Stone. He had to fight with everyone else, all because of this boy who had fooled him! sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You schemed against me!" He clenched his fist as everything started making sense to him. Every humiliation he went through was because of the boy and no one else!

    "So the storm was from the use of a growth stone!" he exclaimed, justifying the appearance of the storm in his mind as well. "You already used it, didn''t you?"

    "Who is he?" The Soul Beast landed next to Rey, returning to her human form as well. She could see that Rey had some kind of enmity with the boy, but why? She was certain that the two boys were in entirely different leagues already.

    "He is the bastard child of the Ashborns!" Rey said with clenched teeth. "He is the one that I should''ve killed a long time ago already!"

    "The child of the Ashborns?!" The Soul Beast and Astralious said at the same time, both in different places.

    The most shocked person in the entire place was none other than Astralious who had been cursing the Ashborn Family all this time, even telling Elias to stay away from those bastards. And that boy himself was one of them?

    "That is right." Elias raised his left hand, revealing the emblem of the family that carried the ouroboros symbol, a mark that was known throughout the world.

    "I am the youngest child of the Ashborn Family."

    At the same time, his robe also started changing as a serpent materialised on the chest portion as well as on the back of the robe. Elias wasn''t denying his identity anymore. He was wearing it openly, accepting the name, the sins and the responsibility.

    "Didn''t you want to have revenge on that family? I will give you an opportunity! Go and kill that bastard right now!" Rey told the Soul Beast right away.

    Even though he wanted to kill the boy with his own hands, he had already been defeated many times. Even though he didn''t want to accept it, subconsciously, he was scared, after the boy seemed to have gone through his first evolution.

    Even if he could defeat Elias himself, he didn''t want to risk it. He commanded his Soul Beast, which was at least comparable to a human with their third evolution.

    "Me?" The Soul Beast looked at Rey in disbelief. She wanted revenge on the Ashborn family, but even she wasn''t a fool.

    Almost all her instincts at that moment were warning her that the person standing before her wasn''t human. She felt as if she were standing before another high-tier Fable. No, she was standing before something even greater.

    "That''s right! Go and kill that bastard! After we return, I will help you evolve into a Constellation! Let''s start the destruction of the Ashborn Family with the death of their youngest son!"

    This time, he didn''t just tell the Soul Beast to do something, but used a command as well. The contract on the back of her neck started shining. Her body moved on its own as she transformed into a Soul Beast and rushed towards Elias.

    The closer she got to him, the more her instincts warned her. They were telling her that if she didn''t stop, she was going to die. Unfortunately, the greedy contract had become her biggest shackle at that moment.

    Since she couldn''t resist the command, she tried to fulfill it while surviving, roaring madly as she rushed towards Elias.

    She soon reached within twenty meters of the boy, who wasn''t even paying attention to her. Elias was instead looking at the emblem and putting it back in his pocket.

    The Soul Beast was within ten meters of Elias when he finally shifted his attention to her. He slowly raised his finger, and a shadow blade emerged from the ground, rising from the Soul Beast''s own shadow.

    Even a powerful weapon couldn''t leave a small scratch on a high-tier Soul Beast, but to Rey''s disbelief, the large shadow blade managed to slice through the Soul Beast, cutting it in two.

    Elias slowly stepped closer to the Soul Beast, whose eyes were still open, even in death. She couldn''t believe what had just happened to her.

    That kind of attack wasn''t something that a child could make. It was definitely on the level of a high-tier Soul Beast, and a mutated one at that.

    Elias walked past the Soul Beast''s corpse, leaving two gems on each half. He started another merger in the back as he approached Rey, who was still standing with eyes wide open in disbelief.

    Before he could even snap out of his daze, Elias was right in front of him.

    "This can''t be real... It''s definitely a dream. Right?" he asked Elias, behind whom two more storms materialized, but much smaller than before.

    Elias placed a hand on his shoulder. A blade came out from his hand''s shadow and passed through Rey''s throat, leaving a hole.

    "It''s a dream..." Rey''s lips moved, even as blood gushed out of his throat. He fell to the ground with a thud, still believing that he was going to wake up from this dream at home.

    Even the pain wasn''t enough to make him believe that something like this could be real.

 Chapter 112 Just happens to be

    Elias looked at Rey''s lifeless body lying near his feet. A puddle of blood slowly formed around the body of the Esterin Family''s Descendant.

    "Do you want to say something?" Elias asked, but even as his gaze was on Rey''s body, his words were directed towards someone else.

    "You were never going to free me, were you?" Astralious spoke up after a long time. From the moment he realized that Elias was the descendant of the person that had killed me, he already realized that his freedom was nothing more than a fleeting dream.

    "Whatever I say here, you will not believe. So I will let you find the answer yourself..." Elias answered as he started searching Rey''s body for any treasures that could be useful.

    There was only one thing that he found, which seemed somewhat interesting to him. It was the badge of the Esterin Family that was only given to the direct descendants of the family.

    Just like his own badge, the Esterin family''s badge was also made from rare materials which made it hard to be destroyed.

    Even though the materials were rare, the badge still held more value than them. It was an identity proof of a Founding Family''s descendent after all. He kept the badge in his other pocket, and walked away, leaving Rey''s body behind.

    He didn''t forget to collect the two gems that had finished absorbing the core essence of a high tier soul beast.

    ....

    Another hour passed before the next person arrived at the place, chasing after the storm that had long disappeared.

    It was a girl traveling on a high grade soul beast. She jumped off the soul beast, and looked at the puddle of blood where a body was lying.

    She approached Rey''s body and checked to see if he was truly dead, or if there was a chance of bringing him back to life. Unfortunately, she couldn''t see any signs of life.

    "How did he end up dying?" she frowned. She observed her surroundings, but she couldn''t even see any signs of battle. It was as if the boy had died without even resisting.

    "I can feel the fleeting essence of another soul beast. It wasn''t any weaker than me. But it seems to have died right here as well." The soul beast, having transformed into a bare chested man, stood next to the place where Rey''s soul beast had fallen.

    "It was probably the work of another soul beast." The girl stood, shaking her head lightly. "It looks like his greed really brought him to an unfortunate end. He shouldn''t have tried to keep the growth stone for himself."

    "One growth stone led two founding family descendants to their death. Not a bad start for this academic year..."

    She believed that someone had killed him for the growth stone, which was to be expected. In fact, one of the reasons she had come here was to meet Rey and take the stone back if he hadn''t used it.

    "There was no growth stone involved. If the other person had taken it, it would''ve left a fleeting trace in the air. There is none." The man looked quite conflicted.

    He could feel the trace of the fable that had died here, but strangely, he couldn''t detect any trace of the fable that might have done it.

    It was as if the essence of the other person was completely impossible to grasp, something too impure for someone like him.

    "He probably already used the growth stone. No wonder the other person became upset enough to kill him." The girl took a step back, watching the puddle of blood expanding, almost reaching her shoes.

    The Soul Beast simply looked at the lifeless body. He could see that the boy hadn''t gone through his first evolution yet, so that theory was immediately rejected.

    He was about to explain when his wolf-like ears twitched. He focused on a strange sound coming from far away.

    "The others are also coming here, it seems. We should leave before it leads to unnecessary misunderstandings." He picked up the girl, placing her on his shoulders.

    "Take him as well!" the girl told the man, just as he was about to run. "We should take the body back. The professors will know that we didn''t kill him. We might even ignite some interesting flames at the academy."

    The man''s lips twitched, but he still picked up Rey''s body, placing it on his other shoulder, and started running towards the Forest of Fables.

    Not long after they left, the other students arrived one after another. Although they were also a little curious about the unfamiliar puddle of blood, which seemed to belong to a human, they left when they couldn''t find anything related to the storm.

    Almost all the students had started returning to the Forest of Fables, except one who had gone in the opposite direction.

    Elias returned to the entrance of the Shadow Domain, which was almost empty now. Not a single person was left, with everyone having returned to their cities after thinking that he had left and wouldn''t come back.

    "This feels so weird. I feel strange..." A voice appeared in Elias''s mind, as he stood right on the edge of the Shadow Domain. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s just a new body. You will get accustomed to it," Elias said, taking his first step inside the Shadow Domain, something that almost every new student entering the land of fables was advised against.

    "Why did we have to change to this body?" The ego asked again, sounding somewhat grumpy as he felt quite strange in the new form factor. The difference between his previous form and current form was like heaven and earth.

    "Your other body was too loud, and quite visible. It wasn''t good for entering the Shadow Domain. This one is better for now." He didn''t pay any attention to the complaints of the drone that was circling around him.

    "Where are we going now?" The Ego asked Elias. "Are we going to kill that Zesten guy?"

    "We are going to collect materials," Elias answered. "And he... just happens to be one."

 Chapter 113 The Colourless City

    "What do you mean she is not here?" Rey stood outside the Dean''s office, talking to the management team.

    "Weren''t you informed? A delegation from Chronos is coming. She went to welcome them. It might take some time before she''s back."

    "Ah, right. The Chronos Delegation was coming." Rey remembered hearing something about it before. "But wasn''t she supposed to leave later for that?"

    "Don''t ask me. Something seems to have upset her. She was in quite a bad mood, so she left early to calm herself down."

    "She just had to disappear when she was needed." Rey scratched the back of his head. "She is always so unreliable."

    "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

    "I would''ve asked you to contact her, but that seems useless now. If it''s related to the Chronos delegation, she won''t be back without them. Well, she can only blame herself."

    Rey didn''t explain anything further. He had already done the bare minimum by trying to find her. If the Land of Fables still became unstable, then he couldn''t be blamed for it. In any case, he didn''t think that it was anything too serious in the first place.

    ....

    "Is that... a city?" S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias looked at the sight before him, which looked less like a city and more like a village nestled between two strange mountains.

    Until a few moments ago, he hadn''t seen any mountains at all. These mountains had only come into view when he reached near the city.

    He was still quite far from the city, but he could still see it clearly within the valley. It was very large, with many houses spread apart.

    Every house was identical, even painted in a uniform yet lifeless grey. Every garden grew the same neat rows of pale flowers, lacking any variety in color.

    He could even see a few villagers inside the village. Every villager seemed to be wearing a white porcelain mask sculpted into an unchanging smile.

    In the entire city, there was only one thing that stood out from the rest of the houses. It was the grand castle in the center of the city.

    While the other houses only reached up to a few meters in height, the Palace in the middle reached hundreds of meters high. However, even the palace was just as colourless as everything else.

    "Ah, I remember! I came here as well!" the ego suddenly exclaimed, seeing a familiar sight. "This is the City of Echless, the colorless fable! Remember the masked guy amongst the four Domain Lords? It''s his city! Ah, sweet memories."

    "I guessed as much. Tell me something else." The children were wearing masks similar to the one worn by the Domain Lord he had seen before, which already convinced him that this wasn''t Zesten''s city.

    "I remember my master saying that this isn''t really a city, but a manifestation of Echless'' fable. He said that he found the place uninteresting, so we went elsewhere. That''s when we found Zesten!"

    "That''s right! I remember everything! Ah, it had been troubling me for so long! I can''t believe that I even forgot about it! Zesten... He''s that child my master beat up!"

    The ego''s voice became brighter as he started remembering everything that he had been trying to remember. Seeing the first city inside the Shadow Domain triggered his memories.

    "So you remember why Aliath entered the shadow domain? It can''t be just to beat up that guy, right?" Elias approached the colourless city, getting closer to it with each passing second.

    "Who do you think I am? Of course I remember!" The ego proudly stated. "My previous master came here because he was given some instructions by his father. He was supposed to retrieve something from this place."

    "What did he take?" Elias grew intrigued. As the ego started answering, he entered the city, and in turn the manifestation of Echless, letting him know that someone had arrived.

    "He took the key."

    "The key? The key to what?"

    "I don''t know. He just called it the key. Your father told him to bring it back. He said that it was something to make a deal with some Chronos or something? I heard your father say that it was supposed to be a secret, but since you''re his son, I suppose it''s fine to tell you. Just don''t tell anyone else."

    "Now what is Chronos?" The more Elias heard, the more confused he became. There were so many terms that he was hearing for the first time, but everything felt important for some reason.

    "I don''t know that much. The only thing that I could guess from their conversation was that Chronos isn''t a person."

    "So Aliath took the key?" Elias walked through the city, watching the masked people go about their day, without even paying attention to him, treating him as no different than a non-existent ghost.

    He wanted to ask the ego about what happened with the key, but he remembered that it was useless. Aliath left this place without the sword after all.

    "That''s right. But we were chased by that giant thing. My master had to fight it, and then he sealed it with me. And then he said something before leaving... What was it?"

    "F*ck, I thought I remembered everything. What did he say? Something about not the time? Argh, this will make me go crazy! Give me a moment! It''s right on my tongue," The ego asked for more time.

    "You don''t have a tongue." Elias thought, but he didn''t say it out loud. He let the ego curse out loud in frustration as he tried to remember.

    Elias was approaching the palace, ignoring the people in his surroundings, when he suddenly noticed an old woman fall on the ground, with a small crack appearing on her mask.

    "Hmm?" He looked at the mask, as the crack started getting bigger until it covered the entire mask.

    "Child, come closer!" The woman raised her head, and looked at Elias. It was the first time that a manifestation had reacted to him.

 Chapter 114 First Domain Lord

    Elias glanced at the woman as her mask began chipping away. Her trembling hands reached out to him, and she begged him to come closer, asking for his help.

    After a brief glance at the woman, Elias continued on his way, not sparing her a second look. Even when she called for his help louder, he completely ignored her.

    "Help her!" Another masked person stepped in front of Elias, blocking his path. His voice was firm, yet it seemed to lack any emotion.

    The other masked beings also began surrounding him, like puppets being controlled by strings. "Help her..."

    They had left only one opening in their encirclement, which led to the woman with the cracked mask.

    "I don''t have time for this." Multiple blades came out from the shadows, cutting all the creatures around Elias in half, including the masks that had kept their forms hidden.

    "How long are you going to pretend?" After clearing his surroundings, Elias asked.

    The woman with the cracked mask, watched him as a strange flash appeared in her eyes. She stood up, and the cracks in her mask started healing.

    Her mask also changed color, as her physique started changing. From the physique of an old woman, he transformed into the physique of a man. Even the mask changed color, becoming more prominent.

    "Aren''t humans supposed to help others?" the masked man asked. Even though his voice was low, his words reached Elias, who looked back.

    "As a Domain Lord, don''t you already know that we can''t be called humans anymore?" Elias asked, not looking the least bit surprised at the appearance of the Domain Lord.

    "It''s good to see you again, child. You seem to have become stronger than before. I suppose that storm was also your doing!" The masked man approached Elias in a carefree manner.

    It was only when he reached within five meters range of Elias, that a dark blade came out of the ground, cutting him in two halves. Each half fell on the ground with a thud.

    "Isn''t that a bit rude?" The voice came from another direction, as another masked being in the distance started transforming and looked at Elias. "I thought your enmity was with Zesten. Are you sure you aren''t lost, little lamb?"

    "I am at the right place," Elias answered, as he raised his right hand, making another blade emerge from the masked creature''s shadow, cutting through another manifestation.

    "You are the one that entered my domain, and you''re trying to hurt me?" The voice came again, as another manifestation started transforming. "Little lamb, did no one tell you that a Domain Lord can''t be killed inside their domain?"

    "No matter h-" the manifestation tried speaking, but before it could finish, it was also destroyed. Unfortunately, no matter how many times Elias did it, the same thing happened.

    "No matter how many times you kill a manifestation, I cannot be killed. You are only wasting your ti-"

    Swiss~

    Another manifestation was destroyed and fell to the ground.

    "I really never took you for a stubborn fool. But it''s entertaining, so I will let you play around until you are exhausted. At that moment, it will stop being entertaining. And when you stop being entertaining, I will have to kill you."

    Swiss~

    Another dark blade sliced through a manifestation, but once again, the same nightmare followed.

    "Little lamb, you have selected the wrong target this time. I''m not a weakling like Zesten!" Echless took over another manifestation, standing on the roof of a house.

    "Why does it sound like you''re getting uneasy?" Elias asked before raising a gun and shooting at the target.

    "You are overthi-"

    Bang~

    One after another, Echless kept changing bodies, but every time he did that, he was killed right away. Within 10 minutes, he had been killed over a hundred times. And the more he died, the more impatient he was starting to sound.

    "Aren''t we truly wasting time here? What''s even the point if he can just appear again? No wonder my previous master didn''t waste time here." The drone stayed next to Elias, sounding bored. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You''re wrong. There is a point. He can''t be revived for eternity. Every time a manifestation that he possesses is killed, that manifestation is lost forever. He is losing a part of his soul every time. And when he is on his last one, he will..."

    Elias shot the last target in his sight. But this time, Echless didn''t appear again.

    "He will return to his real body," he said, gazing towards the Palace. He took a deep breath and started running towards the Palace.

    "Hmm? What''s the point of delaying the inevitable then?" The Ego followed after him. "Why would he do it?"

    "Because he isn''t certain that he can defeat me. He wanted me to get tired and leave, believing that it was an impossible task."

    "How did you find out?"

    "His Material Composition." Elias answered, but the ego doesn''t understand what he was even talking about. It was as if Elias was speaking some otherworldly language before him.

    "Just what is with that child?!" In the Palace, a man woke up inside a coffin, his expressions darkened. He reached out his hand, and picked up a wooden mask.

    He placed the wooden mask on his face, covering his scarred face. He stepped out of the coffin, and walked over to the window, looking at the person in the distance who was running towards his palace.

    "Hmm?" He swiftly stepped sideways, watching a small projectile brush past the edge of his mark, chipping it only slightly.

    Behind the mask, the man''s lips twitched. "Did I treat him too courteously? He seems to be trying to overreach now. Fine. Since you want war, then I will give you a war!"

    The man raised his hand, and brought it crashing down. A giant bolt of lightning materialized in the sky, and fell down. The bolt followed the movement of the man.

    The bolt fell from the sky, striking the boy that was running towards the palace. When the bright light disappeared, only a heavy crater was left behind, which had devoured half the city. But Echless didn''t care.

    The only thing he cared about was that Elias was killed. Not even a corpse was left behind in the crater.

    "I told him to not be overbearing. Just because I was being cautious and wanted to avoid a battle, he thought I was a weak coward?! He should have left when I gave him a chance."

    Echless gently brushed his fingers against the corner of his mask that was missing a small part. Following the gentle touch, the chipped corner of the mask started healing.

    "How could I leave without such precious material?" A voice fell in Echless''s ears. Behind the mask, his eyes widened.

    He couldn''t even react on time. All he saw was that his surroundings had started spinning, as the world around him turned upside down. His head flew off his body, and fell on the ground with a thud. The mask fell off his face, revealing a face covered with scars.

    His lips weakly trembled, as he watched his body also fall on the ground while his vision became blurry. He saw a person''s feet before him that landed on the mask, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

 Chapter 115 Blood Formation

    After the merger was completed, only a small gem remained. The gem contained the complete essence of a high-tier fable. Even amongst high-tier fables, it was of the peak grade that could be found within the Land of Fables.

    With this, Elias had collected two gems containing the essence of high-grade fables, including Rey''s Soul Beast.

    He tossed the gem back into his class storage and didn''t use it immediately. Once finished, he walked closer to the window of the palace which was starting to break apart with the death of its master.

    It wasn''t just the palace that was being destroyed, but the entire city itself. One half of the city had already been destroyed in Echless''s attack, and the other half was also being destroyed, with no one to maintain it.

    Elias jumped out of the window and landed outside the palace, the ground cracking under his weight as he landed.

    He swiftly left the city, hearing the constant rumblings of its destruction. Once the entire city was destroyed, a dark beam shot out from its core, going straight into the sky.

    Unlike the bright beams that appeared when a high-tier beast was contracting, this pillar of darkness was completely dark, mourning the loss of a high-tier beast. The pillar of darkness was visible across the entire Land of Fables.

    Many Domain Owners paid attention to the pillar, even more so than they did to the unknown storm. This was something that they understood perfectly well.

    "Is it coming from the Shadow Domain? Are the Domain Lords fighting each other?" the Painter wondered, seeing that as the only possibility of a high-rank soul beast''s death.

    Just like him, the other Domain Owners thought the same thing. The only people who knew the reality were the remaining four Domain Owners of the Domain in question.

    Almost all of them knew that there was no way for that to happen. Moreover, the Domain Lord who had died was no ordinary Domain Lord. He was the one who was the hardest to kill.

    Even information about that person was scarce since he didn''t allow any other fable to enter his City, turning it into a ghost town instead.

    "Instead the defences of the city. And send more scouts!" The Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain commanded their subordinates in complete seriousness.

    None of them left their own cities to check things personally, worried about their own safety. If there was someone that could kill the Colourless Domain Lord, then they were also at risks. None of them wanted to be the next target after leaving their cities.

    The only remaining Domain Lord that didn''t send any scouts was someone that was completely unaware about what was happening on the surface in the first place.

    Zesten was in a secret chamber under his palace, standing before a blood formation. "If I had any choice, I wouldn''t have done this. But enough is enough. I am willing to sacrifice you all for my freedom!"

    He picked up a dagger, used for the ceremony.

    "Become the key to my freedom!" he exclaimed as he stabbed the dagger in the middle of the formation. "Devour everything if that''s what it takes! Just grant me freedom!" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The blood formation started shining, craving for more blood. But it didn''t crave the blood of the person that had carved this formation. It craved for the blood of everyone else in this domain, including the other Domain Lords.

    "You have all looked down on me! You have all called me an illegitimate Domain Lord! Still, I didn''t want to take this route. I wanted to use you against the academy. But I am forced to do this!"

    At the same time, a similar formation started becoming more prominent around the cities of the other Domain Lords, including the area where the City of Echless used to be.

    The blood formation was large enough to cover the city, and it only grew brighter with each passing second.

    "When did it appear here?" The other three domain lords saw the formation appear under their feet as well. Their expressions darkened at the strange phenomenon but even they couldn''t understand what this formation was.

    Just to be safe, they tried to quickly leave the city before trying to understand this formation. But a barrier as powerful as the domain barrier appeared around the city, imprisoning them within.

    "It''s devouring us!" The Domain Lords failed to leave the city, but they also started to realize what this formation actually was.

    They could feel that strength was leaving their bodies. With each passing second, they were getting weaker and their soul essence was being devoured by the formation.

    They weren''t the only ones either. Almost all the fables within their city were going through the same suffering, with the weaker fables getting devoured within a few seconds.

    "Break the formation!" the Domain Lords commanded their men. They also prepared their strongest attacks, not worrying about the fate of their cities.

    Even if they couldn''t leave the city, they could at least destroy the formation. At least, that''s what they thought until they actually tried it.

    Their attacks killed many fables that were caught in the range, but even their fleeting essence of the dead fables was devoured by the formation.

    The attacks failed to leave even a slight scratch on the formation, which had gathered enough strength through the devoured fables. Not only did the attacks not harm it, but the attacks themselves were devoured by the formation, making it stronger.

    The devouring effect of the formation became even stronger, with all gathered essence slowly being transformed at the master formation in Zesten''s palace.

    The only city that seemed to be unaffected, despite the appearance of the formation, was the city that didn''t have any life left anymore.

    Even then, Zesten''s formation was on the verge of collecting enough essence while the other Domain Lords were almost completely devoured, unable to resist.

    One after another, three more pillars shot straight into the sky, this time frightening almost everyone who saw them. Within half an hour, four Domain Lords had died. Everyone could feel that something really big was happening.

    Even the Painter couldn''t stay calm anymore. The High-Tier Fables were only comparable to a human with three evolutions, which was quite weak compared to a Professor.

    Still, he felt quite uneasy as many students were still inside the land of fables, and neither the Dean nor Rey had returned.

 Chapter 116 Escape

    "It is working!" Zesten''s eyes lit up, watching the formation grow stronger with each passing second.

    With the formation gaining strength, a small spatial stack started materialising above the formation, flickering with instability.

    The forces of this world tried to repair the spatial cracks that looked like it was trying to connect to a faraway land beyond the reach of the Academy. But the formation prevented the crack from completely dying.

    Instead, the formation constantly supplied more and more essence of Domain Lords, their combined strength reaching the realm of a complete Constellation. The unstable spatial crack slowly started stabilizing.

    Once it was stabilized, the crack that was the size of a small finger started growing larger and wider, strengthening the connection with the space beyond, creating a spatial tunnel that surpassed the protection of the Land of Fables.

    "Just a little more!" Zesten watched the spatial crack in eagerness, almost getting a glimpse of freedom.

    Even though he didn''t know where the spatial crack was going to lead him, one thing was certain for him. The distance it was going to lead him was definitely beyond the reach of the Dimensional Academy.

    He even started making plans about what he was going to do after getting freed from this place. All he had to do was find a nearby world, and take over it completely. As long as he was able to stay hidden, even the Academy couldn''t find him.

    He even prepared to destroy all his traces from this place to make the academy believe that he had died. Everything was in perfect alignment for him, even though this was his last option that he didn''t want to use.

    It took only half an hour, before the entire Shadow Domain became absolutely silent. All the fables that were inside the cities of the Domain Lords, had died like rats, trapped within their own cities.

    Only the fables that were outside their cities survived, but their numbers were negligible. There was one more person who had survived, but he had only recently left the city of Echless, and was still on his way to Zesten''s city.

    "This is it! My ticket to freedom!" Zesten stood up, unable to hide his excitement as he looked at the six feet tall portal that had almost finished stabilizing, connecting to an unknown space.

    He didn''t know that Elias was coming for him. If he did, he would have thought about killing that boy first, and then leaving. But unaware of it, he was eager to enter the portal.

    He took a deep breath, feeling a strange sensation within him. He had lived almost all his life in this land. He had struggled so many times, even schemed against his own father, who had told him stories of the outside world.

    Finally, he was going to see the outside world for the first time where no domain could trap him. There was nothing that could stop him from writing his own stories. Even gods and demons were going to become his stepping stones. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once the portal finished stabilizing, he activated another formation, this time one that was connected to his own city. After activating the formation, he stepped inside the portal, leaving the Land of Fables forever, prepared to write his own story.

    The portal closed as soon as he passed through, almost exhausted of all the essence to complete that one journey of Zesten. The formation also stopped working, and started breaking apart.

    The second formation was different though. It had started activating right before Zesten left. And within seconds, it covered the entire city.

    "Is this his city?" Elias stood outside Zesten''s city, asking the ego to confirm the location.

    Once the ego confirmed, Elias took a step forward to enter the city. But the moment he was about to enter, he felt something was wrong.

    He quickly sent the ego to the class storage and jumped back, surrounding himself with a ball of shadows to protect himself completely. At the same time, the city itself exploded, creating a destruction far bigger than what could be caused by a nuclear explosion.

    The cloud of flames and destruction, swallowed thousands of miles, even reaching some of the other cities. Similar explosions occurred in other cities that had their life devoured by Zesten.

    Within a few seconds, more such explosions resounded, engulfing the entire Shadow Domain into its embrace, completely erasing all signs of the cities that used to be there. All that was left were multiple large craters where the cities used to be.

    In one fleeting moment, the shadow domain that had ruled over the land of fables, was completely wiped off the map.

    Amongst the clouds of destruction, even the fables that weren''t in the city and had managed to survive the initial onslaught, were killed. Not a single fable survived, their core essence destroyed from the core.

    In the entire land of fables, only one person was left, still breathing, watching the scenes of immense destruction that had left nothing behind.

    As the sea of flames started dispersing, a young man was revealed, mumbling to himself, "What just happened?"

    He jumped inside the large crater where Zesten''s city used to be, but there were no signs of life anymore. Everyone, and everything inside the city was destroyed, with not even a small brick left behind.

    ...

    "I am finally free!"

    In another place, far away from the Dimensional Academy, a portal opened. A voice rushed out of the portal before any person could even step out.

    "The f*cking academy can never trap me! I will write my own story now! A new era will begin!" Zesten stepped out of the portal, exclaimed loudly, unable to hide his excitement.

    However, the moment he stepped out of the portal, his smile completely disappeared as he looked around him.

    It was true that he was not in the region where the Dimensional Academy was established. But he had found himself at a place even worse which made his face go pale.

 Chapter 117 Chronos

    Zesten stepped out of the portal, finding himself not in an isolated space, but in front of a group.

    On one side stood a woman who appeared to be a completely ordinary person, without any discernible aura around her. Still, he felt a suffocating sensation when he looked at her.

    He didn''t recognize the woman, but if anyone else from the Academy were present, they would have instantly recognized her as the Dean of the Academy itself.

    On Zesten''s other side, there was a man wearing what looked like a white military uniform, with multiple stars on his chest.

    Zesten had never left the Land of Fables, so he hadn''t met the Academy''s Professors. However, his father had described the professors as beings who could kill him with a single movement of their fingers.

    The people in front of him felt even more imposing, to the point his body even refused to move before them. They were even more frightening than a Professor of the Dimensional Academy could ever hope to be.

    Zesten''s mind was telling him only one thing. He had to run away if he didn''t want to die. But his body refused to move even an inch. The portal behind him had already closed, with no way to return where he came from.

    He was also in a closed space that looked like it was inside some battleship that was traveling through a black hole. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The man in the white uniform frowned, looking at Zesten that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their battleship, right when they had begun an important meeting.

    He could see that the one appearing before him was not a human. It wasn''t even a living existence, but a mere fable. What surprised him, however, was the fact that this fable had appeared inside the Chronos Battleship.

    Even though the ship didn''t have any Defences on since no one was foolish enough to attack the ship of Chronos, still it wasn''t something that a mere fable could achieve with his own strength.

    Zesten knew that he couldn''t escape alive. At best, he was going to be imprisoned once more. At worst, he was going to be killed. He had to escape from this place at any cost. And there was only one way to escape that he could see.

    He saw a young girl, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, standing not far from the man in the uniform. He didn''t know who that girl was, but her facial features matched with the man. And if she was here, he didn''t think she was insignificant.

    If she was important enough, then she was her ticket to survival in his eyes. As long as he could take her hostage, he could negotiate his escape. The only problem was that his body refused to listen to him.

    He bit his tongue as hard as he could, trying to bring his body out of shock. At the same time, he put all his willpower into moving, as he ran towards the little girl as fast as he could.

    He wanted to get to her before the man could even react, as the distance wasn''t too high. However, what surprised him was that the man simply gazed at him, not even trying to move.

    The man''s pupils followed him, as if he had all the time in the world. Even his speed couldn''t lose the man''s observation.

    Still, since Zesten had already put the plan in motion, he couldn''t stop anymore. He soon reached the little girl and reached out his hand to grab her by her throat.

    The girl raised her head, looking at the man with her silver pupils. Zesten suddenly felt a sharp pain throughout his entire body.

    The moment that girl looked at him, everything had ended. His life force was destroyed from the core, as he fell on his knees. With a single thought, without even raising a finger, the girl barely twelve years old had killed him.

    His mind, his heart, his body, everything died in that one instant as he fell on the ground. Soon, his body started disintegrating into nothingness, leaving not even a single trace of his existence behind.

    The girl lowered her head again, not reacting much to the fact that she had just been attacked by a man that appeared out of thin air.

    "Your daughter is quite good," Freya told the man in the uniform, as she observed the child with great interest. "Why don''t you send her to the Academy?"

    The man calmly answered, "Chronos does not need help in training one of ours. You should worry more about your own. Your results in recent years have been... disappointing."

    Freya didn''t respond. Even she knew that the man wasn''t lying. In recent years, the results that she had managed to produce had been no less than disappointing even for herself.

    Still, it didn''t feel pleasant coming from someone from Chronos. If she was back in her office, she would have already broken some tables in her anger, but she didn''t want to show any such behaviour before others.

    "From disappointment, I just remembered. How is your eldest son doing?" After a brief period of silence, she suddenly asked. "Did he come out of his coma?"

    For the first time, the man who had been calm throughout this time, reacted somewhat sharply as his pupils trembled.

    He swiftly controlled his emotions and answered, "He is doing better than the person that sent him to that state."

    "Ah, that''s good." Freya revealed a mocking smile. "I was worried that after what happened to him, he might never wake up. It''s good to see that he is doing better now."

    "Freya, I would advise you to be extremely careful with your words. Don''t forget what can happen to your younger generation in the days to come."

    The man lightly patted the head of his daughter, but his eyes were like that of a vicious beast that was warning another beast about the consequences.

 Chapter 118 Way back

    "There is nothing left." Elias emerged from the crater, having confirmed that everything was gone. Not just the city, but even the domain barrier itself had disappeared along with all the Domain Lords.

    For the next few hours, he roamed the domain, checking the other cities. However, they were in the same state, or perhaps even worse.

    All the Domain Lords seemed to have been caught in the explosion and killed. He was somewhat disappointed by this realization.

    He considered going to other domains, but a message appeared in his mind. It was a message heard by every living being in the Land of Fables, instructing them to return to the forest at the earliest.

    Hearing the message, Elias glanced in the direction of the forest. He wanted to go deeper into the Land of Fables, as there were still many domains left to explore, but the voice sounded urgent.

    It was not a suggestion from the academy, but stern instructions which made him wonder if they were about to return home. Not wanting to be trapped in this land once everyone else had left, he decided to return as well.

    He summoned the fighter jet, but this time, he didn''t merge his ego with it to control it. Instead, he used his own skills and understanding, gained through his evolution.

    This skill allowed him to understand his creation to a greater extent, even if he had only made slight modifications to it through merger or extraction.

    He jumped inside the jet, leaving his ego to rest in the storage space, and took to the air. On his way back, he flew through a few domains that were on his route and collected a few more fables, spending as little time as possible before continuing the journey.

    The last domain on his way back was the domain where Lycorice lived. It was the only domain that he ignored, as the fables there had only helped him when he needed it the most. He flew around the domain, so as not to disturb them.

    Soon, he reached the Forest of Fables and opened the cockpit. He sent the jet back into his class storage and jumped down from the height, once again landing right on top of the Forest of Fables, just like the first time he had arrived here.

    ....

    Inside the Forest of Fables, the children stood in a group on one side, many accompanied by High Tier Soul Beasts who stood behind them in their human forms.

    Still, the large majority of the children had only managed to obtain low-tier soul beasts, many that couldn''t even transform into a human form yet.

    The low-grade soul beasts couldn''t even raise their heads in the presence of the high-grade beasts that were like gods to them.

    A hierarchy in the class had already been established based on the families that the students came from, but that hierarchy was further reinforced by the type of soul beast that each one had managed to tame.

    There was only one person in the entire class that didn''t seem to come from any notable family, but had still managed to obtain a high-grade soul beast, making him stand out from the rest.

    Despite a person from an ordinary family obtaining a soul beast, the total number of children with soul beasts was still less than the number of descendants from the founding families, especially since one of them was lying lifelessly before the group.

    The children had never expected that the only person who would die in this place would be the child of the Esterin Family. However, they couldn''t deny the body that was lying before them.

    Even the two professors had confirmed that Rey had died. The only thing that they couldn''t confirm was the cause of death, since the attack felt like it came from a high-grade soul beast that didn''t match the soul beasts of anyone else present here.

    "Are you sure you didn''t find him inside any Domain?" Grey asked, having returned from the Management Office after a disappointing trip.

    "There was no domain there. I found him when I went to check on the strange storm. But neither the storm nor the person who killed him was there," the girl that brought the body back, answered.

    "Then how did he die...?" The Painter raised a brow. He had counted the number of high grade contract pillars. There were a limited number of such contracts. And all the owners of those contracts were here, with the number perfectly matching.

    If it wasn''t the work of a high grade soul beast, and it wasn''t inside the domain, then how were there signs of an attack that came from a high grade?

    "Did any of you see Elias on your way back?" Grey asked out of nowhere.

    "Professor, he died before even leaving the forest." A child spoke up, remembering the scene where Rey had killed him.

    "Hmm?" The Professors looked at each other with their frowns deepening.

    They were so immersed in fighting at that moment that they couldn''t observe the children. If they had, they could''ve already noticed how Elias had fooled them. But now, they were at a complete loss as well. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What about his body?" The Painter asked. "Where is it?"

    "The body was destroyed by Rey. Nothing was left behind," the child hesitatingly answered.

    "An Esterin, and an Ashborn died?" Grey scratched the back of his head. Even though he had provoked a fight between them, it was because he knew that they couldn''t kill each other. But things had gone beyond his expectations.

    It would''ve been fine if only one of them had died, as the other would be alive to take the responsibility. But both of them had died, making the situation even worse.

    "It just had to happen now when a delegation is coming. Argh, I don''t want to deal with the Dean!"

    "Are you sure Freya is the one you should be worrying about?" The other professor looked at Rey''s lifeless corpse, letting out a sigh.

    He stepped forward and picked up the body, before telling the others, "We are returning to the Academy."

    He summoned a large canvas and carved a single stroke on it. The stroke opened a portal back to the Academy.

 Chapter 119 Forcing a path open

    "We are returning to the Academy."

    The Professor summoned a large canvas and carved a single brush stroke upon it. The stroke opened a portal back to the Academy. He stepped through, carrying Rey''s body, the other professor following close behind.

    The children, along with their contracted Soul Beasts, followed. They stepped through the portal, leaving the strange, unsettling calm of the forest behind.

    The portal slowly closed and disappeared from existence, leaving only rustling leaves and the faint scent of death.

    Once the portal closed, the brush stroke also disappeared from the canvas, which fell to the ground like the most ordinary object imaginable.

    After twenty minutes of their departure, the rustling of the wings became louder, and a person fell from the sky, landing in the center of the forest, right where the others were previously standing. However, no one was here to see him.

    "Don''t tell me they left?" Elias started searching around the entire forest, but he couldn''t find even a single person.

    He even called out to the professors, but the end result was the same. No one was left here, except him. He was truly late and left behind.

    He sat down on the dark grass, next to the large canvas, almost feeling at a loss. Even though he had become stronger, he still didn''t know the way back.

    He checked the canvas with his analysis, but there was nothing extraordinary in it either.

    Was he also trapped here like the other fables, until the next batch of students arrived the next year? That was the biggest question in his mind. He didn''t want to stay here for a year. It was too long.

    "The Guardian of the Forest..." He mumbled, thinking about the beastly existence that had eaten them to bring them here. If there was no visible passage back, he thought that it might have something to do with the guardian.

    He called out to the Guardian as loud as he could, asking to be sent back. But there was no answer either. The forest of fables felt just as lifeless as ever, even though each of its leaves held a life in a sense.

    "Guardian of the Forest!" He called out again, but things didn''t change. He only heard the rustling of the leaves, and nothing more.

    "If you don''t send me back, then I will be forced to create my own path! If you can hear me, then please don''t force me to do it! Open a path for me!"

    The results still didn''t change though, which made Elias reach the end of his patience.

    He brought out a gem, and placed it in the middle of the grass.

    "If you can hear me, then please open a passage!" He said one last time, having some hope. After his plea, he waited for close to five minutes, but nothing changed at all.

    He glanced at the ordinary black gem on the ground, making up his mind. If the guardian of the forest couldn''t listen to him, then he was going to make it happen himself.

    "Confirm Merger."

    ...........

    Please select the materials for Merger.

    ...........

    "The glass orb," Elias tapped the gem lightly, before moving his fingers over the canvas. His finger moved past the canvas and touched the grass, "And the forest of fables."

    ...........

    Materials selected for merger: Glass Orb, Forest of Fables

    Material Compatibility: 0 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 0 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    ...........

    "Proceed." Elias said without any hesitation.

    ...........

    Warning. The possibility of success is really low. A failure will result in destruction of all selected materials. Would you like to proceed?

    ...........

    Elias took a deep breath, before mumbling, "Proceed."

    The guardian of the forest was the door that led to this place and kept this place sealed. If the door didn''t open itself for him, then the only other way he could think of was to make the closed door disappear.

    He didn''t know if the disappearance of the door would open a passage back, but as a last resort, he had already thought of another option.

    In his destruction spree, he could destroy the entire Land of Fables in a similar manner. If the Land of Fables, as a space itself, didn''t exist, then everything in it would naturally be tossed to the nearest space, which was the Academy itself. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As for freeing the fables, he didn''t care about it. That was something for the Academy to worry about.

    The two professors returned to the Academy with the children. Even though quite a few days had been spent inside the Land of Fables by them, but as the time itself worked differently in both spaces, only a few minutes had passed in the Academy itself.

    The children returned to the same passage from which they had entered the forest, the door now right behind them.

    "This should be enough for their first day at the academy. Can you guide them to their rooms?" Grey asked the Painter.

    "Why do I have to be the one? You lead their class, not me," the Painter retorted sharply.

    "Fine. Then you can be the one to go and inform management about the two deaths," Grey answered, frustrated. "I will guide them back."

    "I just remembered. I was going in that direction as well. I will lead them to their new residence," the Painter quickly changed his tune, having no interest in dealing with the aftermath of the two deaths.

    He quickly led the children away, with Grey watching him enviously. If only I weren''t leading this class, I could be just as free.

    ''Now, how do I justify it so the blame doesn''t fall on me?'' Grey scratched the back of his head and walked away as well, not paying any attention to the door behind him, which was still trembling for some reason.

    He also disappeared, leaving the corridor completely empty. Not long after he left, everything started changing as the trembling of the door intensified.

    It tried to call for help, but it couldn''t. It could only watch as small cracks started forming on its surface.

 Chapter 120 Lifes work

    "The entire forest is being destroyed. You are killing the fables before they are even born!" A voice echoed in Elias''s head.

    "Are you finally willing to speak again?" Elias watched the cracks appearing on the glass gem, similar to the cracks that were appearing around his surroundings, as well as on the trees and everything within the forest.

    Multiple red screens surrounded him. The screens were giving him live updates about the progress of the merger, or rather, the destruction of the materials.

    The Sylphs, who looked like small fairies, also saw the destruction and started flying around, screaming at him, asking him what he was doing. Even though they knew that he shouldn''t be able to hear or see them, they still didn''t hold back.

    Once they had had enough of scolding him for destroying their homes, they started leaving the forest to enter the land of fables, which looked more stable than this place.

    "I don''t want to talk to you either. I just want to remind you about the things that you are doing. Didn''t you say they were materials for you? Why are you destroying them?"

    "All materials are useless if I can''t even leave this place. If this will open a path back, then let it be."

    "You know, you are truly no different from them. I should have realized your identity much sooner."

    "You are right. I am just as bad as them, but it''s not enough for me. In a family of monsters, if you''re not a bigger monster, then it''s only a matter of time before you are devoured. Maybe that''s why Aliath was..."

    Elias realized what Astralious meant by "them." These words might have made him feel bad in the past, but not anymore. He didn''t care if he was called a bad person, or even an outright evil one.

    As long as he stayed true to his core values, he didn''t care what else he had to do.

    He had long realized that in this world, he had to learn the same vicious tricks that others used if he wanted to survive. And if he wanted to go beyond simple survival, then he had to surpass his own family. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

    Soon, the destruction of the forest reached one hundred percent. A loud cracking noise resounded in the air as the small gem shattered into thousands of pieces, each piece flying in a different direction. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Some of the pieces even struck Elias on his arms, chest, and even his face, making him bleed. Along with the forest, the guardian of the forest was also destroyed, and the door broke into a myriad of pieces.

    The entire forest disappeared into nothingness, the seal maintained by the guardian completely gone. All the domain borders disappeared, and the remaining domain lords were freed from their shackles.

    With the guardian''s death, the closed passage was also left wide open, connecting the barren land back to the Academy.

    Not a single blade of grass or leaf was left where a lush forest had once stood. All that remained was the canvas, lying near Elias''s feet.

    "It worked..." Elias stared at the portal that had appeared right before him, at the exact center of where the forest had been. Even he was slightly surprised that his plan had worked just as he had expected.

    He glanced back in the direction of the land of fables, unaware of the kind of chaos that he had caused in this place and the Academy by breaking the barrier and the seal.

    "What they do after this is up to them." He turned back to the portal and stepped inside, returning to the long corridor in the academy. "I am certain they won''t be foolish enough to leave this place, but if they do..."

    He knew what was the fate of the soul beasts that tried to escape this place even after the barrier had disappeared. The Academy was full of people that were many times stronger than the fables.

    Even a Constellation couldn''t face someone on the level of a professor, something that he had confirmed through Astralious''s memories. Even the Seniors of the Academy held Soul Beasts in the high grades or higher.

    It was clear that all those that passed through the portal were going to be killed. He didn''t care about most of them, except Lycorice and the old man that had helped him, but they also looked wiser than the others.

    He had complete faith that the old man wasn''t going to let Lycorice do something so foolish, so he could freely leave without worries.

    ....

    "What is happening?" The old man stepped out of the underground facility, right on time to catch the disappearance of the Domain Barrier, something that he could feel at his core.

    He also looked in the direction of the forest of fables after flying higher into the sky, and saw that the forest had completely disappeared. What was left behind, was a bright portal which should''ve been kept closed by the Guardian.

    "What just happened while I wasn''t here?" He wondered, his expressions getting distorted. "This is bad... This is so bad! That vicious woman will definitely come here to check what happened. And when she does, she will also find ''it''. I can''t let it happen."

    Elias had thought that the old man was going to be lazy and stay at his home despite the large-scale commotion that he had caused, but he didn''t realize the true circumstances of the man.

    He quickly went down the ground, into his facility. Within ten minutes, he stepped out of the place, holding a small pendant in his hand.

    He rushed inside his hut, and saw the girl who was sitting on the bed, her face slightly pale for some reason as she was breathing heavily.

    "We have to get out of here!" The old man didn''t have time to notice the strangeness in the girl''s condition. He simply placed the strange looking pendant around her neck.

    "This is my life''s work! You have to protect it at any cost, no matter what happens to me!" He told the girl, before taking her out of the hut. He didn''t notice a contracted mark that had appeared on the back of her neck now.

 Chapter 121 Nice Senior

    The other high-grade soul beasts had also noticed that the barrier had disappeared. Without a second of delay, they started flying towards the portal, not a single soul beast deciding to stay behind.

    Elias had overestimated the intelligence of the soul beasts. Or rather, he forgot to consider the consequences that being trapped for hundreds of years would have on the minds of these soul beasts.

    At that point, they weren''t thinking about what kind of existence they would find beyond the portal. They simply wanted to leave, grasping for even a fleeting hope of freedom.

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    Amidst that group was Lycorice, who was being taken to the portal by the old man. The two of them intentionally traveled a little slower to let other soul beasts reach the portal first, intending to use them as distractions while they rushed out.

    Unaware about the chaos that he had caused inside the Land of Fables, Elias had already left the corridor. He wasn''t even sure where the others from his class were supposed to be, as he was completely lost even if he had returned.

    He took the same route in reverse, and reached the exit of the Building which was still missing the door that had been destroyed by the professor. Along the way, he saw many doors but none of those doors opened to him.

    He could break those doors through extraction, but he didn''t think they were meant to be opened by him in the first place. He didn''t even know what was behind those doors.

    He simply stepped out of the building, wanting to have nothing to do with the Destruction of the land of fables. Fortunately, on his way back, he didn''t come across anyone else either, as the hallway was completely desolate.

    It was only after he stepped out of the building that he finally saw someone. There was a woman in the distance, sitting on a chair comfortably. Next to her, there were two youngsters that were working on fixing the main gate of the building.

    Elias approached the girl, who seemed to be immersed in reading a book, to not even register someone approaching her.

    "Senior?" Elias called out to the girl in third year that was punished by Professor Grey to repair the door. However, it was clear that she had already dumped the work to the second year students.

    "Hmm?" The woman lowered the book of alchemy, and looked towards the source of the voice.

    "Aren''t you the junior that was being escorted by that cranky old ma- cough, I mean by Professor Grey?" She straightened her back, observing the child that seemed like he had returned from some warzone.

    His hands were covered in blood. There were even some traces of blood on his face, but it was minor.

    She brought out a small vial from her pocket, and tossed the liquid on Elias'' face and the remaining drops on her hand. The liquid worked miraculously and healed his wounds, and even erased any pain.

    "Are you just returning from the Land of Fables?" asked the girl after keeping the empty vial back in her storage ring. "Just how bad were you beaten there to come out bleeding?"

    "It was just an accident." Elias smiled, being somewhat honest as this was indeed an unexpected accident for him. "I was a little lost. By the time I realised it, the professor and others had already left. Can you tell me where they might be?"

    The woman looked at Elias, her gaze slightly softening. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and said, "You don''t have to lie. He intentionally left you behind, right? Even after all that, you''re still trying to protect him. You do have some loyalty. Not bad."

    Elias could see that the girl had a clear misunderstanding, believing that the Professor had left him behind in the corridor since he didn''t like him. He didn''t try to clear the misunderstanding either, since it worked in his favor in the end. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He simply lowered his head, hiding his eyes and asked, "Can you tell me where they went? I don''t want to miss the next class."

    "As far as I know, there won''t be any next class for today. The others were lost, probably taken back to their residence by the Professor. He most probably took a shortcut and left you behind."

    "Where might I find my residence?" Elias asked the girl, who seemed quite helpful, despite being somewhat lazy.

    He didn''t notice the strange gazes of the two youngsters that were fixing the door.

    They were looking at him with jealousy, wondering why the girl was like a bully before them, but talking so nicely to him? Was this the privilege that newbies received from third years?

    "It will be quite far if you want to walk there. Even the closest portal leading to the quarter is at least a few miles away. You will only reach there by evening."

    "It is fine. I can walk a little." As the girl treated him nicely, he also behaved nicely, having experience of talking to his seniors back on earth.

    For the first time since coming to this academy, he was having a conversation with someone that seemed normal. However, even he understood that it was probably not all there was to this woman.

    If she had become a third year student of the destroyer class at this academy, then she was far from ordinary. She might have more blood on her hand than even him.

    Despite that, she was like a completely normal person here, not a sight that she would have shown during practicals or battles.

    "Even if I tell you, you might be lost. I will send someone to guide you, little one."

    She looked back at the two youngsters that had almost finished repairing the door. "You, guide this friend to the residences of the first years."

    "But I just..." The long haired boy looked in disbelief. She had almost finished repairing this door and all that was left was to fix it in place. After that, he could return. And now he was being told to guide someone tens of miles away?

    "Do you have something to say?" the girl narrowed her gaze.

    "Not at all. It''s my luck to help a junior brother." The up dropped the hammer and stood up. He told Elias to follow him, and turned away, hiding his lips that were twitching in frustration.

    ''You want me to guide him? Do you think I am your slave? Fine! I will make sure to guide him real well¡­''

 Chapter 122 Atlas

    "Come with me," the second-year student said to Elias, gesturing for him to follow.

    "Thank you for the help," Elias said to the girl who had helped him, not thinking much about the kind of past she might have had related to her practicals.

    He turned and followed the young man.

    "Wait," the girl suddenly called out. "Before you leave, I have a question for you."

    "Huh?" Elias looked back, coming to a halt. He maintained his calm exterior, even though he was somewhat worried about what she might ask.

    "What is your name?" Fortunately, the question was not related to the land of fables.

    "If that old hag doesn''t like you, then you can''t be ordinary. Which family are you from? And what was your rank in the first test?"

    "My name is Atlas," Elias answered calmly, without showing the slightest fluctuation in his expression. "Atlas Rezin. I don''t come from any significant family, so you probably haven''t heard of my family name."

    He didn''t tell her his real name, instead using the name he had on Earth. Whatever was going to happen next, he didn''t want to be linked to his identity in this world.

    "What was your rank in the test?" the girl asked, frowning.

    Normally, the professor wouldn''t even spare a second glance for someone who didn''t come from a position of significant privilege. If he was indeed from a small family, then her interest made even less sense.

    "I was ranked fortieth," Elias replied, lying once more to place his rank in the lower half of the class.

    "Only fortieth? Strange. Then why did that old hag get upset with you? Looks like he''s getting more senseless with age." The girl rubbed her forehead, thinking out loud.

    She didn''t hold Elias back any longer and told him he could leave. The boy didn''t waste a moment as he walked away, following his guide.

    "What are you looking at? Start fixing the door if it''s been repaired." The girl shifted her attention to the other junior before sitting down on the chair again.

    The boy could only curse under his breath at the shift in her behavior from Elias to him. He returned to work and after half an hour, completely straightened the door.

    He stood up and raised the heavy door above his head and carried it towards the entrance. He placed the door before the entrance and started fixing it in place.

    "Just this one last bolt and I can finally be fre-" he wiped the sweat off his forehead and started completing the final touches. But just as he was about to finish, he felt a powerful force from the other side of the door.

    The door that he had barely fixed in place, was sent flying back, along with the man. A myriad of fables rushed out of the hallway, screaming, "We are free!"

    Many of the high tier fables used their manifestations to turn their surroundings into their domains for protection as they continued running. The weaker fables only followed along.

    Lycorice and the old man were the last to step out of the hallway.

    "Hmm?" The woman had just returned back to reading the book of alchemy when she heard the loud commotion.

    She again lowered the book and looked to the side, watching the door that was bent once more. Her face almost went pale. After she had put so much effort in fixing it, that door was broken again?

    She looked back at the building, and saw hundreds of high grade soul beasts rushing out of there, like wild beasts.

    "I had to work so hard to fix it, and you just..." She kept the book aside and stood up.

    The second year student looked at her weirdly. ''What do you mean you worked hard? Clearly we were the ones that repaired it! Since when did sitting on a chair and reading a book count as working hard?'' S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was something that he could only say in his mind, as he didn''t have the courage to speak his thoughts before the girl, especially when she seemed to be in a bad mood.

    Her hair had started transforming into a bright shade of silver, as she looked at the fables rushing in her direction.

    The dragon that had wrapped itself around the building had also opened his eyes.

    ....

    The sun had just started setting, and Elias had already traveled over tens of miles on foot. Meanwhile, the boy next to him simply floated in the air, arms crossed over his chest, not wasting even the slightest bit of energy.

    Elias could also do the same, but he didn''t show anything extraordinary to the man, as he was supposed to be someone from an insignificant family at the moment.

    He walked the entire way, following the man until he finally stopped before a door. There were no walls around the door, and nothing behind it either. It was just a single door in the middle of nowhere.

    "Unless you learn how to create portals, gain a similar ability, or buy talismans for teleportation, you can only use these portal doors to go from one place to another in this vast world." The boy landed before the door and turned to Elias.

    "Do you have your academy badge?" he asked.

    "It was destroyed in the Land of Fables," Elias answered. He only had two badges with him, both being the identification badges of a Founding Family.

    If he brought even a single one out, it could frighten the boy to death. But neither of them were his academy identification.

    "Tch." The boy clicked his tongue and brought out his own identification. He tapped the door lightly with his identification badge, activating it.

    Numbers from one to one hundred materialized on the door, with only a few numbers shining and the rest being dark. The boy tapped the number three which was shining.

    "You can open the door. It''ll open a portal and lead you to your residence, unless there''s some malfunction."

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    Once he finished, he quickly turned around and walked away, without offering any other explanation. However, the moment he was leaving, he didn''t seem to be in a good mood.

    Because of Elias, he had to come so far and waste so much time. To get back at the boy and make him suffer in a similar manner, he had already done something to the door.

    He made sure that it wasn''t something that could hurt the boy, but also enough for him to make the boy suffer.

    ''You wasted my time to get home fast? I''ll send you as far as possible from the residences. Have fun in the barren dockyard¡­''

 Chapter 123 Different Path

    Elias watched the senior leave. His expression was somewhat solemn as he mumbled, "Did he really think I couldn''t sense his hostility? I wonder what I did to offend him."

    He hadn''t told them the name of his family, so it couldn''t be because of that. Moreover, this was his first time seeing that boy. He was quite curious if it was really over such a mundane reason as being forced to escort him.

    The only good thing was that there was no killing intent within that hostility, which made Elias ignore it to a certain extent.

    "Are you still going to enter?" Astralious asked him, watching his hand slowly reach out to the door.

    Even though he was still upset about Elias''s identity, he couldn''t stay silent and just wait for death. Even if the boy was from that family, he had to try to get close to him if he wanted to survive.

    He buried the hostility deep in his heart and tried to act somewhat normal, realizing that it might be for the best if he was able to use the boy to his advantage as they were right under the nose of the Ashborn Family.

    "Do you think I should?" Elias looked at the door, where the number three had been marked properly. If he went through now, then he was going to reach the place that the boy wanted to send him.

    Even if the boy didn''t have any intent to kill, Elias still didn''t want to take a risk.

    "What''s your favorite number?" he asked Astralious out of nowhere.

    "What?" sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I asked what your favorite number is amongst the ones shining on the door?" Elias repeated the question, ignoring the numbers that were dark since the identification of that boy clearly didn''t allow access to open portals to those places.

    "I don''t know. Seven?" Astralious said a random number amongst the shining ones, not certain why Elias wanted him to choose.

    He soon received the answer when Elias tapped number seven on the door, changing the selection from the one made by that boy. The third number returned to its usual shine, and it was the seventh number that started shining brightly.

    "Do you really think it''s a good idea to randomly change the destination?" Astralious asked. He had barely finished his question when Elias had already opened the door.

    "We can either walk back twelve miles to find another living being to guide us, or we can take this route and find someone on the other side. And I don''t think we should return," Elias mumbled, looking in the distance.

    The moment that door opened, a portal materialised before him, connecting to a seperate space within the Academy''s Domain. As long as it was an area accessible by someone in the second year with such ease, he didn''t think that it could be too dangerous.

    If it was dangerous, then there was certainly going to be someone on the other side, and he could just pretend to be lost. At worst, he could reveal his identity to protect himself. So it was better in his eyes, than staying here.

    He walked through the portal, having an inkling about the kind of commotion that might have been caused already. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

    Once again, his body travelled through a spatial tunnel, going from one part of the academy domain to the other part. Until the moment he stepped out of the other side, he remained unaware about the place he was being taken.

    Fortunately, the trip didn''t last long and he was soon out of the spatial tunnel, finding himself back before a similar door. He was pushed forward by the space behind him, and the door closed on its own, erasing the way back.

    "Hmm? Where is this place?" Elias stood before the closed door, looking in the distance. He could see a group standing there, looking at the sky.

    The group didn''t include any ordinary people either, since almost all of them were wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy Professor.

    He even saw Medusa, who was their guide during the awakening and the measurement ceremony, standing in the center of the group that stood next to each other in a line, looking like they were here to welcome someone.

    "I don''t think this is the place where we should be," Astralious was also slightly flustered, feeling so many powerful auras gathered at a single place.

    He was sure that even if he was alive and in his perfect state of the past, he still couldn''t defeat even a single person standing in this group. What worried him the most, was that there was a risk that they might actually sense him, no matter how low.

    He stopped all his movements in Elias'' mind, and only spoke when he absolutely needed to.

    "I don''t think we can leave either," Elias looked back at the door, which was closed with no numbers at sight. Without an academy identification, he couldn''t open the door.

    He was quite unaware that there was an identification that was beyond the academy identification. The identification badge issued to the direct descendants of the Founding Families, had a similar purpose.

    In some cases, they even unlocked access to more places than an academy identification badge would have allowed to a first year student. It was a privilege only allowed to the first year students.

    He had the key to leave this place with him, but he didn''t realize it. He was still thinking about the academy identification.

    "They won''t kill me for getting lost. Moreover, one of them knows me. It shouldn''t be too bad." In the end, he dropped the thought of returning.

    He stepped forward to ask a professor for help. But he had only taken a single step when he felt a powerful gust of wind, pushing down from the sky. The sky also turned brighter, as if a sun had risen in the sky.

    He raised his head and looked at the source of the brightness in the sky. "That is¡­"

 Chapter 124 I am

    It was as if the sun itself was descending from the sky, forcing him to close his eyes if he didn''t want to go blind. A thin layer of darkness appeared over his eyes, turning his vision darker to help him see better.

    What he saw in the sky was the grandest ship that he had ever seen, large enough that it looked as if a country itself was floating in the sky. Even the ship of the Asbborn Family that was used to bring him to the Academy was smaller than what he was seeing.

    The pressure of wind became stronger as the ship came closer to the ground. Even the robes of the Professors were fluttering with the wind that only grew more intense.

    Soon, the wind became so strong that Elias was almost getting pushed back by then. He took a step back to stabilize himself with the support of the door, but using any other abilities.

    The winds only stabilized after the ship had landed on the ground, not far from the professors. Elias wasn''t sure who was arriving, but it became clear to him that the Professors were here for it.

    The door of the ship slid down, revealing an opening. And someone stepped out, disappointing Elias as the person was just the Dean of the Academy, and not anyone extraordinary that he hadn''t seen before.

    He came to the conclusion that the ship belonged to the Dimensional Academy itself, which wasn''t a surprising thought. But after the Dean stepped out, he saw someone else.

    It was a man, a man dressed in stark white attire. Even though everything that he was wearing looked like a treasure. But his long robe stood out from the rest, draped over his shoulder. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was as if the stars of the universe were embedded in his robe. He was carrying an entire galaxy on his shoulder.

    Even though Elias was far from that person, he could still feel a terrifying suppression that was at least comparable to his father, if not stronger.

    "Analysis..." He used a skill subconsciously, trying to see just what kind of person it was.

    .............

    Analysis has failed. Evolution is not enough.

    .............

    "What?" Elias frowned, looking at the notification appearing before him. The analysis had failed, and it only told him that his evolution was not enough.

    Was it because there was such a large difference between his strength and the strength of the man? The question was something that made its home in his head.

    The man was walking down the ramp when Elias used analysis on him. He came to a sudden halt, feeling an uncomfortable feeling that only lasted for a fleeting moment.

    "This place is still as annoying as ever," he mumbled, as he continued down.

    After him, his daughter also stepped out of the ship, and walked down the ramp. She kept her head down, not even raising it for a single second, only watching her step as she accompanied her father.

    The Professors stepped forward once the man landed on the ground. "We welcome Duke Jeskirin to the Academy."

    Her tone was welcoming, but not subservient. It was respectful but not submissive, making it clear to Jeskirin that she was just being courteous.

    Another professor stepped forward, trying to give an exquisite flower bouquet to the man. However, the man simply pulled his hand back in disgust.

    "There''s no point in false greetings. As if I don''t know what a pathetic place this is..." Jeskirin looked around. Even though a long time had passed since he last came here personally, the place was still as disgusting as ever to him.

    "Hmm? Who is that child?" His gaze soon landed on Elias, who was standing near the door in the back.

    The boy wasn''t wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy, but if he was brought here by these people, then he didn''t think the boy was simply an outsider.

    Hearing his question, the Dean also looked in that direction. And when she caught sight of Elias who was standing in the darkness next to the door, she couldn''t control her surprise.

    "What is he doing here?" she mumbled, directing the question to Medusa who also looked back along with other Professors. However, she had barely finished speaking when she thought of something and a smile spread on her lips.

    Almost all of them looked just as confused, not a single professor having any idea about it.

    "We didn''t bring him here." The Professors answered. "It looks like he came here on his own."

    "It''s fine. It''s not like this is a restricted place." Freya raised her hand, and gestured for Elias to come closer.

    "His eyes... I don''t like them. Who is he?" Jeskirin repeated the question, noticing the people of the academy talking amongst themselves, with no one to answer him.

    Elias walked closer to the group, once he was noticed. He had prepared to offer an explanation about how he was lost. The explanation was right on his tongue, as he stopped next to the Dean.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t asked to explain his presence here. Instead, the Dean had an amusing smirk on her lips as she looked at him. The look that she had, gave him a bad feeling about it.

    "Why don''t you introduce yourself to our guests?" she asked Elias, who had no idea about the identity of the man that was standing before him. The only thing that he knew was that the man was extremely strong.

    Astralious had also gone completely silent, not even making the slightest movement.

    He didn''t like the fact that Freya was smiling when asking him to introduce. Since when did she become so nice to him, especially after how their last meeting went?

    Despite knowing that something was wrong, he couldn''t stay silent. Even if he didn''t introduce himself, she was going to introduce him. It was only a matter of time.

    He took a deep breath, and turned to the man. "I am Elias Asbborn, a first year student."

 Chapter 125 Bidding

    The moment Elias answered, the girl who had kept her head down all this time raised her head, looking at him for the first time.

    Her father''s reaction was even sharper. Elias felt a killing intent like never before, one that almost made his blood run cold. All his senses screamed at him to protect himself.

    Even the strength that he had devoured from other fables began to stir restlessly. But despite that power, he didn''t believe he could actually stop the man, even if he wanted to.

    It was as if time itself had frozen when the man heard his name, especially his last name. Like lightning, the man''s hand reached out to grab him by his throat.

    Elias wanted to move back, knowing that if he were caught, his neck would be crushed. But his movements were like those of a snail compared to the man''s. He could only watch the hand coming for him.

    Clutch~

    Elias watched the man''s hand stop merely a few centimeters away from his throat, a powerful gust of wind making his robe flutter. The man''s wrist was being held by Freya, who had finally moved to stop him before he could hurt anyone.

    "Shouldn''t you behave better in someone else''s home?" Freya asked, maintaining a smile on her face while firmly holding his wrist.

    "Was it amusing to bring him before me, knowing full well...?" the man asked with a frown.

    "I have no idea what you are talking about," Freya replied, shrugging her shoulders innocently.

    Although she wasn''t the one who brought Elias here for this, she still found it somewhat amusing to see Jeskirin like this after his previous arrogant behavior.

    She had finally gotten back at him, in her own way. But just for this, she couldn''t let the boy die, at least not in her presence. What dignity was she going to have left if someone from her academy was killed by an outsider when she was right there?

    "Also, with your stature, I am certain you wouldn''t go as far as to hurt a child, right?" she asked. Although she maintained her composure, but even she knew that if they were to fight here, then it was the Academy that was going to suffer.

    Jeskirin retracted his hand, controlling his initial outburst. However, his gaze towards Elias didn''t soften.

    "Does he still count as a child? This demon devoured everything that he touched." He kept his hands behind his back, holding them tightly, as if worried that if he freed them, he might again lose control of his emotions.

    He looked down on the boy, who had no idea why he was again being targeted. At first, he thought that it was again because of his family. But from the man''s words, it looked like he hated his family less, and hated him more. But why?

    Elias was quite confused, but then he heard Jeskirin further continue, "No wonder I hated these eyes..."

    "You can take him back," Freya told one of the professors, trying to send him away before things could deteriorate further.

    This much messing with Jeskirin was fine, but she knew that he was a monster that might run wild if she kept testing his limits.

    "Let''s go." A Professor grabbed Elias''s shoulder, and opened a portal to take him away from this place.

    "Will he be taking part in it?" Jeskirin asked Freya, watching the portal open.

    "He is only a first-year student, not a second-year," Freya answered. "So he won''t."

    "How disappointing..." The man narrowed his gaze. "What if he has to participate? I can give you one extra slot for him. You would only benefit."

    "You think I don''t know what you want?" Freya scoffed in response. "What''s the point of one extra slot if it will go to him? He will end up dying right away anyway. Your daughter alone can kill him in a fraction of a second."

    "In any case, there is already an Ashborn child participating. Why do you want a second one?"

    "Three extra slots. You can pick two others of your choice. But the third must go to him..." That was the last thing that Elias heard, as if he was some kind of item that they were bidding for.

    He wanted to hear more, but he was taken inside the portal, leading to the residence of the first-year students. The portal closed behind him, and he couldn''t continue hearing their conversation.

    Even after Elias had left, the negotiations continued, if they could even be called that.

    "Do you really want your nephew dead that badly?"

    "Don''t call that ''thing'' my nephew!" Jeskirin''s voice grew louder, as he again lost his temper. Throughout the trip, he had only lost his temper twice, and both times, it was related to Elias.

    "Silas might accept that ''thing'' as his son, but I will never." S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You must be really eager to watch him die. But it would go against the rules if I listened to you." Freya let out a sigh, shaking her head. "As a Dean, I can''t break rules."

    "Four slots for you, only one must go to him! I will also allow you to choose one third-year!" The man increased the bid.

    "However..." Freya''s eyes immediately lit up. The moment she saw Jeskirin''s daughter, she had already lost hope. But with this kind of leeway, she once again regained some hope.

    And if all it cost was someone like Elias whom even his father didn''t care much about, then it was a deal worth taking in her eyes.

    "It is too good of a deal to reject. I will accept the offer." She made it seem like she was still a little hesitant as she accepted the deal from the man.

    "Good..." Jeskirin''s fists clenched tighter, his gaze shifting to his daughter.

    ....

    In another place, Elias was brought to the house that was assigned to him as the top scorer of the assessment trial of the Frost World, unaware that the deal about him was already completed.

 Chapter 126 Dreke

    After checking the allotment through the Academy System, the Professor brought Elias to the Academy''s residential area, stopping directly before a grand mansion.

    Throughout the entire street, there were many mansions, nearly all of them just as grand. Some even appeared larger than the one assigned to Elias.

    "This is your assigned residence. You can use your Academy Identification to access the mansion. Now, off you go," the Professor said, clearly in a hurry to return.

    "I''ve lost my Academy Identification badge," Elias said, tugging on the robe of the Professor, who had already turned to leave.

    The Professor turned back, looking at Elias with a puzzled expression. She wondered how he had even managed to reach this place without an Academy Identification, since it was required to access the portal doors.

    Just as she was about to ask, she slapped her forehead, remembering the boy''s unique identity. He wasn''t just a student of the Academy; he was also a descendant of a founding family.

    "I will have someone deliver a new Academy Identification to you. Just wait outside the mansion until someone arrives." She freed her robe and disappeared.

    The Professor left, leaving Elias alone in the residential area, right outside the gate of a mansion he couldn''t yet access.

    Elias wasn''t in a hurry to enter either. He stood with his back resting against the gate, his mind still occupied with the man who had been bargaining for him.

    "Did you recognize that man?" he asked after a long silence.

    Next to him, Astralious''s illusory form materialized. "I wish I did. The only thing I can tell you is that he is more dangerous than your father was when he killed me. But even that man didn''t instill the kind of fear in me that the little girl next to him did."

    "You found that little girl more dangerous than him?"

    "I don''t know how to describe this feeling. When she looked at you, I felt like she held my life and death in her hands. It''s a feeling I''ve never experienced before, in my entire life. I can only tell you that you should stay away from her."

    "No, not just stay away from her. You need to get out of this place. Given how that man wanted to kill you, and that negotiation, you aren''t safe here."

    Even though the Academy was supposed to be a place where Elias could grow stronger and help him, Astralious was still suggesting he run away and abandon it. Hearing his tone, Elias didn''t sense any deception. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You speak as if it''s easy to leave this place." Elias looked at the empty streets around him, shining under the lights lining each side.

    The place looked extremely peaceful, but it was clear that peace and the Academy were two words that could never be linked.

    Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t leave the Academy. First, he needed a battleship to escape. Even if he managed to take control of one, it would most likely be shot down before he could get away.

    Moreover, even if he did escape after stealing a battleship, he would be nothing more than a thief, hunted by everyone. He couldn''t even rely on his family for protection.

    "Leaving aside the fact that it''s impossible to escape from this world, even if it were possible, I still wouldn''t leave," he told Astralious.

    "Why not? Do you think your family name will protect you from everything? I don''t think you are that naive."

    Elias remained quiet, offering no further explanation. He felt it wasn''t right to reveal his past life or the real reason he came to the Academy.

    His only goal was to kill Dreke, his own brother. Everything else, including getting stronger, was less important. If he ran away from the Academy now, he didn''t think he''d ever get another chance.

    His silence made Astralious also fall silent. He didn''t know what the boy was thinking, and as a spirit, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    "Fine. Do what you want," he said, stopping his projection to save mental energy, and disappeared.

    "You know, you get angry quite fast," Elias mumbled after Astralious disappeared. "That temper reminds me quite a lot of someone I used to know."

    "Why won''t I get angry? It''s not as if my life depends on your life." Astralious sarcastically answered. "I am just a prisoner here, waiting for his execution."

    "Aren''t we all prisoners, waiting for our eventual execution?"

    "Stop with this philosophical garbage. You know it''s different."

    "How is it different? You said it yourself. You will die after I die. So we are both getting executed at the same time, if ever."

    "Yeah, but you can change that fate. Your execution will be because of your own actions, or lack thereof... My execution is through no fault of my own."

    "When you tried to take over my body, was that not through your own actions?"

    "I had no choice in that matter. But you have a choice."

    "I have no choice either. I already told you, we can''t get out of here. If you want to be angry about it, then I can''t stop you."

    "Then don''t blame me when you die."

    "It''s fine. You''ll do enough blaming for both of us when we die." Elias crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. In his mind, one thing was final. He wasn''t leaving this place without Dreke.

    "Senior Dreke, which one is yours?"

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    Elias abruptly opened his eyes as a voice fell in his ears, accompanied by the sound of multiple footsteps.

    "Heh, not far?" A familiar voice came, which made Elias quickly turn. "It''s just right around the corner."

    He looked to the left, and saw a young boy walking with his arms around the waist of two girls. He was coming in the same direction.

    "Senior, you''re being very naughty with your hands. Someone might see! We should wait until we enter."

    "So what if someone sees? Does anyone have the courage to raise their voice before me? Don''t forget who I am!"

 Chapter 127 Have to leave after all

    The arrogant voice that stabbed into Elias''s ears was something that he could never forget. Even before looking at that person, he already knew who it was.

    Out of all the places in the Academy, Dreke was right here, enjoying his life. He even appeared to be somewhat drunk, barely able to walk straight, relying on the support of the girls. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Senior, there is someone, looking here!" A girl spoke up, catching sight of Elias in the distance.

    "Which bastard dares?" Dreke raised his head and looked in the direction the girl was pointing with a hazy gaze.

    "Hmm?" When he saw the person, he burst into laughter. "If it isn''t that bastard..."

    He took his hands off the girls, pushing them aside. With swaying feet, he walked closer to Elias.

    "Senior!" The girls followed Dreke, who stopped right before Elias.

    "You little bastard, what are you doing here?" Dreke asked, placing a hand on Elias''s shoulder to steady himself. "Were you waiting for me, to beg for something?"

    He lightly slapped Elias. It was light only by the standards of Elias. If there had been an ordinary human in his place, that slap would have been far from damaging. Dreke couldn''t control his strength well enough when he was drunk.

    "Do you also live here?" Elias asked, his expression unchanging, even though he wanted nothing more than to rip Dreke''s head off right then and there.

    "Heh, are you pretending not to know when you came here to beg? Did you want me to talk to the professors so they would treat you better?" Dreke slapped Elias once more, the strength behind the slap growing stronger.

    "I will do you this favor, only if you fall to your knees and bark ten... no, twenty times!" He pushed himself back, almost stumbling. The girls stepped forward and quickly supported him, preventing his fall.

    "Senior, who is he?" One of the girls asked, as Dreke looked like he knew the boy well enough. If he was treating the boy like this, then the boy shouldn''t be anything special. At least that''s what they thought.

    "Did he offend you somehow? Should I teach him a lesson?" the other girl answered.

    "Heh, can a little mosquito offend you? He is even more insignificant than that for me. I am Dreke Ashborn. If I was offended by trash like this, then I wouldn''t be worthy of this last name!" Dreke spat out, his spit falling on the ground right before Elias.

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    The girls giggled, sensing that this was an opportunity for them, "You''re so right, Senior. People like him doesn''t deserve your attention at all."

    One of the girls went one step farther, and started scolding Elias to win Dreke''s favor. "You there! If you came to beg Senior Dreke, then behave like it! What are you doing, standing on your feet? Start begging!"

    Elias looked on either side, as if trying to see if anyone else was there. He couldn''t sense anyone else, which made him believe that he was all alone with these three. Was this a god given opportunity? He wondered.

    He knew well enough that if he killed Dreke here, then the aftermath of that was going to be worse to deal with than anything, since this wasn''t the land of fables.

    Even if he didn''t see them, he was certain that there were recording devices placed in this place. Everything that he did here, was going to get recorded for the future.

    On one side was his revenge from the past, and on the other side was his future in this life. The choice should''ve been hard, but for him, it was as easy as it could ever be.

    "Hmm? Are you deaf? Why aren''t you falling on your knees? Do you need me to help you or something?" The girl grew even more arrogant when Elias ignored him.

    The boy was definitely younger than her. And she was accompanying Dreke Ashborn. Shouldn''t he be listening to her? The complete ignorance was something that she never expected.

    "Fine! Then I will make you beg myself." She reached out her hand, making a whip materialize. She swung the whip forcefully towards Elias''s knees.

    Just as the whip was about to connect, Elias made a subtle shift in his stance, almost imperceptible, allowing him to evade the blow. The whip lashed the ground where he''d been standing a fraction of a second before, leaving a mark on the floor.

    "You missed," Elias stated, his voice devoid of any emotion. It wasn''t a taunt, but a simple observation, yet it carried a dangerous tone.

    A screen had appeared before him, following the use of his analysis skill. He didn''t focus on Dreke, but the two girls that were coming for him.

    The analysis didn''t go into much details about their past, but it did tell him what he wanted to know. Even though they weren''t wearing the academy uniform, but the analysis confirmed that they were from the destroyer class.

    There was one more stat in the analysis screen which he hadn''t seen before.

    ..............

    Total Lives Taken: 3,657,788,654

    ..............

    "The girl, shocked at her failure, scoffed, "''You... you dodged it! You dare dodge?!''"

    Her face flushed with anger and embarrassment, fueled by the silent amusement radiating from Dreke, who was watching the scene with blurry eyes.

    "That''s a lot..." Elias mumbled, looking at the numbers on the analysis screen of the two girls. "Maybe I might have to leave this place after all..."

    The girls'' numbers paled in comparison to what he saw in Dreke''s analysis. The number of lives taken on his screen was more than even the entire population of Earth.

    "Again!" the girl shrieked, and the whip lashed out once more, this time faster and more erratic. This time, Elias didn''t dodge.

    The whip struck his knees, but the girl didn''t have time to be happy. A thin line of red spread from her forehead, going down, becoming thicker with blood. The whip fell from her hands as her body fell to the ground with a thud.

 Chapter 1 - 1: Earth for Practicals

    The world had turned into an absolute nightmare. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but corpses. Even if someone was alive, they could only wait to die.

    The streets were covered in corpses of people whose flesh had turned dark gray. There was a disgusting stench of death everywhere, making it hard to even breathe. Only flies could be seen, feasting on the remains of the fallen.

    A young boy, no older than twelve, was running across the blood-stained street, holding a little girl in his arms.

    Her skin had started turning a grayish hue, her breathing already becoming weak. Her body was growing colder by the minute.

    The boy knew that he had to get her to a clinic.

    Even though he knew that no clinic in the world could help a person after they were infected with this virus of death, he didn''t want to believe it. He didn''t want to give up hope.

    "Just hold on a little more. We will be right there." His own breathing was haggard, but he was still trying to talk to his sister, trying to keep her awake. He knew that if she closed her eyes, she was never going to open them.

    As the boy ran with all his might, his worn-out shoes kept slipping on the road covered with blood.

    He tried his best to maintain his balance; unfortunately, it was all for nothing as he tripped over a corpse, his ankle twisting beneath him.

    With a cry of shock, he fell, his sister tumbling from his grasp. He landed hard, scraping his hands on the ground.

    "Anya!" he screamed, rushing towards her. He held her close, his fingers frantically searching for a pulse, a sign, any sign, that she was still alive.

    He pressed his ear against her chest, praying for the faintest sound of a heartbeat. But there was only silence.

    He had lost her. She had finally closed her eyes forever, leaving him all alone. This apocalypse had taken everything from him.

    The boy held the girl''s lifeless body close to his chest, his screams echoing through the desolate streets. The silence that followed was almost deafening, broken only by his own breathing and the insistent buzzing of flies.

    The world had turned into an absolute nightmare, and he was trapped in it, alone.

    He couldn''t remember how long he stayed there, holding Anya, his tears mingling with the blood staining their clothes.

    He wanted to scream, to rage against the unfairness of it all, but all he could manage were choked sobs.

    "I''m sorry," he mumbled. "I''m so sorry."

    He didn''t know how long he had stayed there. He was hungry, but more than that, he was broken. He had prayed for the gods to take him, instead of his family. But here he was, still alive while everyone else died.

    He couldn''t help but wonder if it was some cruel joke being played on him. His body had grown so weak that he couldn''t even sit straight anymore.

    He lied on the ground, next to his sister''s body, surrounded by hundreds of corpses.

    "If the virus won''t take me, I will do it myself." He closed his eyes weakly, pulling out a knife from his pocket.

    He had thought about doing this multiple times, but for Anya''s sake, he remained strong. But now, there was no point. The world was already brought to ruin. He didn''t want to stay here to watch more misery.

    He aimed the knife at his chest, holding it with both hands to have enough strength. For one last time, he glanced at his sister before looking towards the sky that was covered in clouds, as if it was going to rain.

    With the first drop of rain falling on his face, he pushed the knife deep in his chest, believing to be freed from this misery.

    "Let''s go to heaven together, if there is any." He whispered as his blood merged with the rain water, trucking down his body.

    Even though he normally didn''t believe in the afterlife, in this moment, he wanted to believe it.

    ....

    He didn''t know how long it had been since the world turned dark, but he was once again able to feel his body. The pain of the knife in his chest was gone.

    Although he still felt a little weak, it was nothing compared to his last moments.

    "Is there really... an afterlife?" He abruptly opened his eyes, appearing extremely shocked.

    He looked around, observing his surroundings, trying to understand what the afterlife was like. He had heard about living in the clouds, or angels being everywhere, but this afterlife looked much different.

    Instead of being in the clouds, he wasn''t even outdoors. He was inside a small room, only two meters wide and three meters long.

    It looked too lackluster for heaven and too good for hell. Inside the room, there was only a bed large enough for one person, a wardrobe, and a mirror.

    He felt like this wasn''t heaven or hell. But it was also too real to be a dream.

    Confused, he walked over to the mirror, looking at his reflection. And what he saw left him even more surprised.

    He looked to be the same age as he was on earth, but his features were different. There were no scars or wounds on his face anymore. Even his hair was different. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    On earth, he had dark hair. Now, he had silver. His clothes were also very different, unlike anything he had seen before.

    "Just what is this place?" He wondered just what was happening to him.

    "Mother!" Elias was lost in thought when he heard a loud shout coming from outside.

    "Mother! You won''t believe what happened!" The voice, seemingly belonging to a boy slightly older than him, came again.

    This time, Elias couldn''t resist his curiosity. He opened the door and walked outside, wondering who was shouting.

    "Why are you shouting?" a lady, dressed in a luxurious black gown, stepped down the stairs slowly. "What happened?"

    Before the woman could even reach the bottom of the stairs, the young man, seemingly seventeen years old, rushed up and hugged her in excitement.

    "Mother, I passed my Practical Exams! I was so lucky to get a weak world like Earth for my practicals! It only took a few months! Hahaha!" he exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement.

 Chapter 2 - 2: Blood of Ashborn

    "I never thought the virus you acquired for me would be this strong. You should have seen it! They were dying like insects, with no one to even claim their bodies!"

    The boy placed his mother back on the stairs, appearing extremely proud.

    "Shhh!" the woman, who had been happy until now, suddenly turned serious. "Don''t ever mention this again! If anyone finds out that I helped you..."

    She didn''t finish her sentence, but the young boy understood her implication.

    The practicals assigned to the Destroyer Class were tasks they had to complete themselves, using the abilities they had received during their awakening.

    He was a Virus Master, but he wasn''t skilled enough to create a world-destroying virus. Even if he could create one, he couldn''t be certain it could overcome the immunity of the randomly selected world for his practical exam.

    He wasn''t like the Tower Creators or Dimensional Gate Makers who could destroy worlds using external help.

    He had to ensure he didn''t fail, and that''s why he asked his mother for help. If she hadn''t had a Virus Grandmaster secretly create a virus for him, he wouldn''t have been this fast, even if he succeeded.

    "Unfortunately, even though the virus was strong, it still took three months. I wasn''t the fastest to pass the exams. There are many in the Destroyer Class who completed their practicals in a much shorter time."

    "You don''t have to worry about them. You still passed. Your father will be so happy when he hears. You are not useless like a certain someone." The woman patted her son''s head.

    "You should go and rest. I will contact your father to deliver the good news." She rushed upstairs, leaving her son behind.

    "Heh." The young boy also walked upstairs, going to his own room and disappearing into the unknown.

    Hidden in the shadows, a boy of twelve stood frozen. The mocking laughter of these people was like a knife twisting in his gut. His fists were clenched so tightly his nails drew blood.

    This place was neither his heaven nor his hell. It was a real place that left him disgusted. This place belonged to the people that destroyed his world and his family, all for some so-called exam?

    Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. It hurt to know that the life of his family was nothing but a plaything for these people.

    From their words, it became clear that his world wasn''t the only world that suffered through the artificially created apocalypse.

    When the world was being ruined by the virus, he had repeatedly asked gods for help, wondering if it was nature''s way of punishing humanity for their sins. It turned out to be nothing more than a joke for the people that played gods.

    "Young Master Elias, what are you doing here? Wait. Are you... crying?"

    Elias, lost in emotions, hadn''t noticed anyone approaching. The voice startled him, pulling him from his daze. He looked up to see a man standing before him, his facial features hidden by the dim light.

    "Are you worried about your awakening ceremony tomorrow?" the man asked in a gentle voice.

    Elias furrowed his brow while his face seemed to be frozen in time. He didn''t recognize the man. If he was calling him "young master," did that mean he was a servant of the house? Didn''t that mean he was also a significant member of this disgusting family?

    "Is that blood?"

    Before Elias could even ask a question, the man noticed the blood staining his palm.

    "You... Did Lady Jane hurt you again?" The man sounded helpless. Clearly, this wasn''t the first time he''d witnessed such a sight.

    ''Lady Jane? Is he talking about that bastard''s mother?'' Elias frowned. Why would she hurt him? Unsure of what was happening, he simply nodded in response.

    "Sigh... Come with me." The man, covered in a dark cloak that barely revealed his eyes, picked Elias up into his arms and vanished into the darkness.

    Elias felt a rush of wind brushing against his skin. The man moved at an impossible speed that defied the laws of physics.

    When the man stopped, Elias found himself back in the room where he had first woken up.

    "I can never understand why she goes this far." He sat Elias on the bed and walked over to the wardrobe, picking up the first aid box that was always kept there. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was clear that the man wasn''t joking. Elias was hurt so often that he kept the first aid box in his wardrobe.

    The man walked back to Elias and started dressing the wound. "You are also a son of the Ashborn Family. Just because you are..."

    He abruptly closed his mouth, as if stopping himself from saying something that could never be taken back.

    For the next few moments, there was absolute silence. Even though it stung a little, Elias didn''t make a sound.

    "You should stay in your room and avoid Lady Jane. If you successfully awaken, I''m sure that she will stop targeting you." After finishing the treatment, the man walked back to the wardrobe and put the first aid box back.

    "You said I have an awakening ceremony tomorrow. Will I be as strong as you after going through it?"

    The man was about to leave the room when he heard the surprising question from Elias.

    Elias should have known the answer to that question already. Then why was he asking? Was it simply an excuse because he wanted to talk to someone?

    "You have the blood of the Ashborn Family. If you awaken, unless you are extremely unlucky, you will receive a class much stronger than me."

    "What are the classes?" Elias'' questions didn''t stop.

    At this point, the man was certain that Elias was using this as an excuse to talk. He just didn''t want to be left alone.

    He sighed and walked back, sitting on the bed next to Elias.

    Even if Elias wanted to hear from scratch, he was willing to do that. If it could make Elias happy, then it wasn''t a problem.

    "There are three main categories of classes. The first is Creator, which includes many subclasses like Mages. The strongest subclass under Creator Class is the World Creator."

    "The second class is the Destroyer. It includes classes that hold immense destructive power, mainly responsible for bringing ruin to worlds."

    "And the third class is a unique one, called Auxiliary. It includes professionals like Alchemist, Artificers, and other such classes."

    "As you are of the blood of Ashborn, you will definitely awaken the Destroyer Class. I''m sure you don''t have to worry about it. After all, there has never been a case of an Ashborn awakening anything other than the Destroyer Class."

 Chapter 3 - 3: Entry of a Wild Beast

    "Is the Ashborn family really that great?"

    Elias Ashborn might have been a descendant of the Ashborn Family, but he didn''t believe himself to be the same person.

    He couldn''t accept being a part of the family that took everything from him. He was not Elias Ashborn. He was just a person who had taken over this body.

    This family had nothing to do with him. If anything, they were a target for him. He needed to find out everything he could about them.

    He couldn''t afford to let a false relationship imprison him, making him forget the reason he was here.

    This place was not his heaven. This was not his afterlife. This place was only one thing for him. It was an opportunity. It was an opportunity to repay the favor of what they had done to his family.

    As the man heard Elias''s question , he couldn''t hide the surprise on his face. His eyes widened, as if he couldn''t believe the question came from a descendant of the Ashborn family.

    "To call the Ashborn family, great, would be an understatement," he said, not even keeping his voice down anymore.

    "The family may have grown somewhat weaker over the years, but they still hold immense influence. Their name alone carries incredible value, to the point that the Dimensional Academy doesn''t even dare test descendants for qualification."

    "You will understand the value this name holds, and the burden that comes with it, when you enter the Academy for the awakening ceremony."

    Following his explanation, there was a period of absolute silence. The man also realized that he might have gone a bit too far. No matter what, how could he raise his voice against a descendant of the Ashborn Family?

    "Apologies. I shouldn''t have raised my voice. I... I didn''t know what took over me. I will take my leave." He stood up, unable to hide the guilt he was feeling.

    Before Elias could say anything, the man stepped out of the room, disappearing in the shadows. The door closed on its own.

    "After everything that happened, what''s wrong with a little scolding? He didn''t have to run away," Elias mumbled, lying back on the bed.

    After talking to the servant, Elias realized that the people of this family treated the Ashborn Family like gods. Even after knowing what they were doing, no one had any objections to it.

    Even the servants of this family didn''t care about anything other than the interests of the family. No matter how good the servant was to him, he couldn''t trust that person.

    If he wanted to take the family down, he had to do it alone. And the first step towards his goal was a successful awakening. He needed a Destructive Class that could bring the world down to its knees. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Although it was disgusting, he had the blood of the Ashborn Family. His chances of awakening such a class were much higher. He was even looking forward to the awakening ceremony tomorrow.

    ....

    For most of the night, Elias stayed in his room, unable to sleep. He was thinking about the awakening ceremony and the class that he might awaken.

    It was the most important thing for him. Only with a good class, he could bring the Gods of this world down to their knees.

    It was only when he heard the sounds of celebration coming from outside, he started paying attention to his surroundings.

    At first, he wasn''t interested. It was clear that a celebratory banquet was being thrown for the bastard of the family that destroyed his world.

    Eventually, curiosity got the best of him. He decided to check out the people of the family, especially the so-called father of the person he had possessed. He couldn''t stay hidden in his room forever.

    Elias stood up and walked over to the door. As he was only going to check out the banquet for a brief moment, he didn''t care about changing his clothes.

    He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it to open the door.

    "Hmm? It''s locked from outside?"

    Everything started making sense to him. He might be a son of the Ashborn Family, but it was evident that he wasn''t wanted.

    The Lord of the Ashborn Family didn''t care about him. As for the Lady of the Family, she was even worse.

    They didn''t even treat him like a son, as if worried that he might embarrass them. Let alone invite him to the banquet, they didn''t even allow him to step out of his room when special guests were here.

    "Since you want to keep me here, that makes me want to go out even more."

    Normally, he wouldn''t have been so impulsive. But he couldn''t accept the fact that these people were enjoying the death of everything he held dear.

    He went back to his bed and picked up the bedsheet, wrapping it around his body to give him some cushion. After preparing, he ran forward with all his might, hitting the door with his shoulder.

    There was a loud thud, but the sound was buried in the music that was being played outside. Meanwhile, the door only moved a little, but didn''t break.

    It was not a door that could be broken with the strength of a young boy, who was barely twelve years old. Elias should have stopped before he injured himself more.

    Albeit, he wasn''t prepared. He was like a wounded beast that wanted freedom. He ignored the pain and the risks. He stepped back, and once again ran with all his might.

    Again, and again, he kept slamming on the door with all his shoulder. Even after his shoulder dislocated, he didn''t stop. He was like a person that had been obsessed.

    Initially, no one paid attention to the sound of the door being banged. But with each passing second, the sound became louder and louder until someone finally noticed it.

    A middle aged man signalled for the music to be stopped, certain that he heard some strange sound.

    After the music stopped, the sound became even more clear. Everyone was able to locate it. It was coming from a room that was barely noticeable.

    "Is that the room of..." Amidst the crowd, there was also a Head of the Ashborn Family. He was looking at the door, his eyes narrowing.

    "It is nothing. We just keep a pet beast there. It occasionally goes wild." The Lady of the House took the lead, convincing everyone that they didn''t need to pay attention to it.

    "Resume the music. Let''s get back to the celebration!" She told the musicians that were especially hired.

    "It is risky to keep a pet that keeps going wild. You should find an opportunity to put it down, or it might be dangerous," one of the guests to the Lady of the House.

    The lady smiled, agreeing with the other person. "You might be right. We will take care of it later."

    She raised her glass of wine, giving a toast to her son. She could see her husband still paying attention to the room, but she held his hand innocently, taking her back to her son.

    Everyone had almost stopped paying attention to the door, when they heard a sound even louder.

    The impossible had been achieved. The door had been broken by a child who was only twelve years old. What they saw, left then aghast.

    It was a young boy whose head was bleeding, which painted most of his face red. He truly looked less like a human and more like an injured beast.

    The boy had his body wrapped in a bedsheet that was also covered in his blood. The boy removed the bedsheet, only using his left hand as his right shoulder had clearly been dislocated.

 Chapter 4 - 4: Greetings, Father

    "It''s a boy?"

    Many guests were unable to hide their surprise as they subconsciously looked towards the Lady of the Ashborn Family.

    Hadn''t she said that it was some crazy beast inside that room? Why did it turn out to be a boy? Who was that boy?

    Some of the guests were more perceptive than the rest. They easily noticed the similarities in characteristics between the young boy and the Lord of the House.

    They had heard that the Ashborn Family also had another child who was twelve years old. Was this the child? sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They felt uncomfortable, as if they had seen something that they shouldn''t have seen. Even though they realized the identity of the boy, they kept their mouth shut, not wanting to say anything.

    The Lord of the House, still silent, gazed at the young boy. His expressions were unreadable, unlike his wife who was like an open book.

    The lady of the house was almost gnashing her teeth at the sight of Elias, the child that should have lived his life away from the limelight.

    She was even worried about his intentions. Just what was he planning? If he said anything unexpected, it might be too embarrassing for the Ashborn Family as there were many representatives of the other families here.

    The long period of silence was only broken when one ignorant man asked, "Lord Ashborn, who is this?"

    "This is my youngest son." Lord Ashborn said, without the slightest shift in his expressions.

    He couldn''t lie about it, especially since Elias was already going to attend the awakening ceremony tomorrow.

    Though many knew about Elias'' existence, the child born from the woman Lord Ashborn had loved most, they didn''t know the complicated truth. This was also the child Lord Ashborn resented most.

    Initially, Elias didn''t even know what his so-called father in this life looked like. Fortunately, he made his identity clear by answering the question.

    "Greetings, father." Even if he looked battered and broken, Elias gave a greeting to the man.

    Elias didn''t expect a response from the man that barely acknowledged him. After all, he truly didn''t consider him family in the first place. For him, this was all but an illusion that he had to break someday.

    He walked past the guests, drops of his blood falling on the ground, creating a trail.

    "Elias, what are you doing outside? Weren''t you feeling sick?" The Lady of the House took the lead, trying to gain control of the situation.

    Elias simply ignored her, not even acknowledging her presence. He walked past the entire group, reaching the table where the food and snacks for the guests were prepared.

    He picked up a plate that was filled with something to eat, using his only hand that was still functioning.

    He carried the plate, and returned to his room, not uttering a single more sentence. At the doorway, he paused, casting a chilling glance back at the guests.

    "Enjoy your celebration," he said, his voice laced with a bitter irony. "It''s not often my dear brother successfully destroys a world."

    "That brat!"

    The boy, barely seventeen years old, clenched his fist as he glared at Elias'' back. This was supposed to be his day. It was a day to celebrate his achievements, but that brat had taken the limelight from him.

    Many guests were looking at Lord Ashborn, thinking that he was at least going to send people to help Elias heal.

    Unfortunately, the reality was even more chilling. Lord Ashborn simply turned his back to Elias'' room, telling the servants to change all the snacks on the table.

    He pretended as if nothing had happened, as the celebration came back on track. The only thing that was different was that Lord Ashborn could occasionally be seen frowning.

    ....

    Elias closed the door after returning to his room. He could hear the sound of celebrations returning to the hallway, but he didn''t care.

    He placed the plate on the bed and walked closer to the wall with his dislocated shoulder. Although he hadn''t personally done it in the past, he had seen many people correct their dislocated shoulders with force.

    He tried to imitate the same thing, not expecting any help to be sent for him. But this was not a movie. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn''t do it. If anything, it hurt even more.

    As he was about to give up, he heard a cracking noise on his last try. His shoulder was finally at the right place. It worked.

    Next, he walked to his wardrobe and brought the first aid box. Looking in the mirror, he started clearing his wounds.

    The pain was almost killing him, but not as much as the hunger. After giving himself first aid, he walked back to the bed and started eating.

    As the food was prepared for important guests, it was truly delicious. It was definitely a thousand times better than anything he had eaten on earth during the end times.

    "If she was here, she would have loved these sweets."

    He didn''t know exactly when it happened, but his eyes started getting wet. The sweets didn''t feel so sweet anymore, but it was enough to save him from hunger.

    He only finished half the plate and put it aside, falling on the bed in weakness. He fell asleep out of exhaustion.

    ....

    "Young Master, it''s time to leave! You are going to be late for the awakening ceremony!''

    Elias woke with a dull throbbing in his shoulder. He hadn''t slept this deeply in what felt like a lifetime. The repeated knocking and the servant''s anxious voice dragged him back to reality.

    "The awakening ceremony. Right."

    He glanced at the half-eaten plate next to the bed.

    "I''ll be there in a moment," he called out, immediately getting up from the bed.

    He didn''t know exactly what kind of place he was going to, but he had to change his clothes. He couldn''t go there with bloody clothes.

    The Ashborn Family wasn''t going to stop him from the Awakening as a descendant being scared of the awakening meant he wasn''t confident in the bloodline.

    To save the dignity of the bloodline, they had to let Elias take the awakening. Especially since many people had known about his existence already.

 Chapter 5 - 5: Between the Dimensions

    He splashed some water on his face, the coldness making him wide awake.

    He stared at his reflection, noticing a young pale face, his forehead covered by messy grey hair. His eyes were filled with a weariness that no twelve-year-old should have possessed.

    He pulled out the only attire in his wardrobe that looked like it hadn''t been touched even once, unlike his other clothes that were clearly not kept well. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was evident that this attire was prepared for the awakening ceremony. No matter how he was treated at home, he represented the Ashborn Family when he was taking part in the awakening ceremony.

    He wore the new clothes and left the room, finding the servant waiting nervously outside.

    "This way, Young Master," the servant gestured, leading him through the corridors of the Ashborn manor.

    Elias followed the servant, realizing this was the first time he would truly see this world. He would finally witness the civilization that could manipulate the fate of other worlds.

    If he had to bring this civilization to its knees, he had to play by its rules. And the awakening was the most important step in that direction.

    He was led out of the mansion, only then grasping the reality of the world he had landed in.

    Right outside the mansion stood a grand spaceship, more magnificent than anything he had ever imagined.

    Its sleek, silver body was shining brightly under the sun. There was a symbol of the Ashborn Family on the body of the spaceship which was slowly moving from one place to another, as if it was truly alive.

    The ship was at least two thousand meters long, and so wide that even if a thousand people stood shoulder to shoulder, they still couldn''t cover its width.

    Elias couldn''t even take in the entire ship in one glance, and standing behind him was the mansion, which was even bigger than the ship.

    As he had been limited to just one room, he hadn''t realized how grand the Ashborn Family Mansion truly was.

    He was led towards the ship that was going to escort him. When they reached the entrance of the ship, Elias saw a person stepping out, as if he had been waiting to welcome him. It was his ''brother''.

    "Well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence," he said, not even trying to hide the sneer. "Don''t embarrass yourself too much there, half-breed."

    Elias smiled, his own expression being unreadable.

    "I wouldn''t dream of it," he replied. "I will make sure that I won''t disappoint you, in this life."

    He sidestepped his brother and continued on his way, leaving the golden boy frowning. For some reason, he felt as if something was wrong with the way Elias spoke, especially his last sentence.

    Elias was brought to a room that was definitely more grand than the place he had been staying previously. There was even a large window from where the outside space could be seen.

    Elias watched the ship rise in the air, with the Ashborn Mansion becoming a distant sight.

    The ship sliced through space. Even if the stars zoomed past the ship, he could barely feel the ship moving. It was just too stable.

    "This is their civilization..." Elias mumbled, looking at the scenes that one could only see in their dreams.

    The black holes were said to be a scary existence that could destroy everything that they swallowed. But the ship entered a black hole, everything in the surroundings turning completely dark.

    For the first time, the ship felt a little unstable, with occasional trembling like earthquakes. Elias even felt like some solid object had slammed against his window, but it wasn''t strong enough to break through.

    For a long time, the situation remained the same. It only became better when the ship stepped out of the darkness through another back hole, reaching the destination.

    The darkness was lifted and Elias was able to see outside the window again. And what he saw left him even more mesmerized.

    The sky was bright blue, similar to earth. But more shocking was that there were hundreds of ships that were just as grand as this ship, each carrying a different family''s symbol.

    This was the world that he had heard the servant mention. It was their destination, the world between the dimensions.

    It was the world where the greatest and most magical of the academies was established by great families of various dimensions, the Ashborn Family being a part of it.

    It was said that even the weakest students of this world were strong enough to kill millions of people of lower worlds.

    This was the world of Dimensional Academy, and also the place where his awakening ceremony was going to take place.

    After reaching the world, it didn''t take long for the Ashborn Family''s Ship to land in an airstrip that was so large that it could be called a world in itself.

    Elias was escorted out of the spaceship by a servant of the Ashborn Family. Along the way, he also saw his brother Dreke.

    The two of them stepped out of the ship, one after another. From the other ships that had landed in the airstrip, even more youngsters stepped out with their own entourage.

    Dreke landed on the airstrip and looked back at Elias. He wanted to say something, but in the end he rolled his eyes and tore a talisman that he was carrying.

    "Have the worst of luck, half breed." His voice was left behind before he disappeared.

    Elias didn''t pay attention to the mockery of Dreke. He was more interested in his surroundings, especially the others that were stepping out of the ship.

    They were all the same as Dreke, responsible for so much destruction around the world. However, as long as their own world wasn''t affected, it didn''t matter to them.

    They were simply playing with insects whose lives didn''t matter for them after all.

    "Elias Ashborn!" Elias was brought out of his daze, hearing a voice.

    "Yes?" he responded, but the other person didn''t say anything else.

    Before Elias could react, the other person simply grabbed his hand and disappeared with him.

 Chapter 6 - 6: The Crazy Ashborn Descendants

    An unknown force seized control of Elias''s body, freezing him in place. His surroundings turned into a blinding white void as a strange force pulled him.

    The strange sensation stopped just as abruptly, and Elias found himself in an entirely different place. The airstrip had vanished, replaced by an unfamiliar landscape.

    "Teleportation?" He frowned as he looked around him, noticing that the person who had brought him here was nowhere to be seen.

    He was surrounded by a vast, circular hall that seemed to stretch into infinity. There were huge pillars spread across the hall that were so tall that he couldn''t even see their end.

    He didn''t understand why these pillars were even here, since there was no ceiling. It was as if they were supporting heaven itself.

    High above, he saw a blood red sky, where black thunder flashed occasionally. It was a scene that felt like it came straight from some nightmare, but he wasn''t alone here.

    There were more youngsters in the fall, with the youngest being twelve years old, and the oldest being the same age as his bastard brother.

    Unlike him, the other youngsters were perfectly calm, even as they were suddenly teleported to this place.

    "Is this the place of awakening?" Elias thought. He had a lot of questions, but he couldn''t see any adult in the place to answer him.

    He selected the person closest to him, and tried to approach him to ask more about the ceremony.

    Roarr~

    Suddenly, there was a loud roar that came from heaven. Through the clouds, a giant creature flew out, revealing its body that was even longer than the airship.

    Calling that creature a monster was only an understatement. Elias was frightened, subconsciously taking a step back, stumbling over his feet, falling to his butt.

    Many youngsters saw Elias fall on his back. Sneers curled their lips as they looked down on the idiot who was so easily scared. A few could even be seen laughing, but most ignored him, their attention fixed on the pillars instead.

    Only one boy, slightly older than Elias, approached him.

    "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, offering a hand to help Elias up.

    "Thank you," Elias mumbled, reaching out. But just as their fingers were about to touch, the boy stepped back, frightened.

    His eyes widened in horror, fixed on Elias''s chest where the insignia of the Ashborn family gleamed.

    "Ashborn Family?" he gasped, his voice ringing out across the hall, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

    "A child of Ashborn?" The people who had been snickering, turned extremely serious. The name of the Ashborn Family carried heavy weight, especially since their bloodline was considered a peak destructive bloodline.

    The Family Head of the Ashborn Family was considered one of the few Overlords of the Era that even the Royal Family had to respect.

    The Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family had also made a name for himself in the Thousand Slaughter Battlefield, receiving many awards.

    The fourth child of the Ashborn Family was the weakest when it came to talent, but even he was a Virus Master that had passed his practical in just three months.

    They had heard that the fifth child of the Ashborn Family was going to attend the Academy, but they didn''t expect to find him so soon.

    Even the people who were focused on the pillars were forced to take a second glance at the boy that everyone was laughing at.

    Elias shook his head lightly, forcing himself up, not expecting any more help. He finally understood what his servant meant, when talking about the influence of the Ashborn Family.

    Although they hid it very well, he could see fear in the eyes of most of the youngsters. There were only a rare few that were looking at him with great interest.

    "I-i am sorry." The young boy, who had tried to help Elias, lowered his head.

    He didn''t expect to get involved with an Ashborn. Even worse was that he was so shocked that he couldn''t control his actions and stepped back. He wasn''t sure if he had offended an Ashborn.

    He still hadn''t forgotten the stories about the Ashborn Family after all. The most well known was the story about the Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family, who had killed everyone in the Destroyer Class.

    No one even knew the reasons behind his actions. Many families went to ask the Ashborn Family to take responsibility, but the incident was buried without any consequences.

    The Second Son of the Ashborn Family was just as crazy, if not more. He had killed a Professor of the Creator Class, to show off.

    As if continuing the family tradition, the Third Son of the Ashborn Family had gone one step beyond. Instead of killing the people at the academy, he had killed the entire family of the academy student that had offended him. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After all that, he took that student as his personal servant. After graduation, no one knew the fate of that servant.

    The only person who could be called slightly normal was the fourth Ashborn child. Although he bullied those who were weaker than him, he hadn''t done anything too crazy.

    Finally, one more Ashborn had arrived in the Dimensional Academy.

    Was he going to be like his fourth brother, who was strong for the weak and weak for the strongest? Or was he going to be like his first three brothers, an absolute overwhelming psychopath? That was the question in everyone''s mind.

    Although his initial impression was that of a coward, none could be certain about the reality. Was that cowardice a false facade? Was the boy playing a pig to eat the tiger? That seemed more likely.

    Why else would an Ashborn be scared of the Beast of the Academy, when the Ashborn Family had even worse chaotic beasts.

    ''An Ashborn in our batch, huh. This is going to be fun." A young boy smiled, looking at Elias. Even though he was thousands of feet away from Elias, he could still see him clearly.

    "The youngest Ashborn. Should I kill him right here?" A girl in another direction frowned.

 Chapter 7 - 7: Climbing the Heaven

    Many unwanted gazes were focused on Elias, who had finally calmed down. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that this wasn''t a friendly place.

    He could see fear in the eyes of most of the youngsters, but beneath that fear, hostility was lurking. They were eager to strike him down, to see him fall.

    For now, fear kept their hostility in check. But the moment that fear was overwhelmed, that hostility was going to consume him, just as it had consumed his world.

    He had forgotten what kind of place this was. He was alone, both at home and outside. The only things keeping him going were his memories and a burning desire for revenge. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even if he had to walk over the corpses of these people, he wasn''t going to let them turn him into a stepping stone. He was not going to be used again.

    As he made up his mind, he hid his real self behind a false facade. It was as if he had worn a mask of false emotions, not letting anyone see what was truly inside.

    His gaze turned cold, and he looked at the sky. The huge beast in the sky, that had the body of a centipede had long since disappeared inside the clouds, with the lightning only intensifying.

    Amidst the lightning, he saw something else appear high in the sky. This time, it wasn''t the figure of a beast, or even a human.

    It was an eye... A giant eye in the middle of the sky. Looking at it, he couldn''t tell if it was a human eye or a beast.

    The eye had dual pupils, one being pitch black and the other being pure white. Each pupil was looking in a different direction.

    "The Awakening Ceremony begins." A voice appeared in everyone''s head.

    Many of the youngsters fainted from the voice alone, their minds overwhelmed. The hooded figures appeared again and teleported away with those who had lost consciousness.

    The awakening ceremony had already ended for those who couldn''t even remain conscious after hearing the voice.

    Even Elias barely managed to keep his sanity when faced with the voice that sounded like the screeching of a banshee. It was a thousand times worse than someone scratching a rough board with their nails.

    "Approach the pillar closest to you," the voice appeared again, being even worse this time.

    Many tried to close their ears with their hands to protect themselves from the voice, but it was just as useless. The voice was appearing directly in their heads.

    Even more people passed out, and just as before, they were dragged away from this place.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the youngsters followed the voice and approached the heavenly pillars closest to them.

    Elias also did the same, even though he was a bit disoriented because of the voice.

    Many people were trying to approach the same pillar, but when they saw that Elias was approaching them they stopped midway and selected other pillars.

    It was the same with other descendants of the high ranking families. Until the awakening ceremony was over, no one wanted to offend the big families, especially the Ashborn.

    There were many pillars that were surrounded by more than ten youngsters. Fortunately, the pillars were wide enough that even if hundreds of them surrounded it, they couldn''t cover a pillar.

    There were only twenty or so pillars that were monopolized by individuals, with Elias being one.

    Only when Elias was looking at the pillar from close, he could see that the pillar didn''t have an even surface. There were some parts of the pillar that were sticking out, barely enough for a grip.

    Elias suddenly had a really bad feeling about this.

    In the stories, the awakening ceremony was simply placing their hands on a stone. Did they simply have to place their hands on the pillar? But then why was there this uneven surface like a path was being created to the top?

    He really hoped that it was just a coincidence. He really hoped that the awakening ceremony wasn''t what he was thinking. It wouldn''t make sense!

    "Start Climbing. The higher you can climb, the closer you shall be to the awakening!"

    As if a fear coming true, the voice asked them to do exactly as he was worried about. This awakening ceremony had turned into a nightmare.

    It would''ve been better if he had a stronger physique, but the boy he possessed was mostly starved, having barely any muscles. At this rate, could he even climb this pillar whose top couldn''t even be seen?

    Was he going to fail this Awakening Ceremony? Was this the reason he was barely fed anything at home? Because the Lady of the House knew what was going to happen in the Awakening Ceremony?

    None of these questions mattered anymore. Even if he had to break his body, he had to climb the pillar. He had to receive a destructive class at any cost! He couldn''t afford any less!

    The other big family descendants had already started climbing. Some of them had even climbed a few meters within the first few seconds, as if they were in a race against time.

    Elias also reached out his hand, finding grip in the shallow crevices of the pillar. The pillar was extremely cold, almost freezing. Still, for Elias, it was nowhere close to the cold that he had felt when holding the lifeless bodies of his family members.

    He pulled himself up, his muscles almost screaming in protest. Years of neglect had weakened this body, and every movement took a lot of effort.

    Above him, the pillar stretched endlessly into the storm clouds where the giant centipede had disappeared.

    How high did they have to climb? What awaited them at the top? And what would happen to those who fell? He had no answers.

    The only answer he knew was that he had to climb, even if his body fell apart. Everything he wanted, waited at the top of the pillar.

    For the other youngsters, atop the pillar was their class that could help them rise in society. But for Elias, on the top of the pillar, was something that would help him destroy this society itself.

    He gritted his teeth, ignoring the burning in his arms and the tremor in his legs.

 Chapter 8 - 8: He has failed

    Elias started climbing the pillar of heaven, not knowing exactly how it would help a person awaken their class. Was there something at the top? Or was there some secret in the process itself?

    He didn''t even have enough strength to pay attention to the other youngsters as he was barely hanging on. Even the slightest mistake could send him plummeting to the ground. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Unlike him, the others were doing much better. Even the weakest of them had climbed higher than Elias, who was giving his all to climb each inch.

    In a different space, many people stood surrounded by a myriad of mirrors. But none of the mirrors showed their reflections.

    Instead, the mirrors showed the youngsters participating in the awakening ceremony, with the descendants of powerful families as the focus of attention.

    "Is that your youngest?" a woman, shrouded in darkness, asked. "I must say, he seems quite lackluster."

    Her gaze was entirely focused on Elias, who looked like he could fall any second. His arms were already trembling, with his fingers almost on the verge of breaking.

    Next to the woman, stood a middle-aged man. Even when he heard the question, the man didn''t respond.

    "He hasn''t even climbed five meters yet. That looks like the worst performance I have seen throughout the years," another man said, not hiding his smile. "It looks like the Ashborn Family has finally run out of their luck."

    "Look at my son, he is already in the lead. He will definitely awaken successfully, getting the greatest class ever." he further said, not hiding his smirk either.

    Almost everyone in this place was the Leader of the Founding Families of the Dimensional Academy.

    It was a tradition for them to arrive and watch the performance of their descendants during the awakening ceremony. However, this was the first time that the Ashborn Family Leader had arrived.

    Many thought that it was because he was expecting a lot of things from his youngest son. Was that young boy really that great?

    With the appearance of the Ashborn Family Head, many had started to overestimate Elias Ashborn. But now, that overestimation had resulted in nothing more than mockery.

    "If he fails, then it simply means that he was useless from the beginning," Ashborn Family Lord opened his lips after a long time, uttering only a single sentence that left everyone stunned.

    They had heard the rumours that the Ashborn Family Lord didn''t like his youngest son, but they thought that these were just false rumours.

    After hearing his words, they couldn''t help but wonder if there was some reality to those words. Did the man not come here to cheer for his son, but to simply watch him fail?

    The Ashborn Family Lord didn''t look even the slightest bit disappointed at his son''s performance. If anything, he seemed like that was exactly what he wanted in the first place.

    That left many people wondering. If he already knew that his son was going to fail, then why did he even let him participate in the awakening?

    ....

    Back at the Awakening Ceremony, the first person had already climbed halfway up the pillar before becoming exhausted and barely holding on.

    The boy took one hand off and brought out a small gem from his pocket. He placed the gem in his mouth, which immediately helped him recover his stamina.

    There were no rules against using external objects in the Awakening Ceremony. Throughout the centuries, these objects had been used for the successful completion of the ceremony.

    Just like the young boy, others also placed the gems in their mouths when they could no longer resist the exhaustion. Unlike them, Elias was holding on by himself.

    Three hours passed before the first person climbed to the top of the pillar.

    A few minutes later, another person reached the top. Within the next hour, all the descendants of the Major Families had reached the top of their pillars.

    Meanwhile, many from the weaker families had failed to reach the top. They didn''t have treasures to help them, and eventually fell from the pillar.

    As they were falling, the hooded figures appeared again. They grabbed those who had failed and disappeared with them.

    After seven hours, there was not a single person who was still climbing the pillar except Elias. All of them had either reached the top, or fell to the ground.

    Elias, on the other hand, wasn''t even halfway up the pillar. He was still climbing on, even after his arms had almost grown numb.

    He could only give himself a little relief by giving rest to each of his arms occasionally. Even if it was looking impossible to reach the top, he still kept climbing at his slow pace.

    After two more hours passed, Elias had finally barely finished climbing one percent of the pillar.

    He was drenched in sweat and his body was literally begging him to give up. He was starting to feel as if he might really die if he didn''t give up, but something inside him didn''t let him give up.

    He was obsessed, just like he was on the day, running alone with his sister''s body. Even then, his heartbeat was reaching a dangerous level, but he didn''t stop.

    "If death it is, then death I shall accept," he mumbled, reaching out his right hand to hold on to something higher.

    ....

    "Is he still climbing?"

    "Why doesn''t he give up? Does he really think he can reach the top?"

    "At this rate, the ceremony won''t end until he either reaches the top or falls down. How long are we going to wait here?"

    "Do you still think he can succeed? It''s only a matter of time before he fails. There''s no suspense in it anymore. I''m leaving."

    Initially, many observers were curious to watch an Ashborn fail. Now, even after close to fifteen hours had passed, the boy was still climbing like a snail.

    They had already grown bored and started leaving. To them, it was clear as day that Elias was simply wasting his time.

    As for watching him fail, they could always ask for a recording of the ceremony later. They didn''t have to be there personally.

    The mirror room, which had been filled with the Leaders of the Major Families, was now almost empty. There was only one person left behind, watching Elias climb.

    It was the Leader of the Ashborn Family.

    "Isn''t that enough? Just end the ceremony." He raised his head, as if talking to someone that couldn''t be seen. "He has failed."

 Chapter 9 - 9: Gods are pathetic...

    "Interference isn''t allowed," an unknown voice echoed in the room of mirrors.

    "But if it is you, then it is possible. There''s no point in keeping up this farce. Just fail him," the Ashborn Family Lord said, without the slightest change in his expression.

    For a long time, there was only silence.

    "Just this once..." The silence was broken only by a long sigh. Following that, another long period of silence fell over the room of mirrors.

    At the same time, another change occurred at the Awakening Ceremony. As if controlled by an unknown force, the giant centipede emerged from the clouds, flying down.

    It was flying straight towards the pillar that Elias was climbing. Not only did the beast come flying with its giant body, but it also let out a powerful roar that sent a heavy gust of wind straight towards Elias.

    Elias was climbing the pillar like a lifeless being in a daze. He came to his senses as he heard the roar, his body reacting instinctively.

    He almost fell off the pillar, his grip weakening. Fortunately, he somehow managed to hold on even as his robe fluttered strongly with the wing like a flag.

    That was just the beginning. The beast didn''t stop and came straight down, its massive body flying past Elias, who was horrified but still didn''t react as he had before.

    The centipede flew past him, leading him to believe that it wasn''t going to hurt him. They wouldn''t allow interference in the Awakening Ceremony, after all.

    However, he soon realized that he was wrong. Even as the centipede flew past him, its tail was different. Just as the tail was about to move past him, it struck him, sending him flying off the pillar.

    Elias was sent flying through the air, with nothing to hold onto. From this height, there was no surviving the fall.

    He was so focused on climbing the pillar that he hadn''t seen what happened to the others who fell. He didn''t see them being teleported to safety. He simply thought they had all fallen to their deaths, just like he was going to.

    He was going to fall. He was going to die. This was it. He knew that he should have been scared, but he was strangely calm. He had been living on borrowed time anyway, hadn''t he?

    Maybe this was for the best. If he couldn''t awaken a class, how could he have his revenge? He could only live as a weakling in this world, unable to do anything but watch his enemies enjoy their lives in luxury.

    It was better to die than to live through that disgusting reality. He looked down and saw the ground rushing up to meet him, but instead of terror, he felt... calmness.

    The centipede, satisfied with its handiwork, returned to the clouds, disappearing into the unknown.

    The hooded figures below looked up, their faces hidden in shadow. None of them understood why the Academy Dean''s pet had suddenly gone crazy, making a participant fail.

    In any case, it wasn''t something they had to worry about. They simply had to do the jobs they were assigned, which was to make sure no participants died during the awakening ceremony.

    One of them left to catch Elias, his failure marking the end of the ceremony.

    Elias closed his eyes, accepting the fate he had been granted. However, even as he closed his eyes, the scenes that flashed through his mind weren''t of the life he had lived in this world.

    He saw his real family, sitting around a dining table. His father was telling them about his promotion, and his sister was asking him to take them on vacation to celebrate.

    As his father was about to agree, he suddenly started coughing. Everyone thought it was just a normal cough, but it never stopped. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    At that moment, he didn''t realize that his life was never going to be the same again. What about his next life? Was he going to be born in another similar world that was going to be toyed with like this?

    "Gods are pathetic..." he mumbled under his breath, slowly opening his lifeless eyes.

    He wasn''t sure if the people from the Academy were watching him. Still, even in his death, he at least wanted to let out all his frustration, cursing them with all his might. For once, he wanted to act childish and stop holding back as there was nothing else he could do.

    He took a deep breath, gathering every bit of strength possible.

    "You-" he started roaring like an injured beast.

    He had only uttered a single word when he saw the hooded figure teleport before him.

    The hooded figure reached out his hand to grab Elias, who was so surprised that he forgot what he was about to say. Was he going to be saved? But was there even a point in surviving if he failed awakening?

    He didn''t know anymore. He simply saw the hooded figure reach out to him. Unfortunately, before he could even touch Elias, a lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking him.

    The hooded figure lost all mobility, falling to the ground lifelessly. He wasn''t the only one who fell.

    In a secret realm of the Dimensional Academy, the Dean was sitting with a glass filled with the legendary dew of the life plant. She was about to drink it when she suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood, her face growing extremely pale.

    Her eyes widened in horror, feeling her connection with her pet centipede being forcefully removed. There were only two ways to remove the connection, the fastest being to kill the contracted beast.

    Everything happened so fast, that she was certain that someone had killed her pet beast. And with her contracted beast''s death, she had also been injured.

    "Who dares to kill my pet?!" She stood up, the corner of her lips still stained with blood.

    She summoned a mirror and looked at the Awakening Ceremonial Ground where her beast was supposed to be staying.

    She saw the giant centipede, falling from the sky. It didn''t have even the slightest of life force. It was completely dead.

    It was clear that her beast had been killed, but she couldn''t see any culprit who was capable enough of achieving that. Was the person who did it, still hiding? She wondered.

    "Do you think you can hide from me?!" A third eye opened in the middle of her forehead. "Let''s see how long you can hide!"

 Chapter 10 - 10: Deans Fear

    A third eye opened in the middle of her forehead, filled with an unknown power that could see through the mysteries of heaven and hell.

    The Dean gazed into the mysteries of the awakening ceremony to find out who had killed her favorite pet. She thought she was going to find the cause behind her pet''s death, but something wasn''t right.

    All she was able to see was a dark mist that clouded her vision. An unknown force was preventing her from seeing through the origin.

    "If you think you can stop me, then think again!" Her third eye started shining a blood-red shade, tears of blood trickling down.

    She forced her way through the wall of dark mist, finally able to see the other side. And what she saw left her horrified.

    She saw a horrifying scene, as if she had been caught in some illusion. But that illusion felt so real that it was hard to differentiate between illusion and reality.

    She saw a scene where half the Dimensional Academy was in ruins. Monsters roamed all over the academy, killing whatever came in their sight. There were even monsters that she had never seen before in her life, despite traveling across a myriad of dimensions.

    She also found a body lying on the ground, with a big hole in the chest. The body belonged to move other than herself. She wasn''t breathing anymore, and even her soul was extinguished.

    Next to her corpse was a person who looked like the culprit. The person''s back was facing her, so she couldn''t see their face.

    All she could see was that their right arm was a cybernetic arm that looked like it was made from mythril or some other godly material.

    Many drones floated around the person, as if they were the sun and the drones were planets encircling them.

    Suddenly, one of the drones sensed her presence, flying straight toward her. A laser was fired straight at her, so fast that she didn''t even think she could dodge it.

    As soon as the laser struck her, the Dean woke up, clutching her chest, finding herself unable to breathe.

    Just what had she witnessed? She didn''t understand. What was that scene? Why did she see it when she was trying to see the cause behind her pet''s death?

    Her entire body was covered in sweat as she gasped for breath, almost falling to her knees. Initially, only her third eye was bleeding, but now blood trickled out of her other eyes, as well as her nose.

    ....

    Meanwhile, Elias was still falling to his death. He braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, he felt a strange sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating on air.

    He opened his eyes to find himself suspended in mid-air, as if the gravity of this place had disappeared entirely.

    Unlike him, the lifeless hooded figure didn''t stop falling. He fell to the ground, his skull cracking with blood splattering everywhere.

    After he came to a sudden halt, Elias thought that he was going to land on the ground slowly. On the contrary, his body started rising higher and higher.

    He also flew closer to the pillar that he had been climbing. He wasn''t allowed to hold the pillar anymore, but his body was still flying towards the top of it.

    It had taken him so much effort to climb the pillar previously, but this time, he didn''t even have to move a single finger as his body rose up, controlled by an unknown force.

    Was it the pillar that was helping because he was illegally removed from the awakening ceremony? He wasn''t sure. His mind was simply overwhelmed to think straight.

    He was flying so fast that the wind made him close his eyes. It was only when his body came to a slow halt that he opened his eyes and found himself above the clouds, with the top of the pillar present before him.

    The force gently pushed him forward, making him land on the pillar. Only then, did that unknown force disappear.

    Elias stumbled on the pillar, barely regaining his balance to prevent falling face-first onto the floor. He was still on the edge of the pillar, but there was nothing that could be seen from there.

    He couldn''t see what was down, or how high he had actually arrived. It was akin to a separate realm that was created on the top of the pillars, that was separated by the clouds.

    His heart was still racing, but he didn''t have time to spend calming his chaotic heart. Instead, he observed his surroundings.

    In the center of the pillar, he saw a small stone table. On the table, there was a small transparent crystal sphere.

    "Finally, there''s that crystal." He approached the stone table and placed his hand on the crystal sphere.

    The moment his fingers touched the crystal sphere, the crystal that previously looked cheap and insignificant, started shining.

    Under the effect of the sphere, Elias started feeling sleepy. He tried to resist the urge, but he couldn''t do it. Only removing his hand from the sphere looked like a solution, but that could very well mean failing his awakening, so he didn''t do it.

    Instead, he tried to use pain to stay awake. He pinched his cheeks as hard as he could, even slapping himself but nothing helped. Within seconds, his eyes closed on their own and he fell on the table, his hand staying unmoving on the crystal sphere.

    ....

    After what felt like an eternity, Elias opened his eyes. However, he couldn''t see the table or even the crystal sphere anymore.

    He wasn''t on top of the pillars, and there were no clouds beneath him. Instead, he was back on earth, lying on the bloody ground, surrounded by bodies that had been completely devoured by an unknown virus.

    There was a knife stabbed in his chest, but he couldn''t feel any pain anymore, as if his body had grown numb.

    "Was it all a dream?" He couldn''t be certain anymore. Was he simply dreaming about another world on the verge of death? Had he never left Earth?

    He tilted his head to the other side and saw a familiar body that belonged to his sister. She was not breathing anymore, her skin as pale as snow.

    "So it was a dream indeed..." He didn''t know how to react. Should he be relieved? Or should he grieve? His mind was in shambles.

    "Oh, one of them is still alive?" A voice came from the distance. A series of footsteps was heard, drawing closer. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias opened his eyes and looked at the source of the footsteps, seeing a man that he had seen before. His pupils started trembling in disbelief at the sight of the person.

    It was the brother he had seen in his dream. He was accompanied by people who had Ashborn Family Insignia around their chests.

 Chapter 11 - 11: Target

    Why was an element of his otherworldly dream appearing in reality? Or was this a dream instead? Was he still in the awakening ceremony? The more Elias thought about it, the more confused he became.

    He even felt like he was starting to hallucinate as a semi-transparent screen materialized before him.

    ...

    Awakening Mission: Kill the person who left the deepest trauma in your heart.

    Mission Grade: Depends on the method of completion.

    Mission Reward: A suitable awakening class, based on the method of completion and soul compatibility.

    ...

    It took him a moment to focus on the screen that was seemingly issuing him an awakening mission.

    He was reminded that he was taking part in the Awakening Ceremony, which had finally begun when he touched the crystal on top of the pillar.

    Ever since he learned that his so-called brother was behind the destruction of Earth, he had been planning to kill him. He always thought his class would help him kill that bastard.

    He never thought that he would need to kill him to even get a class in the first place. Moreover, this wasn''t even reality. Even if he killed that bastard here, it wouldn''t affect anything in the real world.

    Unfortunately, his situation wasn''t good for completing this mission. The mission just had to be in a situation where he was on the verge of death with a knife stabbed in his chest.

    He couldn''t even move a single finger, let alone be able to kill that bastard.

    If he could move, he would have taken the knife from his chest and attacked the young man. But even then, he didn''t think it was possible.

    There were many people around the young man, belonging to the Ashborn Family. If he were to attack, they would definitely stop him.

    He had already seen how strong even the servants of the Ashborn Family were, let alone the guards that came here to protect a descendant.

    Even if he somehow managed to get past them, Dreke Ashborn was just as dangerous. He was strong. No, calling him strong was an understatement.

    Elias wondered if this awakening mission was mocking his helplessness? At least that''s what it felt like.

    "Why is he still alive? Why didn''t the virus take his life?" Dreke Ashborn asked out loud, finding it hard to believe that there was a person who could survive the virus created by a Virus Grandmaster.

    "Is he immune to the virus?" A guard suggested. "Young Master, maybe you should try a different virus."

    "Is there even a need to try a different virus? Why not just kill him directly?" Another guard chimed in, trying to catch the attention of the young master.

    "He is a part of this world. That means he is a part of this test. I need to have him be killed through indirect means, using my abilities. That''s the whole purpose of the practical."

    He had to destroy this world using a virus to pass the test, so he brought a virus created by a grandmaster. But the young man was somehow immune to it.

    If he killed that man directly, it was a failure for him. He couldn''t afford failure. He had to kill the boy, using his abilities.

    "Shift him to the temporary lab. I will create a new virus that will definitely kill him." Dreke told his men to drag Elias back and to make sure that he didn''t die. "I will not let an insignificant insect make me fail!"

    Elias, unable to lift even a finger, was at their mercy. He was dragged away by the guards of the Ashborn Family.

    A spatial cube was used by Dreke to create a lab in this world, which carried all the toxins that he had managed to gather throughout the years. Some of them were so toxic that even giant beasts could be killed with a single dose.

    Still, he didn''t use those toxins directly. He had Elias tied to a patient table before drawing the knife out of his chest.

    The excessive bleeding was also stopped, thanks to the initial treatment which was just enough to keep him alive, albeit suffering from pain.

    From that moment onwards, began another nightmare for Elias. Every day, Dreke created a new virus that was injected into Elias'' body.

    Even if the virus wasn''t as strong as the virus that had ravaged the earth, they were still the best that Dreke could create.

    Throughout the day, viruses spread through Elias'' body, taking control of all his bodily functions. He could only scream in pain as the virus destroyed his body from the inside.

    Still, to Dreke''s surprise, Elias survived every day. It made Dreke feel as if he had found a good research subject to create the greatest virus, one that was even stronger than the virus of the Grandmaster that he used on Earth.

    Every day, he tested the virus, improving it even further. He was also extremely cautious to make sure that he wasn''t infected in the process of creation. Even if he had some immunity to viruses, thanks to his class. But it wasn''t absolute.

    On the tenth day, the sun had started setting in the sky when Dreke came to check on Elias'' condition, who was barely alive.

    "It looks like the virus is reaching perfection. Just a little more modification and it might be the end." Dreke never looked as pleased as he did now, not even on the day when he was boasting about destroying Earth.

    Having gone through so much torture, Elias had almost forgotten that this was a test. If it wasn''t for the screen that was a constant reminder, he would have already gone crazy, confusing it with reality.

    Unfortunately, even if it was not true reality, it was still extremely painful. It would have been much better to be dead by now than to suffer this constant torture at the hands of the person he wanted dead. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Is this awakening ceremony or a punishment for me?" He couldn''t help but wonder. The pain and confusion seemed to have no end.

    And yet, deep down, he still held onto a glimmer of hope that this would all lead to something better in the end.

    If he gave up now, then all this torture would be for nothing. He had to succeed in the trial, no matter the cost. But at the rate his body was being broken, he was certain that he wasn''t going to last another day.

    He had to do something before morning. He had to get out of here. But how? His hands were still tied to the table, and he didn''t have the strength to move.

    The virus had already destroyed most of his body, from the inside out. He could even see his flesh that had started to rot. He had no control over his facial muscles, and he was constantly drooling through no fault of his own.

    "Mmmm!" He tried making a noise as he couldn''t say a word anymore.

    "Aaaaa!" He tried again. He needed something... anything! Just a little help was all he needed.

    "Aaaaaaa!" With great effort, he roared even louder, hoping to catch the attention of anyone.

    There was no human who was still alive on Earth. So the only people he could hope to catch the attention of were the guards outside this lab.

    Albeit, his voice fell on deaf ears, and no one came inside the lab. Through the night, he was lying alone inside the lab, like a puppet of fate.

    Eventually, the dreadful moment arrived. It was the morning of the day that was reserved for his death.

    The door opened, and Dreke stepped inside the lab, carrying a fresh smile on his lips.

 Chapter 12 - 12: Back from the dead

    Dreke stepped inside his lab, looking forward to the final iteration of his virus, which was on the verge of perfection.

    "I heard you were making some noise last night?" He walked over to the side and donned a white coat covered in protective insignias.

    "Were you that excited to enter your last day?" He picked up a syringe and walked over to Elias.

    Elias could barely focus his eyes. His vision had grown so weak that he could only see a shadow approaching him.

    Using the syringe, Dreke drew out Elias'' blood that had already turned black. The red traces within the blood were barely visible.

    It was a miracle in itself that Elias was still alive, which was what made him such a perfect test subject for Dreke. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After taking the sample, he went back to the desk and began observing it.

    "It looks so beautiful." He couldn''t hide his fascination with the functioning of the virus he had created. Now that it was on the verge of completion, he could finally see what was missing.

    He quickly rushed to the wardrobe, pulled out a green insect, and returned. He crushed the insect and started mixing it with Elias''s blood sample, making the virus even more dangerous.

    "You are really lucky. You are the first person to experience the most perfect virus that I have created."

    He couldn''t hide the grin on his face. With this, he was one step closer to his next evolution in his class.

    He approached Elias, and inserted the syringe in his arm. The syringe was full with the virus, but Dreke only injected half of it, which was more than enough to kill an earthling.

    He saved the remaining half, for further research in the future.

    This time, he didn''t leave the lab. He watched the onset of the virus as black lines appeared all over Elias'' body, his body started twitching fiercely. However, thanks to the restraints, the trembling of his body was contained to the table only.

    "So perfect... The virus will ignore all immunity as it destroys your organs from inside, melting them from within. So struggle... struggle as much as you can. Make it more enjoyable for me! Let me see my masterpiece at work!"

    Elias roared in pain, his voice turning completely hoarse until nothing came out of his throat. His skin had already started decaying before, but it was literally melting in front of Dreke''s eyes.

    Even his bones had become visible, as if his flesh was clawed out by someone. After what felt like an eternity of torment with no escape at sight, everything came to a stop.

    Elias'' body stopped trembling. His heartbeat soon followed, accompanied by his breathing. He was dead, but the virus was still wrecking his body from inside.

    "Hmm? He is already dead?" Dreke looked like he was at a loss. He thought Elias would entertain him more, until the virus destroyed every single fragment of his body.

    He was left completely disappointed as Elias died in front of him within seconds of the final virus being released in his bloodstream.

    "If only he lasted a little longer, it would''ve been more fun. Whatever. He lasted much longer for insects of this lower world."

    Even if he was disappointed, he couldn''t do anything else. He took the syringe with him and returned to his table. He placed the syringe in the side and picked up a diary.

    He started writing everything that he had witnessed today, just like he was writing an experiment journal.

    ....

    Elias'' heartbeat had stopped, and so did his breathing. However, there was something that Dreke hadn''t taken into account.

    Even in a near-death state, Elias''s mind was still strangely active. If one were to measure his brain waves, they would have seen much more activity than any normal human could bear.

    It was as if he were living a nightmare within a nightmare. Even as his flesh kept melting, his chaotic mind was becoming even more active, trying to keep him alive.

    A weak heartbeat arose within his heart. Even though his blood was poisoned, his heart was starting to struggle to supply it to his veins.

    His lips trembled as they separated, letting him breathe through his mouth. His body was starting to wake up as the virus raged chaotically inside him.

    Abruptly, Elias opened his eyes. He couldn''t feel the pain anymore. Or rather, his body had already grown numb to it.

    He didn''t say anything. No, he couldn''t say anything even if he wanted to. He couldn''t even see the mission screen clearly. All he saw was a blurry shadow of the world around him, tainted with black blood trickling down from his eyes.

    As his skin had started melting, the restraints had loosened. He pulled his arms down. Fortunately, he couldn''t see them. If he could, he would have only seen a nightmarish sight where only bones were visible for the most part.

    He also freed his legs, which was much harder as his feet hadn''t melted enough. As he pulled his feet, the chains literally clawed at his flesh before he was finally able to free his bleeding legs.

    Elias moved aside and landed on the ground. Even he didn''t understand how he was still alive in this state, or where he was getting this strength. It would have been much easier to just accept death than to go through this.

    He knew that if he thought about it, he might really succumb to the allure of accepting death over suffering. Still, the fate of his world was deeply imprinted in his mind. It didn''t allow him to give up.

    If he gave up, then he could never forgive himself.

    Elias dragged his weak body, leaving a trail of black blood behind. He didn''t even know if he was approaching the right person, as he could only see a shadow.

    Had Dreke already left this place, sending some servant to clean up the lab? He wasn''t sure. The only thing he knew was that he had to bet everything on this one chance.

 Chapter 13 - 13: Creators Agony

    Elias slowly approached the shadow, but he didn''t attack right away. It didn''t matter if it was Dreke or his servant; all of them were stronger than him.

    Even when he was perfectly fine, he couldn''t defeat them, let alone now when he could barely raise his hand. He was on his last breath and didn''t have the opportunity to gamble.

    This was his last opportunity. Everything he had suffered here was for this moment.

    He reached out his hand and picked up the syringe-like object that was lying on the ground.

    Dreke sensed some movement on the table. He frowned and looked in the direction of the syringe, only to notice that it was no longer there.

    Confused, he turned around, only to see a bloody figure that looked like a humanoid monster that had come straight out of a horror movie.

    He was taken aback and didn''t react in time. By the time he could react, it was already too late as Elias stabbed the syringe straight through his chest, pumping the entire virus into his heart.

    Dreke stumbled back, his eyes widening in disbelief. He pushed Elias back, and quickly pulled out the syringe, but it was too late. The virus had already entered his bloodstream.

    "You! What did you do?!!" he stammered, his voice trembling in disbelief. He, the creator of death, was now staring it in the face. The virus that he had perfected to defy all protection, had entered his body.

    He had barely finished creating the virus and hadn''t even started working on an antivirus. Even if he started now, it felt like it was going to be too late.

    Elias opened his lips, as if trying to say something. Unfortunately, even as his lips moved, no words came out.

    If he could speak, Dreke would have heard his own words being fired back at him. "Make it more enjoyable for me, my precious test sample." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even if it was not reality, but he had finally succeeded! He had taken down Elias. As long as the virus was as dangerous as Dreke said, then there was no escape for him. Both of them were going to die here.

    Elias felt his strength finally failing him, and collapsed to the floor. Still, he had no regrets anymore. Even if it was not reality, but hearing that bastard''s painful cries was a sight to behold.

    For Elias, this was not the end. Instead, this was just the beginning. It was fine with false Dreke, but he wasn''t going to give such an easy death to the real one. Instead, he was going to make him regret being born in this world, and targeting his family.

    Just like the fake Dreke was suffering, he was going to make the real one suffer even more. Not just him, but everyone related to him.

    Elias had completed the trial, but he didn''t want to leave this place yet. He wanted to listen more. He wanted to listen to Dreke roar like a beast as his body melted with all his organs.

    Dreke, meanwhile, felt a burning sensation spreading through his veins. The virus was now consuming him from the inside. He stumbled, his hand reaching out to steady himself on the table, knocking over vials and instruments in his panic.

    He looked down at his hand, watching in horror as black veins started spreading across his skin like webs of a spider.

    "No... this can''t be happening," he gasped, his panicked voice growing weaker.

    He crashed to the floor, landing with a thud beside Elias. Dreke was gasping for breath, his body wrecked with spasms. He tried to speak, to curse Elias, or even call his guard, but the words were caught in his throat.

    Just like Elias, he had also lost his vocal chords. He couldn''t say a single syllable.

    Elias, despite his own agonizing pain, felt a flicker of satisfaction. As his consciousness faded, he saw Dreke''s body twitch and melt, mirroring his own suffering. The virus didn''t discriminate, as it was devouring its creator.

    After five minutes of pure nightmarish torture, Dreke finally took his last breath. He had died, and Elias'' trial was over. He could finally leave this cruel imitation of earth and his torment.

    As Elias couldn''t see anything until the last moment, he didn''t notice the screen that appeared to congratulate him on his success.

    It also graded his performance, but he couldn''t even see the grades.

    ....

    After what felt like an eternity, Elias slowly opened his eyes. He wasn''t in the lab anymore. Instead, he was lying on a table, his hand still on the crystal in the center.

    The crystal wasn''t shining anymore, as if it had already served its purpose. The Awakening Ceremony was complete, and Elias had passed.

    He was the last person to pass the Awakening Ceremony, and it had taken much longer than for the other youngsters. However, he couldn''t care less.

    He was only curious about the class he had received, as it was going to decide how he could destroy everything he aimed to destroy.

    He wanted a Destroyer Class, something that could bring this world to its knees. However, he didn''t know how to even check his class.

    "Status Screen?" he called out, trying whatever came to mind. Albeit, nothing appeared in front of him.

    "Class?" He tried something else, but the outcome was the same. Elias tried again and again, but he just couldn''t find the trigger word.

    At this point, he even started wondering if there was a trigger word in the first place. He had to ask someone else, but he was all alone here.

    He walked over to the edge of the pillar''s surface and looked down, seeing only clouds.

    "Can I even get down from here?" he scratched the back of his head. He had somehow reached the top, but getting down was just as hard.

    "Hmm? What''s this?" While he was looking at the clouds, he saw some strange information appearing in the corner of his vision.

 Chapter 14 - 14: Extraction and Merger

    Elias looked down from the pillar. Through naked eyes, he could only see dark clouds that made it impossible to judge the true height he was at. Still, something strange materialized before him.

    A line appeared, seemingly connected to the clouds. The line rose upward and then turned left, connecting to an illusory screen filled with unfamiliar information.

    ......

    Material Composition: Tears of the Sky (98 percent), Breath of the Divine (1.5 percent), Dust of Creation (0.4 percent), Essence of Lightning (0.1 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 200 Meters

    Material Stability: 20 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .......

    "What is this?" Elias sat on the edge of the pillar, looking at the strange information. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn''t seeing things, but the information remained.

    Was it something all awakeners were able to see? Or was it something unique to the class he had gained? He wasn''t certain.

    "What does it mean by ''extraction possibility''?" He felt like a high school student forced to take a college graduation exam, with unfamiliar terms appearing before him.

    His gaze shifted back to the crystal lying in the center of the pillar, atop a table.

    Just as before, another line appeared before him, connected to the crystal. The other end of the line was further connected to a semi-transparent screen that showed him more information. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    .......

    Material Composition: Stone of Evolution (95 Percent), Soul of Judgement (3 Percent), Incarnated Laws (2 Percent)

    Weight: 15000 Kg

    Diameter: 0.1 Meter.

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: None

    .......

    "Is this information giving me an analysis of the things I try to focus on? But there''s no way this information can be true. How can a small crystal sphere be so heavy?"

    Elias stood up and walked back to the table. He grabbed the sphere with both hands, trying to pick it up. As the crystal had already stopped shining with the end of his ceremony, he didn''t have to worry about being pulled inside the trial anymore.

    He held the crystal firmly and tried to raise it, but even with all his might, he wasn''t able to lift the crystal even an inch. Let alone lift the crystal sphere, he couldn''t even move it sideways.

    "It is really..." Elias didn''t complete his sentence, becoming more certain that the information was correct. The small crystal was truly 1500 kg.

    Even though it was so heavy, the table was still able to hold its weight. Just what kind of objects was he seeing? It was as if everything he had seen in this place were divine objects.

    He looked down at the table, and just as he focused a little, more information appeared in front of him, confirming his assumption.

    ........

    Material Composition: Bone of Ancient Dragon (100 Percent)

    Weight: 300 Kg

    Height: 1.2 Meters.

    Material Stability: 90 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Highly Possible

    ........

    Everything had started to make sense to Elias. He was finally understanding what he was seeing, truly able to analyze even the objects that seemed divine in their descriptions.

    Even on Earth, dragons were creatures of myth and legend, and here he was, looking at a table made from an Ancient Dragon''s bones.

    There was only one thing he didn''t understand. It was still that single section of information that talked about extraction.

    "Extraction is highly possible." He frowned. "Is it talking about extracting the materials from the object? But how can I do that?" Even though he knew it was possible, he didn''t know how to do it.

    "It''s not as if I can just touch it and say, ''Extract,''" he muttered, touching the table in a self-mocking manner.

    However, the moment the word escaped his lips, he felt the information screen tremble. A new screen materialized in front of him, asking for confirmation.

    ........

    Would you like to progress with extraction?

    Yes No

    ........

    Even he was in disbelief that it worked. Although he still didn''t completely understand the true meaning of extraction, but he still said, "Yes."

    He wanted to know what was going to happen. He had completed his Awakening. If he was going to be scared of his own abilities, how could he have his revenge? To become stronger, he couldn''t be scared of his own abilities, even if they were unknown.

    The table started shining brightly, and the pressure was so overwhelming that even Elias was pushed back by a few meters, the winds around the table becoming more intense.

    It was so bright that he couldn''t even see anything. He was forced to close his eyes, covering his face behind his arms while firmly planting his weak feet on the ground.

    After ten minutes, the winds calmed down. It was accompanied by a loud noise that was accompanied by the pillar itself trembling like an earthquake had just arrived.

    Elias slowly lowered his arms and looked ahead, being left awestruck. The table was nowhere to be found. Inside, there were a few white bones that were lying on the ground, neatly packed in a stack.

    Next to the bones, there was a small crystal. With the disappearance of the table, the crystal had fallen on the pillar.

    The pillar was strong, but even it couldn''t bear the true weight of the crystal, as a minor crack appeared where the crystal had fallen.

    "These are the bones of an Ancient Dragon? So this is what extraction means. I can truly extract materials, even from divine objects as long as the information shows that it is possible."

    Although he didn''t know exactly what he could use the dragon bones for, they were still precious.

    Still, there was another problem. This place wasn''t his backyard. Even if he took the bones down, they would most likely be taken from him. The academy wasn''t going to let him keep something like this.

    Moreover, he didn''t even know how to get down himself, let alone manage it while carrying these bones.

    "Should I just leave them here for now?" he thought, sitting beside the bones. Subconsciously, he reached out his hand, his fingers gently caressing them.

    He couldn''t believe he was actually touching the bones of a mythical beast. Although leaving it behind was truly a loss, did he have any other options?

    "Hmm? There''s still that line?" It was only later that he noticed that even after extraction, a description line was still connected to the bones.

    He traced the lines and saw that the information had changed a lot. Moreover, a new section had appeared.

    ........

    Material: Bone of Ancient Dragon

    Weight: 300 Kg

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Merger Possibility: Possible

    ........

    "Merger?" Elias subconsciously mumbled, his fingers still on the ancient dragon bones. The word again triggered something.

    ........

    Would you like to progress with the merger?

    Yes No

    ........

    Just like before, another screen appeared before him, leaving him even more confused. Did it mean he could return the bones to their previous state as a table?

    To test the theory, he said, "Yes."

    He thought the table would be constructed again, or rather the extraction would be reversed. But the reality was quite different as another screen materialized in front of him that he hadn''t seen before.

    ........

    Please select something to merge the Bones of Ancient Dragon with.

    ........

    The moment Elias saw the screen, a thought came to his mind.

    "Can I merge them with anything? If that''s what merger means, then..." he looked at his hands, thinking about an absurd possibility.

 Chapter 15 - 15: Experiment no. 1

    Elias thought of an absurd possibility. If he could merge the dragon bones with anything, what if he tried it on himself?

    It was a dangerous notion that could lead to his death if anything went wrong. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He might die before even starting his true journey. Was it right to take such a risk without sufficient testing? He knew it was foolish, but this time, he wanted to be foolish.

    With his weak and frail body, he couldn''t even have climbed the pillar if there hadn''t been an interference that gave him a free pass, thanks to the pillar''s laws.

    He was scared. He could even feel his heartbeat rising as he thought of changing his body. Was he still going to be human if he did that? Or was he going to become a monster?

    His mind was filled with thoughts related to things that could go wrong, especially since there was not enough information.

    "To think that I could still feel scared after going through all that." He could see that his hands were trembling slightly.

    He had made up his mind. He couldn''t take these bones down to test them. Moreover, there wasn''t any other living being here for trial and error.

    The only living material that was present for testing, was himself. He was like a crazy scientist that was trying to test his experimental drugs on himself, something that even Dreke Asbborn would never have tried.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t think that he had any other choice. He couldn''t take these bones down. He wasn''t strong enough. If he left them behind, then he might never be able to get them.

    How long was he going to take to find some divine materials like this? His body was already broken multiple times before, and it was simply the beginning.

    Even in trials, he had almost gone crazy to pass it. Every step of the way, he had to come across death. Could he afford to be scared of it? He didn''t want to believe it.

    "Merge the Bones of Ancient Dragon with myself," Elias said, tapping his chest lightly.

    .............

    Materials selected for merger: Elias Ashborn, Bones of the Ancient Dragon

    Material Compatibility: 50 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 57 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    .............

    Elias took a deep breath. There was no going back once he confirmed the merger. This was his last opportunity to change his mind.

    His instincts screamed at him to give up, especially since the success probability was barely above the halfway mark.

    "Proceed." Elias closed his eyes and agreed.

    The moment he gave permission, the process began. Unlike before, he wasn''t pushed back by the storm that appeared around the bones. Instead, he was at its core.

    The bones of the ancient dragon became more condensed, as they were previously much larger than Elias''s body. They flew straight toward him.

    The wind surrounding Elias started cutting his skin, making him scream like a beast. It was as if someone had made a long vertical cut across his arm from shoulder to wrist.

    The bones of the ancient dragon flew inside his body through the opening and started merging with his original bones. Even as his skin was sliced, he wasn''t bleeding, as if his blood were perfectly still.

    He was like a patient completely awake while undergoing surgery without anesthesia. He could feel everything, even the slightest cut.

    He felt excruciating pain, as though every cell in his body was being torn apart and reassembled. The sensation was unbearable. He wanted to scream, claw at his skin, do anything to escape the torment, but he couldn''t even twitch a finger.

    Once his arms completed the merger, the wounds healed on their own, and larger cuts appeared across the rest of his body, with more bones flying toward him.

    Time lost all meaning. It could have been seconds, minutes, or an eternity that he spent trapped in that pain.

    He had thought he couldn''t experience worse pain than he felt in the awakening trial, but every second proved him wrong. Even outside the trial, he was still a test subject. The only difference was that he was a crazy scientist as well.

    Although he didn''t know how much time had passed, he was certain that it was much longer than the extraction process. Fortunately, he was on top of the pillar. Even if he screamed at the top of his lungs, no one could hear him.

    He didn''t have to hide his pain anymore. He didn''t have to hold it back, and hide it from the world. He could let out all his agony and pain through his beastly roar.

    Throughout the entire process, Elias didn''t lose consciousness. He wanted to see everything. He wanted to see the complete process, especially the end of this experiment.

    Even if he was going to die here, he wanted to die knowing what happened. He didn''t want to die while unconscious.

    Moreover, he was the scientist that was experimenting with merger ability. As a scientist, he wanted to know every valuable data point that he could gather, especially since this wasn''t the last time he was going to use this ability.

    This was just the beginning for him.. a beginning of his eventual transformation into a calamity that devoured everything.

    After what felt like an eternity, the storm around him finally disappeared. The last cut on his forehead also healed. There were no bones left to merge. The merger had been completed successfully, and the pain was finally over.

    Normally, after a surgery, one could still feel the pain. But Elias couldn''t feel even the slightest trace of anything as he fell on his back, exhausted.

    It was as if everything that he had witnessed just now, including him brushing past death, had been nothing but an illusion. However, only he knew that there was nothing fake about it.

    It was simply the effects of the merger. Lying on his back, he looked at the blood red sky. There was no smile on his lips, nor was he celebrating his first step into evolution or his survival.

    There was only one sentence that escaped his lips, as he gasped for breath, "Experiment no. 1, successful."

 Chapter 16 - 16: A forgotten world

    The room of mirrors was filled with absolute silence, with only one person remaining. It was the Leader of the Ashborn Family, one of the very few Disaster-Class existences in the universe.

    He was Silas Ashborn, who ruled the Ashborn Family with an iron fist. Many people even called him an emotionless beast, who couldn''t care less about things like family or friends.

    "Are you going to offer me an explanation?" Silas broke the silence, his question directed towards the Dean of the Academy.

    Only a few people in this world could talk to the Dean of the Dimensional Academy in such a manner, and Silas was one of them.

    His gaze never left the mirror, which displayed the names of those who had completed the awakening ceremony. At the end of the list, one particular name caught his attention. It was Elias Ashborn.

    "Do you really want an explanation?" a voice came from behind him. A portal opened behind Silus, and a woman stepped out.

    Silus turned, observing the woman''s pale face. She looked to be in her early thirties, but Silus knew she was much older than that. She was almost as old as him.

    Normally, she appeared perfectly healthy. However, for some reason, she looked like she had been through a lot. Silus could still see faint traces of blood around her eyes, as if they had been bleeding recently.

    "Why do you look so bad? Were you in a fight?" he asked. "That''s not it. If you were fighting someone to the point of injury, the battle would have shaken this entire realm. I wouldn''t have missed that. Then how...?"

    "You still have the gall to ask me that question? Isn''t it because of you?!" the woman glared at Silus, unable to hide her frustration.

    "Because of me?" Silus furrowed his brows. "I don''t remember fighting you. If I had, you would be missing at least a few limbs by now."

    "It''s because of your request. I tried to remove your son from the trial. It seems the trial had some laws that didn''t allow it. My pet, who interfered, was killed as punishment. With my Spiritual Pet''s death, I also suffered a heavy backlash."

    She didn''t tell Silus about the vision that she had seen, as she herself didn''t understand it entirely. The only thing she was able to confirm was that her pet was killed because of the interference.

    "There was a rule like that? How did you not know about it?" Silus asked.

    "How am I supposed to know? Do you think we go around interfering in the Awakening Ceremony every day?" the woman snapped. Although his tone was neutral, she felt a hint of mockery.

    Even though Silus didn''t say it outright, she could feel that he was calling her useless and incompetent. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Since we never interfered in the Awakening Ceremony, it seems we never triggered the rule. If I had known about it, do you think I would have sent my pet to die?!"

    Silus didn''t question her anymore. Although it was a surprising revelation, it did make sense. It wasn''t as if they had created the awakening stones themselves. There were many things about these stones that they didn''t know.

    No one knew who created the awakening stones, or even how they originated. Did they come into existence naturally through cosmic chaos? Or did someone analyze bloodlines and create the awakening stones?

    Many people tried to analyze them, but no one had any answers. All they knew was that the evolution stones and the heavenly pillars were discovered in a ruined world.

    No one knew how the world was destroyed. Even the people who had retrieved these awakening stones and other artefacts from that world, never mentioned anything about that world.

    There were no records from that world. It was as if that world''s entire existence was erased from recorded history by those who discovered it. Many people tried to find that ruined world, but it was never discovered again.

    "You need to compensate me. I''ve lost my dear pet because of your request. You need to find me something more precious!" the Dean of the Academy told Silus, bringing him out of his daze.

    "Find one yourself. It''s not as if you completed my request." Silus lazily answered as he walked away. The Awakening Ceremony was over, and to his surprise, Elias had succeeded, albeit with some luck.

    "You''re as hateful as always," the Dean frowned, watching Silas leave. "If you don''t compensate me, should I collect that compensation from your youngest? After all, it''s also because of him that I lost a pet."

    "Do as you please," Silas waved his hand as he stepped inside a portal. "You can kill him for all I care."

    He disappeared inside the portal, which soon closed. The realm of mirrors again returned to silence, with only the woman left behind.

    She blankly looked at the place where Silas had disappeared. She didn''t understand if he was being serious or not. Was he truly going to be so carefree if she actually killed Elias?

    ....

    Elias was completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place between his father and the Dean of the Dimensional Academy.

    He was still overwhelmed by the fact that he had actually succeeded with the merger.

    "It doesn''t feel much different." He sat up after catching his breath. Physically, he couldn''t see any changes in himself. His body still looked as frail as ever, but he was less exhausted over time.

    He could feel his stamina recovering much faster, and his bones felt a little stronger than before.

    He stood up and walked closer to the heavy crystal sphere. Grabbing it with both hands, he again tried to raise it, curious if his strength had changed at all.

    He still couldn''t lift the sphere off the floor. Despite that, he felt elated. Even if he couldn''t raise the sphere, he was still able to move it horizontally, something that was impossible for him before.

    "It did increase my strength. Though more tests are needed, this is certainly a good start."

    After confirming the usability of the merger, he rushed back to the edge of the pillar, remembering the other object. It had mentioned the possibility of extraction, albeit a low possibility.

 Chapter 17 - 17: They are mine

    Elias sat on the edge of the pillar, bending his body forward as far as possible to reach the clouds. Although he could extract something, he still needed to touch it.

    Unfortunately, the clouds were much lower than the pillar''s top. Even as he bent forward as far as possible, his fingers were unable to reach them.

    "Come on, just a little more!" he exclaimed, reaching out as far as he possibly could.

    The composition of the clouds was even more impressive than the Dragon Bones. Even if he could extract just one material and merge with it, it was extremely useful to him. Before returning, he wanted to take as much as he possibly could.

    ............

    Material Composition: Tears of the Sky (98 percent), Breath of the Divine (1.5 percent), Dust of Creation (0.4 percent), Essence of Lightning (0.1 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 200 Meters

    Material Stability: 20 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .............

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t touch the clouds no matter how hard he tried. He had to get down from the pillar, just as people had climbed up.

    He started checking the pillar, trying to find the handholds that were used for gripping. Once he found a handhold, he carefully moved down, putting one foot above the protrusion on the pillar.

    Not wanting to fall to his death, he moved extremely slowly to make sure he didn''t slip. Fortunately, his hands didn''t feel as weak as before. He wasn''t trembling anymore.

    Although it was hard, he managed to hang on the side of the pillar and started moving down. Occasionally, his foot missed the opening in the pillar, but he was able to keep his balance with his arms alone.

    A few minutes later, he finally reached the same level as the clouds, unable to see anything around him. He could only see the mist that formed the clouds.

    He stabilized his body with one hand and touched the clouds with the other.

    "Extract!" he commanded.

    Right after he finished the command, he grabbed the pillar with his other hand, expecting a similar storm as before. He didn''t want to be sent flying again. With the trial over, nothing was going to save him.

    Just as he expected, a storm appeared around him. The storm was so heavy that it blew off the clouds that weren''t at the core. Only a small section of the sky had been cleansed of the clouds, thanks to the storm that had appeared.

    The other participants had already returned to the ground, including the descendants of the other major families. Many of them were waiting to be led outside, but they were told that there was still one person who had yet to return.

    All of them were waiting for Elias, growing more frustrated by the minute.

    "Hmm? What''s that in the sky?" a youngster called out, pointing at the sky.

    The others also looked up and noticed a small storm near one of the pillars. Around the storm, the clouds had disappeared, which allowed them to see the sky from the ground. It was something they had only seen from the top of the pillars before.

    "Isn''t that the pillar selected by that Ashborn kid?" another youngster asked.

    "Wait, is that him hanging by the side?!" another person exclaimed, seeing the figure of Elias, who looked like a small dot, stuck between the pillar and the storm.

    "Where? Why can''t I see anything?" Most of the youngsters weren''t able to see Elias, their abilities and class being much weaker.

    Meanwhile, the descendants of the major families had gained much better classes. They could see Elias as clear as day. What truly surprised them was the storm.

    They could feel that it wasn''t a normal storm. There were no such storms in this place before, after all. It definitely had something to do with Elias.

    "Just what exactly is his class?" many of them wondered.

    All of them were observing the storm, which grew weaker by the second before it completely disappeared.

    High in the sky, Elias was hanging by the pillar like a koala trying to hold on. However, unlike a koala, he couldn''t afford to fall.

    Fortunately, the storm was pushing him away, which helped him hold onto the pillar. He couldn''t even imagine the consequences if the storm had been pulling him instead. It would have been a nightmarish difficulty.

    Still, only after the storm disappeared was Elias able to sigh in relief. At that moment, multiple screens started materializing before him, one after another.

    ...........

    Tears of Sky: Extraction Failed.

    Breath of the Divine: Extraction Failed.

    Dust of Creation: Extraction Successful.

    Essence of Lightning: Extraction Successful.

    ...........

    Even though he was only able to extract two out of the four materials, he still felt glad. With the low possibility of extraction, he had been expecting a complete failure after all, having prepared for that disappointment.

    With the disappearance of the clouds, he saw two small crystal vials materialize, each smaller than his fingers. Looking at them, he felt as if they couldn''t even hold more than a single droplet of water.

    One vial was deep blue with a small lightning symbol around it, while the other was light brown, each made from a crystal that felt similar to the awakening crystal.

    He quickly reached out to grab them, only for his expression to turn to panic. Before his hands could even reach the vials, they started falling.

    "No, no, no!" Elias exclaimed in disbelief, but there was nothing he could do. Even if he jumped after them, he couldn''t catch them.

    At this point, he could only hope that they wouldn''t be destroyed in the fall, which seemed almost impossible. Still, he quickly started climbing down. Even if the vials weren''t broken, it would be a disaster if they were taken by someone else.

    After a few hours of climbing down, he finally reached the floor. He saw that the vials were still intact, but his expression didn''t look good.

    Both vials were in the hands of another person, who was also a descendant of one of the few major families.

    "They are mine. Can you hand them over?" Elias asked, not thinking straight. He simply reached out his hand, demanding his items.

    Elias didn''t know why, but he heard many shocked gasps around him, as if he had committed some great sin.

    sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 18 - 18: Becoming a beast

    Elias could see the young boy''s attire, which was even more luxurious than his own. The boy also had an insignia depicting an eagle that seemed to be flying while carrying a snake in its claws.

    Elias didn''t know much about this world, but he could tell the boy was from a family just as high-ranking as the Ashborns.

    Moreover, was it simply a coincidence that he could see a snake being destroyed by an eagle in that insignia? The symbol of the Ashborn family was a snake devouring its own tail, like an ouroboros after all.

    "Is he seriously expecting him to return those things? Did he forget what kind of relationship their families share?"

    "The Esterin family and the Ashborn family are like water and fire. There''s no way this will end peacefully."

    Many in the surroundings had started whispering amongst themselves, subconsciously taking a step back.

    If two descendants of the major families actually started fighting right after getting their class, then it was definitely going to be a disaster that they didn''t want to get caught in.

    "I don''t see your name written on them. Can you prove they belong to you?" Rey Von Esterin raised the two vials, having no intention of returning them.

    Although he didn''t know why Elias wanted them, he could feel that they were extraordinary, especially since they''d appeared from the clouds of heaven. Moreover, if a descendant of the Ashborn family needed them, he had all the more reason to keep them.

    "As far as I know, I''m the one who found them on the ground. Seems to have nothing to do with you," he said, keeping the two vials in his pocket.

    "Everyone knows they belong to me!" Elias exclaimed. "They fell from my hands!"

    Rey arched a brow, feigning innocence. "Oh? Everyone knows? Then let''s have a show of hands, shall we?"

    He surveyed the surrounding youngsters. "If even one person here agrees with your story and accepts that they belong to you, I''ll gladly return them to you."

    Elias''s gaze swept across the faces of the other awakeners, but he was only met with averted eyes and a frightening silence. No one wanted to help him; they were too worried about their own safety.

    Even those from major families, who weren''t scared of Rey, didn''t raise their hands. They were mere spectators, entertained by the conflict, indifferent to the winner. Their gazes were filled with mockery, like gods enjoying the spectacle of a world devoured.

    It was exactly the same way that his brother was looking at earth when it was being destroyed by the virus of his own creation.

    Elias didn''t feel sad that there were people who were scared, but what made him absolutely disgusting were the descendants of the major family.

    They were never going to help him. Although this place was called an Academy, in reality, it was a world where the strong devoured the weak.

    Rey Von Esterin was simply enjoying watching the despair on Elias'' face. It felt even more precious than any object that he might have taken from Elias.

    ''This is just the beginning. I am absolutely going to destroy you. Through you, I will drag the entire Ashborn Family to hell...'' The corner of his lips crept up, but his eyes were still extremely cold, as he hadn''t forgotten the reason he was doing all this.

    The descendants of the other major families also looked disappointed in Elias. They thought they were going to see some action, or a battle where the two were going to reveal the strength and weakness of the class that they had gained.

    Unfortunately, Elias looked like he was already broken. They could see him shivering, feeling as if he was scared.

    "If this is enough to break him, then it is quite a disappointment." A woman who was watching the spectacle lazily, mumbled.

    "I thought he would be like the Eldest Son of the Ashborn Family who went on a killing spree, and killed the Eldest Son of the Esterin Family. It seems like he''s even worse than even the fourth son."

    She sighed, seemingly bored and turned around. She started walking away, not interested in this anymore. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a laughter started echoing in the surroundings. The sound of maniacal laughter broke the scary silence.

    The girl turned around, her frown deepening. She looked at the source of the laughter. To her surprise, it was coming from Elias, who until recently looked like he was broken.

    Elias covered his face with his palms, unable to stop his laughter for some reason.

    "Did he go crazy? Why did he start laughing out of nowhere?" Almost everyone had the same question in their minds, as they saw Elias laughing.

    "I seem to be turning into a goldfish." After a long time, Elias stopped laughing, lowering his hands to reveal his eyes that looked entirely different than before. "I keep forgetting that I am not amongst humans."

    Although his eyes were still the same shade and same color, something was different in them. It was as if it was a completely different person.

    He was repeatedly reminded that he couldn''t rely on anyone else. The people here were not humans. They were beasts, who were hiding under human skin. This world was not for the kind.

    If he wanted something, he could only take it with his own hands. He had to become a beast if he wanted to survive in this cruel world. He couldn''t ask for kindness from others. Instead, he had to leave his own kindness behind.

    So what if they were from the major families? So what if they were descendants of families that held great power? If they wanted to make him into their stepping stone, then he could only run wild.

    "I keep treating trash like humans." His fingers brushed through his hair, pushing them back, as he raised his head.

    "Have you finally lost your mind?" Rey asked, but instead of getting an answer, he saw Elias rushing towards him.

    There was already less than a few meters of distance between them. Before he could even react, Elias had covered the distance.

    The next thing that everyone saw made their jaws drop. Many even looked in horror, unable to believe what they had seen.

 Chapter 19 - 19: Snapped

    Rey Von Esterin had come to the Awakening Ceremony with two goals in mind. His first goal was to receive a high class. His other goal was to crush the descendant of the Ashborn Family.

    He thought that both of these goals were easy to achieve, especially since he was a genius. He had already completed his first goal with a successful awakening.

    As for his second goal, he was looking for an opportunity, or even an excuse, to crush Elias Ashborn. The opportunity came unexpectedly as two vials fell from the sky, which Elias desired.

    He didn''t miss the opportunity and rushed to pick them up. He wanted to destroy Elias Ashborn. He was even more elated when he saw the crushed expression on Elias''s face.

    He thought it was going to be a fun year. He was going to thoroughly ruin Elias. At least that''s what he thought. Then why? Why was he on the ground, lying on his back?!

    He couldn''t believe it, but the pain of being slammed on the ground was still fresh.

    Before he could react, Elias appeared in front of him. He grabbed Rey by the throat, raised him in the air, and then slammed him against the ground.

    The sound of Rey being slammed on the ground was so loud that it echoed in the ears of everyone who saw the scene.

    By the time Rey came to his senses, he felt his face turn red in embarrassment. Was he really slammed on the ground by someone who looked like he didn''t even have the courage to raise his voice?

    "You¡ª" he exclaimed, but before he could even utter another word, a fist connected with his face.

    Even after slamming him on the ground, Elias didn''t stop. It was as if he had completely snapped. One after another, punches kept landing on Rey''s face.

    His face had even started bleeding. Even Elias''s fist wasn''t unharmed, as the flesh on his knuckles had also started bleeding, but he didn''t stop.

    He didn''t care about the pain or anything. He had bones that were reinforced by the dragons, which made his punches even stronger.

    Only a short moment had passed before Rey''s entire face was covered in blood. Some of the blood splashed even landed on Elias'' face, who didn''t even bother to wipe them.

    Everyone who saw the scene was left watching in silence. They had assumed that the youngest son of the Ashborn Family was a weak sheep that was born in a family of strong wolves. Only now, they were realizing that he was not a sheep but a bloody hound.

    With the fourth son of the Ashborn Family, they thought that the Ashborns were becoming less bloodthirsty and crazy. They were realizing that the fourth son was more of an outlier.

    The youngsters who didn''t come from the major family, were even more scared of the youngest son of the Ashborn Family. They were even worried if Elias was going to take revenge on them because they didn''t help when he needed it.

    Their hearts had started beating faster, watching the fate of Rey Von Esterin. If even the descendants of the Esterin Family weren''t safe, then what about them?

    Only the descendants of the other major families were watching the scene in amusement, not having even the slightest trace of fear on their faces.

    They were simply observing Elias, trying to guess what kind of class he might have gained. Was it a class that strengthened his body? Normally, classes like these were strong at the start but in the later stages, they were considered one of the weakest classes.

    Rey had momentarily been overwhelmed by Elias'' attack. He was punched again and again, until even his nose was broken.

    For the first time in his life, he felt that he might actually die. He had to do something! He had to use his class to fight back, since Elias was doing the same in his eyes.

    A wind blast originated in his palm, which he shot at Elias. The wind blast crashed against Elias'' chest, sending him flying back. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I will kill you!" Rey stood up, spitting a mouthful of blood. A few of his teeth were also spat out amidst that blood.

    He used his robe to wipe the blood off his face, at least enough so he could see things thoroughly.

    Elias was attacked by the wind blast, which had sent him flying back. Normally, an attack like that, if made from such close proximity was enough to kill a person, shattering all their bones.

    Rey was surprised to see Elias still standing. His clothes were torn, revealing his bloody chest. But it didn''t look like any of his bones were shattered, as he was standing straight.

    Although he was surprised, it didn''t make him hesitate. Initially, he only wanted to teach Elias a small lesson in the awakening ceremony, saving the best for later. But now, he had changed his mind.

    Elias had thrashed him in front of everyone. He could only wash that shame with Elias'' blood.

    Both of Elias'' fists were clenched, as he still stared at Rey Von Esterin, with no intention of holding back either.

    Many descendants of major families were looking at the scene like vultures. For them, it didn''t matter who suffered. As long as the two families went to war, they were going to grow even weaker after the war. It was certainly only to benefit their families.

    "Finally, this is going to be fun. No matter which of them dies, it will get interesting. It is even better if both of them die. Their families might really go to a war, just like last time! And this time, it probably won''t end with only a few thousand deaths!"

    There were many who were watching winds starting to condense on Rey''s palms. The more condensed they were, the more dangerous it became as an attack.

    The silence before the storm was over with Rey shooting out multiple wind blasts. Elias also started running towards Rey.

 Chapter 20 - 20: A beast marking his territory

    Rey unleashed a barrage of wind blasts. But instead of cowering or dodging, Elias charged headfirst toward the destructive wind spheres that looked like giant storms condensed into small spheres.

    "He''s insane!" someone gasped from the crowd.

    "Is he trying to die?" another exclaimed. "A Strengthening class is strong, but it''s the worst possible class when facing a mage who is far away!"

    Even Rey was momentarily stunned by Elias''s reckless advance. He had expected Elias to try to run or dodge, and had already prepared for that. Even if Elias were to dodge, there was no escaping for him.

    After all, even though this was his first time awakening his class, he wasn''t ignorant. His family had gathered data about almost all the classes, and he had learned about almost all of them, including their strengths and weaknesses.

    He already knew what kind of class he had gained, including the abilities he could use right from the start.

    Even if Elias tried to escape, Rey still planned to crush him. However, to his surprise, the brat was coming straight for him.

    A grin appeared on his bloody lips. Even if Elias was a fool, he was a doll that was going to die faster because of his recklessness. Wind blasts were faster than Elias, and Rey knew he couldn''t dodge them all.

    Elias also knew that it was impossible to dodge them. That''s why he wasn''t planning to dodge them in the first place. He already saw something that gave him a crazy idea.

    He didn''t know if his idea was going to work. But even if it didn''t, so what? Even if the wind blast was going to hit him, so what? As long as they couldn''t shatter his bones, he would still advance. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Everyone saw Elias rushing toward the first wind blast. He reached out his right hand toward it without stopping.

    "Does he want to lose his hand?"

    "He has truly lost his mind! It looks like the youngest Ashborn is going to die today."

    Even though Elias was rushing toward Rey, many thought that he would be wise enough to try to avoid the wind blasts, even if it was hard. Instead, he was reaching out for them, extending his hand as if trying to catch them.

    The moment his fingers touched the outer layer of the condensed wind sphere, his lips moved as if uttering some words.

    Fortunately, everyone was focused on the wind sphere, not on Elias''s lips. Not a single person there heard Elias whisper, "Confirm Extraction."

    The moment the words escaped his lips, the entire surroundings was shrouded in a large storm that originated with Elias at its core.

    It was similar to the storm that had appeared in the sky to everyone''s surprise. The only difference was that it was smaller. But even then, it was strong enough to hide Elias from everyone''s view.

    Elias used extraction on multiple wind blasts, but even then, he wasn''t completely successful.

    One of the wind blasts struck his body, but instead of being pushed back, Elias maintained his momentum and pushed forward. The impact, taken by his bare body, wrecked him even more.

    Multiple loud bangs resonated within the storm. Many had already started looking at the storm with pity, certain that Elias was dead. The moment the storm disappeared, they expected to find Elias''s corpse. Or at least that''s what they thought.

    The more certain they were of Elias''s death, the more shocked they became when they saw a bloody figure emerge from the storm, rushing toward Rey Von Esterin.

    With the storm propelling him forward, he was even faster, as if he were flying. Elias, now within striking distance, launched himself at Rey.

    Rey''s eyes widened. He had thought Elias was dead, which made him stop attacking. He frantically tried to condense more wind around himself for defense, but it was too late.

    A heavy scent of blood accompanied Elias''s bloody fist as it connected with Rey''s jaw. Rey felt like he was experiencing nightmarish deja vu. It was the same way he had been attacked before.

    The impact sent Rey stumbling backward, his vision blurring. Before Rey could recover, Elias was upon him again. Rey, overwhelmed by the beastly assault, could only raise his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself with another wind blast.

    Elias noticed what he was trying to do. However, he didn''t plan to fall for the same trick twice. With his left hand, he grabbed Rey''s throat, and with his right hand, he continued his relentless attack.

    Rey attacked with a wind blast, and once again, Elias was sent flying. However, this time, he brought Rey with him, maintaining his grip around the man''s neck.

    Even after the two of them landed in the distance, the punishment didn''t stop. The brutality left many people aghast, as Elias didn''t seem to care about his own safety.

    The crowd watched in stunned silence as Elias unleashed his fury. The boy they had dismissed as a weakling now looked more like an untamed beast than a human.

    Rey was left like a broken mess, his face covered with fresh blood. He even felt as if his skull was starting to crack. For the first time, he felt like he might actually die here.

    The pain and fear was overwhelming, but even more scary was the fact that he couldn''t escape. Even if he attacked Elias, he wasn''t going to be free as Elias was holding onto him like a lion holding on to its prey with their teeth.

    There was no one to help him. Just like they were spectators when he was bullying Elias, they were spectators when he was on the verge of death. He was so overwhelmed that he eventually passed out, his arms falling limp on the ground.

    "He has already passed out. Isn''t that enough?" Elias'' fist again came down, but this time, it didn''t connect with Rey as he felt like someone had grabbed his wrist.

 Chapter 21 - 21: Reaper of the Academy

    Elias felt someone grab his wrist. He raised his head, looking at the hand that seemed to belong to a woman.

    The hand had simply touched him, and Elias felt his body growing weaker for some reason. Was the woman using some unknown ability to weaken him? He couldn''t be certain.

    He raised his gaze further, observing the woman''s face. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, but her presence felt extremely heavy.

    She was wearing a long dress that wrapped tightly around her body. But what caught Elias'' attention most was her hair. They were alive.

    He wasn''t someone who paid much attention to myths, but even he had heard a little about an entity called Medusa. The woman in front of him looked just like Medusa, her hair made of living venomous snakes.

    Even if she didn''t look physically strong, there was something dangerous and unsettling about her.

    "If you don''t stop now, he will die," the woman said, releasing his hand. Even though she freed him, she didn''t take her eyes off him.

    Her gaze carried a warning that it was truly time to stop.

    "Who are you?" Elias asked, taking a deep breath. Now that he had calmed down, he could see that Rey had truly fainted.

    While distracting the woman with his question, he slipped his hands into Rey''s pockets, searching for something. He found the two small vials that had been taken from him.

    He grabbed the vials and hid them in his fist before withdrawing his hand. Even though many people had already seen the vials, he didn''t want this woman to see them. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The children might not be able to recognize the extracted elements inside, but he couldn''t be certain about the woman. He didn''t want to take a risk.

    She was too old to be a participant in the Awakening Ceremony. Most participants were twelve or thirteen years old. That meant she was likely a member of the Dimensional Academy itself.

    He subtly inserted his bloody hands into his pocket while standing up. He kept the vials there, saving them for later.

    "Huh?" The moment he stood up, he felt as if his head was spinning. When he was fighting, he was so overwhelmed that he had started ignoring the condition of his body.

    Only when he relaxed was he able to feel how broken his body had actually become. It wasn''t just Rey who had lost blood; he had also lost a lot, his chest still bleeding.

    He stumbled on his own feet, feeling as if his body didn''t have even the slightest strength left. Was it adrenaline that had been keeping him moving before? He wasn''t certain. All he knew was that he was about to pass out as well.

    The only good thing was that he had taken the vials back. He could finally sigh in relief as he fell forward, not even having enough strength to raise his hands to protect his face.

    He passed out and didn''t know what happened next. He wasn''t awake to see the woman reaching out and stopping him from falling.

    "Sigh, why are Ashborns always so troublesome?" the woman rubbed her forehead, holding onto Elias with one arm. "I thought after ''that monster'' left the academy, it was going to be calm."

    She snapped her fingers, and two shadow guards appeared around her.

    She handed Elias to one of them, and Rey to the other. "Take them for healing. If any of them die, it''ll be a bigger headache for the Academy."

    "Yes, Professor." The two shadow guards nodded. They raised the boys and prepared to leave.

    "After they are healed, bring them to the Class Measurement Hall. You have half an hour," the woman said. "Oh, and keep them away from each other. Otherwise they might start fighting again."

    "We will remember." The Guards agreed before disappearing with the two boys.

    "As for the rest of you..." The woman shifted her focus to the other youngsters.

    "Are you disappointed that none of them died?" she asked, particularly focused on the descendants of the big families that were on the same level as the Ashborn and Ester family.

    "We don''t understand what you are talking about." Some of the descendants innocently answered, but their eyes didn''t hide their intentions. In this place, everyone was a predator.

    The woman could only sigh. "Let''s go."

    She didn''t ask them anything else. She knew there was no point. The descendants of the major families were always self-centered. Nothing she said was going to get through to them.

    For some reason, this scene felt particularly familiar to her, with many schemes at play. Something similar had happened in the past, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Destroyer Class at the hands of the Eldest Ashborn Child.

    She wasn''t sure if the past was going to repeat itself or if something even worse was going to happen. In any case, it had nothing to do with her.

    In the past, she hadn''t stopped it. Even now, she wasn''t planning to interfere. If these predators wanted to rule over this hunting ground, they could only rely on themselves.

    She opened a portal in front of her and told the others to enter without further explanation.

    The other children didn''t need an explanation in the first place, as they already knew the process.

    After witnessing the horrifying battle between the two descendants, many from the weaker families had gone silent. Their eyes were filled with fear. But after the portal opened, a spark of excitement returned.

    "Finally, we can go for Class Measurement."

    "I hope I get into the Creator Class! I don''t want to be with the Ashborn Descendant! He''s a monster!"

    "Same here. That child will definitely be in the Destroyer Class. I don''t want to be anywhere near him. I still haven''t forgotten the story about the fate of the destroyer class that was completely annihilated by an Ashborn."

    "Are you talking about the Reaper of the Academy? Didn''t he go missing, though? I heard that Ashborns searched for him everywhere after he went missing, but they couldn''t find him."

    "Shh. Don''t talk about that! We better avoid mentioning those powerful families."

    The conversation abruptly ended as the children realized this wasn''t the appropriate place to discuss such matters. They followed the others and entered the portal, vanishing from sight.

    Only the Professor remained. Their conversation hadn''t escaped her notice.

    "Reaper of the Academy, huh..." she mumbled, stepping into the portal herself.

 Chapter 22 - 22: Seraphina

    ....

    There existed a garden in the Dimensional Academy. It was said that this was one of the most beautiful places in the Dimensional Academy where many exotic flowers and herbs could be found.

    The scenery alone was enough to make people lose themselves in the garden. In the middle of the garden, there existed a pond that was filled with crystal clear water, with rare fishes swimming within.

    A silver haired woman was sitting at the edge of the pond, with her feet inside the gentle water that had healing properties.

    She was holding a cup in her right hand, which was filled with tea that was freshly brewed from the rare herbs of the garden.

    She was the owner of this place, and it was her sanctuary. It was the place where she came to be with her inner self and relax.

    Unfortunately, the serene atmosphere was broken as a shadow appeared behind the woman.

    Before the shadow could speak, the silver haired woman asked, "Aren''t you supposed to be at the Awakening Ceremony?"

    "Lady Seraphina! We have two injured. We need you to heal them," the shadow spoke, his voice sounding extremely urgent.

    "Can''t you see that I am taking a break? Unless they are about to die at the very next moment, wait for me to finish my tea." Seraphina completely ignored the Shadow and took another sip.

    "It''s the descendants of the Ashborn and Esterin Family," the shadow responded.

    As soon as the woman heard, she spat out a mouthful of tea. The Esterin Family alone was troublesome, but the Ashborn Family was even worse. If something happened to them because she was taking a break, then she couldn''t imagine her future.

    "Cough, cough. Why didn''t you say that before? Will you take responsibility if something happens to them?" She stood up, unable to hide her flustered expressions.

    The cup in her hand disappeared as she turned about, revealing her face that was as pale as a sheet of paper. Her long ears were akin to an elf, and her beauty matched.

    She quickly left the Garden, and returned to the Medical Facility. Outside the facility, she placed her palm on the scanner. It took barely a fraction of a second to complete the scanning, and the mechanical door slid open.

    Seraphina rushed through the white corridors of the Medical Facility, her long silver braid trailing behind her. The shadow guard struggled to keep up.

    "Just how badly are they injured?" Seraphina asked. "Please tell me they are not on the verge of death?" Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "They both lost a significant amount of blood, Professor," the shadow guard reported. "The Esterin descendant in particular... his wounds are severe. He might actually die. The Ashborn Descendant is much better, but he has also bled a lot."

    Seraphina rubbed her forehead, realizing that things were even worse than she had thought. The Esterin family had already lost their eldest son at the Academy. If their youngest child died here as well, it would be a true disaster.

    "Bring the regeneration tanks immediately!" she ordered before pushing open the door. When she entered, she was met with the sight of the two boys lying unconscious on separate medical beds.

    As Rey Esterin had the insignia of his family on his clothes, she was able to identify him. It meant the other person was the descendant of the Ashborn.

    Elias was a mess of blood. Deep wounds criss crossed his chest and arms. His normally pale skin was ashen, and his breathing was shallow.

    "He pushed himself far beyond his limits," she muttered, more to herself than the shadow guard. "Such recklessness...typical of an Ashborn."

    Rey Von Esterin was even worse. His entire face was broken; he was struggling to even breathe. It was a miracle that he was still alive. Compared to him, Elias''s condition seemed heavenly.

    Soon, two transparent cylindrical tanks were brought in, each filled with a deep blue liquid. She picked up Elias and placed him inside one of the tanks. The shadow guard was instructed to place Rey in the other, which was filled to the brim.

    Both of them sank to the bottom of the tanks, floating like test subjects in some horror lab. However, even while submerged, they were still able to breathe. No, their breathing became even better.

    Their bodies were greedily absorbing the blue liquid, which helped stabilize their condition. As long as they were in the regeneration tanks, they would be healed within a few hours. However, Seraphina didn''t want it to take hours.

    With a wave of her hand, she summoned two orbs of healing energy. She placed them inside the tanks, making the healing energy grow even stronger.

    The orbs floated over the boys'' heads, bathing them in a soft, emerald light. Seraphina closed her eyes, focusing her concentration to channel her power into their wounded bodies through the orbs.

    "Lady Seraphina, can they be healed in twenty minutes?" The shadow asked, before offering an explanation. "I have to take them back to the Measurement Hall."

    He was only given thirty minutes to bring them back. And he had already lost a few minutes in the process.

    "They will be fine in a few minutes." Seraphina took her hands off the tanks, finishing what she had to do. "Just let them stay inside these tanks until they wake up."

    Through the transparent glass, she could see the wounds of the two youngsters healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    "That''s a relief." The Shadow Guard sighed in relief, before remembering something. "In that case, please allow me to take one of them to a different room."

    He was told to keep the two of them away, so that they didn''t start fighting after waking up. Now that everything had stabilized, he decided to take one of them to a different room and let them heal in peace.

    He selected Elias, as the boy was in a better condition and didn''t need constant monitoring. He grabbed the cylindrical tank out of the room, leaving Ester behind with Seraphina.

 Chapter 23 - 23: True Essence of an Architect

    After the condition of the two descendants was stabilized, Seraphina could finally relax. She sat on the chair, watching Rey heal. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "The two of them barely awakened, and they are already so fierce. It seems like I will be extremely busy this year." She let out a sigh. "There goes my peaceful life."

    She talked to herself, bringing out the cup of tea that was still warm and fresh.

    Although the atmosphere was not as relaxing anymore, it was still better than nothing. She had a feeling that this was probably the most peaceful it was going to be this year, as another Ashborn beast had arrived.

    "They say that history finds a way of repeating itself. I really hope I don''t witness the birth of another Aliath Ashborn," she mumbled before taking a sip of the tea that didn''t feel sweet anymore.

    ....

    Elias was floating in the tank, where the blue liquid had almost turned transparent, as if all the medical efficacy had been used to heal him.

    Even though he was not as badly hurt as Rey, his body still greedily devoured the essence faster than Esterin did. Not only did his body heal his wounds, but his weakened state was also gone.

    His body didn''t look as fair as before. Finally, he looked more like a descendant of a decent family.

    It was said that he would wake up within five minutes. However, only a minute had passed when he suddenly opened his eyes.

    He found himself floating in a liquid that felt like water but was denser. He didn''t panic. If it was dangerous, he would have already been dead after all.

    Through the liquid and glass, he looked at his surroundings and saw he was alone in a room. There was no one else there.

    He was surprised that he was able to breathe inside the liquid. His body had never felt better.

    He looked at his arms. Previously, it had looked like he had nothing but bones. There was no mass on his body. But now, he looked like a normal twelve-year-old was supposed to look.

    He touched his chest and noticed that there were no wounds. All his wounds had healed and it didn''t hurt anymore.

    ''Is this thing used for healing?'' he thought, as he reached out his hand to grip the top of the tank''s walls. He pushed his body up and jumped out.

    He was already bare-chested, as his clothes were torn apart in the battle. Only his pants were somewhat intact. The first thing he did after getting out of the regeneration tank was check his pockets.

    Only after he verified that the two vials were still there was he relieved. He really wanted to try merging with them, especially since the first merger had already helped him a lot. He wanted to see how this merger could change him for the better.

    Still, he controlled his urges and didn''t bring out the vials here. Although the room felt empty, he couldn''t be certain that there was no one here.

    If there was any place which could ensure some semblance of privacy, it was the toilet. He was sure that if there was a room, there was going to be a toilet here as well.

    There were two doors in this room, both being made from some unknown metal. He ignored the bigger door as that felt like the exit of the room. He selected the other metallic door.

    The door didn''t have any doorknob, or any handle to hold it. He wasn''t even sure how to open it. Did he have to push it? Fortunately, he didn''t have to think much about it. The moment he reached near the door, the door slid open as if it was mechanically operated.

    Looking at the door, Elias felt quite interested. Although earth also had doors like these, something was really fascinating for him about these mechanical things.

    He didn''t have time to waste so he didn''t think much about it. He stepped inside the toilet, that was just as grand. It was one tenth the size of the room where he came from, but it didn''t mean it was small.

    The toilet was five meters wide and seven meters long with almost all facilities, including shower and bathtubs. There was also a small glass room which he didn''t understand the purpose of.

    He didn''t think much about it and pulled out one of the vials at random from his pocket. It was a light brown vial, which contained the Dust of Creation. He opened the vial and a thick scent spread out. The scent felt similar to the scent of wet sand.

    ........

    Material: Dust of Creation

    Weight: 1 Gram

    Material Stability: 100 Percent

    Merger Possibility: High Possibility

    ........

    He was relieved to see that the merger of this material was highly possible. Just like before, he tapped his chest and said, "Confirm Merger."

    He braced himself for another storm, and closed his eyes. He was prepared for the pain, but to his surprise, no pain came. Even the storm was nowhere to be seen.

    He opened his eyes, and was greeted with something unexpected.

    ........

    Materials selected are incompatible. Please select another material.

    ........

    "Huh?" Elias looked on in disbelief. This was the first time he had encountered the incompatibility. Was he not compatible with this merger? Then what could he even use it for?

    He kept the vials back in his pocket and opened the next vial, which contained the Essence of Lightning. He again tried to merge it with himself.

    ........

    Materials selected are incompatible. Please select another material.

    ........

    "Just what is this?" Once again, the same rejection came. His body wasn''t compatible with these materials.

    "Do I have to use it on some lifeless material?" he frowned, lost in deep thought. "Or do I need to create something else with these materials?"

    At that moment, he didn''t realise that it was with this thought, he came across the true essence of his Class. His fate was shifted to a different path, one that was going to change the universe forever.

 Chapter 24 - 24: Eliass Class

    "Are you inside?" A sudden knock on the door caught Elias'' attention.

    He quickly kept both vials back in his pocket and walked over to the door, which opened as he stepped near it.

    With the door opening, Elias was greeted by a person who looked less like a person and more like a shadow. He couldn''t even see the face of the person, as if darkness itself had taken human form.

    "It''s good to see that you are awake. Please wear these clothes and return to the Measurement Hall with me," the shadow said, revealing the pair of clothes it was carrying in its hands.

    Elias'' shirt was already destroyed, and even the rest of his clothes were covered in blood. He couldn''t return to the Measurement Ceremony like this.

    "Although these clothes aren''t as fancy as the ones that you were wearing, it''s the best I could do." The shadow even sounded apologetic.

    It didn''t wait for Elias to respond and left the room, saying, "I will be waiting for you outside. Please try to be fast."

    Elias returned to the bathroom, and took off his old clothes that were stained with blood. He entered the shower, and washed off the blood that was all over his body.

    After quickly washing off the blood, he left the shower, water dripping down his body. He wore the new clothes that were left behind by the shadow. He shifted the two small vials in the pockets of his new pants before finally stepping out of the hall.

    As soon as he left, the shadow grabbed his hand. Elias again felt as if he was pulled through space. Before he could even react, he noticed that his surroundings had changed.

    He was in a closed space that looked like a hall. In the hall, he noticed many other children that had taken part in the Awakening Ceremony with him.

    There was a giant stone slab in the center of the hall. The children were going to the stone slab and placing their hands on it.

    Next to the stone slab, there was a screen. When a child placed his hand on the stone slab, certain information appeared on the screen.

    ............

    Class: Auxiliary

    Sub-Class: Blacksmith

    Class Grade: D

    Highest Potential: B

    ............

    The child who had touched the stone slab, stared at the screen in disbelief. It was as if all his dreams had come crashing down. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    There were three main classes in this world: Creator, Destroyer and Auxiliary. He had received the class that was considered the worst of them all.

    Even amongst the Auxiliary Class, he received the Blacksmith which was only at a Grade D. He didn''t even dare raise his head in embarrassment.

    He simply turned around and walked to the south side of the hall, standing with other children that looked just as dejected.

    Those of the Creator Class were standing in the left side of the hall, feeling quite proud and relaxed. A few of them looked even arrogant, as they had received a higher grade class.

    The right side of the hall was taken by the Destroyer Class. Elias had just arrived and he could already see the gazes of those people.

    Many of them looked dejected. However, it was not because the Destroyer Class was bad. Instead, it was because Elias was also supposed to be in the Destroyer Class.

    Elias also noticed Rey Esterin, who had arrived here before him. If looks could kill, then Rey would have killed him a thousand times over. However, he seemed hesitant.

    Elias wasn''t sure if it was because he was scared from the past beating, or if the Professor had warned him against creating any disturbance in the Measurement Ceremony.

    Rey placed his hand on the stone slab, and a few seconds later, the information on the screen changed.

    ............

    Class: Destroyer

    Sub-Class: Elemental Mage

    Class Grade: S

    Highest Potential: SS

    ............

    "SS Rank Potential... Not bad. It means you can evolve your class up to SS Grade." It was rare to hear compliments from the Professor, but even she looked pleased. This time, there were quite a few good seedlings.

    Rey Esterin looked at his information. He had already guessed his class, but the highest potential still surprised him.

    He felt extremely pleased. An Elemental Mage was able to use magic of all elements. In the battle, he was only able to use wind-element magic, but that was only because he had just awakened.

    Although the end of the awakening ceremony was embarrassing for him, it had somewhat made up for it. His class was only going to get stronger. Moreover, even if Elias was strong now because of his physical-type class, he was only going to get weaker.

    He looked at Elias, unable to hide his hostility.

    "Don''t forget that this is not the place to fight. Go and stand with the others of the Destroyer Class," the Professor told Rey, who nodded and moved aside.

    He knew that he didn''t have to be in a hurry. Elias was definitely going to be in the Destroyer Class with him. He could always wash away his shame.

    Almost all the children had finished their measurements. There was only one person left, and everyone was looking in his direction.

    Elias stepped forward, and approached the Measurement Stone. Just like before, he was able to use a line that led to the information about the Measurement Stone.

    ..........

    Material Composition: Soul of Judgement (94 Percent), Stone of Evolution (5 Percent), Incarnated Laws (1 Percent)

    Material Stability: 70 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    ..........

    The Stone Slab had the same three materials as the Awakening Stone. Only the composition was different.

    In the awakening stones, the stone of evolution was ninety five percent, but here, the Soul of Judgement took the majority. The two stones certainly had the same origins.

    He was curious about the origins of the stone, but more than that, he was curious about his own class.

    Initially, he was worried that his skills might be exposed. But the information didn''t contain skills, which made him more comfortable.

    He placed his hand on the stone slab, and looked at the screen.

    The moment he placed his hand on the stone slab, the information of Rey disappeared from the screen and new information appeared.

    "Hmm?" The Professor frowned looking at the screen. "Is this for real?"

    In another space, the Dean of the Academy also stood up in disbelief. "How is this possible? How can an Ashborn be... that?"

    She was looking forward to seeing the class that the descendant of the Ashborn had received, especially since almost all the Ashborn Descendants had received monstrous classes in the past, except a rare few.

    She was even more interested after hearing about the fight between Elias and Rey, where Rey was almost destroyed. However, this was not what she expected.

    ..........

    Class: Auxiliary

    Sub-Class: Architect

    Class Grade: SS

    Highest Potential: #

    ..........

    "He''s an auxiliary?" Rey also looked in disbelief, until he burst out laughing. In the silence of the hall, his laughter echoed loud.

 Chapter 25 - 25: Manipulation

    Elias Ashborn had received the Auxiliary Class. Even if people of ordinary families received this class, they were left disappointed. But now, the son of one of the founding families had become an Auxiliary.

    It would''ve still been salvageable if he had a good sub-class. However, he was an Architect. It was a class that had never appeared before, but everyone understood what it meant.

    There was already a profession called an architect. They were people who were responsible for planning and building infrastructure.

    Looking at the name of the sub-class, everyone thought that it was the same thing. It was a class that was even worse than a Blacksmith, who could at least make weapons.

    The Professor was also at a loss for quite some time. She remembered the moment she grabbed Elias'' hand to stop him.

    At that moment, her instincts had made her feel as if she was holding something extremely dangerous. She thought it was because his class was dangerous. Was it just her misconception? She wasn''t certain anymore.

    Elias''s father was in a Destroyer Class. Even his four elder brothers were in the Destroyer Class. She thought Elias was going to be the same. She had expected many scenarios, but in none of those scenarios, Elias had Auxiliary Class.

    Elias took his hands off the stone slab. While everyone was focused on his Class, he was observing the Grade.

    The others were looking down on his class because they had no knowledge of it, but he had already received a taste of this class. Unlike the people born in this world, he wasn''t biased toward a particular class.

    Although he would''ve liked to have the Destroyer Class, he knew that his class was much more than Auxiliary. In his eyes, this class was more destructive than anything.

    He didn''t say anything to anyone. He didn''t care about their strange gazes as he silently walked over to the Auxiliary Class.

    As he walked away, everyone''s attention was focused on him. No one noticed the information screen, where the word "Auxiliary" started flickering, with the shadows of other words appearing for a brief moment.

    If one were to observe carefully, they would have seen "Destroyer" and "Creator" appear on the same screen in place of "Auxiliary" amidst the flickering. However, the information soon disappeared.

    With that, the Measurement Ceremony was over. The classes had been assigned, and the children were divided into three groups.

    The ones in the Destroyer Class were looking extremely relieved. Even if Elias didn''t have a good class, they were glad that he wasn''t in the same class as them.

    The Creator Class was also paying particular attention to Elias, especially the ones that had watched his brutality before.

    The most disappointed were those in the Auxiliary Class. They couldn''t believe their bad luck today. Not only had they received the Auxiliary Class, but they also had to be in the same group as Elias Ashborn!

    Almost all of them maintained a safe distance from him, as if he was some kind of plague.

    The Professor came out of her daze. Even though it was a shocking revelation, it was the reality. Moreover, she even felt somewhat relieved that it had happened.

    It was a good thing in her eyes that Elias was in the Auxiliary Class. If he was in the Destroyer Class, then he was definitely going to fight Rey in the future until one of them was dead. If he was in the Auxiliary Class, it meant there was going to be a safe distance between the two.

    Moreover, no other major family descendants had received Auxiliary Class, so even if Elias didn''t have a powerful class, he could still basically lord over the Auxiliary Class with the help of his family name alone.

    "Now that the measurement ceremony is over, all of you can leav-" the Professor opened her lips, telling everyone to leave. However, just as she was about to complete her sentence, she came to a sudden stop.

    She suddenly frowned as she looked above. She asked in a low voice, "Are you being serious? How will we justify that?" S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Out of nowhere, she had received a message from the Dean.

    "But if we do that..." She tried to speak, but she was again stopped as the Dean insisted over something.

    Eventually, the Professor could only sigh. She couldn''t go against the instructions of the Dean, even if the orders didn''t make sense for her.

    "Fine. I will do as you ordered." She rubbed her forehead in frustration.

    She looked at Elias and said, "Elias Ashborn, you will be in the Destroyer Class. Move over to the right group."

    .....

    "First Silas Ashborn asked me for a favor, and now you... Are you happy now?" Back in the realm of the mirror, the Dean looked back.

    Behind her, a man was standing. The middle-aged man was dressed in royal attire. Each article of his clothing was a treasured artifact that could even resist attacks from mythical beasts.

    On his chest was a marking that looked like it depicted an eagle soaring through the sky. The eagle was carrying a bleeding serpent that was on the verge of death.

    The man didn''t have any presence and felt like a ghost. However, the Dean knew his identity wasn''t simple. He was the Patriarch of the Esterin family.

    She had thought that the Patriarch of the Esterin family wasn''t going to attend the Awakening Ceremony. However, just when she was distracted by Elias''s measurement, he appeared behind her.

    She didn''t know how, but the Patriarch of the Esterin family, Kiel von Esterin, had learned about the incident during the awakening ceremony where his son had almost died.

    She had thought he was going to create trouble, but he simply asked her for one favor in exchange for forgetting the incident.

    His favor involved sending Elias Ashborn into the Destroyed Class so that his son could take revenge on his own. He wasn''t going to allow Elias to escape to the Auxiliary Class.

    Kiel Esterin didn''t say anything else. He simply turned around, leaving after achieving what he wanted.

    "I know what you want. But don''t forget that the child is still an Ashborn. If something goes wrong, it might be your son who dies," the Dean reminded the Patriarch of the Esterin Family. "If that happens, you can''t blame the Academy as this was your request."

    The corner of Kiel''s lips crept up. A portal opened in front of him.

    "You think too much, Freya," he said before entering the portal.

 Chapter 26 - 26: Eliminating Variables

    Elias approached the Destroyer Class. Even he didn''t understand why he was assigned to it when he was an Auxiliary. Still, he felt somewhat relieved.

    He didn''t know what each class was taught, but he was certain that the Auxiliary Classes could never help him learn what he truly wanted to know. He needed to learn the tricks of the Destroyer Class, especially since his purpose was similar.

    He walked over to the right side of the hall and stood next to Rey Esterin and other descendants of the major families who were standing at the front of the group.

    "All of you can follow the envoys. They will take you to the professor assigned to your class. That is it for the ceremony." The woman, who looked like Medusa, turned around after taking another subtle glance at Elias.

    A portal opened in front of her, and she also left.

    The Creator Class was the first to leave through another portal opened by the envoy standing before them.

    Next was the Destroyer Class, as another large portal opened.

    Rey Von Esterin stepped forward, but not before whispering in Elias''s ear, "Welcome to the slaughterhouse, little lamb."

    He stepped inside the portal. Even though Elias was in the Auxiliary Class, most people from the Destroyer Class looked somewhat scared of him. They didn''t walk past Elias, as if waiting for him to enter first. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias also stepped inside the portal, and only then did the others follow.

    .....

    Elias had thought he would appear in a similarly grand hall, where the professor would be waiting for them. But the moment he stepped out of the portal, he started shivering as freezing winds brushed past his skin.

    As far as his eyes could see, there was only snow. The sky itself was covered in clouds, with snow continuously falling.

    "What is this place?" Not just him, but the others also looked just as surprised.

    They didn''t understand where they were, but looking at the sky, it seemed like an entirely different world. The sky here was different from what they had seen in the Dimensional Realm.

    They couldn''t even find the professor anywhere. Many of them turned to the envoy to ask him questions, but he had also gone missing. Only the youngsters of the Destroyer Class could be seen in the surroundings.

    Rey was the first to react. He formed a protective layer of wind around him, to keep the cold winds away. The others also took action to protect themselves from the cold.

    Even those who didn''t have any artefacts to protect themselves from the cold, used extra layers of clothing.

    Only Elias was left behind. The clothes that he wore initially, protected him from extreme cold or extreme heat. However, those clothes had long been destroyed.

    He was wearing the clothes that were given to him by the Shadow Guard temporarily, and it had no protection.

    Since he couldn''t take any protective measures against the cold, he decided to embrace it. It wasn''t as if the cold was going to kill him, even if it was uncomfortable.

    Boom-

    Suddenly, a loud explosion resounded. Elias walked toward the source of the explosion, but someone ran past him.

    He rushed forward, without any caution. He was certain that if there was an explosion, there was life. It was probably the professor calling for them, or so he thought.

    Elias followed him, and the others kept pace. However, unlike the first person, they didn''t seem to be in a hurry.

    He watched the young boy running with all his might, as if it were a race to see who could reach the professor first.

    "Arghh!" A loud cry echoed as the person suddenly disappeared. The roar grew more distant with each passing second, making everyone more cautious.

    They soon reached the place where the boy had vanished and only then realized what had happened. They were on a cliff covered in snow. The snowfall also lowered visibility.

    The boy was in such a hurry that he didn''t notice anything amiss and fell off the cliff. The first death had occurred in the Destroyer Class, and it happened before they could even see the professor.

    Again, the explosion resounded. They saw a bright light in the distance, and the sounds of explosions only grew more frequent. It was less like a signal and more as if someone was fighting.

    "D-did he die?" A girl asked, cautiously peeking off the cliff.

    "He was a fool. It''s better if fools like him die fast, or they will only make our class look worse." Another boy chimed in, not having any pity for the boy.

    Rey was also looking at the distant explosions. However, his gaze soon shifted to Elias, who was standing at the edge of the cliff. A little push, and he would fall off the cliff and die.

    He started condensing wind in his hands, as if wondering whether he should do it. He wanted to kill Elias with his own hands, but in his present state, he wasn''t sure if he could.

    He had to master the other elements to crush Elias so that he didn''t repeat the same mistake as last time. However, that was going to take time. If Elias dropped out of the academy by then and returned to his family, would he ever have his revenge?

    Although this didn''t feel like the perfect revenge, it did eliminate all variables and ensured that Elias was going to die at his hands.

    Still, attacking someone from behind felt cowardly. He at least wanted to face Elias when he killed him, to see his face contort in horror.

    "Elias?" he suddenly called out.

    "Huh?" Elias turned around, hearing his name.

    The moment he looked back, he saw the grin on Rey''s face.

    "Have a safe trip to the afterlife." Rey tossed out another condensed wind blast, which was almost impossible to avoid.

    He didn''t send just one wind blast, but multiple, to make sure Elias couldn''t dodge.

 Chapter 27 - 27: Prison of Frost Apocalypse

    Rey Esterin attacked Elias, not even giving him enough time to react. He was certain that this was the end of Elias Ashborn, the person who had almost killed him in the Awakening Ceremony.

    "Isn''t this place getting a little too lively?" a feminine voice called out, and a figure appeared in front of Elias, who was prepared to use Extraction to protect himself.

    Seeing the unknown person, Elias was momentarily lost. With her appearance, the surroundings became even colder.

    She didn''t even have to move a finger to stop the attacks, as the condensed orbs of wind blast froze into thick ice. The Wind Blast itself froze and fell to the ground before it could even reach Elias.

    "Who are you?!" Rey exclaimed, shivering in the cold. Even his artifacts and his wind protection couldn''t stop the frost from affecting him.

    He looked at the girl in front of him in disbelief. She looked barely any older than him, yet she was able to stop his attacks with such ease.

    Even Elias was initially shivering with the increased cold. However, just as the cold began to infiltrate his body, he felt a warmth rising from within his bones.

    The cold had triggered something within the Dragon Bones that resisted the cold. In the entire place, almost everyone was shivering, except Elias.

    "One of you is already dead. I would get scolded if too many of you died before we even began the introductory class itself. So please hold back for now," the girl said before retracting the extra cold, and things returned to normal.

    The children sighed in relief, as the excess cold was gone. They could finally breathe.

    The girl snapped her fingers, and cold winds started blowing, making all the children behind her rise in the air. They flew around her until they were in front of her, standing in a group.

    "Now it looks much better." She started clapping like a happy child.

    Only now was Elias able to see the face of the person. The girl was dressed in a beautiful white gown that looked untouched by the snow. Her snow-white skin seemed to complement the frosty scenery.

    The most fascinating thing about her was her identity. The way she talked, it became evident that she was the Professor they were supposed to meet. That could easily justify her strength.

    If she was a Professor, then it meant that she was much older than she looked. Despite that, she looked like a child. Had she frozen her aging as well? he thought, before quickly shaking the thought off.

    Rey clicked his tongue, frustrated that he had failed to kill Elias.

    "Next time, you will not surv¡ª" He tried to warn Elias again, but this time Elias didn''t hold back either.

    His fist easily broke through the dense layer of wind protection that was surrounding Rey. He punched Rey in the face, sending him flying away.

    "What are you doing?" the Professor asked Elias, narrowing her eyes. She had just warned them against it, and they were ignoring her already?

    "You said that we can''t kill others. But you never said anything about not breaking a few teeth," Elias answered. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had already had enough. This was the second time Rey had tried to kill him. Just because he couldn''t kill him here, didn''t mean he was going to let Rey walk all over him.

    "What is your name?" The Professor asked Elias, who was wearing ordinary clothes. He didn''t even have any family insignia, which made him look like he was from an ordinary family.

    "Elias Ashborn." Elias answered.

    He didn''t know what kind of bias the professor might have against him if she thought he was from an ordinary family that couldn''t compare to the Esterins. She might even try to help Esterin deal with him.

    He intentionally told her his complete name to make sure that she understood that she couldn''t afford to pick sides. He thought the girl would react with shock at his family name, but to his surprise, her reaction was completely different.

    She didn''t show any intense reaction. She simply asked, "You''re Aliath''s youngest brother?"

    Aliath Ashborn... Elias had heard that name many times, especially since he came to the Academy. He was the eldest son of the Ashborn family, who had left his name almost everywhere.

    There was no record in the Dimensional Academy that was not broken by Aliath. There wasn''t a single professor who wasn''t scared of Aliath when he was at the academy.

    In some aspects, Elias felt that Aliath was even more intimidating to people than his father, the patriarch of the Ashborn family.

    He could only nod in response to the girl''s question, wondering why she asked about his Eldest Brother instead.

    "Did you know my eldest brother?" he asked the girl, wondering if they were friends in the past. Had she studied with his brother or something?

    "Why wouldn''t I know him?" the girl asked. She didn''t say anything else, but from her tone, it didn''t seem like she was talking about a friend. Elias had a foreboding feeling. Just what had his brother done?

    Had he made a mistake by telling her his family name? He wondered. Then again, he was sure that it was only a matter of time before she found out about his identity.

    ''Does she have some enmity with Aliath?'' he thought, finding it hard to read the girl''s face. The childlike innocence was nowhere to be seen anymore.

    Rey could also be seen returning, wiping the blood off his lips. He had tried to kill Elias, only to be hit again. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

    He was even frustrated at the Professor. If that person hadn''t interfered, he might have actually succeeded in killing Elias. But now, that opportunity was gone.

    Even if he were to fight now, he was going to be at a disadvantage. Once again, he was back at the first stage where he needed to learn other elements.

    "I have a feeling that you two want to kill each other. Although I did say that I can''t allow you to kill each other before the class, I didn''t say that I wouldn''t give you an opportunity," the girl said, and with her reaction, Elias grew even more certain.

    She was letting it out on him, while appearing to be unbiased.

    "Do you see this world?" she asked all the children, spreading out her arms. "This is a world that is suffering through a frost apocalypse! And for your first class, this will be your prison and your battlefield!"

 Chapter 28 - 28: Humans of Frost

    "Can anyone here tell me why the Destroyer Class is given such importance in our world?" Lilian posed a question to the children who had been assigned to the Destroyer Class.

    "Unlike the Creator Class, we can''t create anything to help society. We can only destroy. So why? Why are we given such importance?" Her gaze swept over the children.

    "Is it because it''s one of the strongest classes?" a little girl answered, but with a hesitant expression.

    "Anyone else?" Lilian didn''t comment on the answer and asked again.

    "It''s because the others are scared of us," a boy answered, appearing more confident than the girl before him.

    "If they''re scared of you, why don''t they just kill all of you? Why bother training you?" the professor asked, leaving the boy stunned.

    For a moment, silence fell over the room. It was only broken when Rey chimed in, "They can''t kill us precisely because they are scared. However, they are not scared of us."

    "They are scared of the Parents, the strongest beings of the Destroyer Class," he explained.

    For the first time, Lilian seemed satisfied with the answer. "It looks like you''re not a complete fool."

    Hearing her words, Rey''s lips twitched. Was she praising him or insulting him? he wondered.

    "That answer is correct," Lilian said, her voice rising so everyone could hear her clearly. "The reason we are given importance is because they are scared. The moment they stop being scared is the moment that you would be eliminated without hesitation."

    "For now, your Parents are keeping the balance along with other Seniors of the Destroyer Class. But there will come a time when the next generation will have to take over. When your parents are gone, you will need strength."

    "Your strength can not only protect you, but also protect your future generations. Here in the Destroyer Class, we give absolute importance to strength! Only those who are strong deserve to survive."

    "Throughout your time at the academy, you will have to fight for your evolution. You might have to walk over millions of corpses, so that one day you can instill the same fear in the hearts of your enemies as your parents do."

    "To make sure you understand this," she said, clapping her hands. A shadow guard appeared behind her.

    He walked forward and placed a mechanical box before Lilian, and disappeared as swiftly as he had appeared. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Lilian placed her palm on the box. It hummed softly, verifying her identity before slowly opening to reveal its contents. The large box seemed to be filled with black analog watches, their hands already ticking.

    "There are exactly seventy watches inside." After opening the box, she stepped back. "Each of you will take one and wear it on your wrist."

    While the others quickly followed the professor''s instructions, Elias was lost in thought. The box seemed to have been prepared long ago.

    There were initially seventy-one people who had awakened the Destroyer Class, but only seventy watches were prepared. Did she already expect one of them to die? Or rather, did she want it to happen?

    The test was only prepared for seventy people. It wasn''t that she arrived too late to save that boy. Instead, she was probably watching it happen.

    Even though she looked like a good person, she was still a Destroyer. To reach this stage, she must have destroyed more worlds than he could count. It was normal for life to lose all value in her eyes, as long as it wasn''t someone high-profile.

    He also walked forward and picked up a watch, again noticing the information about the materials it was made from.

    ......

    Material Composition: Eliestus Metal (40 percent), Teleportation Stone (10 percent), Detection Stone (9 percent), Chronarium Crystal (15 percent), Voidsteel (10 percent), Hide of Phase Panther (6 percent), Starlight Glass (10 percent)

    Weight: None

    Thickness: 10 millimeters

    Material Stability: 95 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .......

    Just as he had expected, the watch was far from ordinary. Most of the materials seemed somewhat normal, but the teleportation stone and the detection stone stood out from the rest.

    After picking up a watch, Elias walked back. Like the others, he wore the watch on his wrist. If it was dangerous, he could always use extraction on it.

    "Now, let me tell you more about this class." The Professor raised her hand. Her ring started shining and shot out an illusion. Multiple semi-transparent screens appeared all around the students, created by the illusion.

    On one of the screens, Elias saw an apartment building shrouded in snow. Many corpses were lying outside, frozen.

    In another scene, he saw a hallway where a group of men were knocking on a door. When the door wasn''t opened, they broke it down and rushed inside.

    They started beating up the person inside. They left the person bleeding, taking all the food the person had saved as they left.

    In the next screen, they saw a room that looked like it was from the same apartment building. The only difference was that the room was warm, and comfortable.

    There were heaters running inside the room, keeping it warm. Even though there was no electricity, the owner of that room seemed to have generators within his room. The man was sitting on the couch, eating snacks.

    On another screen, he saw a grand mansion under attack from all sides. People were trying to break in, but the mansion''s owner was trying to stop them using some unknown spatial power.

    The next screen showed mutated beasts attacking a village, only to be stopped by another man that also had some unknown power.

    There were even screens which showed scenes that could only be described as truly evil. People were being sold for a can of food.

    There were hundreds of such screens, each showing how far humans could fall for their own survival, or how they used the powers that they gained in an apocalypse for their pleasure.

    "What you see is the current state of this world. I have been preparing for this stage for a few months. And now it is in the perfect state for your first class," Lilian said.

 Chapter 29 - 29: Three Ways

    "Are you the one who created this frost apocalypse?" Elias asked, as that''s what her words implied. She also had the power to control the cold, so it all started to make sense. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The only thing he didn''t understand was the power that people in this world were using. Did they also use Awakening Stones?

    He couldn''t help but ask, "Do their powers also have something to do with you?"

    "That is correct. However, unlike you, their powers are not permanent," Lilian nodded as if there was no secret to it. "I only used something that allowed them to temporarily gain abilities. However, none of them know that their abilities are only temporary. They seem to believe that it is some kind of mutation."

    "Some of them even think that just because they have stockpiled items worth billions of their currency, they can survive for an eternity," she said, not even having the slightest sympathy for them. "It is always fascinating to see their efforts to survive. However, they were never destined for it."

    Hearing her words, Elias could clearly see a glimpse of his brother that ruined earth. Then again, everyone in the Destroyer Class was the same. For them, all these lower worlds were a playing field, either used for training or entertainment.

    This world''s fate was the same as the fate of his world. In some aspects, it was even worse, as these people were living under a false sense of hope.

    Although it seemed pitiful, he knew that he couldn''t afford to have any sympathy for them. If he grew weak because of his emotions, then he was never going to achieve what he wanted.

    Even if he had to go against his own consciousness, he couldn''t take a step back. For him, whether it was a lower world or a higher world, they were all his stepping stones.

    He didn''t question Lilian any further and waited for her to continue with her explanation about the first class.

    "Your first class will last for seven days. Those who fail to get satisfactory scores will be expelled. And if you are unlucky, you might even be killed by the other participants before the seven days are up."

    "You will get your initial rankings based on your scores. The person with the highest score will also get an additional reward. That person will become the Leader of your class and will gain certain additional privileges in the future."

    "How will we be scored? Does it depend on the number of people that we kill in this apocalypse?" a girl asked, breaking her silence.

    Just like Rey and Elias, she was also a descendant of a powerful family, but for some reason, she didn''t stand out much. She was like a ghost that could erase her presence.

    Even Elias seemed curious about her. He remembered seeing her multiple times, but every time he took his eyes off her, it was as if he completely forgot about her.

    "There are three ways to gain a score. What you said is the first and most recommended method, as that is the purpose of this test. It will make sure that you come to terms with the deaths of people around you. It will also help you have your first evolution if you are lucky enough."

    "The more people or beasts that you kill, the higher your score. The moment you press the buttons on your watches, you will be teleported to a random part of this world. That will be your domain. Only the people you kill within your domain will be counted toward your score."

    "For every hundred ordinary living beings, you will get one point. For every human with special abilities, or a mutated beast, you will get one point."

    "For fairness, we have ensured that every domain has almost the same number of people. If there are multiple people with the highest score, the time taken for completion will be given priority," Lilian explained.

    Many appeared satisfied with her explanation. If it was only about killing the people of this world, then it was truly a safe test for them. Even if they couldn''t get the highest score, at least they could survive.

    They just had to make sure that they weren''t in last place. They didn''t care about the lives of the people of this world. They only cared about their own lives.

    It was much better than fighting against other classmates, many of whom were much stronger, like Elias, Rey, and the other descendants of the Founding Families.

    "What is the second method of getting a score then?" Rey asked the Professor, believing that it couldn''t be that simple.

    "The second method is to kill a classmate," Lilian answered, sending chills down the spines of those who had just relaxed, thinking that they were safe.

    "There are a total of seventy domains. You can enter the neighboring domain of your classmate," Lilian continued with her explanation.

    "If you kill ordinary people in their domains, it will only help their score. However, if you kill your classmate instead, you will get all the points that your classmate has gained. That classmate''s domain will also become a part of your own domain."

    "Just remember that the upper limit on the deaths of classmates is ten. If ten of them are dead, your first class will be over right there, and the scores will be tallied."

    Many were horrified at the revelation. Didn''t it mean they could actually die if their domains appeared next to the domains of the descendants?

    If they were amongst the unlucky ten, then they were as good as dead. Just what kind of class was it? Did they come here to learn or to die?

    Unlike them, Rey looked very satisfied. As long as he was in his domain, he had time to become stronger and develop more Elements. After that, he could go straight for Elias if his domain was nearby.

    "You said there are three methods? What is the third method?" Elias was the last person to ask the question.

    They had already covered killing people of this world or their classmates. If there was really a third method, then it was strange. He didn''t think it had anything to do with killing.

 Chapter 30 - 30: The only person that came close

    "Forget about the third method," Lilian said with complete seriousness. "It''s something no one has ever been able to complete. But if you''re curious, I''ll tell you a little about it."

    "The third method gives you the highest points and ensures that you become the highest ranker even if you don''t kill a single person from this world." As she spoke, the other youngsters grew curious about her words.

    Was there really a method that could secure them the highest rank right away? But if even the Professor was saying it was better for them to forget about it, given their abilities, they could only wonder how dangerous that method was.

    "The third method simply requires you to..." She stepped forward and looked Elias in the eyes. "...save this world. After seven days, all life forms here will go extinct, even if they survive your onslaught."

    "This world will only last for seven days, and after that, I will have to put an end to it. So the third method, for you, is to make sure that this world lasts more than seven days."

    "What?" Rey raised his brows, realizing the absurdity of the third method. They had to protect this world from being destroyed at the hands of the Professor? Didn''t that mean they had to kill the Professor before the sunrise of the eighth day?

    No wonder he had heard his brothers complain about the difficulty of their first class. He had tried asking them for details, but they hadn''t given him any. They only told him never to even think about going for the third option if he didn''t want to die.

    The others also thought that the third option was completely absurd. It was impossible for a student who had just awakened to stop the Queen of Frost.

    It seemed as if this option was simply there to mock them, to show them that even if they could destroy thousands of people with their abilities, there were still monsters they couldn''t touch without true strength.

    "There has only been one person who ever came close to completing the third option in their first class, but even he failed in the end," she said. "So you''d better not waste your time on it unless you want to lose a few limbs."

    "The person who came closest to completing the third option... Was it Aliath?" Elias asked, feeling that he finally had an inkling about the reason behind the sourness between Lilian and his eldest brother.

    Lilian didn''t answer Elias, but her emotions seemed to fluctuate before recovering quickly.

    She ignored his question and returned to the main topic. "All of you, press the first button on your watches. It will teleport you to a random location within your domains. If you press the second button, it will show you the map and the boundary of your domains."

    She turned around and walked back towards the cliff while the sounds of explosions continued in the distance.

    "Your time starts now," she stated, holding her hands behind her back.

    Even if she didn''t answer him, her silence was enough for Elias to confirm his assumption. This woman was not a classmate of his eldest brother.

    Instead, she was the Professor of the Destroyer Class when his eldest brother first joined. It meant she was much older than even his eldest brother.

    Although he wanted to know more about her relationship with the Ashborns, he could feel that he wasn''t going to get any answers.

    The other children also started pressing the first button on their watches, disappearing into nothingness. For them, it was a race against time. They had to get familiar with the domain as soon as they could, before the others could even think about targeting them.

    Rey glanced at Elias before pressing his watch and disappeared as well. Only Elias was left behind, watching the distant back of Lilian.

    "If you''re thinking about attempting the third option right now, then you should remember: you will die the moment you move." Lilian didn''t even look back, but her warning was stern.

    Around a million spears made from ice materialized all around Elias, as if taunting him to move. A single movement from his feet, and the spears would rain down on him.

    Elias looked at the spears, having no doubt that he would die if he moved forward. Even extraction wasn''t going to save him when the number of spears was so high.

    In the end, he didn''t say anything and simply pressed the first button on his watch, disappearing as well.

    After all the children were gone, Lilian was the only person left behind. All the spears that she had conjured turned into specks of frost that merged with the atmosphere.

    She raised her hand, gently touching her forehead. As her bangs were moved aside by her fingers, a deep scar came to light. No amount of healing in this world had managed to heal the scar she had received.

    ....

    Elias disappeared from the mountain of frost. His body traveled through space, where he felt as if it was being pulled from all directions.

    That feeling only lasted for a fraction of a second. He appeared in a different space that was cold, but not as cold as the mountain where he had come from.

    The moment he appeared in the room, he immediately started observing his surroundings, especially since the room felt familiar.

    It took him a moment to realize that it was the same type of room he had seen on one of the screens. It was an apartment in the building, where a group of men had barged into someone''s room to snatch their food.

    It was the same apartment where he had seen a man who seemed to have some unique abilities of his own. On that screen, he had seen that man have the time of his life in the apartment that he seemed to have prepared in advance for this apocalypse.

    Tuck~ Tuck~

    As Elias was preparing to check other rooms of this apartment, he heard a heavy knocking on the door.

    S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 31 - 31: You are not the predators here

    "We are here from the Social Welfare Committee. We are here to collect resources that can help more people survive. Please open the door," the voice came from outside as the knocking on the door intensified.

    Soon, the knocking turned into banging. "If you have resources, please don''t be selfish and donate some of them. And if you don''t have any, then we can give you some to help you survive. Please open the door for us!"

    Elias didn''t have to think much about the identity of the people outside. They were the same people who had just beaten up an old man, robbing him of whatever little food he had. As for sharing food with the needy, one would have to be a fool to believe that.

    Despite that, Elias walked to the door and opened it for the outsiders. In any case, the door wasn''t sturdy enough to last long if they tried to break it.

    As soon as he opened the door, the people pushed him aside and barged inside as if it were their home. They didn''t even ask Elias if he had any spare food and simply started searching for whatever they could find.

    "There is nothing here?" The group soon returned after searching all over the place. All they found was a corpse in the kitchen that seemed to belong to a person who had starved to death.

    After returning, all of them surrounded Elias. They could see Elias''s weird clothes which didn''t have even a speck of dust.

    Even though he was a child, he looked wealthy just from his clothes alone. But more importantly, he didn''t seem as if he had been starved for even a day.

    "Where did you hide your food?" one of them asked, pointing a hockey stick at Elias''s face, who simply looked at them as if they were fools.

    Even a wind blast couldn''t break his bones. Did they really think a mere hockey stick was going to hurt him? Even more foolish was their greed when the world was going to die in seven days.

    "There is no food." Elias raised his hands as if showing that he was empty-handed.

    "Do you think we are fools? You don''t look like someone who has been starving. You are in even better condition than us! You must be hiding a lot of food!" The bearded man glared at Elias, grabbing him by the collar. "If you want to live, tell us about the hiding place!"

    He didn''t seem to have any sympathy for a child. Even if it was a child who stood between him and food, he was willing to do anything.

    He tried to raise Elias in the air by his collar, but even as his muscles bulged, he wasn''t able to lift Elias higher. It was as if Elias weighed hundreds of kilograms.

    He didn''t understand how the child could be this heavy. Just what had he been eating? In the end, the man simply gave up on trying to raise Elias. Even if the situation was confusing, he didn''t think much about it.

    "Why are you even talking to that child? Just break a few limbs, and he''ll answer us like a parrot," another man said, pushing the bearded man aside. "There is no point in wasting time."

    He raised the hockey stick and said, "Kid, if you want to blame anyone, blame your own stupidity for not realizing that the world has changed! It''s a world ruled by strong predators like us! You should be grateful that I''m willing to teach you a lesson."

    He swung his hockey stick at Elias''s arm, as if trying to break it while ensuring he didn''t die before answering. However, before the stick could connect, Elias caught it.

    "You''re right about the rule of the strong," Elias said, letting out a sigh. "But you seem to be living under a misconception. You were never a predator."

    The man tried to pull the hockey stick back, attempting to free it from Elias. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t retrieve it. Instead, Elias snatched the stick.

    The man looked in disbelief. How was the child able to snatch the stick from him when he couldn''t even resist? There was something extremely wrong about the child.

    "Are your muscles just for show? You can''t even beat up a child?" another bulky man laughed heartily, looking at the scene.

    He pushed the man aside, clenching his fist to punch Elias in the stomach. However, once again, he seemed slow in Elias''s eyes.

    Elias moved the hockey stick, slamming it into the man''s face. The impact was so strong that the stick broke into hundreds of pieces on first contact, and the man was sent flying.

    Elias looked at the broken hockey stick. Only a small part of it remained in his hand, which he tossed aside.

    Meanwhile, the men watched the bulky man fly like a toy. He slammed against the window. The window shattered from the impact, and the man fell out of the apartment building.

    Almost everyone there was in disbelief. What had they just seen? Many even wondered if they were dreaming, subconsciously stepping back from Elias. The chilling winds that were rushing in from the broken windows, made them realize that this was not a dream.

    Elias didn''t approach them. He walked past them, toward the exit. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Watching him leave, many sighed in relief. Although they didn''t understand why this boy was so strong, they didn''t want to fight him.

    They had already lost all their courage. The others who had arrived with physical weapons like chains and sticks, hid them behind their backs, not wanting to give Elias any ideas.

    They were relieved to watch Elias leave, but their faces fell when they saw him stop before the door. He held the door and slowly closed it from the inside before turning around.

    Many of the men gulped heavily, having an extremely bad feeling about this.

    In other parts of the world, the situation was even worse, especially with Rey Esterin. He was like a beast let loose in the world.

 Chapter 32 - 32: Intelligence and Merger

    "Is he going to kill us?" The group of men who had barged into Elias''s room sat huddled together in the corner. They had their arms wrapped around their legs like children, many of them shivering in the cold.

    They were staring at Elias, who was sitting before the closed door, not even paying attention to them. The young child seemed lost in thought while playing with the brass knuckles that he had taken from one of them.

    It made the men even more afraid. "He might be thinking about ways to torture us. Should we try to fight?"

    "You''re talking about a child who could send the strongest of us flying. If we had a gun, it would be a different situation. But now, we have no chance. We can only hope that he doesn''t kill us all."

    The discussion was short-lived, as almost everyone realized how hopeless their situation truly was. They were simply at the mercy of the young child.

    While the men were discussing amongst themselves, Elias was looking at the brass knuckles, while holding a small blue vial in his other hand.

    ....

    Materials selected for merger: Brass Knuckles, Essence of Lightning

    Material Compatibility: 5 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 80 Percent

    Would you like to proceed? S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ....

    The information made Elias confirm a few assumptions. Not everything was compatible with everything. Essence of Lightning wasn''t compatible with him, but when it came to a lifeless material, the compatibility increased.

    He didn''t confirm the merger. He closed the vial and kept it back inside his pocket. His mind was going through a lot of thoughts as he looked back to every material that he had come across.

    If he could merge materials with lifeless things, then it was definitely going to make those objects stronger, but it didn''t seem like the best use of these rare materials.

    If he could merge them with living beings, then it would''ve been so much more useful. Using them on lifeless objects felt like a great waste.

    Lifeless objects didn''t have intelligence which felt like the biggest flaw to them. If there was a way to solve this problem, he had a feeling that it could open up a whole new realm of possibilities.

    "Lifeless objects... Life... Intelligence... Judgement..." He mumbled, his thoughts growing even more jumbled.

    The moment his thoughts reached that point, he remembered something. Wasn''t there another material that had caught his attention?

    During the awakening ceremony, something had saved his life. While it was just a lifeless object, it certainly had some kind of intelligence if it could judge outside interference in the awakening ceremony.

    He also remembered the materials that the Evolution Stone was made from. Amongst the materials, there was one that stood out from the rest.

    "Soul of Judgement... What if I get the Soul of Judgement?" It was another crazy possibility, but he knew that he had to try it at any cost.

    It was good to have powerful materials, but if he couldn''t merge with them, couldn''t he simply make them more intelligent instead? Even if it was an absurd thought, it gave him a sense of direction.

    "The Evolution Stone doesn''t have an extraction possibility, but the Measurement Stone does. If I can successfully extract the Soul of Judgement..." He didn''t even complete his sentence, but his thought process was clear.

    His lips curved up, forming a smile. It had been a really long time since he last smiled, but his eyes seemed to have gained some semblance of life again.

    He kept the brass knuckles in his other pocket, and finally shifted his attention back to the men who were on the other side of the room.

    Seeing his smile, the men were trembling even more fiercely. They wondered just what kind of brutal torture method had this child thought, which made him smile like a demon.

    They flinched at the sight of Elias standing up.

    "W-we can help you!" One of them exclaimed, frightened out of his soul. "We are more useful to you alive!"

    "And how can you help me?" Elias asked while approaching the men. Even if they were somewhat strong by this world''s standards, in the grand scheme of things, they were useless.

    They weren''t even worth a fraction of a point each. Even if he killed all of them here, he couldn''t gain even enough points to become the second last ranked person in this test.

    "We have saved some food. If you come with us, we will give you all the food that we have managed to collect! It can help you survive for months!" The man stated, really hoping that Elias wouldn''t kill them.

    "Didn''t you say I am hiding a lot of food? If that is the case, why would I need your food?" Elias asked innocently, letting the young man at the loss of words.

    "That..." The young man looked at others blankly, as if waiting for them to say something.

    "Boss, I have a poor mother waiting at home for me!" Suddenly, one of them slammed his head hard on the ground, almost begging for his life. "I had no choice but to rob others! Please don''t kill me!"

    One after another, the others also started doing the same thing, talking about their family members that depended on them.

    "I also have a little brother! I also had no choice! We could either rob, or watch our families die!" Another person spoke up as tears streamed down his face. "If you were in our place, wouldn''t you do the same thing? In this godforsaken place, is there anything more precious than family?"

    Elias didn''t know if they were being honest, or just trying to play the sympathy card. However, they were right about one thing. If he was in their place, he would have done the same thing.

    If the only other option was to watch his family die, let alone rob others, he would even be willing to kill. Unfortunately, he was never given a choice.

 Chapter 33 - 33: Confirm Extraction

    "We promise that we will never try to rob anyone if you let us go!" the men said in unison, feeling as if they were somehow swaying Elias.

    Their plan was working. Even if he was strong, he was still a child in their eyes, someone who hadn''t seen the cruelty of the world. It was normal for him to fall for emotional tricks.

    At least that''s what they thought until Elias responded.

    "What do the lives of your families have to do with me?" he asked, calmly wearing the brass knuckles on his fingers. "When you were trying to hurt me, did you think that I might also have a family?"

    "We weren''t trying to kill you! At most, we would''ve hurt you!" one of the men exclaimed, having a really bad feeling about this. "We told you, we had no other choice."

    "I also have no other choice. I hope you can understand..." Elias mumbled, looking out the window at a world that was slowly being covered in an embrace of snow.

    "You bastard, you never intended to let us go in the first place!" A man jumped at Elias with a knife in his hand. Even if he had to fight for survival, he was willing.

    "I thought you weren''t trying to kill anyone?" Elias asked, dodging the knife. He grabbed the man''s wrist, twisting his arm behind his back.

    "Argh!" the man groaned in pain, the knife dropping from his hands. He was turned around and tossed out of the window, falling to his death.

    "Make things easier for me..." Elias picked up the knife and tossed it before the men, as if waiting for them to attack him again.

    "Are you mocking us?" The men, even if they were scared, picked up their weapons. Although they wanted to avoid a fight, there didn''t seem to be any other choice.

    Unfortunately, the faster they came, the faster they were tossed out of the apartment to their deaths. Before long, the entire room was left empty with only a knife and a few other cold weapons left behind on the floor.

    "Would I have fallen for their words if I hadn''t seen their actions on that screen?" He picked up the knife, his fingers brushing against the sharp blade. "I wonder."

    He stepped out of the room, fiddling with his watch. He pressed the second button, which was said to hold the map of the entire domain that belonged to him.

    As soon as he pressed the button, a holographic map appeared before him. Contrary to his expectations, this wasn''t just a map of his domain. It was the complete map of this world.

    There were seventy domains marked on the map, each with a black line that wrapped around it. Each domain had only one blue dot, which he believed depicted the others from the Academy.

    Most of the blue dots were near the center of their domains, but a few were rushing towards the borders. It had barely been an hour since the test began, and things had already started heating up.

    There were several red dots in each domain. Even Elias wasn''t sure about their meaning. Did they show humans with abilities? he wondered.

    "Is that green dot representing me?" He looked at the green dot in the center of his domain. There was also a smaller red dot, which was right here he was.

    There was one more dot that stood out from the rest. It was a beautiful, bright white dot. It was the Professor, who was watching over the world.

    There was also a third button on the watch, which the professor hadn''t explained. He pressed it, and another hologram appeared. This time, the hologram formed a list of names, with something akin to scores written next to them.

    There were already a few who had gained over a hundred points, which was equivalent to them killing around a thousand people each. This world had really become a hunting ground for them, with each of them fighting for the top rank.

    The list was refreshed every second, and the scores only kept rising. At this point, Elias was even more certain that it was impossible to catch up to their scores by following the first method.

    There were only two options for him. He could either kill the top ranker and take that score for himself, or he could turn the third option into a possibility. He wanted to try both methods, but there was one thing he needed for them.

    He walked to the stairs and started checking upstairs to find the human with abilities who was staying inside this apartment building.

    Although it was said that he could get one point by looking at people with abilities, Elias looked at it differently. One one wasn''t worth anything in the grand scheme of things. What held more value was their abilities v

    The people with abilities were targets for others. But in his eyes, they were extremely useful. Each of them had an ability that was unique. Although these abilities were temporary, it didn''t matter to him. It wasn''t as if he was going to live here forever.

    He only needed those abilities for seven days. It didn''t matter if it was the second method or the third option. It was only possible with their help, especially since he didn''t have any elemental abilities.

    Although searching throughout the entire building was a time-consuming process, he finally found his destination after an hour. He stood in front of an apartment.

    Even the door of this apartment looked different from the rest, as if someone had spent a lot of money to have it reinforced. This couldn''t have been possible after the apocalypse arrived. It only meant that the person knew that this apocalypse was about to arrive.

    Elias knocked on the door and waited for a response, but even after a few seconds, no response came. He knocked again, but the result didn''t change.

    The person inside the room didn''t open the door, which made Elias rub his forehead in frustration. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Fine. I''ll let myself in." He placed his hand on the door and said, "Confirm Extraction."

 Chapter 34 - 34: Ability Extraction (I)

    ....

    "How do I look?" Inside the apartment, a young woman stepped out of the room, wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt that came down to her thighs.

    She flaunted her curves as she walked towards the man on the couch. She sat on the man''s lap, planting a kiss on his lips before he could even answer her questions.

    "You are truly a vixen, aren''t you?" Leo said, breathing heavily as he moved his head back. Just a few months ago, he could never have imagined a life like this. But now, he was living like a prince, with one of the prettiest girls in the building in his arms.

    He had completely changed his life. In this life, he wasn''t the simp that was chasing after a woman in an apocalypse, only to be betrayed by her. Instead, he had taken a different path after getting a vision of the future that was accompanied by another ability.

    "Only for you," the woman said, biting on Leo''s neck.

    "You better," the man smiled as he picked the woman up in his arms and started walking towards the bedroom.

    Right then, he heard the knocks on the door which made him frown.

    "Is it those idiots trying to rob resources again?" He completely ignored the knock.

    He had already reinforced the door. They could never break through unless he allowed them inside. He also had weapons in his storage. Even if those thugs somehow managed to break through, they were simply going to die.

    He didn''t pay any attention to the knocks, and approached the bedroom with the girl in his arms. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Just as he was about to step inside the bedroom, he felt a sudden rush of wind that came with such a force that it sent him flying inside the bedroom. The woman also fell off his arms, hitting her head on the corner of the bed.

    "Are you alright?" The man quickly recovered and rushed to the woman. He also brought forth his gun, preparing for the unexpected.

    "I am fine. It''s just a little bleeding," the woman rubbed her forehead, feeling sharp pain.

    Even if the man felt sad that his woman was hurt, he was relieved that it wasn''t anything serious.

    "Don''t leave this time. I will be right back," he told the girl before removing the safety lock on his gun. He stepped out of his room to see who was responsible for this.

    He felt his hands straight, and his gun aimed at the distance as he stepped out of the room. His eyes kept searching for any kind of presence in the place, but he didn''t find anyone there.

    All he could see was that the door was missing, and everything inside the hall was in a mess because of that storm.

    He thought about approaching the exit to see if those people were hiding in the hallway outside, but he felt a sense of danger. He quickly turned around, aiming his gun behind him.

    The moment he looked back, he felt something grab the gun in his hand. The gun was snatched from him, and taken by the intruder, whose identity even left Leo surprised. It was... a child?

    The child aimed the gun back at him, his fingers resting on the trigger.

    Leo thought about trying to snatch the gun back from the child, but he was worried that there might be an accidental fire which might kill him. Even if he had abilities, they didn''t grant him healing or immortality.

    "What do you want?" he asked the unfamiliar child, his gaze only briefly shifting behind the child. He saw his girl was approaching Elias silently with a wine bottle in her hand like a weapon.

    He also moved his hand behind his back, opening his spatial storage to bring out another gun stealthily. Now all he needed was a little distraction for Elias, so he could shoot him without being shot in return.

    "I just want to talk. I hold no hostility towards you. If I did, you would be long dead," Elias said, trying to hold the gun steady.

    Even though he hadn''t used a gun in his past life, it didn''t feel any more complicated. He had already seen the guns of his world, and this gun felt quite similar. This world was truly more or less identical to his original works.

    "What do you need from me? Do you want food?" Leo asked, trying to keep Elias distracted. He held the gun firmly in his hand, his fingers on the trigger as if he was prepared to shoot Elias the moment he had an opportunity.

    The woman also approached Elias silently, until she was right behind him. This was the opportunity and Leo was prepared to take advantage of it.

    The woman raised the wine bottle, and with great force, she brought it down, slamming it on Elias'' head.

    Leo also reacted at the same time. There was no way Elias could be thinking straight the moment he was hit. He stopped hiding his gun, bringing it forward. A loud bang was heard, which was accompanied by a painful cry.

    Blood trickled down Elias'' forehead while glass pieces of the wine bottle fell off his body. Behind him, the woman was standing like a frozen statue in place, her pupils trembling.

    "Leo!" She suddenly screamed, running towards Leo, who was crying in pain, holding his bleeding hand that was shot.

    The gun had fallen off his hand, sliding straight to Elias, who bent forward and picked up the second gun as well. He used his sleeves to wipe the blood off his forehead before it could fall in his eyes.

    "I thought it was going to work. Did I overestimate my approachability?" He wondered, looking at Leo who looked at him with great hostility.

    He moved his left hand. A mini portal opened in front of him. He wanted to bring another gun, even if he had failed once. However, this time he didn''t even have the opportunity to bring out the gun as another bang was heard.

    The bullet travelled through his forearm, making him cry like a wounded beast.

    "It looks like there are no opportunities for us to work together." Elias said, but he didn''t look disappointed.

    He had already seen another possibility the moment he physically saw Leo, especially with the detailed screen that appeared next to him. He didn''t need collaboration anymore, as a new path seemed to be open for him.

    ......

    Material Composition: Human (99 Percent), Temporary Ability Core (1 Percent)

    Weight: 65 Kg

    Height: 1.8 meter

    Material Stability: 50 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .......

 Chapter 35 - 35: Ability Extraction (II)

    Looking at Leo''s bleeding hands, Elias was able to confirm that he didn''t have any abilities that allowed him to heal.

    He wanted to avoid an outcome like this, but Leo had done that to himself by not listening to him. He had no intention to fight, since using others was more useful than using those new unfamiliar abilities himself.

    Still, he had no choice. Leo couldn''t help him anymore, especially in the kind of state he was in. It was almost impossible to rely on him, which meant he could only try to take that ability for himself.

    If that ability could merge with Leo, he was sure that it should also merge with him. Even if it was a temporary ability that only lasted for a few days, it was still just as useful for the purpose of this test.

    "Stay away from him!" The woman wrapped her arms around Leo, dragging him away from Elias.

    "I told you, I don''t want to kill you people. I just want to take something, which never belonged to you in the first place," Elias said while approaching Leo. "If you don''t stop moving, I might have to do something even more. Please don''t make me do more than I have already done."

    The woman wasn''t faster than him, and there was no escape for them either. She could only watch Elias tuck one of the guns behind his back, and place his hand on Leo''s head.

    "Confirm Extraction," Elias mumbled as soon as he came in physical contact with Leo. Once again, a similarly powerful storm appeared with Leo at the core, sending the woman flying back again.

    Even Elias was pushed back by a few steps, before he managed to firmly plant his feet on the ground and resist the winds.

    The storm wrecked the room even more, lasting longer than the previous storm. However, the moment that storm disappeared, beautiful scenery came into sight.

    Leo was sitting on the ground, his eyes wide open. There was a small energy orb floating above his head. He didn''t know what that energy orb was, but it was clear that Elias wanted it.

    He reached out his bleeding hand that was still trembling, trying to hold the energy orb. But before his fingers could touch it, he saw a smaller hand grab the orb and take it.

    Elias took the energy orb, and walked away from the couple. He entered their bedroom, and immediately tested his theory.

    "Confirm Merger."

    .............

    Please select materials for merger.

    .............

    "Elias Ashborn," he stated.

    .............

    Materials selected for merger: Elias Ashborn, Temporary Ability Core.

    Material Compatibility: 70 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 95 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    .............

    "Proceed."

    Once his confirmation came, Elias saw the energy orb fly straight inside his body, with an even stronger storm taking control of his surroundings, as if protecting the process from any outsider factors.

    Meanwhile, outside in the hall, Leo was still bleeding. Although the bullets had only hit his hands, and it wasn''t life threatening, it still hurt like hell. The loss of blood wasn''t little either.

    He needed treatment. He tried to open his storage domain to bring out some first aid materials.

    "Hmm?" It was only then, he realized what had happened. He wasn''t able to open his storage realm which was holding billions worth of items that he had stolen right before the apocalypse arrived.

    The reality had finally started setting in, as he understood what that energy orb was. It was what granted him the abilities to create that storage realm! It was the thing that Elias wanted, and the reason that everything happened.

    He had lost everything, including all the materials he had stockpiled for this apocalypse. He didn''t even have enough for his medical treatment.

    He simply looked blankly in disbelief, thinking that this might be the end. He still didn''t understand how Elias knew about his ability, or where to find him. Did he also have an ability? Just how many people in this world had gained abilities?

    Many thoughts were floating in his head, but he knew that all of it was useless now. It didn''t matter how many people had abilities, as he had already lost his ability. It was once again the same useless person that he used to be before the frost apocalypse arrived.

    He saw the woman stand up, and walk away as if she had also realised that he was useless now. She had also given up on him, abandoning him.

    He let out a self-deprecating laughter, falling on his back.

    "Don''t worry. I will make the bleeding stop!" Suddenly he heard the voice of the woman, which was accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

    He weakly looked to the side, observing the familiar face of that woman. She was holding a first aid box in her hand, and pulled out the bandaid and other necessary items.

    "I have already lost my abilities. I have lost everything. Shouldn''t you abandon me and find another protector?" he asked the woman, not understanding why he was even asking that. It was good for him if she was here with him so help him.

    "You fool, do you really think I will abandon you? When I was on the verge of dying from hunger, you had faith in me and accepted me. How could I leave you now?!"

    The woman responded sharply, as if she had been wronged. "It doesn''t matter if you have those abilities or not. You will forever be mine!" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The man couldn''t believe his ears. He opened his lips, but no words came out. He could only watch her in a daze as she tried to stop his bleeding.

    At this point, he was really regretting his decision of attacking Elias when he was simply trying to talk to him. He had placed both their safety at risk because of his overconfident actions.

    Inside their bedroom, the storm finally calmed down after close to half an hour, the longest it had ever taken for Elias.

    Fortunately, the incoming notification didn''t leave him disappointed.

 Chapter 36 - 36: Then survive

    Elias walked out of the bedroom, and saw Leo that was getting first aid. However, with the door broken, the cold had rushed inside, which made his conditions even worse.

    He walked closer to the young man, who still glared at him. However, more than himself, he was worried about the safety of the woman that had refused to leave him.

    "You are not a child. You are a demon!" He exclaimed, catching a glimpse of his gun in Elias'' left hand. "You already took everything from me! Are you still not satisfied?"

    Elias didn''t offer any explanation or self justification. It was true that he had hurt this man, no matter the reason.

    "If you think I am a demon, then you haven''t seen a true demon yet," he stated, walking past the couple as if he had no intentions of hurting them any more.

    "If you want to have revenge, then survive. If you can''t even do that..." He didn''t finish his sentence and stepped out of the room.

    Walking through the hallway, Elias pressed the button on the lower right side of the watch, opening the map again. Just as he thought, the red dot at his location had disappeared. There was no other person at this location with abilities, except him.

    His eyes moved and he shifted his focus on the next red dot in his domain which was the closest to him.

    After coming to this world, he had thought that he was going to learn more about his abilities, but he had a feeling that his own abilities weren''t enough to complete this test in the way he wanted.

    He needed more abilities, even if they were temporary. He needed something that could overwhelm the Frost Queen who believed that no one could defeat her.

    "Seven days, huh?" he mumbled, walking towards the building''s windows. Outside, a thick layer of snow already blanketed the land, rising up to the height of the fourth floor.

    He needed a proper exit, and this was the fastest one he could find. He pushed open the window, letting in a powerful cold wind, accompanied by flecks of snow.

    He climbed onto the windowsill and jumped. He wasn''t worried about breaking his legs. If there was one thing he didn''t lack, it was sturdy bones.

    The moment he leaped out, he closed his eyes. He fell, keeping his feet pointed downward.

    He soon reached the height of the fourth floor, his feet touching the top layer of snow. But gravity didn''t make things easy. His body broke through the first layer, sinking as if he were being completely devoured.

    He had to crawl his way up through the snow until his face was finally outside. His breathing became rough and heavy, as if he had literally drowned.

    He dragged his body out of the snow, and lied on top of it, slightly exhausted as he looked at the clouded sky, with snow flecks constantly raining down.

    The weather of this world was becoming more extreme with each passing second. It didn''t seem like an exaggeration when the Frost Queen said that this world was going to become completely lifeless on the Eighth Day.

    Lying on the snow, he opened the storage realm that appeared in the form of a spatial portal before him. Fortunately, he didn''t have to struggle with this temporary ability like he had to do with his main class.

    The moment he absorbed the temporary ability core, he received the basic information about the ability. It even felt as if it was a part of his body that he could manipulate willingly.

    Was this knowledge a part of the ability core to help humans learn their use faster for this test? He wasn''t certain. The only thing he knew was that it had worked in his favor.

    He looked inside the storage realm, which had a huge space. Inside, there were a lot of vegetables and fruits, still kept as fresh as the day it was placed there. There were even thousands of warm dishes that seemed to have been freshly prepared and delivered right before the frost descended.

    There were electronic machines, weapons, drones, and even vehicles like luxury cars and tanks. Just looking at the scene inside the storage realm left Elias surprised, making him wonder how Leo had even managed to gather all of these things.

    Most of those cars and tanks were already useless in this weather, but there was one thing that looked like it could be useful.

    He brought out a snowmobile from the storage, making it land on the snow before him. Even though he had never driven one, he didn''t think it was going to be much harder, especially since he didn''t have to worry about his age or height with the vehicle''s build.

    Even if he broke a few of them in the process of learning, he didn''t have to worry. There were already tens of them in the storage.

    Unfortunately, it was only when he tried to start it that he realized how hard it was. He couldn''t start it at all. There was a key already inserted, but even after twisting it, nothing seemed to change.

    He tried for half an hour, but nothing changed. He was starting to get so frustrated that he had to resist the urge to simply abandon this piece of metal.

    He understood when to give up. Even if it looked simple, he couldn''t start it. He needed help. Fortunately, he had something that could easily help him convince people now.

    He shifted the gun to his right hand and walked over to the fifth floor window of the apartment building where he just came from. He broke the window and jumped inside.

    Merely ten minutes had passed, before he came out with a group of twenty people, all looking pale at the sight of the gun.

    All twenty of them started observing the snowmobile. With the gun aimed at him, they didn''t think they could afford to mess around. Those of them that knew anything about the snowmobiles, told Elias what he was doing wrong, and helped him start it.

    After they helped him, they quickly stepped back, not wanting the child to have even the slightest semblance of threat that might make him shoot.

    "Ah, so that''s what it was." Looking at the process, Elias couldn''t believe how simple it was. He even wondered if he was a fool to not be able to guess these things.

    He opened the storage realm, and brought out hundreds of cans of food, and tossed them towards the group of people.

    "This should be enough for you to last for seven days. If you can live beyond that, it depends on this world''s luck." Elias climbed on the snowmobile, and used the method of riding it that was taught to him and left.

    .... Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    On the eighth floor of the apartment building, the woman had finally managed to stop Leo''s bleeding. However, with the door broken, they knew they couldn''t stay there any longer.

    "You stay right here," she told Leo, who was sitting with his back against a wall. "I''ll go and see if there''s a suitable, safe apartment for us to move to."

    Even though she said she was going to find a different apartment, he knew she was actually going to look for food.

    All their food was in his storage, which had been taken. Now, there was only a little bit left, which might not even last a few days. He felt ashamed that he could only rely on her.

    "What?!" He suddenly heard the woman''s loud cry. He came out of his daze and rushed out, worried for her safety, thinking that the child might have returned.

    It was only when he stepped out of the apartment that he understood why she had made such a noise. No one was there, and there was no threat.

    What truly shocked her was that there were hundreds of cans of food left outside their apartment. Not just food, but water and other necessities were also there.

    There was also a gun that was lying on the ground, accompanied by multiple magazines that were full.

    After months of frost apocalypse, no one could afford so many things. It could only come from his storage. Did Elias leave them here? Leo''s mind was in a mess.

    "Why?" he mumbled, unable to understand.

 Chapter 37 - 37: Thought so

    ....

    Cold wind whipped through his hair as Elias sped across the snow-covered landscape, the snowmobile''s skis kicking up the beautiful white snow.

    It was his first time riding a snowmobile, but it was a truly fascinating feeling. It proved easier to ride than he had anticipated, especially after he had gotten it started. He didn''t even have to worry about keeping the balance.

    His bones kept him warm while he rode, but the cold winds that brushed against him made him feel colder. It was as if a perfect balance were being created, one that didn''t feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

    Unfortunately, the ride didn''t last long. He soon reached his next destination, where another red dot was hovering. He stopped the snowmobile and got down from it.

    He zoomed in on the holographic map to see the precise location of the red dot. He followed the direction on foot, and ended up before a tall tower.

    The apartment building with the ten floors felt nothing before this Tower that had at least fifty floors. He could even see lights through some of the windows, as if this tower still had electricity.

    "It will take some time."

    Elias took a note of the windows where he could see light, as it seemed much more time consuming to search through the entire tower.

    He walked closer to the Tower, and broke the windows, taking a shortcut. He jumped inside the Tower, only to be met with an even more gruesome sight.

    There was a thick scent of blood everywhere, and the entire hallway was littered with lifeless bodies. These people hadn''t died from hunger. Instead, it was more as if they were killed by some kind of beast.

    He walked past the bodies, wondering just what kind of thing he was here to deal with. Was the red dot he saw, not a human but a mutated beast instead?

    Across all the floors, it was the same scene. But a single person in this entire building was left alive. Even the rooms that were still lit up, were just as lifeless.

    It took Elias almost half a day to check most of the floors, until he reached the highest floor. The outside world had started to turn even darker with the arrival of night, marking almost the end of the first day.

    Elias stepped on the last floor, certain that the mutated beast was on this floor, especially since the blood on this floor felt more fresh than the lower floors.

    He approached the room where the red dot was supposed to be present. Once he was at the coordinates, he kicked the door open and walked inside.

    "Hmm?"

    Inside the room, he had expected to find a mutated beast responsible for the slaughter, but the reality was completely different from his expectations. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    There was no beast here. All he saw was a woman dressed in a long, tight-fitting gown. Her long dark hair came down to her hips. He couldn''t even discern the gown''s original color, since most of it had turned red from blood. And none of that blood belonged to her.

    The woman was standing behind a large desk, looking out a huge window that seemed to cover the entire back wall.

    ............

    Material Composition: Human (99 Percent), Temporary Ability Core (1 Percent)

    Weight: 55 Kg

    Height: 1.7 meter

    Material Stability: 5 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    .............

    He didn''t even have to ask her if she was responsible for everything that he had seen, as the material composition already gave her away.

    Just like Leo, she also had a temporary ability core. But the material stability seemed abysmal. Even Leo had fifty percent stability, while she only had one tenth of that.

    "You have a really good scent," the woman said, without even looking back.

    "Why did you kill them?" Elias asked, approaching the woman.

    "Are you here to avenge them?" the woman asked, looking at Elias'' reflection in the glass before her.

    Although she was surprised that the person was only a child, she didn''t find it impossible. Just like she had gained her abilities, it made sense that there were others as well. She had already known something like that.

    "Why do you think we were given these cursed abilities?" she asked Elias, her voice sounding a little melancholic. There was no coldness in that voice that could have belonged to a mindless killer.

    She seemed to be questioning the meaning of her existence and these abilities, as if she already had a feeling that it wasn''t a treasure but a curse.

    Elias already knew the reason these people had received these abilities. It was simply for them to become entertaining prey.

    For many, these abilities were helpful for them. But in reality, these abilities painted a big red mark on their back that they couldn''t escape from. For them, it wasn''t wrong to call them cursed abilities.

    In other domains, many of these ability holders had already died while he was going around collecting abilities. Others were in a race against time to collect the highest score as the names of top ranked kept switching back and forth.

    He could always take points from the others after they worked hard gathering them. His main priority for the first six days was simple. It was to collect as many temporary abilities as he could.

    "Why did you kill them?" he asked the woman while the distance between them was reduced to merely a few meters.

    "Because..." the woman mumbled as she slowly turned around. She finally revealed her face, which was covered in fresh blood of her prey that was yet to dry.

    "They were delicious," she said, the corner of her lips creeping up in a devilish manner. Suddenly, she jumped forward at Elias, her arms transforming into a beast''s claws that came straight for Elias''s neck.

    "Thought so..." Elias pulled out the gun hiding behind his back, and shot the woman straight in the middle of her forehead.

 Chapter 38 - 38: Completion of Incomplete Preparation

    Elias raised his gun, and the woman''s expression distorted. However, before she could react, the deafening sound of the gunshot echoed across the room.

    The bullet tore through the monstrous woman''s head before exiting through the back. It was only stopped by the bulletproof glass behind her, which was now covered in minor cracks.

    Elias stepped aside, letting the woman fall where he had previously been standing. Blood spilled out of her head, mixing with the blood on the ground that had belonged to her prey

    Her sharp claws retracted the moment she died. In her normal form, she looked no different from an ordinary person.

    Elias observed the woman, seemingly lost in thought. He had seen her abilities. Even though they were decent abilities, capable of killing many ordinary people, they didn''t seem particularly useful to him.

    Even more concerning was the woman''s behavior, as if this ability were controlling her instead of the other way around. Did he really want an ability that might turn him into something similar? He wasn''t certain.

    "It was a waste of time after all," he sighed, finally walking away. He decided to give up on the ability, which seemed more harmful than useful to him.

    He walked down from the Tower and left through the same place he had entered. Returning to his snowmobile, he began searching for his next target.

    Over the next few days, he moved from one part of his domain to another, extracting the temporary abilities from people and merging them with his body, improving his strength along the way.

    It took him four days to cover most of the ability users in his domain, leaving only one person who was still evading him.

    This person was also the most confusing of all, as their marker would disappear in one part of the city and reappear in a completely different area, as if they were teleporting.

    Since they didn''t stay in the same place for long, it made it even harder for Elias to catch them. Adding to the difficulty, he could see the other domain owners approaching his domain.

    Now that it was the fourth day, almost everyone had begun trying to explore other domains. Seven people had already disappeared from the rankings, having been killed by others. That left only three before the entire test was going to be over.

    At the moment, Elias was ranked last in the ranking. He knew that he couldn''t waste time chasing the person who could teleport. He had to put his final plan into motion, even if the preparations weren''t complete.

    He changed his target and went to intercept the other rankers who were about to reach his domain.

    .... Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In a neighboring domain, two rankers walked side by side. Though they were supposed to be rivals, they seemed overly friendly with each other.

    One of them was a lean boy with restless eyes. He kept looking at his rank, unable to hide a satisfied grin.

    "Just a bit more," he said, looking at the twelfth ranked name, which belonged to him. "A bit more, and we''re in the top ten. Teaming up was the right move."

    The other boy had a much larger size. Not only was he eight feet tall, but his body was also very bulky, which made him look like a small mountain that was moving.

    He laughed, paying more attention to the map.

    "Of course. It''s safer to hunt together than alone. At this pace, even if we ran into one of those descendants..." He trailed off, the word leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

    "Don''t talk about them," the first boy said, a shiver running down his spine. "Those guys are monsters. They''ve got the top five locked down. I never want to meet them, even with you around to help me."

    Even working together was useless. He knew a powerful descendant could still kill them, no matter how many weaker opponents they defeated.

    The descendants were frightening, but even more dangerous was the family behind them. Even if they could somehow fight those descendants together, they couldn''t afford to kill them.

    "Don''t worry," the larger boy said, shaking his head lightly. "I was just talking. I don''t want to run into them any more than you do. That''s why I picked this domain. The owner hasn''t left his territory in four days."

    "That''s right. Even after all this time, he didn''t try to leave his domain. He is most likely a coward, and a weakling," the lean boy said, his grin returning. "We can take over his domain easily and grab more points. The top ten is within our reach!"

    There were no official prizes for being in the top ten, but they knew it was a major achievement, something they could boast about for the rest of their lives.

    Soon, they reached the boundary of their domain. On the map, they could see the mark of the other domain''s owner, who didn''t seem to be far away either. It was as if that person was also approaching them.

    "Even if he is a coward, he doesn''t seem to be a fool. He has already noticed our presence. Prepare to kill." The bulky boy clenched his fists, and his body began growing even larger.

    His form transformed into that of a giant, standing fifty feet tall. Even his skin had turned to an unbreakable stone.

    He stepped forward and entered Elias''s domain. The lean boy followed behind.

    He started floating in the air as his eyes started shining in a golden shade. Even his hair started changing colors, and turned brighter like the sun. The flecks of snow that even touched his body, evaporated.

    ....

    "This wasn''t it either. Just where is his domain?" In an entirely different place, Rey Esterin was sitting on the back of a bleeding boy, who was struggling to breathe.

    He let out a tired sigh, and conjured a ball of condensed flame, an element that he had just started to comprehend in the last four days.

    He got off the boy, and tossed the ball of flames at the boy. As soon as the ball of flames touched the boy, his body started burning, his painful cries echoing loud. Even the falling snow couldn''t stop the flames to save him.

    With the boy''s death, Rey''s score increased in the rankings again. He again took back the first place on the rank, winning another domain.

    He shifted his attention to the next domain, and started flying with the help of his wind element. It was as if he was eager to find something, or someone.

 Chapter 39 - 39: Top Ranker

    The giant walked toward the approaching marker of the domain''s owner. He was prepared to stomp on that person. He wanted to kill this domain''s owner before he could even have time to try anything else.

    Soon, he saw something approaching him in the distance. The snowfall was so strong that he couldn''t see everything clearly. Still, he was certain that it was the target as their movement matched the movement of the marker.

    "I will take him," the lean boy said while bringing out a small knife from his pocket. The knife began shining with a bright golden light as soon as it was held by him.

    He tossed the knife toward the approaching figure before it could even get too close to them. The knife flew like an arrow fired from a bow, going straight for the approaching snowmobile. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It hit the snowmobile, and a loud explosion appeared, with a bright light covering a radius of tens of meters. Even the snow underneath evaporated under the effect of the explosion.

    None of them saw anyone escaping from that explosion. It was clear that the person was caught in the explosion and died.

    The lean boy smirked. "That was easier than I thought. No wonder he didn''t have the courage to leave his domain."

    He approached the site of the explosion to see if there were any remnant limbs of the person left behind, or if he had completely disappeared.

    When he reached the center of the crater in the snow, he saw pieces of metal lying around.

    In the middle of the crater, there was a watch that had been caught in the explosion. Only that watch remained unharmed, as it was created by the academy.

    It was the watch that was given to all the Destroyer Class students for this test. If the watch was here, it made him even more certain that the person was actually dead.

    "That must have brought me to the top ten," the lean boy laughed.

    "Don''t forget that I will be taking the target in the next domain. I also need to enter the top ten." The giant, feeling a little underwhelmed, began returning to his normal form.

    He had at least expected there to be some fight, but the reality was completely different. The battle ended before it could even begin.

    "Of course. As per our deal, the next domain owner will belong to you. Both of us will enter the top ten," the lean boy looked at his friend with an innocent smile on his face as he confirmed.

    Although he didn''t show it on the surface, deep down, he had multiple thoughts in his head.

    ''You fool, as if I would ever be satisfied with the top ten. When the test is about to be over, I won''t waste a single second stabbing you in the back to take your scores as well. With that, I will certainly enter the top five.''

    The bulky boy had a similar thought, but on the surface, he also smiled brightly. Their cooperation was on the verge of ending as the test was drawing to an end.

    The lean boy opened the ranking, looking forward to seeing his name in the top ten.

    It was only when the ranking appeared before him that he saw that his name was not in the top ten. He hadn''t gained a single point, which should''ve been impossible.

    "How could this be?" he asked in disbelief, looking at the watch before him. "Could it be that he..."

    At that moment, his expressions distorted as a realization struck him. They had been fooled! The marker wasn''t for the owner of this domain, but for the owner''s watch.

    Just because no one had done something like this, he hadn''t even thought of a possibility like this.

    "He''s not de-" He tried to speak as his eyes began changing colors to the golden shade again. Unfortunately, it was too late.

    He coughed out blood, feeling a sharp object stabbing through the back of his neck. His eyes widened in disbelief, seeing the tip of a knife coming out from the front of his throat, covered with his blood.

    Trembling, his pupils turned to the bulky boy, who looked even more frightened, as another knife was thrust into the back of his neck.

    In his giant form, his skin was almost impenetrable. But when he wasn''t using his class and abilities, his skin was ordinary and provided no extra defense. Even an ordinary knife could pass through his physical defenses, just as it had happened.

    The knives were left thrust in their necks, as the two of them fell to their knees, watching a figure walk past them. It seemed to be a young boy, who bent forward to pick up the watch that was lying in the middle of the crater.

    They watched him wear the watch on his wrist before he slowly turned around. When they saw the face of the person, their pupils trembled even more violently.

    They realized where they had gone wrong. They were truly fools to believe that the owner of this domain was a coward.

    The owner of the domain was the monster that had even wrecked the person who was currently ranked first in this test, in front of everyone. Was that something they could call the actions of a coward?

    They had truly come across a descendant, and their fates were exactly what they had assumed in a situation like that. They couldn''t even fight back as they were defeated.

    Their dreams of entering the top ten were shattered. Let alone returning proudly as a high ranker, they couldn''t even return alive. Fresh blood trickled down their throats, staining their clothes as they fell on the snow, lifelessly.

    They couldn''t enter the top ten, but Elias was different. After killing them, his score rapidly jumped. He appeared in the rankings as the seventh-ranked person.

    Many people were wondering about his silence since he was at the bottom of the ranking. Some of them had even stopped thinking about him. But with his appearance in the top ten, they had a feeling that the equation was starting to change.

 Chapter 40 - 40: Aliaths only failure

    It was only the fourth day, and nine rankers had already died. The threshold for ending the test was ten deaths. One more death, and the test would end before the seventh day even arrived.

    The highest-ranking participants became even more active, as this was their last opportunity to gain the top rank and the promised reward. All of them started going after the markers of other domain lords.

    The weaker domain lords also didn''t want to be the ones who died right before the test ended. The moment they saw other domain lords approaching them, they started running from their own domains. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They wanted to survive, at least longer than another unlucky domain lord.

    Everyone was in a race against time. Meanwhile, Elias was standing silently, observing the two bodies before him.

    "Confirm Extraction." He placed his palm on the lean boy, whose ability had caught his attention. Even though he had never tried to extract permanent abilities, he wanted to test it at least once.

    Even though he was trying it, he already expected a failure. Unlike those with temporary abilities, those from the Academy didn''t show a Material Composition screen.

    With them, there was no screen that told him if extraction was even possible. He was prepared to be disappointed when he tried his skill.

    ..............

    Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

    ..............

    "Hmm?" Elias was prepared for failure. He already expected some kind of error, but the message that appeared left him slightly intrigued.

    It didn''t simply say that extraction was impossible. It said that extraction had failed because his Evolution was insufficient. Did this mean his extraction ability would become stronger if he evolved his class?

    He didn''t want to be too optimistic based on a simple message, but it made him a little hopeful. He moved on to the bulky boy who looked less like a child and more like a fully grown adult.

    "Confirm Extraction."

    ..............

    Error. Insufficient Evolution. Extraction has failed.

    ..............

    Once again, a similar error appeared. Elias was even more certain that the first message was not an error. There was truly a possibility of extraction. He was simply missing something.

    With every passing moment, he was learning something new about his class. And each revelation made him realize just how many possibilities his class actually held.

    "This is good. With this ability, I might be able to..." He looked at his hands, which were covered with the blood of the two that he had just killed.

    If he wanted to have revenge, then he needed to become someone like Aliath whose name alone was enough to make people flinch in fear. If he couldn''t even surpass Aliath, then how could he bring the Ashborn Family down?

    "I will surpass him..." He clenched his fists and stood up. He walked away from the two bodies that were slowly covered in a blanket of snow, buried without anyone there to even retrieve their bodies.

    Elias jumped out of the crater, and called forth another Snowmobile from his Spatial Storage. While he still had these temporary abilities, he wanted to put them to good use. And the best use he could think, was to complete something that even Aliath had failed in.

    He climbed on the snowmobile, and started rushing forth. For the first time, he left his domain. But his target wasn''t another domain lord. His target was the one that brought this apocalypse to this world.

    His target was the existence that was worth the highest point in this test. It was the Frost Queen. She was the only existence that could make him reach the first rank before the test ended.

    ....

    The Frost Queen stood on the cliff with her hands behind her back, holding a file. Even as snow fell across the entire world, it didn''t touch her. It was as if she were a forbidden existence to the snow.

    "It''s just like that day," she mumbled, overlooking the world embraced by frost.

    "Ah, to think that the test ended so fast. If it went on a little longer, I could''ve finished you off." The mocking words were still fresh in her mind.

    She subconsciously touched her forehead. She didn''t know if she should be grateful that she survived that day or be furious that she was made to live through such disgrace. Sometimes she thought that death would have been a better outcome.

    Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the scene from that godforsaken day when she had received the wound on her forehead. Whenever she thought about that moment, her fists clenched involuntarily.

    It was a scene that she could never forget as long as she lived. Aliath was standing next to her while she was lying on the ground.

    The boy was only twelve years old at that time, but he was still carrying a spear that was twice his size. That spear was aimed at her forehead, its tip making her bleed.

    There was no snow anywhere in the surroundings. There were only signs of a battle that had flattened an entire cliff.

    Aliath also had a watch on his wrist that was constantly beeping. It was the automatic reminder that the test had ended, as the highest number of deaths had been achieved.

    If the test had ended a little later, the spear wouldn''t have simply entered a mere inch into her forehead. It would have passed through her skull. She was certain.

    Because she survived, it didn''t count as the completion of the third method, and Aliath didn''t receive any extra score. He was ranked tenth in that test.

    Only a few people knew the reality of that day. It wasn''t that Aliath couldn''t get the first rank. It was simply that he went for the hardest option and ran out of time at the last moment because of variables related to other participants.

    Many believed it to be the only moment of failure in his life. Aliath could tell others what he had achieved, but he didn''t seem to care about it either.

 Chapter 41 - 41: Blame Your Brother

    Lilian could never forget that day. That''s why, every time she encountered another Ashborn, she struggled to control her emotions. She was always wary of their intentions, worried that another Aliath might appear.

    Fortunately for her, the other children of the Ashborn family, though frighteningly talented, were not as monstrous as Aliath had been from the start.

    When she heard that Elias was also an Ashborn, she was taken aback. She couldn''t believe she hadn''t been informed that another Ashborn had entered the academy. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She quickly sent the students away after telling them about the trial. When they were gone, she immediately requested information on Elias''s measurement ceremony from the academy''s administrative department.

    She received the complete file on Elias Ashborn, including everything that he had done from the moment he stepped inside the academy. It also mentioned his battle with Rey Esterin, which left both of them injured.

    On the last page of the file, there was information related to his Measurement Ceremony. Even though she looked at the information with her own eyes, she found it hard to believe.

    That person was from the Auxiliary Class? Was he pushed into the Destroyer Class simply because of his family name? She wondered, unaware of the true reason an Auxiliary Class student would be sent to the Destroyer Class.

    Still, she was somewhat relieved to know that Elias wasn''t a threat. Even if he seemed a little unusual, he was still an Auxiliary. What could an architect do? Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t harm her.

    Just to be certain, she kept an eye on the rankings for the first few days to see the scores of the Destroyer Class participants. Every time she glanced at the rankings, she found Elias at the bottom, his points in the single digits.

    After a few days, she stopped checking the lower rankings that often, becoming more certain that Elias wasn''t a threat. If anything, he was even weaker than the fourth Ashborn Child.

    Lost in memories of the past, Lilian didn''t notice a person walking towards her amidst the heavy snowstorm.

    Elias had completely erased his presence using one of the temporary abilities he had merged with. He also used another ability to make his body lighter which allowed him to walk on the snow without leaving footprints or making any noise.

    To ensure that Lilian wasn''t alerted of his presence yet, he had even stopped using the Snowmobile when he was a few kilometres away from the cliff. From that point on, he had been running in the snowstorm to reach the top of the cliff, wanting to get here before the test could end.

    He pulled out a dagger and approached the Frost Queen, who was gazing into the distance as if she hadn''t noticed his presence at all. He was completely focused on her, knowing that this might be his only opportunity.

    He took a deep breath, and once he was ready, he used the same method he had used to kill the two rankers.

    To his own pleasant surprise, his dagger successfully hit the target. It stabbed through the woman''s neck. However, before he could celebrate, he noticed that something was wrong.

    There was no bleeding. He didn''t even hear the woman make even the slightest noise, as if she couldn''t feel anything.

    Right before his eyes, the woman''s figure started turning into an ice sculpture, which began cracking until it broke into thousands of pieces that fell to the ground.

    Once again, thousands of ice spears appeared all around him, and he came to a realization. The Frost Queen was still alive, and he had clearly been entrapped.

    Since the Material Composition didn''t show anything strange when he attacked, he was sure that the person he struck was really the Frost Queen, but still, she had managed to survive.

    It made him believe that she had some ability that helped her switch with an ice statue at the last moment to save her life. If she truly had an ability like that, then it made it even harder for him to take her down.

    "It looks like I really underestimated you," Lilian''s voice reached his ears, appearing from behind him. "You are just as ambitious as he was."

    Elias slowly turned around and saw the Frost Queen standing in the distance, completely unharmed. She didn''t even have a single scratch on her body, and her clothes remained pure, untouched by the impurities of this world.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t kill you. I don''t want your family to come after my head. But I will definitely make sure that you learn your place." She raised her right hand, and the hundreds of ice spears around Elias started trembling.

    The winds became stronger while her bangs moved, occasionally revealing the deep scar on her forehead.

    Ever since she was defeated by Aliath, she had been working harder to become stronger. In the future, she wanted to challenge Aliath again. Unfortunately, while Aliath grew up, he became even more monstrous.

    Until that man graduated, Lilian never had the courage to challenge him, despite being a teacher at the Academy.

    Even if Elias was different from Aliath, her anger and shame of the past had overwhelmed her. What she couldn''t do to Aliath, she wanted to do to Elias so she could calm her anger.

    "If you want to blame anyone, then blame your foolishness and that arrogant bastard brother of yours!" she exclaimed as she suddenly clenched her fist.

    Simultaneously, the hundreds of sharp ice spears fell, aimed at Elias. Even if she said that she wasn''t trying to kill Elias, her actions didn''t give the same impression.

    An attack like that was strong enough to kill almost anyone in this world, especially a child who had only gained his Class less than a week ago.

    The moment those spears struck, the cliff itself trembled, with snow flying in all directions. The impact of the attack was so strong that even the participants of faraway domains felt the trembling, as if there had been an earthquake.

    Most of the cliff was destroyed, just like the cliff was destroyed in her battle with Aliath. The only difference was that she was the winner this time, and she didn''t regret anything.

 Chapter 42 - 42: Plans for Aftermath

    Lilian had destroyed the entire cliff, not holding anything back. It was the new strength that she had gained after training throughout the years, and going through another evolution.

    Even as the cliff was destroyed, Lilian remained unharmed, as cold winds kept her floating in the empty space where a cliff used to be previously.

    She knew that destroying Elias wasn''t going to erase the shame that she had suffered at Aliath''s hand. She was fighting against a twelve year old child after all. Still, she didn''t seem to care.

    Her mind was not in a stable condition, as the memories of the past kept flooding her mind. She didn''t think about the kind of backing that Elias might have from his family.

    It took a moment for the realization to set in. Elias wasn''t just Aliath''s brother but also the youngest son of the Ashborn Family.

    "What have I done?" She mumbled, looking at the destruction that she had caused in her anger.

    If she had simply injured Elias, then even if it was a serious injury, she could have passed it off as her trying to teach him. But if he was dead, then it was an entirely different thing.

    She landed on the ground, her expressions turning grim.

    "I-i need to find a way to shift this blame to someone else. I... Right! I can shift the blame to another participant! I just have to make sure that not even a shred of his body is left behind for any verification!"

    Her thoughts were racing at the speed of light as she tried to think of ways to deal with the aftermath. There was no oversight from the academy in this world. She was the only one who knew what happened here.

    "Didn''t Rey have some enmity with Elias? If I can just shift the blame to him, the two families would be fighting with each other. They will never have time to think about anything else!"

    She made up her mind that she was going to ensure that no evidence was left behind. She could always repair the frost cliff with her abilities after all. The moment she came up with a plan to deal with this mess, her expressions eased a little.

    Cold winds started wrapping around her body, slowly lifting her up as she made up her mind to put the plan into motion before the test was over.

    She had only risen a few feets in the air when a pale hand came out of the snow beneath her feet. The hand grabbed her ankle.

    Lilian''s eyes widened in disbelief. The cold winds that had covered her surroundings, was her domain. As long as something moved within those winds, she could sense their presence. But if something moved beneath the snow, she was just as shocked as she didn''t see it coming.

    She was forcefully pulled down inside the suffocating snow. However, she reacted quickly and turned into a lifeless statue of ice, her real body appearing hundreds of feet away.

    Her expressions were somewhat panicked, as this was the second time she seemed to have fallen for it. If she was a little late, she might have actually died.

    She was in disbelief that Elias had survived her first attack. If that was the case, then he already knew that she had tried to kill him. It was too late to take a step back.

    She had to ensure that Elias was dead, so he could never tell this to anyone else. Now that she already had a plan to deal with the aftermath, she didn''t have to hold back.

    She raised her hand, and more ice spears materialized in the hundred feet radius of where the hand had come out. She didn''t give him any chance, as the spears came crashing down again, making the earth tremble once more.

    ....

    "Earthquakes are becoming too often. Is it a sign that the world is about to be destroyed?" Rey Esterin frowned, as he stepped inside the next domain whose owner was still alive.

    He was already holding the first rank, but more than that, he wanted to find Elias to show him his new abilities.

    "This test better not end until I kill you," he mumbled, as he increased his speed to chase after the marker of the domain owner which was rushing away.

    ....

    "Is this world really going to end?" In an apartment building, Leo was sitting in front of a window, looking at the world that had lost its color, only to be embraced in a thick layer of white.

    "Don''t talk nonsense. This world will be fine. We will survive, and everything will return to normal!" A girl hugged him from behind.

    "I really hope..." Leo mumbled, not knowing why he was thinking about Elias at a moment like this.

    He was curious as to what that boy might be doing? Was he also hiding like them, waiting for the world to end? Or was he doing something more important?

    ....

    Earth trembled as thousands of spears fell to the ground, but for some strange reason, Lilian didn''t feel relieved. It was as if her instincts were warning her.

    "I don''t need to blame my brother..." A voice came from behind her, as if a ghost had materialized right there.

    "Why don''t you just die?!" Lilian exclaimed as a powerful frost explosion originated from her. Thousands of small fragments of ice materialized around her and shot outward.

    They pierced through the body of the person who had materialized behind her, like bullets. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The woman looked back, watching Elias standing behind her. She could even see fresh blood. This time, she had really gotten him.

    At least, that''s what she thought until she felt the same sense of danger. Another presence materialized behind her, like that of an assassin.

    She found it hard to believe. Elias was right in front of her, so who was behind her? The question made her expression darken.

 Chapter 43 - 43: Aim

    She attacked the person behind her, killing him as well. She didn''t want to take any risks. Only after killing him did she look back and see the person who had appeared behind her.

    Looking at him, she was again at a loss. The person looked completely identical to Elias. There wasn''t even the smallest difference. Moreover, the second Elias was also bleeding.

    It was impossible for there to be two Elias. No, had there really been two in the first place? The moment she thought about it, her expression darkened.

    Did Elias really survive her first two spear attacks? What if the two attacks were successful and had killed him? It meant she had already killed four of them, but none of them were real.

    "Where are you hiding?" she roared, her voice spreading far and wide.

    She didn''t know how Elias possessed so many abilities in the first place. He could erase his presence and even lower his weight to avoid leaving any footprints. He also seemed to have incredible strength. And now, he also had this ability to create what looked like clones?

    Normally, a person only had two abilities after they awakened. Only after their future evolutions did they receive more abilities related to their classes. So how could someone from an Auxiliary Class have so many abilities when he had only awakened a few days ago?

    "Stop hiding like a coward! Didn''t you want to kill me?!" Lilian''s voice grew even louder as she started rising into the air to get a better view of her surroundings.

    Moreover, as long as she was in the air, Elias couldn''t appear behind her to attack. It was much safer in the sky than it was on the ground.

    While Lilian screamed at the top of her lungs, someone was keeping an eye on her.

    About five hundred meters away, a young boy lay on the cold snow. His body, mostly covered by it, blended into the surroundings.

    In front of him, there was a sniper rifle that was constantly aimed at Lilian.

    ''Just as I thought... She can sense the presence of people around her. It''s like some kind of domain, but it doesn''t seem to expand too far or she would''ve sensed me.''

    ''Still, a surprise attack is useless. And her ability allows her to escape death by turning into an ice statue. There seems to be only one solution. She needs to be killed before she can even sense danger.''

    Elias had a good idea about Lilian''s tricks, at least the ones she had revealed so far. For now, his experiments seemed to be going well, but he was far from complete success.

    ''If I had more time on my hands, it would''ve been better to conduct more experiments. But for now, I can''t give her time. I have to go by the data I have collected so far.''

    "All of you go and attack her," he said. "Distract her and buy me some time."

    The moment he spoke, multiple clones of his rushed towards the destroyed cliff from every direction. There were over twenty of them, their presence surprising Lilian.

    All of them used a different ability as they attacked Lilian, who was in the sky. There was even one that could fly and attack from above.

    Looking at their attacks, Lilian was also at a loss. How did they have so many abilities? Moreover, these abilities felt awfully familiar to the temporary abilities that were granted to the people of this world for this test.

    "I really hope one of you is real." Lilian also grew serious as frost armor appeared around her body.

    A beautiful robe appeared around her body, made from the ice dragon''s skin, which strengthened her defense even more. The real battle had begun as she tried to kill every Elias that appeared before her. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Meanwhile, the real Elias remained far away from the battle. Still, he could feel the impact of the battle.

    His clones were being killed left and right, and Lilian seemed to be enjoying it. No matter how many abilities they had, they couldn''t compete with the Frost Queen. Temporary abilities were just that... weaker versions of their real counterparts.

    Moreover, Lilian had lived for over a century. She had been teaching at the academy for a long time. If she didn''t even know how to counter these temporary abilities, then it would''ve been more surprising.

    "This clone creation ability is quite useful. It helped me get a lot of useful data. The only flaw seems to be that the clones don''t have my traits or class. They are like normal humans. But for me, that isn''t a problem."

    The moment he received the temporary cloning ability, he had already planned everything. He didn''t use the ability cores on himself. Instead, he used the ability cores on the clones, giving one to each of them.

    Even after that, he knew that they weren''t strong enough to challenge the Frost Queen. But he didn''t want that in the first place. He simply used the clones for two reasons.

    The first reason was to get more data on the Frost Queen, her abilities, and fighting patterns to make sure that there were no flaws in his main plan. As for the next reason, it was even simpler.

    He used these clones to distract her so she couldn''t see the real thing that was coming, even if she had a domain. Her domain was overwhelmed by so many presences and attacks. There was no way for her to see every small thing in her domain now.

    It was the perfect opportunity that he had been waiting for. He stabilized his breathing as his fingers moved to the trigger of the sniper rifle.

    He knew that a sniper rifle wasn''t enough to kill someone like the Frost Queen, but that was only when it was an ordinary rifle.

    He had already ensured that the sniper rifle wasn''t ordinary anymore.

    ......

    Material Composition: Sniper Rifle (80 Percent), Essence of Lightning (15 Percent), Dust of Creation (5 Percent)

    Weight: 15 Kg

    Length: 1.2 Meters

    Material Stability: 75 percent

    Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

    ......

 Chapter 44 - 44: Surpassed by the present

    Elias looked through the sniper scope, aiming for the Frost Queen. His fingers rested on the trigger. With the dense frost storm, his sight wasn''t clear. Lilian was also moving a lot while killing his clones, which made it harder to aim.

    Every few seconds, Elias had to readjust the rifle. And every time he did, it became useless again as the Frost Queen moved.

    He tried to keep his emotions in control, to not grow impatient. Even the most perfect weapon was useless if the person using it wasn''t good enough. He didn''t want to miss the target because of his impatience.

    He adjusted the aim again. This time, he didn''t aim directly at her. Instead, he aimed for an empty space near her, as if predicting her next movement based on her recent movements and the presence of his remaining clones.

    Once he settled down, he took a deep breath and started waiting for the right time.

    In another part of the world, Rey had discovered another Ranker. Even if the Ranker had tried to run, he couldn''t outrun the person whose class itself allowed him to rule over winds.

    "I really hoped that it would be him. It looks like he is quite lucky." He created a sphere of condensed flames and tossed it. The flaming sphere struck the legs of the running Domain Lord, making him fall down, groaning in pain.

    "Let me go! I haven''t done anything to you!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs as he tried to stop the fire that was burning his legs and spreading upwards.

    Unfortunately, the flame didn''t stop. Even as he rolled on the snow, the flames didn''t disappear. Only the pain of burning became stronger.

    "Oh, believe me, I really wished it wasn''t an insignificant person like you," Rey landed before the boy, who was screaming in pain like a mad person.

    "Unfortunately, the test will end after one more death. If I don''t kill you, and the one at the second rank kills the tenth person, I might lose the top rank. Hence, you must die!"

    He gathered another sphere of condensed flames, wrapping it in dense winds to make it even more lethal. He aimed it at the boy, and released it. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Now!" Elias pulled the trigger the moment Lilian stepped into his view. Lightning flickered around his sniper rifle as a golden bullet shot out, leaving a trail of lightning in its wake.

    The bullet traveled through space at a speed many times faster than a normal bullet. Even the snow that neared the bullet evaporated into nothingness as the bullet entered the ice storm like a spear tossed straight from heaven.

    At the same time, Lilian killed the last clone, turning it into a sculpture of ice. She tapped the ice sculpture gently. Cracks spread across the ice sculpture, and the last clone shattered into thousands of pieces.

    "How long are you going to hide behind these useless clones?" she roared like a wounded beast, the storm around her growing even denser. "If you want to kill me, then come yourself!"

    She continued, "I hated your brother, but at least he wasn''t a cowar-"

    Swish!

    Her pupils trembled as she watched a golden bullet flying away from her. She lowered her gaze and looked at her chest, which had a small hole right where her heart was supposed to be.

    "Is that... blood?" she mumbled, her trembling hands touched her chest. She couldn''t even remember the last time she had bled.

    She tried to freeze her wound, but it was too little too late. The bullet passed through her heart, something that could not be treated by just freezing it.

    She knew that she had to return! Only at the Academy could she be treated. She opened the portal to return to the Academy, but as she tried to move, she felt an electric current coursing through her body.

    "Arghh!" She roared, but this time it wasn''t the roar of anger like before. It was pure pain as lightning spread throughout her body, destroying it from the inside.

    Beep.... Beep... Beep...

    Elias was focused on Lilian, and didn''t care about the constantly beeping sound on his watch. He didn''t even know when it had appeared. His finger again moved on the trigger and another bullet shot out.

    The portal was opened in front of Seraphina, connecting to the Medical Facility of the Academy. The elf-like professor who had healed Elias previously, looked at the portal, wondering who was arriving.

    She waited for a few seconds, but no one stepped through the Portal. She grew curious, even worried that something bad might have happened to the person who opened this portal, especially since no one connected to this place for no reason.

    If they weren''t stepping through the portal, did it mean they were seriously injured? She was worried.

    "Prepare for an emergency!" She commanded the other staff at the medical facility before rushing through the portal to check herself.

    The moment she stepped out of the portal, she was left stunned. In front of her was Frost Queen Lilian. She was bleeding, and her pupils were trembling in fear.

    "H...elp..." Lilian struggled to utter a single word, as her body refused to listen to her.

    "Who did this to you?" Seraphina asked as she rushed to help Lilian. However, before she could even touch Lilian, she saw a golden light flash before his eyes, disappearing as fast as it appeared.

    At the same moment, blood splashed on her face. Her face was filled with horror, as she looked at Lilian who now had a hole right through her skull.

    Horrified, she stepped back, worried that she might have entered a battlefield. At this point, she was worried about her own life, and ran back through the portal, her heart racing in fear.

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    The beeping sound drew closer to Lilian as she fell on the ground. She could hear the footsteps of someone approaching, but she couldn''t see anything. The constantly beeping sound felt so familiar, as if it was mocking her.

    It looked like the past had repeated itself. No... It was surpassed by the present in some ways.

 Chapter 45 - 45: The Second Brother

    Seraphina returned to the Medical Facility, her heart still pounding uncontrollably. Though she was a Professor at the Dimensional Academy, it was only because of her healing abilities. She didn''t have any offensive skills.

    She was still in disbelief about what she had seen. Someone had killed Lilian, right in front of her eyes. As she belonged to the species of the Elves, her face was already pale. But it looked even paler now. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She immediately sent a message to the Shadow Guardians, who were responsible for security at the Academy, informing them about what she had witnessed.

    Within minutes, the Shadow Guards rushed into the lab. They took swift action. Even though the portal had closed, they still managed to locate the other side of the portal through the remnant spatial displacement traces.

    The Shadow Guards opened another portal, connecting to the same place. They all rushed through the portal, to save Lilian if possible.

    With the arrival of the Shadow Guards, Lilian also felt more confident about her safety. Even though she was still scared to return to that place, she gathered every bit of courage she had.

    If Lilian even had a single breath left, then she was needed there to save her. She didn''t stay behind, as it was a matter of life and death of another Professor.

    The moment she stepped out of the portal, she heard another loud banging sound. Shd couldn''t see anything as the Shadow Guards were standing before her, unintentionally blocking her view.

    Their behaviour made her even more confused. Her brows raised as she wondered why they weren''t moving to find and kill the culprit.

    She moved to the side, trying to see through the gap between two shadow guards. And what she saw, left her frozen in place.

    Lilian was lying on the ground, the snow beneath her turning red in her own blood. Next to her was a young child that she had seen before.

    "Elias... Ashborn..." she mumbled, feeling a chill run down her spine. Elias was holding what looked like a long sniper rifle. It was aimed at Lilian, who seemed to already be dead.

    Bang~

    Elias pulled the trigger once more, as if trying to ensure that she was truly dead. Now that he had already taken this step, he wasn''t going to let her live for her to come back for revenge.

    She finally understood why the Shadow Guards weren''t moving. It was a different matter if it was an enemy from outside that had hurt an Academic Professor. But in this case, the person responsible was a student from the Academy.

    Moreover, he wasn''t an ordinary student. He was a descendant of the Ashborn Family.

    Through the history of the Dimensional Academy, there had only been one time where a Professor had died at the hands of a student. Today marked the second time something like this had happened.

    Seraphina didn''t know what to even think about this. Was it her fault? Just a few days ago, she treated Elias because he was hurt. And now, he had killed a Professor already.

    One of the shadow guards brought a communication device and whispered something in it, before keeping it back.

    "Is she dead?" Elias asked the Shadow Guards, who were standing in the distance, looking at him in silence.

    "She died a long time ago," the Shadow Guard that had carried Elias to the Medical Facility the first time, answered.

    "Can she be brought back to life?" Elias came to the main question that had been troubling him. The upper world was more advanced. He wasn''t sure if they could bring the dead back to life yet.

    "She is already dead. It is impossible to bring her back to life as she used to be," the Shadow Guard answered.

    He thought for a few seconds before he continued, "At best, she can be brought back as an undead by a Necromancer like your second brother. But even if that happened, she would be much weaker. She would also lose all her independent thoughts and personality."

    Elias had heard a lot about his Eldest Brother at the academy, but this was the first time he was hearing anything about his second brother.

    "That''s impossible! Becoming an Undead is disgraceful!" a voice spoke up, filled with disgust. "You become no different than lifeless zombies that only live for your master''s sake! The Academy will never allow someone like her to become the property of a Necromancer!"

    Elias'' brows raised, hearing the voice that seemed to belong to a woman. The Shadow Guards moved aside, looking at the woman who seemed to be hiding behind them.

    "Who are you?" Elias asked, as the woman didn''t look like a Shadow Guard.

    She also seemed to have a different temperament from the professors that he had seen before. As he was unconscious when she treated him, she felt like a complete stranger to him.

    Seraphina flinched, as Elias'' hand was still on the trigger while he talked to her. Even though the fun wasn''t aimed at her, she still froze temporarily.

    The gun was clearly not ordinary if it could destroy Lilian to this extent. She even wondered if this was some treasure of the Ashborn Family.

    Before Seraphina could answer, another portal opened nearby. "You Ashborns can never stop troubling me, can you?"

    ....

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    The watch of every student was beeping at the same time, marking the end of the test. With the end of the test, the markers of other rankers also disappeared from the world map, making it impossible for them to find others.

    Many of them looked relieved that they had survived until the end. While there were also a few like the ones from rank second to fifth who had failed to kill the last person to snatch the first rank. They looked quite disappointed.

    At the moment, the happiest person was Rey Esterin as he looked at the ashes of the ranker that he had killed, right before his watch started beeping. He was certain that he had retained his top rank.

    Even if he had failed to find and kill Elias, he still looked pleased that he had taken the first place. He was even looking forward to the special reward that was reserved for the first ranker.

    Even if the Professor told them that the first reward was simply a position of the leader of the class, he already knew that the first rank''s reward was something even more special.

    "That Growth Stone is mine..." he smirked as he opened the rankings like the rest of the rankers.

 Chapter 46 - 46: Is the Dean trying on bully my little brother?

    Rey opened the rankings, looking straight for the name that was above all else. But the moment he saw the name, he felt like he was in a nightmare.

    "This is impossible..." he mumbled in disbelief. That name didn''t belong to him. Instead, it belonged to someone that never should''ve been here.

    The appearance of the name at the top rank felt like it was mocking him. That person wasn''t even in the top five. How could he get first place? Unless he killed others from the top five, it should''ve been impossible for him to make such a large jump.

    His gaze moved down, trying to see if the others in the top five were dead. He found his name at the second rank. The names of other rankers had moved down by one rank, but their names hadn''t disappeared.

    It made him even more confused. How did Elias take the top rank if the other high rankers were still alive? Even if he killed everyone in his domain within the last few seconds, it still wasn''t enough to cover the gap.

    There was only one other possibility that could help one take the top rank that appeared in his mind. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, that''s absurd! There''s no way he could do something like that!" he shook his head in disbelief. "It must be some bug! That''s right. That must be why I don''t see a score in front of his name!"

    He tried to make sense of the situation, as Elias'' name was the only one in the entire list which didn''t have a score assigned. The section about their scores was completely blank for him.

    ....

    "You Ashborns can never stop troubling me, can you?"

    A portal opened in the sky. Before anyone could even step out of the portal, Elias felt a heavy pressure descend on his body. He tried to resist the force, but it was so overwhelming that he was forced down to his knees.

    The Shadow Guards also went down on one knee, but their situation felt different. It was clear that they weren''t forced down. They went down on a knee willingly, as if to welcome the one that was arriving.

    The only person left standing was Seraphina who was looking at the portal in the sky. From the portal, a person stepped out, stepping on the air.

    Elias clenched his teeth, as he looked up. The force had kept him pinned in place. It felt less like an accident, and more as if someone was intentionally trying to show him his place.

    Looking at the sky, he saw the person who had stepped out of the portal. It was a woman, who he didn''t recognise either.

    Still, looking at the way that the Shadow Guards behaved in front of her, it was clear that she held a higher position than the Professors.

    The woman came down, as if a fairy descending from heaven. She landed in front of Elias, her beautiful amber eyes observing the boy that she had only seen through the mirrors before.

    She didn''t even spare a second glance at Lilian''s body, as if she already realized what had happened. Instead, she looked more focused on the Sniper Rifle in Elias''s hands.

    "That looks very interesting," she said, her voice seemingly carrying a strange charm. She waved her hand, trying to make the gun fly straight to her hands with her aura.

    "Hmm?" She revealed quite a surprise as the gun simply refused to move, as if her aura couldn''t even connect with it, unlike with Elias.

    "How fascinating." She reached out her hand, grabbing the Sniper Rifle. "What an interesting weapon."

    She tried to take the weapon from Elias'' hands, but Elias resisted, not releasing the gun even as his body was being suppressed.

    "It is mine!" Elias exclaimed, but the woman didn''t seem to care. She forcefully snatched the Sniper Rifle from his hands, almost breaking his wrist in the process.

    "Do I look like a thief?" she asked Elias, while observing the weapon.

    She couldn''t see through it at all. It felt like a very strange weapon, one that was at least a high-level treasure. What surprised her even more was that she couldn''t control it.

    She was curious how Elias had even gotten his hands on it. Did his father give it to him? No, that was unlikely. The way his father behaved, there was no way he would give the youngest something like this.

    "I am just taking it so you don''t hurt anyone else," she said, not even caring about the validity of the excuse. "I don''t want you to go around hurting other Professors."

    She was really curious about this weapon, especially the way it was made. She could feel a strange sense of familiarity with it, or at least with some material used to make it. It reminded her of the lightning that had killed her pet beast.

    "It was part of the test! She told us that we had to kill her if we wanted the highest rank," Elias exclaimed, trying to stand.

    He used every bit of strength he had, rising a few inches from the ground, but just as he was about to stand up, the woman simply waved her hand, making the pressure even stronger.

    Elias came crashing down again, his knees hitting hard on the stone beneath him.

    "I know about the test. I won''t take your top rank from you. But you still can''t be allowed to have a weapon like this. It''s too dangerous. If you want it back, tell me where you got it from, and I might consider returning it," Freya stated, her voice still as carefree as ever.

    "Dean, but taking someone''s personal property is..." the Shadow Guard that had helped Elias tried to speak. However, he quickly closed his mouth when he saw the woman glare at him.

    "I will send another Professor to take over your class and reward you according to your rank." Freya turned around, opening another portal as if she was already about to leave. However, she didn''t forget Lilian''s body.

    Lilian''s body started floating in the air, controlled by Freya''s abilities. As she walked towards the portal, the body floated behind and followed.

    "Is the Dean trying to bully my little brother?" Freya was about to step inside the portal to leave when she heard a man''s voice that made her stop.

 Chapter 47 - 47: The Necromancer

    "Aren''t you a little too old to be bullying a child?" Elias heard the voice, which, surprisingly, came from behind him. He hadn''t even felt the person''s presence, even though he was speaking from right behind him.

    The only thing he could see was that the remnant snow in the surroundings had started turning dark, losing any semblance of life it contained.

    He felt a tap on his shoulder, and to his surprise, the pressure that had been pushing down on his body disappeared entirely.

    "You are...?" Elias stood up and looked behind him. He saw a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. However, he couldn''t be certain about the man''s true age.

    The man didn''t look strong. He had dark circles around his eyes, as if he hadn''t slept for months. He looked somewhat gloomy and bored.

    He wasn''t even dressed as lavishly as the rest, or had any family insignia on his clothes. He was simply wearing a loose t-shirt and jeans.

    He stretched his arms and yawned. "Can you return that little toy to my brother? And while you''re at it, can you also give that body to me? For research, of course."

    "How long have you been here?" Freya asked, frowning at the sight of the troublesome person. This man was the reason she had come here in such a hurry to take Lilian''s body, after all.

    "Who knows? I''m too sleepy to remember things properly..." The man rubbed his eyes, trying to keep them open. He looked as if he could fall asleep at any moment.

    "I can''t give you Lilian''s body," Freya stood firm in her decision. There was no way she was going to hand over Lilian''s body to this person.

    Lilian thought that the man was at least going to argue, or try to throw a tantrum, but he didn''t seem to care in the least. "I''m too lazy to argue. Just return my brother''s toy in that case."

    Even if she wanted to investigate the weapon, she knew that it was a better deal. It was something that didn''t belong to her in the first place.

    It had been fine when she took the weapon from a child who wasn''t favored by the family, as he couldn''t even complain to anyone. But with this man''s arrival, things were different.

    If it spread that she stole things from children, she could only imagine how embarrassing it would be. It wasn''t as if the man cared about her reputation, unlike others who were here.

    "Fine." Before the man could change his mind, she tossed the sniper rifle back to Elias, before rushing inside the portal with Lilian''s body.

    Elias caught the Rifle, looking in disbelief. Was it really the Dean of the Academy? Why did she look like she was running away from a plague? S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The others also didn''t stay behind. Seraphina and the Shadow Guards also left, leaving only the two of them behind.

    Elias was still curious about the man''s real identity. He had heard the man call him little brother. Did it mean he was also from the Ashborn Family?

    It couldn''t be the Eldest Brother as he had been missing for a long time. Other than him, the only brothers that he hadn''t seen were the Second and Third Brother.

    He didn''t think that there would be someone in this family who would help him, let alone one of his brothers.

    "Did you make it?" the man asked Elias, his eyes barely open at this point.

    Elias nodded. There was no point in hiding it. He was going to make even more impressive things in the future, after all. He couldn''t keep hiding these things.

    "Interesting..." The man ruffled Elias''s hair before walking past him. He didn''t say anything else, simply taking a few steps forward.

    He lazily tapped his foot on the ground, and two skeletal hands came crawling out of the snow, followed by the rest of their bodies. But what stunned Elias most was that they were holding something.

    Each skeleton seemed to be pulling a hand out of the snow. When they pulled the source of those hands out, Elias almost froze in place. It was Lilian''s body! She was right here. Then what did Freya take?

    "Shhh..." the man gestured to Elias before walking away. The skeletons carried Lilian''s body and followed the man inside the portal, disappearing.

    "It seems like you don''t recognize me. I won''t blame you. You were only a few months old when I last saw you." Just before entering the portal, the man left behind a few sentences. "My name is Elten... Elten Ashborn. I''m your second brother, and also a Professor at the Academy."

    After Elten left, the world returned to complete silence. Only Elias was left behind, looking at the portal as it slowly closed.

    "Second Brother..." he mumbled, remembering the stories of the Second Son of Ashborn.

    Even if he wasn''t as famous as Aliath, he had also made a name for himself. He wasn''t considered any less crazy than the other Ashborns, even if he didn''t seem that way.

    He was the person said to have killed a Professor of the Creator Class. Not only that, he had even tried to turn that person into an undead, only to be stopped by other Professors.

    In the Academy, he was known as the Lazy Necromancer. At least that was what people called him behind his back, as no one dared to say that to his face, even if they had all the courage in the world.

    "Confirm Extraction." Before the other Professor could arrive, Elias started extracting the Essence of Lightning and the Dust of Creation from the sniper rifle.

    The gun returned to its normal form, and he kept the two vials back in his pocket. Even if someone were to snatch the rifle, it didn''t matter.

    Even as he finished extraction, he didn''t stop thinking about Elten. "To think that he became a professor at the Academy... But when did he switch the bodies?"

    He felt as if something was out of place.

 Chapter 48 - 48: Cat and Mouse

    ....

    Elten returned to the Academy, to a space assigned to him. The space was completely dark, with not even a flicker of light visible.

    "How was he?" A voice came from the darkness the moment Elten entered.

    "He was better than I expected," Elten lazily answered. "I also received an unexpected gift from him, it seems."

    The moment he finished speaking, the Skeletons arrived, carrying Lilian''s body. For a moment, there was only silence. A shocked gasp could be clearly heard in the silence.

    "Is that...?" The voice was unable to hide its surprise. "Did you kill another professor?"

    "It wasn''t me this time," Elten yawned. "I already promised Father that I wouldn''t kill another professor unless they tried to hurt me. They don''t give me that opportunity, even if I try to provoke them."

    He opened a drawer, finding its precise location despite the darkness, as if he could see everything there.

    "Are we going somewhere?" the voice asked, watching Elten bring out the badge of the Ashborn Family that belonged to him.

    For the most part, it was a useless badge that only signified Elten''s identity as a pureblood Ashborn. However, there was something special about it.

    It had a hidden formation that allowed Elten to gain access to the Ashborn Family''s battleship. He rarely used it, so it was simply collecting dust there.

    "We need to leave for a week, before the Dean realizes that she has the wrong corpse and seals the space to prevent me from leaving. That transformation spell won''t last long," Elten said, swiftly opening a formation to their battleship.

    "It should take a week to bring Lilian back as an Undead. After that, I can always return. The Dean can''t do much after that point. Oh right, while you''re at it, write a few leave applications for me and get someone to deliver one to the Dean''s office."

    "You... And here I was wondering how that woman allowed you to take a Professor''s body after she went so far to stop you last time..." There was a deep sigh, followed by the sound of a pen moving over paper.

    Once the week-long leave application was written, he rolled the letter into a scroll and placed it in the mouth of a zombie bird.

    The bird flew out of the place, finding its way out of this space. It went straight to the Dean''s office, instead of her official residence.

    Meanwhile, Elten also finished his preparations and opened a portal to the docks where the Ashborn Family''s battleship was docked.

    He used the badge to open the gates of the ship and entered, accompanied by the Skeletons that were carrying Lilian''s body. The ship started rising, and soon it left the Dimensional Realm, its destination unknown.

    From the moment Elten left Elias, to the moment he left the Dimensional Realm, it didn''t even take half an hour.

    A few more hours passed from that moment onwards. The Dean''s face grew blank as she stared at Lilian''s corpse that she had brought.

    The transformation was being undone as the time limit had passed, and the body was returning to its real form. It wasn''t Lilian''s body! It was just a random corpse that had almost been rotting.

    "Elten!!!" She roared, watching Lilian''s face change.

    She reacted quickly, realizing what had just happened. She was fooled, and there was only one person who could have done this! She was wondering when Elten reached Frost World, but it was clear that he had been there before she even went there!

    She quickly rose in the sky and sealed the space of the Dimensional Realm, before going to find Elten. However, the moment she reached there, she came to realize that she was too late.

    Elten had already left the Dimensional Realm. A leave application was sent to Freya''s office, but another was left on the stone table in his room.

    "Respected Dean, I seem to be a little homesick. It seems I don''t have any classes to teach for the next week, so I thought I would go and stay with my family for a week. I should be back in a week."

    Freya clenched her fist, crushing the leave application, if it could even be called that. She went to check the docks and saw that the Ashborn Family''s battleship was missing.

    "You evil Ashborns!"

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    Elten had already gone far from Freya''s reach. While the ship traveled through space, its next destination was already fed to the automated systems.

    He started preparing for the completion of the undead ceremony.

    "Do you think Freya will take her anger out on the little guy?" the voice came again, questioning Elten.

    "I don''t think she has the time for that. Don''t you know what''s coming for her? It would be wise for her to care about her own matters at the moment. It''s not as if going after the little one will change anything for her."

    "That does make sense." The voice seemed to be in agreement. "By the way, did you give him that thing?"

    Elten was busy with his preparations when he froze in place at the question.

    "You forgot, didn''t you?" the voice asked. "That''s why I told you to get some rest. Your mind simply stops working when needed."

    "I was distracted by Lilian''s corpse. Freya also arrived so suddenly. You can''t blame me for forgetting," Elten answered, realizing that he had made a little mistake.

    "Isn''t that the only thing Aliath asked you to do not long before he went missing?"

    Elten frowned. For a moment, it appeared as if the sleepiness in his eyes had disappeared and he gained seriousness again.

    "I will give it to him after I return. It''s only a week. It''s not as if the world will fall apart if he doesn''t have it for a week. That thing doesn''t seem to have any particular use after all."

    He brought out a knife, distracting himself from his mistake. He shifted his entire focus to carving his seal onto Lilian''s skin, which was one of the most crucial steps in the undead ceremony.

    The voice didn''t ask any more questions. Only the sound of footsteps could be heard, as if the other person was walking away. "I hope so."

 Chapter 49 - 49: The New Professor

    Elias sat in the snow, unaware of the battle of wits that had just taken place between Elten and Freya. He was thinking about Elten, trying to determine what kind of person he truly was.

    From their initial interaction, Elten had seemed kind to him. But was that a facade? Or was that the real him? That was the question in his mind.

    When exactly had he switched their bodies? It had certainly happened after he killed Lilian, but before Freya''s arrival. That meant Elten was already here while he was being suppressed.

    Even though it looked like Elten had arrived to save him from Freya, it was clearly not his primary reason. He had come here for Lilian, probably after hearing about her death.

    "I need to learn more about the descendants of the Ashborn Family." Even if Elten truly had good intentions towards him, he couldn''t completely trust him. He had to know more about them and take precautions to protect himself.

    He was lost in thoughts when he felt his surroundings becoming brighter. Something that felt like the sunlight, fell on his hand. He slowly raised his head, looking at the sky that had started to brighten.

    The clouds were disappearing, and the sun was becoming visible. He could even feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lay on his back, falling onto the snow, letting the sunlight embrace him in its warmth.

    With Lilian''s death, the world was being freed from the effects of the Frost Apocalypse.

    With no external force to manipulate the atmosphere, it was naturally healing. The snowfall had already stopped, and snowstorms were becoming a rare sight all over the world.

    Elias didn''t know what to feel about that. Had he saved the world? Did it even matter, as it wasn''t his world?

    "I wonder what they must be feeling," he mumbled, thinking about the citizens of this world that were finally free from this nightmare. "They probably can''t believe it. They must be thinking that it''s a dream."

    He couldn''t predict their thoughts. He simply guessed their thoughts, based on what he might have thought if his world was saved as well.

    Just like he thought, the citizens of this world, at least those who had survived, stood before the window, looking at the sky outside. Some of them even pinched themselves hard, to wake themselves if this was a dream.

    Many of them stepped out of the houses, basking in the sunlight. Was it truly the end of this frozen apocalypse?

    Even though they had tried to convince themselves that this apocalypse was only temporary and everything was going to return to normal, but even they didn''t believe it.

    Now that they could see the sun, whose existence had almost been forgotten, they couldn''t take their eyes off. Even if tears trickled down their eyes, they stared at the sun.

    "It''s really the sun..." Standing near the window, Leo was also looking at the sun, his heartbeat rising uncontrollably.

    Just at the last moment, it was feeling like the world was going to end, with earthquakes being rampant. And now, the world had become peaceful.

    He turned around, and hugged the woman tightly, "We are going to live! We are going to survive! The nightmare is over!"

    "It''s over..." The woman also hugged him tightly, unable to stop her tears. They went through so much in these last few months, and finally they seemed to be free from this hell.

    She knew that it wasn''t going to be easy in the coming weeks as the snow wasn''t going to melt anytime soon, but it was still the beginning of their new life.

    "Do you think he knew this was going to happen?" Leo suddenly asked, thinking about Elias.

    He had always wondered why Elias asked him to live even if this world had become hell. Was it because he knew that the world was going to recover? Or was he responsible for this recovery instead? He had a feeling that he was never going to receive the answers.

    The other rankers also looked at the sun recovering, which made them more confused. They were told that this world was going to die, even if their test ended earlier. So why was it recovering?

    They waited to be brought back to the cliff by the Professor, but even after a few hours passed, they weren''t teleported back. Many of them even started walking towards the cliff, where they had seen the mark of the Professor before the test ended.

    ....

    After half a day had passed, someone stepped out of a portal that opened before Elias.

    "I''m late!" the man exclaimed, breathing heavily as if he had been running for a long time. "I was lost. I accidentally ended up in another world and came across those from the nightmare tribe. Those bastards wasted so much of my time!"

    He soon noticed Elias as the only person there. "Ah, sorry for my language. Where are the others?"

    "They are not back yet," Elias answered while standing up. He had thought that the others would be teleported back on their own the moment the test was over, but it didn''t seem to be the case.

    "Ah, my bad. I''m a fool. Of course, they won''t be here since the test ended with Lilian''s death." The man facepalmed, remembering the fact that this test ended with Lilian''s death. If the Professor itself died before the test ended, of course they didn''t bring back the other from the class.

    The man seemed to have a very lively personality, which didn''t match what Destroyer Class Professors were known for. However, there was something really odd about him.

    The moment he talked about Lilian''s death, he didn''t seem too fazed. It was as if it were a completely normal thing to him that Lilian had died at the hands of a twelve-year-old child.

    Even more surprising was the fact that he was so frank before the person who had just killed Lilian. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The man activated a formation that activated the hidden formation in the watches. Those who were alive were teleported back.

 Chapter 50 - 50: Sentencing the World to Death

    All the rankers who had survived were brought back. They didn''t even have time to be relieved about their return before they saw the condition of their surroundings.

    The cliff had been flattened, and there were signs that a battle had taken place there. There were also some traces of blood on the snow that had just started to melt.

    When they saw this sight, and thought about the person who had suddenly climbed to the top rank, they could already guess a few things.

    Their thoughts were further verified when they saw another Professor there, with Lilian nowhere to be seen.

    "Where is Professor Lilian?" Rey asked the man. Even if all the evidence pointed toward the same thing, he still didn''t want to believe it. How could Elias kill a Professor? Even he wasn''t capable of doing that!

    "I have good news for you, and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" the Professor asked Rey, who was really hoping that he was simply overthinking. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Did Lilian have something else to do, which made her leave early? At least that''s what he wanted the situation to be like.

    "Bad news," he told the Professor. If that good news was what he was thinking about, then there was no significance of any good news for him.

    "The bad news is that your Professor Lilian, is dead. Which means all the effort that you went through to get the top rank, is useless now." the man said, as if he could already see that Rey was the second ranked in this test.

    Hearing those words, Rey felt like someone had pulled the ground from beneath his feets. He was thinking that this was a bug that Elias took the top rank, but it became clear that it wasn''t a bug. Lilian was really dead.

    He looked at Elias, his pupils trembling. He thought he was going to kill Elias and wash the embarrassment that he suffered, but he seemed to have become even stronger, and more dangerous.

    If Elias could kill a Professor, then couldn''t he also kill him? He had already established an enmity with Elias, and there was also the enmity between their families.

    He could feel a red target being painted behind his back. He never thought he was going to feel the same fear again, but here he was.

    He wasn''t alone who was feeling this way. Even the Descendants of other major families were feeling threatened.

    "What''s the good news?" Rey asked, holding his hands behind his back to prevent anyone from seeing his trembling hands.

    "The good news is that I''m your new Professor!" The man spread out his arms, like he was revealing some grand news. "Aren''t you excited?"

    Almost everyone looked at him blankly, not understanding why they would be excited over getting a new Professor when they didn''t even get to know their old one. They were still trying to come to terms with the revaluation about Elias.

    "Aww, you''re so excited that you can''t even say anything. Don''t worry. We will get a lot of time in the future," he said, as if he didn''t have any awareness about the true thoughts of the children.

    "After all, I''m not going to die anytime soon," he further added, subtly glancing at Elias. His face carried an innocent smile, but something about his words felt like a warning.

    "If Professor Lilian can be killed, what makes you certain that you can''t be killed?" a girl voiced out her opinions, raising her hand.

    "Huh? Is that supposed to be a question?" The man tilted his head sideways in confusion. "Isn''t it because I''m not as trash as her? She was the weakest of the Professors, after all."

    "Anyways, that''s enough talking. We are already running late. We need to return to the Academy, as this world has already been assigned to someone." He snapped his fingers, opening a returning portal. "I also have to give you the rewards."

    "What do you mean this world has been assigned to someone? Are those from the Creator Class also going to take the same test?" the same girl raised her hands, asking another question.

    "Those twats from the Creator Class?" The man burst into laughter. "It''s not them. They have already been taken to the Beast Realm to pick a soul beast. This world is assigned to your Senior from the Destroyer Class for her practical exams."

    The man didn''t seem like he was going to explain any further, but his words were enough to make Elias flinch. It was the second time he was hearing about the Practicals of the Destroyer Class.

    His sharp reaction didn''t go unnoticed by the man, who was slightly amused. "Don''t tell me you really thought you saved this world? All you did was sentence this world to a different and maybe crueler death."

    "Anyways, that has nothing to do with us. We are returning." He waved his hands, and all the students flew straight to the portal, their bodies not being in their control. Even Elias was the same, as he was pulled inside the portal.

    Right before he entered the portal, he looked at the bright sky. It was true that the world was going to be destroyed, no matter what he did. There were some things that couldn''t be changed.

    The only thing he achieved was to take the top rank. There was no other significance behind his actions, and that reality was just setting in.

    Elten, Aliath, Freya, Lilian.... This world was truly for the strong. Everyone else was simply a pawn, dancing to their tunes, being foolishly led to believe that they could break out of the mould.

    The only way to gain control of one''s fate, was to become an existence that was untouchable, even for someone like Freya.

    The people of the frost world were celebrating getting a new lease on life, unaware that this was not the end, but the beginning of their true nightmare that would have made them beg for return to the time of the Frost Apocalypse.

 Chapter 51 - 51: Responsible Seniors

    Elias was brought back to the Academy, along with the other first-year students of the Destroyer class. After the Professor''s arrival, the portal leading to the World of Frost closed forever.

    "How does it look? This is the building for our Destroyer Class. Majestic, isn''t it?" The Professor placed his hands on his waist and puffed out his chest as he looked at the grand building in front of him.

    Elias looked at the grand structure before him, which looked far from normal. It wasn''t that the building was ugly, not exactly. It was just... strange. Built from some kind of obsidian-like stone that seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it, the structure felt slightly intimidating, as if it were alive.

    Normally, he could see the material composition of most lifeless things, but he couldn''t see anything with this building. He wasn''t certain if it was because the building wasn''t quite dead, or if there was another reason.

    Did he need to evolve further to analyze a grand structure like this? He couldn''t be sure. The building was spread out for hundreds of kilometers. He looked left and right, but he couldn''t even see the end of it on either side.

    There was only one gate, located in the middle of the Academy, but the door was closed. There was a pillar on either side of the gate, and a statue that looked like a gargoyle was sitting on each pillar. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was only for a brief moment, but he felt the eyelids of the gargoyle statues move.

    Even more intimidating, was the giant dragon that was wrapped around the tower on top of the building. The dragon wasn''t a statue either. It was a living, breathing dragon.

    The dragon was holding a giant beast in its claws and biting it. There were other beasts in the sky that kept flying straight towards the dragon, as if they were being controlled by someone to fly straight to their deaths.

    "It looks like something out of a nightmare," a girl with bright pink hair, standing next to Elias, mumbled. "It won''t fall on us, will it?"

    The Professor, seemingly oblivious to their unease, laughed. "This building has stood for centuries. You don''t have to worry about anything. It''s completely safe."

    Boom~

    He had just finished telling them that the building was safe when a loud explosion was heard. The hundred-foot-tall gate of the building flew off, coming straight for the Professor.

    His lips twitched as he raised his hand, catching the metallic gate, which was as heavy as a mountain. Everything was a blur as the students saw a green shadow rushing out of the building, roaring like a mad beast.

    The Professor simply swung the heavy gate like a bat, his movements being faster than even the shadow. A loud noise echoed as the gate hit the creature, sending it flying into the sky.

    Only then were the students able to see the creature. It looked vaguely humanoid but at the same time beastly.

    It was at least fifty feet tall, with green scales on its skin. Its head was disproportionately large, with a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, each one longer than a man''s arm.

    The beast was so heavy that even the fifty-inch-thick gate bent in the middle after hitting the creature.

    The creature roared as it was sent flying into the sky. It felt like it was trying to balance itself to come down and attack the man again, but before it could even move, giant claws grabbed it. A dragon got hold of it and chewed its head off.

    "What were you saying about being safe?" someone asked the Professor, looking at the bent gate in his hand. They hadn''t even entered the building, and they had almost died without even doing anything.

    The Professor scratched the back of his head, tossing the hundred feet tall gate aside. "It is a rare sight. This place is very safe otherwise. Your Seniors are very responsible."

    Boom~

    Almost all the students looked at the Professor blankly, as an even louder explosion was heard. They saw the windows of the second floor shattered, with a large cloud of black flames rushing out.

    A figure flew out amidst the explosion, as if caught in it. The girl, who seemed to be only seventeen years old, fell right between the Professor and the students.

    Even if she suffered through a loud explosion and had some of her skin burnt, she seemed largely unaffected. Even her burnt skin was healing on its own, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    She simply stood up, and patted her clothes. "It looks like the ratio was wrong. I need to adjust it again."

    "Ah, Professor Grey, what are you doing here?" She took a moment to notice the others in her surroundings, reacting all surprised as if they were the ones that had appeared out of thin air.

    Grey''s lips twitched uncontrollably. "Can''t you idiots be responsible for one day?"

    "Professor, have you seen a green Gorgonar nearby?" Another person came running out of the building, seemingly looking for something.

    Grey took a deep breath, realizing that it was almost useless to talk sense into these idiots. There were just too many of them.

    He simply pointed towards the top of the building.

    "Thanks Professor," the young man said, as he looked in the direction that Grey was pointing. "What the..."

    The moment you looked above, he saw the Gorgonar being completely headless in the claws of the dragon which was chewing with great love.

    "Professor, your pet is eating my Gorgonar!" the boy exclaimed, almost in a panicked tone. "I spent a lot on it! You have to compensate me!"

    His words made the students of first year Destroyer Class realize that the dragon belonged to Grey. And the two youngsters seemed to be their seniors.

    Grey''s serious expressions disappeared and a smile returned to his face as he called the young man forth.

    "Come, I will compensate you."

    The young man approached Grey, wondering how the Professor was going to compensate him. Even the most useless treasure of a Professor was more useful than a Gorgonar. Unfortunately, his sweet dreams didn''t last long.

 Chapter 52 - 52: Work of Art; The Lost Child

    "Do you know what reward I''m giving you?" Grey asked the young man who shook his head, almost drooling at the thought of the reward he was going to receive.

    "This fool..." the woman in the back mumbled, as she looked at her batchmate with pity. "He''s in for a world of suffering."

    "How about a free trip to the Nightmare Realm for a week?" Grey asked the young man, grabbing his shoulder.

    "Ha... haha... you''re joking, right?" he asked as a wry smile appeared on his face. What kind of reward was this? It felt more like a punishment.

    "Am I?" Grey smiled in response, but his smile felt slightly colder.

    "Uh, now that I think about it, I have to prepare for my next class." He tried to free his shoulder, but the professor held onto his shoulder firmly.

    "Don''t worry. I will send someone to apply for leave for you. You can have fun without worrying about anything here," Grey opened a portal.

    The moment that portal opened, a frightening aura spread out. Screams could be heard, coming from within the portal.

    "Professor, wai-" The boy tried speaking, but before he could even complete his sentence, he was tossed inside the portal like a toy.

    "You stingy professor!" The young man cried out as he fell inside the portal. The portal closed on its own, and with that, the screams and the terrifying aura also disappeared. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I-is he dead?" One of the first year students asked, feeling a chill run down his spine. Was a senior killed just like that? They thought that Professor Grey was more easy going than Lilian, but he seemed to be even harsher.

    "He isn''t dead. Even if he doesn''t seem like that, he''s quite talented. He''s like a cockroach that can survive anywhere. He will return in a week, perfectly fine," a reply came from the woman, who had come flying because of an explosion.

    "Ah, should I have told him that I beat up a few from the Nightmare Tribe a few hours ago? They must be quite enraged right about now." The girl had just finished speaking when she heard the Professor thinking out loud.

    The girl looked at him blankly. The Nightmare Tribe was dangerous in itself, but if they were beaten, the entire tribe would be infuriated, which made them even more dangerous. Was it really something he should have forgotten to consider?

    "It seems like he''s going to suffer more than I thought," she mumbled. "Well, he probably deserved it."

    She began to rise in the air and flew back towards the building before the Professor noticed her. Just as she was about to slip through the grand entrance, an unseen force seized her, and pulled her backwards.

    She landed with a thud before Grey, her composure momentarily shattered.

    "Did you need something, Professor?" she asked, feigning innocence.

    "Fix the gates before returning," Grey commanded, his voice being just as carefree as ever. "Oh right, the windows as well."

    He didn''t even wait for the girl to answer before gesturing for the new students to follow him, clearly impatient to move on. They had already wasted far too much time.

    "But Professor, the gate wasn''t broken by me!" The girl cried out, but her words fell on deaf ears and the Professor didn''t react. "I know you can hear me!"

    The Professor still didn''t answer her. His fingers simply moved a little, and the girl was sent flying towards the door, as if implying that she needed to get to work.

    The girl''s face puffed up, as she watched the Professor leave. "It''s not as if he is going to watch over me. I can simply sneak out and assign this task to some juniors. If they don''t listen to me, I can always beat them up."

    ....

    "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. This place is perfectly safe," he told the first year students, seemingly erasing the chaotic scene from his memory. "And your seniors are quite responsible... Well, most of them."

    "Come along now, we have much to see!" He brought the children inside the building, and only then could they see just how grand this place actually was.

    Elias walked inside the hallway, observing the surroundings. He could see paintings hanging on the walls. The paintings were also far from normal, as they seemed to be alive.

    There were people depicted in the paintings, and he could see that the eyes of the people depicted in the portraits were moving, as if following him.

    There were also a few paintings which depicted a man drowning, gasping for breath. The man was looking at him as if begging for help. Another painting depicted a person whose eyes and lips were sewn with blood-red thread.

    ...

    Material Composition: Human (40 Percent), Painting of Imprisonment (40 Percent), Laws of the Painter (20 Percent)

    Weight: 50 Kg

    Material Stability: 90 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    ....

    "''They are real people?" Elias frowned, able to see the material composition of all the paintings.

    Normally, he was only able to see material composition of lifeless things, or beings who were merged into something through outside forces. The paintings looked far from lifeless, which left only one possibility.

    Most of the material composition was the same, the main components being the Painting of Imprisonment and Law of the Painter. The only material that was different between these paintings was the subject inside them.

    In most of the paintings, humans were the subjects. However, there were also a few paintings that had beasts, elves, or even some unknown beings that he had never seen before.

    "What are these paintings?" he asked Grey, especially curious about the Painter whose law was used in these paintings as a component.

    "They''re works of art created by the Painter. They are beautiful, aren''t they?" Grey stopped for a moment and looked at the paintings, seemingly appreciating them.

    Elias also looked at another painting, which depicted a child crying next to his mother''s lifeless body.

    "You seem to have good taste in paintings. That one''s called ''The Lost Child.'' It''s one of his best works." Grey appeared next to Elias and looked at the painting he was observing.

 Chapter 53 - 53: Painters Secret

    "Who are the people inside these paintings?" Elias asked. "Are they being punished for something?"

    "I don''t know much about the history of these paintings, but I do know about that one." Grey pointed toward another painting.

    He moved over to the previous painting, which showed a human whose eyes and mouth were stitched with a blood red thread.

    Only the man''s ears were left untouched, as if wanting him to hear everything, including the footsteps of people walking past him. However, he couldn''t see them. He also couldn''t open his lips, to express his pain.

    "It was a painting made just last year. If I remember correctly, his name was Estefan. He was a Fifth Year Student of the Auxiliary Class. He saw Painter do something, that he shouldn''t have seen,"

    Grey told the students Estefan''s story that he thought they might find interesting. He also wanted them to know more about Painter as they were going to interact with him next.

    "The Painter punished him by enslaving him in his paintings. He stitched Estefan''s eyes with which he had seen things. He also stitched that mouth close, as if to make sure that he couldn''t tell anyone what he saw."

    As he reached this point, he appeared to be struggling. His face was slightly red, but it wasn''t from anger or fear. Instead, it looked like he was trying to stop himself from laughing out loud as he remembered that incident.

    Unfortunately, he failed to control, and burst into laughter. "That fool really thought that just because he stopped him, no one was going to know about the things that Estefan had seen. He really underestimated me."

    It took him a long time to control his laughter, as tears almost appeared in his eyes. He still remembered Painter''s face when he told him that he knew.

    "What did he see?" Elias asked Grey, who seemed to know a lot about it.

    "I can tell you. It''s not as if Painter can kill me. But you''re different from me. If you know his secret, are you certain that you won''t end up as his next painting subject?" Grey offered Elias an opportunity to know Painter''s secret, but more than an offer, it was a warning.

    Even if Elias wanted to know more about Estefan''s story and Painter''s secret, he understood that it wasn''t the time. Knowing this secret was like a ticking time bomb.

    "You know what, I have changed my mind. It''s not fun if I''m the only one who knows about it."

    Before Elias could even react, Grey went down on a knee. He whispered something in Elias'' ears, ensuring that only he could hear it.

    Even if the other students couldn''t hear the secret, they had heard that it was a secret that might bring more hostility to Elias.

    If the Painter was really an existence which could even destroy a Fifth Year Student of the Creator Class, then he was definitely a dangerous existence. Many of them felt like they might be able to take advantage of this situation.

    "You..." Elias looked at Grey in disbelief. That man... He never told him any secrets! He just whispered some random words in his ears, while making everyone else believe that he was telling him a secret.

    He didn''t know any secret of the painter, but almost everyone believed that he knew about it. Even if he tried to explain, no one was going to believe him. They were simply going to think that he was trying to protect himself by lying.

    He knew that he had ended up in a trap. But it wasn''t a trap that seemed to originate from hostility. Instead, it was more like a trap that originated from Grey''s amusement.

    "If you can kill Lilian, I''m sure you can also find a way to protect yourself. Please make it fun. You''re an Ashborn after all," Grey said before standing up. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Oh right, I think I forgot to tell you. Your next class is the Beast Selection Ceremony. And the Painter will be in charge of that," he said, making Elias''s frown deepen.

    This was a worse trap than he had thought. He wasn''t even given time to prepare, and he was already going to meet the Painter, who had entrapped so many souls in those paintings, hanging them at the entrance for the world to see.

    "Let''s get going. You shouldn''t be late, or you''ll fall behind the Creator Class." He clapped a few times, catching everyone''s attention, which was already on him in the first place.

    He took the lead, with the children following him. Many of them were looking at Elias with glee, especially Rey, who had been most worried about his safety before.

    Rey didn''t know that Elias had used external weapons. To him, Elias was an existence that was dangerous enough to kill a Professor. If Elias didn''t die soon, then he might come for him next when he was least expecting it.

    If the Painter killed Elias, then it couldn''t be any better for Rey. He wouldn''t even need to get his hands dirty in the process.

    ''What a pity. I wanted to kill him myself, but it looks like I won''t even have an opportunity,'' he thought, not accepting the fact that he was scared. Even now, he tried to convince himself that he wasn''t afraid of Elias.

    The long corridor seemed to stretch for an eternity. For Elias, it felt even longer as he seemed to be thinking about the Painter. The only good thing was that his temporary abilities like storage were still with him.

    The abilities were supposed to last for seven days. As the test ended earlier, he still had a few days left. He didn''t know exactly how long these temporary ability cores were going to last. It might even last longer than seven days, but he prepared as per the worst.

    The Professor soon came to a halt in front of a door.

    "We are here."

 Chapter 54 - 54: A little help

    "Go ahead," Grey said, but he didn''t open the door for them. He simply stepped aside, gesturing for the others to go first.

    Elias was suspicious. He didn''t think the door was as simple as Grey made it out to be. It was especially strange since he couldn''t see the material composition of the door. He stayed back, letting the others test the waters.

    "What''s there to be scared of? It''s just a door." Rey was the first to move. Even if the Professor was dangerous, he believed that he wouldn''t kill him.

    He was a descendant of the Esterin family. It would be different if he did something wrong and was killed during class. But if a Professor messed with him here for no reason, even the Academy would have a hard time dealing with the consequences.

    He placed his hand on the door and pushed. However, the door didn''t budge.

    "Is it locked?" Rey frowned, using even more force to push the door, but it still wouldn''t move.

    "It''s not opening." He looked back at the Professor in confusion. "Is there a special method to open this door?"

    The Professor simply smiled at him. "There''s no special method."

    "Then why isn''t this door opening?" Rey didn''t know what he was doing wrong. Was it because he wasn''t strong enough to push the door open?

    He had many questions and wanted further clarification. But before he could even ask the Professor, he noticed the strange expressions of the others.

    Even Elias was frowning while looking at him. Or, to be more specific, he was looking behind Rey. He saw the wooden door coming to life as a mouth appeared in the center. The mouth extended from the door, slowly approaching Rey.

    "What''s wrong?" Rey asked, wondering why everyone was looking at him so weirdly. He was puzzled and turned back. But the moment he looked back, his expression darkened. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He reacted fast and conjured his flames against this monstrosity that seemed to be made from wood. Unfortunately, before he could even react, darkness appeared around him as he was eaten by that mouth.

    His flames flickered uselessly against the shadows, unable to hurt that thing even if it was made from wood.

    "Aah! He''s eaten alive!" A shrill cry rose as many of the lower ranks in the class were frightened by the sight they had seen.

    They started stepping back in fear as the door didn''t return to normal. Instead, the mouth was still extending towards them, with the beast seemingly hungry even now.

    Elias looked at the beast, if it could even be called that. Was Rey killed just like that? It felt unreal. He was a descendant of the Esterin Family. He wasn''t a random person that could be killed like this.

    Even as Rey was eaten, the Professor did nothing but watch. Something was definitely out of place. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed for Rey to be dead.

    If it was anyone else, he might have believed it. But it was different for the descendants of the Major Families. If it wasn''t the case, then they would''ve tried so hard to save Rey Esterin''s life during the awakening ceremony.

    Elias was trying to put the pieces together as that monstrosity approached him. He was ninety percent sure that it wasn''t dangerous, but there was still that ten percent hesitation.

    "Don''t worry. It''s not dangerous. He''s just messing with you. Just step forward and let it take you to the Land of Fables." Out of nowhere, a voice appeared in his head which stunned him. He looked around him, but he couldn''t find anyone who could have spoken.

    This voice didn''t belong to Professor Grey. It also didn''t belong to any of the children, as it felt like the voice of an adult. He even wondered if he was hearing things. But it felt too real to be his imagination.

    Moreover, the voice seemed to confirm his assumption. Rey was alive, and this thing was not dangerous.

    Instead, it might be the way that this ''door'' was opened. It was just as the Professor had said; there was no special method to open this door.

    Instead of staying in his place, he stepped towards the monstrosity.

    "Hmm?" The Professor appeared to grow somewhat interested as he observed Elias. He thought that they were going to be scared and try to run away until he told them the truth, but it was different from his assumption.

    "Elias Ashborn, huh. Not bad." He nodded in satisfaction.

    When Elias came closer to the door, it ''ate'' him as well. The other descendants of the Major Families were not far behind and did the same.

    Some of them already knew the secret of this door and just wanted to see some fun before entering, but with Elias'' entrance, they knew that the fun was over.

    After the descendants of the major families entered, the rest also started realizing that something was wrong. There was no way that the descendants of the major families were going to kill themselves intentionally.

    "It''s the Guardian of the Forest of Fables. Just do as the others did, and enter," Grey also chimed in, telling those who were still scared.

    Once his official confirmation came, the weaker rankers became even more confident and approached the door, getting eaten as well. As for the ones that were still scared, Grey simply sent them flying into the mouth.

    Grey was the last person. Even if he was a Professor, he had to follow the same method as well. Soon, he also disappeared, leaving the corridor completely empty.

    After Grey left, the sound of footsteps appeared in the corridor. Almost all the subjects in the painting trembled at the sight of the person, as if they had seen a ghost.

    They were trapped in a nightmare inside the paintings, but still they appeared so frightened of the person, as if he was worse than their punishments.

 Chapter 55 - 55: Corruption of a Lost Constellation

    ....

    Elias was swallowed by darkness as the door consumed him. The next moment, he felt heavy winds rushing against his body.

    When the darkness disappeared, he understood the reason for the heavy winds. It wasn''t that the winds were strong. It was simply because he was in the middle of the sky, falling to what felt like a certain death.

    He was hundreds of meters high, with a black forest below. Even the trees here had black leaves, instead of the normal green he was familiar with.

    He didn''t see Rey anywhere, which made him think that Rey had already landed. Rey was someone who could use winds to survive a fall like this.

    He was different. He couldn''t use winds to soften his fall. If he fell from this height, even if his bones were intact, he wasn''t sure he would survive.

    "Come on, think of something..." He started thinking of things that could help him, and if there was anything like that in his inventory.

    Even if his temporary inventory that he stole from Leo, had things like modern fighter jets, they were as useless for him as a piece of junk metal. He didn''t know how to fly them. And even if he did, he couldn''t just get them to fly in the middle of the air without takeoff.

    "Right, it might be useful." He saw an object that didn''t look that hard to use. It was at this point, it was beneficial for him that the World of Frost was similar to his world. There were so many objects that were familiar to him, even if he hadn''t used them before.

    He quickly opened his inventory, and brought out something that looked like a thick nylon bag, and wore it over his shoulders, adjusting it mid air.

    Elias gripped the two handles dangling at his chest. He had never skydived before, but he''d seen enough movies to have a vague idea of what to do. He just hoped this wasn''t one of those faulty ones.

    With a deep breath, he pulled. For a terrifying second, nothing happened. Then, with a jerk that nearly dislocated his shoulders, the parachute opened. He was thrown upwards, as the parachute caught the wind.

    He looked up, and saw the parachute that had helped him stabilize in the air. The parachute seemed to be holding well. It wasn''t the smoothest ride as the wind kept toying with him, but at least he wasn''t falling to his death anymore.

    He glanced down and saw that black forest was still a considerable distance away, but it was approaching at an alarming rate. He could make out individual trees now.

    "Okay, what next?" he mumbled to himself, wondering how to land this thing. He''d seen people control parachutes to land precisely where they wanted, but it seemed easier said than done.

    "Aaahhh!"

    While he was trying to learn the methods to control his descent, a loud scream reached his ears.

    He looked into the distance and saw multiple figures falling from the sky, just as he had been moments before. The Descendants of the Major Families were quite calm, even as they fell, as if they had ways to protect themselves.

    It was the weaker rankers who were scared, plummeting uncontrollably.

    "Is this really supposed to be an academy?" Elias frowned. So far, the place looked less like an academy where they were supposed to learn, and more like a survival battlefield.

    He didn''t care much about the fates of the others. At the end of the day, they were the same kind of people who were destined to enforce the academy''s will in the future.

    Elias focused on himself and tried to steer the parachute. Although it wasn''t easy, he seemed to be getting the hang of it. At least, he was able to change directions to some extent.

    As for landing, he didn''t think much about it. As long as the fall was only a few meters high, it wasn''t dangerous for him.

    The moment he neared the forest, he freed himself from the parachute. He fell freely, while the parachute floated away until it was caught in the trees.

    Elias fell into the forest, but he couldn''t avoid the leaves and branches that brushed past his skin. Some of the leaves even sliced through his skin, leaving scars and causing him to bleed.

    Although not perfectly fine, he managed to land safely on his feet, surviving the fall. He sat down, taking a sigh of relief, lightly touching his cheeks that were blessings.

    The black leaves of the trees felt like sharp blades when they sliced through his skin. He wondered if it was going to leave scars.

    He opened his inventory again, and brought a mirror and first aid box. But the moment he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his gaze narrowed.

    He touched his cheeks, which were bleeding. But the blood wasn''t red. The blood that was coming out seemed to be black. He was certain that his blood used to be red, so why was it suddenly black? Was it because of the leaves?

    He quickly looked at his hands, to see his own material composition.

    ............

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9 Percent), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (1 Percent)

    Material Stability: 5 percent

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low Possibility S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    .............

    "Corruption of a Lost Constellation?" he was certain that there was nothing like this the last time he checked. Even the Material Stability had fallen drastically.

    It was the first time he had seen such low material stability, from the moment he had gained the ability to see these things. He didn''t know what it meant to have such a low material stability. Was it dangerous for him?

    He didn''t know what that corruption was, but it definitely didn''t sound like a good thing. He had to get rid of it.

    He tapped the back of his hand, and said, "Confirm Extraction."

    .........

    Warning. Material Stability is too low. Extraction might result in complete destruction of all materials.

    Probability of Completion Destruction: 99.59 Percent.

    Would you like to confirm extraction?

    .........

 Chapter 56 - 56: Missing Element

    Complete destruction of materials... This was the warning he received when he tried to extract the corruption from his body. The probability of failure was almost one hundred percent, with barely any chance of success.

    As he was one of the materials, the warning meant he might as well be signing his death warrant if he tried to extract it when the stability was so low.

    He didn''t know what this corruption meant, but to him, it was like a poison destroying his body from the inside. He could see the situation was even more drastic than he thought, as he saw the numbers on the screen change.

    ...

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (89%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (2%)

    Material Stability: 4.9%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    ....

    The stability had decreased even more, which made his expressions darken. The percentage of corruption had also increased by one percent, while his own share decreased by one percent in return.

    "Professor!" he called out, realizing that only one person could answer his questions about his situation. If the substance was poisonous, then he needed to find another way to remove it.

    Unfortunately, in a forest this large, it was nearly impossible to find where others might have landed. He could only make a rough guess based on the trajectory of their fall that he had witnessed earlier.

    Just as he had been hurt by the trees and become corrupted, he thought others might have experienced the same thing. But unlike him, they were descendants of major families who hadn''t been almost abandoned by their families.

    If he couldn''t find the Professor, then finding them was the next best option, as they might have a way to survive themselves.

    He started running in the direction where he had seen one of the Descendants fall. For some reason, he couldn''t remember the face or even the presence of that person, but he was certain he was going in the right direction.

    "Why is he running?"

    "Who knows? He seems to be in a hurry."

    "What a strange human. But he seems interesting. To think he managed to find a Constellation so soon."

    "Maybe he is going to celebrate with the others? I saw a few more of them fall from the sky."

    As Elias was running, he was being followed by some creatures that he could neither see nor hear. The small creatures were the size of a butterfly, but they had a humanoid form. Colorful wings came from their backs, which helped them fly.

    The Sylphs kept talking amongst themselves, as they followed Elias who was rushing through the dense forest of black trees.

    "Why would he celebrate it? I heard that humans were scared of death. It doesn''t make sense for him to celebrate with others."

    "Who knows? Most of the humans that come here are unstable. I can never guess what they are thinking."

    "The Constellation should soon take over his body. I wonder which Constellation it will be."

    They kept chasing after Elias, as their curiosity grew with each passing second. Even they didn''t know what kind of constellation was going to appear once the corruption completely took over.

    "Huh?" The Sylphs suddenly stopped, their expressions darkening. Their happiness vanished, as if they had become completely different beings, far removed from their childish selves.

    Elias also came to a stop, finally seeing another person. It was an old man standing in front of a canvas, holding a paintbrush. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The old man had long white hair, left loose and flowing down to his waist. He wore a white robe, devoid of any color, as if it were a blank canvas representing the painter''s life.

    ''He must be the Painter,'' Elias thought, looking at the old man. Even though he hadn''t seen the old man paint yet, he was certain of his assumption, as the Painter was supposed to be here.

    The canvas before the old man was completely empty, and he was staring at it in silence, as if he had lost his inspiration.

    Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and his brush began to move. With only a few strokes on the canvas, he created a beautiful painting depicting a forest.

    The forest in his painting was not dark, like the Forest of Lost Fables. The forest he painted contained only lifeless trees that had no leaves.

    In the painting, a fire engulfed the trees. And in the middle of that fire, the man painted four small, fairy-like creatures.

    Elias looked at the painting. It felt so realistic that it seemed to depict reality. Even the expressions on the faces of the small creatures in the painting felt incredibly real.

    He hadn''t seen the Sylphs before. If he had, he might have recognized them as the ones who had been following him. The Sylphs had disappeared from this world and appeared inside the portrait.

    Within the painting, they were like statues, unable to move until the painting was completed.

    "Something is missing..." The man tapped his chin with the back of his brush, lost in thought. He looked at Elias and asked, "What do you think?"

    Elias was surprised that his presence was already noticed, especially since the old man had seemed like he was lost in his thoughts throughout this time.

    He approached the old man, remembering all the cruel paintings he had seen before, that were the personal hell of the people entrapped in those paintings.

    Looking at the old man who looked like he could fall at any moment from weakness, no one could have guessed that he was that cruel person, who could entrap even life within his paintings.

    Elias wasn''t a painter so he didn''t know what was missing in the painting from a painter''s perspective.

    "It is missing life," he told the old man, not wasting much time in thinking. He wasn''t someone who could go into the complexities of the paintings, but he did feel that the painting was missing a certain aspect of life.

    "Oh?" The old man frowned, paying even more attention to Elias. "Please elaborate. Why do you think it''s missing life?"

 Chapter 57 - 57: Gambling with the Painter

    "Why do you think it is missing life?"

    The Painter was truly intrigued by that answer. He had asked this question of many people, on many different occasions. But this was the first time he had received such a response.

    After all, life was the one thing his paintings weren''t missing. In every painting, he had captured at least one living being. How could his paintings be missing life?

    Elias gazed at the Sylphs in the painting. Even though he didn''t know where the painter had found them, all of his paintings were alive. This was something he had already noticed in all the paintings he had encountered.

    Even in the painting called "Lost Hope," many might have thought the subject was the mother that was punished with death, while her son sat beside her. But the actual subject was the baby instead.

    "Do you know what life is?" he asked the Painter out of nowhere. His question made the Painter frown.

    "Life is much more than mere existence." Before the painter could say anything, Elias continued, "Just because you are breathing, does it mean you have life?"

    "What is life, then?" the Painter asked after a long silence. He had never considered this question before. Wasn''t life simply what kept people alive? Was it really as complicated as this boy made it out to be?

    The more he thought about Elias''s question, the more he felt ignorant about life''s true meaning. Was this what was lacking in his understanding? But what was life? What was he lacking?

    "Life is..." Elias began, and the Painter listened intently. But after uttering only two words, he stopped.

    "Why did you stop? Tell me what life is!" The old man could barely conceal his impatience. He yearned to know the secret of life, regardless of its source.

    "Why should I tell you?" Elias asked lazily, his words causing the Painter to stare at him in disbelief.

    Was this boy serious? So many people at the Academy wanted to gain his favor, yet this boy acted as if he didn''t care at all.

    "Boy, do you not know who I am?" He glared at Elias, barely able to contain his astonishment.

    "You are the famous Painter of the Dimensional Academy that can entrap anyone in his paintings. I think I know some things about you," Elias answered without even the slightest of hesitation.

    At the moment, he had an advantage. He could see that the Painter had truly fallen for his trap. His curiosity got the best of him.

    Even if he was one of the most dangerous existences in the academy, he could be controlled with the right cards at hand. Painter had given him this opportunity by asking him about the things that his paintings were missing, and Elias didn''t want to lose this opportunity.

    "If you know about me, then shouldn''t you answer me? Do you want to be trapped in my paintings forever, suffering for an eternity until you''re willing to answer?" The Painter asked, as he moved his brush, almost touching the canvas.

    Just as little movement, and he could trap Elias forever, making him regret ever doing something like this.

    Elias also knew that it was the most important part of this entire scheme and he couldn''t show even the slightest of fear before the Painter. If he stepped back here, then he was going to lose all his advantage.

    It was a godly opportunity for him, and he had to take advantage of it before the others found Painter, and told him about the things about him knowing his secret.

    "You can entrap me in your painting for sure. And I won''t resist. After all, my family will get me out soon enough," Elias answered in a carefree manner as he stepped forward. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He held the Painter''s wrist, and moved his hand forward, to make his brush touch the canvas.

    The Painter looked at him in silence, wondering why this boy was so confident that his family could save him? Just which family was he from? There were only a few families that were capable of making him hesitate, after all.

    "Which family are you from, to have such arrogance?" he asked Elias.

    Elias brought out an Insignia from his pocket, showing it to the Painter, who subconsciously moved his brush back from the canvas.

    There were very few families that could make him hesitate, and this insignia that had a symbol of a snake devouring its own tail, was one of the most well known families amongst them.

    "Ashborns..." he mumbled, finally realizing why this boy had such confidence. The Ashborn Family was like the nobility of the Dimensional Academy after all.

    Not only was his father the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family, which was one of the founding families, but he also had a brother who worked as a Professor at the Academy.

    Elias had already realized that most people at the Academy didn''t know that his family didn''t care about him, which allowed him to use their names without worries of getting caught.

    "Just because you are from the Ashborn Family, do you think I can''t kill you? If you don''t answer me, then I can just kill you right here. Do you not care about your life?" the old man asked, his tone growing colder.

    "Not as much as you might care about yours," Elias answered. He was once again gambling, believing that the man wasn''t going to kill him, as he was never going to get the answer that he was looking for.

    He also had to worry about the wrath of the Ashborn Family. He didn''t have a good enough reason to take such a risk, which was exactly why Elias did it before the man received the reason, like his secret being exposed.

    For quite some time, the Painter looked at Elias who didn''t show even the slightest of fear. It was as if he was truly prepared for death.

    "It will be a cold day in hell when an Ashborn gives up!" He let out a tired sigh, before asking him, "What do you want from me in exchange for that answer?"

 Chapter 58 - 58: Soul Beast

    "I want you to fulfill two of my requests," Elias said, wasting no time.

    "It will depend on the kind of requests you have, but go ahead," the Painter replied. He had already accepted that he would have to offer this child something in return. After all, it was much easier than incurring the Ashborn Family''s wrath. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Still, he didn''t want to promise anything without knowing what it was, or if he was even capable of fulfilling the requests.

    "My first request is that, no matter what happens in the future, you will not hurt me, or use anyone else to hurt me," Elias stated his first request, being as clear as possible to avoid any loopholes. "Also, trapping me in a painting counts as hurting me."

    The Painter had been wondering what kind of requests Elias would make. Did he want some kind of treasure? Or preferential treatment? He was quite surprised by the first request.

    "Just that?" The request seemed too simple. In any case, he wasn''t going to try to hurt Elias after learning about his family, especially since he had no reason to.

    He didn''t realize that a reason was waiting for him, but Elias wasn''t giving him the chance to find out.

    "Fine. I promise you. Unless you, or your family, try to hurt me, no matter what happens in the future, I won''t hurt you in any way, shape, or form," he agreed, looking forward to hearing the second request that was tugging at his curiosity.

    "What is your second request?" he asked. If it was as simple as the first, he really didn''t mind this deal.

    "I want you to remove this poison from me," Elias said, pointing to the scars on his body, which were turning darker, seemingly due to poison.

    "The corruption of fables?" The Painter frowned, even more surprised. "It''s not something I can remove, as it''s part of the process. Your other classmates will have it too. Think of it as a ticket that grants you entry to the true Land of Fables."

    "Weren''t you informed about this? I thought the Ashborns would tell you, since your brothers had quite good luck in the Land of Fables when they came here."

    He was puzzled by Elias''s ignorance, despite being a member of the Ashborn Family. However, he didn''t dwell on it. The Ashborn Family was unorthodox, so it was beyond his understanding.

    "Part of the process?" Elias touched the scar on his face. Even though the bleeding had stopped, he could see that the corruption was still spreading.

    ............

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (88%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (3%)

    Material Stability: 4.8%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    .............

    The stability had decreased further, making him wonder how long it would be until it reached zero.

    "Just like the Creator Class begins by obtaining a Beast from the Land of Legends, the Destroyer Class begins by obtaining a Soul Beast from the Land of Fables. That''s why you were brought here in the first place."

    "Living beings can''t enter the true Land of Fables, which exists outside this forest. That''s why we use the corruption of fables. As long as you obtain a Soul Beast and successfully establish a contract, the Soul Beast devours the corruption from your body."

    The Painter explained, realizing that Elias knew absolutely nothing about this. Even the descendants of the ordinary families knew something about the Soul Beasts of the Destroyer Class, but Elias seemed completely uninformed.

    "And what if I can''t establish a contract with a Soul Beast in time?" Elias asked, feeling as if he were infected with a ticking time bomb.

    "Then the Fable will take over your body, erasing your true self. In that case, we generally kill the infected person, since there''s no possibility of reversing the corruption at that stage."

    It was just like Elias had thought when he saw his percentage decreasing in his material composition while the corruption''s percentage was increasing. Even though it was barely noticeable, this living poison was trying to take over him.

    "I can''t fulfil your second request, but I can help you in another way." The Painter pulled out a scroll from his pocket, waving it before Elias. "If you consider the second request fulfilled, I will give this to you."

    Elias didn''t even know what was in that map. He waited for the old man to explain more, but when the man simply kept waving the scroll, he was forced to ask, "What''s in that scroll?"

    "It''s the map of the Land of Fables that I have personally created. It''s more detailed than any map that the other major families might possess. It also has a Protection cast by me, which can save your life only one time, no matter what kind of attack you are faced with."

    The map was a treasure that was personally created by the Painter. It was something that many people had begged him for, so their descendants could use it when they entered the Land of Fables, but he never gave it to anyone.

    Elias also knew that the map was a very useful thing, when he knew basically nothing about this place. His lack of knowledge was his biggest disadvantage at a place, but if he had this map, he might remove that disadvantage to some extent.

    "I will take it," Elias took the scroll from the man, which marked his second request as completed as well.

    "That''s perfect!" The old man seemed pleased with Elias''s decision. "Now tell me, what is the meaning of life? What is my painting missing?"

    Elias had only told him a vague thing, to get help from him. Now that he had received the help, he had to give some answers while trying to make sense of them. As for how successful that answer was, he could only try and then hope for the best.

    "Life is growth, be it physical, mental or psychological. Your paintings are a frozen snapshot of time. It might be artistic in your eyes, but if your paintings are alive, shouldn''t there be growth in them?" he asked the Painter, trying to be as vague as possible.

    Even if his answer was wrong, he couldn''t be caught. He just had to give a vague answer, and leave the other person to make sense of it in their own way. It was the advantage of philosophy, after all.

    "There you are." The Painter was lost in thoughts, when footsteps resounded in surroundings.

 Chapter 59 - 59: The Soul Contract

    Grey arrived, the other children following behind him. Surprisingly, not a single one of them had died, even though many looked frightened when they were falling from the sky.

    Except for the Professor, all of them had scars that had darkened, as if they were also suffering from corruption. The only difference was that their scars were much lighter than Elias''s.

    "Huh! Ah, yeah." The Painter was trying to comprehend the meaning behind Elias''s words when Grey brought him out of his daze. He stopped thinking about it for now, leaving it for later when he had more peace to meditate and think about it more.

    "Is that all of them?" he asked Grey, observing the children behind him. "Did you tell them about the corruption?"

    "Isn''t that your responsibility?" Grey shrugged, and stepped back, standing with his back resting against a tree as if he was nothing more than a spectator.

    "Tsk." The Painter didn''t like that he was disturbed at such an important time, but he also couldn''t do much about it.

    He started telling the children about the corruption that they were suffering, and the fate that they were going to experience if they didn''t succeed in establishing a contract with a soul beast in time.

    Everything that he told them was the same thing that he had told Elias. It made Elias understand why the Painter looked so surprised when he asked this as his second request.

    Even if he hadn''t used his second request, he was still going to be informed about these things. Still, he didn''t find himself to be at a loss as he had the improved map of the Land of Fables in his hands.

    He noticed Grey occasionally looking at the scroll in his hand. Even though Grey didn''t show it openly, he was surprised to think that someone like the Painter had given this map to Elias.

    He was curious about the kind of interaction that Elias might have had with the Painter before he arrived. Elias appeared quite cunning in his eyes.

    "Now, most of you may know the method of establishing a soul contract, but I''m sure there are a few who don''t," the Painter said, glancing momentarily at Elias in the distance.

    "There are two methods of establishing a contract with a soul beast. You can either beat them into submission, which is difficult since soul beasts are generally more willing to die than surrender. This is especially true for the ones with the higher grade."

    "The other method is to convince them to establish a soul contract with you in a peaceful manner. You can try to earn their trust, or even bribe them. The method you use depends entirely on you. As for how well you perform, it will depend on the method you select, and your luck."

    "When you have convinced them, you need to drop some of your blood on these gems, and have the beast eat them willingly. The Soul Contract will be completed." He opened a bag, and started tossing out a blood stone to each child.

    The last blood stone went to Elias, who caught it and kept it in his pocket.

    "If you are ready, then scram. Go north, and when you leave this forest, you will be in the Land of Fables. You can move together, take your separate routes or do whatever."

    The Painter was too lazy to explain any more. After finishing the basic explanation, he picked up his painting brush, and stood before his painting.

    Rey wanted an opportunity to tell the Painter about Elias knowing some kind of secret, but the Painter didn''t even give him an opportunity to say it. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    From the start to the end, only the painter was speaking and when he stopped speaking, he closed his eyes, appearing impatient.

    Still, he didn''t give up on this opportunity. He looked back at Professor Grey, and asked, "Professor, is he the Painter whose secret you told to Elias?"

    He made sure that he was loud enough for everyone to hear it.

    Even if Painter was focused, he still heard it. His eyes opened wide, as he turned to Rey abruptly. He grabbed him by his collar, and raised him in the air before asking, "Which secret?"

    "I don''t know which secret. Professor Grey only told it to him," he said as he pointed at Elias, appearing to be completely innocent as if he had no ulterior motives. "All we know is that it was some secret that made you trap a Senior in a painting."

    "You!" The Painter''s old face went pale as he glared at Professor Grey. He tossed the boy aside and rushed to Grey, asking him, "Is it true?"

    Grey didn''t answer him. He simply smiled in response. His silence felt more like a confirmation than a rejection.

    Elias felt a stare of death that came from the Painter. He raised his brush, as the canvas flew straight to him.

    "Unless you, or your family, try to hurt me, no matter what happens in the future, I won''t hurt you in any way, shape, or form," Elias said, reminding the Painter whose brush was about to move on the canvas, to trap him forever.

    The moment Painter heard these words, his brush stopped. He was in disbelief, finally understanding why Elias asked him for a promise like this. He had been fooled! The promise was a trap that was set for him.

    He was so frustrated, that the brush between his fingers broke into two pieces, falling on the ground.

    ''It seems like I was right. That boy is indeed very cunning. He already prepared for what was coming. It''s unlike any Ashborn I''ve ever seen before, who mainly deals with problems using raw strength.''

    Professor Grey silently observed Elias, who seemed unafraid when in this situation. Although it was somewhat boring for him that he couldn''t see Elias fight another professor, it was still a valuable revelation for him.

    If one had strength, then they could deal with every problem that was thrown at them. But if one had brains to accompany that strength, then that person was truly more dangerous.

    It was the second time he was truly impressed by an Ashborn descendant.

 Chapter 60 - 60: Greys Manipulation

    "So it was a trap..." Painter''s expressions darkened, as realization started setting in.

    "It was a deal. We both got what we wanted," Elias replied, knowing that the promise was the only thing holding that man back from killing him.

    As for how long that promise was going to be effective, he couldn''t be absolutely certain. That''s why he didn''t completely rely on that promise. Getting that promise was simply the first step of his plan.

    "Also, he didn''t tell me anything. He just made everyone believe that he told me something, so he could have some entertainment."

    If he told the truth to the Painter when he was getting killed, there was no way the painter was going to believe him. But now that his life was more or less secured, he didn''t have much of a reason to lie. It was at this point that his words held more value than before.

    As long as he could make the painter believe him even a little, it was going to be a success and the chances of that promise being broken were going to go down drastically.

    "He is telling the truth. I was just messing with him," Grey suddenly chimed in, sending Elias''s thoughts in disarray.

    Elias looked at the Professor with a puzzled look on his face. Was he giving up already? Whatever the case, it was helpful for him.

    "I didn''t tell him anything," he repeated. "I just wanted to see how he would deal with it."

    "As for you," He shifted his focus back to Elias, his voice growing more earnest. "You might think that I was trying to get you killed, but if you had failed, I would have still saved you. You wouldn''t die here, at least."

    Elias''s lips twitched. What did he mean he wouldn''t have died here? What was the difference if he was imprisoned in a painting? For Grey, it might be entertaining, but for him, it was a matter of life and death.

    Grey didn''t stop there, as he further stated, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn''t make it so obvious." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had made everyone believe that he told Elias that secret. If Elias was killed because of this secret, then his death was definitely going to be linked to him. He wasn''t foolish enough to make it so obvious.

    The Painter grew silent. His emotions were all over the place. Was he fooled, or was he trapped? In just these last few minutes, he had been tricked twice already. All of it happened in front of so many children, which made him feel even more frustrated.

    "All of you, leave this forest now. I want to have some words with your Professor." He picked up the broken pieces of the brush. The two pieces of the brush merged together, as the brush returned to its original form.

    "Do as you''re told." Grey also said the same thing, understanding Painter''s intentions. "Come back, only after getting your Soul Beasts."

    It was clear that the two Professors weren''t going to talk. There was going to be something much worse, Elias didn''t want to be here when that happened. He was the first to start going north.

    "Hey kid, take this." He had just started leaving when he felt an unknown force control his hand. His hand reached out on its own, and caught a small green crystal that was tossed at him.

    "This is called a Growth Stone. It was the reward for taking the first rank in the assessment. When you are ready, and at a safe place where there will be no disturbance, eat it. It will help you go through your first class evolution."

    Elias looked at the Growth Stone that was given to him at a moment like this. He had a really bad feeling about this, as he saw the greedy gazes of others. It was different if others didn''t know about the use of this stone, but Grey had already told everyone about the use.

    A growth stone was something that could help with the first evolution, and there was no one here who didn''t want it. Even the descendants of the major families seemed to have greed in their eyes, which made Elias understand that this thing was rarer than he thought.

    He could see that Grey was again messing with him, but he didn''t have time to think about it. Without hesitation, he started running away to create some distance from them.

    He had to get away from the others before they tried to steal it. Unfortunately for him, others had also realized that the stone was useful for them.

    They were going to the Land of Fables, where they were going to be under no observation. If anyone was killed there, it could only be blamed on the Soul Beasts.

    Fortunately, the others were still cautious before him, knowing that he had killed a Professor. Although none of them saw how he did it, they were still careful. They didn''t attack him, and simply followed him.

    "Oh right, Elias! I forgot to tell you that all outside weapons are useless in the Land of Fables! So the treasured gun that you used to snipe at the Professor from your sneaky hidden position, will not work in the Land of Fables. So be careful and safe!"

    Elias heard the loud shout of Grey, which almost made him stumble. He wanted to turn around and curse out loud. Grey made his words appear as if he was warning him out of his worries for his safety, but it was clear that he was telling others to be less cautious of him.

    "He used a hidden weapon to kill the Professor like a coward?!" Rey exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. He was the most worried about his safety, but if Elias had simply relied on a weapon that was useless here, then he didn''t have anything to worry about.

    "A growth stone will be a waste on an Auxiliary Class! Why don''t you hand it over?!" he exclaimed, as he used the winds to increase his speed.

 Chapter 61 - 61: I dont need a weapon

    Grey informed everyone that Elias had relied on an external weapon to take the first rank, while others had relied on their own abilities.

    It felt truly unfair, since Elias hadn''t relied on his own talents. Moreover, a weapon that could kill a Professor could only come from the Ashborn Family. This meant he had relied on his family''s wealth to take the top rank.

    Rey was the most frustrated, since the first ranking would have belonged to him if Elias hadn''t cheated. This meant the reward for first rank also belonged to him, not Elias.

    There was no way he was going to let that Growth Stone go to waste on an Auxiliary when he could have used it for his first evolution.

    "You are still as shameless as ever, aren''t you?" The Painter frowned, watching the children leave for the Land of Fables.

    "What do you mean? I was just reminding him so he could protect himself better. Wouldn''t it be worse if he didn''t know that external weapons were useless in the Land of Fables? Imagine him trying to rely on them, only to end up dead as his treasure failed him?"

    Professor Grey was still as carefree as ever, as if he had done nothing wrong. In any case, he didn''t believe that Elias was actually going to die from this.

    He was certain that Elias was still hiding many secrets. Even if he looked like an innocent child, he was truly a dangerous being from inside. If that wasn''t the case, he wouldn''t have targeted a professor.

    Even if it was part of the test, it still left a sour taste in his mouth. Was it truly something he did for the test? Or was there more that was hiding within the surface?

    He wanted Elias to unravel himself, exposing all the secrets that he was hiding, including all his tricks. And if he died in the land of fables, then it was just his luck. It was simply going to mean that he had overestimated that child.

    "Don''t think I would forget the matter at hand. You shouldn''t have known that secret," The Painter said, as he moved his brush in the air. Even without the canvas, he was able to paint. It was as if the reality itself was his paint.

    "Come on? Is it really that big of a secret? Aren''t you a little too embarrassed about it? It was just a little rejection." Grey jumped back, creating some distance.

    "You! You really knew about it!" The Painter''s face turned red. It was unclear if it was because of anger, or embarrassment.

    "Aww, is your broken heart hurting?" Grey laughed, not even trying to be careful about his words. "But you can''t blame her. If you go around like an old man, who is going to like you? You should''ve shown her your true form."

    "I will kill you!" The Painter roared, turning his surroundings itself into a painting, in which Grey was trapped, along with him.

    "Are you sure you can, old man?" Grey raised his hand, forming an aura blade that rose from his hands. He sliced through the reality itself, cutting the law of paintings with brute force.

    The Painter wasn''t surprised either, as if he had been expecting it. However, it was just the beginning for him.

    "Today, I will create a true masterpiece!" he exclaimed. "I will call it, ''Grey''s Downfall'', and hang it in the corridors for everyone to see!"

    As he spoke, his white hair started turning darker. The wrinkles on his face also started disappearing, as if a disguise was being removed.

    ....

    Elias was being chased by the others, as he rushed for the North. Only a few minutes had passed, when he was able to hear the sound of explosions coming from behind him.

    The earth itself was vibrating with each explosive sound, as if the two professors had already started fighting.

    "Stop running like a coward!" Rey exclaimed, as he closed the distance between him and Elias. His body was wrapped in winds that made him faster than normal.

    He was faster than everyone else. At least that''s what it seemed like, as there were a few that didn''t seem to be giving it their all to catch up to Elias.

    The Professor had already lied to them once, about telling Elias that secret. Even though what he told them was likely true this time, they wanted others to take the lead first.

    They knew Rey was foolish, and impatient, which was why they wanted him to test the murky waters first. If he could successfully take the growth stone, then they could easily get involved as well.

    There were flames around his fist, as if it was completely prepared to bring Elias to ashes. Soon, there was only a few meters of distance left between them.

    Rey reached out his burning hand, trying to grab a hold of Elias'' head. He wanted to smash him on the ground, instead of simply burning him to ashes. He still hadn''t forgotten how he was smashed on the ground during the Awakening Ceremony. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Let''s see where you run now!" He laughed, as his hand was merely a few feet away from Elias'' head. It was only a matter of seconds before he grabbed him and smashed him on the ground.

    At least that''s what he thought, only for his eyes to widen as he saw Elias stop, and the distance suddenly decreased faster than he had assumed.

    Elias ducked his head, avoiding Rey''s blazing hands. He turned around, and Rey saw Elias'' palm before his face. He felt like he was having deja vu, as if something like this had happened before as well.

    He was moving so fast that he didn''t even have time to react, as that palm grabbed his face, smashing him on the ground instead.

    The moment his skull was slammed on the ground, Rey spat blood, feeling pain travel through his entire body.

    "Neither are you a professor, nor do I need a weapon to kill you!" Elias exclaimed, as he clenched his fist, slamming it down.

 Chapter 62 - 62: You better be worth it

    Rey was stunned by the fierce counterattack from Elias. Still, he wasn''t as weak as the last time they fought. Then, his winds had failed to hurt Elias. But this time, he didn''t have to rely on his winds alone.

    Instead of protecting his face, he grabbed Elias''s waist and released flames capable of destroying everything in their path.

    Elias felt a burning sensation that made him cry out in pain. He could feel flames burning his flesh and entering his body, threatening to melt it from the inside.

    At this rate, even if he killed Rey, his own chances of survival were slim. It was no different than being collateral damage in his efforts to kill Rey.

    He changed his plan and abandoned his attack, attempting to jump back instead.

    "Where are you going?" Rey asked, his blood-covered lips curving into a smile. Last time, it was Elias who had refused to let him escape, thrashing him relentlessly. But this time, he had taken control of the situation.

    The flames were wreaking havoc inside Elias''s body.

    "It looks like the Professor was right. You are nothing without your weapon! I can''t believe that I was beaten by someone like you," Rey said, mockingly as he used his winds simultaneously to raise Elias''s body in the air.

    His winds restricted Elias'' body, while the flames had already taken a hold inside him. The flames were destroying his flesh and organs.

    Rey also stood up, patting his clothes as he looked at the other children that were watching from the distance. He looked quite smug. Even if he was surprised by the initial attack from Elias, he still managed to deal with him alone.

    "The Professor was right. You are useless without your external weapon that helped you cheat!" he said, looking at Elias''s left hand. His fists were clenched, but he was sure that it was because he was hiding the Growth Stone in that hand.

    "It''s time for the Growth Stone to return to the person it belongs to." He reached out his hand, and grabbed Elias''s fist.

    Elias kept roaring, as the right side of his body had completely turned to ash, destroyed by the flames. The flames had even reached his face, destroying him thoroughly. Even his pained cries had stopped at this point.

    Before long, Elias was completely destroyed. Not even a single inch of his body was left behind, as ashes fell on the ground. Only with Elias''s death, the flames had stopped.

    Rey took the item from Elias''s hands before he was completely destroyed. He smugly looked at the small gem that he had taken from Elias. Finally he could have his first evolution.

    "Hmm?" The moment he looked at his hand, he started frowning. The object in his hand was not a Growth Stone. Instead, it was an ordinary stone that was picked from somewhere in this forest. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "If it''s not the Growth Stone, then where did that Growth Stone go?"

    He was looking at his surroundings in disbelief, but there was nothing here. He could only see the ashes, that were the last remnants of the person that was supposed to be his enemy.

    There was no gem in those ashes. Did his flames burn even the Growth Stone? That should''ve been impossible. But all signs pointed towards that conclusion.

    "Rey Esterin, why don''t you give that Growth Stone to us? It''s better to have one extra friend, than one extra enemy."

    "Don''t listen to her. Give that Growth Stone to me. I will owe you a favor."

    Now that Elias, the bigger threat was gone, the other descendants shifted their focus on Rey, who they thought received the Growth Stone.

    "I don''t have the growth stone. All I found was this random stone," Rey answered, not even trying to hide his frustration. "If you want this useless rock, then take it."

    He tossed the rock towards the other Descendants. However, before the rock could even get close to the silent girl, it disintegrated into nothingness.

    "Are you sure you want to lie to us? We all saw you kill Elias. Who else will have that Growth Stone but you? Or are you saying that the Growth Stone was devoured by thin air?"

    "It''s not the time to be greedy. Hand over the Growth Stone, and I will let you go!"

    More and more descendants approached Rey, asking him to give them the Growth Stone. The more they threatened him, the more frustrated Rey became.

    "I don''t have the Growth Stone. And even if I had it, why do you think I will give it to you? Do you really think I''m scared of you?!"

    "If you''re not scared, then you should be. You had such a hard time dealing with someone like Elias. Did that really make you think you were some bigshot? Did you really let that arrogance get to your head? In that case, you might be in for a rude awakening!"

    A young boy cracked his knuckles, his long robe fluttering in the wind. On his robe, there was an Insignia of another Founding Family, that was no less prestigious than the Esterin Family.

    "You!" Rey was already upset that he hadn''t received the item that he wanted. And now he was being threatened?

    "In that case, why don''t you try giving me that so-called rude awakening?" He clenched his fists, and flames started burning around his arms. Winds gently wrapped around his feet.

    Within minutes, another battle began. This time, it was a battle that involved the descendants of many major families. All of them wanted the same thing, an object that could help them go through their first evolution faster.

    "You seem to be in really high demand. You better be worth it." Far away from the sight of the battle, a young boy was walking towards the North, playing with a small gem in his hand.

    Soon, he reached the end of the forest, and took his first step into the land of fables.

    ......

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (87%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (4%)

    Material Stability: 4.7%

    Extraction Possibility: Very Low

    .......

 Chapter 63 - 63: Ego

    "This is... the land of fables?" Elias felt like he had walked into an entirely different world the moment he stepped out of the forest.

    There was no sun or moon in the sky. There were not even clouds. Still, the world was filled with light, as if it were the middle of the day.

    Right outside the forest, he also saw the skeleton of a giant, a creature beyond recognition. The skeleton was so huge, that even if it was lying on the ground, it was still hundreds of feet high.

    The skeleton seemed to have been there for centuries to have deteriorated to this point. But the thing that intrigued him even more was a sword stabbed into the skull of the skeleton.

    If it was right outside this forest, then many from the previous batches of the Destroyer Class would have passed through this place. Yet, the sword was still there. Was this a trap? Or did they not think that the Sword was useful? Or could they not take the sword for some reason?

    He was intrigued by the sword, which hadn''t rusted even after such a long time. The blade still looked as sharp as ever, and the golden hilt was without even the slightest blemish.

    .............

    Material Composition: Star Metal (90 Percent), Ego (10 Percent)

    Weight: 100 Kg

    Material Stability: 99 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: Low Possibility

    .............

    .............

    Material Composition: Skeleton of Armored Beast of Decay (Hundred Percent)

    Weight: 19000 Kg

    Material Stability: 90 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: None

    .............

    He looked through the material composition of the skeleton, and the Sword. But more than the skeleton, it was the Sword that caught his attention again.

    He didn''t know what significance star metal had in this world, but it was the second part of that Composition which made him more interested.

    The Sword had an ego? He wasn''t certain the sword having an ego meant the same thing that he was thinking about. But if it was the case, then he might have found the next piece of the puzzle... Intelligence.

    "I have to take this sword." He approached the skeleton, planning to claim the sword. He didn''t care if the sword was a treasure or not. Even if it was a useless blade, just the presence of an ego alone made it worthwhile.

    He kept the Growth Stone in his pocket and started climbing the skeleton of the Beast of Decay. He had to get that sword before the others stopped fighting and left the forest.

    Even though he wanted to undergo his first evolution, he saved it for later, when he was in a safer place. He didn''t know how long an evolution would take. If it was more than a few hours, it would be foolish to attempt it before leaving the forest.

    The first time he climbed the Pillar of Heaven, it was much harder. It had almost broken his body, but climbing the skeleton proved to be much easier.

    Not only was the skeleton much smaller than the Pillar of Heaven, but Elias had also grown stronger.

    Within ten minutes, he managed to reach the top of the skeleton, even with his smaller physique. He stepped onto the skull and approached the sword that was stabbed into its center.

    He couldn''t gauge the true size of the sword from a distance, but as he came closer, he gained a better understanding. It was a human-sized sword. Although it was a little long for him, it was still something he could wield without troubles.

    Looking at the size of the sword, he grew even more certain about something. The person who had killed this beast, was at least his size. At this place, the only people who could enter were the first year students from the Destroyer Class. Was this the work of another student of the Destroyer Class?

    A person could only enter this place once in their lives, and that person had entered the land of fables soon after his awakening, and killed this beast? Elias could only wonder about the identity of that person.

    He couldn''t see any symbols or carvings on the Sword. It was just a very plain sword, something that descendants of major families could never carry with them.

    "But why did he leave his Sword behind? Why was this sword abandoned here?" He wondered out loud as he reached out his hand to grab the hilt of the Sword.

    "Your father was abandoned here! You bastard, how dare you call me an abandoned item?!"

    "Huh?" Elias subconsciously stepped back, hearing someone curse at him. The voice appeared the moment he touched the sword, but the moment he left it, the voice disappeared.

    "Are you the one who said that?" he asked, looking at the sword. But this time, he didn''t hear anything.

    Frowning, he again grabbed the sword, and the voice again appeared in his hand, cursing him incessantly. "Don''t ever call me abandoned! I will beat your seven generations!"

    "So you''re indeed the one that was speaking. I was right about the Ego. It''s intelligence!" Elias was pleasantly surprised. He didn''t mind the cursing. Just the fact that he could extract intelligence, was enough to make him happy.

    Having an ego was even better than having a Soul of Judgement. And if he merged the Soul of Judgement with an ego, he could only imagine the effects he was going to have.

    "It is incredible." Elias mumbled, as his heart started beating faster. "With this, I might create something truly..."

    "Hmph, at least you aren''t a complete fool. That''s true. I am indeed very incredible," the Sword sounded like it was proud of the compliments, that were meant less for the Sword and more for the ego within it.

    Elias knew that he had to take this sword at any cost. Its value had just skyrocketed in his eyes. For an Architect like him, this was the true treasure!

    He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands, and pulled it out of the skeleton. But instead of being happy, the Sword appeared to scream. "You fool, put me back before it''s too late!"

    "What do you mean?" Elias didn''t understand why the Sword was getting panicked.

    "It''s already too late. We''re royally fcked now," the sword answered, as if it had given up on life. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 64 - 64: Lift

    Elias held the sword, surprised by its weight despite its size. It was heavy, but it felt perfect in his hands. He might have had more time to appreciate the sword if he hadn''t heard its panicked thoughts.

    "What''s too late?" he asked, genuinely confused. Before he could get a response, he felt the ground trembling beneath him.

    "We''re dead! Absolutely, positively, stone-cold dead!" the sword complained, barely refraining from cursing. "You''ve awakened this irritating thing!"

    Elias also came to a realisation, that it wasn''t the ground which was trembling. Instead, it was the skeleton itself that was moving.

    "Was this sword some kind of seal that kept this Beast of Decay in place?" He felt his balance shake, as the giant skeleton started rising.

    By now, things had become truly complicated. With the Beast of Decay standing, its true height was revealed. As Elias stood on the skull of the Beast of Decay, he was already hundreds of feet high, but after the skeleton rose, that distance became thousands of feet.

    Meanwhile, back in the forest, the battle between the two Professors intensified. Despite the ferocity of their fight, neither of them was wounded. The same could not be said for their surroundings. The forest was being destroyed by their attacks.

    "Why do I feel like I''ve forgotten something?" Grey wondered, blocking an attack. "Well, if I forgot about it, it can''t be that important."

    "Didn''t no one tell you about me before you came here? You fool, run!" the Sword scolded Elias, who barely managed to regain his balance. "Now that the seal is broken, even if you put me back, it will be no use."

    Elias didn''t answer. It was true that he hadn''t been informed about this sword. Was this another intentional mess created by the Professor? The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.

    "I wasn''t informed about you, or this skeleton. I thought it was dead," he said. "But even if I had known everything, I still would have taken you."

    Even if the sword was being used for a seal, he still would have taken it for the ego it possessed. The only difference would have been that he would have done so on his way back, after receiving a Soul Pet and completing his evolution.

    At this moment, he was utterly unprepared.

    "Wait, why isn''t it attacking us?" Elias had prepared to jump down when the skeleton would have tried to attack them. But to his surprise, the Skeleton Beast didn''t look like it had any intention of attacking him.

    It was simply walking away from the Forest of Fables.

    "Hmm? That''s strange." Even the ego of the sword agreed with Elias, finding it confusing. It had fought this Beast of Decay with its master. It knew the kind of monstrosity this thing was. So why wasn''t it attacking them?

    "Could it be that it has been in the state of partial death for such a long time, that its memories are damaged? That would explain why it''s not attacking us. It''s only moving on instincts," the Ego thought out loud, buzzing with relief. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even if Elias was as old as its master used to be, the ego didn''t think that he would''ve been as talented as its master. If it was with its master, it wouldn''t have to worry about dealing with the Beast of Decay. But now that it was with this new brat, it didn''t feel as confident in battle.

    "Kid, your luck is through the roof. You should be glad that this Beast seemed to have become retrded. If not, both of us would''ve been fcked today."

    "Where did you even learn to speak like that?" Elias asked, looking at the sword weirdly. As the ego''s voice kept appearing in his head directly, he couldn''t even focus on his own thoughts.

    He was trying to decide if he should attempt to jump from this height, which had a decent chance of hurting him. The Beast of Decay might also see him if he were on the ground.

    On the other hand, if he didn''t jump down, then he could simply wait here. It wasn''t half bad, since it meant his trip into the Land of Fables would take a much shorter time.

    Even if the Beast of Decay was moving on instinct, it was definitely going deeper into the Land of Fables, which was also Elias''s destination. The beast was indirectly helping him, by giving him a lift.

    He pulled out a map that had been given to him by the Painter to see exactly where they were going, and which of these two options were better for him accordingly.

    "Of course I learned it from my master. Though I''m ashamed to say that I couldn''t even learn one percent of his speaking skills." Elias heard the sword''s thoughts just as he started focusing on the map.

    "And who was your master?" Elias casually asked while trying to find the Forest of Fables on the map to have a reference point.

    "Heh, my master is a truly great person," the ego told Elias, like a fan talking about their idol to those who couldn''t care about their idol in the least.

    "He doesn''t seem like a great person if he abandoned you here. I''m amazed that you still don''t seem to hate him." Elias subconsciously mumbled, as his finger stopped at the Forest of Fables on the map, finally finding a reference point.

    If he was an ego, and he was abandoned in a place like this for such a long time, then could he really respect that owner? He didn''t think so. Still, it was none of his concern at this point.

    He kept his focus on the map. Based on the direction of the Forest of Fables from his location, he finally had the perfect orientation of the map.

    "Hmph, you know nothing!" The sword started trembling fiercely in Elias''s hands. "I''m sure he must have made a name for himself in the outside world. You just have to escort me back to him."

    "What was the name of his family... it''s been so long that it feels like an eternity has passed already." As the ego kept speaking, Elias was truly starting to have a headache. "Ah, right. It was¡­"

 Chapter 65 - 65: If youre lucky

    Even though Elias was curious about the previous owner of the sword, that didn''t change the fact that the sword was too talkative.

    Its loyalty to its previous owner was also problematic, especially since it was demanding to be taken back to him.

    "I remember it now!" the sword declared. "Every time he was with others, people would look at him with fear and address him as the descendant of that family. It was so annoying at the time."

    The Ego seemed to be lost in thoughts of the past, reminiscing about the good times.

    "If you knew the name of that family, you would have an easier time escorting me back. It was the Ashborn Family. That was his family''s name. My master was Aliath Ashborn, the eldest son of the Ashborn Family."

    Elias''s gaze was focused on the map, even though he split some of his attention to the sword. But the moment he heard the name, his fingers, which had been tracing the map, came to a sudden halt.

    "What did you say?" he asked, his frown deepening.

    The sword belonged to Aliath? As he heard the stories about Aliath from the others, he had formed a rough impression in his mind of a cold person who had no friends in the academy.

    A person like this had a sword with an ego that cursed in every other sentence? He would''ve even thought that the sword was lying, but that didn''t seem to be the case, as the sword was truly eager to return to its true master.

    "Have you heard of him? What am I even asking? Of course, you have heard of him. My master would''ve become a legend by now. But you don''t have to worry. When you take me back to my master, you will be heavily rewarded by him."

    "Who knows, if you''re lucky, he might even accept you as a personal servant. Just think about it! You will serve the eldest son of the Ashborn Family! Aren''t you excited at the thought? You can drool if you want. I won''t look down on you."

    Elias had already guessed that the owner of this Sword was someone strong. But for it to be his eldest brother, was a thought that never crossed his mind. It was especially the case since the sword was so plain and had no marking of the Asbborn Family.

    When he heard the sword speak, the thought of Aliath being its owner became even more distant. It was why this came as such a shock to him. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t even know what to think about it. The ego became even more valuable to him with this revelation. Even if it was for a short time, this sword knew Aliath! Maybe it knew him better than even the others did.

    "Why did you go silent? Are you also one of those that get scared after hearing that family''s name? I told you, don''t worry. My master isn''t as bad as people make him out to be. He''s just misunderstood. You''ll see what I''m talking about when we return to him."

    "How do you know that he isn''t bad? You haven''t seen him for years. How can you be certain that he hasn''t changed? In this cruel world, is there truly anyone that could be called innocent?" Elias asked the sword. "Everything changes with time, even the people that you know."

    The sword had only been with Aliath when he was a child. At that time, he had fought with Professor Lilian, and then entered the Land of Fables. The Sword was left here, and didn''t know what happened after that time.

    It didn''t know that Aliath had slaughtered every single person in his class. Elias didn''t pretend to know about his reasons, or if he even had a good reason in the first place. He didn''t feel pity for the people of his class, as this academy was only for the people that were the worst of the worst in his eyes.

    He didn''t worry if Aliath was a good person, or a bad person as this was none of his concern at the moment. Even if he was a bad person, what could he even do about this? Moreover, that man had already disappeared a long time ago, even his life or death was uncertain.

    "Hmph, if my master became a bad person, it must mean that the others deserved it. There''s nothing wrong with it."

    "Maybe..." Elias trailed off, realizing that this wasn''t a conversation that could be concluded quickly. He shifted his complete focus to the map and removed his hands from the sword, effectively silencing the ego.

    The map had many locations marked as extremely dangerous. Meanwhile, there were a few locations designated as recommended.

    The map also indicated the highest grade of soul beast that could be found in each region of the Land of Fable. Looking at the trajectory of the Beast of Decay, he could see that they were headed toward the central region of the Land of Fables.

    Even though it was farther than the other regions, it also had the highest grade of Soul Beasts, according to the map. If he were alone, reaching the central region would be more troublesome, but with the Beast of Decay, things were a little easier.

    Atop the giant beast, it felt more peaceful. The chances of being attacked here seemed quite low, which made him consider undergoing his first evolution here.

    As per the map, they weren''t going to go past any danger zones, and it seemed like this was going to be the case for at least the next couple of days.

    He closed the map and stored it back in his storage space before touching the sword again. "I need to go through my first evolution."

    "Go ahead. Why are you telling me?" The ego scoffed, sounding somewhat grumpy after being ignored for so long.

    "I''m telling you because I need you to keep an eye on me."

    "Did you also lose your mind? I''m a sword. I can''t fly or fight without someone wielding me. How can I keep an eye on you?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ll make sure you can do more." Elias didn''t take the insult to heart, as he had already devised a plan.

    Hearing his suspicious words, the ego had a bad feeling about it.

    Initially, Elias had wanted to test it later, but now that he had a reason and an opportunity, he didn''t want to delay any further. He already had an ego and the other necessary materials. It was the perfect time for his main experiment.

 Chapter 66 - 66: Its Technology

    Elias looked inside his spatial storage, which was filled with many things. The majority was the food, but there were also things that were more important. All these things were gathered by Leo, even though he didn''t have use for most of them.

    It was as if Leo had simply robbed the supermarket, but also military establishments. There were many weapons, but there were even things that were more technologically advanced than guns.

    Inside the storage, there were Drones. For a moment, Elias had thought about using intelligence on these drones, but he quickly dropped the idea since these drones didn''t seem to have significant weapons.

    At most, they could be used to observe the enemies. Just looking at them, Elias could see that they had some explosives, which probably helped them explode once they crashed on the enemy. But it was only a one time thing, which didn''t seem useful for him.

    There were also some army tanks, but they were also not things that he focused on. Instead, there was one specific item that caught his eye, which seemed like the most useful thing in his storage.

    He was told by Grey that weapons were useless in this world. But what if the thing that he used wasn''t a weapon in the true sense, but it was much more dangerous than a conventional weapon?

    There was only one way to find out if that thing could be used in the Land of Fables, or not. It was through a proper experiment.

    Fortunately, this was the perfect place for experiment as he didn''t have to worry about his surroundings. They were on the skull of the Beast of Decay, which was even larger than multiple football fields joined together.

    At this place, he had not only enough height to avoid any observation, but also enough space. More importantly, the Beast of Decay was a strong entity, but also somewhat slow because of being asleep for such a long time.

    Even if there was thousands of tons of weight on the Beast of Decay, it was hard for it to notice. All the conditions were in perfect sync, almost begging for Elias to perform this experiment.

    He brought out something from the spatial storage.

    "W-what is that thing?"

    The sword was less surprised by the fact that something had appeared out of thin air. Even Aliath had items that helped him store items in a separate space. But what made him more intrigued, was the purpose of the object that was large, and made of some metal.

    Even if objects like these existed in the upper realm in some shape or form, the sword was completely ignorant about it.

    The thing was taller than the Elias, and even longer. Its body was so smooth, that it looked as if it was crafted with extreme precision to slice through the air on its journey.

    "This might be called one of the most technologically advanced weapons of the lower world," Elias told the sword, as his fingers brushed on the smooth metal. "But even with weapons like these, those worlds couldn''t survive the onslaught of just one person."

    "The most advanced weapon? It looks weak and useless. I feel like I can slice it in half with ease. Just what is this frail metal? Why didn''t they use Star Metal to make it?" The Sword asked, sounding quite disappointed that this thing could even be called a weapon.

    "It''s weak indeed. That''s why, we are going to make it strong," Elias said, his fingers tracing through the leading edges of the wings, which were designed to cut through the air with minimal resistance, allowing it to achieve supersonic speeds.

    "It''s a machine that flies," he continued, patting the cold metal of the fighter jet. "Back in my world, it''s used for warfare, but it''s not magic. It''s... technology. And we are going to make it better. We are going to evolve this technology. And this will just be the beginning..."

    He didn''t know how to fly a fighter jet. He wasn''t a fool to believe that he could learn to fly something like this, just like he had learned the snowmobile. It was an entirely different beast altogether.

    Initially, he believed that this was going to be a useless thing for someone like him, but it was different now. He had an ego, and a few more rare materials that he had gathered throughout his time.

    If he could merge the jet with other materials like Essence of Lightning, then it might become even faster. The Dust of Creation had the potential to improve its duration and physical body. And lastly, the most important thing, which was the Ego itself. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He also had a few other items that he had kept hidden with him. Finally he had a place where he could use them. So what if he couldn''t learn to fly it? If he installed an intelligence, then it was no different than achieving the most significant evolution.

    The Sword couldn''t fight for him when he was going through his evolution. But if he had a fighter jet that had intelligence, then it was no different than having a bodyguard that might at least try to protect him during his evolution.

    "How are you going to make it strong?" the Sword asked. "Are you a blacksmith?"

    "You will find out very soon," Elias answered, as he started bringing out the vial of Essence of Lightning and Dust of Creation, placing them on the Wings of the fighter plane.

    "Why do I suddenly feel cold?" the ego said, thinking to itself. Even it didn''t understand the strange feeling that it was having. Normally, it never felt cold.

    Elias didn''t answer the sword, and brought out another item, which was a watch that he had received in the World of Frost.

    Normally, the watches were supposed to be taken from the children after the test was over. But the Professor had been killed before the test could end. As for Grey, he didn''t seem to care about it, which allowed Elias to smuggle it here.

 Chapter 67 - 67: Most Significant Memory

    "What would you say if I told you that I could give you the ability to move?" Elias asked the ego, who still didn''t know his true identity or abilities.

    Elias knew that the chances of extraction were low, even if not non-existent. If he failed, the ego would be destroyed, and so would his hope, for now.

    The sword didn''t simply have an ego; it was an ego that had known Aliath. Its value was beyond that of a simple ego. Still, he knew that he had to do it. He didn''t have any room to feel regret or guilt about it.

    "If only." The Ego didn''t sound particularly enthusiastic, as it knew the reality. It was an ego. Even if it had intelligence, it wasn''t truly alive.

    Elias stepped back with the sword, getting away from the fighter jet so as not to get it caught in the storm that was going to be born during extraction.

    "I have an ability that allows me to extract things and merge them with other things. What if I said I''m going to extract your ego and merge it with that plane? If I''m successful, you can not only move to a certain extent but even soar through the sky."

    "You can do it?" the ego asked, sounding like it was still finding it hard to believe. What kind of absurd ability was this? Even the greatest of blacksmiths couldn''t move an ego from one weapon to another, as egos were born within the weapon itself.

    "I can do it," Elias told the ego, but he still hid some things. He wasn''t outright honest about the risks involved. If he failed, the ego might disappear forever.

    "Do it! Yes, do it right now! I want to move!" The ego exclaimed in excitement, but just as suddenly, it changed its tune. "No, don''t do that! What if my master doesn''t recognize me when we return to him? I don''t want to be forgotten by my master."

    "My master must be waiting for me. What if he finds that big chunk of metal ugly? I am fine the way I am."

    The ego sounded like it was sad as it rejected the proposal that might allow it to have some semblance of life. But its loyalty to Aliath was higher than its greed for life.

    "I don''t think you have to worry about that. Aliath isn''t waiting for you," Elias said, looking at the sword which still didn''t know the truth about its master. It still wanted to return to him, despite so many years having passed.

    "How do you know that he isn''t waiting for me? You''re lying. My master can never forget me!" The sword proudly stated, even sounding somewhat angry as it started buzzing.

    Elias did not argue back. He simply brought the insignia of the Asbborn Family that he was carrying with him. He showed the insignia to the sword and asked, "Do you recognise it?"

    "That?! Why do you have it? How are you related to that family?" The sword started buzzing even more violently, as if its mind was truly shaken at the sight of the insignia, especially since its master also carried something like that. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was the Insignia that was different from the normal insignia of the Ashborn Family. It had a different shape and color, being made from the true unbreakable obsidian. It was something that was only given to the direct descendants of the Asbborn Family.

    "My name is Elias Ashborn," Elias answered, before keeping the insignia back in his pocket. "I''m the youngest brother of your master."

    "Elias...?" The ego seemed to be somewhat lost as it heard the name.

    The ego had forgotten many of its memories throughout the time, but it hadn''t forgotten one particular memory. And it was the memory where it had heard this name.

    "Why did you say that my master isn''t waiting for me?" The ego asked, its voice sounding much weaker in Elias''s mind.

    If it was said by someone else, then it might have thought that they were lying. But if this person was truly Elias, then it was different.

    "Aliath disappeared a long time ago. It''s been largely believed that he is already dead. In this situation, I don''t think he has time to wait for you," Elias said, but he didn''t stop there.

    "That''s impossible! He can''t be dead! Anyone can die in this world, but not my master!" The sword buzzed so violently that Elias had to struggle to even control it.

    Elias knew that he had to calm the sword. He needed that ego to work with him, especially since he had no particular ability to control it.

    "I believe you! I also believe that my brother can''t die. He must be trapped in some place. That''s why, I want to save him! But for that, I need more strength. That''s why I entered this Academy, and if you help me, we might be able to find him!"

    The ego was absolutely loyal to his eldest brother, to a crazy extent. It was the biggest flaw of this ego. If he wanted to control this ego, he could only play around that flaw.

    If it wanted to believe that his brother was alive, then he had to make it believe that. He had to convince the sword that they could find his brother, no matter how long it took.

    "That''s right! My master must be trapped somewhere! We can find him!" The ego exclaimed. Even though it was still somewhat fierce, it seemed to be calming down a bit.

    "I promise that I will find my brother. It might take a long time, but I won''t give up. But for that, I need you to support me. So, will you?" Elias asked the ego.

    It was a promise that he intended to keep, but only when he was strong enough to fulfill it. By then, he might have many such egos, so it didn''t matter if he returned this one to his eldest brother. However, he didn''t think that his brother was actually alive. If he was, the Ashborn Family would''ve found him already.

    The sword was silent, still unable to forget the memories in which it had heard Elias''s name. This boy used to be just a child who was just born.

    That memory was also the most significant and unforgettable for it, because it was the first memory in which it had seen its master smile so bright.

    After a brief moment of silence, it said, "I will do anything you need. Even if you ask me for my entire existence, I''m willing to sacrifice it."

    "Then I''m about to begin." Elias had received a confirmation from the ego. He didn''t waste a single second, and said, "Confirm Extraction."

 Chapter 68 - 68: Chaos in the middle

    A storm started materializing around Elias, with the sword at its core. The storm was so strong that even if Elias was holding the sword, his body was being pushed back with such force that it made him feel as if he was also being ripped apart by the fierce.

    Even clothes were being torn apart by the storm, and more scars started appearing on his body as the winds grew truly violet this time, cutting through his skin.

    More than the pain, he seemed to be worried about his clothes and the thing that was in his pocket. He quickly placed his hand in his pocket before they were torn apart, and grabbed the growth stone and the insignia of the family

    He held the two objects like his life depended on it, even as the remnants of his clothes flew off, leaving him completely bare in the storm.

    Amidst the sound of winds, he also heard another sound that he hadn''t heard during any extraction process before. He could hear the painful cries of the ego, which seemed to be roaring like a wild beast.

    As he had only performed extraction on lifeless things, he didn''t know that the extraction process placed such a burden on the materials that were being extracted.

    The painful cries continued for a long time, until they went completely silent. And after another half an hour, the storm also disappeared, giving Elias an opportunity to catch his breath.

    He fell on his knees, in front of a block of metal that had materialized after extraction. Next to the block, he also saw a small crystal sphere.

    .....

    Star Metal: Extraction Successful.

    Ego: Extraction Successful.

    .....

    He sighed in relief, looking at the information about the successful extraction. Both materials had survived. He picked up the two objects and walked over to the fighter jet, not caring about his scars or the fact that he was naked.

    He placed the two objects on the plane''s body. This time, he also placed his insignia and the growth stone on the plane before walking away to complete the final extraction with the watch.

    He walked away from the plane, traveling farther this time, before starting another extraction. The process was much less painful and shorter.

    The winds were also less fierce than before, which made him wonder if the pain was only present when he extracted things that possessed intelligence.

    What if he was someday able to extract true life? How painful would it be? That question appeared in his mind as he compared the experiences of these two extractions.

    .....

    Eliestus Metal: Extraction Successful

    Teleportation Stone: Extraction Successful

    Detection Stone: Extraction Failed

    Chronarium Crystal: Extraction Failed

    Voidsteel: Extraction Failed

    Hide of Phase Panther: Extraction Failed

    Starlight Glass: Extraction Successful

    .....

    The failure rate was much higher this time, but Elias didn''t feel bad. The material he truly wanted had been successfully extracted.

    He had received the Teleportation Stone. The only problem was that it was a very small quantity, only the size of a watermelon seed. The other materials were also in very low quantities, as they were extracted from a small watch.

    He wasn''t completely confident that they would actually affect the plane to that extent, but he picked them up anyway. Using them was better than not using them.

    If it was a normal situation, and he had more of such materials, he would have thought about doing a trial and error to come up with a better combination, but for now, he decided to use them all.

    He placed all those materials on the plane. After that, the first thing he did was take back his family Insignia and Growth Stone, scared that he might accidentally merge them with the plane if he forgot.

    "Confirm Merger," he instructed, reaching the final step.

    .....

    Please select the materials for the merger.

    .....

    Elias started tapping each of the materials that he wanted to merge. And the materials that he selected had a small red dot appear on them as a marker, which was also something that he hadn''t noticed before.

    Once he finished the selection, he stopped and stepped back. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ....

    Materials selected for merger: X-86 Fighter Jet, Essence of Lightning, Dust of Creation, Star Metal, Eliestus Metal, Teleportation Stone, Starlight Glass, Ego.

    Material Compatibility: 64 Percent

    Merger Success Probability: 76 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    ....

    "Even if it''s not the highest probability I''ve received, it''s not half bad. Proceed with the merger."

    After confirming the merger, he quickly ran back, unaware of the storm that was about to be unleashed by combining so many high-tier materials. He didn''t want to be blown away by it.

    He ran as far as he could, and as fast as he could, feeling the winds around him become unstable. The storm was intensifying and showed no signs of stopping.

    Fortunately, it wasn''t strong enough to affect the hundreds of thousands of pounds of beast beneath their feet, a creature that didn''t even have flesh.

    After reaching as far as he could, he turned around and lied down on the ground, to further reduce the wind force that was acting against his body. He remained on his belly, and raised his head, trying to look at the storm.

    He could see lightning flickering inside the storm, another first time experience with a merger. The storm was truly dangerous, which made him feel that he truly might have died if he was at the core of that storm.

    The winds grew so strong that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, as tears started coming down the corner of his eyes that started turning red. In the end, he couldn''t keep watching and closed his eyes, placing his head on the ground as well, letting the storm rage around.

    ....

    In the central region of the Land of Fables, another chaos was brewing. A young man in his twenties resided within a grand palace.

    A scar ran across his face, starting at the top right of his forehead and extending as far down as it could go on the left side. On his chest was another scar that was even deeper. This one seemed to form a symbol resembling an ouroboros devouring its own tail.

    Next to the man was a table covered with hundreds of sharp knives. One after another, he picked up the knives from the table and tossed them forward.

    Each knife flew straight toward a portrait hanging on the wall, which already had hundreds of knives stabbed into it, making it quite hard to even see the portrait clearly.

 Chapter 69 - 69: The game begins

    Each knife struck the portrait, which depicted a young boy who looked barely twelve or thirteen years old. The boy in the portrait had short silver hair and wore a robe bearing the same insignia that was painfully carved on the man''s chest.

    The man picked up another knife, and just as he was about to toss it at the portrait, he heard the sound of the door opening. He quickly turned around and tossed the knife.

    The person at the entrance gulped down, as the knife flew past him, barely missing his face.

    "P-Prince Zesten?" The person stuttered, as his tail started fiercely shaking in fear. Even if he had a body that looked similar to a human, some of his physical characteristics were completely different in many aspects.

    "What do you want?" The man asked, frowning. Each of his eyes had dual pupils, which were focused on the person at the door.

    "The Beast of Decay appears to be alive. We can sense its aura. I believe it is returning," the man informed.

    "He still has the courage to return?" Zesten roared, his voice shaking the entire palace.

    As he lost control of his emotions, his physical transformation became unstable. Horns erupted from his forehead, and dragon-like wings unfurled from his back.

    "I sent that bastard to kill the child who gave me these scars! Not only did he fail to return with the bastard''s head, but he lost?! And now, he dares to return?! Did you come here with this information, expecting me to be pleased and reward you?"

    The man who had informed Zesten began shaking fiercely. He was so frightened that he fell to his knees and began banging his head on the floor. "Please calm your anger, Your Highness!"

    "I didn''t come here to tell you about him. I-I just wanted to tell you what his return signifies. Didn''t we know that he was sealed with that evil boy''s sword?" he asked. "After that, we tried to pull out the sword to free him, but the sword only burned our people!"

    "We even tried to get some humans to move the sword, but they couldn''t move it, even after we killed them. But now the Beast of Decay is returning. It means the seal is broken."

    "So?" Zesten frowned, wondering what he was trying to say. So what if the sword was removed? It didn''t matter anyway, as they couldn''t even use the sword that burned the fables the moment they tried to hold its hilt to control it.

    "The High Priest told us that the sword was tied to that boy. Except him, no one could hold it. Unless..."

    "Do you mean that person has returned?!" Zesten asked, his fingers subconsciously touching the scar on his chest.

    He could never forget that person, who had given him this would. He was just fifteen years old at that time, while the boy was only twelve. The person even stole the greatest treasure of the Central Region.

    "I don''t think that person has returned. A person from the land of living can only enter this place once in their lives, when they are younger than twenty."

    "So it can''t be him. But the high priest told us of another possibility. The only other person that can use that sword, is the one that holds his blood. It means that someone has arrived, that shares his blood. It''s either his son, or his brother."

    "As it happens, it seems to be that time of the year when this from the land of living also starts arriving. If we can take that person, then we might be able to negotiate the return of that treasure. If we can use it to open that place, then we might be able to leave this place!"

    The man stopped banging his head, after informing Zesten about his theory. He raised his head, to see his reaction.

    Zesten seemed to be lost in some thoughts. "And if I leave this place, I can hunt that bastard and kill him with my own hands after returning these scars to him! Last time, I was just a child. But now, I am something else entirely."

    "That is right. We just take that treasure back before the humans realize what that thing is truly capable of," the man exclaimed.

    "Good! Find the High Priest! Tell him to locate the presence of that bastard''s blood! We can use the other children to send that bastard his brother''s arm with my name carved on it, along with the message to return that item! I wonder what kind of face he will make when he sees it!"

    "It shall be done as the wishes of Your Highness..." The man placed his claws on the ground and pushed his body up, before rushing away.

    Meanwhile, Zesten picked up another knife. He tossed the knife at the portrait, "Now, the game begins."

    ....

    "It''s finally over." Elias approached the new and improved X-86.

    The merger had taken what felt like an eternity, the process lasting over six hours. But finally, it was done, and Elias could see the result of his creation which truly felt like a miracle.

    The overall shape of the fighter jet remained the same, but he could feel a few very significant differences. Occasionally, he could see lightning flickering on the surface of the plane.

    The Star Metal had further improved the fighter jet''s physical strength, while the Eliestus Metal imparted its durability. Even the glass was further strengthened by the crystal.

    When he checked the material composition, everything seemed to be as expected. The only thing beyond his expectations was the jet''s weight, which had doubled. It made him wonder if it could still perform as expected.

    "It shouldn''t affect things too much. I think the lightning will take care of it," he thought. Still, he considered testing the flight capabilities. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He reached out his hand, and his fingers touched the jet. "Are you there?"

    "Shh, don''t disturb me! I''m trying to understand this thing! So much to learn! Ah, what''s that? Nice! So it does that!"

    Even though he was shushed away, Elias felt relieved. The ego seemed to be safe. And more importantly, it could truly comprehend the technology of this fighter jet, as if it were a part of its own body, solving one of his biggest worries.

    "When you''re finished learning, how about we take a trip to the skies?" he asked.

    "Hmph, what do you think of me?" The ego scoffed.

    Just as Elias thought it was rejecting him, he saw the glass move, and the entrance to the cockpit opened.

 Chapter 70 - 70: Is it that bad?

    "Before you get inside, I want to ask you a question," the ego said, just as Elias was about to get inside the jet.

    "What question?" Elias frowned, wondering if there was something wrong with the merger that the ego wanted to ask him about.

    "Why are you naked?" the ego asked, making Elias''s face go blank.

    He had almost forgotten that he wasn''t wearing any clothes since they were torn off during the extraction process. He was so immersed in the creation of the evolved jet that he didn''t have time to consider anything else.

    "Because I like it this way," Elias sarcastically answered as he started rummaging through his Spatial Storage to find clothes.

    "Interesting. That''s a very perverted hobby, but I won''t judge you." The Ego went silent after offering a few comments.

    If the ego was a human, Elias might have slapped the back of his head for this comment, but hitting the jet was only going to hurt himself. So he ignored those comments and brought out the clothes.

    Even if the clothes from earth weren''t as sturdy or classy as the clothes of the upper realm, they still got the job done of getting his body covered.

    He wasn''t picky with the clothes, and simply wore the clothes that were in his size, which he could find the fastest. He quickly wore a pair of black jeans that created a stark contrast with the white t-shirt.

    "Better?" he asked the ego, while donning a white overcoat on top.

    "Much," the ego replied. "Though I must say, the contrast is a bit sharp. Like a penguin wearing a tuxedo backwards."

    Elias rolled his eyes. "You''re a terrible critic, you know that?"

    He climbed into the cockpit, and looked at the various screens and switches that were present. Just looking at them was enough to give him a headache, even though he wasn''t meant to pilot it.

    "It''ll be a short test flight, and we will return right here. Still, you''re not allowed to fly before the Beast of Decay. Alright?" he asked the ego, warning it repeatedly as if he didn''t have complete confidence in it.

    "I''m the most reliable ego in this world. You don''t have to say twice," the ego sounded grumpy, as the sound of engine roaring resounded. The lightning that was flickering around the jet, became even stronger as it started moving.

    The jet moved in the opposition direction of the Beast of Decay, going behind instead to avoid getting detected. Even if the Beast of Decay was slow now, it still had eyes.

    "While you''re inside, do you want me to teach you how the controls work?" the Ego asked Elias, who was simply looking out the glass, feeling the jet catching speed.

    Elias didn''t need to learn the ability to fly these things, but he still wanted to agree. He wanted to know as much as possible. Unfortunately, he couldn''t satisfy his curiosity as this was only supposed to be a test flight. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had to return and focus on his evolution. The time that he had for this short test flight was far from enough to learn anything, even if he was being taught by someone.

    "Maybe next time," he said as the jet started rising in the air. It soon soared through the sky, leaving the trail of lightning behind.

    The fighter jet rushed through the sky at supersonic speed. It was the first time Elias had flown, if he was to ignore the fall he had suffered from the Pillar of Heaven, which did make him feel like he was flying for a brief moment.

    Watching the landscape outside getting smaller as the jet soared higher was a surreal feeling. For quite some time, he remained in a daze, observing the vast world. From this height, even the giant Beast of Decay looked like a small dot on the horizon.

    "How are you feeling?" he asked the ego, as he couldn''t find any problems with the jet''s evolution.

    There were no problems with the increased weight of the jet, and the speed seemed to have increased even more than he anticipated.

    "Everything seems to be fine. The only thing is that I feel hungry for some reason," the Ego said. "It''s a really strange feeling. I wonder if there was something about it among the things that I skipped when learning about this thing."

    The moment Elias heard these words, his expression darkened. That was right; he had forgotten another important thing. Even though he had evolved the jet, it still ran on fuel. That problem was still existent, and he hadn''t checked how much fuel it had.

    "Let''s go back," he told the ego with extreme urgency. He looked through the various dials to find one that could represent the fuel in reserve.

    "Can we go back a little later? It''s fun to fly through the sky," the ego answered, appearing somewhat rebellious.

    "We don''t have time for this. You''re feeling hungry because this jet doesn''t have enough fuel. Evolution hasn''t solved that problem. We need to get back before we..."

    Elias was in the middle of speaking when his eyes fell on the fuel gauge. The gauge was on the red mark, and a red light had also started beeping repeatedly.

    "Something is wrong! I-I can''t..." the ego also exclaimed, as the jet started losing balance, along with altitude. "F*ck, are we going to die then?"

    Elias almost felt like facepalming himself. It was foolish of him to ignore the risks just because he had an intelligence to control the fighter jet. At this rate, both of them were going to die!

    Even if he had strong bones, he wasn''t going to survive a fall from this height inside this box of metal that was further reinforced.

    He could try to eject, but his jet was still going to crash, along with the ego, which was just as big a loss as anything.

    "You''re silent! Is it that bad? Are we really going to die?'' the ego asked Elias, as their descent became faster and more uncontrollable.

 Chapter 71 - 71: Fked up luck

    Beep... Beep... Beep...

    Loud beeping noises had filled the cockpit, as if reminding Elias that the situation was more dire than he had initially thought. They didn''t even have enough fuel to even slow down their descent. They were truly going to crash.

    "Not sure about you, but I might truly die," Elias told the ego, watching the surface getting closer at a frightening speed.

    "F*ck. I couldn''t even enjoy the freedom properly and I''m going to die. Waaah! Why is my luck so f*cked up?" The ego started complaining, almost sounding like it was crying.

    Elias didn''t even know how to react to these words. Shouldn''t he be the one panicking? The ego was connected to the jet. As long as even the smallest part of it existed, the ego was probably going to survive. He was different. He would be crushed.

    "Open the cockpit, I have to try something," he exclaimed, as he started opening the seat harness to free himself. He couldn''t stay here and wait for death. He had to survive, and protect this jet.

    "I..." The ego started stuttering, before going completely silent.

    "Don''t tell me you can''t open that either?" Elias started rubbing his forehead, as the realization started setting in. Everything that could go wrong, had started going wrong.

    He clenched his fist, and punched the glass, trying to break it so he could get out. But no matter how strong his bones were, his strength wasn''t enough to break the glass that was reinforced with the Starlight Glass of the watch.

    Even if it was only a small piece of Starlight Glass, when merged with the glass of normal fighter jets, it still created something stronger.

    Normally, it was supposed to be a good thing as it provided him more security when he was inside. But that same advantage had become shackles for him.

    Elias had no other choice but to go with the most drastic option, the success if which wasn''t certain.

    "I''m going to extract! The storm might slow our descent and protect us to some extent. It''s going to hurt!" he exclaimed, as the jet was merely tens of kilometres away from hitting the ground.

    "What?!" The ego exclaimed in shock as Elias placed his hand on the deck.

    "Confirm-"

    "Wait! Stop!" The ego screamed louder, as the roaring sound of the engine echoed inside the cockpit. The front side of the fighter jet started rising, as if it was returning to control.

    On the ground, there was a small pond, in which a woman was bathing. Next to the pond, there was a heavy sword that was at least ten feet long. Just looking at the sword made it look like it was almost impossible for an ordinary human to even pick it up, even if they were to put all their strength into it.

    The woman was immersed in her bath, when she felt the winds becoming stronger. She didn''t think much of it, until she heard something strange. She also felt something approaching her.

    Frowning, she raised her head, and saw an unknown metallic object coming straight for the pond. She quickly jumped out of the pond, revealing her bare skin.

    She rushed to the sword, but before she could grab it, a rush of water came flying out of the pond, accompanied by intense wind pressure.

    The fighter jet had also slowed down, and regained its balance. It was merely a hundred meters away from the ground when it turned straight, and rushed ahead, leaving a trail of lightning behind. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It was not an attack on me?" the woman mumbled, as she held the sword even as droplets of water trickled down her body. "What a strange bird."

    She lowered her sword, and didn''t attack. The space that had started to break apart the moment she held her sword, started healing when she dropped her intentions of attacking.

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the fighter jet, Elias was also at a loss for words.

    "What does this mean?!" he asked his ego, as the fuel gauge rose, reaching the halfway mark. Did the ego learn to convert lightning into fuel? But that was unlikely. It could only mean one thing.

    They never ran out of fuel! The ego was messing with him, pulling a trick that had almost frightened him to death. He had never felt as angry in his life as he did now.

    The Ego had not only lied to him, but also manipulated the fuel gauge to make him believe that they were really out of fuel.

    "Did you find it funny?!" he roared, finally losing his temper, which was a rare sight.

    "I... I just wanted to-" the ego tried speaking but it wasn''t even allowed to finish its sentence.

    Elias cut him mid-sentence, raging, "Return before I start dismantling you!"

    He had thought about maintaining a friendly relationship with the ego, but it was taking such unfair advantage of his kindness?

    Only he knew how many thoughts he had gone through in these last few moments, almost scared that he might die before he could even finish taking his revenge.

    The ego wanted to apologise, but it couldn''t utter a single word, scared that it might upset Elias even more. It swallowed its words, and went silent, feeling extreme guilt over its actions.

    The fighter jet returned to the Beast of Decay from behind, and landed on top.

    Elias jumped out of the cockpit after it opened, not saying a single word to the ego. Initially it wanted to ask the ego to protect him when he was going through his evolution, but he didn''t do that anymore.

    He simply walked away, still furious and filled with a multitude of emotions that he had tried to suppress, ever since he had woken up in the upper world.

    "I was wrong..." the ego mumbled, watching Elias leave. But Elias couldn''t hear it, as he wasn''t in physical contact with the fighter jet.

    Elias sat down, far away from the fighter jet. He pulled out the Growth Stone, and consumed it right away even if his mental state wasn''t perfect for it.

 Chapter 72 - 72: First Evolution

    The Growth Stone felt like a lump of fire as it went down Elias''s throat. It burned, but not with physical pain. Instead, it was strange, unfamiliar heat that quickly spread outwards, like warmth reaching into every cell within his body.

    There was no pain for the first few minutes, but when the pain arrived, it came like a storm that made him grit his teeth. The burning sensation within his body intensified and became more painful. The extreme pain made it hard to breathe as his vision turned red.

    Amidst his blurry vision, he saw multiple system screens appearing all around him. However, all of them were glitching so badly that he couldn''t even read what was written on them.

    The more he looked at the glitching screens, the more he felt as if his head was splitting apart. It was so painful that he was forced to close his eyes, as tears trickled down his cheeks.

    The Ego watched him look like he was dying in pain, and grew frightened. Why was he going through such pain? Wasn''t it just his first evolution?

    As far as he knew, the first evolution was not supposed to be this painful. Even though it took a long time where one couldn''t afford to be distracted, that was the extent of the first evolution. Why was Elias''s evolution different!

    Even more shocking was that he had seen Elias''s eyes turn blood red before he closed them. The Ego wasn''t sure if it was imagining things, until it saw tears of blood trickle down Elias''s cheeks.

    There was no question about it. Something had truly gone wrong in Elias''s first evolution. It wasn''t the evolution that could be achieved with just an ordinary Evolution Stone!

    He wanted to help Elias, but he wasn''t human. He couldn''t even touch Elias, let alone try to help him. There was no one there that he could even ask for help.

    "A-are you alright?" he asked, as loud as he could. But when Elias wasn''t in contact with him, his voice was almost non-existent, and no one could hear him.

    "What do I do?!" The Ego also started panicking, trying to think of something. Unfortunately, there was nothing that it could do, except watch.

    ....

    Inside the Ship of Elten Ashborn, the ceremony of turning Lilian into an Undead was still ongoing.

    Elten was so immersed in the ceremony, that he didn''t notice a light coming out of his pocket. There was an item that had started shining brightly, but that light went unnoticed.

    If Elten had seen that thing, he would have been stunned as well. It was the object that he was supposed to give Elias right after the Awakening Ceremony. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was also the thing that he went to the Land of Frost to give to his younger brother before becoming completely distracted by Lilian''s Corpse.

    From the moment he had received this object from Aliath, it was the first time this useless object had shown any change, and it went completely unnoticed.

    ....

    As Elias went through the evolution, his body also started changing. The silver hue of his hair started changing as his signature Ashborn Silver hair became darker.

    Black roots started to appear, spreading through his silver strands like ink in water. Within moments, his hair was entirely jet black, completely different from the silver it had been just moments before.

    The veins on his face and neck became more visible with an unnatural dark energy that seemed to crawl just beneath his skin. His frail muscles also started to expand subtly. They didn''t become bulky, but they grew denser.

    The Bones of the Ancient Dragon also seemed to become more compatible with his body. His body was merging with the elements from its surroundings, greedily sucking everything around it to be used as nutrients for his evolution.

    The first collateral damage was none other than the Corruption of Constellation, which had invaded his body without his permission when he landed in the Forest of Fables.

    Normally, he would need to enter a contract with a Soul Beast to get rid of the Corruption of the Constellation. Even extraction wasn''t possible with such low material instability.

    It was different with his evolution, though. This time, he wasn''t extracting the Corruption of Constellation from his body. Instead, his body was merging with the Corruption to aid in his evolution.

    The corrupt merger, initially inflicted by the Constellation as a form of poison, was being corrected, like a virus being utilized to make the body even stronger.

    Elias couldn''t see the screens, but his Material Stability was improving as his evolution progressed. The Stability went from 4 percent to 50 percent within half an hour, and it only continued to climb with each passing second.

    The only problem was that the process wasn''t painless. Moreover, the effect of corruption on his mind, although weakened, was not completely erased.

    There was another change happening inside Elias''s body that had nothing to do with normal evolution or even the Corruption of a Constellation.

    ....

    Elias didn''t know how much time had passed during the evolution or when he had even passed out. The only thing he knew was that his body had never felt better when he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself lying on his side.

    The first thing he saw after opening his eyes wasn''t his surroundings. Instead, it was a system screen.

    .........

    First Evolution has been successfully completed. New Abilities have been unlocked.

    ...........

    "It would''ve been much more helpful if you could tell me the abilities outright instead of letting me guess," Elias complained, but he knew that was impossible. Just like last time, he would have to guess his own abilities.

    At least that''s what he thought until he saw the system screen change.

    ............

    Instructions Received. Ability List is being summarized.

    ..........

    The words on the screen changed once more, and a proper list appeared. The list arrived with a summary after each of the mentioned ability.

 Chapter 73 - 73: New Abilities

    The system panel that appeared before Elias felt like an upgraded form. It wasn''t semi-transparent anymore. He couldn''t see through it.

    It looked as though it existed in the physical realm, and not just the illusory one. He even felt as if he could reach out his hand and touch it. Moreover, there wasn''t one such system screen, but two of them.

    The words on the system panel were also different. They looked less mechanical and more like they were written by a real person. And the handwriting wasn''t unfamiliar to him.

    He recognized that handwriting, as it belonged to him in the first place. It helped him understand the things that were written better.

    The first screen showed him a list of his old abilities that seemed to have evolved along with him. Meanwhile, the second screen showed him the two new abilities that he had gained.

    .............

    Evolved Abilities:-

    1) Extraction has evolved to Precise Extraction. You can select specific materials within the material composition to only target them for extraction.

    2) Merger has evolved to Advanced Merger. You can now merge incompatible materials with living beings. The success probably may vary.

    .............

    .............

    New Abilities:-

    1) Extraction Control: Things that you have extracted, or merged, will be linked to you. You can summon them to you, as long as they are within the same realm. If the extracted material has sentience, the Extraction Control would ensure that the sentient can''t disobey you.

    2) Analysis: Allows you to analyze not just materials, but also living beings. You can access more data, aside from material composition, including potential use cases and stats.

    3) Creation Comprehension: You will be able to comprehend the things that you extract, or create to a greater extent. Effects may vary.

    4) Storage: You will be able to store things that you extract, or create with a merger.

    .............

    The first screen, which displayed his newly evolved abilities, was enough to pleasantly surprise Elias. But the second screen almost made his heart leap out of his chest.

    Almost all the new abilities he had received were extremely useful to him. And this was just the first evolution. What about the second evolution, or those that followed?

    The ability that he most urgently needed, was certainly storage since the storage realm that he could use, was nothing but a temporary ability.

    He didn''t even know when it was going to become useless, which was why he was already planning to take out all the important things from there before the seventh day.

    Another ability that he found extreme use for, was the creation control. With the creation control, he didn''t have to worry about the wavering loyalty of any ego that he could use in the future. He could command them to perfection, with no chance of betrayal.

    He didn''t know much about other abilities as he hadn''t tested them yet, but the description made him feel like they were also extremely useful abilities.

    With this evolution, he had received more things to test. And the thing that made him the most happy, was that he didn''t have to go around guessing the abilities or stumbling around to find what he could do.

    If he had to identify a flaw, there was only one. He didn''t seem to have received the one ability he had been anticipating the most.

    When he had tried to extract abilities from the students of the Dimensional Academy, he was informed that he lacked sufficient evolution. He thought that this time, he would have acquired that ability, but it was still missing.

    "Does it come after the second evolution?" he wondered. If that one ability wasn''t absent, he would have been much more pleased than he already was.

    He had heard that a person only received one or two abilities with their first evolution. Meanwhile, he had received four of them. Even though he didn''t get the ability that he wanted the most, the other abilities that came with the evolution had made up for it.

    He was in such a good mood, that he had almost stopped thinking about the behaviour of the ego that had upset him. In any case, there was no point in getting upset over it, especially since he had a way to ensure that something like this never happened again. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The moment he thought about the ego, he started looking around. "Hmm? Where is that guy?"

    He couldn''t find the ego anywhere. It had disappeared. It made his good mood disappear, as he frowned, wondering if the ego had run away. Was he again fooled?

    If the ego was trying to return to their world to find his brother, then it was really foolish. It was going to end up before the two professors, who were simply going to destroy it with a flick of their fingers.

    "Please don''t be this foolish." Elias started worrying that he might already be too late.

    He didn''t know long he had been out. If it was a long time, then the jet might have already been destroyed to the point that he couldn''t even get back the materials that he used to evolve it.

    He really hoped that it hadn''t been a long time, as he prepared to summon it back with his newly gained ability.

    "Extraction Control." He used his newfound abilities. "Confirm Summon."

    There was only one thing that he had created, that was in this realm. He didn''t think he had to specify the thing that he wanted, as long as it wasn''t in pieces. And just as he thought, he wasn''t asked to confirm the target this time.

    He didn''t know how the jet was going to be summoned back, or if his ability could even manipulate the space to this extent. It was also his first time testing something like this after all.

    Fortunately, the skill seemed to have worked as a shadow started appearing in front of it. From that shadow, a fighter jet emerged that didn''t seem to be completely destroyed. Still, what Elias saw did make his expressions go dark.

 Chapter 74 - 74: The Lost Fable

    Elias saw that the jet was damaged, and the damage seemed to be more than he expected it to be.

    There were clear signs of damage all around it, with parts of the jet missing, as if they were bitten off. The wings of the jet also had deep claw marks. It was clear that the jet hadn''t returned without a fight.

    That still didn''t seem to be the biggest problem. Instead, the problem was that the Jet hadn''t returned alone. He could see someone stop the jet, that kept hitting the glass as if trying to break it. As the Jet was summoned back, another existence had come back with it.

    The damage on the jet seemed to be caused by that thing, which looked far from a human. It was clearly a beast, as it had a gryphon-like wings on its back, along with the body of a lion. It had sharp claws that seemed to match the marks on the wings.

    The claws of the beast were so sharp, that cracks were starting to develop on the glass of the Fighter Jet, on which Elias hadn''t managed to leave a single scratch when he attacked it.

    Elias was worried that the jet might have tried to return to the Forest of Fables, and might be attacked by the Professors. The reality was far different from his assumption, but not better, especially since the beast looked at him, like a prey.

    He had caught the attention of the beast, the moment that thing was summoned here with the Fighter Jet.

    At the same time, he was able to hear the voice of Ego, even though he wasn''t in contact with it. "You fool, why did you bring me back! I was trying to keep it away from you!"

    Even if the Ego didn''t know that Elias could hear him now, he still complained as he prepared to fly again to take that beast away by distracting him. It was certain that Elias was going to be hurt if he didn''t take this thing away.

    Elias was surprised by the fact that he could truly hear the thoughts of the ego. Was it because of the Creation Comprehension? He wasn''t sure. The only thing he knew was that he seemed to have misunderstood that ego in this case.

    Even though he hadn''t asked the ego to protect him, he did it willingly. He didn''t run away after abandoning him, intending to return to find Aliath. Instead, it had left to stop the beastly creature from attacking him.

    As the two of them could fly, the Jet distracted that beast and took him away to fight, even if it was to be destroyed.

    Its condition didn''t look much better either, as it looked like the glass could break at any moment. Elias couldn''t let that happen, as his creation was his treasure.

    He slowly stepped back, raised his right hand, and uttered a command, "Store."

    Before the glass of the jet could be broken, he kept it in his storage using his new ability. When he did that, he could hear the complaints of the ego becoming even more fierce as it felt like its body wasn''t under its control.

    The last thing that ego saw was Elias''s face, as he started disappearing. With the disappearance of the Ego, the beastly creature fell on the ground.

    It quickly balanced itself, as its eyes were filled with bloodlust while looking at Elias. This was the prey that he was after, and finally there were no distractions.

    "It''s been a long time since I''ve tasted fresh meat. I''m going to savor you for a long time," the beast said as it began transforming into a human form.

    Its gryphon-like wings remained, even in its humanoid form. Instead of hands, it had sharp claws that could slice through thick blocks of stone.

    "You can speak?" Elias asked, stepping back as he watched the beast transform into a humanoid form that looked more like a woman than a man.

    After transforming, the woman seemed to summon a white dress that materialized around her.

    "Analysis," Elias whispered under his breath, even as he directed a question to the beast.

    "Of course, I can speak. Did you think I am as incompetent as those insignificant fables?" the woman asked, reaching out her hand.

    A heavy gust of wind swept through the area, accompanied by an object flying at high speed. Only when the object came closer was Elias able to see that it was a heavy sword.

    The heavy sword was at least ten feet tall, that felt even taller than the woman when she was in her humanoid form.

    Elias was less interested in that sword and more interested in the details of that woman. Is she what was called a Soul Beast! Was this the kind of thing that he had to suppress?

    ............

    ~Analysing the entity¡­

    ~Reading the memories of the entity and the material composition¡­

    ~Analysing Stats¡­

    ~Forming Analysis¡­

    ............

    He waited for the analysis to finish as a loading bar appeared on a screen before him. Fortunately, the loading didn''t take long.

    ............

    Analysis has been completed. Details are being arranged in order of priority for better understanding

    ............

    ''Can you hurry up please?'' Elias thought, as he kept stepping back. With each step he took, he moved closer to the front side of the Beast of Decay, having a potential plan in mind that might be useful.

    ............

    Assigned Title: Harbinger

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: A

    Age: Three Thousand Four Hundred Years

    Description: A Fable that was born in the middle grade world of Felten after it was destroyed by a student of the Destroyer Class. On its quest for revenge, the Fable was destroyed, and it ended in the Realm of Lost Fables.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 70

    Defence: 90

    Speed: 150

    Magic: None

    Elemental Affinity: 60

    Hostility: 70

    Curiosity: 85

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 10 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 5 Percent

    ............ S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 75 - 75: A Monsters Prey

    ''With that kind of success probability, you might as well tell me that I''m going to die right here,'' Elias thought, as he looked at the probability of both the use cases that were mentioned after the analysis.

    "Why do you look so scared?" The Harbinger asked Elias, as she kept stepping closer to him. "Should I promise you that I won''t make it painful?"

    "May I ask, how you won''t make it painful? Don''t you hate us?" Elias asked the Harbinger, as he also kept stepping back, wondering how long it was going to be until he reached the end.

    At first, he didn''t know why this world was called the land of fables, and why one had to be corrupted to even enter this world. He was told that living beings couldn''t enter this world.

    After looking at the analysis, more things started making sense. This place wasn''t really a world that came into existence naturally.

    Instead, it was more like a prison for the Fables that came into existence from the unnatural death and chaos caused by the Dimensional Academy. He had a feeling that the Soul Beasts that they were told to partner up with were also these Fables.

    The Academy expected them to tame the myths that came into existence because of their hatred for them. The more he thought about it, the more messed up it became.

    The Creator Class had to take beasts that had nothing to do with them. At most, the beasts craved freedom and nothing more. But here, these so-called soul beasts wanted to devour them alive.

    "Hate you?" The Harbinger asked Elias, the corner of her lips creeping up. "Oh child, you overestimate yourself. You are just fledglings that don''t have the strength or influence to make me hate you."

    "I don''t hate you. But I do hate the person that you will become in the future," she added, as spatial cracks started appearing around the sword that she was holding. "So I will just kill you here, and maybe satiate my hunger before finding others."

    "Would you believe me if I said I don''t have any intentions of doing what you''re worried about?" Elias asked, even though he knew that the answer was no. He didn''t expect her to agree either, as he only wanted to buy more time.

    He might not be strong enough to fight her, but he was literally standing on something that was. The Beast of Decay was certainly a strong existence and had the potential to stop her. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He simply had to make this brainless fool notice her by dragging that woman before him. Along the way, he looked back for a brief moment and noticed that he was almost at the edge.

    Just a few more minutes, and he could jump down. He had already prepared to summon the jet back as soon as he jumped. The woman was definitely going to jump after him, distracting the Beast of Decay.

    At least, that''s what he thought until he heard the Harbinger''s question. "Why are you stepping back? Do you expect this thing to help you?"

    It was as if she could already read his mind before he even put his plan into action.

    "Who knows? I guess we will find out!" Elias answered as he turned around and started running away, given that the distance wasn''t great.

    Soon, he reached the end and jumped with all his might, putting every bit of strength that he had into that jump.

    "Isn''t he underestimating me?" the Harbinger mumbled, as she raised her sword at the same time as Elias summoned the Fighter Jet after jumping off the Beast of Decay.

    He didn''t explain anything to the ego, and simply used the Extraction Control to make him fly away, as he landed atop the closed Jet, holding onto something with all his might to make sure he didn''t fall down.

    "W-what are you doing above me?" The ego asked in disbelief, as it thought about slowing down since the winds were so strong, looking as if they could send Elias flying at any moment.

    The only thing that was keeping Elias on the jet was his surprisingly strong grip. Even as the strong winds created problems for Elias, he still held on as he looked back, to see what that woman was doing.

    "Hmm?" The reality itself seemed somewhat warped as he caught the sight of the woman who was still standing atop the Beast of Decay.

    To Elias''s surprise, she wasn''t chasing after them. Instead, it was the Beast of Decay that caught sight of them. Even though it was like a fool, it still saw them as prey the moment that it saw them.

    The Beast of Decay reached out its hand, to catch them like an insect. However, at the same time, the woman also raised her sword, creating a giant aura sword that seemed to slice through the sky itself.

    She also started running forward, as her wings started moving, making her rise in the air. The moment she flew past the Beast of Decay with the heavy sword, she turned around to look at the Beast of Decay and brought the Sword down, like a punishment from heaven.

    As the aura sword came slashing down, it felt as if the space itself was cracked open. The arc of aura shot out, and cut through the impenetrable body of the Beast of Decay, as if it was nothing but an insect.

    Elias watched in disbelief as the giant''s body was sliced in two halves, with each half slowly falling in different directions as the space struggled to heal.

    The moment the two halves of the Beast of Decay fell on the ground, the earth trembled and a cloud of dust rose high.

    Elias saw the sharp eyes of Harbinger as she turned towards him, right before the cloud of smoke covered her, making it impossible for him to see her.

    "She is a monster!" The Ego exclaimed.

    "And that monster seemed to have started looking at us as prey. It won''t let us escape," Elias mumbled.

 Chapter 76 - 76: Hunt the Monster

    "She won''t let us escape," Elias said, coming to the inevitable conclusion. He had hoped that the Beast of Decay might delay her a little, giving him an opportunity to escape. Unfortunately, it became clear that that wasn''t the case.

    It was also understandable why even the evolved fighter jet wasn''t able to take that woman down, instead returning almost completely damaged. That woman was in a different league.

    If a Fable of a middle world was so strong, then what about the Fables of higher worlds? Were they also in this land? He didn''t even want to think of the possibility, nor did he have time for it, as his survival was on the line.

    "I will land for a little while. After I drop you there, I''ll distract her and let her go after me. You should remain hidden and run away when we''re not here!" the Ego suddenly told Elias, who was still holding on to the small, fractional gap in the hull.

    After seeing the display of that woman''s strength, the Ego knew that she was frighteningly strong. She could have killed him in an instant when he first went to fight her, but she had simply been toying with him, as if trying to see what this interesting metal bird was.

    Her curiosity was over, and now she wasn''t in the mood to play around. If the two of them didn''t do anything, then both of them were going to die.

    To help Elias survive, it could only see one option. It was to distract that woman, giving him an opportunity to escape, if possible.

    "There is also something that I have to say to you. I know that if I don''t say it now, I''ll never have this opportunity," the ego''s voice grew weaker and slower as it started descending.

    He knew that it was probably the last opportunity he had to say something and be heard. He had been in this godforsaken world for so long that he had almost forgotten what it was like to talk to someone and get a reply.

    Throughout the years, many people tried to pull him from the Beast of Decay, but none of them were successful. They couldn''t even hear his voice telling them that it was useless.

    The ego was tied to an object, and that''s where his life began and was meant to end.

    "I am sorry for before," the ego said as his wings sliced through the wind during his descent. "I didn''t have any intention of making a mockery out of you. I just... I was wrong."

    Elias gave him a second life and the freedom to soar through the sky. In return, he hurt Elias without intending to. He had wanted to apologise to him for a long time, and this felt like the last opportunity he was ever going to have.

    "I know that I deserve all your anger. I am a fool. Maybe that''s why my master left me here? Even though I don''t want to accept it, it might be true," he said, his voice appearing directly in Elias''s mind.

    Normally, even Elias couldn''t detect many emotions in the voice of the ego, but for some reason, the ego sounded a lot like a human at that moment. Was it a change that happened because of his evolution? It was unclear.

    "I was left here, abandoned. You were right. And the moment you pulled me out, deep down, I felt happy. So can you... not hate me?" he asked, knowing that this was his last time with Elias.

    After that, he was going to disappear forever. He even thought that maybe it was for the best that he disappeared, since he was only an annoyance for everyone.

    "It looks like I won''t be able to meet my master. When you find him, can you tell him one thing for me?" the Ego asked as the jet neared the ground. "Tell him that even until the last moment, I didn''t forget him. I was waiting..."

    The jet soon reached the ground, coming to a slow halt as the dust in the surroundings was just beginning to settle.

    When the jet was no longer flying, and the constant gush of wind wasn''t trying to send him flying, Elias could finally breathe properly. He jumped down from the jet, landing next to it.

    The jet started moving away from Elias, propelled by its engine''s thrust, leaving Elias behind. Even as the ego was leaving, it hoped that Elias was at least once going to say that he forgave him. Unfortunately, those words never came.

    "I would not tell Aliath anything for you." These were the only words that came from Elias, which left the ego somewhat sad. He was sure that Elias was still angry, but he didn''t blame him.

    The jet increased the speed, leaving Elias far behind. However, just as he started rising in the air, it felt a familiar yet unfamiliar energy surrounding its body.

    He felt his surroundings turning white, as if he was being pulled in an entirely different space, just like it happened when Elias kept him in the creation space.

    "What are you-" He tried speaking, but once again, his voice was suppressed as he disappeared. Only Elias was left behind, surrounded by a large cloud of dust.

    "If you want to tell him anything, then do it yourself," he mumbled. "Because your sacrifice here wouldn''t help anyone."

    He knew that he was the target of that woman. It was highly unlikely for her to be fooled by a trick like this. And even if she was, then it was going to take her a few minutes at best to destroy the fighter jet and return here. Where could he run in a few minutes?

    Either both of them were surviving this, or none of them were surviving this. And Elias wasn''t in the mood for it to be the latter. He hadn''t survived all this time to die at the hands of a Fable.

    "She is a monster who won''t let me live. That leaves only one path for survival." He took a deep breath, patting the specks of dust off his shoulders. "I''ll have to hunt that monster."

    S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 77 - 77: Forced Merger

    Since there was no escaping the Harbinger, Elias made up his mind to do something drastic. It was something that even he would''ve advised himself against if he had any other choice. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Instead of running in the other direction, he started running in the direction that he had come from, going back toward the Harbinger.

    Even as the surroundings were shrouded in a cloud of dust, the Harbinger could see through everything clearly. After she had cut the Beast of Decay in two, she started paying attention to Elias, who was trying to get away.

    She wasn''t in any hurry to catch Elias, as she wanted to give him some hope that he could escape.

    Only when he was filled with hope could she crush it beneath her feet, just like the students of the Dimensional Academy did. She had no pity or sympathy for a child, as all of them were the same kind of people to her.

    It came as a surprise to her when things didn''t go as per her plans. Instead of running away and becoming relieved that he had gotten far away from her, Elias landed on the ground.

    Through the dust, she could see everything clearly. When she saw the jet moving away, she started smirking as she understood their plan of distraction. It also worked out in her favor, as it could make Elias even more confident.

    Once again, cold water was poured over her assumption as the jet disappeared. Moreover, instead of running away, Elias started running in her direction.

    She wanted the child to have hope of survival, so that she could crush it, but he didn''t seem like he was trying to run away in the first place.

    Even after seeing a glimpse of her strength, he was running toward her. The Harbinger landed on the ground with a frown, still holding onto the heavy sword.

    "Did that child already realize that it''s useless to run? Or is he scheming something?" She wasn''t certain what was going through Elias''s mind at the moment as he ran toward her.

    There was no way he could defeat her. Only newly recruited Students of the Dimensional Academy were sent to the Land of Fables, after all.

    Moreover, Elias was a child who was much younger than the Dimensional Academy Student who had destroyed her world. The student who had killed her had clearly gone through at least his second evolution, which was impossible for someone as young as Elias.

    ....

    The dust had completely settled by the time Elias reached the Harbinger, who stood before her Heavy Sword that was thrust halfway into the ground.

    "Have you come to beg for your life?" she asked Elias, who had been running for a long time.

    Despite his long run, Elias''s breathing was extremely stable, as if his stamina were limitless. Even he would have been surprised by it, if he weren''t immersed in other thoughts.

    "I am not naive enough to believe you will let me live if I beg." Elias stepped closer to the Harbinger, a sharp change to their first meeting, where he had tried to distance himself from her.

    He stopped only when he was within five meters of her. He glanced beside him, where the other half of the Beast of Decay was lying. It appeared like a mountain that was within arm''s reach.

    "Have you come to accept your death, then?" the Harbinger asked, pulling the Heavy Sword from the ground. Although she was uncertain of Elias''s intentions, she didn''t believe he posed a threat.

    It was clear that he was a weak child who had exhausted all his options. He was simply here because he didn''t want to run from the inevitable.

    "In that case, I will grant you a quick death." She approached him, without waiting for his answer. The moment she was within ten feet of Elias, she raised her sword as if it was as light as a feather in her grip, and aimed it at Elias''s chest.

    "If you want to blame anything, blame your luck for becoming a Destroyer," she said, as the top of her sword slowly started penetrating his flesh, painting his white overcoat red slowly.

    She was giving him a slow death, just like the death that her world had been granted at the hands of the Academy''s Demons.

    "Do you know what happened to the last person that asked me to blame others for my eventual death?" Elias felt the sharp pain as the heavy sword was slowly entering his chest.

    He raised his left hand, and touched the heavy sword, but he didn''t have the strength to stop it. Strangely enough, it didn''t seem like he had any intentions for that either. He also raised his right hand, and touched the Beast of Decay.

    Even though he seemed somewhat scared of the outside that might appear because of his plans, he didn''t hesitate in the slightest.

    He knew that running away from that woman was useless. He had already run out of materials to change the status quo significantly. In that case, the one way to survive was to get some new materials. And this time, he wanted to use that material on himself.

    "Confirm Advance Merger," he mumbled under his breath, using his upgraded ability for the first time that allowed him to merge with even the incompatible materials.

    He didn''t know the consequences of merging with incompatible materials, but he didn''t have time to care about it. As long as things weren''t drastic, he could always extract them. But if he died here, he could never return to life. The choice was clear.

    The moment he confirmed the Advanced Merger, a forced merger was initiated with the materials that he had selected. And those materials didn''t just include the Bones of the Beast of Decay, but also the sword of Harbinger, which held the essence of her own fable.

    A powerful storm rose with Elias at the core, and sent to Harbinger flying away. She couldn''t even hold onto her sword that was left stabbed in Elias'' chest.

 Chapter 78 - 78: Im a God!

    ............

    Warning! Incompatible materials have been selected! A merger may result in unexpected outcomes! Do you still want to proceed?

    ............

    A blood red screen flickered before Elias amidst the storm, as if offering him the last chance to halt the process.

    "It''s too late for second thoughts. Proceed!" Elias exclaimed as he accepted the merger, despite the warning.

    The confirmation made the screen glitch for a few seconds, before it finally disappeared. The storm around Elias only intensified, as the Sword in his hand started to disintegrate, the fragments of the sword flying inside his body to merge with him.

    The body of the Beast of Decay went through the same process, as it started transforming into specks of light that kept condensing with each passing second.

    Within minutes, the body of the Beast of Decay, that was the size of a mountain, was condensed into the size of a football. It flew inside the storm, forcefully merging with Elias''s body.

    Elias had thought that his previous merger process was painful, but this time, he truly felt what it meant to feel pain. He could feel as if his body was being split apart, a pain that even he couldn''t bear.

    It didn''t even take a few seconds, before his vision turned dark, and his body and mind started shutting down to protect him from this pain that could split his consciousness apart.

    It was like a protection mechanism to ensure that he didn''t completely break apart from the merger. Meanwhile, his body still kept going through the change.

    The Harbinger was sent flying by the storm. However, she managed to regain her balance as she landed on her feet.

    She looked at the storm that had appeared out of thin air, and asked, "Is that your last resort? Foolish. You should''ve allowed me to kill you. Because now it''ll be much more painful for you."

    She raised her hand, and summoned the sword that was left inside the storm.

    "Hmm?"

    She waited for a few seconds with her hands raised in the air, but the sword didn''t come flying for her. It made her feel strange.

    The sword was a part of her existence. It was supposed to listen to her, so why wasn''t it flying back to her? It was as if the sword was in a different realm altogether, far away from her.

    She tried again, but the situation became even worse for her as she coughed out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if a part of her existence was suddenly destroyed. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was the first time in a long while that she started panicking. Just what happened to her sword? She didn''t waste a single second and tried to force her way inside the storm, knowing that something was really wrong.

    Elias''s body was surrounded by a storm that protected his body during the merger. Even if Harbinger tried to force her way through the storm, she wasn''t able to. All her attacks were useless, as they were devoured by the storm.

    Unlike the chaos that his body was going through, Elias''s consciousness was in a much more peaceful place.

    He found himself standing in a dark space. He couldn''t feel any pain in this place, especially the one that his body was going through.

    As he was wondering if he had passed out, he noticed something else in this darkness. Right before him, there was a tall mirror.

    In the mirror, he could see a reflection. But that reflection didn''t look like him at all. The person in that reflection was much older, looking like he was in his early twenties.

    For a moment, he even wondered if that was still him. He looked at his hands, and managed to confirm that it wasn''t the case. His hands and body were still that of a twelve year old, but the reflection was of someone much older.

    As he walked closer to the mirror, he saw the reflection also stepping closer. It was truly a reflection that followed his movements.

    "Is this some subconscious trick?" Elias wondered, stopping just just a foot away from the mirror. He raised his right hand, and saw the reflection also raised its hand.

    Other than the age of the reflection being different, nothing else appeared to be strange. It felt like a weird dream, and nothing more. He stopped paying attention to the reflection, and started wondering about the status of his body.

    "I wonder what is going on outside. If I don''t wake up before the merger is complete, then will I die without even knowing what happened there?" he mumbled, as he started frowning.

    Subconsciously, his gaze fell back on the mirror as he was lost in thoughts. However, he noticed something strange. He was frowning at the moment, and there was certainly no smile on his face. Then why did the reflection look as if it was smiling?

    His frown deepened, as he started stepping away from the mirror, but the reflection in the mirror didn''t move back, which gave Elias a bad feeling.

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand came out from the mirror, belonging to the reflection. The hand grabbed Elias''s hands, and pulled him closer to the mirror.

    Elias was forcefully pulled inside the mirror, and at the same time, the reflection followed his movements, and stepped out of the mirror in a similar manner.

    "Hah, it feels much more refreshing now." The reflection, or rather, the existence that came out of the mirror, seemed quite pleased as it looked at Elias who was inside the mirror.

    Elias was hitting on the mirror to get out of there, but he couldn''t break through the mirror to get out.

    "It is useless, no matter how much you struggle. You will forever be trapped here. From now on, this body of yours belongs to me," the existence said, stretching his arms as if it had been a long time since he felt that way.

    "Who are you?!" Elias asked, as he kept struggling to get out of the mirror.

    "Did you forget me so easily, even after you took my corruption?" The reflection answered.

    "You''re a fable?" Elias exclaimed, his mind in a complete mess.

    He knew that he was corrupted by a fable that needed him to get a Soul Pet if he didn''t want to be taken over. But he was sure that the corruption was erased during his evolution.

    He had verified it with his Material Composition. Even if the corruption still existed, it should have taken a longer time to take over his body. So how?

    "A fable?" The existence asked, sounding disgusted. "Don''t group me with those embarrassing things. I''m a Constellation, or a god as you would call me! And now, this god will return to life through you!"

 Chapter 79 - 79: Everyone thinks that they are a monster, until

    "You brat, you almost ruined everything for me with your evolution." The Constellation looked at Elias in the mirror, remembering the horrifying feeling of almost being erased.

    "I don''t know what that scary ability was that suppressed my conscience to such an extent that I couldn''t even attempt anything. But I should thank you for weakening your conscience to such an extent."

    He wasn''t a fable that could be destroyed by a Soul Beast. Even the strongest fable couldn''t destroy his corruption. He was destined to return to life with time, as long as Elias didn''t die. But Elias''s evolution almost destroyed him.

    He could still feel the frightening power within that evolution that destroyed the corruption, which had intended to destroy Elias''s mind and body in order to accept him.

    Fortunately, that evolution didn''t destroy him completely. His essence and conscience were used for the merger to improve Elias even more, while he was forever suppressed within Elias''s mind as a useless existence.

    Even though he was upset with Elias for erasing his corruption, he was also somewhat glad that Elias created this weakness that allowed him a chance to be free.

    Moreover, with the essence of other fables that worked to further strengthen Elias, the Constellation felt that it was even better for him. Even if it wasn''t at its strongest, it was still able to fight back with this much, at least against a Fable of a middle world.

    The Constellation turned around and started walking away from the mirror, looking forward to returning to life after such a long time.

    "As a favor for taking your body, I will help you kill that Fable. However, don''t expect me to return this body to you. Just be a good child and stay here forever." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    When Elias''s mind was at its weakest, the suppressed conscience of the Constellation broke free. And now it had no intention of going back. It still had too many things to finish, especially things like settling the score with the person that had slayed a god like him.

    Within the mirror, Elias could be seen screaming something, but his voice never came out of the mirror. It was as if he was in a prison, that made it impossible for him to interfere with anything, just like the trap in which the constellation had found itself before.

    The roles had reversed, and Elias had ended up in that prison while his body was taken over by the constellation which returned to his body the moment that merger had finished.

    ....

    Harbinger tried to pass through the storm, but it was like an impenetrable fortress. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn''t break through.

    In the end, she was forced to give up and wait for the storm to end, and for Elias to step out of it. She was sure that he couldn''t stay within that storm all his life. Even if it was a protective ability, it couldn''t last forever.

    Just as she had expected, a few hours passed before the storm began to weaken. The winds slowed, and the storm was on the verge of disappearing completely.

    She was even able to see the vague silhouette of Elias within the weakening storm, which looked quite different from before, as if it wasn''t even the same person anymore.

    After the storm completely disappeared, she was able to see Elias even more clearly. The person that appeared before her looked quite different from the one she had seen before the storm.

    There was no child there. The person was much taller, as if his body had grown significantly. He looked like a proper teenager.

    His clothes were mostly torn apart as he had grown older, revealing his well-toned body. But more than his body, and the lack of clothes, Harbinger''s eyes were focused on his left arm.

    She could see some strange marks that had spread all over that boy''s left arm. The patterns seemed to be alive, but more importantly, they were the same patterns that were on her sword.

    She could even see spatial cracks developing and healing around Elias''s left arm, an ability that she could use with her sword only. It felt like something that should''ve been impossible for him to do.

    She could see the changes that Elias had gone through, but her sword was nowhere to be found. She couldn''t even feel it anymore. Even the other half of the Beast''s body had gone missing.

    "What did you do with my sword?" she asked Elias, still in disbelief.

    It wasn''t just Elias''s left arm that had changed. His right arm had also gone through a change, as it was beginning with the essence of decay that belonged to the Ancient Beast of Decay.

    As the Beast of Decay had a giant body, the essence of decay didn''t feel that strong. But the essence around Elias''s arms was thousands of times stronger and more destructive, as if the entire essence of the beast of decay was merged with Elias''s right arm alone.

    Elias didn''t even look at Harbinger when she questioned him. Instead, he was like a fascinated child, looking at his hands, moving his fingers, and growing fascinated by them.

    It had been a long time since he had actually felt something. He couldn''t even remember how long. He started stretching his arms and even jumping around like a child who had just discovered a playground.

    His behaviour appeared quite strange, especially since he was doing such childish things in the body of a teenager when he barely had any clothes on. The top half of his body was completely bare, and even the lower half was barely covered.

    Harbinger''s expression darkened at Elias''s complete ignorance. It even looked as if he was mocking her. He wasn''t even paying attention to her.

    "Stop ignoring me!" Harbinger demanded, as her wings spread wide. She flew, and within a blink of an eye, she appeared before Elias, grabbing him by the neck.

    She raised him in the air, and asked, "What did you do to my sword?"

    "Oh?" Elias looked at the Harbinger. "How foolish of me. I almost forgot about you. Though I did promise that I will take care of you as a gift."

    "What are you tal-" The Harbinger frowned. However, before she could even complete her sentence, she saw Elias grab her arm.

    "Do you want to know a secret?" Elias asked the Harbinger.

    He didn''t even give her a moment to answer before continuing, "Everyone thinks that they are a monster, until they come across a real monster. And I... am... that real monster."

 Chapter 80 - 80: Dangerous Consequences

    Harbinger''s eyes widened, not from his words, but from the sensation creeping up her arm. The moment Elias touched her, a coldness began to spread from his fingertips.

    It was a sensation that was far more terrifying than anything. It felt like her very existence was being unraveled, thread by thread.

    She quickly released his throat and tried to move back, but Elias didn''t release her hand. His grip was like that of a beast, with a strength that shouldn''t have belonged to one person.

    "The existence of a fable is very interesting. The longer you survive, the more dangerous you become. Someone like you shouldn''t have been on the outskirts of this land. Were you waiting for the children?" Elias asked as he landed on the ground, still holding her wrist.

    The void emanating from him grew stronger, consuming her arm at an alarming rate. Already, it had reached her elbow, turning her flesh dark.

    "What... what are you?!" Harbinger screamed, her voice filled with a fear she hadn''t felt in centuries.

    Her wings flapped furiously, trying to lift her higher, to escape, but it was no use. Elias remained grounded, like an unshakeable anchor in the ocean.

    She didn''t understand how Elias was able to erase her existence to this extent. He didn''t even have a Soul Pet yet, so how was this possible?!

    Only a fable could completely erase another fable from existence, which was why Soul Pets were a necessity for the Destroyer Class. If it wasn''t for the Soul Pets, she wouldn''t have been suppressed by the person that had destroyed her world.

    Still, that person didn''t let his soul beast devour her; instead, he trapped her in the Land of Fables. She was trapped in this world, like the other fables, suffering while fighting for survival.

    They were just materials to be used as whetstones for the future generations of Destroyers. It made them even more hostile towards the students that entered the Land of Fables.

    If they became someone''s Soul Pet, then they were going to be forced to face other Fables. Either they were going to die in the process, or they would have to take part in the destruction of other worlds. None of them wanted that, especially not to work for these Destroyers.

    If it had been up to them, they would''ve killed all the students that ever stepped foot in the Land of Fables. Unfortunately, they didn''t have such freedom. They were tied by certain rules that made them unable to do certain things.

    The stronger fables were restricted to certain domains, and they couldn''t break free from those domains in the Land of Fables. Only when the students entered their domain did they have the freedom to do anything that they wanted.

    Only the weaker fables were allowed to roam free without any domains. She was one such existence that wasn''t trapped in a domain and could move freely. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Despite that, she had been extremely cautious throughout the years, as many of the students that entered this land were like monsters.

    To protect her existence from other fables, she had ensured that she didn''t enter the forbidden regions of the Land of Fables, where more powerful fables, those that were born in higher worlds, resided.

    Throughout the years, she had survived by feasting on the weak fables, all so she could one day be strong enough to break her shackles.

    After suffering in this land for hundreds of years, she finally felt like she was strong enough. Despite that, she didn''t feel confident enough to hunt the students near the forest of fables.

    She stayed slightly farther from the forest, waiting for stray students, thinking that it was better to hunt them one by one. That''s when she saw the jet, she grew interested. She thought she had received stray prey.

    She was supposed to be able to destroy them easily. They didn''t even have a Soul Beast to erase her existence. At worst, she could just escape if she couldn''t win.

    At least that''s what she had thought. So how was it possible? How was a human devouring her existence? It should''ve been impossible for anything other than a stronger fable.

    Just what kind of a monster had entered the Academy this time, that could erase a fable without a Soul Beast? She was sure that she was going to die if she didn''t free herself right now.

    No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn''t free her from Elias''s grip. In the end, she grabbed her shoulders and ripped that arm off, separating another part of her existence and sacrificing it for her freedom.

    She didn''t waste a single second and started flying back, as she transformed into her beastly form of a lion-like creature with wings.

    The only difference was that she was missing one of her arms even in her beast form. However, even that arm which was separated from her body, had started transforming into the beastly claw.

    Once a part of her existence was erased, she couldn''t heal it anymore, at least not until she devoured other stronger fables.

    She didn''t have time to think about her arms anymore. She simply wanted to run away from the monster that could erase her existence. She had truly thought that she was a predator here, but the equation was turned on its head by this human.

    She wasn''t certain about the bizarre abilities that he had shown. Even if she was stronger, she didn''t want to fight.

    Elias watched the Harbinger fly away, while the decayed arm of hers turned into the purest form of fable''s essence, condensing into a small berry shaped sphere.

    "Please don''t run. I promised someone your life, as a farewell gift for him. It would be unfair if I break this trade after taking his body," Elias said, as he ate the small condensed sphere.

    ....

    Meanwhile, the real Elias was still trapped in the mirror, looking at a blood red screen.

    .....

    Warning! The action is not advised. It might erase all your mental protection and might have many dangerous consequences.

    .....

 Chapter 81 - 81: Astralious

    The real Elias was still trapped in a mirror, unaware of what was happening in the real world. He had tried to break free, but nothing he did worked.

    Brute force was useless and only made him feel even more trapped. It was as if the protection of his own mind was being used against him.

    Since nothing else worked, he tried his last resort. He placed his palm on the mirror and mumbled, "Please work." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Confirm Extraction!"

    He didn''t know if he could still use his abilities, as he wasn''t even in control of his body or his Bloodline.

    Most abilities were connected to a person''s body, and specifically to just one soul, which made him doubt if he could even use his.

    Fortunately, something did happen. A blood-red warning screen appeared before him.

    ....

    Warning! The action is not advised. It might erase all your mental protection and could have many dangerous consequences.

    ....

    "Confirm Extraction!" Elias yelled, seeing no point in mental protection when he was a victim of those very protections.

    ....

    Warning! The physical and mental state of the body is not optimal. Performing extraction is dangerous, and might have unintentional consequences! Would you like to proceed?

    ....

    This was the first time that he had received a second warning for the same action. But he didn''t stop here. The only alternative to doing this was to be trapped here for an eternity.

    He punched the mirror again and yelled, "Confirm extraction! Confirm extraction! CONFIRM EXTRACTION"

    It was his first time performing extraction in his own mind. Even though the target of extraction was only a small element of his conscience, he realized the kind of risks that it carried.

    He knew the longer he thought about it, the more he might start to hesitate. At this point, he wasn''t even hoping for the best but was gambling on it.

    ....

    "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?" the Constellation asked, gazing into the distant sky and appreciating its beauty.

    "Everything seems so beautiful when you are alive. I wonder how much the world outside has changed. Is that bastard still alive? I truly wonder. All I know is that things will get spicy when I get out of here."

    "Why aren''t you saying anything?" he asked, looking down at the body of the Harbinger, on which he was sitting as if it was his throne.

    Her beastly form was stained with blood, and her wings were ripped apart. One of her wings had already turned into essence and been absorbed by the Constellation. He held the other wing in his hand, using it as a fan as he admired the view.

    "You know, I really want to thank you. If it wasn''t for you, that brat wouldn''t have been forced to go crazy, giving me an opportunity to get out," he said, patting the Harbinger''s fur.

    To the world, she might have appeared as a fierce beast, but to the Constellation, she was like a small, cute pet, not even worthy of his attention.

    He thought out loud, "In fact, I should be rewarding you. In a normal situation, I might have accepted you as a follower and taken you out of here. But a promise is a promise, so I hope you won''t mind."

    He reached out his hand and stabbed it into the Harbinger''s chest, making her cry out in pain. Her core was being devoured, and she could feel her life and every memory disappearing.

    Even the memories of the world that was destroyed, which gave birth to her, were being taken away, including the reason for her existence.

    "Who... are... you?" The Harbinger asked, unable to even resist as her life was being taken away from her.

    "Are you also a fable?" At first, she didn''t believe it. But when that person talked about thanking her for letting him return to life, it made her understand what might have happened. It was the corruption of a fable!

    Normally, the person who was recently corrupted wasn''t strong right away. So she truly wondered just what kind of frightening fable she came across.

    Was it something that was born in a higher world, like the fables that ruled over their own domains that were forbidden for fables like her?

    If that was true, then she couldn''t believe her rotten luck. She found one student, and that Student itself was one that was already dead after being corrupted by a higher fable. If anything, she helped this fable, becoming his food.

    "Fable? Why does everyone keep confusing me with trash?" The Constellation asked, unable to hide his disgust. This was the second time within the last half an hour that he had been confused with a fable.

    "I am Astralious, the constellation of the Night Sky." It had been a long time since he had an opportunity to introduce himself. The last time he did that, was the day that he was killed by the person that he told his name

    "A constellation?" Harbinger''s pupils trembled, the moment she heard it. For a moment, she couldn''t even believe her ears.

    A Constellation was truly different from a Fable, that depended on their story and past to come into existence. A Constellation was an existence that was born, not from the destruction of a mere world, but from the chaos of the universe itself.

    Even in the world where she was born, a constellation was worshipped. She didn''t know what to feel about it. Should she be sad that she was dying? Or should she be happy, that her fable was being devoured by a literal god.

    It all started making sense to her. She had died, the moment she came across a constellation. There was no point in feeling sad about it.

    So what if she was dying? A god was being released into this world, something that could become a true Nightmare for the Dimensional Academy when he left this place.

    If anything, she started feeling glad, as a hint of a smile appeared on her lips. She disappeared, with a smile on her lips, as the last shreds of her story were devoured by Astralious.

    ....

    Crack~

    A crack started developing on the mirror that had trapped Elias.

 Chapter 82 - 82: Emergency Protocol

    Elias was surrounded by hundreds of blood-red screens that had started glitching, just like the time he was going through his evolution. But this time, all of them displayed only a single message.

    ............

    Warning! Mental Defences are being dismantled!

    ............

    The cracks in the mirror started to grow until the entire surface was covered. Soon, the mirror shattered into thousands of pieces, and Elias was able to step out. But the process of dismantling didn''t stop with the mirror. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The cracks that had started on the mirror had begun spreading outward, encompassing the realm where his consciousness resided. The entire realm of consciousness was breaking apart.

    Elias watched the cracks in his reality, and soon those cracks reached his own consciousness as well, as he watched his own skin start to develop cracks.

    The extraction of the mental realm was affecting his own mind, trying to dismantle it now that all protections were gone.

    "That''s enough! Stop the extraction!" Elias exclaimed, as the cracks rapidly spread across his body like a venomous snake coiling around him.

    ............

    Error! Extraction cannot be stopped before completion.

    ............

    The error only intensified the dismantling, and its speed increased. Soon, his entire body was covered in these cracks, which were trying to dismantle his consciousness from within.

    Elias looked at his reflection in the broken pieces of the mirror, which revealed his face, now covered in thousands of cracks, as if he were a statue being destroyed by the passage of time.

    He knew that extraction held a lot of risks, especially when he was using it on himself. He had taken a gamble, and he could see that he had lost.

    His own abilities were destroying him, and the only silver lining was that he wasn''t going to spend an eternity as a prisoner in the mirror.

    He took a deep breath and reached out his hand, which was covered in cracks. He picked up one of the glass pieces, bringing it closer.

    "Should I be sad that I am dying? Or should I be happy that a constellation is returning to that world in my place?" he wondered, looking into the shard of the mirror, as a small crack formed in the middle of his eye as well.

    "He might be able to bring more change than I ever could," he thought, feeling his head grow heavy. His thoughts had slowed, and he couldn''t think clearly.

    His consciousness grew so weak that he couldn''t even remain standing. He fell, still holding the mirror shard, as the entire realm around him shattered completely.

    He watched weakly, with blurry vision, as everything started turning dark. He was alone in this place, with only the fragments of the mirror that had once trapped him.

    ..............

    Warning! Mental degradation has reached a dangerous threshold. Please grant permission to initiate Emergency Protocols.

    ..............

    Elias could see that a new screen had appeared before him. However, he couldn''t see what was written on it. His eyes slowly closed, as he failed to grant any permission.

    ..............

    Permission has not been received. Please grant permission for emergency protocols!

    ..............

    There was absolute silence, as a blood-red screen kept flickering before Elias, but to no avail. The boy did not see or utter anything.

    ..............

    Permission has not been received. It is judged that the host is not in a state to consider emergency protocols. After analyzing the current status, Emergency Protocols are being forcefully initiated.

    ..............

    "That was delicious." Astralious had finished devouring the fable of Harbinger. He stood up and lazily stretched his arms.

    He looked in the direction of the Forest of Fables, where the exit from this place was hidden in plain sight. However, he could also sense that there were a few dangerous beings there. Now wasn''t the right time for him to go there.

    "I should bring some gifts for them while I''m at it," he mumbled, before turning toward the Central Region of the Land of Fables.

    He started walking towards the Central Region of the Land of Fables, where the domains of stronger fables were. He had already planned the chaos he was going to cause in the Land of Fables, to create an exit for himself.

    "If I can find some good followers amongst them, it would be even better. But I should keep my expectations low." He shook his head lightly.

    "Hmm?" He had only taken a few steps when he felt a sharp pain in his head. The pain was enough to make an ordinary person go crazy, but as a constellation, he only frowned, wondering what that was about.

    His expressions grew worse the next second, when he saw cracks starting to develop all around him. However, these cracks weren''t appearing in reality but only in his sight.

    "What did he do?!" he suddenly exclaimed, realizing that the problem isn''t in reality, but with his mind. As he hadn''t taken over Elias'' body after destroying his consciousness through corruption, there were many variables that were left behind.

    He hadn''t thought that those variables could create any problems for him since he had trapped that variable while taking control of this body. But something had seriously gone wrong.

    Within seconds, his condition grew even worse and he wasn''t even able to see anything. He thought about going back to check, but before he could even make a decision, he felt the same frightening force appear that had erased his corruption.

    His consciousness was forcefully pulled from within the body, and Elias''s body fell on the ground with a thud. Lying on the ground, he looked no different from a dead person. The only good sign was that his heart was still beating, albeit extremely slowly.

    Even as a few hours passed, Elias remained unmoving. Only his weak breathing escaped his mouth, making some flecks of dust on the ground fly.

    The sound of footsteps appeared behind Elias, and the gentle winds in the surroundings came to a sudden halt. The footsteps stopped right next to Elias.

    The owner of those footsteps grabbed Elias, and placed him on their shoulders, before walking away.

 Chapter 83 - 83: God of Night Sky

    Elias felt his consciousness being devoured, until everything went dark.

    He couldn''t feel any pain, or any sensation within his body. He thought that this was the end. But that feeling didn''t last for long, as he started to feel as if someone were flashing a bright light in his face.

    He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer surrounded by darkness or glitching red screens. Instead, he was seated upright, his back resting against something solid and smooth.

    He blinked, trying to clear the blurriness from his vision, and the world slowly returned to focus. He found himself sitting on a throne that was floating in an endless night sky.

    He could see many meteorites flying past him, but none of them dared to approach him as he remained seated like an overlord. Not far from him, there was a moon that didn''t need to rely on any sun to shine brightly.

    "Is this another transmigration?" Elias rubbed his forehead, finding the entire situation confusing. He was sure that he had been on the verge of complete destruction. So how did he end up here?

    "What are you doing here?!" Elias was still lost in thought when he heard a loud shout coming from the distance.

    The voice felt so familiar that even without looking in that direction, he knew who was speaking. It was the voice of the Constellation that had snatched his body.

    He turned toward Astralious and saw that person standing in the distance, his entire body tied in some kind of chains that kept him in place.

    "Did you also come to this next life with me?" Elias asked Astralious. He wanted to stand up and approach him, but he was somewhat scared.

    He was on a floating throne, so he was stable. But if he got off the throne, could he still walk properly? He was not on the ground, after all.

    "Next life?! What foolish thing are you talking about? This is not the next life! This is my first life... The life of the night sky," Astralious exclaimed as he fiercely resisted against the chains, trying to free himself.

    Unfortunately for him, he was trapped in those chains. Even if he wanted to free himself, he couldn''t do so. Despite being a constellation, he couldn''t resist the shackles of an unknown force that was stronger than that of a constellation.

    "Your first life?" Elias''s brows rose, as he tried to understand what was happening. Had he travelled back to the past? Or it was just him experiencing the memories of the constellation?

    He was sure that it was something that was done during the fragmentation of his consciousness. Was it the last attempt of his mind to protect his core, by letting him hide in other people''s memories that it could find?

    "I can vaguely understand why I am here. But what are you doing here?" Elias asked, Astralious, as he finally stepped down from the throne.

    If these were the memories, then he was sure that he wasn''t going to fall down. In the memories, he was more or less protected. Just as he guessed, he was able to stand on empty space, like a person walking on air.

    He didn''t approach Astralious like last time, and only walked around the throne, looking at the scenery that was beyond his imagination. This was the sight that not many could experience, especially without being inside some spaceship.

    "Shouldn''t you be controlling my body, and trying to escape from the Land of Fables?" He stood behind the throne, resting both his arms on it.

    "Are you trying to pretend? I was forcefully pulled here and trapped. Release me this instant!" Astralious raged, fiercely pulling his arms which made the chains clank.

    He wanted his freedom, but at the same time, he didn''t want anyone else to see his past either. It was a past that was embarrassing for him, as he had died, despite being a constellation.

    "Remind me again, what was the point of you taking my body, if we were both to be trapped here in the end?" Elias sarcastically asked, feeling surprisingly calm in a situation like this.

    He could accept that his body was snatched, as long as the person who did it hated the same people that he hated. He had accepted his death. But here they were, trapped, although in different ways.

    "Please tell me you killed Harbinger before being pulled here?" he asked, thinking of the worst possibility.

    If both their consciousness were in this place, that meant his body was no different than a lifeless doll. If Harbinger was still alive, then there was no point in trying to think of a way to escape from this place.

    Even if his consciousness was able to escape, there was no point if the body itself was destroyed by a fable.

    "Who do you think I am? I killed her instantly," Astralious answered, but not because he was asked a question by Elias. It was mainly because that question felt disrespectful to his abilities.

    "That is good news then. As long as no other fable finds the body, then there''s a possibility of returning," Elias mumbled, realizing that this might be for the best.

    Astralious was trapped here. As long as he could find a way out of this place, he could return to some semblance of normalcy. Moreover, once he was back in his body, he could simply extract Astralious from it with precise Extraction, erasing that threat forever.

    Unfortunately, things weren''t as simple. He was here for a reason after all. And that reason was for his own safety.

    He started pacing back and forth, wondering if he had to break free from this place, or if it was safer to remain, since it might be for the protection of his consciousness.

    "Oh, God of the Night Sky! Please save us!"

    "Oh, God of the Night Sky! Please save us!"

    Alias was lost in deep thought when he started hearing voices echoing all around him.

    "Hmm?" He raised his head and saw many small portals opening around him, revealing worlds where people were praying to the God of Night Sky. But all these prayers seemed to be coming to him.

    "Are they praying to you?" Elias asked Astralious. "You must have been quite popular when you were alive."

    Astralious simply clicked his tongue, his expressions growing darker as he lowered his head in helplessness.

    Meanwhile, Elias looked through one of the portals and saw a place where thousands of people had gathered, praying. The scene looked very normal, as he had also come from a world where praying was common. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Unfortunately, the normalcy didn''t last long as hundreds of beasts rushed into the crowd and started killing. The entire place was painted red with blood, but even in their last breaths, the people of that world prayed and begged to be saved.

 Chapter 84 - 84: You found me

    "Is that...?" Elias didn''t watch the scene until the end, and turned to Astralious. He had seen enough things like this to understand what was happening to the people who were praying to him.

    "Why are you surprised? Isn''t that what you people do best?" Astralious asked in return, raising his head. His eyes shifted to the portals, where the people who treated him like a deity and prayed to him were being slaughtered.

    "It seems to be the memory of the day that started it all." The memories of that day were still fresh in Astralious''s mind. After all, if not for this day, then everything would have been so different for him.

    "If I hadn''t gotten involved that day, then I would still be alive. But I couldn''t hold back. As a Constellation, if I couldn''t even save the last few people who worshipped me, then what was the point of being a god?"

    The scenes changed, and Elias found himself far away from that space. He found himself standing in the middle of the world that he had seen in the portal.

    When he came to his senses, he found himself holding a young girl by her throat. The girl seemed to be in her late teens, but there was a problem. The problem was that she was not breathing anymore.

    An even bigger problem was the attire of the girl. She was wearing the dress of the Dimensional Academy, and particularly of the Destroyer Class.

    The dress was somewhat different from what they currently used, but there were too many similarities. It was like the old version of the Dimensional Academy attire.

    "I had been ignoring them for quite some time, as they kept spreading like a virus to all worlds that were related to me. But I couldn''t hold myself back for an eternity, and this was the day that I descended to this world."

    Astralious''s voice fell in Elias''s ears, as he was also nearby, still trapped by the chains. The only difference was that he wasn''t resisting the chains now. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Instead, his eyes were looking at the bloody scenery, a sight created by the corpses of his followers who were praying to him even until their last breath.

    Even though he had descended, he couldn''t save many of them. He was late. Almost half of the people of this world were dead in this apocalypse by the time he had descended.

    Elias had seen the apocalypse that destroyed his own world. But the current apocalypse felt even more brutal.

    The people of this world weren''t left to die with the passage of time as the apocalypse worsened. Instead, they were actively hunted by the Beast Summoner that was in his hands.

    "So you killed the Beast Summoner?" Elias asked, as he released the corpse of the Beast Summoner that fell on the ground.

    "That''s right. I killed her, as fast as I could," Astralious said, as his eyes darted to the distance, where he saw a young child hiding, looking through the small gap in the rubble.

    "I went straight for her, as it was the fastest way to end this. After she was dead, the beasts that were summoned by her, also disappeared. So I thought that it was finally over for now," he added, as he tried reaching out his hand towards the child who was hiding in the rubble.

    The scene changed once again.

    Elias found himself back on the throne, as if he was back at the beginning. But he knew that it wasn''t the beginning, especially since he wasn''t alone there. Astralious was still chained next to him, but there was something else there now.

    In the distance, he could see a battleship bearing the familiar insignia of an Ouroboros devouring its own tail. When the gate opened, a person stepped out of the battleship, not appearing to be in any hurry.

    It was a man who looked to be in his early twenties. A long coat was draped over the man''s shoulders like a robe.

    He had his left hand inside his pocket as he walked on the empty space, his eyes as cold as ice even though he was approaching a Constellation.

    Elias''s brows rose when he saw that person as it was someone he recognized. It was none other than his father, who looked quite younger there. It was Silas Ashborn, before he became the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family.

    "He is the one that killed you?" Elias asked, almost hiding his face in his palms. With each passing day, he could feel that his family tree was getting more and more complicated.

    It was as if he was surrounded by troublemakers only, and these troubles came for him in the end. Almost all the troubles that he had faced so far, were the making of his family in one way or another.

    "You know him?" Astralious asked, slightly taken aback that Elias recognized that person so fast.

    "When you took over my body, didn''t you see any of my memories?" Elias asked, bringing his face out of hiding. He thought that Astralious knew about his identity, which made him target him in the first place.

    "I would''ve received your memories after the corruption was completed. But you destroyed it before that could even happen. Why do you think I would''ve known anything about you?" Astralious scoffed, feeling extremely frustrated.

    It was as if the person that had kicked him to the ground was asking him about the reason he was on the ground. He might have thought that Elias was mocking him, if he hadn''t known better.

    "Then why did you corrupt me?" Elias asked.

    "You think I found you?" Astralious asked, looking at Elias in disbelief. "You were the one who found me. Each leaf in the forest represents a lost fable that couldn''t be captured alive."

    "All those fables are waiting to return to life. So it''s your bad luck that you found me when no one else could."

 Chapter 85 - 85: On Time

    "It''s your bad luck that you found me when no one else could," Astralious said, but he quickly corrected himself. "Looking at my condition, maybe it''s indeed my bad luck that I found you."

    "I had been waiting for such a long time for someone to fall there and be corrupted by me. When it finally happened, I thought I could finally return to life. But who would''ve thought that I would end up with someone like you?"

    He still didn''t understand what kind of abilities Elias had, which had helped him restrict the consciousness of a Constellation, and not once, but twice! He had never heard of anything like that.

    If he had succeeded in corrupting Elias, then he could have stolen his memories along with his body. It would''ve helped him understand this boy''s abilities better. Unfortunately, that ship sailed before he could even get on it.

    "Now tell me how do you know him?" he asked Elias, who was looking at Silas Ashborn with a very peculiar gaze.

    "I don''t think you want to know," Elias answered as he watched Silas approach him.

    Astralious already hated the fact that he was trapped by a child that he tried to possess. He didn''t want to rub salt on that constellation''s wounds by telling him that he was the son of the person that had killed him in the first place.

    He paid more attention to Silas. He hadn''t thought much about it when he first saw Silas in the Ashborn Mansion. But now that he was experiencing the memories of a constellation, he could truly feel the extent of Silas''s strength.

    Silas stopped before the throne. He brought his hand out of his pocket, and raised it. Elias stood up, thinking that he was going to be attacked. After all, he already knew the outcome of this battle.

    Silus didn''t attack. He simply raised his wrist, and checked the time on his watch.

    "I should be back on time," Silas said, not caring about his surroundings in the least.

    "That bastard!" Astralious clicked his tongue, remembering this moment.

    It was still as irritating as it was before. That man came here to kill a Constellation, and instead of worrying about battle, he seemed to be worrying about getting back on time.

    After checking the time, Silas kept his hand in his pocket.

    "Are you here to kill me?" Elias looked like he was in disbelief as the words left his lips, as if his body were no longer in his control.

    Until now, he could make some changes to the memory, but when it came to the core of the memory, everything followed the same path as it had before, even when he was supposed to be Astralious.

    "I have no interest in killing you. But that annoying girl Freya asked me for a favor. So I suppose we have no choice in the matter." Silas sighed. "If I don''t do it, she''ll never let me have a day of peace with her constant bickering."

    "Besides, does it even matter? You killed someone from the Academy. Even if I let you live, the Academy will still send someone to take care of you. They don''t tolerate any interference when it comes to their examination."

    "Examination? You call this an examination? They destroyed lives! This is not an examination! This is a massacre!" Elias exclaimed, again not seeming to be in control. However, even if he had been in control, he was sure that he would have asked the same question.

    "Don''t you find it wrong? If you have strength, shouldn''t you protect others, instead of using that strength against the weak?" he asked, his voice growing louder.

    "There are some things that are beyond anyone''s control. If the world was a good place, then believe me. No one would want to do something like this," Silas answered. "Unfortunately, the world needs its demons."

    "If you don''t stop, then I will have to stop you myself! You said they would send more people to kill me? Let them! If they send ten people, I will kill ten! If they send a thousand people, I will kill a thousand!"

    Astralious felt like hiding his face in embarrassment as he heard these words in his memories.

    Now that he knew the outcome of this battle, these words had become nothing more than a source of shame. Let alone killing ten people, he hadn''t even been able to kill the one person before him.

    It wasn''t even a battle of equals. He was simply thrashed, single-handedly.

    If others hadn''t seen this memory, he could have at least lied and said that it was a fierce battle that lasted for ten days and ten nights. He could have claimed that he barely lost by half a move after running out of stamina. But the reality was completely different, as was being revealed to Elias.

    Let alone lasting for ten days and ten nights, the battle didn''t even last ten minutes. Astralious was suppressed from beginning to end, even as his body was sent flying through the moonlit surroundings.

    Elias, having experienced the battle, finally understood why Silas was considered so dangerous. In the memory, Astralious hadn''t even managed to leave a single scratch on the man, despite being a self-proclaimed god.

    The only good thing about this memory was that Elias didn''t feel the pain. It was a replay of the past, but the pain wasn''t a part of it.

    After Astralious was thoroughly destroyed, Silas called out his Soul Beast, which flew out from the void.

    This was the first time Elias had seen his father''s Soul Beast, and it was an existence that looked no less than an absolute god, and more frightening than the creature flying through the skies fitting the awakening ceremony.

    "How was I supposed to know that his Soul Beast was also a Constellation?" Astralious scoffed, watching another memory that he wanted to forget. Until now, he had been thrashed by Silas, and now it was the turn of a Soul Beast.

    Silas''s soul beast flew toward Elias, but just as it was about to kill him, everything stopped. Elias saw a familiar screen materialize before him as the memories came to a halt. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ................

    Emergency Protocol has been completed. Mental Recovery has been initiated.

    ................

 Chapter 86 - 86: Youve gone crazy

    "Emergency Protocols?" Elias looked at the screen, hearing this term for the first time. He didn''t remember seeing it previously, but it was roughly what he expected.

    Even if the protection mechanism from his mind was removed, the chances of complete collapse were still not one hundred percent.

    "It looks like the gamble didn''t fail." He sighed in relief, wondering if he was about to be sent back.

    "Hah? Wait!" The screen soon disappeared, and nothing changed. "What?"

    The memory started flowing in a regular manner, as the Soul Beast opened its jaws wide, devouring him and putting an end to these memories.

    With the end of the dream, Elias''s eyes opened, and he abruptly sat up, finding himself covered in sweat. His heart was beating so fast that it felt out of the ordinary.

    He looked at his surroundings, which felt quite normal, compared to the space where he was getting thrashed in Astralious''s memories. He was inside a room, with walls made from wooden boards.

    The room was far from spacious, and had only one bed that had a mattress that felt extremely uncomfortable now that he was awake. It was as if the mattress was filled with sharp grass.

    He was wearing a robe that reminded him of the old robes that were used in hospitals for patients. It was the only thing that was covering his body.

    "He reached out his hand to test if he was still in some kind of mental realm or if this was reality. A small portal opened before his hand, a gateway to his storage realm.

    "So it''s reality indeed," Elias mumbled as he pulled new clothes from his storage, similar in style to his older ones.

    He took off the robe after getting down from the bed and tried to put on the new clothes, only to realize that they didn''t fit him anymore. It was only then that he noticed he seemed to have grown, now having the physique of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old.

    ''Is this the effect of the merger?'' He put the clothes back, retrieved a larger size, and changed into them.

    "If you''re done appreciating yourself, shouldn''t you start finding our whereabouts? We aren''t in a garden."

    Elias had just finished getting dressed, when he heard Astralious''s voice. He quickly looked back at the source, and saw Astralious sitting on the bed, with a leg resting over the other, as if he was bored.

    "You..." Elias frowned, taking a step back. He thought that Astralious was trapped in his consciousness, giving him enough time to try to extract him. But to see him outside, left him at a loss.

    Is that what the Emergency Protocol meant? It had pushed out Astralious? But didn''t it make him more dangerous, since he wasn''t extracted?

    "What? You want to hit me?" Astralious stood up, and approached Elias, until the distance between them was only a few feet.

    "If you''re out of my mind, then why don''t you leave? We have nothing to do with each other anymore." Elias really wanted to hit Astralious, but he acted cautiously, wondering just what this person was planning.

    Even though Astralious was a threat to the Ashborn Family, that wasn''t his concern for now. He had more pressing issues, like finding out his whereabouts.

    If they were in a room, then there was going to be an owner to this place as well. And in this world, only Fables could live. It didn''t leave much doubt about the species of the owner of this place that brought them here.

    "You think I don''t want to leave?" Astralious asked, getting even closer to Elias, and soon he passed through Elias, as if he was simply a ghost.

    "You are..." Elias turned around, and watched Astralious walking towards the window, not even addressing the fact that he had just passed through him.

    "Correct. I''m not real," Astralious answered, coming to a halt before the window. "Congratulations... You have gone crazy and started seeing things."

    "Well, it won''t be the first time." Elias didn''t seem surprised, as if he had already come to terms with it.

    His muted reaction disappointed Astralious to some extent, who respected to see stronger reactions from a person that was told that they had just gone crazy.

    He didn''t know that Elias had already checked the situation with Analysis, and understood what was happening.

    "Enough, you boring brat. I am still trapped within your mind. I don''t know what that annoying ability is, but I can''t seem to free myself. I only gained enough freedom to cast protections in your mind to make you see and hear me."

    Astralious held his hands behind his back, like some great expert. "How about we make a deal? If you free me from this prison, I will try to find another host to take over. We will have nothing to do with each other, and you won''t have to worry about me either."

    "I will also owe you a favor that you can use anytime in the future. Isn''t that a good deal for you?" he asked calmly.

    Even though he didn''t show any eagerness for that answer, deep down, he really wanted to be free. He just didn''t want Elias to know how badly he wanted it.

    "I might have to disappoint you if that''s the case. I can''t free you since I don''t control that thing. Even I''m not sure how I''m still alive, or what the hell just happened."

    Elias also wanted to send Astralious on his way, to ensure that he wasn''t backstabbed in the future. Unfortunately, the only way to remove Astralious from his mind was through Extraction. But in his material composition, he couldn''t see Astralious anymore.

    He didn''t know if it was because it was something that had penetrated his consciousness deeper, because of the Emergency Protocol, but he couldn''t even extract him anymore, at least in his current state.

    .............

    Name: Elias Ashborn

    Age: Twelve

    Class: Architect (Rank 2)

    Class Grade: Ex

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 20

    Defence: 15

    Speed: 20

    Intelligence: 55 S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~Elemental Affinity~

    High affinity with space

    ~Class Skills~

    Precise Extraction (B)

    Advanced Merger (B)

    Extraction Control (C)

    Analysis (A)

    Creation Comprehension (A)

    Storage (C)

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90% Percent), Core Essence of Mid-Tier Fables (4 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (3 Percent), Bones of Ancient Beast of Decay (3 Percent)

    Material Stability: 56 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: High

    .............

 Chapter 87 - 87: Trade

    "You''re lying! How could you not know about your own abilities?"

    Astralious turned to Elias and reached out to grab him by the collar. However, his hand simply passed through, making him curse his helplessness.

    "If I knew what was happening, do you think I would have chosen a memory where I was going to be beaten up as you?" Elias answered, as he passed completely through Astralious to approach the window.

    Astralious knew that his words held some merit, but he still couldn''t come to terms with it. If Elias couldn''t free him, then didn''t it mean that he was going to be in this state forever?

    "Are you saying that I''ll be trapped here for a lifetime?" he asked.

    "It sucks, doesn''t it?" Elias answered, his tone holding a hint of mockery. It was the same fate that Astralious had left him with inside that mirror. He didn''t feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for that Constellation.

    In this world, everyone thought for themself. If that Constellation had an opportunity, he wasn''t going to hesitate even a single second before shoving him down the same fate.

    Elias looked out the window, trying to gain more understanding about his surroundings. However, it didn''t take him long to find another presence. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Not far from him, he saw someone sitting in the middle of junk items, with a screwdriver in his hand. It was an old man, that had rough white hair, as if they hadn''t been cleaned for a really long time. Even his clothes were stained with dirt and oil.

    "Is that the Fable that brought us here?" he asked Astralious, who had already looked out the window before him.

    "Why should I tell you anything if you can''t free me?" Astralious lazily walked back to the bed and sat down. "Why don''t you go out and ask him yourself?"

    "You want a reason to answer me? How about the fact that your life is tied to me? If I go out and I''m killed by him, you''ll die as well," Elias answered, as he observed the Fable, who was more immersed in what looked like nothing more than metal junk from this place.

    "Should I be scared? I would much rather be dead than trapped for eternity." Astralious fell back on the bed, unaffected by the threat. He simply closed his eyes before continuing, "It won''t be my first time dying after all."

    "When did I say that you''ll be trapped for eternity?" Elias asked, seemingly confused by Astralious''s assumption. He knew exactly which threads to pull to convince this Constellation.

    He had experienced the same thing before. He had also chosen to gamble with his life because he didn''t want to be trapped for eternity. He knew that death wasn''t a viable motivation in this situation. But what about life that came with freedom?

    "What do you mean?" Astralious suddenly opened his eyes, looking at Elias suspiciously. "Didn''t you say that you can''t free me?"

    "I said I can''t control that ability. That''s what''s stopping me from freeing you. But what about the future? Wouldn''t I be able to control it in the future? It might take ten years, or a hundred, but it''s not impossible," Elias continued, tugging at Astralious''s greed for freedom.

    "If I live, then sooner or later, you''ll be free. Even I don''t want to talk to a ghost for an eternity, after all. But if I''m dead here, then we are both dead. If you die while trapped, you won''t even return to the Forest of Fables for a second try. There will be no do-overs."

    Astralious frowned, as the offering was just too lucrative. If his freedom was really on line, then he really couldn''t afford to let this boy die, at least until he learned how to free him.

    He stood up and approached Elias, saying, "You better keep your promise. Or you will regret it."

    Elias didn''t take the threat seriously. Astralious couldn''t do anything even if he didn''t keep up that promise. But still, he didn''t tell that to this Constellation that was extremely useful for him, just based on his knowledge alone.

    "Is that the same Constellation that brought us here?" He returned to the topic at hand, and repeated his initial question.

    "From what I can see, it''s a very high tier Constellation. It was definitely one that was born in a higher world," Astralious answered, looking at the Fable that had the form of an old man.

    "If it was my old self, I could''ve crushed him with a single finger. But in your current state, that thing is no different than a nightmare in this land that can''t be compared to that little girl that almost killed you."

    "Does that mean that we are at a dead end?" Elias wondered if there was another battle waiting for him. Even if the old man didn''t look special, if Astralious was complimenting him, then he was definitely a dangerous entity.

    "I don''t think that''s the case. If it wanted to kill you, do you think you would be able to wake up with your limbs intact? I don''t believe that fable is hostile to you, at least not yet," Astralious said. "Moreover, he probably wasn''t the one that brought you here."

    "And what makes you think that?" Elias asked.

    "Because a high-tier Constellation like him would probably be trapped inside a domain, unable to leave it," Astralious explained, remembering the rules of this place. "If these rules weren''t in existence, then the students entering the Land of Fables would''ve had a much harder time."

    "Maybe we were already in his domain when we fought the Harbinger?" Elias tossed out a possibility. "That would mean that he never had to leave the domain."

    "That''s also impossible." Astralious shook his head. "That little girl wouldn''t be foolish enough to chase you inside the domain of a monster like this."

    "You might not know the territory, but a fable that has survived for such a long time cannot make a mistake like that. We definitely weren''t in his domain when we fell," he further added. "That means someone else brought us here."

    Elias summarized, "Which means there''s at least one more Fable here, who might be as strong as the Harbinger. Just great."

 Chapter 88 - 88: Incomplete Fable

    "We need to get out of here," Elias said as he walked back to the door. Even if the old man wasn''t hostile toward him, he didn''t think it was a good idea to stay when things could change at a moment''s notice.

    He opened the door, prepared to leave. However, he wasn''t able to step outside. Instead, he took a step back, frowning.

    "Oh, you''re awake." A woman was standing outside the door, holding a tray with some sliced fruits that looked barely edible.

    The woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, stepped inside the room. She walked past Elias, and placed the tray on the bed.

    "You brought me here?" Elias asked, turning around to look at the woman. At the same time, he used Analysis to see just what kind of an existence this woman was.

    ...

    Assigned Title: Lycorice

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: C

    Fable Rank: Low Rank

    Age: Ten Days

    Status: Incomplete

    Description: A Fable that was born in the lower grade world of Earth after it was destroyed by a student of the Destroyer Class.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 8

    Defence: 9

    Speed: 12

    Magic: None

    Elemental Affinity: 10

    Virus Affinity: 90

    Poison Affinity: 95

    Hostility: 0

    Curiosity: 30

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 95 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 99 Percent

    ...

    "Elias looked at the woman''s Status Screen, which left him at a loss for words. Her stats could only be described as abysmal, as they were even lower than his own. In some parameters, some of her stats weren''t even half of his.

    He had thought that the person who brought him here was at least a Mid-Tier Fable like Harbinger, but this was completely different. Not only was this Fable weak, but she was also extremely young, born only ten days ago. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    There was another thing that he found strange about this woman. It was the world where she was born. It was said to be Earth, which was the same name that his planet had.

    Was this name a coincidence? It was also highly possible that there were other worlds that held this name, but that age gave him second thoughts.

    The woman was born ten days ago, and he had been transmigrated to this world roughly a week ago. It meant his world was destroyed at least more than a week ago, but not too long ago.

    Every sign guided him in the same direction. This was a Fable that belonged to his own world. Even though she couldn''t recognise him, they had the same origin.

    "That''s right. When I found you, you were still breathing, so I brought you back," Lycorice answered. "I knew that you would wake up, but the old man refused to believe me. He even scolded me for bringing you back. Can you believe it?"

    "Anyway, you must be hungry. Why don''t you eat something? I brought you things that even humans can eat safely. It will make you feel better."

    Lycorice didn''t seem to have even an ounce of hostility, when she should''ve been brimming with it. It made Elias really confused. The more normal she acted, the stranger she appeared.

    "What a strange fable." Astralious was just as confused as Elias. "Either she is a fool, or she is acting. You should be extremely careful around her."

    Elias didn''t react to his words, even if it was the only plausible explanation. If he hadn''t seen her status screen, even he would''ve thought that she was acting. But she truly didn''t have any hostility.

    "Why did you save me?" he asked the woman. "Don''t you know who I am?"

    "What do you mean?" Lycorice tilted her head sideways, looking genuinely confused. "Why wouldn''t I save someone who needs help? What does it have to do with your identity?"

    "Maybe she really is a fool. It might be for the best. Distract her here, and then sneak away. The door is already open. We should be able to escape," Astralious suggested, glancing at the open door behind them.

    The old man was distracted with that metal junk, and the woman wasn''t clever and could be easily fooled. It was the perfect opportunity to escape.

    "What? Aren''t you going in the wrong direction? The door is that way!" he exclaimed in disbelief as Elias passed through him, approaching the woman instead.

    Instead of going out the door, Elias went to Lycorice.

    He picked up the food that was on the tray. Even though the meal didn''t look appetizing compared to the food kept in his storage ring, it was still safe.

    Through analysis, he had verified that the food was not only safe but genuinely beneficial to him. Moreover, he wanted to talk more with this woman, who was possibly the last link between him and Earth.

    "Where are you from?" He sat on the bed and took a bite from the sliced pieces of the unknown fruit.

    ...

    Your strength has increased by 0.1

    ...

    With a single bite, he was able to increase his stats, just as the analysis suggested. The growth was slow, only 0.1 points, but the best part was that it could be stacked up to a certain extent.

    ...

    Your strength has increased by 0.1

    ...

    "He took another slice and experienced the same growth, which was lucrative given his low base stats.

    "I am from right here." Lycorice answered Elias. "Where else would I be from? You ask strange questions."

    "No wonder she is so foolish." Astralious was the first to respond to her answer, offering Elias an explanation like an expert on the matter. "She is an incomplete fable. What a rare sight."

    ''Incomplete fable?''

    "It''s what we call a fable that was captured before it could completely absorb the hostility of that world, and he formed," Astralious answered, hearing the thoughts that were directed to him. "Whoever captured her, must be a complete fool to not wait long enough."

 Chapter 89 - 89: Im not like you

    "That person''s stupidity worked in your favor. If you ever find him, you should thank him," Astralious told Elias, reminding him that he was lucky the Fable that found him was one that wasn''t yet hostile to humans.

    ''Thank him? Never!'' Elias frowned at the thought alone. If he was right, then that person was most likely his brother.

    There was no way he was going to thank the person that ruined his world. If it wasn''t for that person, then he would never be in this situation in the first place. Just thinking about that person soured his mood, and he tried to distract himself.

    He focused more on his current situation, and asked the woman more questions. The only thing he changed was that he didn''t ask her about herself. His questions focused more on the high-tier fable that was outside.

    "When you brought me back, did that old man say what would happen if I woke up?" he asked, slightly lowering his guard. The situation didn''t appear to be as dangerous as he had initially thought.

    Even if the old man outside was a high-tier fable, he hadn''t tried to kill him while he was asleep. This gave him the impression that the old man didn''t really care about humans, especially since young humans like him weren''t a threat.

    "I told her to send you away after you woke up. Is there anything else you want to know?" Elias received his answer, but it didn''t come from Lycorice. Instead, it came from above. Elias raised his head and saw a speaker attached to the ceiling.

    "If you are done, then you can leave now." The voice came again, accompanied by the noise of a hammer hitting metal.

    "I can understand why she doesn''t have any hostility towards me. But why don''t you?" Elias asked, having grown certain that the old man was able to hear everything they were talking about.

    "I am not like you. I don''t live my life filled with hostility, trying to destroy everything that stands in my path. I have no interest in you or the path that you people chose. So leave."

    Elias was repeatedly told to leave. Even Astralious was telling him to listen to the old man, since there was no benefit in staying in a dangerous place like this.

    They truly made him feel like he was an uninvited guest in someone''s home, which, in some ways, was also true. He wanted to ask a few more questions, but it didn''t seem like he was welcome there anymore.

    He wanted to say a lot of things to the girl, who was also from Earth. But he resisted the urge, worried that he might corrupt the blank piece of canvas that Lycorice was.

    "The fruits were delicious. Thank you for them," he thanked the girl, before jumping off the bed and landing on his feet. With many thoughts still buried in his heart, he left the room without looking back.

    "You can come back anytime you want! I have lots of fruits!" Lycoris exclaimed, watching Elias leave.

    Hearing her words, the old man almost facepalmed himself. Here he was, trying to make them leave, and she was inviting them back again.

    Sometimes, he really thought about telling her the kind of things that these humans did to innocent people outside, but he dropped that thought, just as quickly. He didn''t want her to have the same guilt that he carried for such a long time.

    "Fortunately, that boy is wiser than her. He won''t be back," the man sighed, confirming that Elias was truly leaving. The boy had chosen a direction completely opposite to where he had been sitting, still playing it cautiously.

    Only after the boy disappeared from his sight did the man go back to hitting the piece of bent metal, attempting to straighten it.

    "Hmm?" Only a few minutes had passed before his hammer came to a stop just before it could hit the metal. He looked in the direction where Elias had gone, feeling a number of powerful presences.

    "What happens to him after he leaves this place is none of my concern." He shook his head lightly and went back to hitting the metal plate. He could stop Elias from going towards the danger, but he didn''t even bother to try.

    Just because he didn''t have hostility for humans, didn''t mean he had to save all of them. They had their own fate. If the girl hadn''t saved and brought Elias back here, he wouldn''t have even bothered to let him rest here.

    ....

    "I was right about your luck. It''s quite good," Astralious observed, trailing behind Elias. "You even survived after entering the domain of a high rank fable. Destiny seems to have plans for you."

    He continued, his voice trailing off. "If only my destiny was as good as yours. Maybe I wouldn''t be trapped here. But it''s fine. After you learn to control your abilities, I''ll be free as well. It would be such a great feeling."

    He had only seen a glimpse of that Freedom when he was possessing Elias''s body, but that feeling lasted for a short time before he was trapped again.

    "Can you please be quiet?" Elias had been silent throughout the journey, but Astralious didn''t stop talking at all, making it impossible for him to focus on the map in his hand. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He already had the ego that never stopped talking when it was outside. At least he could ignore the ego, but now he had something that was inside his head all the time. He couldn''t just stop listening to Astralious, even if he wanted.

    "Just stay silent for a few minutes. I''m trying to find our current location," he told Astralious, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. If anyone else had seen him talk to a Constellation in this manner, then would''ve been quite amazed.

    ....

    A group arrived outside the domain of a High Ranking Constellation that had told Elias to leave.

    "Is this the place?"

 Chapter 90 - 90: Bad Luck

    "Is this the place?" A woman''s voice, laced with a hint of impatience, broke through the silence. She stood at the front of the group, as she scanned the seemingly ordinary landscape.

    "According to the prophet, this should be the place," a man responded, his gaze fixed on a small handheld device. He adjusted a dial, as if verifying something. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "If we go any further, we would enter the Domain of another Overlord. We should stop right here," he suggested with a frown, seemingly hesitant about entering the Domain of a High-Tier Fable.

    "If the location given by the Prophet is correct, then that human must be inside this domain. We can''t go back without them." The woman didn''t seem like she was in any mood to stop.

    "But it''s the domain of someone we can never defeat. If something goes wrong, none of us will be able to return." The man couldn''t believe that he was seriously being told to enter someone''s domain without their permission.

    Domains were only assigned to existences that were too dangerous to roam freely. If even the Dimensional Academy didn''t allow them to roam freely, then that was enough to let him know that it was a dangerous existence.

    "Have you forgotten the person we represent? Our Lord is not a mere domain owner. He is the true master of the Land of Fables. Do you think a random domain owner is going to dare kill us?" The woman arrogantly entered the domain, feeling the laws of the universe shift.

    "We just need to tell him the name of our Lord, and he will most probably welcome us with open arms," she added, gesturing for the others to follow her inside. "And if you''re still scared, you can return on your own."

    The group looked at each other. They were all mid-tier fables, but none of them dared to look down on a high-tier fable, knowing the kind of nightmare they could be. Still, they couldn''t just leave now, as another high-tier fable was waiting for them back home.

    They entered the domain as well, albeit unwillingly.

    "If that human is here, shouldn''t he be dead already?" One of the men asked, as his tail wagged behind his back in his nervousness.

    "If he is dead, then we still need to verify it. We need to retrieve his corpse at least," the woman answered. "Now stop asking unnecessary questions!"

    The rest of the group went silent, and none made any noise. Even if all of them were mid tier-fables, their strength and influence was different from each other.

    Amongst them, the woman leading them was the strongest. They could only take her down if all of them worked together. The woman was also closer to the higher ups back home, so they had no choice but to listen to her.

    The group moved towards the center of the domain, tracing the densest energy within this domain, trying to get to the owner of this domain to ask him about the human.

    Only ten minutes had passed, before the woman raised her hand, gesturing for the others to stop. Her heightened senses picked up the sound of footsteps.

    She signalled the others, before she jumped high up, landing on a tree branch. The others also did the same, and hid themselves on tree branches, spreading out in the area as the footsteps came closer.

    Soon, they caught sight of the person, who was responsible for these footsteps. What left them surprised was that it wasn''t a Fable. Instead, it was a human.

    He wasn''t wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy, and looked a little older than the students that generally entered, but there was no doubt about his species.

    The boy was holding a map in his hand, and trying to make sense of his surroundings as he approached the place, unable to sense anything strange in his surroundings.

    Occasionally, he could even be heard talking to himself, as there was no one else next to him.

    "He must be the one." Even though the woman had never seen the person that they were after, she was certain that they had found the target.

    They were looking for a person that their high lord wanted. There was no way that person was going to be something ordinary. The boy before them, also felt extraordinary as he had the aura of a fable around him, despite being a human.

    He was also able to leave through the domain of a high fable, without so much as a scratch. His clothes didn''t have a single speck of dust either.

    She couldn''t think of anyone else being able to achieve it, other than her target, especially since the location that they had received from the prophet was the same.

    She looked at the others, and gave a signal, telling them that it was their target. The others nodded after receiving the signal. Some of them even felt relieved that they found their target without having to come across the owner of this domain.

    They prepared themselves to intercept the human. The woman was the first to jump down, landing in front of Elias. The others also jumped down, circling Elias to leave no space for him to even escape.

    "You know, I think I was a little hasty. I take back my words. You might be the unluckiest person that I have ever seen," Astralious spoke before Elias could even open his lips. "You leave one mess, and end up in another mess."

    "How did you offend them now?" he asked Elias.

    Even Elias didn''t know the answer to these questions. He didn''t even see them before. There was no way he could have offended them. But they clearly looked like they were after him.

    "Can I help you?" Elias asked, observing his surroundings. There were a total of twenty mid-tier fables, which was quite a high number for a single person.

    "If you want to blame anyone, blame your family!" The woman told Elias.

    "Of¡­ Freaking¡­ Course," Elias rubbed the back of his neck.

 Chapter 91 - 91: Greatest Weapon

    "Elias almost felt like screaming out loud in frustration. He wasn''t even close to his family. In fact, he hated many members of his family, who had directly screwed with his life.

    Despite that, everyone who hated his family came after him, as if he was responsible for everything wrong that they had done.

    He didn''t even understand if he had been reborn to take revenge on the Asbborn Family or to deal with the ones that wanted to take revenge on them. Everything seemed to be going in reverse.

    "So which one should I blame this time? Brother? Father?" he asked. "Or are you trying something new, and it''s because of my mother this time!"

    "Are you mocking us?" The woman asked, finding his words to be very confusing. "If we didn''t have to take you back alive, you would''ve been dead already."

    She didn''t know that it was simply because he had gone through this multiple times already. He had almost grown numb to this threat. The only thing this kind of threat gave him was frustration.

    "And if outside weapons weren''t useless in this world, then you would''ve been dead," Elias responded weakly. If he could use the evolved guns, then he wouldn''t even need to talk to them. He could''ve simply blown their heads off.

    "Why would treasures made outside work in the land of the dead? Is that even something you should complain about?" Astralious reacted, crossing his arms. He didn''t even understand why Elias was complaining about such a thing, instead of focusing on the situation.

    "Around twenty mid-tier fables are here to drag me away. Don''t you think I''m allowed some leeway to complain?" Elias answered, realizing that the battle before him was worse than the time he had faced Harbinger.

    He could at least protect himself from the attacks of one person, using extraction. But if so many people were to attack him at once, then his abilities were also restricted to a certain extent.

    He initially didn''t take Astralious''s mockery seriously. However, a certain word spoken by him still floated in his subconscious. It took him a moment to consider that world, which made him frown.

    "Wait a minute. What do you mean weapons made outside won''t work? Does that mean if they are made in the Land of Fables, they will work?" he asked, his voice almost trembling at the thought.

    Was this what the Professor meant when he said that his treasure was useless here? Because it was made outside? If it was really the case, then weapons weren''t really useless here. It was only weapons that were made outside. Wasn''t that a problem that could easily be solved with his extraction and merger?

    "That''s right. Weapons made outside are useless here. But those so-called modern weapons, if made inside this world, aren''t useless. Didn''t you see the things that the old man back there was making?" Astralious asked, not understanding why Elias even appeared to be so surprised.

    Even a Constellation like him knew about it, even if he had been trapped in the Forest of Fables for such a long time, then shouldn''t Elias also know it? Sometimes he even wondered just which ignorant family this boy came from.

    "In any case, why do you even need weapons? Don''t you already have the best weapons!" Astralious pointed at Elias''s hands. "Although the woman wasn''t strong enough to threaten me, the weapon that you devoured was not half bad."

    "Even I might have to put a significant effort if she had that weapon when I was taking her down. So I don''t know why you even worry about not having weapons." His voice was filled with uncertainty, as he wondered just what this boy was worried about.

    In his eyes, Elias looked like a boy that had the greatest weapon in the world, and he was still worrying about not having a small steel dagger.

    It took him a moment to realize, as his eyes lit up. He suddenly looked at Elias.

    "You don''t know, do you?" He asked. "Sometimes I really forget that you are a kid that is ignorant about so many things. Do you want me to teach you?"

    "Why is he talking to himself?" Many of the fables that had surrounded Elias were looking at each other strangely.

    The boy was surrounded from all sides with no path to escape. He was going to be dragged to a hell that was waiting for him. And instead of worrying about it, he was talking to himself like a mad person? S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even the woman looked at him weirdly. Were they sent here to capture this crazy boy? Was this crazy person really the one that they were looking for? At this point, she was starting to have second thoughts, wondering if they had actually found the right target.

    "Are you going to keep gloating over it, or will you tell me how to use the weapons that you are talking about?" Elias''s lips started twitching, as he watched Astralious laugh at him. "Don''t forget that our lives are tied. If she caught me, then we can see how much you laugh."

    "Tch, you can''t even let me have a moment." Astralious clicked his tongue, but he didn''t waste any more time. "The weapon of that woman has become a part of you. After I devoured her completely, her core essence also became one with you. It should give you complete control.

    "So all you need to do is feel the essence of that woman in your right hand, and imagine the weapon that she was carrying, and release that essence in a controlled manner. If you release too much, then it will be dangerous. But if too little, you will fail."

    "There''s no point in worrying too much about this crazy person. Just capture him. After that, we will send someone to verify with the domain owner if this was the only human here." The woman also told her men to capture Elias, who seemed less and less like a threat with the passage of time.

 Chapter 92 - 92: Try taking it from me

    "Capture him!"

    As soon as the woman gave the order, a Mid-Tier Fables moved. Chains materialized in his hands, and they felt alive as they trembled with excitement.

    Elias, on the other hand, didn''t seem interested in them. He was still thinking about Astralious''s words that informed him that he could recreate Harbinger''s weapon.

    It was a weapon that he truly couldn''t forget after seeing it once, as it was the same weapon which had sliced through the ancient beast of decay in a single strike.

    The only problem was that he didn''t really know how to create it. Even though Astralious gave him some advice, it couldn''t be any more vague.

    What did he mean by supplying essence to his right hand? He had never tried it before. He wasn''t even sure if these instructions were enough for him to succeed in the first try.

    Still, he tried to follow that advice. Even if he failed, he could always use Extraction to protect himself temporarily, so he didn''t think it was too risky for now.

    He focused on his right hand that had devoured the woman''s weapon, and held the core essence of her weapon.

    He could feel an uncomfortable sensation in his hand the moment he tried focusing on it. It was as if something was constantly there, yet it was completely unfamiliar to him.

    While he tried to create the sword, he also held another item in his left hand, prepared to perform extraction if he failed, to protect himself temporarily.

    He pictured the weapon he had absorbed, which was something that he could never forget. It was as if the memory of the weapon was imprinted onto his very soul.

    He closed his eyes for a brief moment, focusing all his will on that image, on that feeling that he had experienced the moment he touched that sword.

    "There''s no point in closing your eyes. The world around you won''t just disappear," the man said, finding Elias''s cowardice amusing.

    He had been curious about the kind of dangerous person they were here to catch, but after seeing Elias, he was quite relieved. It was a task that couldn''t be any simpler. He raised his hand, and tossed the chains towards Elias, to capture him.

    As the chains flew towards him, Elias exhaled. He only relied on his instinct, remembering the feeling of standing before Harbinger when she was about to kill him.

    He slowly opened his eyes, as a faint glow enveloped his right hand. It grew brighter, sharper, and slowly started materializing, taking a physical form.

    His hands were no longer empty. He had recreated a heavy sword that was completely identical to the sword that was used by Harbinger. It followed even the smallest of details, including the size, which was almost twice the height of Elias.

    The only thing different was that it wasn''t a sword that was trying to kill him. Instead, it was a sword that felt more like a part of him. It was something that he had created, without relying on any of his class abilities.

    The sword was just as heavy as it was when used by Harbinger. However, for someone like Elias who had completely devoured Harbinger, it felt as light as a feather.

    He raised the sword and brought it slashing down. There was no excess force behind the movement. It felt like a completely normal slash. However, the chain that was flying towards Elias suddenly trembled as the sword came down.

    The chain tried to change direction, but it was too late. The moment that sword came slashing down, space itself was split apart.

    Even the chain was split in half. Although the chain was also a mid-tier Fable weapon, it had proven completely useless before Harbinger''s sword.

    "Impossible..." The Fable who had tossed the chain felt his entire body go cold as a bright light flashed before his eyes.

    His pupils trembled as he lowered his head, watching a thin red line spread across his entire body, starting from the middle of his forehead and going down.

    "Not bad. You succeeded on the first try. It seems you might be worth teaching after all."

    Even though Astralious offered Elias only a small compliment, he was secretly surprised that the boy had actually succeeded. It wasn''t just ''not bad''; it was truly incredible.

    "This sword is amazing..." Elias didn''t care about Astralious''s compliment. He was more immersed in the sword, which felt like an incredible weapon, even better than the Sniper he had evolved. It could even manipulate space.

    "Do you even know how to properly use a sword!" Astralious asked, trying to catch Elias''s attention, who didn''t seem to be paying any attention to him.

    "I will learn as I go by," Elias replied, observing his surroundings. "Good thing we have a lot of people to practice with."

    Since these people weren''t going to let him leave anyway, it was better to use them to improve his efficiency with the weapon. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The other fables were still in a daze, wondering what they had just witnessed. A human had completely killed a fable. That in itself should have been impossible. But what left them utterly stunned was the weapon he was using.

    "Isn''t that Harbinger''s sword?" someone exclaimed after a long time, breaking the frightening silence. "How could a human possess it?"

    "Is he really human? Or are we facing another Fable?" another asked.

    They knew about Harbinger, a fable that wasn''t associated with any major domain. Despite that, she was a fable that had grown to a dangerous extent.

    Even their Domain Lord had been interested in Harbinger, mainly because of the weapon that she used. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to find that woman as she kept moving from one place to another, having no proper home.

    It was a shocking sight to see that weapon in the hands of a human, especially the one that they were here to capture.

    "How do you have that sword?" The woman leading the group asked. "It doesn''t belong with you! Drop that sword on the ground!"

    "Why don''t you try taking it from me?" Elias retorted, as he finally moved.

 Chapter 93 - 93: Its the end

    ....

    Bang~

    Bang~

    The old man was still hammering metal, trying to create something. He suddenly stopped, and looked to his left. He could see that a battle was taking place within his domain.

    "That weapon? Isn''t that the weapon of that girl?" he frowned, sensing the presence of a weapon that was extremely familiar to him. In fact, he had helped in the creation of that weapon.

    A weapon of a fable was not something that could just be taken from them. Even if they died, their weapons simply disappeared with them as they were connected to their existence and life.

    These weapons weren''t like the weapons of humans, that could change hands easily with each battle. His face was filled with confusion, as he couldn''t understand how that was possible, despite him being a high tier fable.

    "Old man, someone is fighting. Could it be them?" A young woman stepped out of the small hut, also looking in the direction of the battle.

    Even though the battle wasn''t loud, it involved mid tier fables that were the strongest existences after people like that old man. Their battles made her feel a chill and suppression.

    "I will go and check!" she suddenly said, and started running towards the direction. The old man finally moved, and appeared before her, blocking her path.

    "You will get hurt if you go there. In any case, you don''t have to worry. The people that you saved have already left this place. The people involved in that battle are just some unruly fables. That human has nothing to do with them."

    "But even if they are fables, isn''t it bad if they fought? They will get hurt." The woman looked at the old man with eyes filled with innocence.

    "They won''t get hurt. They are just playing around and having fun. If you go there, you''ll disrupt their fun. Won''t it make them sad?" the old man asked. "You just stay here. I''ll go there and make sure that nothing bad happens. If it''s me, they won''t even notice it. It won''t spoil their fun. Isn''t that better?"

    He didn''t give the woman any chance to speak, as he disappeared. At the same time, multiple metallic pillars came out from the ground, all around this area.

    A magnetic field flickered between the barrier, before a barrier rose up, surrounding this hut and the woman within, to ensure that she didn''t rush out to get herself hurt.

    The old man rushed to the sight of battle, hearing the sound of battle becoming even more intense with each passing second. There were many painful groans that couldn''t escape his senses that were accompanied by occasional explosions.

    The old man made himself invisible, as he reached the sight of battle. He didn''t interfere, and simply watched the gruesome scene, standing next to a tree, supported by it.

    The scene of battle was just as gruesome as he had expected. There were many fables lying on the ground, split in multiple halves. The remaining ones were attacking Elias at the same time.

    The old man felt like this might be the end of the battle, as the enemies had already familiarised themselves with Elias''s attack patterns, getting out of their initial shock.

    Even though Harbinger''s weapon was strong, it wasn''t completely invincible. If it was, then the girl wouldn''t have to act so cautious all this time. The people that were left in the battle were the strongest of the group, especially one particular woman.

    "Did you think that one powerful weapon is enough for you to stop us? If we weren''t told to catch you alive, then you would''ve been already dead! But that is fine. It''s enough playing around!" The woman exclaimed, as she raised her hand, revealing the dagger that she was hiding behind her back. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She tossed the dagger at Elias, a weapon that was comparable to the sword of Harbinger. At the same time, the others also attacked Elias, targeting his arms and his legs to ensure that he didn''t die in the attacks.

    There were just too many attacks for Elias to stop with his sword alone.

    "This should be the end." The old man said, almost able to predict what was going to happen. The only weapon that was targeted at his vitals was the dagger.

    Elias had no choice but to use his sword to block the dagger, but that was enough for the other attacks to target his limbs and make him unable to fight.

    If he tried to stop the other attacks with the sword, then the dagger was going to hit him. There was no way out for him.

    The old man didn''t intervene, since Elias was going to survive in the end. Moreover, it wasn''t his battle. Even if the battle was taking place within his domain, he had no interest in saving anyone, especially someone who might have a hand in Harbinger''s death.

    They had saved him once. It was already enough. There was no need to go to fight for him, since he didn''t know who had sent the other side here. If they entered his domain, then they couldn''t be from a weak faction either. It was just too much of a hassle to intervene.

    He had simply come to terms with the things that were going to happen, seeing that there was no other choice for Elias. However, what happened next, made him frown.

    Elias didn''t try to block the dagger. Instead, he used the sword to block the other attacks that were aimed at his limbs. The dagger simply came for his vitals.

    "Foolish!" Even the old man couldn''t control his shock at such a foolish decision. Was this boy really a fool? Did Harbinger die at the hands of someone like him?

    It was only when he saw what happened next that his shock turned into disbelief. Elias reached out his bare hand to block the dagger, while the sword blocked the other attacks.

    "Confirm Merger." He heard the words that were spoken by Elias, albeit faintly.

 Chapter 94 - 94: Weapon Creation

    "Confirm Merger," Elias commanded. He didn''t use his bare hands this time, despite the old man initially believing that would be the case.

    As he moved his left hand, he temporarily opened a storage portal and retrieved a smaller gun, quite different from the Sniper he had used before. The portal disappeared before the dagger could touch it, and the dagger struck the gun instead.

    His instructions activated the moment the dagger touched the gun, resulting in the creation of a storm.

    Elias wasn''t at the core of the storm this time, so he quickly released the gun, which started going through the merger process with the core weapon of the mid-tier fable.

    Holding the heavy sword in his hands, he rushed out of the storm, coming straight for the woman, who seemed like she had suffered a heavy injury at the loss of her core weapon.

    The initial shock delayed her response, even though she saw Elias coming for her. The young boy raised his sword and brought it slashing down, creating another spatial slash.

    The woman watched the attack flying straight for her, her eyes widening as a trail of blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She wasn''t able to move. Or rather, her feet simply refused to move.

    She didn''t understand what had just happened. She had just attacked Elias, so why was she the one injured? Why couldn''t she feel the presence of her weapon, as if it had simply lost its connection with her, leaving her with a heavy injury?

    "Watch out!" A loud cry fell in her ears, and she felt a sideways push that sent her flying out of harm''s way. But the fable that moved her away was the one to get caught in the attack, watching the light of death flash before her eyes.

    "That was fast..." Elias didn''t chase after the woman. Instead, he looked behind him. He could see that the storm had started to weaken, which was completely different to the time he had personally merged with a weapon.

    Once again, a lot of attacks were raining on him, which he managed to handle, with a single slash of his sword. And the moment that storm subsided, he caught sight of the gun that fell on the ground.

    The woman had also come out of her initial shock after being pushed out of the way. She was hurt, but she knew that she was going to get even more hurt if she didn''t stop the man now. For some reason, the boy felt like a completely different person, than his initial self.

    "You are too dangerous! I can''t take you back alive! I will have to kill you!" She shrieked, as she transformed into her giant beastly form, rushing to Elias like a wild beast. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias didn''t react to the loud shriek that almost sent his eardrums trembling. He reached out his hand towards the gun, and mumbled, "Creation Control."

    One of the constellations was right next to the gun. He reached out his hand to pick the thing that Elias seemed to be interested in. But the moment his fingers were about to touch the modified him, he saw the gun disappear into thin air.

    Bang~

    He suddenly heard a strange noise, which made him raise his hand. And the thing that he saw, made him fall flat on his butt.

    He saw the gun in Elias''s left hand, aimed at the beast that was right behind him. There was a small hole in the middle of the beast''s head.

    Multiple bangs resounded one after another, creating more holes in the body of the beast, almost destroying from within. The beast could feel her own essence being used in these attacks, which left her defences useless.

    She simply watched in disbelief, as a sharp pain travelled through her entire body, almost paralyzing her.

    "Sorry, I was distracted. Were you saying something?" Elias asked the mid-tier fable, watching her body tremble in rage, pain, and helplessness.

    Almost all the other fables were frozen in place, watching their leader, whose life was flashing before their eyes. Just what was this monster? Why were the things that he used so weird yet so frightening?

    The fable that had transformed into her grotesque yet true form tried to resist the temporary paralysis, forcing its body to take a few steps forward with all its might. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing, as the beast dropped to the ground, barely reaching Elias''s feet.

    Elias raised his sword and brought it slashing down, cutting the grotesque beast in half, even though it wasn''t in any condition to fight.

    "We need to get out of here..." a fable said to the others who were frozen in fear, having lost all their courage to attack Elias.

    "No one is going anywhere this time." Elias looked back, raising the gun in the direction of the other fables who were still in their human form.

    Multiple bangs echoed in the surroundings, as the fables kept falling one after another. Some tried to attack Elias, only to be killed. Others tried to run away, but their fate didn''t change.

    Only one person was left alive. It was the man who had suggested not entering this domain in the first place.

    He was still holding onto the mechanical device in his hand, but his fingers could clearly be seen trembling as he looked at the other fables that had been destroyed by a mere human right before his eyes.

    "Tell me who sent you?" Elias asked the man as the sword in his hand started disappearing, the essence of Harbinger returning to his arm.

    "D-Domain Lord Zesten sent us here to capture you," the man said, not even trying to resist.

    For him, his life was more important than his loyalty to Zesten. At worst, he would have to live his life in hiding, unable to return to Zesten''s domain, but it was better than dying.

    "Am I supposed to know who Zesten is? You will have to elaborate further." Elias started opening the map of the land that he had received from the Painter.

 Chapter 95 - 95: The boy is coming

    "Z-Zesten... He is one of the Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain," the man exclaimed, his voice louder than usual, to show his sincerity.

    He watched Elias intently, observing his reactions while hoping to discern some clue as to what this terrifyingly human would do next.

    Elias studied the map, his brow furrowing as he located the place marked as the Shadow Domain. It was a region in the central part of the Land of Fables, but it was marked as one of the most forbidden places on the map.

    While other domains were also dangerous, the Shadow Domain was in an entirely different league altogether, since it didn''t just have one Domain Lord.

    According to the description on the map, the Shadow Domain had at least five Domain Lords. The map advised them to stay away from that place at any cost, as the Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain were a nightmare level existence.

    "It''s a Domain that we call the King''s Land," the man explained, feeling slightly nervous at Elias''s silence. "Lord Zesten is considered one of the Kings of the Shadow Domain after his father passed away, passing all his experience and strength to him."

    "Why does someone like that want me? I don''t think I have made myself known in this land. Even if he hates my family for some reason, why would he want someone like me? How would he even know about me being a part of that family in the first place?"

    He was sure that he didn''t go around flexing his identity token ever since he entered this land. He had only once revealed the family badge, and that was also to the ego. It was impossible for this to be leaked.

    For a moment, he even wondered if it was another way for Professor Grey to be messing with him. Did he already leak the news about his arrival? But even that felt unlikely.

    "I don''t know the details of the matter. I only followed instructions. The only person that might have known about it, is..." He grew silent, his gaze shifting over to the lifeless beastly creature in the distance.

    Only that woman was closer to Zesten, and had the possibility of knowing the details about this matter. He was only a guide at best, and even a porter at times.

    Elias scrolled the map back, and kept it back in his storage. Even though the answer wasn''t what he was looking for, he didn''t regret killing that woman for a single moment.

    "That''s it for the question," Elias said, as he raised the gun.

    "You fuc-" the man mumbled, but the rest of his word was drowned in the loud noise that came from the gun. He fell on the ground, his eyes left open in disbelief until the end.

    Even though he had expected something like this, since no one could let their enemies leave just because they switched sides, it still felt surreal when he was destroyed.

    "You better devour them while you have a chance. If they aren''t devoured for a long time, they will return to the forest of fables and start waiting for their next life. It would be such a waste of resources," Astralious suggested, his gaze occasionally shifting back and forth between Elias and the gun in his hand.

    He had seen that weapon in action, and it had left him at a loss. He knew that Elias was somehow able to merge with the essence of fables, but it was the first time he had seen him merge the essence with something other than himself.

    The more he observed the boy, the more bizarre he appeared. Even a high tier creator couldn''t achieve something like this, but here he was, a boy who had awakened for less than a week, achieving something impossible.

    "I know what to do with them." Elias answered, as he opened a storage portal again. This time, he brought out more things that he had taken from Leo. And almost all the things that he brought were some kind of weapon machinery.

    He had two storage abilities at the moment, with only one being a temporary ability. The problem was that this temporary ability was holding most of his items, and he couldn''t shift them to his permanent storage since only things of his creation could be kept there.

    Now, he came up with a better idea to deal with them. If he couldn''t keep anything other than his creation in his permanent storage, then he just had to upgrade these things as his creation. He even had the materials sent straight to him.

    He picked up the sniper rifle that he had used to kill the Professor. He placed it over the grotesque beastly creature that was lying on the ground, its essence slowly starting to disperse. Before it could completely disperse, he started the merger process.

    He moved over to other fables, and started merging them with other materials that he believed would be useful for him in the future.

    In the end, he called forth the Fighter Jet that was possessed by an ego, saving the best for the last. He placed the last fable, that had left him impressed in the battle, on top of the jet.

    "What is this? What just happened while I was not here?" The voice of the ego echoed in his head, feeling as if a part of its memories were missing.

    He was sure that they were being chased by a monster. And now that monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were other strange fables that felt just as strong.

    "I''ll tell you everything later," Elias answered, before starting another merger.

    Multiple mergers were taking place simultaneously, all around Elias who was in the center of the twenty storms that had separate origins.

    "Just what is this boy?" Away from the scene, the old man watched the storms. In the last few moments, he had seen the most shocking things of his life that he still couldn''t believe.

    Even if he was a high tier fable, he felt scared of the storms, a fear that seemed to originate from his core.

    Elias didn''t know that he was being watched. He was simply watching a spectacle of storms around him, like a chill guy who had discovered that his ability was useful even in this land, now that he had found a cheat.

    Even though the storms felt somewhat loud, there was something even louder. He could even hear his stomach growl, even though he had eaten a short time ago. The merger process, when applied on multiple items, made him even more hungry, as if strength for the merger was being taken from him.

    He opened his temporary storage and brought out something to eat, but as he was about to put it in his mouth, he heard a voice that made him stop.

    "Did you find that? Why has there been no update from your side?"

    He frowned and looked down, noticing that the voice was coming from the device on the ground that was being held by that man until his death. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He picked up the device on his left hand, and pressed the only button on it. "Can you hear me?"

    "Why is your voice sounding so different? It doesn''t matter. Answer me. Have you found that human? Lord Zesten is waiting for the update!"

    "Tell him that the human is coming there. So he doesn''t have to worry," Elias answered, before he took his fingers off the device before using it in his temporary storage as well.

 Chapter 96 - 96: Taking the war to the Overlords

    Elias tossed the device into his temporary storage, making it impossible for the other side to contact him without his permission.

    "Are you really planning to go there?" Astralious asked, wondering if Elias was serious, or if he had just bluffed to throw the other side off his trail for a little while.

    "I was sent here to collect a Soul Beast for myself. Even if I don''t need it anymore, one might come in handy in the future. And now that I have my cheat back, what better time is there to do it?" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias had initially planned to enter the Central Region to find a Soul Beast to remove his corruption. But even then, he had never planned to enter a place like the Shadow Domain.

    He had believed that all his tricks had become useless since weapons were useless in this world. But the realization that Astralious had given him made him realize that he wasn''t as helpless as he had initially thought.

    While he still had access to his temporary storage, it was better to put his resource to good use.

    At present, he didn''t really need a Soul Beast to neutralize his corruption, as that had already been removed by his body. But still, he felt a Soul Beast was something that could be handy for him. His father also had one, after all, which was even stronger than Astralious.

    "Is that really the reason?" Astralious asked. He didn''t know why, but he felt like it wasn''t the true reason behind Elias''s actions.

    If he needed a powerful Soul Beast, then he could always go for the old man in this domain. Why did he need to go to a more dangerous place like the Shadow Domain?

    Even if he had weapons, he couldn''t be ignorant enough to believe that they were enough for him to lord over so many High-Tier Fables in their own domain.

    He had been with Elias for a very short time, and the boy was still childish in some aspects. But this truly felt out of character for someone like him, from what he had seen so far.

    "Did you ever wonder how they managed to find me so fast?" Elias asked, as he watched the first storm slowly weaken.

    He walked over to the evolved item that had fallen on the ground. "They seem to have a way to trace me. If I don''t go to them, they will still come to me. This trip has already turned into a trap. So instead of waiting for them to realize what happened here and plan, I would rather go to them myself."

    He picked up the sniper rifle, noticing new marks that had appeared around it, brimming with the dense essence of a fable born from the death of millions.

    "That doesn''t make sense. So what if they realize what happened here? The stronger fables can''t leave the domain. They can only send mid-tier fables, which you can easily deal with." Astralious frowned, almost certain that Elias still wasn''t being completely honest with him.

    "But mid-tier fables aren''t good enough. At this point, I''m feeling a little greedy," Elias exclaimed after a brief period of silence. "Even if they tried to kill me, they can only send mid-tier fables. They are good materials, but I want more. I want stronger fables..."

    He was sent here to find a Soul Beast, but things had changed. The things that were supposed to become Soul Beasts had turned into a very useful material in his eyes.

    "If mid-tier fables can make these things so strong, then what about a high-tier fable? So I want to take advantage of the fact that they are trapped in their domain. In any case, they started it first."

    He removed the safety lock on the sniper rifle that had evolved for a second time, this time with a fable''s life essence.

    He raised the sniper rifle, aimed it into the distance, and pulled the trigger.

    "Bang!"

    A bullet, now imbued with the essence of the slain fable, tore through the air, leaving a visible trail in its wake. It seemed to bend space, distorting reality for a fleeting moment.

    The bullet travelled from one tree to another, leaving a fist sized hole in every tree that it struck with a single shot. But the bullet didn''t stop. It only disappeared from Elias''s view, going farther than his expectations.

    "Don''t you think you''re taking a little too much risk? Don''t forget that my life also depends on you," Astralious finally said, his voice a low rumble in Elias''s mind.

    "High Tier Fables can''t be compared to mid-tier ones, as they have already reached the realm of proper manifestation." He further stated, not wanting to take any unnecessary risk for Elias''s greed. "They are the apex predators of their domains. Even with your impressive weapons and strange abilities, you are still walking into a den of lions."

    Elias lowered the rifle, and tossed it back in his permanent storage, before moving on to the next item that had completed its evolution.

    "Lions, tigers, it doesn''t matter," Elias replied, his voice calm. "They''ve marked me. They want me. And now¡­ I want them. I want to see what kind of weapon a High-Tier Fable can create. I want to see the limits of what I can achieve."

    He glanced back at his temporary storage, a mental inventory of the raw materials Leo had gathered, only to be taken by him. He still had plenty of bullets, and a few other, more¡­ experimental items.

    "Besides," he added, picking up another item that was much larger than even the sniper rifle. "I''m not going in unprepared. Their weakness will become my strength."

    "Hah, you''re not going to listen to me, are you? If I wasn''t trapped here, I would''ve forcefully stopped you from doing something like this. But it looks like I''ll become no more than a spectator. Either I''ll watch you destroy yourself, or I''ll watch a miracle¡­"

 Chapter 97 - 97: A promise to someone

    Astralious desperately wanted to stop Elias from going to the Shadow Domain, but he was helpless. He couldn''t control Elias, as his own consciousness was trapped by an unknown force.

    He thought there might be a possibility of freeing himself, like last time, if Elias placed an even greater burden on his body, as he had after merging with the Fables.

    Unfortunately, the boy had done something even more bizarre, performing the merger with lifeless objects instead.

    At this point, all his plans had failed, and he could do nothing but watch Elias act as he pleased. The only consolation was that Elias was, at least, still alive.

    The storms of the merger kept disappearing one after another, and Elias stored the items in his permanent storage in preparation for his trip to the Shadow Domain.

    There was only one item that was yet to finish merging. It was the jet, which had suffered significant damage in its fight with Harbinger. Amidst the merger storm, he could occasionally hear the ego''s thoughts, which described the process as extremely painful.

    Elias approached the storm of the last merger. Unlike before, the storms didn''t harm him. They tried to push him back, but they couldn''t even leave a scratch on his clothes, let alone his body.

    "Just a little longer. It will be over really soon," Elias said, disappearing into the storm. He entered the eye of the storm to watch the changes taking place right before his eyes.

    The old man who was the owner of this Domain was still in hiding, watching everything in disbelief. There were many moments where he thought about stepping out and revealing his presence to the boy, but the things that he saw, one after another, left him with very complicated thoughts.

    He looked at the tree that was right next to him, which had a fist-sized hole in it. He still wasn''t sure if Elias had managed to notice him, or if the shot that came in his direction, only slightly off, was just a coincidence.

    When the bullet flew past him, even he had felt a sense of danger. Even if that bullet couldn''t have killed him, it still would''ve left him heavily injured if he wasn''t careful. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Just what kind of monster did that little girl save?" the old man mumbled in disbelief.

    Something that made him even more shocked than the actions of the boy were his words. He was talking about going to war with the Shadow Domain as if it was nothing but an ordinary thing in life.

    Even if he had been able to leave his domain, he never would''ve thought about doing something like this, since the Shadow Domain had five Overlords that were the oldest existences in the land of fables.

    He might have been able to deal with one or two of them, but if he went against the Shadow Domain, which was ruled by five of them, then he was sure that he could never return alive, despite being a high-tier fable himself. And the boy was planning to do it?

    "He is truly strange. But what if he could truly do it? That might change everything..."

    He had many conflicting thoughts in his mind. At times, he wondered if it was better to kill an existence like the boy, who could use fables as nothing more than raw materials to increase his own strength. But at other times, he felt hesitant.

    He wasn''t sure just what kind of existence the boy was. If he was still hiding some things, then it might be no different than challenging death itself. Moreover, he had long promised someone that he wasn''t going to kill anyone, whether they were fables or humans.

    If he had to kill that boy, then he would have to break that promise, with no certainty of success.

    He took a deep breath and came to a hard decision. He slowly turned around and started walking away.

    "I''m not like them," he said to himself, not forgetting the reason he had made a promise like this. "I will not paint my hands red. I will only create... Unless he tries to..."

    He suppressed the conflicting thoughts and left the place, returning to the small hut where the girl was waiting to hear news from him.

    He hadn''t just reached the barrier around his hut when he heard a sound that caught his attention. He raised his head with a frown and saw something that looked like a strange, metallic bird soaring through the sky with a loud yet strange roar.

    The strange thing disappeared into the distance, leaving only a trail of lightning in its wake.

    "It looks like he left..." The old man mumbled, watching the trail of lightning slowly start to disperse.

    He didn''t know what was in the future of Elias. It looked more likely that the boy was going to die in the Shadow Domain, but if that didn''t happen, then the old man didn''t even want to imagine the kind of future that boy might create.

    "I hope I didn''t make a mistake by letting that girl save him..."

    He dispersed the barrier around his residence, with no threats left in his domain anymore. He walked over to his hut to check up on the girl, only to find her lying on the bed, innocently sleeping.

    He smiled, suppressing the troublesome thoughts that had been worrying him. He returned to his workshop and picked up the hammer, and started hitting the piece of metal again.

    After the piece was straightened, he used another tool to carve a number on the metal. "3781. This should be enough."

    He kept the hammer down, and stood up while carrying the piece that he had straightened. He carried the metal piece, and walked behind the hut.

    "Command, Seventy Three."

    Following his instructions, an opening appeared in the group, revealing metal stairs that were leading down into the unknown.

    "I hope we never meet again." He looked at the sky one last time, before going down the stairs.

 Chapter 98 - 98: Offer

    .....

    "Those bastards! I kept telling them that I didn''t have the evolution stone, but they never listened! They made me waste something so precious!"

    Elias was flying towards the Central Region of the Land of Fables, but there were other students of the academy that had taken a different path.

    Amongst them was Rey, who had gone towards the South after getting away from the messy battle. He didn''t still couldn''t believe his bad luck. He didn''t even receive the evolution stone, but he had to waste an escape crystal just to get out of the battle.

    There were still some prominent scars on his body, a gift that he received from the battles. He was even limping on his feet, as blood trickled down his ankles, yet to dry.

    Even he didn''t understand where the evolution stone went, after he killed Elias. It was as if the stone just dispersed into nothingness, leaving him behind to deal with a huge mess.

    "If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn''t have chased after him to take the stone. No... It was better than I did. If he had used the evolution stone, many variables could''ve appeared. So what if I was hurt a little? At least that bastard will be rotting in hell now!''

    Even though the corner of his lips were bleeding, he was still smiling at the fact that he had killed Elias and that he didn''t need to see his face anymore. He had taken revenge for his family by killing an Asbborn.

    He was even looking forward to the moment when he could tell his father about his success. He had done something that his brothers had never managed to do.

    In every generation, his brothers had fallen behind the Ashborn Descendants. But this time, he had achieved the impossible.

    "Now as long as I get the Soul Beast that my father told me about, everything would be perfect." He walked forward with a limp as he observed the map that he had received from his family.

    Just like other maps, this map also had some dangerous areas marked in them. But there were also some other marks that guided him towards his next destination.

    "As for the other bastards, I will deal with them later!"

    Just like Rey, the other descendants of major families also had plans of their own as they approached the Soul Beasts that they had identified before even setting foot in the Land of Fables.

    All of them were guided by their families and even given resources to make it easier for them to succeed.

    In a sense, it was less of a battle between the descendants and more of a battle between their families to see who could obtain a higher-tier soul beast.

    Almost all the descendants of the Major Families were aiming for a high-tier fable. The only difference was that the fables they targeted lived near the edge of the Land of Fables, their threat level being far lower than the Nightmare-Level Fables that resided in the central region.

    There was another difference between their approach and Elias''s. They knew their limits. They understood that they weren''t strong enough to defeat the High-Tier Fables.

    Even if they could defeat them, it was impossible to turn them into a Soul Beast as long as the fable was unwilling.Their approach was more about convincing a High-Tier Fable, using the schemes passed down by their families based on their own experiences. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Some of them went south, some went east, and others went west of the Land of Fables. None of them even tried to go north, as they would need to pass through the central region for that.

    "I am Rey Esterin, a descendant of the Esterin Family. I have come to speak with you!" Rey was the first person to reach the domain of the Soul Beast he was targeting, but he didn''t enter right away.

    He knew that the moment he entered the domain, he would be at the mercy of its owner. He could even feel a heavy killing intent coming from within the domain. He stopped right outside the threshold.

    He took a small gem out of his pocket and tossed it inside the domain. "I''m sure you can see what this is."

    A few seconds passed before the earth started trembling as if something was approaching. Soon, a large beast came into Rey''s sight and stopped right before the gem.

    "A fragment of a Constellation''s Soul..." The Beast''s voice echoed, its eyes fixed on the item with greed.

    "I''m sure you understand what it means," Rey said, cautiously observing the frightening creature that could kill him in a second if it could step outside. "The complete soul can help you evolve into a Constellation, and my family holds the rest of it. Only we can help you evolve."

    "As I told you, I am a descendant of the Esterin Family. We had nothing to do with the destruction of your world or even your imprisonment. If anything, we are also enemies of the family that put you here."

    "If you agree to submit to me, not only will you receive your freedom from this hellish place, but you will also get an opportunity to evolve into a Constellation in the near future."

    It was said that one could never convince a fable to submit with brute force. The stronger the fable, the harder it was to tame it.

    Just approaching them was a shortcut to the afterlife. However, the same rules didn''t apply to people like him. He already had something that no fable could reject, especially a High Tier Fable with an extremely pure bloodline that was just perfect for it.

    He brought out the bead that was used to take a beast, something he received from the Professor. He bit his thumb, and marked the bead with his blood.

    After completing the process from his side, he tossed the bead inside the domain. The bead rolled on the ground, only to stop before the beast.

 Chapter 99 - 99: Where is it?

    "If you want freedom, then eat it and become my soul pet. You will get everything that you could ever want. Or you could rot here for an eternity. I will leave the choice to you."

    He had taken a big risk by tossing the only bead that he had received, inside the domain. If he failed here, then he couldn''t even try to take another Soul Beast. But he didn''t care. He was absolutely convinced about his success.

    Just as he hoped, the Soul Beast didn''t think for a long time, his eyes shifting back and forth between the soul fragment and the taming bead.

    The beast started transforming into a humanoid form, with a dark aura materializing around her body, forming her clothes.

    "If I craved freedom, I could''ve left with other humans that came here throughout the years. But this..." She picked up the fragment of a Constellation''s Soul, her eyes turning red in greed.

    She didn''t care about freedom to the point that she would be willing to become someone''s Soul Pet. But there were two things that managed to convince her, hidden carefully in Rey''s words.

    "You said you also hate that family? If I become your Soul Beast, will I have an opportunity to bring them to ruins?" she asked, as she placed the soul fragment of the constellation in her mouth, feeling a heavenly taste that made her feel as if she was truly floating.

    "What if I told you that I already killed their youngest Descendant before coming here? What do you think? Do you think you will have an opportunity?" Rey asked, almost certain about that woman''s answer now. Her family was right!

    There was only one way to convince her. It was to use her greed, as well as her hatred at the same time.

    "Their downfall has already started. If you come with me, you''ll be able to watch it with your own eyes. And the key to leaving this place is right before you," he said, pointing towards the contract bead.

    The woman was certain that the boy was not lying. She could verify it with her own abilities, even if she couldn''t leave this domain. At least the boy really believed his own words.

    She picked up the contract bead, and consumed it, making Rey''s eyes light up. He had received his Soul Beast, becoming the first person in the current batch to do so. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once the woman consumed the bead, the domain started breaking apart and a bright light shot straight through the sky, marking the freedom of a high tier fable, a sight that was visible all across the Land of Fables.

    ....

    "What is that?" Elias was flying to the central region, far away from Rey''s current whereabouts. But even he could see the bright light shooting into the sky, as if someone had fired a really powerful arrow straight at heaven.

    "It means a high-grade fable has entered into a contract with someone from the Academy." Astralious chimed in. "You are really ignorant about even the most basic things."

    "A high-grade fable? How?" Elias frowned, looking at the bright light that was only getting stronger with each passing second.

    He had already seen how strong the mid-tier fables were. Without his weapons, even he would''ve struggled against them. So how was it possible that someone had already finished the contract, especially with a high-grade fable?

    He knew that the others in his class were strong, but they weren''t this strong. He was absolutely certain about this.

    "Just how did they do it?" he mumbled.

    Only a few seconds had passed when he saw another bright pillar shooting through the sky from a completely different direction. Someone else had also established a contract with a High Grade Soul Beast.

    "It looks like you are going to be left behind by your friends. Instead of going to the Central Region, you should also find a weaker domain and tame a soul beast. It would be a much better use of your time."

    Astralious was still attempting to convince Elias into giving up. Even if the boy didn''t need to get a Soul Beast because of his unorthodox abilities that allowed him to kill a fable on his own, it was still an advantage to have a Soul Beast that no one could ignore.

    "If you leave without getting a Soul Beast, can you imagine the kind of mockery you will receive from the others? We should turn around and find a suitable target."

    "Who said I won''t be getting a Soul Beast. I can find a suitable one while I''m collecting materials in the Central Region. I still have the contract bead," Elias said, as he opened his temporary storage to bring out the bead.

    "Hmm? Where is it?" The moment he looked inside his temporary storage, his expressions became strange. He couldn''t find the contract bead that he had received anywhere inside his temporary storage.

    He looked inside every corner of his storage, but the item was nowhere to be found. He subconsciously started checking his pockets to see if it was there, but even his pockets were empty. The contract bead was nowhere to be found.

    "Did I drop it somewhere?" He started looking inside the cockpit, even under his feet or at the place where he was sitting, but the result was the same. The soul bead wasn''t here at all.

    He tried really hard to remember where he had last seen it, but at the moment, nothing in his mind clicked. He had gone through so much in the last few days that there were a lot of memories that were just jumbled.

    "Did you already lose it?" Astralious asked.

    "I guess I did..." Elias sat down, letting out a tired sigh. "I think I dropped it somewhere. It''s probably as good as gone now. It looks like I didn''t have a Soul Beast in my destiny in the first place. But I''m really curious. Where exactly is that soul bead?"

 Chapter 100 - 100: Soul Contracts

    "Are you sure you can afford to be so carefree? What if a weak Soul Beast consumes it? It will be bound to you forever."

    In Astralious''s eyes, Elias was someone that was ignorant about the ways of the world. He didn''t know so many things, that should''ve been basic knowledge for a person his age that came to the Academy.

    Looking at the carefree boy, he wondered if this was one of those cases where Elias didn''t know about the risks associated with getting a useless Soul Beast as their first contract.

    "Nothing like that will happen. The bead needs to have my blood, in order to initiate the contract. Even if a Soul Beast consumes it, it''ll be useless without my blood."

    This was the explanation that he had received from the Painter when everyone was given these crystal beads.

    If this information had come from Professor Grey, then he might have reason to doubt it. But it came from the Painter before the relationship between them had temporarily worsened.

    That was also a possible explanation behind the binding mechanism, so he didn''t see a reason to doubt it.

    Still, he looked at Astralious to confirm it one last time, and asked, "Am I correct?"

    "That seems to be right. But are you absolutely certain your blood didn''t touch that bead, even a single drop?"

    "Why would my blood..." Elias initially answered without thinking, but in the middle of his sentence, he paused and started thinking about it. He didn''t even know where he dropped it, so how could he be certain if his blood had touched the bead?

    If the bead was with him when he was fighting Harbinger, then it possibly could have come in contact with his blood. But if it had dropped somewhere before that, then the chances were much lower.

    "My luck can''t be that bad right?" he asked, but he only received a silence from Astralious in response.

    Even Astralious didn''t know how to answer that question, since he himself didn''t know what kind of luck this boy had. Was it bad? Or was it good? It looked like it was on the extreme ends of both these spectrums.

    He was unlucky enough to come across Harbinger, him, the high tier fable, and even the mid-tier fables that wanted to capture him. But he was also lucky enough to survive it all. So which was it? He couldn''t be certain.

    "I suppose we will find out," he answered after a long period of silence. "If you''re lucky, nothing will happen, or you might even end up with a strong soul beast. But if you''re unlucky, then..."

    He didn''t finish his sentence, and Elias didn''t want to hear either. He already understood what he was trying to say.

    "Can a person only get one Soul Beast in their life?" He asked Astralious, changing the topic from his luck.

    "Not quite. From what I know, a human can have multiple Soul Beasts. But it also depends on the number of times they have evolved. After every two evolutions, you can get one extra soul beast."

    "So if I have my second evolution, I can potentially have two soul beasts? What''s the total number of evolutions a person can go through then?" Elias asked, growing more involved in the topic.

    "Normally, I would have asked you how you could be so ignorant as to not even know this. But I suppose we have long gone past that point."

    Still trapped in Elias''s mind, Astralious subconsciously tried to facepalm, only to hear the sound of chains clanking. He wasn''t even able to slap his own head.

    ''Hah, this is going to be a long trip,'' he thought, looking at his chains.

    "Are you there?" Elias asked after a long period of silence.

    Astralious answered sarcastically, "No. I''m dead, literally."

    Elias opened his lips to respond, but he closed them before uttering a single word, as Astralious started answering on his own.

    "The number of evolutions a person can have depends on their bloodline and potential. That is why the stronger families have managed to maintain their dominance."

    "If you''re unlucky, you can only have one evolution throughout your entire life. If you''re lucky, there can be many more. The highest evolution that I had ever heard about was the principal of the Dimensional Academy, who had gone through the seventh evolution."

    "At least that was the case in my era. I am not even sure how the world outside may have changed in the time I was trapped here. Did someone manage to break past the eighth evolution? That is probably unlikely." S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As Astralious thought about the outside world, it made him feel even worse about the fact that he was trapped here. It had been such a long time since he had died, that he couldn''t even count the years.

    If Elias managed to leave the land of fables alive, then he was going to see the outside world for the first time after his death, something that he had only heard about while waiting throughout the years in the forest.

    "The Highest Potential..." Elias remembered the measurement test, which measured their potential along with their class grade.

    He had arrived late at the measurement ceremony, so he didn''t see what potential or grade the others had received, but his own potential was quite good from what he had seen. But that also made him worried.

    The number of evolutions that he could have, was quite high, maybe even comparable to the professor that Astralious talked about. It made him wonder just how many evolutions he had to even wait to get the ability that he really wanted.

    He thought that it was going to come with his first or second evolution, but now it didn''t seem so certain anymore. He even wondered just how strong his family actually was, especially his father.

    "What was the number of evolutions that the person who killed you had gone through?" he asked the one person he believed might give him a hint.

 Chapter 101 - 101: Rain hellfire

    "That freak... If I had to make a rough guess, I would say six. It was quite impressive given his age at that time. He might be on his seventh evolution already."

    Astralious wanted to have his revenge on that man, but even he knew that, as a Constellation, it was unlikely. Even when he was at his strongest, he couldn''t defeat that man. Now that he had weakened, it was only a distant dream.

    To be able to face that man, who could only have grown stronger, he needed something else. He needed to take over a human with a decent bloodline so he could play on the same field as the humans who could evolve.

    If possible, he would have loved to possess Elias, as the boy had some really fascinating abilities. He had only gone through his first evolution, but he could still trap someone like him.

    If he could possess Elias completely, then his future path could have been much better, especially since the boy didn''t seem to be from any powerful family that could threaten his existence.

    It was easier for the professors to find a fable possession, but even they couldn''t find a Constellation possession. Everything was served on a well-arranged plate for him, but he had failed.

    He didn''t think that he could possess Elias anymore, but the boy could still help him find a better host, so he wanted him to survive this land.

    "You should try to avoid that person or his family members at any cost," he reminded Elias. "If they found out about me, you would be in trouble as well. So quickly find a way to free me after you get out of here, for your own safety as well."

    "For my own safety, huh." Elias reached mildly. Out of everything that he had come across yet, the Ashborn family was the least dangerous for him since he was a part of that family itself.

    Even if they didn''t treat him well, he didn''t think that they could outright try to kill him. If they wanted him dead, he would''ve been dead already.

    He didn''t tell Astralious his real identity, and simply looked out the glass, watching another contract pillar short through the sky, from a third direction. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Throughout the journey, he saw a few more pillars rising through the sky, while the previous pillars disappeared with the completion of the contract.

    He had counted the number of pillars of light that he had seen, and they roughly matched the number of major family descendents that had entered the Land of Fables with him.

    "It looks like none of them died in the battle, and all of them contracted a High Grade Soul Beast." Even though he had come to terms with it, there was still a little bit of jealousy that appeared in the depth of his gaze.

    "It isn''t the time for you to be distracted. We are almost there. Within three minutes, we will enter the Shadow Domain." Astralious told Elias, feeling the heavy essence of the fables, despite being trapped.

    "Do you have a plan? Or are we simply going to barge inside, hoping for the best?"

    "Why would we do something so foolish? Don''t you know there are better ways to fight a war?" Elias''s gaze regained his focus as he looked ahead. "Let me show you how we fight a modern war against an enemy."

    He told the ego to land on the ground, before they could even enter the shadow domain. The ego started going down, and soon landed on the ground, merely a short distance away from the Shadow Domain.

    The cockpit opened, and Elias jumped out. He prepared to send the ego back temporarily, but he stopped when he heard the ego say something strange.

    "This place seems familiar. I think I''ve been here before," the ego said, his voice sounding somewhat confused as if he himself couldn''t remember completely.

    "If you''re not wrong, then you probably came here with Ali-" Elias subconsciously replied, but he stopped himself before he could utter that name, remembering that he had another guest as well.

    He wasn''t sure if Astralious had heard that name before, but for the time being, he didn''t want to take the risks of letting him know.

    He shook his head lightly and ended the conversation. Even if Aliath came here, that knowledge wasn''t very beneficial to him. That man was different from him, after all. Unlike Astralious, he wasn''t planning to enter the Shadow Domain like a brute force.

    He planned to enter that place, but only after arranging more materials for himself. And what better way, then to bring the materials to himself.

    He opened his Class Storage, and started bringing out a few things that he had created. "You know the best thing about this domain system? It''s that the stronger ones can''t come out. If you have enough resources, you can really rain hellfire on them."

    He brought out a heavy object that was even larger than him, and placed it on the ground. The weight of the item itself made the ground slightly tremble.

    ....

    Back inside the Shadow Domain, Zesten stood near the window, his hands behind his back. He looked out at the beautiful city that belonged to him.

    "You said the boy was captured? How long until he is brought here?" he asked, without turning around.

    "They should be back in a day, if travelling without rest," an old man answered from the back of the room.

    "I don''t keep you here for guesses, Prophet. I have already waited a long time. Give me a precise time when they will arrive."

    The old man''s lips twitched, but he said nothing. His eyes began to shine, and he started performing his calculations regarding Elias''s current location.

    The ceiling darkened under the influence of his abilities, and stars materialized above him, moving in irregular paths until they all came to a halt.

    "Hmm?" His eyes opened abruptly as he finished his calculation. "How is that possible? Even if they travelled at their fastest, they shouldn''t be..."

    He closed his eyes and opened them again, performing the calculation once more. But the answer he received from the stars was the same.

    "What is impossible?" Zesten asked, finally turning around. He saw only the old man''s face, trembling in confusion.

    "According to my calculations, he is... right outside the domain. How could that be?" he mumbled, but he soon noticed something in the corner of his vision.

    He rushed to the window and looked outside, watching something that was flying in their direction.

 Chapter 102 - 102: Advantage of the Rules

    "What is that?" The Prophet watched the strange object flying in their direction, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Based on its current trajectory, it didn''t appear to be heading for the palace, but it was still going to land somewhere within their territory.

    Even though he wasn''t sure what it was, he could sense that it was ominous. His instincts screamed at him.

    He raised his hand, and his eyes slowly turned black. A thin layer of darkness appeared before the object, creating a barrier to block it from falling.

    "What was that?" Zesten also looked curious about the strange object that had appeared in their territory.

    "Hmm? How is that..." The Prophet''s expression darkened as he saw cracks appear in his barrier. Before he could even complete his thought, the barrier of the starry sky shattered, and the object fell to the ground.

    Boom~

    The ground itself trembled as a large cloud of flames erupted where the object had fallen. The flames engulfed everything within a hundred-mile radius, and they weren''t ordinary flames.

    Even though they were at the palace, they could still hear the screams of the fables caught in the fiery cloud. Those at the center of impact were instantly destroyed. Even those farther away were not left unharmed.

    Zesten looked at the destruction caused by the object, which was even stronger than a full-strength attack from a mid-tier Fable. His gaze narrowed as he saw another object flying toward them, this time with a slightly different trajectory.

    "I expect an explanation from you about the origin of that thing by the time I''m back!" he told the prophet before flying off.

    He flew straight into the sky, in the direction of the projectile. The moment he drew closer, he reached out his hand to stop the metallic-looking object.

    Bang!

    The moment the object touched his hand, it exploded. A similarly large cloud of flames spread out, but this time, it was far enough from the ground to hurt anyone else. The only person it could devour was Zesten himself.

    A few seconds passed before the cloud of flames began dispersing, revealing a figure still standing in the sky, his long robe fluttering in the heavy winds.

    He was more or less unharmed, but his expression was unsightly as he looked at the small tear in his clothes. He patted his shoulder, extinguishing a small flicker of flame that had caught on him.

    "My Lord, are you alright?" The guards reached Zesten and asked him out of concern.

    "Go and help the others," Zesten answered while gazing into the direction where the object seemingly came from.

    His heightened senses allowed him to see far away, to the point that he was able to see a young boy standing a few hundred meters away from the Shadow Domain, next to another strangely shaped metallic object.

    "''I performed some calculations, and the attack seemed to come from the same place where...''" The Prophet tried to speak, but he still seemed hesitant as it didn''t make sense to him.

    "''It came from the place that you calculated for that human, right?''" Zesten asked coldly, already understanding what had happened.

    "''I...''" The old man was at a loss for words, realizing what it meant. He was so busy calculating the whereabouts of the boy that he failed to calculate the fate of those who were sent to capture him. He hadn''t even considered the possibility.

    He tried to explain why he might have failed, but before he could even utter a sentence, Zesten slapped him, sending him crashing into the palace walls.

    "''You have truly failed me this time.''" Zesten couldn''t believe that something like this had happened, and the Prophet hadn''t even known about it.

    He didn''t even spare a second glance at the Prophet as he started flying towards the border of the domain. The Prophet came out from the hole in the wall, the corner of his lips bleeding.

    Even though he was slapped, he still followed Zesten to the border of the Shadow Domain. But they weren''t alone. There were a few more prominent figures in the Shadow Domain who had sensed the disturbance caused by the explosions.

    When they heard that Zesten had left his territory, they grew even more curious and decided to investigate as well."

    It took Zesten merely a few seconds to reach the border of the Shadow Domain. But even he couldn''t go beyond that point, being restricted to forever be trapped within the domain as a high-grade Fable.

    He stopped on the other side of the border, looking at the boy that was merely a few hundred meters away from him.

    "Interesting. Looks like we caught the fish on the first try," Elias mumbled, looking through the scope on the Sniper. With improved vision from the scope, he was able to perform analysis on the person and verify that it was indeed Zesten.

    .......

    Assigned Title: Zesten

    Species: Fable

    Fable Grade: S S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Fable Rank: Peak-Rank Fable

    Age: Two Thousand Years

    Description: A Fable that was born in the Land of Fables. It evolved from a mid-tier fable to a peak tier fable after devouring his father, inheriting the essence of the high grade world of Zephyria that was destroyed in a great war between worlds.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 250

    Defence: 230

    Speed: 190

    Element: Shadow

    Elemental Affinity: 80

    Hostility: 95

    Curiosity: 0

    ~Potential Use Suggestions along with Success Probability~

    -Turning into a Soul Pet: 0.001 Percent

    -Killing it and using raw materials for a new creation: 0.05 Percent

    ......

    "Those stats are quite high." That was the first thought that came to Elias''s mind when he saw the complete results of the analysis.

    "He is not alone, it seems," Astralious said, watching others arrive from different directions within the Shadow Domain. "If I''m not wrong, the others are even stronger than him. You''re lucky they can''t leave the domain."

    "That''s why I could do something like this," Elias said, understanding full well that he couldn''t defeat them in a one-on-one fight with his current strength.

    However, that was why he came here in the first place. It was to take complete advantage of the rules of this world to strengthen himself.

 Chapter 103 - 103: Perfect provocation

    Zesten stopped just short of the barrier, his fists clenched tightly. He could see the boy clearly, who had facial features similar to Aliath''s, which convinced him that this was indeed someone related to that person.

    The sounds from beyond the barrier were muffled, distorted. Even with his heightened senses, he couldn''t hear what the boy was saying, but he could feel the other domain lords approaching.

    There were five domain lords, each of them ruling over a certain part of the Shadow Domain where they had established their own cities. Only on rare occasions could more than two of them be seen together. But now, all five were here. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Four domain lords landed next to Zesten one after another, their presence so suffocating that even though they were restricted by the domain, Elias could still feel it.

    "Aren''t you going to introduce your friend to us?" one of the domain lords asked, her entire existence covered by a strange mist that made it impossible for anyone to see her.

    "It''s not often that we get a guest from the Academy," another domain lord said in a cracking voice, his skin covered in diamond-like scales that felt impenetrable.

    The third and fourth domain lords remained silent, as they observed the boy. A sense of familiarity flashed across one''s eyes, as a subtle frown appeared on his forehead.

    "He is nothing but a little child from the academy who managed to successfully provoke me. He is my prey, so you should leave," Zesten told the others, trying to dismiss them as quickly as he could.

    Even though he was frustrated about Elias''s attack, he still didn''t want others to know the boy''s identity. He wanted that boy for himself, as he was an important part of his plan.

    Meanwhile, Elias had a completely different thought process as he watched the domain lords talk amongst themselves, instead of sending someone out of the domain like he wanted.

    "It looks like the provocation isn''t strong enough."

    His fingers slowly moved to the trigger, and he pulled it, aiming straight for Zesten''s forehead. He didn''t think that he could kill Zesten with just this, but he had already accounted for failure when he pulled the trigger.

    As soon as Zesten finished speaking, his expression darkened and he turned back to Elias, watching something fly towards him, something much smaller than the projectile that had come for him before.

    He quickly reached out and brought his hand before his face, catching the bullet between his fingers just as it barely tapped the skin of his forehead.

    He lowered his hand and observed the bullet, which seemed to have a similar essence to the fable that was sent to catch the boy. It was the woman who was even somewhat close to him.

    His gaze narrowed as he clenched his fist, crushing the bullet within it. He soon saw the other domain lords looking at him strangely.

    "How interesting..." The domain lord within the mist mumbled.

    Zesten also found their gazes somewhat strange. He slowly raised his hand and touched his forehead. When he looked at his fingers, his expression became grim.

    This time, it wasn''t just a minor scratch. He was actually bleeding. The bullet had barely managed to graze his skin, so he wasn''t hurt, but he was still bleeding.

    "It managed to hurt me?"

    "It managed to hurt him?"

    Zesten, Astralious and Elias said at the same time, each looking more surprised than the other.

    The sniper rifle was upgraded with only the essence of a mid-tier fable, and a little remnant essence of lighting. He didn''t expect it to actually hurt someone like him. The reason he even attacked, was simply to provoke that person.

    "Arghhh!" Zesten''s disbelief slowly turned to raw rage, as he started screaming like a wild beast, flying towards Elias.

    Unfortunately, he crashed against the barrier that only restricted the Domain Lords from leaving. But even though the barrier made him feel the pain of being bitten by thousands of poisonous ants, he didn''t stop slamming his fist against the barrier.

    It was the second time he had bled in his life. He never thought that he would ever bleed due to a human after the last time when he was much weaker.

    After his interaction with Aliath, he had promised himself that he was never going to let another human hurt him. He even went so far as to kill his own father to become the Domain Lord, and an existence much stronger than he used to be.

    Despite that, he was bleeding? And that too from a person that was related to Aliath? His mind had almost snapped as he thought about it.

    Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried to force his way out of the barrier, he couldn''t do it. He was only pushed back each time.

    "Even we couldn''t break free of the barrier. Does he really think he can?" The other domain lords talked amongst themselves, looking at Zesten with pity.

    They had never truly considered Zesten as one of them. He was always inferior in their eyes, and he had shown that again by getting hurt like this.

    There were only two domain lords that didn''t mock Zesten for getting hurt. They were more focused on Elias, seeing a glimpse in him of another person that had wreaked havoc in this place a long time ago.

    Both of them thought of a possibility, but none of them said it out loud. How could there be a coincidence like this?

    After failing multiple times, Zesten clenched his fist, punching the ground with all his might, making the entire shadow domain and beyond tremble.

    He roared out loud, summoning his strongest followers to the border. And within half an hour, almost the entire upper echelon that served under Zesten arrived at the place, leaving his city completely unprotected.

    "I want his head! Or I''ll have all of your heads!" Zesten raged, sending the fables that served under him out of the domain, many of them being strong to the point that they could be compared to a high tier fable on their own.

    "That worked a little too well," Elias looked through the scope, and started aiming. The materials were coming to him on their own, to make him stronger.

 Chapter 104 - 104: Growth

    Elias saw the horde of powerful fables rushing towards him, many in their beastly forms. But instead of fear, he felt a rush course through his veins. This was exactly what he wanted. It was as if a buffet of souls was placed right before him, which could fuel his growth.

    He calmly adjusted his scope and lined up the first target before he pulled the trigger.

    The enhanced bullet, filled with the fragment of the essence of a mid-tier fable and a trail of lightning, ripped through the air. It found its mark, piercing the skull of a creature that resembled a giant, armored wolf.

    The beast, caught completely off guard, fell to the ground, its life fading before its eyes. Elias didn''t pause to admire his handiwork, but instead moved the aim only slightly before pulling the trigger once more.

    Another fable in its grotesque beastly was charging forward, letting out a war cry. Amidst the roar, the bullet passed through the beast''s mouth, leaving a fist-sized hole as it traveled to strike another beast in the back.

    Elias saw another fable and centered his aim on the middle of its forehead. Another pull of the trigger, and another fable was destroyed. The fable stumbled as its roar was cut short before it collapsed.

    Even though everything was happening so fast, Elias felt as if he had all the time in the world as he moved from one target to another, his reaction speed getting better with each passing second. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even he didn''t know if the feeling of getting faster with each passing second was just his misconception, or if it was really happening.

    The only person that seemed to be certain about this phenomenon was Astralious, who was observing every movement and every thought of the young boy.

    He could feel that Elias was actually getting faster as he killed more fables, which should''ve been quite impossible in general. A fable could become stronger by devouring other fables, but that was unheard of amongst the humans.

    Moreover, Elias wasn''t even devouring the fables at the moment, but simply killing them. So it felt even more strange in his eyes. Humans could become stronger by killing others? From what he remembered, that didn''t seem to be the case in the past.

    A person could only become stronger through evolution, and not by killing others, unless killing others was the path that led to their evolution. Even then, strength came through evolution.

    ''Did the outside world really change that much since I''ve been dead? Or it is something about this boy...'' Astralious thought, watching the middle tier fables falling on the ground, one after another.

    "Before the fables could even come within fifty meters of Elias, they were killed.

    "He seems to be killing the ones that could attack from a distance first. What a clever boy. It''s as if he can see everything about these fables." One of the Domain Lords couldn''t stop himself from complimenting the boy.

    If it had happened once or twice, it could have been a coincidence, but they had seen it happen many times already. Only those fables that had the ability to attack at long range were prioritised the moment they stepped out of the domain itself.

    As for the rest, they were killed before they could get too close to Elias.

    "Within minutes, the space before the Shadow Domain was littered with the corpses of Soul Beasts, many of whom had even served as generals under Zesten. It was as if he hadn''t sent these soldiers to kill Elias, but rather to become vegetables on the chopping block for him.

    Every time Zesten heard the sound of a gunshot, he felt as if his soul itself was being torn apart by the constant mockery of that man.

    The painful sounds only stopped when the last mid-tier Soul Beast fell to the ground, creating a gruesome painting of death if one were to look down from the sky.

    "Is that all?" Elias asked, as he kept searching for the next target, only to fail. There was no one left standing outside the domain.

    He had been so immersed in analyzing and shooting the Soul Beasts that the world itself had started fading from his view. He was only now starting to wake up from that daze-like state.

    "How many did I kill?" he asked Astralious, not even realizing how many Soul Beasts he had killed in total.

    "Three hundred and seven," Astralious answered subconsciously.

    Even though he was amazed by the scenes he had witnessed, he had still been subconsciously counting the Soul Beasts that were killed by Elias, a number that he didn''t believe would ever be surpassed unless there was another monster in the future.

    "That''s it?" Elias still didn''t seem satisfied with the number. "Should I try provoking him more?"

    "Do you think fables grow on trees?" Astralious scoffed, unable to believe that this was too little for this boy. "I think if he had more that were strong enough, he would''ve already sent them out to kill you."

    "Just look at his face. If he could step out of that place, I don''t even want to imagine what would happen to you."

    "If he could step out of here, do you think I would be doing this in the first place?" Elias stood up, still holding on to the sniper.

    He did think about provoking other Domain Lords in the same way, but he was sure that after seeing what happened just now, they weren''t going to fall for this trick anymore.

    "Let''s collect the harvest." He kept the sniper back, and started walking towards the mountain of fable corpses that were littered across the field.

    Meanwhile, the ego was still in the back, lost in its own thoughts as he was trying to remember something. He was sure that he had come to this place in the past with his previous master. But why? That''s what he couldn''t remember.

    He had a really bad feeling about this, as if he was missing something really important. But he just couldn''t remember anything about that trip.

 Chapter 105 - 105: Why so serious?

    Elias walked towards the lifeless fables and retrieved a small gem from temporary storage.

    Unlike the items he had received from the academy, this small crystal gem was not special in any way. It was more like a toy from Earth, swept up while Leo was looting other storage spaces during the apocalypse.

    This time, he didn''t merge the essence of the fables with any weapons. Instead, he was using these gems as temporary storage vessels for the essences.

    He placed an ordinary gem on top of the corpse of the strongest soul beast he could find before moving on to another. He selected only twenty at most, so as not to overburden his body. His eyes occasionally shifted towards Zesten, who was glaring at him.

    "Do you really not have more of them to send?" he asked, jumping down from the small mountain of corpses. He stopped right before the domain border.

    "Boy, it''s very brave of you to talk from outside?" Zesten asked Elias, standing on the other side of the domain. "Why don''t you come closer?"

    Even though there was only a small line between them, it felt like they were worlds apart. Elias could cross the boundary and enter the domain, but Zesten couldn''t leave.

    Even though he was furious to the point that he felt a burning sensation throughout his body, he couldn''t do anything but drink that poisonous rage. Even his attacks couldn''t cross the border to strike at the boy.

    "Why don''t you send more people to bring me inside? You seem to have a knack for sending people after me," Elias asked, making sure that he stayed at least a few feet away from the border so as to not walk inside accidentally. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You are just as vile as that person." Zesten''s lips twitched, hearing the constant mockery in the boy''s words.

    Normally, a person would never dare look in his eyes when talking to him. They would always have their heads lowered in respect and devotion when addressing him, but this boy was looking straight in his eyes.

    The worst part for him was that these eyes were similar to the eyes of the person that had left such a deep and infuriating impression on him which he couldn''t forget until now.

    "Are you his son?" he asked Elias, his fists being clenched so tightly behind his back that his palms had started bleeding.

    "Younger brother," Elias answered, having no reason to hide his identity since the man was already certain that they were related.

    "How did you find out that I am related to him? How did you know my whereabouts? I had nothing to do with you. I wouldn''t even come here if not for the people sent by you. So how did you know? And why did you want me here?"

    "The younger brother, huh." Zesten seemed to be lost in deep thought, as he heard Elias''s identity. "Although not as dear to him as a son, he would still more or less care about you as a blood relative. It''s good..."

    Elias frowned, hearing the man talking to himself like a crazy man, not noticing a shadow starting to crawl out of the mountain of corpses, belonging to a fable that was yet to die.

    The shadow approached Elias, while Zesten remained talking to himself, in a bid to distract the boy from noticing anything strange.

    The other Domain Lords had also noticed it, but they remained silent. A few of them were smiling in amusement, while others had a disgusted glint in their eyes at the sneaky tricks of Zesten. But they also didn''t interfere as they couldn''t care less about the humans from the Academy.

    As long as Elias could be brought inside the Domain, they could also get a piece of the pie, which made them somewhat interested.

    "You know, you really have a punchable face. Did my brother beat you up or something for you to hate me?" Elias asked, raising a brow as the crazy mumblings of Zesten. "He did seem to have a habit of it."

    "Oh, I will tell you everything that he did." Zesten stopped talking to himself, and approached the barrier at a lightning speed, his eyes glaring at Elias. "We will have a lot of time to talk about the past. I will make sure of it."

    "We do have a lot of time." Elias nodded, as his left arm started shining under his sleeves, a heavy essence gathering in his hand. Within seconds, the essence condensed to take the form of a heavy sword in his hand.

    Elias swung his left arm as he turned around just as the shadow had finished materializing in the true fable''s down. A trail was left behind as the Sword sliced through the fable that was about to attack him.

    The spatial cracks itself formed around the shadow, as the body of the fable was sliced in two halves, both falling on the ground one after the other.

    "So why don''t we start now?" Elias asked, turning back to Zesten, stabbing the sword on the ground before him.

    As he waited for the answer, he also started the extraction process that needed only a simple command from him, even if it came from his thoughts themselves.

    "You!" Almost every muscle in Zesten''s face was twitching as he saw the last surviving fable outside this domain die right before his eyes, just when he had thought that he might finally get Elias inside the domain.

    That fable wasn''t even trying to kill Elias, but simply trying to push him inside the domain, so as to not release any killing intent that a few awakened could sense.

    As long as the boy was brought inside the Domain, he could handle the rest. But that possibility was also brutally cut apart with that heavy Sword which was awfully familiar to him as well.

    Storms started rising behind Elias as the merger process began.

    "Why so serious?" Elias asked Zesten, who was clearly having a hard time controlling his emotions that made him want to destroy everything around him.

 Chapter 106 - 106: Pushing the right buttons

    "Child, you are testing your luck!" Blood dripped down from Zesten''s palms, falling to the ground. The ground where his blood fell began melting, akin to coming in contact with acid.

    "If I hadn''t tested my luck, I would not be here in the first place." Elias took a step closer, his eyes never shifting from Zesten''s, even as only half a meter of distance remained between them, separated by a thin line.

    "Then test that luck and step forward!" Zesten roared, his hand transforming into a dragon''s claw that he swung at Elias.

    Elias remained still, watching the claw come for him. It was only when the claw struck the barrier that it was pushed back. Zesten was forced to take a few steps back, while the young child remained unmoving, not even flinching.

    Elias had already tested the limits of the barrier when Zesten was banging on it crazily, and he had complete faith in his own analysis. Zesten couldn''t cross the boundary, even by an inch.

    "I came here to find a Soul Beast. But you can''t even leave this domain. You are weak..." he said, pushing all the right buttons to provoke Zesten. "Looks like the rumours were exaggerated."

    He shook his head in disappointment and turned around. "I have no interest anymore. I will leave after I take what I''ve hunted."

    He walked back to the fables, which had already finished merging. He kept the small orbs, which had gone from ordinary to extraordinary, in his class storage before arranging more orbs for the next batch to merge.

    Throughout the day, he continued the process, creating more orbs that carried the complete essence of the fables, only taking short breaks to recover his energy or eat. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A few domain lords tried talking to him, but he completely ignored them, as if he had truly lost all interest.

    Occasionally, a few middle-tier fables sneakily came out of the domain, but none could escape him, which only gave him more resources to work with.

    In the end, he managed to gather close to four hundred such orbs, each carrying the strength of a powerful mid-tier fable, many on the verge of becoming high-tier fables in the future.

    The combined essence that he had managed to gather was comparable to that of a high-tier fable, and it all went into his storage.

    He didn''t let anyone there see what he had done, or what he could do with those orbs. He only made it appear as if the orbs were some kind of treasure used to store the fables, and not to completely merge with them.

    Once he finished collecting them all, he simply stood up and started walking away.

    "Oh, right. Before I leave..." He stopped and looked back, summoning the sniper back again. He raised the gun, taking an aim.

    Zesten''s face was already red at his failure, but when he watched Elias raise that weapon, his mood that had barely stabilized, became sour again.

    Last time he bled because of that weapon because he had underestimated it. But this time, he wasn''t going to make that same mistake again.

    He was completely prepared to block that attack. Even though he had failed in capturing the boy, but it didn''t mean everything was gone.

    He might not be able to use the boy as hostage, but he still had ways to gain their freedom from this place, albeit something that was a little more risky. Until then, he couldn''t let Elias insult him even more.

    "Try it," he said.

    As if listening to him, Elias pulled the trigger. Zesten raised his hand to catch the bullet properly this time, but when he raised his hand, he noticed that the trajectory seemed a little different.

    Did the boy miss him? His lips were only starting to creep up on a smirk at the failure of the overconfident child when he felt a pained growth coming from behind.

    The bullet had missed him, but it had still struck someone else, that was the main target of the bullet in the first place.

    Zesten slowly turned around, looking at the source of that noise. His expressions darkened, as he saw an old man with a hole in the middle of his forehead, his body falling on the ground with a thud. The prophet was killed.

    "That should be enough." Elias kept the gun back, and started walking away, not looking behind anymore. He could feel the ground trembling, and he knew why it was happening. But he didn''t care about it in the slightest.

    He wanted to take down Zesten, but it was impossible to do it when he was here, keeping an eye on him. Catching his attention and making him send mid tier fables out, was only the first part of his plan.

    Now that he had succeeded, he had to prepare for the second and most important part of his plan. It was to enter the Shadow Domain personally, but not before creating something that surpassed all his creations.

    "We are leaving." He talked the jet, with the ego still lost in thoughts, trying to remember something really important.

    The cockpit opened, and Elias jumped inside. He left the place, making everyone believe that he had truly left the place, having no interest in the shadow domain.

    "That was quite an interesting scene. So, how does it feel to be humiliated by a second person of that same family?" A Domain Lord asked Zesten, whose face had turned red in anger and humiliation.

    Almost all his elites were sacrificed. Even the prophet, who was an important pawn for him, was killed right before his eyes, and he couldn''t even stop it. Instead, he was more busy trying to protect himself. Just the thought alone left him red faced.

    He picked up the body of the Prophet, and turned around, not saying even a single word to the other fables. He started flying back to his own city.

 Chapter 107 - 107: Higher than Contract

    Zesten returned to his palace and tossed the Prophet''s body aside. He went down to the basement of the palace and stopped before a door that stood out from the rest, as it strangely had the symbol of the Dimensional Academy itself.

    "I will repay this humiliation a thousandfold." He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Once he was inside, the door closed on its own.

    ....

    Once he was far away from the Shadow Domain to the point that he couldn''t be seen, he told the ego to land on the ground.

    Once on the ground far away from any domains, he jumped out of the jet and stretched his arms. There was some regret on his face that he couldn''t take the Prophet''s essence and abilities since that person was killed inside the domain.

    At the same time, he was slightly relieved. Having analyzed that fable, he was certain that he was the reason that his whereabouts were revealed. Without that fable, he could be somewhat relieved that his plan wasn''t going to be seen anytime soon.

    "Keep an eye on the surroundings through the sky," he told the ego. "If you find any soul beast, you should be able to take it out yourself. And if you can''t, come here and inform me."

    Elias walked away from the jet, which soared through the sky on its own, to keep an eye on the surroundings and to intercept any enemies. Meanwhile, Elias sat down on the ground, and brought all four hundred orbs that he had created through the merger.

    He personally checked every orb, and its compatibility with his own body, especially the orbs that were created through merger with elite fables.

    The only problem was that almost all the orbs had compatibility in the range of ten to thirty percent with him, with only a rare few going to the forty percent range. He started separating those with the highest compatibility with his body, and kept them away from the rest.

    After a little more than an hour, he finally finished the separation and counted the orbs that were valid for merger with him.

    "Only twelve that have more than forty percent," he looked at the handful of orbs, which was quite less than he had initially expected.

    After his evolution, he could merge with even the objects that were completely incompatible with him, but after the experience from last time where he almost ended up getting trapped in his own mind, he didn''t try to take any excessive risks.

    He sent the rest of the orbs back, which were enough to create something comparable to a high-tier fable level creation. As for the twelve or so orbs, he kept them in his hand.

    "Any enemies nearby?" he asked the ego, which was still flying in the sky, not far from him.

    "I can''t see any. I only see a new pillar rising into the sky," the ego''s words appeared in his head, after a short period of silence. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Good. I''m going to be busy, and I might even scream. Just keep protecting me, until I wake up," Elias took a deep breath, and closed his fists with the orbs in them.

    "Is that even something you need to ask?" The ego retorted. He kept observing the ground from the sky, while still occasionally trying to jog his memories of the past.

    In the past, he might not be able to face someone like Harbinger. But after his second merger, he was confident that he wouldn''t need to run if someone like Harbinger came before him again, as long as that person didn''t carry that frightening weapon.

    "Confirm extraction." On the other hand, Elias started the merger process with the essence of Twelve Fables that were most compatible with him, evolving himself one more time without having to go through a class evolution.

    Once the merger process began, a default screen of his own analysis appeared, but his eyes were already closed, so he didn''t pay attention to it.

    If he had, he would''ve been surprised to see that his stats were higher than they were when he last checked them, even though he hadn''t done anything significant since then, other than killing mid-tier fables in large numbers.

    Even the fruits that he ate with Lycorice, only increased his strength stat by a few fractions of a long, but his current stats were still higher than they should have been.

    Another section was present in his analysis screen, different from his evolution class rank. And all of it has happened when the current merger hadn''t even begun.

    .............

    Name: Elias Ashborn

    Age: Twelve

    Class: Architect (Rank 2)

    Level: 3

    Class Grade: Ex

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 20 (+17)

    Defence: 15 (+15)

    Speed: 20 (+16)

    Intelligence: 55 (+10)

    ~Elemental Affinity~

    High affinity with space

    ~Class Skills~

    Precise Extraction (B)

    Advanced Merger (B)

    Extraction Control (C)

    Analysis (A)

    Creation Comprehension (A)

    Storage (C)

    ~Additional Skills~

    Fable Creation

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90% Percent), Core Essence of Mid-Tier Fables (4 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (3 Percent), Bones of Ancient Beast of Decay (3 Percent)

    Material Stability: 65 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: High

    .............

    A storm rose up around Elias, as the merger process finally began. And the storm only grew stronger with each passing second, creating a low pressure zone in areas around Elias.

    Even the ego momentarily lost its balance and had to apply more force to get away from getting caught in the storm that strangely kept growing wider and taller.

    Many students had seen pillars of light rising to the sky, that were signs of a high tier being contracted, but it was different this time.

    It was the first time that many around the Land of Fables were able to see what felt like a storm pillar, rising to the sky, with lightning crackling in the storm, that made the pillar shine even brighter than the pillars of soul contract.

    "Hmm? Do you know what that is?" Not just the students, but even the two professors were standing atop the trees in the forest, looking at the distant storm.

 Chapter 108 - 108: Accept the strength, and the burden

    "I have no idea." Painter shook his head. "I have never seen anything like this before. Usually, when someone contracts a high-tier soul beast, a pillar of light rises. But this... this looks like a storm."

    "And it''s growing stronger," Grey frowned, his eyes narrowing as he tried to peer through the distance. But even he couldn''t see through the storm. "It''s almost as if something is¡­ evolving."

    "Evolving? It feels similar, but it''s not quite the same. Still, it is still a very beautiful sight..." The Painter raised his hand, summoning a canvas from the ground, gaining inspiration for his next painting.

    He held the brush and started painting the storm while sitting atop the tree. "Hmm? I can''t capture it?"

    It took him a brief moment to notice that something was wrong with his painting. He was drawing the storm, but he wasn''t able to capture its essence. For the first time in a long while, his painting was completely ordinary.

    "Should we inform the Headmaster?" Grey asked, turning to the Painter. Just a short time ago, they were fighting with the intention to kill. Even their clothes were torn in places, but now they were sitting as if nothing like that had ever happened.

    "She is the only person in the Academy who can enter the Land of Fables again. I think it might be for the best to tell her. If something bad happens, she would be even more annoying to deal with. I''m already on probation because of the last time."

    The Painter affirmed the suggestion and told Grey to bring the Professor while he stayed behind. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Despite being on probation, you never learn." Grey stood up, scoffing at Painter. He leapt off the tree, and disappeared.

    "What''s the point of learning? She can''t fire me. But still I don''t want her to hear her lecture a second time. Last time it almost made my ears bleed." Painter rubbed his ear, remembering the annoyance he had to feel with, all because he made a small mistake.

    "It''s not as if that boy would''ve become someone great. So what if I..." He mumbled, before shaking the thought off his head. He shifted his attention back to the storm, which was strangely still growing.

    Meanwhile, within the heart of the storm, Elias was undergoing a transformation unlike any he had experienced before.

    The twelve orbs he had chosen, each containing the essence of powerful fables, were merging with his very existence. Pain, raw and intense, coursed through him, but he gritted his teeth, and proceeded through the merger.

    The storm raged around him, creating a physical manifestation of the fables that he was devouring. He could see Twelve shadows appear in the storm around him, each belonging to a fable that he was devouring.

    One of the shadows reached out its hand to Elias. In response, he also extended his hand, even though every movement made him more pain. The two hands came closer, until the shadow touched his fingers. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze in place.

    Elias felt the shadow started becoming blurry, as if its essence was entering his own body. He could feel black veins extending all over his arm, until they reached his neck, and slowly moving to his heart.

    He could feel his heart becoming heavier, but not in a physical sense. Instead, there seemed to be immense grief making home inside his heart, along with a myriad of emotions like regret and rage.

    These were the emotions that he was already very familiar with, but he could feel even more of these emotions. He couldn''t just feel his own sadness, grief and rage.

    He could also feel the emotions that these fables had gathered for hundreds of years. These were emotions that were almost overwhelming him when combined with his own emotions, suppressing the other emotions.

    He looked towards another shadow, which also extended its hand. He couldn''t see the face of the shadow, but he felt as if he could see it smile.

    "Accept everything that we own..." The shadow reached out her hand towards Elias. "Don''t let the past disappear..."

    Despite receiving the budget of the uninvited emotions, Elias still reached out his hand. His fingers again touched the shadow, and the second shadow also started disappearing, the essence moving inside Elias''s body.

    As the second Soul Beast''s essence entered Elias, it also moved straight for his heart, as if making home there. Harbinger''s essence as well as the Decaying Beast''s essence also came to life, and moved to Elias''s heart, making it their new home.

    The third shadow reached out, and then the fourth. Elias kept accepting all of them, even as he was overburdened by emotions that were getting thousands of times stronger.

    He didn''t even remember his own last, yet tears were subconsciously streaming down the corner of his eyes, as he kept accepting the burden of others along with their strength.

    This time, he wasn''t just evolving in his class, but also in his species. He was going beyond the existence of a human, and becoming part fable himself, starting his own fable.

    The ego, hovering at a safe distance, watched the storm that now covered hundreds of miles around the area. Every time the storm grew bigger, the ego was forced to move away, growing worried that the storm might attract dangerous enemies.

    Unfortunately, because of such a large storm, the ego couldn''t keep an eye on the entirety of the surrounding. It was trying its hardest to circle around the entire storm to observe the surroundings, like the moon going around the earth.

    Just as it had expected, a few mid-tier fables were attracted by the storm.

    Even the high tier fables were growing interested in the strange phenomena, since they felt an aura that they had never felt before. It was like the aura of a new peak tier fable that was arriving in this world.

    The storm didn''t just catch the attention of the fables, but also the other students of the Academy that now had high tier soul beasts that weren''t entrapped in their domains.

    Rey was the first, getting on top of the beast as he rushed towards the storm to check. The others also did the same.

 Chapter 109 - 109: I accept your curse

    Elias had already finished merging with eleven soul beasts. He could feel his body changing. But unlike before, his body didn''t grow larger or stronger. Instead, for some reason, he became younger.

    With the bones of the beast of decay transforming into the essence of a fable and moving to his heart, his physique began returning to its state before the merger.

    From looking like someone in his teens, Elias returned to the appearance he had when he first entered the academy, matching the physique of a twelve-year-old.

    His clothes had become loose again, but he didn''t even register it. He shifted his attention to the last fable, which was also different from the other eleven shadows. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    At first, all twelve fables looked nothing more than shadows to him. But after accepting eleven fables, when he looked at the last fable''s essence, he saw something that wasn''t a shadow.

    He could see the complete physique of the fable, as if it was truly living existence. He could see her face as well, which made him remember her. She was one of the last few people that were sent by Zesten.

    It was also the person that he had killed at absolute priority since she was stronger than the rest of the fables that he had seen until that point, especially her long range ability.

    The last fable approached Elias, as if she couldn''t control herself either. She was being controlled by an unknown force that it couldn''t resist, being pulled towards the merger. She didn''t try to resist either, as she was certain that she had already died.

    The woman stopped before Elias, looking at him with her snake-like pupils. Her gaze fell on the object that had long since fallen out of Elias''s pocket after his clothes became looser. It was an emblem, with a symbol of a snake devouring its own tail.

    "Are you..." She uttered a few words, as her hands moved on her own towards Elias''s hands.

    Elias looked in the direction that she was looking at, and saw the emblem of his family.

    "Even in death, you people don''t leave us alone." She gave a self-deprecating smile, as her fingers touched Elias''s fingers. She could feel her remnants being absorbed, with her existence being erased completely, with no chance of returning to life ever.

    "If there is any justice in this world, then I curse you... You will suffer a fate worse than death in the future. All the sins of yours and your family, will return to you a hundredfold to you. You will pray for death, but death will not be merciful enough to come for you..."

    Elias looked at the woman with lifeless eyes, hearing her curse. His eyes looked tired, and in pain, all his tears having dried off. But he didn''t take his eyes off her, watching her fade into business.

    "I accept your curse." He opened his lips, as his hands gently closed to hold her hands. However, before he could grab her hand properly, she disappeared, turning into a lifeless essence of a fable.

    The twelve soul beast''s essence was also taken by his body, and moved straight to his heart. The fourteen essences, each coming from a different soul beasts, had gathered at the same place, each having a different characteristics and past associated with it.

    Many of them even countered each other like fire and water. But strangely enough, all of them remained in Elias''s heart silently, being held together by something that was strong enough to counter their resistance.

    The storm around Elias became more fierce than ever, as if it was a wild beast that was trying to devour heaven itself.

    Lightning started fiercely flickering across the storm. Spatial cracks also appeared all around it, as the merger within the storm had reached the last step. Just like the person within the storm, the storm also seemed to have multiple characteristics to itself.

    Sometimes, it was a lightning storm, but the next second, it was like a whirlpool made of water. Other times, it was a tornado of flames, and some times, it was even worse.

    Within the storm, Elias felt the emotions becoming unbearable. At times, he even felt like putting an end to everything, and just letting everything go and sleep in peace forever.

    "Even if I want to die, death won''t be merciful..." He mumbled the worst of the curse that he had heard from the last fable. He reached out his hand towards the emblem of the Asbborn Family.

    He gazed at the carving on the emblem, depicting an ouroboros. Somehow, he felt extreme familiarity with the mythical beast that was on the emblem of the Ashborn Family.

    Just like the Beast was devouring its own tail, he was devouring his own existence to become something that he was never meant to be.

    "If death isn''t merciful to me, then let it be... I will accept all the sins..." He closed his hands, holding the emblem gently before standing up.

    ....

    "What is this strange feeling? Why do I feel like something really bad is going to happen?" Still underground, the old man had not noticed the storm that was visible across the entire land of fables.

    He was still working on completing his life''s work, but suddenly, he was starting to feel something strange. He didn''t know if it was his instincts, or just the unease of getting close to completion.

    Meanwhile, there was another person right above, who was peacefully sleeping in the hut, even during such a chaotic time.

    It was only when the windows were swung open with thud due to winds that her eyes suddenly opened. She also sat up, wondering why the weather was suddenly so bad.

    She tried to leave the hut to check, but as soon as she got off the bed, she noticed something lying on the ground next to the beg''s leg.

    "What is this?" She reached out her hand, picking a small bead-like object that seemed to have a faint trace of dried up blood on the surface.

 Chapter 110 - 110: Regret

    Rey was the first person to reach the grand storm, which had already covered an extremely large area. The Soul Beast stopped a few meters away from the storm, and the young boy jumped down.

    "Do you know what that storm is?" he asked the Soul Beast. Unlike him, the Soul Beast had been living in the Land of Fables for a long time, which made him think that it might know what it really was.

    "This is the first time I have seen something like this." The Soul Beast transformed into her human form, a long gown materializing around her mesmerising body. "But I can feel a strong life force on the other side. Someone is inside."

    "Is it another Fable?" Rey frowned, feeling the strength within the storm itself.

    If the storm caused by a fable was this strong, then he could only wonder how unique the fable actually was. Even if he couldn''t take another Soul Beast at the moment, he could still take some advantage.

    "I can''t be certain. It feels like a fable, but still... It doesn''t feel right."

    "Can you enter the storm to check?" Rey asked the woman next to him who had a contracted mark on the back of her neck, confirming her Soul Beast identity.

    The woman was also curious about the storm, so she approached it. She reached out her hand and tried to touch the storm, but she quickly pulled her hand back after experiencing a very strong resistance from the storm.

    It felt as if the storm was trying to devour her own essence when she touched it, which made her look at it weirdly.

    "It''s impossible." She returned to Rey, shaking her head lightly. Even though she was a Domain Owner in the Land of Fables, and someone born in a high grade world, she still couldn''t pass through the storm walls.

    "I don''t know what''s inside the storm, but I don''t think it is good. If it''s hostile, then I might be able to protect myself, but you won''t be able to. We should return," she told Rey. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "How can I leave after finding something so interesting? What''s the point of having a soul beast like you if you can''t even protect me?" Rey looked at her with dissatisfaction.

    The Domain Owner sighed helplessly, not knowing what to do next. She even wondered if this childish boy was really someone who could help her become a Constellation and complete her revenge.

    She opened her lips to make him understand, but she stopped abruptly and looked at the sky with a deep frown. She saw something within the storm clouds, coming in their direction.

    "Hmm? What''s something like that doing here?" Rey was also a little taken aback. The object''s form factor felt somewhat familiar to him, but it wasn''t something that should be in the land of fables.

    "Are others also here?" He was certain that it could be the work of someone who came from outside, like him.

    The thought that someone else was also here reminded him of the treatment he had received. It made him even more eager to have his revenge, now that he had a high-tier soul beast.

    "Bring that thing down. Someone must be inside. Don''t kill them outright," he commanded the soul beast, and the symbol on the back of her neck started shining. "I want to punish them myself."

    The Soul Beast''s lips twitched in frustration, and she somewhat regretted her decision to become a soul beast.

    Previously, no one could command her. But now, she had no choice but to follow orders, at least until she became a Constellation. She didn''t have any freedom to resist a command until then.

    "You better make me a Constellation fast after we leave!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth before transforming back into her beast form.

    She leapt into the sky, rushing after the jet, which had also noticed her. The Soul Beast pursued the jet, running on the air as if it were solid ground.

    "What the heck is that?" The Ego also watched in disbelief, almost losing his wits. He thought he was going to face some mid-tier beasts that weren''t tied to the domains, but the first existence he saw was none other than a high-tier Soul Beast.

    "F*ck! Why is my luck so rotten?" he cursed out loud as he reacted by launching a missile.

    The missile streaked through the air, leaving a golden trail in its wake. The Soul Beast, however, merely flicked her massive claws, sending a blast of concentrated wind that detonated the missile prematurely.

    The explosion rocked the sky, but the beast remained unharmed, her eyes fixed on the jet.

    The ego had already realized that everything was useless against a high-tier beast, which made him curse his luck even more. When he was prepared for a low-tier beast, a mid-tier beast came after him. And when he was prepared for a mid-tier beast, it was a high-tier beast.

    He quickly turned in the air and started flying as fast as he could, to at least drag the beast away from this place. He didn''t know that the beast had already failed to enter the storm, despite being a peak existence in this land.

    There was only one problem for him, though. He wasn''t faster than the Soul Beast, which was quickly catching up, right behind the jet.

    The beast raised her claws again and swung down to bring the jet down. But just as she was about to connect, she felt a sense of death looming over her.

    She quickly reacted and jumped to the side, watching a golden streak barely miss her. She looked back in disbelief, trailing the trajectory that seemed to have come from within the storm, which was growing weaker and slowly disappearing.

    As the storm grew even weaker, she was even able to see a vague silhouette within. The silhouette raised his right hand, and the jet that was flying away disappeared mid-air, materializing right next to him.

 Chapter 111 - 111: Something beyond

    "You are awake! I was almost scared to-" the ego exclaimed in excitement as he returned to Elias''s side. But when he looked at the boy properly, he could barely utter the next word. "...death."

    Elias looked the same as he did when they first met, but something was different about him. His eyes looked somewhat lifeless as he held on to a small emblem in his hand.

    His eyes were a little bloodshot, the whites crisscrossed with a lot of tiny red veins. The irises seemed dull and clouded, like a sky that was about to rain. They held a hollow and exhausted look. There were even a few dark circles under his eyes.

    "What happened to you?" The ego mumbled, watching Elias who looked like he had gone through a lot within the last few hours.

    Elias looked back at the ego''s physical body and smiled, "Nothing happened to me."

    Even though his words said otherwise, the ego could see that smile couldn''t be any more hollow.

    "I am sorry for leaving you out for so long. You can return and rest now. I will handle the rest." Elias reached out his hand, gently touching the jet.

    "Wait, I still have to say-" the Ego tried saying something, but before it could complete, it disappeared. It was sent back to the class storage.

    Even Astralious was confused about what had happened to Elias. The moment the merger began, everything around him seemed to have turned black, and he couldn''t see anything.

    It was only now that he was able to see properly, and he was left utterly confused. He wanted to ask Elias what had happened, but at that moment, even he chose to remain silent.

    Elias''s old clothes burned into nothingness. New clothes materialized around his body, accompanied by a long black robe that slid across the floor as he stepped out of the storm, or what remained of it.

    "It''s you!" Rey exclaimed in shock the moment he saw Elias. "How are you still alive?!"

    Even though he could see a familiar silhouette within the storm that had reminded him of Elias, he didn''t believe it. He had killed that child with his own hands. So how could he be alive? But after the boy stepped out of the storm, he couldn''t deny it anymore.

    He thought of all the possibilities, and only one made sense to him! He had been fooled! He never killed Elias in the first place. That''s why he never found the Growth Stone. He had to fight with everyone else, all because of this boy who had fooled him!

    "You schemed against me!" He clenched his fist as everything started making sense to him. Every humiliation he went through was because of the boy and no one else!

    "So the storm was from the use of a growth stone!" he exclaimed, justifying the appearance of the storm in his mind as well. "You already used it, didn''t you?"

    "Who is he?" The Soul Beast landed next to Rey, returning to her human form as well. She could see that Rey had some kind of enmity with the boy, but why? She was certain that the two boys were in entirely different leagues already.

    "He is the bastard child of the Ashborns!" Rey said with clenched teeth. "He is the one that I should''ve killed a long time ago already!"

    "The child of the Ashborns?!" The Soul Beast and Astralious said at the same time, both in different places.

    The most shocked person in the entire place was none other than Astralious who had been cursing the Ashborn Family all this time, even telling Elias to stay away from those bastards. And that boy himself was one of them?

    "That is right." Elias raised his left hand, revealing the emblem of the family that carried the ouroboros symbol, a mark that was known throughout the world.

    "I am the youngest child of the Ashborn Family."

    At the same time, his robe also started changing as a serpent materialised on the chest portion as well as on the back of the robe. Elias wasn''t denying his identity anymore. He was wearing it openly, accepting the name, the sins and the responsibility.

    "Didn''t you want to have revenge on that family? I will give you an opportunity! Go and kill that bastard right now!" Rey told the Soul Beast right away.

    Even though he wanted to kill the boy with his own hands, he had already been defeated many times. Even though he didn''t want to accept it, subconsciously, he was scared, after the boy seemed to have gone through his first evolution.

    Even if he could defeat Elias himself, he didn''t want to risk it. He commanded his Soul Beast, which was at least comparable to a human with their third evolution.

    "Me?" The Soul Beast looked at Rey in disbelief. She wanted revenge on the Ashborn family, but even she wasn''t a fool.

    Almost all her instincts at that moment were warning her that the person standing before her wasn''t human. She felt as if she were standing before another high-tier Fable. No, she was standing before something even greater.

    "That''s right! Go and kill that bastard! After we return, I will help you evolve into a Constellation! Let''s start the destruction of the Ashborn Family with the death of their youngest son!"

    This time, he didn''t just tell the Soul Beast to do something, but used a command as well. The contract on the back of her neck started shining. Her body moved on its own as she transformed into a Soul Beast and rushed towards Elias.

    The closer she got to him, the more her instincts warned her. They were telling her that if she didn''t stop, she was going to die. Unfortunately, the greedy contract had become her biggest shackle at that moment.

    Since she couldn''t resist the command, she tried to fulfill it while surviving, roaring madly as she rushed towards Elias.

    She soon reached within twenty meters of the boy, who wasn''t even paying attention to her. Elias was instead looking at the emblem and putting it back in his pocket.

    The Soul Beast was within ten meters of Elias when he finally shifted his attention to her. He slowly raised his finger, and a shadow blade emerged from the ground, rising from the Soul Beast''s own shadow.

    Even a powerful weapon couldn''t leave a small scratch on a high-tier Soul Beast, but to Rey''s disbelief, the large shadow blade managed to slice through the Soul Beast, cutting it in two.

    Elias slowly stepped closer to the Soul Beast, whose eyes were still open, even in death. She couldn''t believe what had just happened to her.

    That kind of attack wasn''t something that a child could make. It was definitely on the level of a high-tier Soul Beast, and a mutated one at that.

    Elias walked past the Soul Beast''s corpse, leaving two gems on each half. He started another merger in the back as he approached Rey, who was still standing with eyes wide open in disbelief.

    Before he could even snap out of his daze, Elias was right in front of him.

    "This can''t be real... It''s definitely a dream. Right?" he asked Elias, behind whom two more storms materialized, but much smaller than before.

    Elias placed a hand on his shoulder. A blade came out from his hand''s shadow and passed through Rey''s throat, leaving a hole. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s a dream..." Rey''s lips moved, even as blood gushed out of his throat. He fell to the ground with a thud, still believing that he was going to wake up from this dream at home.

    Even the pain wasn''t enough to make him believe that something like this could be real.

 Chapter 112 - 112: Just happens to be

    Elias looked at Rey''s lifeless body lying near his feet. A puddle of blood slowly formed around the body of the Esterin Family''s Descendant.

    "Do you want to say something?" Elias asked, but even as his gaze was on Rey''s body, his words were directed towards someone else.

    "You were never going to free me, were you?" Astralious spoke up after a long time. From the moment he realized that Elias was the descendant of the person that had killed me, he already realized that his freedom was nothing more than a fleeting dream.

    "Whatever I say here, you will not believe. So I will let you find the answer yourself..." Elias answered as he started searching Rey''s body for any treasures that could be useful.

    There was only one thing that he found, which seemed somewhat interesting to him. It was the badge of the Esterin Family that was only given to the direct descendants of the family.

    Just like his own badge, the Esterin family''s badge was also made from rare materials which made it hard to be destroyed.

    Even though the materials were rare, the badge still held more value than them. It was an identity proof of a Founding Family''s descendent after all. He kept the badge in his other pocket, and walked away, leaving Rey''s body behind.

    He didn''t forget to collect the two gems that had finished absorbing the core essence of a high tier soul beast.

    .... sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Another hour passed before the next person arrived at the place, chasing after the storm that had long disappeared.

    It was a girl traveling on a high grade soul beast. She jumped off the soul beast, and looked at the puddle of blood where a body was lying.

    She approached Rey''s body and checked to see if he was truly dead, or if there was a chance of bringing him back to life. Unfortunately, she couldn''t see any signs of life.

    "How did he end up dying?" she frowned. She observed her surroundings, but she couldn''t even see any signs of battle. It was as if the boy had died without even resisting.

    "I can feel the fleeting essence of another soul beast. It wasn''t any weaker than me. But it seems to have died right here as well." The soul beast, having transformed into a bare chested man, stood next to the place where Rey''s soul beast had fallen.

    "It was probably the work of another soul beast." The girl stood, shaking her head lightly. "It looks like his greed really brought him to an unfortunate end. He shouldn''t have tried to keep the growth stone for himself."

    "One growth stone led two founding family descendants to their death. Not a bad start for this academic year..."

    She believed that someone had killed him for the growth stone, which was to be expected. In fact, one of the reasons she had come here was to meet Rey and take the stone back if he hadn''t used it.

    "There was no growth stone involved. If the other person had taken it, it would''ve left a fleeting trace in the air. There is none." The man looked quite conflicted.

    He could feel the trace of the fable that had died here, but strangely, he couldn''t detect any trace of the fable that might have done it.

    It was as if the essence of the other person was completely impossible to grasp, something too impure for someone like him.

    "He probably already used the growth stone. No wonder the other person became upset enough to kill him." The girl took a step back, watching the puddle of blood expanding, almost reaching her shoes.

    The Soul Beast simply looked at the lifeless body. He could see that the boy hadn''t gone through his first evolution yet, so that theory was immediately rejected.

    He was about to explain when his wolf-like ears twitched. He focused on a strange sound coming from far away.

    "The others are also coming here, it seems. We should leave before it leads to unnecessary misunderstandings." He picked up the girl, placing her on his shoulders.

    "Take him as well!" the girl told the man, just as he was about to run. "We should take the body back. The professors will know that we didn''t kill him. We might even ignite some interesting flames at the academy."

    The man''s lips twitched, but he still picked up Rey''s body, placing it on his other shoulder, and started running towards the Forest of Fables.

    Not long after they left, the other students arrived one after another. Although they were also a little curious about the unfamiliar puddle of blood, which seemed to belong to a human, they left when they couldn''t find anything related to the storm.

    Almost all the students had started returning to the Forest of Fables, except one who had gone in the opposite direction.

    Elias returned to the entrance of the Shadow Domain, which was almost empty now. Not a single person was left, with everyone having returned to their cities after thinking that he had left and wouldn''t come back.

    "This feels so weird. I feel strange..." A voice appeared in Elias''s mind, as he stood right on the edge of the Shadow Domain.

    "It''s just a new body. You will get accustomed to it," Elias said, taking his first step inside the Shadow Domain, something that almost every new student entering the land of fables was advised against.

    "Why did we have to change to this body?" The ego asked again, sounding somewhat grumpy as he felt quite strange in the new form factor. The difference between his previous form and current form was like heaven and earth.

    "Your other body was too loud, and quite visible. It wasn''t good for entering the Shadow Domain. This one is better for now." He didn''t pay any attention to the complaints of the drone that was circling around him.

    "Where are we going now?" The Ego asked Elias. "Are we going to kill that Zesten guy?"

    "We are going to collect materials," Elias answered. "And he... just happens to be one."

 Chapter 113 - 113: The Colourless City

    "What do you mean she is not here?" Rey stood outside the Dean''s office, talking to the management team.

    "Weren''t you informed? A delegation from Chronos is coming. She went to welcome them. It might take some time before she''s back."

    "Ah, right. The Chronos Delegation was coming." Rey remembered hearing something about it before. "But wasn''t she supposed to leave later for that?"

    "Don''t ask me. Something seems to have upset her. She was in quite a bad mood, so she left early to calm herself down."

    "She just had to disappear when she was needed." Rey scratched the back of his head. "She is always so unreliable."

    "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

    "I would''ve asked you to contact her, but that seems useless now. If it''s related to the Chronos delegation, she won''t be back without them. Well, she can only blame herself."

    Rey didn''t explain anything further. He had already done the bare minimum by trying to find her. If the Land of Fables still became unstable, then he couldn''t be blamed for it. In any case, he didn''t think that it was anything too serious in the first place.

    ....

    "Is that... a city?"

    Elias looked at the sight before him, which looked less like a city and more like a village nestled between two strange mountains.

    Until a few moments ago, he hadn''t seen any mountains at all. These mountains had only come into view when he reached near the city.

    He was still quite far from the city, but he could still see it clearly within the valley. It was very large, with many houses spread apart.

    Every house was identical, even painted in a uniform yet lifeless grey. Every garden grew the same neat rows of pale flowers, lacking any variety in color.

    He could even see a few villagers inside the village. Every villager seemed to be wearing a white porcelain mask sculpted into an unchanging smile.

    In the entire city, there was only one thing that stood out from the rest of the houses. It was the grand castle in the center of the city.

    While the other houses only reached up to a few meters in height, the Palace in the middle reached hundreds of meters high. However, even the palace was just as colourless as everything else.

    "Ah, I remember! I came here as well!" the ego suddenly exclaimed, seeing a familiar sight. "This is the City of Echless, the colorless fable! Remember the masked guy amongst the four Domain Lords? It''s his city! Ah, sweet memories."

    "I guessed as much. Tell me something else." The children were wearing masks similar to the one worn by the Domain Lord he had seen before, which already convinced him that this wasn''t Zesten''s city.

    "I remember my master saying that this isn''t really a city, but a manifestation of Echless'' fable. He said that he found the place uninteresting, so we went elsewhere. That''s when we found Zesten!"

    "That''s right! I remember everything! Ah, it had been troubling me for so long! I can''t believe that I even forgot about it! Zesten... He''s that child my master beat up!"

    The ego''s voice became brighter as he started remembering everything that he had been trying to remember. Seeing the first city inside the Shadow Domain triggered his memories.

    "So you remember why Aliath entered the shadow domain? It can''t be just to beat up that guy, right?" Elias approached the colourless city, getting closer to it with each passing second.

    "Who do you think I am? Of course I remember!" The ego proudly stated. "My previous master came here because he was given some instructions by his father. He was supposed to retrieve something from this place."

    "What did he take?" Elias grew intrigued. As the ego started answering, he entered the city, and in turn the manifestation of Echless, letting him know that someone had arrived.

    "He took the key."

    "The key? The key to what?"

    "I don''t know. He just called it the key. Your father told him to bring it back. He said that it was something to make a deal with some Chronos or something? I heard your father say that it was supposed to be a secret, but since you''re his son, I suppose it''s fine to tell you. Just don''t tell anyone else."

    "Now what is Chronos?" The more Elias heard, the more confused he became. There were so many terms that he was hearing for the first time, but everything felt important for some reason.

    "I don''t know that much. The only thing that I could guess from their conversation was that Chronos isn''t a person."

    "So Aliath took the key?" Elias walked through the city, watching the masked people go about their day, without even paying attention to him, treating him as no different than a non-existent ghost.

    He wanted to ask the ego about what happened with the key, but he remembered that it was useless. Aliath left this place without the sword after all.

    "That''s right. But we were chased by that giant thing. My master had to fight it, and then he sealed it with me. And then he said something before leaving... What was it?"

    "F*ck, I thought I remembered everything. What did he say? Something about not the time? Argh, this will make me go crazy! Give me a moment! It''s right on my tongue," The ego asked for more time. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You don''t have a tongue." Elias thought, but he didn''t say it out loud. He let the ego curse out loud in frustration as he tried to remember.

    Elias was approaching the palace, ignoring the people in his surroundings, when he suddenly noticed an old woman fall on the ground, with a small crack appearing on her mask.

    "Hmm?" He looked at the mask, as the crack started getting bigger until it covered the entire mask.

    "Child, come closer!" The woman raised her head, and looked at Elias. It was the first time that a manifestation had reacted to him.

 Chapter 114 - 114: First Domain Lord

    Elias glanced at the woman as her mask began chipping away. Her trembling hands reached out to him, and she begged him to come closer, asking for his help.

    After a brief glance at the woman, Elias continued on his way, not sparing her a second look. Even when she called for his help louder, he completely ignored her.

    "Help her!" Another masked person stepped in front of Elias, blocking his path. His voice was firm, yet it seemed to lack any emotion.

    The other masked beings also began surrounding him, like puppets being controlled by strings. "Help her..." S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They had left only one opening in their encirclement, which led to the woman with the cracked mask.

    "I don''t have time for this." Multiple blades came out from the shadows, cutting all the creatures around Elias in half, including the masks that had kept their forms hidden.

    "How long are you going to pretend?" After clearing his surroundings, Elias asked.

    The woman with the cracked mask, watched him as a strange flash appeared in her eyes. She stood up, and the cracks in her mask started healing.

    Her mask also changed color, as her physique started changing. From the physique of an old woman, he transformed into the physique of a man. Even the mask changed color, becoming more prominent.

    "Aren''t humans supposed to help others?" the masked man asked. Even though his voice was low, his words reached Elias, who looked back.

    "As a Domain Lord, don''t you already know that we can''t be called humans anymore?" Elias asked, not looking the least bit surprised at the appearance of the Domain Lord.

    "It''s good to see you again, child. You seem to have become stronger than before. I suppose that storm was also your doing!" The masked man approached Elias in a carefree manner.

    It was only when he reached within five meters range of Elias, that a dark blade came out of the ground, cutting him in two halves. Each half fell on the ground with a thud.

    "Isn''t that a bit rude?" The voice came from another direction, as another masked being in the distance started transforming and looked at Elias. "I thought your enmity was with Zesten. Are you sure you aren''t lost, little lamb?"

    "I am at the right place," Elias answered, as he raised his right hand, making another blade emerge from the masked creature''s shadow, cutting through another manifestation.

    "You are the one that entered my domain, and you''re trying to hurt me?" The voice came again, as another manifestation started transforming. "Little lamb, did no one tell you that a Domain Lord can''t be killed inside their domain?"

    "No matter h-" the manifestation tried speaking, but before it could finish, it was also destroyed. Unfortunately, no matter how many times Elias did it, the same thing happened.

    "No matter how many times you kill a manifestation, I cannot be killed. You are only wasting your ti-"

    Swiss~

    Another manifestation was destroyed and fell to the ground.

    "I really never took you for a stubborn fool. But it''s entertaining, so I will let you play around until you are exhausted. At that moment, it will stop being entertaining. And when you stop being entertaining, I will have to kill you."

    Swiss~

    Another dark blade sliced through a manifestation, but once again, the same nightmare followed.

    "Little lamb, you have selected the wrong target this time. I''m not a weakling like Zesten!" Echless took over another manifestation, standing on the roof of a house.

    "Why does it sound like you''re getting uneasy?" Elias asked before raising a gun and shooting at the target.

    "You are overthi-"

    Bang~

    One after another, Echless kept changing bodies, but every time he did that, he was killed right away. Within 10 minutes, he had been killed over a hundred times. And the more he died, the more impatient he was starting to sound.

    "Aren''t we truly wasting time here? What''s even the point if he can just appear again? No wonder my previous master didn''t waste time here." The drone stayed next to Elias, sounding bored.

    "You''re wrong. There is a point. He can''t be revived for eternity. Every time a manifestation that he possesses is killed, that manifestation is lost forever. He is losing a part of his soul every time. And when he is on his last one, he will..."

    Elias shot the last target in his sight. But this time, Echless didn''t appear again.

    "He will return to his real body," he said, gazing towards the Palace. He took a deep breath and started running towards the Palace.

    "Hmm? What''s the point of delaying the inevitable then?" The Ego followed after him. "Why would he do it?"

    "Because he isn''t certain that he can defeat me. He wanted me to get tired and leave, believing that it was an impossible task."

    "How did you find out?"

    "His Material Composition." Elias answered, but the ego doesn''t understand what he was even talking about. It was as if Elias was speaking some otherworldly language before him.

    "Just what is with that child?!" In the Palace, a man woke up inside a coffin, his expressions darkened. He reached out his hand, and picked up a wooden mask.

    He placed the wooden mask on his face, covering his scarred face. He stepped out of the coffin, and walked over to the window, looking at the person in the distance who was running towards his palace.

    "Hmm?" He swiftly stepped sideways, watching a small projectile brush past the edge of his mark, chipping it only slightly.

    Behind the mask, the man''s lips twitched. "Did I treat him too courteously? He seems to be trying to overreach now. Fine. Since you want war, then I will give you a war!"

    The man raised his hand, and brought it crashing down. A giant bolt of lightning materialized in the sky, and fell down. The bolt followed the movement of the man.

    The bolt fell from the sky, striking the boy that was running towards the palace. When the bright light disappeared, only a heavy crater was left behind, which had devoured half the city. But Echless didn''t care.

    The only thing he cared about was that Elias was killed. Not even a corpse was left behind in the crater.

    "I told him to not be overbearing. Just because I was being cautious and wanted to avoid a battle, he thought I was a weak coward?! He should have left when I gave him a chance."

    Echless gently brushed his fingers against the corner of his mask that was missing a small part. Following the gentle touch, the chipped corner of the mask started healing.

    "How could I leave without such precious material?" A voice fell in Echless''s ears. Behind the mask, his eyes widened.

    He couldn''t even react on time. All he saw was that his surroundings had started spinning, as the world around him turned upside down. His head flew off his body, and fell on the ground with a thud. The mask fell off his face, revealing a face covered with scars.

    His lips weakly trembled, as he watched his body also fall on the ground while his vision became blurry. He saw a person''s feet before him that landed on the mask, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

 Chapter 115 - 115: Blood Formation

    After the merger was completed, only a small gem remained. The gem contained the complete essence of a high-tier fable. Even amongst high-tier fables, it was of the peak grade that could be found within the Land of Fables.

    With this, Elias had collected two gems containing the essence of high-grade fables, including Rey''s Soul Beast.

    He tossed the gem back into his class storage and didn''t use it immediately. Once finished, he walked closer to the window of the palace which was starting to break apart with the death of its master.

    It wasn''t just the palace that was being destroyed, but the entire city itself. One half of the city had already been destroyed in Echless''s attack, and the other half was also being destroyed, with no one to maintain it.

    Elias jumped out of the window and landed outside the palace, the ground cracking under his weight as he landed.

    He swiftly left the city, hearing the constant rumblings of its destruction. Once the entire city was destroyed, a dark beam shot out from its core, going straight into the sky.

    Unlike the bright beams that appeared when a high-tier beast was contracting, this pillar of darkness was completely dark, mourning the loss of a high-tier beast. The pillar of darkness was visible across the entire Land of Fables.

    Many Domain Owners paid attention to the pillar, even more so than they did to the unknown storm. This was something that they understood perfectly well.

    "Is it coming from the Shadow Domain? Are the Domain Lords fighting each other?" the Painter wondered, seeing that as the only possibility of a high-rank soul beast''s death.

    Just like him, the other Domain Owners thought the same thing. The only people who knew the reality were the remaining four Domain Owners of the Domain in question.

    Almost all of them knew that there was no way for that to happen. Moreover, the Domain Lord who had died was no ordinary Domain Lord. He was the one who was the hardest to kill.

    Even information about that person was scarce since he didn''t allow any other fable to enter his City, turning it into a ghost town instead.

    "Instead the defences of the city. And send more scouts!" The Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain commanded their subordinates in complete seriousness.

    None of them left their own cities to check things personally, worried about their own safety. If there was someone that could kill the Colourless Domain Lord, then they were also at risks. None of them wanted to be the next target after leaving their cities.

    The only remaining Domain Lord that didn''t send any scouts was someone that was completely unaware about what was happening on the surface in the first place.

    Zesten was in a secret chamber under his palace, standing before a blood formation. "If I had any choice, I wouldn''t have done this. But enough is enough. I am willing to sacrifice you all for my freedom!"

    He picked up a dagger, used for the ceremony.

    "Become the key to my freedom!" he exclaimed as he stabbed the dagger in the middle of the formation. "Devour everything if that''s what it takes! Just grant me freedom!"

    The blood formation started shining, craving for more blood. But it didn''t crave the blood of the person that had carved this formation. It craved for the blood of everyone else in this domain, including the other Domain Lords.

    "You have all looked down on me! You have all called me an illegitimate Domain Lord! Still, I didn''t want to take this route. I wanted to use you against the academy. But I am forced to do this!"

    At the same time, a similar formation started becoming more prominent around the cities of the other Domain Lords, including the area where the City of Echless used to be.

    The blood formation was large enough to cover the city, and it only grew brighter with each passing second.

    "When did it appear here?" The other three domain lords saw the formation appear under their feet as well. Their expressions darkened at the strange phenomenon but even they couldn''t understand what this formation was.

    Just to be safe, they tried to quickly leave the city before trying to understand this formation. But a barrier as powerful as the domain barrier appeared around the city, imprisoning them within.

    "It''s devouring us!" The Domain Lords failed to leave the city, but they also started to realize what this formation actually was.

    They could feel that strength was leaving their bodies. With each passing second, they were getting weaker and their soul essence was being devoured by the formation.

    They weren''t the only ones either. Almost all the fables within their city were going through the same suffering, with the weaker fables getting devoured within a few seconds.

    "Break the formation!" the Domain Lords commanded their men. They also prepared their strongest attacks, not worrying about the fate of their cities.

    Even if they couldn''t leave the city, they could at least destroy the formation. At least, that''s what they thought until they actually tried it.

    Their attacks killed many fables that were caught in the range, but even their fleeting essence of the dead fables was devoured by the formation. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The attacks failed to leave even a slight scratch on the formation, which had gathered enough strength through the devoured fables. Not only did the attacks not harm it, but the attacks themselves were devoured by the formation, making it stronger.

    The devouring effect of the formation became even stronger, with all gathered essence slowly being transformed at the master formation in Zesten''s palace.

    The only city that seemed to be unaffected, despite the appearance of the formation, was the city that didn''t have any life left anymore.

    Even then, Zesten''s formation was on the verge of collecting enough essence while the other Domain Lords were almost completely devoured, unable to resist.

    One after another, three more pillars shot straight into the sky, this time frightening almost everyone who saw them. Within half an hour, four Domain Lords had died. Everyone could feel that something really big was happening.

    Even the Painter couldn''t stay calm anymore. The High-Tier Fables were only comparable to a human with three evolutions, which was quite weak compared to a Professor.

    Still, he felt quite uneasy as many students were still inside the land of fables, and neither the Dean nor Rey had returned.

 Chapter 116 - 116: Escape

    "It is working!" Zesten''s eyes lit up, watching the formation grow stronger with each passing second.

    With the formation gaining strength, a small spatial stack started materialising above the formation, flickering with instability.

    The forces of this world tried to repair the spatial cracks that looked like it was trying to connect to a faraway land beyond the reach of the Academy. But the formation prevented the crack from completely dying.

    Instead, the formation constantly supplied more and more essence of Domain Lords, their combined strength reaching the realm of a complete Constellation. The unstable spatial crack slowly started stabilizing.

    Once it was stabilized, the crack that was the size of a small finger started growing larger and wider, strengthening the connection with the space beyond, creating a spatial tunnel that surpassed the protection of the Land of Fables.

    "Just a little more!" Zesten watched the spatial crack in eagerness, almost getting a glimpse of freedom.

    Even though he didn''t know where the spatial crack was going to lead him, one thing was certain for him. The distance it was going to lead him was definitely beyond the reach of the Dimensional Academy.

    He even started making plans about what he was going to do after getting freed from this place. All he had to do was find a nearby world, and take over it completely. As long as he was able to stay hidden, even the Academy couldn''t find him.

    He even prepared to destroy all his traces from this place to make the academy believe that he had died. Everything was in perfect alignment for him, even though this was his last option that he didn''t want to use.

    It took only half an hour, before the entire Shadow Domain became absolutely silent. All the fables that were inside the cities of the Domain Lords, had died like rats, trapped within their own cities.

    Only the fables that were outside their cities survived, but their numbers were negligible. There was one more person who had survived, but he had only recently left the city of Echless, and was still on his way to Zesten''s city.

    "This is it! My ticket to freedom!" Zesten stood up, unable to hide his excitement as he looked at the six feet tall portal that had almost finished stabilizing, connecting to an unknown space.

    He didn''t know that Elias was coming for him. If he did, he would have thought about killing that boy first, and then leaving. But unaware of it, he was eager to enter the portal.

    He took a deep breath, feeling a strange sensation within him. He had lived almost all his life in this land. He had struggled so many times, even schemed against his own father, who had told him stories of the outside world.

    Finally, he was going to see the outside world for the first time where no domain could trap him. There was nothing that could stop him from writing his own stories. Even gods and demons were going to become his stepping stones.

    Once the portal finished stabilizing, he activated another formation, this time one that was connected to his own city. After activating the formation, he stepped inside the portal, leaving the Land of Fables forever, prepared to write his own story.

    The portal closed as soon as he passed through, almost exhausted of all the essence to complete that one journey of Zesten. The formation also stopped working, and started breaking apart.

    The second formation was different though. It had started activating right before Zesten left. And within seconds, it covered the entire city.

    "Is this his city?" Elias stood outside Zesten''s city, asking the ego to confirm the location.

    Once the ego confirmed, Elias took a step forward to enter the city. But the moment he was about to enter, he felt something was wrong.

    He quickly sent the ego to the class storage and jumped back, surrounding himself with a ball of shadows to protect himself completely. At the same time, the city itself exploded, creating a destruction far bigger than what could be caused by a nuclear explosion.

    The cloud of flames and destruction, swallowed thousands of miles, even reaching some of the other cities. Similar explosions occurred in other cities that had their life devoured by Zesten.

    Within a few seconds, more such explosions resounded, engulfing the entire Shadow Domain into its embrace, completely erasing all signs of the cities that used to be there. All that was left were multiple large craters where the cities used to be.

    In one fleeting moment, the shadow domain that had ruled over the land of fables, was completely wiped off the map.

    Amongst the clouds of destruction, even the fables that weren''t in the city and had managed to survive the initial onslaught, were killed. Not a single fable survived, their core essence destroyed from the core.

    In the entire land of fables, only one person was left, still breathing, watching the scenes of immense destruction that had left nothing behind.

    As the sea of flames started dispersing, a young man was revealed, mumbling to himself, "What just happened?"

    He jumped inside the large crater where Zesten''s city used to be, but there were no signs of life anymore. Everyone, and everything inside the city was destroyed, with not even a small brick left behind.

    ...

    "I am finally free!"

    In another place, far away from the Dimensional Academy, a portal opened. A voice rushed out of the portal before any person could even step out.

    "The f*cking academy can never trap me! I will write my own story now! A new era will begin!" Zesten stepped out of the portal, exclaimed loudly, unable to hide his excitement.

    However, the moment he stepped out of the portal, his smile completely disappeared as he looked around him.

    It was true that he was not in the region where the Dimensional Academy was established. But he had found himself at a place even worse which made his face go pale. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 117 - 117: Chronos

    Zesten stepped out of the portal, finding himself not in an isolated space, but in front of a group.

    On one side stood a woman who appeared to be a completely ordinary person, without any discernible aura around her. Still, he felt a suffocating sensation when he looked at her.

    He didn''t recognize the woman, but if anyone else from the Academy were present, they would have instantly recognized her as the Dean of the Academy itself.

    On Zesten''s other side, there was a man wearing what looked like a white military uniform, with multiple stars on his chest.

    Zesten had never left the Land of Fables, so he hadn''t met the Academy''s Professors. However, his father had described the professors as beings who could kill him with a single movement of their fingers.

    The people in front of him felt even more imposing, to the point his body even refused to move before them. They were even more frightening than a Professor of the Dimensional Academy could ever hope to be.

    Zesten''s mind was telling him only one thing. He had to run away if he didn''t want to die. But his body refused to move even an inch. The portal behind him had already closed, with no way to return where he came from.

    He was also in a closed space that looked like it was inside some battleship that was traveling through a black hole.

    The man in the white uniform frowned, looking at Zesten that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their battleship, right when they had begun an important meeting.

    He could see that the one appearing before him was not a human. It wasn''t even a living existence, but a mere fable. What surprised him, however, was the fact that this fable had appeared inside the Chronos Battleship.

    Even though the ship didn''t have any Defences on since no one was foolish enough to attack the ship of Chronos, still it wasn''t something that a mere fable could achieve with his own strength.

    Zesten knew that he couldn''t escape alive. At best, he was going to be imprisoned once more. At worst, he was going to be killed. He had to escape from this place at any cost. And there was only one way to escape that he could see.

    He saw a young girl, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, standing not far from the man in the uniform. He didn''t know who that girl was, but her facial features matched with the man. And if she was here, he didn''t think she was insignificant. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If she was important enough, then she was her ticket to survival in his eyes. As long as he could take her hostage, he could negotiate his escape. The only problem was that his body refused to listen to him.

    He bit his tongue as hard as he could, trying to bring his body out of shock. At the same time, he put all his willpower into moving, as he ran towards the little girl as fast as he could.

    He wanted to get to her before the man could even react, as the distance wasn''t too high. However, what surprised him was that the man simply gazed at him, not even trying to move.

    The man''s pupils followed him, as if he had all the time in the world. Even his speed couldn''t lose the man''s observation.

    Still, since Zesten had already put the plan in motion, he couldn''t stop anymore. He soon reached the little girl and reached out his hand to grab her by her throat.

    The girl raised her head, looking at the man with her silver pupils. Zesten suddenly felt a sharp pain throughout his entire body.

    The moment that girl looked at him, everything had ended. His life force was destroyed from the core, as he fell on his knees. With a single thought, without even raising a finger, the girl barely twelve years old had killed him.

    His mind, his heart, his body, everything died in that one instant as he fell on the ground. Soon, his body started disintegrating into nothingness, leaving not even a single trace of his existence behind.

    The girl lowered her head again, not reacting much to the fact that she had just been attacked by a man that appeared out of thin air.

    "Your daughter is quite good," Freya told the man in the uniform, as she observed the child with great interest. "Why don''t you send her to the Academy?"

    The man calmly answered, "Chronos does not need help in training one of ours. You should worry more about your own. Your results in recent years have been... disappointing."

    Freya didn''t respond. Even she knew that the man wasn''t lying. In recent years, the results that she had managed to produce had been no less than disappointing even for herself.

    Still, it didn''t feel pleasant coming from someone from Chronos. If she was back in her office, she would have already broken some tables in her anger, but she didn''t want to show any such behaviour before others.

    "From disappointment, I just remembered. How is your eldest son doing?" After a brief period of silence, she suddenly asked. "Did he come out of his coma?"

    For the first time, the man who had been calm throughout this time, reacted somewhat sharply as his pupils trembled.

    He swiftly controlled his emotions and answered, "He is doing better than the person that sent him to that state."

    "Ah, that''s good." Freya revealed a mocking smile. "I was worried that after what happened to him, he might never wake up. It''s good to see that he is doing better now."

    "Freya, I would advise you to be extremely careful with your words. Don''t forget what can happen to your younger generation in the days to come."

    The man lightly patted the head of his daughter, but his eyes were like that of a vicious beast that was warning another beast about the consequences.

 Chapter 118 - 118: Way back

    "There is nothing left." Elias emerged from the crater, having confirmed that everything was gone. Not just the city, but even the domain barrier itself had disappeared along with all the Domain Lords.

    For the next few hours, he roamed the domain, checking the other cities. However, they were in the same state, or perhaps even worse.

    All the Domain Lords seemed to have been caught in the explosion and killed. He was somewhat disappointed by this realization.

    He considered going to other domains, but a message appeared in his mind. It was a message heard by every living being in the Land of Fables, instructing them to return to the forest at the earliest.

    Hearing the message, Elias glanced in the direction of the forest. He wanted to go deeper into the Land of Fables, as there were still many domains left to explore, but the voice sounded urgent.

    It was not a suggestion from the academy, but stern instructions which made him wonder if they were about to return home. Not wanting to be trapped in this land once everyone else had left, he decided to return as well.

    He summoned the fighter jet, but this time, he didn''t merge his ego with it to control it. Instead, he used his own skills and understanding, gained through his evolution.

    This skill allowed him to understand his creation to a greater extent, even if he had only made slight modifications to it through merger or extraction.

    He jumped inside the jet, leaving his ego to rest in the storage space, and took to the air. On his way back, he flew through a few domains that were on his route and collected a few more fables, spending as little time as possible before continuing the journey.

    The last domain on his way back was the domain where Lycorice lived. It was the only domain that he ignored, as the fables there had only helped him when he needed it the most. He flew around the domain, so as not to disturb them.

    Soon, he reached the Forest of Fables and opened the cockpit. He sent the jet back into his class storage and jumped down from the height, once again landing right on top of the Forest of Fables, just like the first time he had arrived here.

    .... S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Inside the Forest of Fables, the children stood in a group on one side, many accompanied by High Tier Soul Beasts who stood behind them in their human forms.

    Still, the large majority of the children had only managed to obtain low-tier soul beasts, many that couldn''t even transform into a human form yet.

    The low-grade soul beasts couldn''t even raise their heads in the presence of the high-grade beasts that were like gods to them.

    A hierarchy in the class had already been established based on the families that the students came from, but that hierarchy was further reinforced by the type of soul beast that each one had managed to tame.

    There was only one person in the entire class that didn''t seem to come from any notable family, but had still managed to obtain a high-grade soul beast, making him stand out from the rest.

    Despite a person from an ordinary family obtaining a soul beast, the total number of children with soul beasts was still less than the number of descendants from the founding families, especially since one of them was lying lifelessly before the group.

    The children had never expected that the only person who would die in this place would be the child of the Esterin Family. However, they couldn''t deny the body that was lying before them.

    Even the two professors had confirmed that Rey had died. The only thing that they couldn''t confirm was the cause of death, since the attack felt like it came from a high-grade soul beast that didn''t match the soul beasts of anyone else present here.

    "Are you sure you didn''t find him inside any Domain?" Grey asked, having returned from the Management Office after a disappointing trip.

    "There was no domain there. I found him when I went to check on the strange storm. But neither the storm nor the person who killed him was there," the girl that brought the body back, answered.

    "Then how did he die...?" The Painter raised a brow. He had counted the number of high grade contract pillars. There were a limited number of such contracts. And all the owners of those contracts were here, with the number perfectly matching.

    If it wasn''t the work of a high grade soul beast, and it wasn''t inside the domain, then how were there signs of an attack that came from a high grade?

    "Did any of you see Elias on your way back?" Grey asked out of nowhere.

    "Professor, he died before even leaving the forest." A child spoke up, remembering the scene where Rey had killed him.

    "Hmm?" The Professors looked at each other with their frowns deepening.

    They were so immersed in fighting at that moment that they couldn''t observe the children. If they had, they could''ve already noticed how Elias had fooled them. But now, they were at a complete loss as well.

    "What about his body?" The Painter asked. "Where is it?"

    "The body was destroyed by Rey. Nothing was left behind," the child hesitatingly answered.

    "An Esterin, and an Ashborn died?" Grey scratched the back of his head. Even though he had provoked a fight between them, it was because he knew that they couldn''t kill each other. But things had gone beyond his expectations.

    It would''ve been fine if only one of them had died, as the other would be alive to take the responsibility. But both of them had died, making the situation even worse.

    "It just had to happen now when a delegation is coming. Argh, I don''t want to deal with the Dean!"

    "Are you sure Freya is the one you should be worrying about?" The other professor looked at Rey''s lifeless corpse, letting out a sigh.

    He stepped forward and picked up the body, before telling the others, "We are returning to the Academy."

    He summoned a large canvas and carved a single stroke on it. The stroke opened a portal back to the Academy.

 Chapter 119 - 119: Forcing a path open

    "We are returning to the Academy."

    The Professor summoned a large canvas and carved a single brush stroke upon it. The stroke opened a portal back to the Academy. He stepped through, carrying Rey''s body, the other professor following close behind.

    The children, along with their contracted Soul Beasts, followed. They stepped through the portal, leaving the strange, unsettling calm of the forest behind.

    The portal slowly closed and disappeared from existence, leaving only rustling leaves and the faint scent of death.

    Once the portal closed, the brush stroke also disappeared from the canvas, which fell to the ground like the most ordinary object imaginable.

    After twenty minutes of their departure, the rustling of the wings became louder, and a person fell from the sky, landing in the center of the forest, right where the others were previously standing. However, no one was here to see him.

    "Don''t tell me they left?" Elias started searching around the entire forest, but he couldn''t find even a single person.

    He even called out to the professors, but the end result was the same. No one was left here, except him. He was truly late and left behind.

    He sat down on the dark grass, next to the large canvas, almost feeling at a loss. Even though he had become stronger, he still didn''t know the way back.

    He checked the canvas with his analysis, but there was nothing extraordinary in it either.

    Was he also trapped here like the other fables, until the next batch of students arrived the next year? That was the biggest question in his mind. He didn''t want to stay here for a year. It was too long.

    "The Guardian of the Forest..." He mumbled, thinking about the beastly existence that had eaten them to bring them here. If there was no visible passage back, he thought that it might have something to do with the guardian.

    He called out to the Guardian as loud as he could, asking to be sent back. But there was no answer either. The forest of fables felt just as lifeless as ever, even though each of its leaves held a life in a sense.

    "Guardian of the Forest!" He called out again, but things didn''t change. He only heard the rustling of the leaves, and nothing more.

    "If you don''t send me back, then I will be forced to create my own path! If you can hear me, then please don''t force me to do it! Open a path for me!"

    The results still didn''t change though, which made Elias reach the end of his patience.

    He brought out a gem, and placed it in the middle of the grass.

    "If you can hear me, then please open a passage!" He said one last time, having some hope. After his plea, he waited for close to five minutes, but nothing changed at all.

    He glanced at the ordinary black gem on the ground, making up his mind. If the guardian of the forest couldn''t listen to him, then he was going to make it happen himself.

    "Confirm Merger."

    ...........

    Please select the materials for Merger.

    ...........

    "The glass orb," Elias tapped the gem lightly, before moving his fingers over the canvas. His finger moved past the canvas and touched the grass, "And the forest of fables."

    ...........

    Materials selected for merger: Glass Orb, Forest of Fables

    Material Compatibility: 0 Percent Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Merger Success Probability: 0 Percent

    Would you like to proceed?

    ...........

    "Proceed." Elias said without any hesitation.

    ...........

    Warning. The possibility of success is really low. A failure will result in destruction of all selected materials. Would you like to proceed?

    ...........

    Elias took a deep breath, before mumbling, "Proceed."

    The guardian of the forest was the door that led to this place and kept this place sealed. If the door didn''t open itself for him, then the only other way he could think of was to make the closed door disappear.

    He didn''t know if the disappearance of the door would open a passage back, but as a last resort, he had already thought of another option.

    In his destruction spree, he could destroy the entire Land of Fables in a similar manner. If the Land of Fables, as a space itself, didn''t exist, then everything in it would naturally be tossed to the nearest space, which was the Academy itself.

    As for freeing the fables, he didn''t care about it. That was something for the Academy to worry about.

    The two professors returned to the Academy with the children. Even though quite a few days had been spent inside the Land of Fables by them, but as the time itself worked differently in both spaces, only a few minutes had passed in the Academy itself.

    The children returned to the same passage from which they had entered the forest, the door now right behind them.

    "This should be enough for their first day at the academy. Can you guide them to their rooms?" Grey asked the Painter.

    "Why do I have to be the one? You lead their class, not me," the Painter retorted sharply.

    "Fine. Then you can be the one to go and inform management about the two deaths," Grey answered, frustrated. "I will guide them back."

    "I just remembered. I was going in that direction as well. I will lead them to their new residence," the Painter quickly changed his tune, having no interest in dealing with the aftermath of the two deaths.

    He quickly led the children away, with Grey watching him enviously. If only I weren''t leading this class, I could be just as free.

    ''Now, how do I justify it so the blame doesn''t fall on me?'' Grey scratched the back of his head and walked away as well, not paying any attention to the door behind him, which was still trembling for some reason.

    He also disappeared, leaving the corridor completely empty. Not long after he left, everything started changing as the trembling of the door intensified.

    It tried to call for help, but it couldn''t. It could only watch as small cracks started forming on its surface.

 Chapter 120 - 120: Lifes work

    "The entire forest is being destroyed. You are killing the fables before they are even born!" A voice echoed in Elias''s head.

    "Are you finally willing to speak again?" Elias watched the cracks appearing on the glass gem, similar to the cracks that were appearing around his surroundings, as well as on the trees and everything within the forest.

    Multiple red screens surrounded him. The screens were giving him live updates about the progress of the merger, or rather, the destruction of the materials.

    The Sylphs, who looked like small fairies, also saw the destruction and started flying around, screaming at him, asking him what he was doing. Even though they knew that he shouldn''t be able to hear or see them, they still didn''t hold back.

    Once they had had enough of scolding him for destroying their homes, they started leaving the forest to enter the land of fables, which looked more stable than this place.

    "I don''t want to talk to you either. I just want to remind you about the things that you are doing. Didn''t you say they were materials for you? Why are you destroying them?"

    "All materials are useless if I can''t even leave this place. If this will open a path back, then let it be."

    "You know, you are truly no different from them. I should have realized your identity much sooner."

    "You are right. I am just as bad as them, but it''s not enough for me. In a family of monsters, if you''re not a bigger monster, then it''s only a matter of time before you are devoured. Maybe that''s why Aliath was..."

    Elias realized what Astralious meant by "them." These words might have made him feel bad in the past, but not anymore. He didn''t care if he was called a bad person, or even an outright evil one.

    As long as he stayed true to his core values, he didn''t care what else he had to do.

    He had long realized that in this world, he had to learn the same vicious tricks that others used if he wanted to survive. And if he wanted to go beyond simple survival, then he had to surpass his own family.

    Soon, the destruction of the forest reached one hundred percent. A loud cracking noise resounded in the air as the small gem shattered into thousands of pieces, each piece flying in a different direction.

    Some of the pieces even struck Elias on his arms, chest, and even his face, making him bleed. Along with the forest, the guardian of the forest was also destroyed, and the door broke into a myriad of pieces.

    The entire forest disappeared into nothingness, the seal maintained by the guardian completely gone. All the domain borders disappeared, and the remaining domain lords were freed from their shackles.

    With the guardian''s death, the closed passage was also left wide open, connecting the barren land back to the Academy.

    Not a single blade of grass or leaf was left where a lush forest had once stood. All that remained was the canvas, lying near Elias''s feet.

    "It worked..." Elias stared at the portal that had appeared right before him, at the exact center of where the forest had been. Even he was slightly surprised that his plan had worked just as he had expected.

    He glanced back in the direction of the land of fables, unaware of the kind of chaos that he had caused in this place and the Academy by breaking the barrier and the seal.

    "What they do after this is up to them." He turned back to the portal and stepped inside, returning to the long corridor in the academy. "I am certain they won''t be foolish enough to leave this place, but if they do..."

    He knew what was the fate of the soul beasts that tried to escape this place even after the barrier had disappeared. The Academy was full of people that were many times stronger than the fables. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even a Constellation couldn''t face someone on the level of a professor, something that he had confirmed through Astralious''s memories. Even the Seniors of the Academy held Soul Beasts in the high grades or higher.

    It was clear that all those that passed through the portal were going to be killed. He didn''t care about most of them, except Lycorice and the old man that had helped him, but they also looked wiser than the others.

    He had complete faith that the old man wasn''t going to let Lycorice do something so foolish, so he could freely leave without worries.

    ....

    "What is happening?" The old man stepped out of the underground facility, right on time to catch the disappearance of the Domain Barrier, something that he could feel at his core.

    He also looked in the direction of the forest of fables after flying higher into the sky, and saw that the forest had completely disappeared. What was left behind, was a bright portal which should''ve been kept closed by the Guardian.

    "What just happened while I wasn''t here?" He wondered, his expressions getting distorted. "This is bad... This is so bad! That vicious woman will definitely come here to check what happened. And when she does, she will also find ''it''. I can''t let it happen."

    Elias had thought that the old man was going to be lazy and stay at his home despite the large-scale commotion that he had caused, but he didn''t realize the true circumstances of the man.

    He quickly went down the ground, into his facility. Within ten minutes, he stepped out of the place, holding a small pendant in his hand.

    He rushed inside his hut, and saw the girl who was sitting on the bed, her face slightly pale for some reason as she was breathing heavily.

    "We have to get out of here!" The old man didn''t have time to notice the strangeness in the girl''s condition. He simply placed the strange looking pendant around her neck.

    "This is my life''s work! You have to protect it at any cost, no matter what happens to me!" He told the girl, before taking her out of the hut. He didn''t notice a contracted mark that had appeared on the back of her neck now.

 Chapter 121 - 121: Nice Senior

    The other high-grade soul beasts had also noticed that the barrier had disappeared. Without a second of delay, they started flying towards the portal, not a single soul beast deciding to stay behind.

    Elias had overestimated the intelligence of the soul beasts. Or rather, he forgot to consider the consequences that being trapped for hundreds of years would have on the minds of these soul beasts.

    At that point, they weren''t thinking about what kind of existence they would find beyond the portal. They simply wanted to leave, grasping for even a fleeting hope of freedom.

    Amidst that group was Lycorice, who was being taken to the portal by the old man. The two of them intentionally traveled a little slower to let other soul beasts reach the portal first, intending to use them as distractions while they rushed out. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Unaware about the chaos that he had caused inside the Land of Fables, Elias had already left the corridor. He wasn''t even sure where the others from his class were supposed to be, as he was completely lost even if he had returned.

    He took the same route in reverse, and reached the exit of the Building which was still missing the door that had been destroyed by the professor. Along the way, he saw many doors but none of those doors opened to him.

    He could break those doors through extraction, but he didn''t think they were meant to be opened by him in the first place. He didn''t even know what was behind those doors.

    He simply stepped out of the building, wanting to have nothing to do with the Destruction of the land of fables. Fortunately, on his way back, he didn''t come across anyone else either, as the hallway was completely desolate.

    It was only after he stepped out of the building that he finally saw someone. There was a woman in the distance, sitting on a chair comfortably. Next to her, there were two youngsters that were working on fixing the main gate of the building.

    Elias approached the girl, who seemed to be immersed in reading a book, to not even register someone approaching her.

    "Senior?" Elias called out to the girl in third year that was punished by Professor Grey to repair the door. However, it was clear that she had already dumped the work to the second year students.

    "Hmm?" The woman lowered the book of alchemy, and looked towards the source of the voice.

    "Aren''t you the junior that was being escorted by that cranky old ma- cough, I mean by Professor Grey?" She straightened her back, observing the child that seemed like he had returned from some warzone.

    His hands were covered in blood. There were even some traces of blood on his face, but it was minor.

    She brought out a small vial from her pocket, and tossed the liquid on Elias'' face and the remaining drops on her hand. The liquid worked miraculously and healed his wounds, and even erased any pain.

    "Are you just returning from the Land of Fables?" asked the girl after keeping the empty vial back in her storage ring. "Just how bad were you beaten there to come out bleeding?"

    "It was just an accident." Elias smiled, being somewhat honest as this was indeed an unexpected accident for him. "I was a little lost. By the time I realised it, the professor and others had already left. Can you tell me where they might be?"

    The woman looked at Elias, her gaze slightly softening. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and said, "You don''t have to lie. He intentionally left you behind, right? Even after all that, you''re still trying to protect him. You do have some loyalty. Not bad."

    Elias could see that the girl had a clear misunderstanding, believing that the Professor had left him behind in the corridor since he didn''t like him. He didn''t try to clear the misunderstanding either, since it worked in his favor in the end.

    He simply lowered his head, hiding his eyes and asked, "Can you tell me where they went? I don''t want to miss the next class."

    "As far as I know, there won''t be any next class for today. The others were lost, probably taken back to their residence by the Professor. He most probably took a shortcut and left you behind."

    "Where might I find my residence?" Elias asked the girl, who seemed quite helpful, despite being somewhat lazy.

    He didn''t notice the strange gazes of the two youngsters that were fixing the door.

    They were looking at him with jealousy, wondering why the girl was like a bully before them, but talking so nicely to him? Was this the privilege that newbies received from third years?

    "It will be quite far if you want to walk there. Even the closest portal leading to the quarter is at least a few miles away. You will only reach there by evening."

    "It is fine. I can walk a little." As the girl treated him nicely, he also behaved nicely, having experience of talking to his seniors back on earth.

    For the first time since coming to this academy, he was having a conversation with someone that seemed normal. However, even he understood that it was probably not all there was to this woman.

    If she had become a third year student of the destroyer class at this academy, then she was far from ordinary. She might have more blood on her hand than even him.

    Despite that, she was like a completely normal person here, not a sight that she would have shown during practicals or battles.

    "Even if I tell you, you might be lost. I will send someone to guide you, little one."

    She looked back at the two youngsters that had almost finished repairing the door. "You, guide this friend to the residences of the first years."

    "But I just..." The long haired boy looked in disbelief. She had almost finished repairing this door and all that was left was to fix it in place. After that, he could return. And now he was being told to guide someone tens of miles away?

    "Do you have something to say?" the girl narrowed her gaze.

    "Not at all. It''s my luck to help a junior brother." The up dropped the hammer and stood up. He told Elias to follow him, and turned away, hiding his lips that were twitching in frustration.

    ''You want me to guide him? Do you think I am your slave? Fine! I will make sure to guide him real well¡­''

 Chapter 122 - 122: Atlas

    "Come with me," the second-year student said to Elias, gesturing for him to follow.

    "Thank you for the help," Elias said to the girl who had helped him, not thinking much about the kind of past she might have had related to her practicals.

    He turned and followed the young man.

    "Wait," the girl suddenly called out. "Before you leave, I have a question for you."

    "Huh?" Elias looked back, coming to a halt. He maintained his calm exterior, even though he was somewhat worried about what she might ask.

    "What is your name?" Fortunately, the question was not related to the land of fables.

    "If that old hag doesn''t like you, then you can''t be ordinary. Which family are you from? And what was your rank in the first test?"

    "My name is Atlas," Elias answered calmly, without showing the slightest fluctuation in his expression. "Atlas Rezin. I don''t come from any significant family, so you probably haven''t heard of my family name."

    He didn''t tell her his real name, instead using the name he had on Earth. Whatever was going to happen next, he didn''t want to be linked to his identity in this world.

    "What was your rank in the test?" the girl asked, frowning.

    Normally, the professor wouldn''t even spare a second glance for someone who didn''t come from a position of significant privilege. If he was indeed from a small family, then her interest made even less sense.

    "I was ranked fortieth," Elias replied, lying once more to place his rank in the lower half of the class.

    "Only fortieth? Strange. Then why did that old hag get upset with you? Looks like he''s getting more senseless with age." The girl rubbed her forehead, thinking out loud.

    She didn''t hold Elias back any longer and told him he could leave. The boy didn''t waste a moment as he walked away, following his guide.

    "What are you looking at? Start fixing the door if it''s been repaired." The girl shifted her attention to the other junior before sitting down on the chair again.

    The boy could only curse under his breath at the shift in her behavior from Elias to him. He returned to work and after half an hour, completely straightened the door.

    He stood up and raised the heavy door above his head and carried it towards the entrance. He placed the door before the entrance and started fixing it in place.

    "Just this one last bolt and I can finally be fre-" he wiped the sweat off his forehead and started completing the final touches. But just as he was about to finish, he felt a powerful force from the other side of the door.

    The door that he had barely fixed in place, was sent flying back, along with the man. A myriad of fables rushed out of the hallway, screaming, "We are free!"

    Many of the high tier fables used their manifestations to turn their surroundings into their domains for protection as they continued running. The weaker fables only followed along.

    Lycorice and the old man were the last to step out of the hallway.

    "Hmm?" The woman had just returned back to reading the book of alchemy when she heard the loud commotion.

    She again lowered the book and looked to the side, watching the door that was bent once more. Her face almost went pale. After she had put so much effort in fixing it, that door was broken again?

    She looked back at the building, and saw hundreds of high grade soul beasts rushing out of there, like wild beasts.

    "I had to work so hard to fix it, and you just..." She kept the book aside and stood up.

    The second year student looked at her weirdly. ''What do you mean you worked hard? Clearly we were the ones that repaired it! Since when did sitting on a chair and reading a book count as working hard?''

    It was something that he could only say in his mind, as he didn''t have the courage to speak his thoughts before the girl, especially when she seemed to be in a bad mood.

    Her hair had started transforming into a bright shade of silver, as she looked at the fables rushing in her direction.

    The dragon that had wrapped itself around the building had also opened his eyes.

    ....

    The sun had just started setting, and Elias had already traveled over tens of miles on foot. Meanwhile, the boy next to him simply floated in the air, arms crossed over his chest, not wasting even the slightest bit of energy.

    Elias could also do the same, but he didn''t show anything extraordinary to the man, as he was supposed to be someone from an insignificant family at the moment.

    He walked the entire way, following the man until he finally stopped before a door. There were no walls around the door, and nothing behind it either. It was just a single door in the middle of nowhere.

    "Unless you learn how to create portals, gain a similar ability, or buy talismans for teleportation, you can only use these portal doors to go from one place to another in this vast world." The boy landed before the door and turned to Elias.

    "Do you have your academy badge?" he asked.

    "It was destroyed in the Land of Fables," Elias answered. He only had two badges with him, both being the identification badges of a Founding Family.

    If he brought even a single one out, it could frighten the boy to death. But neither of them were his academy identification.

    "Tch." The boy clicked his tongue and brought out his own identification. He tapped the door lightly with his identification badge, activating it.

    Numbers from one to one hundred materialized on the door, with only a few numbers shining and the rest being dark. The boy tapped the number three which was shining.

    "You can open the door. It''ll open a portal and lead you to your residence, unless there''s some malfunction."

    Once he finished, he quickly turned around and walked away, without offering any other explanation. However, the moment he was leaving, he didn''t seem to be in a good mood.

    Because of Elias, he had to come so far and waste so much time. To get back at the boy and make him suffer in a similar manner, he had already done something to the door.

    He made sure that it wasn''t something that could hurt the boy, but also enough for him to make the boy suffer.

    ''You wasted my time to get home fast? I''ll send you as far as possible from the residences. Have fun in the barren dockyard¡­'' S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 123 - 123: Different Path

    Elias watched the senior leave. His expression was somewhat solemn as he mumbled, "Did he really think I couldn''t sense his hostility? I wonder what I did to offend him."

    He hadn''t told them the name of his family, so it couldn''t be because of that. Moreover, this was his first time seeing that boy. He was quite curious if it was really over such a mundane reason as being forced to escort him.

    The only good thing was that there was no killing intent within that hostility, which made Elias ignore it to a certain extent.

    "Are you still going to enter?" Astralious asked him, watching his hand slowly reach out to the door.

    Even though he was still upset about Elias''s identity, he couldn''t stay silent and just wait for death. Even if the boy was from that family, he had to try to get close to him if he wanted to survive.

    He buried the hostility deep in his heart and tried to act somewhat normal, realizing that it might be for the best if he was able to use the boy to his advantage as they were right under the nose of the Ashborn Family.

    "Do you think I should?" Elias looked at the door, where the number three had been marked properly. If he went through now, then he was going to reach the place that the boy wanted to send him.

    Even if the boy didn''t have any intent to kill, Elias still didn''t want to take a risk.

    "What''s your favorite number?" he asked Astralious out of nowhere.

    "What?"

    "I asked what your favorite number is amongst the ones shining on the door?" Elias repeated the question, ignoring the numbers that were dark since the identification of that boy clearly didn''t allow access to open portals to those places.

    "I don''t know. Seven?" Astralious said a random number amongst the shining ones, not certain why Elias wanted him to choose.

    He soon received the answer when Elias tapped number seven on the door, changing the selection from the one made by that boy. The third number returned to its usual shine, and it was the seventh number that started shining brightly.

    "Do you really think it''s a good idea to randomly change the destination?" Astralious asked. He had barely finished his question when Elias had already opened the door.

    "We can either walk back twelve miles to find another living being to guide us, or we can take this route and find someone on the other side. And I don''t think we should return," Elias mumbled, looking in the distance.

    The moment that door opened, a portal materialised before him, connecting to a seperate space within the Academy''s Domain. As long as it was an area accessible by someone in the second year with such ease, he didn''t think that it could be too dangerous.

    If it was dangerous, then there was certainly going to be someone on the other side, and he could just pretend to be lost. At worst, he could reveal his identity to protect himself. So it was better in his eyes, than staying here.

    He walked through the portal, having an inkling about the kind of commotion that might have been caused already.

    Once again, his body travelled through a spatial tunnel, going from one part of the academy domain to the other part. Until the moment he stepped out of the other side, he remained unaware about the place he was being taken.

    Fortunately, the trip didn''t last long and he was soon out of the spatial tunnel, finding himself back before a similar door. He was pushed forward by the space behind him, and the door closed on its own, erasing the way back.

    "Hmm? Where is this place?" Elias stood before the closed door, looking in the distance. He could see a group standing there, looking at the sky.

    The group didn''t include any ordinary people either, since almost all of them were wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy Professor.

    He even saw Medusa, who was their guide during the awakening and the measurement ceremony, standing in the center of the group that stood next to each other in a line, looking like they were here to welcome someone.

    "I don''t think this is the place where we should be," Astralious was also slightly flustered, feeling so many powerful auras gathered at a single place.

    He was sure that even if he was alive and in his perfect state of the past, he still couldn''t defeat even a single person standing in this group. What worried him the most, was that there was a risk that they might actually sense him, no matter how low.

    He stopped all his movements in Elias'' mind, and only spoke when he absolutely needed to.

    "I don''t think we can leave either," Elias looked back at the door, which was closed with no numbers at sight. Without an academy identification, he couldn''t open the door.

    He was quite unaware that there was an identification that was beyond the academy identification. The identification badge issued to the direct descendants of the Founding Families, had a similar purpose.

    In some cases, they even unlocked access to more places than an academy identification badge would have allowed to a first year student. It was a privilege only allowed to the first year students.

    He had the key to leave this place with him, but he didn''t realize it. He was still thinking about the academy identification. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "They won''t kill me for getting lost. Moreover, one of them knows me. It shouldn''t be too bad." In the end, he dropped the thought of returning.

    He stepped forward to ask a professor for help. But he had only taken a single step when he felt a powerful gust of wind, pushing down from the sky. The sky also turned brighter, as if a sun had risen in the sky.

    He raised his head and looked at the source of the brightness in the sky. "That is¡­"

 Chapter 124 - 124: I am

    It was as if the sun itself was descending from the sky, forcing him to close his eyes if he didn''t want to go blind. A thin layer of darkness appeared over his eyes, turning his vision darker to help him see better.

    What he saw in the sky was the grandest ship that he had ever seen, large enough that it looked as if a country itself was floating in the sky. Even the ship of the Asbborn Family that was used to bring him to the Academy was smaller than what he was seeing.

    The pressure of wind became stronger as the ship came closer to the ground. Even the robes of the Professors were fluttering with the wind that only grew more intense.

    Soon, the wind became so strong that Elias was almost getting pushed back by then. He took a step back to stabilize himself with the support of the door, but using any other abilities.

    The winds only stabilized after the ship had landed on the ground, not far from the professors. Elias wasn''t sure who was arriving, but it became clear to him that the Professors were here for it.

    The door of the ship slid down, revealing an opening. And someone stepped out, disappointing Elias as the person was just the Dean of the Academy, and not anyone extraordinary that he hadn''t seen before.

    He came to the conclusion that the ship belonged to the Dimensional Academy itself, which wasn''t a surprising thought. But after the Dean stepped out, he saw someone else.

    It was a man, a man dressed in stark white attire. Even though everything that he was wearing looked like a treasure. But his long robe stood out from the rest, draped over his shoulder.

    It was as if the stars of the universe were embedded in his robe. He was carrying an entire galaxy on his shoulder.

    Even though Elias was far from that person, he could still feel a terrifying suppression that was at least comparable to his father, if not stronger.

    "Analysis..." He used a skill subconsciously, trying to see just what kind of person it was.

    .............

    Analysis has failed. Evolution is not enough.

    .............

    "What?" Elias frowned, looking at the notification appearing before him. The analysis had failed, and it only told him that his evolution was not enough.

    Was it because there was such a large difference between his strength and the strength of the man? The question was something that made its home in his head.

    The man was walking down the ramp when Elias used analysis on him. He came to a sudden halt, feeling an uncomfortable feeling that only lasted for a fleeting moment.

    "This place is still as annoying as ever," he mumbled, as he continued down.

    After him, his daughter also stepped out of the ship, and walked down the ramp. She kept her head down, not even raising it for a single second, only watching her step as she accompanied her father. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Professors stepped forward once the man landed on the ground. "We welcome Duke Jeskirin to the Academy."

    Her tone was welcoming, but not subservient. It was respectful but not submissive, making it clear to Jeskirin that she was just being courteous.

    Another professor stepped forward, trying to give an exquisite flower bouquet to the man. However, the man simply pulled his hand back in disgust.

    "There''s no point in false greetings. As if I don''t know what a pathetic place this is..." Jeskirin looked around. Even though a long time had passed since he last came here personally, the place was still as disgusting as ever to him.

    "Hmm? Who is that child?" His gaze soon landed on Elias, who was standing near the door in the back.

    The boy wasn''t wearing the attire of the Dimensional Academy, but if he was brought here by these people, then he didn''t think the boy was simply an outsider.

    Hearing his question, the Dean also looked in that direction. And when she caught sight of Elias who was standing in the darkness next to the door, she couldn''t control her surprise.

    "What is he doing here?" she mumbled, directing the question to Medusa who also looked back along with other Professors. However, she had barely finished speaking when she thought of something and a smile spread on her lips.

    Almost all of them looked just as confused, not a single professor having any idea about it.

    "We didn''t bring him here." The Professors answered. "It looks like he came here on his own."

    "It''s fine. It''s not like this is a restricted place." Freya raised her hand, and gestured for Elias to come closer.

    "His eyes... I don''t like them. Who is he?" Jeskirin repeated the question, noticing the people of the academy talking amongst themselves, with no one to answer him.

    Elias walked closer to the group, once he was noticed. He had prepared to offer an explanation about how he was lost. The explanation was right on his tongue, as he stopped next to the Dean.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t asked to explain his presence here. Instead, the Dean had an amusing smirk on her lips as she looked at him. The look that she had, gave him a bad feeling about it.

    "Why don''t you introduce yourself to our guests?" she asked Elias, who had no idea about the identity of the man that was standing before him. The only thing that he knew was that the man was extremely strong.

    Astralious had also gone completely silent, not even making the slightest movement.

    He didn''t like the fact that Freya was smiling when asking him to introduce. Since when did she become so nice to him, especially after how their last meeting went?

    Despite knowing that something was wrong, he couldn''t stay silent. Even if he didn''t introduce himself, she was going to introduce him. It was only a matter of time.

    He took a deep breath, and turned to the man. "I am Elias Asbborn, a first year student."

 Chapter 125 - 125: Bidding

    The moment Elias answered, the girl who had kept her head down all this time raised her head, looking at him for the first time.

    Her father''s reaction was even sharper. Elias felt a killing intent like never before, one that almost made his blood run cold. All his senses screamed at him to protect himself.

    Even the strength that he had devoured from other fables began to stir restlessly. But despite that power, he didn''t believe he could actually stop the man, even if he wanted to.

    It was as if time itself had frozen when the man heard his name, especially his last name. Like lightning, the man''s hand reached out to grab him by his throat.

    Elias wanted to move back, knowing that if he were caught, his neck would be crushed. But his movements were like those of a snail compared to the man''s. He could only watch the hand coming for him.

    Clutch~

    Elias watched the man''s hand stop merely a few centimeters away from his throat, a powerful gust of wind making his robe flutter. The man''s wrist was being held by Freya, who had finally moved to stop him before he could hurt anyone.

    "Shouldn''t you behave better in someone else''s home?" Freya asked, maintaining a smile on her face while firmly holding his wrist. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Was it amusing to bring him before me, knowing full well...?" the man asked with a frown.

    "I have no idea what you are talking about," Freya replied, shrugging her shoulders innocently.

    Although she wasn''t the one who brought Elias here for this, she still found it somewhat amusing to see Jeskirin like this after his previous arrogant behavior.

    She had finally gotten back at him, in her own way. But just for this, she couldn''t let the boy die, at least not in her presence. What dignity was she going to have left if someone from her academy was killed by an outsider when she was right there?

    "Also, with your stature, I am certain you wouldn''t go as far as to hurt a child, right?" she asked. Although she maintained her composure, but even she knew that if they were to fight here, then it was the Academy that was going to suffer.

    Jeskirin retracted his hand, controlling his initial outburst. However, his gaze towards Elias didn''t soften.

    "Does he still count as a child? This demon devoured everything that he touched." He kept his hands behind his back, holding them tightly, as if worried that if he freed them, he might again lose control of his emotions.

    He looked down on the boy, who had no idea why he was again being targeted. At first, he thought that it was again because of his family. But from the man''s words, it looked like he hated his family less, and hated him more. But why?

    Elias was quite confused, but then he heard Jeskirin further continue, "No wonder I hated these eyes..."

    "You can take him back," Freya told one of the professors, trying to send him away before things could deteriorate further.

    This much messing with Jeskirin was fine, but she knew that he was a monster that might run wild if she kept testing his limits.

    "Let''s go." A Professor grabbed Elias''s shoulder, and opened a portal to take him away from this place.

    "Will he be taking part in it?" Jeskirin asked Freya, watching the portal open.

    "He is only a first-year student, not a second-year," Freya answered. "So he won''t."

    "How disappointing..." The man narrowed his gaze. "What if he has to participate? I can give you one extra slot for him. You would only benefit."

    "You think I don''t know what you want?" Freya scoffed in response. "What''s the point of one extra slot if it will go to him? He will end up dying right away anyway. Your daughter alone can kill him in a fraction of a second."

    "In any case, there is already an Ashborn child participating. Why do you want a second one?"

    "Three extra slots. You can pick two others of your choice. But the third must go to him..." That was the last thing that Elias heard, as if he was some kind of item that they were bidding for.

    He wanted to hear more, but he was taken inside the portal, leading to the residence of the first-year students. The portal closed behind him, and he couldn''t continue hearing their conversation.

    Even after Elias had left, the negotiations continued, if they could even be called that.

    "Do you really want your nephew dead that badly?"

    "Don''t call that ''thing'' my nephew!" Jeskirin''s voice grew louder, as he again lost his temper. Throughout the trip, he had only lost his temper twice, and both times, it was related to Elias.

    "Silas might accept that ''thing'' as his son, but I will never."

    "You must be really eager to watch him die. But it would go against the rules if I listened to you." Freya let out a sigh, shaking her head. "As a Dean, I can''t break rules."

    "Four slots for you, only one must go to him! I will also allow you to choose one third-year!" The man increased the bid.

    "However..." Freya''s eyes immediately lit up. The moment she saw Jeskirin''s daughter, she had already lost hope. But with this kind of leeway, she once again regained some hope.

    And if all it cost was someone like Elias whom even his father didn''t care much about, then it was a deal worth taking in her eyes.

    "It is too good of a deal to reject. I will accept the offer." She made it seem like she was still a little hesitant as she accepted the deal from the man.

    "Good..." Jeskirin''s fists clenched tighter, his gaze shifting to his daughter.

    ....

    In another place, Elias was brought to the house that was assigned to him as the top scorer of the assessment trial of the Frost World, unaware that the deal about him was already completed.

 Chapter 126 - 126: Dreke

    After checking the allotment through the Academy System, the Professor brought Elias to the Academy''s residential area, stopping directly before a grand mansion.

    Throughout the entire street, there were many mansions, nearly all of them just as grand. Some even appeared larger than the one assigned to Elias.

    "This is your assigned residence. You can use your Academy Identification to access the mansion. Now, off you go," the Professor said, clearly in a hurry to return.

    "I''ve lost my Academy Identification badge," Elias said, tugging on the robe of the Professor, who had already turned to leave.

    The Professor turned back, looking at Elias with a puzzled expression. She wondered how he had even managed to reach this place without an Academy Identification, since it was required to access the portal doors.

    Just as she was about to ask, she slapped her forehead, remembering the boy''s unique identity. He wasn''t just a student of the Academy; he was also a descendant of a founding family.

    "I will have someone deliver a new Academy Identification to you. Just wait outside the mansion until someone arrives." She freed her robe and disappeared.

    The Professor left, leaving Elias alone in the residential area, right outside the gate of a mansion he couldn''t yet access.

    Elias wasn''t in a hurry to enter either. He stood with his back resting against the gate, his mind still occupied with the man who had been bargaining for him.

    "Did you recognize that man?" he asked after a long silence.

    Next to him, Astralious''s illusory form materialized. "I wish I did. The only thing I can tell you is that he is more dangerous than your father was when he killed me. But even that man didn''t instill the kind of fear in me that the little girl next to him did."

    "You found that little girl more dangerous than him?"

    "I don''t know how to describe this feeling. When she looked at you, I felt like she held my life and death in her hands. It''s a feeling I''ve never experienced before, in my entire life. I can only tell you that you should stay away from her." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, not just stay away from her. You need to get out of this place. Given how that man wanted to kill you, and that negotiation, you aren''t safe here."

    Even though the Academy was supposed to be a place where Elias could grow stronger and help him, Astralious was still suggesting he run away and abandon it. Hearing his tone, Elias didn''t sense any deception.

    "You speak as if it''s easy to leave this place." Elias looked at the empty streets around him, shining under the lights lining each side.

    The place looked extremely peaceful, but it was clear that peace and the Academy were two words that could never be linked.

    Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t leave the Academy. First, he needed a battleship to escape. Even if he managed to take control of one, it would most likely be shot down before he could get away.

    Moreover, even if he did escape after stealing a battleship, he would be nothing more than a thief, hunted by everyone. He couldn''t even rely on his family for protection.

    "Leaving aside the fact that it''s impossible to escape from this world, even if it were possible, I still wouldn''t leave," he told Astralious.

    "Why not? Do you think your family name will protect you from everything? I don''t think you are that naive."

    Elias remained quiet, offering no further explanation. He felt it wasn''t right to reveal his past life or the real reason he came to the Academy.

    His only goal was to kill Dreke, his own brother. Everything else, including getting stronger, was less important. If he ran away from the Academy now, he didn''t think he''d ever get another chance.

    His silence made Astralious also fall silent. He didn''t know what the boy was thinking, and as a spirit, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    "Fine. Do what you want," he said, stopping his projection to save mental energy, and disappeared.

    "You know, you get angry quite fast," Elias mumbled after Astralious disappeared. "That temper reminds me quite a lot of someone I used to know."

    "Why won''t I get angry? It''s not as if my life depends on your life." Astralious sarcastically answered. "I am just a prisoner here, waiting for his execution."

    "Aren''t we all prisoners, waiting for our eventual execution?"

    "Stop with this philosophical garbage. You know it''s different."

    "How is it different? You said it yourself. You will die after I die. So we are both getting executed at the same time, if ever."

    "Yeah, but you can change that fate. Your execution will be because of your own actions, or lack thereof... My execution is through no fault of my own."

    "When you tried to take over my body, was that not through your own actions?"

    "I had no choice in that matter. But you have a choice."

    "I have no choice either. I already told you, we can''t get out of here. If you want to be angry about it, then I can''t stop you."

    "Then don''t blame me when you die."

    "It''s fine. You''ll do enough blaming for both of us when we die." Elias crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. In his mind, one thing was final. He wasn''t leaving this place without Dreke.

    "Senior Dreke, which one is yours?"

    Elias abruptly opened his eyes as a voice fell in his ears, accompanied by the sound of multiple footsteps.

    "Heh, not far?" A familiar voice came, which made Elias quickly turn. "It''s just right around the corner."

    He looked to the left, and saw a young boy walking with his arms around the waist of two girls. He was coming in the same direction.

    "Senior, you''re being very naughty with your hands. Someone might see! We should wait until we enter."

    "So what if someone sees? Does anyone have the courage to raise their voice before me? Don''t forget who I am!"

 Chapter 127 - 127: Have to leave after all

    The arrogant voice that stabbed into Elias''s ears was something that he could never forget. Even before looking at that person, he already knew who it was.

    Out of all the places in the Academy, Dreke was right here, enjoying his life. He even appeared to be somewhat drunk, barely able to walk straight, relying on the support of the girls.

    "Senior, there is someone, looking here!" A girl spoke up, catching sight of Elias in the distance.

    "Which bastard dares?" Dreke raised his head and looked in the direction the girl was pointing with a hazy gaze. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Hmm?" When he saw the person, he burst into laughter. "If it isn''t that bastard..."

    He took his hands off the girls, pushing them aside. With swaying feet, he walked closer to Elias.

    "Senior!" The girls followed Dreke, who stopped right before Elias.

    "You little bastard, what are you doing here?" Dreke asked, placing a hand on Elias''s shoulder to steady himself. "Were you waiting for me, to beg for something?"

    He lightly slapped Elias. It was light only by the standards of Elias. If there had been an ordinary human in his place, that slap would have been far from damaging. Dreke couldn''t control his strength well enough when he was drunk.

    "Do you also live here?" Elias asked, his expression unchanging, even though he wanted nothing more than to rip Dreke''s head off right then and there.

    "Heh, are you pretending not to know when you came here to beg? Did you want me to talk to the professors so they would treat you better?" Dreke slapped Elias once more, the strength behind the slap growing stronger.

    "I will do you this favor, only if you fall to your knees and bark ten... no, twenty times!" He pushed himself back, almost stumbling. The girls stepped forward and quickly supported him, preventing his fall.

    "Senior, who is he?" One of the girls asked, as Dreke looked like he knew the boy well enough. If he was treating the boy like this, then the boy shouldn''t be anything special. At least that''s what they thought.

    "Did he offend you somehow? Should I teach him a lesson?" the other girl answered.

    "Heh, can a little mosquito offend you? He is even more insignificant than that for me. I am Dreke Ashborn. If I was offended by trash like this, then I wouldn''t be worthy of this last name!" Dreke spat out, his spit falling on the ground right before Elias.

    The girls giggled, sensing that this was an opportunity for them, "You''re so right, Senior. People like him doesn''t deserve your attention at all."

    One of the girls went one step farther, and started scolding Elias to win Dreke''s favor. "You there! If you came to beg Senior Dreke, then behave like it! What are you doing, standing on your feet? Start begging!"

    Elias looked on either side, as if trying to see if anyone else was there. He couldn''t sense anyone else, which made him believe that he was all alone with these three. Was this a god given opportunity? He wondered.

    He knew well enough that if he killed Dreke here, then the aftermath of that was going to be worse to deal with than anything, since this wasn''t the land of fables.

    Even if he didn''t see them, he was certain that there were recording devices placed in this place. Everything that he did here, was going to get recorded for the future.

    On one side was his revenge from the past, and on the other side was his future in this life. The choice should''ve been hard, but for him, it was as easy as it could ever be.

    "Hmm? Are you deaf? Why aren''t you falling on your knees? Do you need me to help you or something?" The girl grew even more arrogant when Elias ignored him.

    The boy was definitely younger than her. And she was accompanying Dreke Ashborn. Shouldn''t he be listening to her? The complete ignorance was something that she never expected.

    "Fine! Then I will make you beg myself." She reached out her hand, making a whip materialize. She swung the whip forcefully towards Elias''s knees.

    Just as the whip was about to connect, Elias made a subtle shift in his stance, almost imperceptible, allowing him to evade the blow. The whip lashed the ground where he''d been standing a fraction of a second before, leaving a mark on the floor.

    "You missed," Elias stated, his voice devoid of any emotion. It wasn''t a taunt, but a simple observation, yet it carried a dangerous tone.

    A screen had appeared before him, following the use of his analysis skill. He didn''t focus on Dreke, but the two girls that were coming for him.

    The analysis didn''t go into much details about their past, but it did tell him what he wanted to know. Even though they weren''t wearing the academy uniform, but the analysis confirmed that they were from the destroyer class.

    There was one more stat in the analysis screen which he hadn''t seen before.

    ..............

    Total Lives Taken: 3,657,788,654

    ..............

    "The girl, shocked at her failure, scoffed, "''You... you dodged it! You dare dodge?!''"

    Her face flushed with anger and embarrassment, fueled by the silent amusement radiating from Dreke, who was watching the scene with blurry eyes.

    "That''s a lot..." Elias mumbled, looking at the numbers on the analysis screen of the two girls. "Maybe I might have to leave this place after all..."

    The girls'' numbers paled in comparison to what he saw in Dreke''s analysis. The number of lives taken on his screen was more than even the entire population of Earth.

    "Again!" the girl shrieked, and the whip lashed out once more, this time faster and more erratic. This time, Elias didn''t dodge.

    The whip struck his knees, but the girl didn''t have time to be happy. A thin line of red spread from her forehead, going down, becoming thicker with blood. The whip fell from her hands as her body fell to the ground with a thud.

 Chapter 128 - 128: Kidnapping a descendant

    Elias stood there, looking at Dreke, a hint of exhaustion in his eyes. Two people had died, but instead of the number of people decreasing, it had remained the same.

    He hadn''t expected this, but he didn''t look too surprised either, as he watched a dark-robed man next to Dreke block the shadow blade with his fingers.

    Another dark-robed figure materialized behind Elias, aiming a blade at him.

    "D-did you just try to kill me?" Dreke, now suddenly wide awake, looked at the shadow blade that had almost cut him in half.

    "Don''t do anything stupid," Astralious''s warning echoed in Elias''s mind. "They are stronger than Soul Beasts. They are at least five-evolution existences."

    "I thought the family couldn''t assign guards at the academy," Elias said, watching the guard crush the shadow blade into pieces.

    None of the guards belonged to the Academy, a confirmation he received through the badges they wore proudly over their dark attire, as if they didn''t care about hiding their identities.

    "So you really were trying to kill me." Dreke brushed his fingers through his hair, releasing neurotoxins to erase the effects of alcohol on his mind completely.

    His eyes turned cold, and he asked, "Do you think I am easy prey?"

    "I have no idea what you are talking about. I was never trying to kill you. I just wanted to scare you. I would''ve stopped the attack even if the guards hadn''t."

    Elias hid all the poison deep down in his heart, and asked, "Can''t a little brother show off his new abilities in a prank?" S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Hmm? It was a prank?" Dreke''s voice became even colder. "You think I am a buddy of yours, for you to prank? If I kill you right now, do you think it will also be a prank? Let me perform an even better prank, then."

    "Strip him!" he commanded the guards. "After that, leave him at the busiest place in the Academy! Let the world witness the greatest prank."

    "Aren''t they the guards of the family? I''m still a descendant of the family. Can they bear the consequences?" Elias asked, frowning.

    Even if the guards didn''t allow him to kill Dreke, they shouldn''t be able to treat another descendant like this either, no matter how disliked that person was.

    "They might work for the family, but they serve my mother. She is the one who assigned them to me. They will do everything that I say!" Dreke smiled smugly. "So you''d better give up now and enjoy this prank. There''s no point in struggling."

    Just as he had suggested, the guards did indeed listen to him. One stayed next to Dreke to protect him, while the other appeared before Elias and reached out his hand to grab his collar.

    Elias tried to step back, his face filled with panic as the guard approached him. Unfortunately for him, the guard caught him by the collar and pulled him closer.

    "Tch, what a waste of a night," Dreke glanced at the lifeless girls, before shifting his gaze to Elias who was struggling to free himself. "There''s no point in resisting. Just make it easy on both of us and let this prank happen."

    "Why should I make it easy on you?" Elias asked, but strangely enough, the voice didn''t seem to come from the person who was caught by the guard.

    Hearing the voice, the other guard also reacted swiftly, as he looked at Elias who was standing behind them. He reached out his hand and grabbed Elias by his collar, pushing him back.

    "There are two of them?" Even Dreke looked confused, shifting his gaze back and between two boys, each being held by a guard.

    "They might be strong, but they alone can''t protect you, can they?" To Dreke''s disbelief, a voice came one more time.

    "The two boys whom the guards were holding turned into smoke, covering the entire area in the blink of an eye. The guards realized that they had been fooled.

    They quickly tried to return to Dreke, but it was too late. A hand emerged from Dreke''s shadow and grabbed his ankle, pulling him inside as if the shadow were an ocean swallowing a person.

    One of the guards clapped loudly, the impact dispersing the smoke and clearing the area. But even after the area had cleared, they couldn''t find Dreke anywhere.

    Not just Dreke, but Elias was also missing. It was as if both of them had disappeared in an instant.

    Neither of the two guards could believe it. Just what kind of ability was this? Even if he could create illusory clones, that wasn''t typically a harmful or even powerful skill.

    The problem was that the clones were realistic and could be touched, until they disappeared at the slightest harm or through the will of the creator. It was basically a useless skill in the grand scheme of things.

    What truly left them stunned was the skill that helped Elias disappear with Dreke, something like teleportation, which shouldn''t be a skill a person could awaken in the first month of their awakening.

    Even amongst supreme classes, an ability like this only appeared after the third or fourth evolutions. Moreover, they had heard that Elias wasn''t even a creator or destroyer class.

    "Find him, or we are dead!" The guards were truly panicked. Even if they didn''t think that Elias was actually going to hurt Dreke, they couldn''t let him be missing for long.

    With the kind of temper he had, they knew that the anger was going to be let out on him if they didn''t free him fast enough.

    The guards each selected a direction and started searching for Dreke, unaware that the boy they were looking for was right there.

    The shadow had been there throughout this time. It had simply moved to hide in the other shadows before the smoke dispersed.

    "Where am I?" Dreke asked, looking around at the endless space.

    He could see a sky that was pitch black. But at the same time, there was ground underneath him that seemed to be somewhat bright, despite there being no source of light.

 Chapter 129 - 129: Drekes Ego

    "I don''t know what kind of tricks you are pulling, but I will really make you suffer if you don''t stop right now!" Dreke exclaimed, as he summoned a toxic vial from his storage.

    He reached out his hand and tossed the vial at the ground, intending to release the virus. He didn''t know what kind of space it was, but no matter the space, his virus could easily destroy it.

    "Is that a new virus that you created?" Elias caught the vial before it could touch the ground and looked at it curiously.

    "So, you have finally decided to show yourself, you little brat. Let me out of here, and I might forgive you for this."

    "It would be a cold day in hell when I would ask for your forgiveness," Elias said, tossing the vial back at Dreke.

    Dreke reached out his hand to catch the vial, but as the vial was about to touch his palm, it was shattered by an unknown force, and the entire virus splashed on Dreke''s hand, seeping through his skin.

    "Was that your plan?" Dreke asked, looking at his hand where black veins had started appearing. However, just as fast as those veins appeared, they disappeared as his body dealt with the virus.

    "If it was, then you are still a naive fool. My virus can never harm me. If our own virus could kill us, then virus masters would have long ceased to exist," he said. "I am still giving you a chance. Let me out of here, before I destroy this entire place along with you.

    Dreke was still filled with arrogance. At least that''s what he revealed on the surface when deep down, he was also extremely cautious.

    As far as he remembered, it had been less than a week since his brother came to the Academy. But he already had this strange ability that he had never seen before.

    He could control shadows to make attacks. It wasn''t a strong attack but it could take anyone by surprise. If one wasn''t alert and couldn''t react in time, then they could die right there.

    Only those higher existences whose body had evolved to a certain extent, could resist the shadow blades. But still, it was an ability that was good in lower stages. It was an ability that many in the destroyer class would die for. But it wasn''t enough.

    Elias was also able to create clones. Even though they couldn''t properly fight and were no different than an ordinary human in defence, they could still use some of the strength of Elias. And lastly this shadow realm.

    Within the last few minutes, he had seen three abilities of Elias, which wasn''t something that a person who just awakened should have had. Moreover, none of these abilities were something that an auxiliary class like an Architect was supposed to have.

    If these three were his extra abilities, then what about his class specific abilities? Just how many abilities did this boy have? The thought didn''t let Dreke rest.

    He would have been fine if the guards were with him as they could protect him from anything. But when he was alone, his confidence had more than halved.

    He could use his virus to kill Elias, or destroy this place, but even that needed certain conditions to be met first. He couldn''t even verify if the person before him was real or just another clone like before.

    "Why don''t you take a seat first?" Elias raised his hand to summon chairs from the ground. "You will have a lot of time to destroy this place later."

    He sat on a chair while the other was right next to Dreke. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I am not here to play around!" Dreke kicked off the chair, and roared. "Release me this instant! Do you have a death wish?"

    "Would it change anything if I had a death wish? And would it matter if I didn''t?" Elias asked calmly, his answer provoking Dreke even more. "I just want to talk to my dear brother. Is there something wrong with it?"

    Dreke glared at Elias, his lips twitching uncontrollably. He took a deep breath, and released it slowly, trying to regain his composure.

    "Fine, talk. But if this is some kind of trick, you''ll regret it," he said through gritted teeth as he sat down. "So what do you want?"

    "I heard from a few friends in the class that you are very impressive. You are also extremely famous in the academy as the greatest virus master of this era. There are many fans of yours in my class."

    "There are?" Dreke asked, looking quite surprised himself. "Cough, I mean of course there are. I am extremely popular. Even in my year, I''m one of the strongest."

    "They say that a virus master is the most special class, but it also requires the most hard work to create unique viruses. Hearing them talk about you, I started feeling even more respect for you. That''s why I came here to meet you."

    Hearing Elias''s words, Dreke was also at a loss. Deep down, he was happy at the compliments, even if they were coming from a boy that he didn''t quite like. In his class, no one really called him special as there were more special people there.

    Even amongst the descendants of the Ashborn Family, he was considered the least special. Every time he was compared with his brothers which made people look down on him even more.

    He thought he might change the perception through the practical exams after finishing first, which made him ask for his mother''s help but even that failed as he still wasn''t the fastest.

    He was quite egoistic, but he also starved for compliments. And after receiving the compliments, his ego was stroked. His mood immediately became better, even though he was basically brought here against his will.

    "Hmm? Then why did you attack me suddenly? Is it because I didn''t stop those girls from attacking you?" he suddenly asked.

 Chapter 130 - 130: Reality of Manifestation

    "The reason I attacked you... Actually, it''s a bit embarrassing." Elias lowered his head, scratching the back of his neck.

    "It wasn''t that I wanted to attack you. I only targeted the girl who was attacking me. But I couldn''t really control this ability. That''s why the other girl was also targeted, along with you."

    "I was slightly ashamed to tell you that I couldn''t even control my ability, so I made the excuse of it being a prank. Can you forgive me, brother?"

    "That was it?" Dreke looked at Elias in disbelief. The entire reason was nothing more than a loss of control by this useless fool? His mind was in disarray.

    For a moment, he had really thought that the boy was trying to kill him. That''s why he wondered where this cowardly child had gotten the courage. But to think that it was all an accident... Dreke rubbed his forehead in frustration.

    "What are you planning?" Astralious asked, suspicious of Elias''s intentions. "You clearly attacked him intentionally. And I can still feel a heavy killing intent within you, as if you can''t wait to rip him apart. Why are you speaking to him so nicely?"

    Elias ignored the Constellation and his questions, keeping his focus on Dreke. It was quite hard for him to maintain his calm exterior when his blood was boiling.

    "Hah, you pathetic bastard... I should''ve known that you can''t harm me." Dreke moved his hair back, his cold gaze looking sharply at Elias. "Whatever. Take me out of here. I will think about how to deal with you later."

    "B-brother, before we leave... Can I request you something?"

    "What?"

    "My friends talked about your greatness, but I couldn''t tell them anything since I don''t even know much about you myself. Can I..."

    Dreke could see Elias''s hesitation and even some trembling, which made him think that the boy was clearly scared of him. This was the kind of reaction that he truly expected from the boy.

    "Can I watch you create a virus? If I see how hard you work with my own eyes, I can tell my friends and have something to talk to them about. If I talk without even seeing anything, they would find out that I know nothing."

    Elias raised his head, revealing his eyes that looked like they were extremely exhausted and tired from everything that he went through.

    His hands were still trembling. However, contrary to what Dreke thought, he wasn''t shivering from fear. It was from an entirely different emotion.

    "If you let me see, I can tell them about your greatness even better. Then I''m certain your popularity will increase even amongst the descendants of other major families."

    "B-but if you don''t want to, then forget I said anything." Elias stood up, and the chair disappeared behind him. "I will send you outside."

    "Wait..." Dreke wanted to leave this place as fast as possible, but after hearing Elias''s reason, he didn''t seem to be in any hurry.

    If he could indeed become popular through his own skills, then he really didn''t want to miss this opportunity, even if it came through the brother that he didn''t quite like.

    Moreover, the reason he wanted to leave this place in the first place was because he was worried about his own safety. Now that he was convinced that Elias was just as cowardly as ever, he didn''t want to miss the opportunity.

    "Tch, since you are talking so nicely to me, I will do this favor for you. But don''t forget to tell your friends how hard I worked and how great I am."

    He rolled his eyes, unable to hide the pride within. It was the same pride that was leading him towards his downfall that he couldn''t see.

    He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, losing himself in thoughts. "What kind of virus should I make to show off to this bastard? It must be strong and hard to make so I can fully display my skills..."

    He had the recipe for many viruses. Quite a lot of them were given to him by his mother, while the others were taken from the academy. There were methods of creation for different kinds of viruses amongst them, and many of them stood out from the rest.

    "Right, that one... I just finished collecting enough materials for it as well. This could be good..." He turned to Elias and gestured for him to move back.

    Elias didn''t say anything and took a few steps back, letting Dreke take the lead. Dreke raised his right hand, and the ring on his middle finger started shining.

    "This is the personal lab that I always carry with me. Don''t forget to tell your friends about it. Tell them that it contains every rare material that could be found in this world."

    "For some items, I had to even fight the Nightmare Tribe alone, killing hundreds of them."

    Dreke kept telling Elias how he gathered the materials from different kinds of worlds, always exaggerating his achievements as if he had to walk through millions of corpses to get each of the materials.

    Elias might have even believed his words if he hadn''t mentioned the Nightmare Tribe. He didn''t know about the other places that Dreke mentioned in his exaggerated stories, but the Nightmare Tribe was something that he had heard about.

    It was a place that even gave Professor Grey a headache. There was no way Dreke could go there alone with his strength. At most, he would have used the family''s strength.

    The ring flew off Dreke''s hand and started transforming and growing bigger. Soon, an entire physical room had appeared in the shadow realm, something that looked completely identical to the lab that Elias had seen in the test of awakening.

    "Come inside, but don''t touch anything. You are only here to watch." Dreke opened the door and stepped inside the lab.

    Elias followed after him, and just as he thought, the lab looked completely identical to what he had seen in the test. There was even a table where he had been trapped in the test while experiments were conducted on him. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 131 - 131: How very kind of earth

    The Test of Awakening hadn''t just used Elias''s memories to create a manifestation of Dreke. It had made the manifestation as realistic as possible, even incorporating details that Elias hadn''t known at the time.

    On the opposite side of the experimentation table, another table held various materials and equipment, all meticulously arranged. Numerous shelves lined the walls, sealed by Dreke in the past.

    Behind the glass of some shelves, Elias could see jars filled with unknown liquids. Some contained poisonous insects, alive yet motionless. Other jars held things like organs from beasts, and even some from humans.

    "I am warning you again. Don''t touch anything here. If you do, and something goes wrong, I won''t save you. So you better listen well and stay alive until you can spread the stories. After that you can die for all I care."

    Dreke walked over to the table, and opened a diary that was also identical to what Elias had seen in the test of awakening.

    Everything here was so similar that Elias wondered if the results of that experiment from that test were also real? Was that a real recipe that could be created from the materials that were present here?

    Dreke picked up a pen and started writing something in the diary. After every line he wrote, he mixed some materials together from the table.

    "I heard your performance in the practicals was great." Elias walked closer to Dreke to observe carefully, a coldness slowly creeping in his eyes.

    He had everything that he wanted already. He was inside the lab of Dreke. He even had the materials that Dreke had gathered. Even if he wasn''t a virus master himself, he couldn''t have cared about it.

    The Virus Masters were experts in creating viruses because their minds could analyse thousands of combinations in their minds, calculating even faster than the speed of a supercomputer as long as it was about a virus.

    They also had resistance to viruses of many kinds, which made them the most suitable for this profession. Once they evolved further, they didn''t even need to go through the harsh process of mixing materials to create something. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They could create a virus within their own bodies, making their blood the greatest biological weapons in existence. It was a class that was considered weak in lower stages but in higher stages, it was quite frightening.

    The High Grade Virus Masters who had gone through five evolutions or higher were something that even the Professors of the Academy would have avoided. Unfortunately, their numbers were extremely low.

    There was not a single Virus Master who was said to have gone through the sixth evolution. There were even stories that the families couldn''t allow anyone like that to exist so they killed any virus master who was even close to the sixth evolution.

    Only a rare few Virus Masters were in their fifth evolutions, but they were mostly in hiding. The highest stage of the virus master known was only the fourth stage evolution, which was also who Dreke''s mother hired to help her son.

    Elias didn''t care about the Virus Masters. He didn''t even know much about the Viruses or their formulas, but he still wanted to enter this place for one and one reason alone. It was also the reason he didn''t outright kill Dreke when he had the opportunity.

    "Hmm? Are you talking about the place called Earth? If only I was a little faster, I could have taken first place. If only that pathetic world died faster. Even in death, they screwed me over," Dreke shook his head in frustration, the pen on his hand stabbing deeper into the paper as he moved it.

    "I''m sure the Virus Master found for me, must have been a quack. His virus couldn''t even kill an ordinary world fast enough," he said, unable to hide his frustration.

    It was only after he finished speaking that he thought about what he had done. He couldn''t tell anyone else that the virus didn''t belong to him.

    "If you told anyone what you heard here, I will kill you myself!" His brows rose, as he coldly warned Elias without even looking at him.

    "Don''t worry. I will make sure nothing gets out of this place."

    "Good. It seems you''re not completely useless after all." Dreke smirked. "Though earth was quite interesting. It was fun watching that place die."

    "How fun?" Elias asked, his voice barely audible. However, since he was standing right next to Dreke, his words were as clear as day.

    "The humans that lived in that world were running like ants, trying to find a way to survive. Those fools really thought that their medicines could stop the virus of a Virus Master."

    "Many of them were praying to gods, begging for their survival. They had no idea that I was the true god of that world at that time, watching them from the sky as my baby virus spread across the entire world."

    "It does sound fun," Elias responded, his voice carrying not even the slightest trace of emotions.

    "You can only imagine, but I was right there to experience it. I could never get tired of that feeling."

    "Didn''t you get bored watching them die for days straight?" Elias asked.

    "What''s there to get bored? I had a few friends there with me, to keep me company. We even made a bet on how fast that world will die. Of course I won the bet. As a virus master, if I couldn''t even calculate it, then wouldn''t it be too embarrassing?"

    "I knew how fast I was going to finish the trial, but I didn''t know about others. Every time I think about the fact that there were people who finished their trials faster than me, it still makes my blood boil."

    Dreke started talking to himself, living that day all over again when he received the results. Even though the completion of the trial allowed him to enter the third year classes from the second year, he still had that sour taste in his mouth.

    "Earth made you win your bet. How very kind of it," Elias said, his voice carrying a faint trace of sarcasm.

 Chapter 132 - 132: Virus Master Elias

    "Earth made you win your bet. How very kind of it," Elias said, his voice carrying a faint trace of sarcasm.

    Dreke, lost in his reverie, didn''t seem to notice. He continued writing the process he was going to follow this time in the diary.

    Every time he made a mistake, he crossed out the last line and wrote the correction above it.

    "Kind? It was merely fulfilling its purpose. These wild places exist to be conquered and used. That world was weak and insignificant," he answered without a care in the world. "Its only value was in providing me with a stepping stone, and even that it failed to achieve perfectly."

    Elias watched him, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. The coldness in his eyes intensified as he observed Dreke''s every movement and every notation in the diary.

    He was memorizing it all, especially the handwriting and the writing style, etching it into his mind.

    "So, tell me more about this entertainment," Elias asked, his voice deceptively calm. "What else did you find amusing about the destruction of an entire world?"

    Dreke, oblivious to the rage building within Elias, puffed up his chest. "Oh, there were many amusing moments. If I remember correctly, the world even gave birth to a Fable."

    "That fable must be trapped in the land of fables somewhere now," he trailed off, a dreamy look on his face.

    "When destroying that place, did you ever feel sympathy for them?" Elias asked, the word almost catching in his throat. "... for anyone? I''m sure there must have been many children there like us, right? What about them?"

    Dreke waved a dismissive hand. "Collateral damage. Necessary sacrifices. They wouldn''t have survived long anyway."

    He picked up a small vial filled with a purple liquid and added a single drop to the mixture in front of him. The concoction released a cloud of dense smoke before calming down.

    "That is true. Collateral damage is normal," Elias said, his voice barely audible, reduced to nothing more than a whisper by the realization that he was nothing more than collateral damage to this person.

    Dreke finished writing a step-by-step process for the virus that he was about to create, and placed the pen in the middle of the diary before walking to the shelves.

    He opened the lock and started taking out the materials. "Help me carry the two jars at the top. And you better not drop them."

    After taking the jars, he walked back to the table, leaving the rest for Elias.

    After he placed the jars he was carrying on the table, he looked back, expecting Elias to be carrying the other jars as instructed. But to his surprise, the boy hadn''t moved an inch.

    "Why are you not following orders?"

    "The lab is here... You are here... The shelves are unlocked, so I won''t have to break anything in the extraction storm..." Elias could be seen mumbling to himself, completely ignoring Dreke.

    "What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Do as I said, you brat!" Dreke raised his hand to slap the back of Elias''s head.

    He wanted to bring him out of his daze, but he was once again at a loss when his wrist was caught by Elias.

    He was on his second evolution, so he should have had more strength than Elias, but he wasn''t even able to move his hand.

    "Release my hand this instant!" he said, feeling as if something was seriously wrong with Elias. This was nothing like his subservient self from before.

    "This should be enough." Elias glanced back at Dreke, realizing that he had already received more than he had aimed for. Everything was prepared for Dreke, just as he wanted.

    "What are you saying?" Dreke''s expression darkened as he started resisting even more fiercely, having a really bad feeling about this.

    Secretly, he began releasing a virus through the hand that Elias was holding, letting the virus invade the boy''s body without making any drastic movements.

    He didn''t know what the boy was trying to do, but he didn''t want to find out. His instincts had already warned him the moment his hand was caught.

    He expected Elias to start suffering from the virus that he had released. He believed that the boy would start screaming any moment, but something was also wrong with his own body. It was as if someone had cast a spell of sleepiness over him. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Within minutes, his mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of sleep, to the point that he could barely keep his eyes open. He didn''t want to sleep at this moment, as it didn''t feel natural, but his body was completely under the control of this sleepiness.

    He tried releasing the virus in his own body to keep himself awake, but he was so overwhelmed with sleep that before the virus could be released, his eyes closed.

    The last thing that he saw was Elias still holding his wrist, and then everything turned dark.

    "Don''t worry, brother. I will not make you collateral damage... I will make sure to give you the priority that you deserve. So sleep peacefully until it''s time to wake up..."

    Elias watched Dreke, whose body had gone limp as he fell asleep. He carried the body to the experimentation table where Dreke had been trapped in his illusion.

    Fortunately, the chains were also right there, which he used to bind Dreke''s hands and legs before taking a step back to appreciate the scene.

    He also looked at his hand, where a virus had started wrecking his body. Every second, he felt the pain become stronger, but it paled in comparison to the pain of evolution and merger with soul beast essence.

    Not wanting to destroy the lab, he stepped out, and only after going far away from it, he used precise extraction to remove a condensed form of the virus.

    After keeping the virus in his class storage, he returned to the lab to complete what he had left pending.

 Chapter 133 - 133: How many brothers have you kidnapped?

    Elias returned to the lab and walked closer to Dreke, who was in a deep sleep. If his chest wasn''t heaving up and down, it would have been hard to tell him from the dead.

    "Sleep, dear brother. Sleep while I prepare a beautiful dream for you..."

    ....

    Elias emerged from the shadows, appearing before the mansion that was assigned to him. And just as he had thought, the guards who were supposed to be protecting his brother were nowhere to be seen.

    They had already left the place, trying to find him, while he was right where he was supposed to be.

    He waited there for ten minutes before he saw another person. It was a middle-aged woman with glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

    "Are you Elias Ashborn?" she asked.

    "You must be from the Academy. I have been waiting for you." Elias reached out his hand towards the woman.

    "This is your new Academy Identification. Don''t lose it this time." The woman placed the badge in Elias''s hand and turned away.

    She didn''t seem to care in the slightest about the two lifeless bodies of second-year students that were lying outside the mansion.

    "You might be an Ashborn, but please act in moderation while you are here." Only a single sentence from her was left behind as she disappeared.

    "Since when did the students of this academy act in moderation?" Elias answered, but no one was here to hear him.

    He used his Academy Identification to open the gates of the Mansion and entered, putting the long day to an end while the Ashborn Family Guards kept searching for him throughout the Academy.

    Even the Guards couldn''t be too brazen in the absence of Dreke, so they tried to ensure that they weren''t seen while searching. However, that also made their search take longer.

    After searching all the open areas that they could access, they returned to the Residential Area three hours after the incident. The bodies were still there, making them believe that no one had arrived here yet. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Did you find anything?" they asked each other at the same time. But their questions served as the answers themselves.

    The Guards stood outside Elias''s mansion, still unaware that the person they were looking for was right inside.

    "What should we do? We might need the help of the Academy in this, but the Academy won''t take us seriously. Even our presence here was supposed to be a secret that the Academy turned a blind eye to..."

    "What can we even do? Of course, we need to inform the lady of the house. Only she can pressure the Academy. We might get punished, but it''s not as if there is any other escape."

    The two guards were exhausted, and even somewhat scared, as they thought about their future.

    It would be good if they were just demoted or beaten, but if they were sent to serve in the forbidden areas of the universe that were controlled by the Ashborn Family, then that was a nightmare they didn''t want to experience.

    "You better pray that our punishment is not that..." One of the guards said, before flying towards the docks where the Ashborn Family Ship was present, to send a signal to the family.

    "Anything but that!" The other guard followed after him, keeping the pace.

    ....

    Inside the luxurious mansion, Elias fell on the bed and closed his eyes. He hadn''t slept for even a single second since the first trial, his body still functioning on the adrenaline rush for the most part.

    "Are you going to sleep?" He had barely closed his eyes when he heard the familiar voice appear in his head.

    "What do you think?"

    "But you just kidnapped your brother."

    "Does that mean I can''t sleep?"

    "Who sleeps right after kidnapping their brother? Especially when that brother seemed to hold a higher position in the family than you?"

    Even the Guards of the Family hadn''t shown Elias any respect which convinced Astralious that he didn''t hold any significant position in the family.

    It was slightly surprising for him since the boy held so much talent, but that didn''t change anything.

    He had kidnapped the person who held a higher position. Even if they were his own family, were they going to let this go without any form of punishment?

    If he was in Elias''s place, he would have been thinking of ways to apologise to the family. And here, the boy was planning to sleep without a single care in the world?

    "How many brothers have you kidnapped, to know that it''s not normal?" Elias weakly answered before turning sideways on the soft bed which made him feel like he was sleeping on the clouds.

    "Don''t worry. In our family, it''s completely normal. In fact, there never goes a day when one brother doesn''t kidnap the other. So you can also rest easy and stop bothering me."

    "Is it normal?" Astralious''s face turned weird as he thought about it. "What a strange ritual."

    Although it sounded weird, he couldn''t find any flaws in the story. He didn''t know the Asbborn Family to that extent and didn''t know what they actually did. So he believed Elias''s words and thought that maybe it was truly normal for him.

    "In that case, you should''ve told me before. I was worried for no reason." He finally sighed in relief, living in complete ignorance.

    He stopped bothering Elias and let the boy finally fall asleep. Unfortunately, as a constellation, he couldn''t sleep.

    Throughout the time, he remained on the barren landscape, trapped by the chains as he waited for the morning so he could finally talk to someone, as the boredom had been killing him for centuries.

    "What did you say?! My son...?" In the Ashborn Palace, a woman stood up and the cup in her hand fell to the ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces.

    In another part, a shadow had delivered a similar message to the Lord of the House who had a very mute reaction instead.

    "Is everything written here, true?" he asked, barely raising his voice beyond talking to himself.

 Chapter 134 - 134: No

    "Should I... interfere?" the guard asked, releasing a faint trace of killing intent.

    Silas crushed the letter in his hand. It contained every bit of information about Elias''s awakening and his performance in the test.

    "There is no need to interfere in the matters of children. If either of them dies, then it''s their own fault for not being able to protect themselves."

    After crushing the paper, he tossed it towards the guard behind him. The letter started burning. It slowly turned to ashes just as the guard reached out to catch it.

    "I will remember your words, my lord." The guard lowered his head, observing the last flicker of the flames as they consumed the letter completely.

    "My Lord, the lady also received this news. With how much she loved the Fourth Young Master, she might do something about it."

    He prepared to leave, but Silas spoke again. "Have you found any signs of Aliath?"

    The guard gulped heavily. With a trembling voice, he answered, "None yet."

    "Hmm," Silas responded, his reaction muted. "You can leave."

    ....

    "You must do something about it!"

    It had only been a few minutes since the guard had left when the door burst open and a woman barged inside.

    "Elite force! Command the elite force to enter the Academy! You must save my son and punish Elias!"

    She was truly panicked, thinking about her son''s fate; he had been kidnapped by Elias. If her son wasn''t found yet, it meant that he was in danger.

    "No." One word... In only one word, Silas answered her with a swift rejection.

    He stood up and took a step forward, phasing through a myriad of realities. He left the place, not wanting to be bothered anymore.

    It was said that no one could truly understand what went through Silas''s mind, and even his wife was no different.

    The woman was left alone in the room, looking in disbelief.

    ....

    It was ten in the morning when the Academy Identification badge next to Elias began to shine. A hologram appeared above the badge, displaying a map for the students to follow.

    Simultaneously, an alarm started ringing, growing louder with each passing second.

    Although the alarm was loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood, Elias remained asleep.

    Another hour passed before his eyes abruptly opened. This wasn''t because he was fully rested, but because his body sensed a threat.

    He quickly leaped forward, summoning the Sword of Harbinger, and attacked the source of the presence.

    "That''s a very interesting sword," the person Elias had hastily targeted, grabbed the blade of his sword between two fingers, stopping it from moving even an inch.

    Initially, the person was impressed with Elias''s instincts alone. But that changed when he felt a spatial essence attacking the fingers holding the sword.

    Elias''s sword disappeared as he finally got a better look at the person who had entered the room. He jumped back, landing on the other side of the bed.

    "What are you doing in my room, Professor?" he asked. "I believe this is my personal space." S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You brat, do you even have the right to say something like that? Do you know how badly I was scolded because of you?" Grey summoned a chair. He sat down, resting a leg over the other.

    "I was planning to scold you in class, but you didn''t even show up. In the end, I had to come here myself."

    "Class?" Elias looked just as confused as ever. "How am I supposed to know about it when you abandoned me in the Land of Fables?"

    "I''m lucky that something seemed to have gone wrong there, and the opening appeared on its own. If not for that, I would have been trapped there forever."

    After calming down, he took advantage of the situation and offered an explanation before Grey could even ask.

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    He had no reason to tell them that he had created that opening. And the Professors couldn''t prove that he had done anything, since many strange things had happened in the Land of Fables this time.

    The entire Land of Shadows had disappeared, and he had no hand in it. The Academy couldn''t blame him for everything.

    "I know. It looks like a Soul Beast escaped from the Land of Fables after sacrificing an entire domain. It might have caused the imbalance that made it happen. The Dean already told me about it."

    "Hmm?" Although Elias wanted Grey to believe his story, he didn''t expect it to be accepted so easily. "How do you know about the escaped Soul Beast? Did it appear at the Academy?"

    "Academy? He would have thanked his stars if he had appeared at the Academy. He escaped from the Land of Fables, only to end up before... Ah, I believe you already met that man last night."

    When Grey talked about the meeting last night, his expression turned sour as he remembered the scolding he had received.

    He had gone to tell the Dean that Elias had died. He could still remember the Dean''s gaze, as if she were looking at the most idiotic man in the world.

    She told him that she had already seen Elias, and that he was alive. And the true scolding came after that, for a teacher to not even know that their student was alive and roaming freely in the academy.

    "Anyways, I am glad that you are alive." He truly looked relieved. His gaze that was filled with gratitude made Elias feel quite weird. Since when did this person start caring for him?

    He didn''t know that Grey was simply relieved that there was someone to take the blame for the death of Esterin''s descendant. He didn''t have to take responsibility for that.

    "Come with me." He stood up and the chair disappeared. He reached out his hand, making Elias''s badge flying straight to him.

    He finally shut off the alarm, which had been beeping throughout this time, and tossed it back at Elias.

    "The Badge isn''t just a key to use portals. It is also a communication device and a map. I had already sent you the coordinates of the class. You kept the others waiting as well. Let''s go."

    He opened a portal. After grabbing Elias''s wrist, he entered the portal.

 Chapter 135 - 135: Give it a try

    Elias stepped out of the portal. For the first time since entering the Academy, he felt the familiar energy of a regular school.

    He found himself in a proper classroom, complete with desks and chairs. The other members of the Destroyer Class were already seated, leaving only one empty chair at the front.

    Behind him, instead of a whiteboard, a screen covered the entire wall. On the screen were pictures of the Destroyer Class members. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Under the pictures, the students'' names were written. However, quite a few pictures had a red cross marked over them.

    It didn''t take Elias long to realize why these pictures had a cross, since there was also a picture of Rey, who had died at his hands.

    In total, only forty untouched pictures remained. Similarly, including him, there were forty children in the class.

    "Take the first seat." The Professor stepped out of the Portal and pushed Elias forward, who seemed frozen in place.

    "He''s really alive?"

    "Does that mean he fooled everyone with his death? So Rey was telling the truth that he didn''t have the Growth Stone?"

    "Of course, it''s true. Can''t you see that he has already completed the first evolution? This boy truly played us."

    "Even if that''s true, how did he return? I''m certain he didn''t come with us."

    "What''s there to think about? The Professor must have gone back to bring him out."

    Elias heard the others talking behind his back after he sat down. They weren''t even trying to hide it. Even without using heightened senses, he could hear them.

    "Silence!" Grey said. His voice wasn''t loud, but it still made the children feel like someone had screamed right in their ears, almost blowing their eardrums.

    "Although you have already gone through two classes, they were technically more of a test than a class. Today is the formal start of your education."

    "Before we start, there are a few things I need to tell you. The first is that your class will follow a ranking system!"

    He pointed back at the screen, which showed the pictures of the students. Above each student, a number materialized.

    "The ranking is decided based on your first test. Those who died in the second test have been erased from the ranking. And those below them have had their rankings risen."

    "As the first-ranked on the list, the leader of your class will be Elias Ashborn. The ranking holds extreme importance, as it will determine priorities in the future. So you better pay a lot of attention to it." Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

    "Professor!" A girl raised her hand. "How can we accept the leadership of a boy who doesn''t even have the Destroyer Class?"

    "You yourself said that he got lucky and used a treasure to kill the Professor. Without that score, he would have been at the bottom of the list. Isn''t that unfair to us?" she asked.

    Elias looked at the girl who held the second rank. Previously, that rank had belonged to Rey, but after his death, she had risen to second place.

    If Elias were also removed, she could easily have the first place. The others could also rise a place, which made them support her claim.

    Within seconds, voices started rising, calling out the unfairness of the system.

    "If you don''t think the ranking is fair, then you will get an opportunity to challenge it at regular intervals. It may be in a month, or six months. You will be informed in advance. Until then, this ranking will stand."

    "If any of you have any problems with the ranking, then take it up with the management."

    The Professor simply waved his hand and refused to make any changes to the ranking. It was the one thing that he couldn''t arbitrarily change, especially on the first day.

    "But-" the girl opened her mouth, but before she could utter the next word, she felt an invisible blade against her neck. She was certain that if she continued, she might actually die.

    Even though she was a descendant of a major family and didn''t believe that a Professor was actually going to kill her, she didn''t want to risk it on the off chance that he might.

    She sat down and didn''t continue dwelling on the matter. If there really was an opportunity in the near future to change the ranking, then she could still take that rank in the future.

    "Now that you all are not screaming like animals, let''s move on to the next topic." He waved his hand, and the door opened. "Call your Soul Beasts inside."

    All the students followed the instructions one after another. The Soul Beasts that were waiting outside the class started entering in a row. However, the beasts that truly stood out from the group were those in human form.

    "As you all might have noticed, the Soul Beasts give you an incredible advantage, but they are also quite inconvenient. Unlike treasures, they can''t be kept in storage rings."

    "You haven''t gone through your second evolutions, so you can''t keep them within your souls. That''s why the Academy has arranged something for you."

    He waved a finger lightly, and the rings that were kept on the table flew to the desks of the students. One even landed before Elias.

    "These rings hold a small inner world where you can keep your Soul Beasts. Give it a try."

    The children started wearing the rings and raised their hands towards their Soul Beasts, calling them back. It worked like a miracle, without much practice needed.

    They were immediately able to recall the Soul Beasts into the rings.

    "Are you not going to give it a try?" Grey asked Elias, who was simply playing with the ring. Unlike the others, he was the only one who didn''t have a Soul Beast.

    "I don''t have a Soul Beast," Elias answered, placing the ring back on the desk. "I lost my soul bead. I couldn''t contract anyone."

    Grey placed his hand on Elias''s desk and looked at him with mischief in his eyes. "Why don''t you give it a try?"

 Chapter 136 - 136: Two weeks

    "There is nothing to try." Elias knew more than anyone present about his own Soul Beast. "I have failed to acquire one."

    He had killed every Soul Beast that he had come across. Even if he wanted to take a Soul Beast, he didn''t even have the Soul Bead to do it. In his eyes, the Professor was simply trying to tease him.

    "In that case, can you tell me who she is?" The Professor clapped her hands, and the door opened once more.

    With light footsteps, someone stepped inside the room. The sound of chains clanking made Elias raise his head.

    Elias stood up the moment he caught a glimpse of the woman who had entered. Her hands were tied behind her back with Celestial Chains that restricted her abilities.

    "What is she doing here?"

    "It looks like you recognise her." The Professor tapped the table, and the ring started floating before Elias. "Do you still want to say that you don''t have a Soul Beast?"

    "But she is not my Soul-" Elias subconsciously said, only to go silent before completing his sentence.

    ''He wouldn''t do something so useless for no reason at all. Is there truly a possibility that she might be...?''

    He quickly wore the ring on his finger, and tried to summon Lyra back. To his disbelief, it worked. Lyra was actually transferred to the space inside the ring, something that only the Master of the Soul Beast could do.

    His expressions grew worse with each passing second as he realized where the Soul Beast was actually dropped. Out of all places, it has to be with Lyra who even consumed it.

    "Next time, don''t abandon your Soul Beast just because you''re ashamed of her." Grey reminded Elias, completely misunderstanding the reason for Lyra not being with Elias.

    He stepped back and shifted his focus back to the entire class. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

    "Your Soul Beasts are your weapons, but they are also your partners. If they die, then you would not just lose your weapons, but also a part of your soul talent. So all of you, better protect your Soul Beasts!"

    "Don''t be like a certain someone who left his Soul Beast to die." His words were aimed at Elias, even though he didn''t look at the boy anymore.

    Elias was still looking at the ring on his finger, unable to believe that he actually had a Soul Beast now. Even if it was the lowest grade of Soul Beast, or an incomplete beast, he didn''t care about it.

    He didn''t need the strength of a Soul Beast to deal with other Soul Beasts. What truly made him speechless was that she was someone born from the destruction of earth.

    There was truly a moment when he did want to bring Lyra back with him, but he had felt that it was impossible with the presence of the High Grade Fable that was protecting her.

    After all that, she ended up with him. He didn''t know if he should be happy that he had received another remnant of earth, or worry about what it meant for them.

    He summoned her back from his ring, even when the Professor was busy talking about the value of the Soul Beasts. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He grabbed the chains that had tied Lyra''s hands and pulled them. The chains shattered under Elias''s strength, and Lyra was freed.

    Lyra still had tears in her eyes, even when she was freed. She was completely different from the happy and optimistic girl that Elias had seen in the forest.

    She didn''t say anything and silently stood there like a statue, looking at the Professor.

    Elias sent her back, having freed her hands. He didn''t say anything to her, already guessing what might have happened.

    The only thing that could have shocked Lyra to her core was the death of the Soul Beast that she considered as her grandfather.

    When he broke out of the Land of Fables, he didn''t think that the old man was going to be foolish enough to rush out of that place.

    Not only had he rushed out, but he was also caught by the people of the Academy and killed, along with the others.

    The only reason Lyra was even left alive was because someone noticed the contracted mark on the back of her neck. The accidental contract had saved her life.

    The class continued as usual with the Professor telling them more about the Soul Beasts, including the ways to grow them.

    Most of the descendants of the founding families were sleepy throughout the class, already knowing such basic things through their families.

    "If you have had good sleep throughout the class, then start paying attention now. I''m about to tell you something important." The Professor waved his hand, forcefully straightening the back of the student.

    "Two weeks later, you will have a combined class with the Creator Class. It would be your first such class, and you would only be allowed to use your Soul Beasts in that class."

    "Similarly, the Creator Class will only be allowed to use their Summoned Beasts. So you have two weeks to prepare accordingly, putting everything I told you in this class to good use."

    The display on the screen changed and a blue planet appeared on the screen.

    "This will be the place where the joint class will be held. All the information related to the planet will be sent to your badges for you to go through. Do what you please with the information."

    Even though he didn''t outright say it, but many of the students received the hint that the surroundings might come into use. The terrain was something that could either benefit or harm their soul beasts.

    One after another, the students also started departing, to make necessary preparations and train their Soul Beasts.

    Elias was the only one left behind, watching the blue planet on the screen. After a long period of silence, he stood up and left the place as well.

 Chapter 137 - 137: Have fun, brother

    ....

    After returning to his mansion, Elias summoned Lyra, and offered her a glass of water.

    "It is safe here. No one will hurt you."

    "Why?" Lyra asked, looking at Elias. "He didn''t hurt anyone in his life. He even saved you! So why?"

    She grabbed Elias by his collar and screamed, "Why was he killed?!"

    Her gentle demeanor from before was nowhere to be found. The moment she grabbed Elias''s collar, an electric current coursed through her body, originating from the contracted mark on the back of her neck.

    She subconsciously released his collar and fell on her knees, crying in pain. Her painful cries echoed across the room, filled with her sobbing as she let out her pain.

    Elias remained unmoving, gazing at the girl. There was only one answer to her question. The old man was killed because he tried to snatch freedom, which he wasn''t allowed. He couldn''t get himself to tell her that answer.

    It was also partially his own fault, as he had overestimated the intelligence of the old man, never expecting him to do something so foolish.

    It was because he had opened the gateway to the academy, which allowed the old man to rush to his death. If he hadn''t done that, the old man would still be alive. And Lyra would still be living with him, despite being contracted to him.

    He was partially to blame for what happened, but he didn''t truly regret it either. Deep down, he knew that if he was given another choice, he would have done the same thing again.

    He didn''t expect that old man to do something so stupid. There was no reason for him to sacrifice his own freedom for that old man. Even if they had helped him, he couldn''t forget everything to stay behind.

    He took a deep breath, and maintained his silence. No matter what he said, it wasn''t going to change anything. So he left Lyra to come to terms with her emotions and left her in silence after putting the bottle of water on the ground.

    "There are some things that we can''t change. The faster you learn it, the longer you might be able to live." Only a few sentences were left behind, as he disappeared within his shadow.

    ....

    The lab room was filled with the occasional sound of clanking of materials, and a pen moving roughly across a page.

    A man was lying on the patient table, peacefully sleeping for over a day. As the effect of the forceful sleep started running out, his eyelids twitched.

    He slowly opened his eyes, but his eyes felt heavy. He tried to run his eyes, and came to a realisation that his heads were tied through chains to the table. He couldn''t even raise his hand.

    "What?" He turned his head, and saw someone in the distance. The person''s back was facing him as he wrote something in a diary that belonged to Dreke.

    "What are you doing?" Dreke asked the person who was also wearing his white robe while playing with materials that he shouldn''t even be touching.

    "You are awake." The person stopped writing, and kept the beaker in his left hand in place.

    He turned back, revealing his face to his elder brother. "Your sleep was longer than I thought. Were you having good dreams?"

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    "What do you think you are doing?" Dreke pulled as hard as he could on the chains. Even if the chains were strong, they couldn''t hold him back.

    After his second evolution, his strength had long surpassed what mere chains could restrict. At least that''s what he thought, but the reality hit him hard. The chains didn''t even crack, let alone break under his force.

    "Brother, you should save some energy. The chains are not going to break. I prepared them accordingly."

    "What do you want from me?" Dreke asked, his resistance growing weaker. "Do you want me to apologise to you or something? Because this thing has gone too far already."

    "Not far enough."

    Dreke heard the response, while Elias picked up a syringe on the table. The syringe was completely filled with an unknown liquid that even Dreke couldn''t recognise without touching it.

    "That''s enough! If it''s about my behaviour towards you, then I am sorry! Don''t do something foolish that you might regret throughout the rest of your life!"

    The resistance that had grown weaker, became stronger again. Dreke used everything he had, even if it meant breaking his bones when he saw Elias come closer with the Syringe.

    "You don''t have to be scared of it. It won''t kill you." Elias grabbed Dreke''s shoulder and pulled hard on it, dislocating his shoulder to weaken some of the resistance on the arm. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He stabbed the syringe in his arm, and pushed the entire liquid in his arms before correcting the dislocation.

    "What did you put inside my body?!" Dreke asked, feeling strange. Even though his virus resistance was strong, he could still feel that unfamiliar sensation spreading across his entire body.

    "Just a little something to keep you busy for two weeks or so. After all, I can''t let you die before we get there. But I also don''t want to let you be bored here. That''s why..." Elias fell on his knees before the table, so that Dreke was on his eye level.

    He smiled brightly, but for Dreke, that looked like the smile of a maniac, something that he couldn''t associate with the Elias that he knew.

    "Have fun, brother." He lightly tapped Dreke''s forehead before standing up. He walked away, and left the lab.

    "You! Why are you doing it? I never really hurt you! Why?! My mother will never let it go! You will pay for it! Elias!!! I will kill you myself!"

    Cries came from inside the lab that could be heard even outside since Elias was yet to close the door. The cries were filled with pain that, despite the virus resistance, made Dreke feel like he was in living hell.

    The door slowly closed, and the painful cries were locked within the lab, being silenced.

 Chapter 138 - 138: When she catch the lie

    Elias returned to the hall, and found Lyra still sitting at the same place where he had left her before. Even after a few hours had passed, she hadn''t moved.

    Her eyes looked tired, as she looked like she had run out of tears. The bottle of water was also lying next to her, untouched.

    Elias walked over to her and crouched down beside her. "If you just stay here sulking, will it change anything?"

    He opened the bottle of water, and brought her close to Lyra''s lips. "Drink."

    This time, he didn''t simply ask her to drink, but used a command. Lyra opened her dry lips, allowing Elias to touch the bottle with her lips.

    He tilted the bottle, letting the water spill in her mouth, making her drink. Lyra drank water until the entire bottle was completed, and Elias tossed the empty bottle away.

    Even if she could force her to do things that he wanted thanks to the contract, he didn''t find it to be a long term solution. The girl had completely lost herself, as if she didn''t even have a reason for existence anymore.

    She reminded him a little of himself from the past, when he was the only person left alive on earth. She needed a reason to live, and Elias could only think of one reason to keep her going.

    "The old man is not dead," he told the girl. And for the first time, she gave a proper reaction. Her eyes rose up and her lips trembled. She was looking for hope, and Elias gave her that hope, even if he had to lie about it. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Your grandfather was special. The Academy wouldn''t kill someone like him. What you saw was nothing more than an illusion that the Academy used to calm down the escaped Soul Beasts."

    "You mean..." The lifeless eyes had started gaining their shine once more, in response to Elias''s words.

    Lyra was someone that hadn''t seen much of the treacherous world. Even the concept of lies wasn''t completely established in her mind, especially when coming from someone that she knew.

    "Not only is the old man alive, but everyone else that escaped with him is also alive. They were just caught and sent back to their homes since they weren''t allowed in the land of living."

    Elias brushed his fingers through his hair, letting out a long sigh. "They would have sent you back as well, but you have been contracted to me. That''s why, they kept you back."

    "I want to meet him." Lyra said. Even though she was a little confused, her eyes had gained their usual shine as she heard that her grandfather was alive and back safely.

    "The Soul Beasts that are contracted can''t return to that land," Elias answered right away. "That''s why you were left behind. Do you understand now?"

    "Contracted...?" Lyra tilted her head sideways, looking at Elias naively.

    Elias had thought that the girl might know the concept of a Soul Beast at least, but her ignorant face made him understand that he had overestimated her.

    It made him understand what Astralious felt when telling him some of the most basic things.

    "Did you eat a small gem after I left?" he asked, describing the Soul Beast in as much detail as possible.

    Lyra nodded innocently. "I found it near the bed. It looked tasty..."

    Elias took a deep breath, mumbling, "It''s going to be a long night."

    He could occasionally hear the muffled laughter of Astralious, which made his lips twitch.

    Astralious was experiencing the glee of watching someone suffer from the same problems that he had suffered multiple times. He was quite enjoying the sight.

    Elias started explaining to Lyra about the concept of a Soul Contract that bound a Soul Beast to a human. Once the Soul Contract was accepted, it could never be broken unless the Soul Beast died.

    "The Land of Fables is made for the Soul Beasts that haven''t entered a contract yet. But the moment you are the Soul Beast that I accidentally dropped, you subconsciously accepted the contract."

    "Even if I wanted to send you back, I can''t do that. If you do return to that place, the world itself might collapse and the old man will get hurt when the sky falls on him. Do you want it to happen?"

    Elias talked to her as if talking to a child, even making some stories to make her give up her stubbornness to return.

    "No!" Lyra shook her head repeatedly, her face ghastly pale at the thought of the sky falling on the old man. "I don''t want to hurt the old man!"

    "Then just stay here." Elias patted Lyra''s head. "The old man will also be happy as long as you are happy. I have already sent a letter to him, telling him that you are safe and with me."

    The girl nodded her head even faster, like an electric fan. Even if she was an incomplete fable, her agility still didn''t miss an opportunity to surprise Elias.

    "Are you sleepy?"

    The girl slowly shook her head, but her eyes truly looked exhausted. Even though there were no signs of the previous dead anymore, the exhaustion was still impossible to hide.

    "Be honest. Are you sleepy?" Elias asked again, this time glaring at her as if he had already caught her lying.

    Lyra lowered her head, akin to a child who had been caught lying. She gently said, "A little."

    "From now on, we are partners. So you don''t have to hide anything from me." Elias placed his arm under Lyra''s knee and another arm around her shoulders. He stood up, holding Lyra in his arms and walked to the bedroom.

    He placed her on the bed and covered her with a bedsheet. "Sleep well."

    He turned off the lights of the room and left the room, leaving Lyra who had immediately fallen asleep without any complaints.

    Elias slowly closed the bedroom door, trying to be as careful as possible to not disturb her anymore.

    "Have you ever thought about what would happen when she catches your lie?" A voice appeared in Elias''s head.

    "We will deal with it when the time comes," Elias answered, hoping that the issue wouldn''t surface anytime soon.

 Chapter 139 - 139: Missing Bone

    "I must say, I''m truly not jealous of you anymore. Even if someone paid me, I wouldn''t want to be in your place."

    "Why is that?"

    "In just the last twenty four hours, you have been targeted by that frighteningly strong man. You have kidnapped your own brother, and now you are struck with an incomplete fable that''s even weaker than a Low Grade Soul Beast."

    "Even if my situation isn''t ideal, I''m sure it''s not as bad as getting stuck in someone''s consciousness."

    Elias''s words didn''t miss the target, even though he was just stating a matter of fact. His words struck like a poisonous arrow in Astralious''s heart.

    "Ouch. Can you stop rubbing salt on my wounds?"

    "Can you offer me the same courtesy? We both know the answer."

    "Tch, you''re no fun."

    Elias had roughly understood Astralious. There were times when this Constellation was angry with him, and not talking to him. However, most of the time, Astralious loved to talk.

    Having a conversation seemed like a way for Astralious to prevent himself from going completely crazy while he was trapped. At times, even Elias found it helpful to talk to Astralious.

    His own mind was filled with chaotic thousands that made him feel like he was going to lose his mind. At that time, Astralious''s words managed to distract him, even if he was doing nothing more than insulting him.

    "When you are freed, what is the first thing that you would do?" Elias asked. "And you don''t have to lie and say that you will go after my father. We both know that''s impossible for you."

    When he first learned about Astralious and his big words about wanting revenge from the Ashborn Family, he had thought that Astralious might actually be able to do that.

    Only when he learned more about Astralious, he realized that the constellation was doing nothing more than bragging, swaying in emotions of anger.

    Even when he was at his strongest, he couldn''t stop Silas Ashborn who was much younger and weaker than he was now.

    Even if Astralious was freed and possessed a new body, starting his journey as a human, he still couldn''t catch up to Silas. He had a feeling that even Astralious knew it deep down.

    "The first thing I would do? The answer is simple. I would eat to my heart''s content. I would try every delicacy that this universe has to offer, and experience what it truly means to live."

    "Did you not eat when you were a Constellation?"

    "A Constellation eats the essence. Human food was no different than eating rocks for us, completely tasteless. After I am freed, I can finally eat the things and find for myself if it''s really good, or just exaggerated."

    "When that day comes, I will treat you to some really nice food from earth. I have a lot of them in my temporary storage." Elias reached out his hand to open the temporary storage to reveal a glimpse of the food to Astralious.

    "Hmm?" His mood immediately soured when he saw the temporary storage starting to flicker. "Is the time running out?"

    There were some cracks developing within the storage realm which was a temporary ability that he had stolen from Leo.

    He had already shifted some important things to his class storage after using merger on them. But there were many things that he shouldn''t shift, especially since there were millions of items within the storage realm.

    The most important was the food that was kept there, and the remnant weapons. Even if he brought all of them out of the temporary storage realm to save them, there was not enough space in the house.

    The thought of losing so much of his stockpile made his expressions darken. He didn''t care about the other temporary abilities that he had stolen from the world of frost, but this one ability truly felt like a loss that hurt deep.

    With each passing second, the cracks within the storage were getting bigger. It was like a spiderweb of cracks was trying to devour the entire storage.

    There was only one option before him. It was to give up on the temporary ability, since he couldn''t make it permanent. At least that''s what he thought, but there was always that one fleeting thought in the back of his head.

    "I am going to try something crazy," Elias said, breaking the silence.

    "Is that anything new?" Astralious sarcastically answered. "At this point, doing normal things is more rare for you."

    Elias raised his left hand, and opened his Class Storage, an ability that he had received from his class. In the storage, he could only keep the items of his creation, unlike the temporary storage which held everything. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I am going to merge the temporary ability with my class ability. Both are from the space element, so the compatibility shouldn''t be zero."

    "Didn''t you say that if the merger fails, everything involved would be destroyed?"

    "Why else did you think I was calling it crazy?"

    "At this point, can this even be called crazy? It''s outright absurd gambling. If your class ability is destroyed, there might be some serious consequences."

    "Have you seen it before? What kind of consequences are we talking about?"

    " I don''t think I have ever seen anyone whose class ability was outright destroyed. But class abilities are part of the core class. If a class is a human, then the class abilities are like human bones." Astralious''s voice grew louder.

    "What do you think will happen if an important bone is destroyed outright, with no chance of a replacement?" he asked.

    "If it''s an important bone, the entire human might fall apart," Elias answered, realizing that the human in this case was his class.

    If he failed, he might not just lose the class ability but corrupt the entire class itself.

    "That''s why, you shouldn''t do something so foolish. A storage ability might be useful, but it shouldn''t be enough for you to gamble. Your luck can''t always be good when it comes to gambling."

    "You are right." Elias answered, his voice barely going beyond a whisper.

    "It''s good that you understand. At least you do listen." Astralious sighed, only to have his expressions become worse the next second. "W-why are your hands moving towards...."

    "Confirm Advanced Merger," Elias touched both the storage space openings.

 Chapter 140 - 140: Youre more worried about that?

    "Sigh, why do I even bother."

    "Do you think I am doing something foolish?"

    "Don''t you think so?"

    "Not even a little. Especially when..." Elias glanced at the merger screen, which was showing material compatibility.

    Astralious knew that materials could merge or fail to merge. If they failed, then everything was going to be destroyed. He couldn''t see the screens, or even know anything about their existence.

    There was no way to know if it was going to be a success or not. But if he was able to see the screen, he could have seen the realm behind Elias''s confidence.

    ............

    Material Compatibility: 100 Percent.

    Merger Progress: 1 Percent.

    ............

    The portals of two storage realms flew into each other, and started the merger while Elias stepped back, watching a mini whirlpool around the merger zone.

    Elias crossed his arms and watched the small Whirlpool of wind which was even shorter than him. Looking at the whirlpool, no one could have imagined that two small worlds were being merged within the storm.

    "This is much less drastic than before. Does it mean... It''s successful?" Astralious compared the spatial whirlpool to the world destroying whirlpool that had helped Elias break out of the Land of Fables.

    Not only was the storm small, but even Elias didn''t look the slightest bit uncomfortable.

    "Hah, you truly are lucky. Looks like it did work."

    "I don''t think I can credit that to luck. It has more to do with my class," Elias answered, thinking about the kind of class that he had inherited.

    Even if he was at the most prestigious academy of this galaxy, no one here seemed to have heard about the Architect Class.

    It was a class that could even break the worlds apart, or create new worlds altogether. But none in the Academy knew about its true speciality.

    If even the Academy didn''t know about the Class, then Elias was quite convinced that it was a class that had more or less never appeared before.

    For the Academy, the Architect Class was associated with the civil architects that designed and created structures. In a sense, it was true as well. There was only a small difference.

    The things that he could create weren''t just limited to designing and civilian structures. He could even manipulate the structure of the universe, albeit to a very small extent at this point.

    "It''s truly like magic," he mumbled, watching the progress percentage instead.

    "Getting that class itself is a part of your luck. Can you still shamelessly deny that you are lucky?" Astralious grumpily stated, unable to hide his jealousy.

    He had said that he didn''t want to take Elias''s position, but deep down, he didn''t want anything more than this. If he had the lucky class of Elias, and he could grow stronger with evolutions, then would he still have lost to Silas?

    "The world is truly unfair. Some people don''t even get crumbs in this world, while people like you get everything handed to them in a golden plate."

    "Can you cry louder? I can''t seem to hear." The corner of Elias''s lips crept. He didn''t tell Astralious that he had been part of both sides of the spectrum.

    "You!" Astralious almost spat out a mouthful of blood, getting mocked by a child. "Tch. You are lucky I don''t have my body. I would''ve given you a really good beating. You don''t even know how to respect your elders."

    "You just found out?" Elias retorted. But in his words, there was not even the slightest of anger. Instead, he felt lighthearted when he played around with Astralious, something that he seemed to hate in the past.

    "Whatever. By the way, are you going to do anything about them? Don''t tell me you haven''t noticed them yet."

    Astralious materialized before Elias in his spiritual form, and pointed above his shoulder. Behind Elias, there was a 6 foot tall man, holding a dagger.

    The man had completely erased his aura as he approached Elias without making the slightest of noise as if he was afraid that he might let him escape.

    "I have no idea which two people you are talking about." Elias lazily answered, but a flicker of lightning did rush down across his arm.

    "I never said there were two." Astralious stared at Elias weirdly. "Can''t you ever answer me honestly?"

    "It''s more interesting this way." The man behind Elias was merely half a foot behind him. He had been hearing Elias talk to himself like a maniac, so he didn''t think much about his words.

    The moment he was in place, he thrust the dagger that was laced with instant paralysis dagger, aiming for his back.

    Swiss~

    The blade passed through the flesh, and came out from the other side, carrying the blood. The unknown man, however, didn''t look pleased as he lowered his head.

    He saw a sword that had been stabbed straight through his heart. The sword was being held by Elias, who was yet to turn around.

    As for his dagger, it was struck a few inches away from Elias''s back, stopped by a green barrier that had materialized.

    Elias released the hilt of the sword, leaving the sword struck in the chest of the man. He grabbed the hilt again when facing the man, and raised his sword, slicing everything along the way.

    "You should have taken advantage of your numbers the moment you entered. Acting like an assassin simply takes your advantage away." Elias pulled the sword out, and kept going with the momentum.

    His body accompanied the movement of the sword when he turned around and sliced through another man who had materialized next to Elias.

    "You..." The man had his eyes left wide open, as he was sliced in two. His body fell on the ground, staining the floor with blood.

    "That''s going to be hard to clean." Elias looked at the carpet, which was stained red with blood.

    "You''re more worried about the carpet than the assassination attempt on you?" Astralious face palmed himself in his spiritual form. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 141 - 141: Business Plan

    "They are the Guards that were accompanying your brother. To think that they would really try to kill you..." Astralious watched the first attacker fall to his knees, recognising that face.

    "They weren''t trying to kill me. It''s a paralysis poison," Elias took the dagger from the first attacker and tossed it aside.

    "What are you? Where is the real Elias...?" The Guard knew that he was on his last breath.

    His heart was impaled and an unknown energy was wrecking the rest of his body. Even if he escaped, he couldn''t survive.

    He had already accepted his death. But even in death, he asked one simple question. Who was Elias?

    He had seen the boy even in the past. But there was nothing special about him. Even as he was treated so badly by the family, he couldn''t even raise his voice in the past.

    Even after coming to the Academy, he had only received an Auxiliary Class of useless Architect. So how was he able to do all this?

    It was as if he was not Elias in the first place, but a completely different person who was just wearing the mask of Elias that he had seen before.

    "I am..." Elias spoke slowly and the man raised his eyes, even as blood trickled down the corner of his lips. "...the person who will bring the Ashborn Family down from their high throne..."

    The man''s body trembled violently, hearing the answer. A mere child was talking about bringing the Ashborn Family down, when it was ruled by Silas Ashborn?

    If anyone else had said it, he would have thought that it was a laughable joke. But when looking in Elias''s eyes, there was a scary unease in his heart that made him unable to laugh at this supposed joke.

    He saw the blade of the sword flash before his eyes. He slowly closed his eyes, right before his head flew through the sky, falling on the ground with a thud.

    Astralious was also standing frozen in place, staring at Elias. The words that he had just spoken, kept echoing in his heart like drums being violently played.

    The boy that he was worried might hand him over to the Ashborn Family, was actually talking about destroying the Asbborn Family? The family had ruled over multiple galaxies.

    The number of Destroyer Class Warriors that they controlled was uncountable. And even if someone managed to get past them, there was an insurmountable mountain standing at the peak... Silas Ashborn.

    Elias sent the sword back, absorbing the essence of the fable back within his body. He picked up the lifeless bodies by their collars and tossed them inside his shadow realm, including the head that was still rolling on the ground.

    "Do you think it''s salvageable?" he asked, looking back at Astralious after finishing.

    "The situation? At this long, I don''t th-"

    "What situation? I''m talking about this carpet. I am asking if you think it can be salvaged?" Elias asked, observing the blood stained carpet with a frown.

    "You are more worried about-" Astralious spoke, only to stop midway, feeling deja vu as if he had spoken similar words before.

    "Sigh, I think it can be cleaned well if you put in some effort." He answered, finding it harder and harder to understand Elias.

    One moment, he was talking about wiping one of the strongest families, and the next moment, he was worried if a carpet could be cleaned.

    One moment, he was like a god looking down on earth, and the next moment, he was back to being a human.

    His emotions truly felt like they were all over the place. Astralious wondered if it had something to do with the mergers with the fables that he put his body through.

    ....

    Two hours had passed.

    Astralious stood with his hands on his waist, covered in sweat. There was a look of satisfaction on his face when he looked at the result of his hard work.

    "Were you a carpet cleaner before becoming a Constellation?" he asked. "How did you know so many tricks?"

    Before him was a wet carpet that looked spotlessly clean. There was not even a single sign of it ever being stained with blood in the past.

    "Of course. It was my main job. I earned a lot from it," Astralious grumpily answered.

    His response made Elias burst out laughing. It was a rare laughter that stunned Astralious. He had seen occasionally smile on Elias, but this was the first time he saw him laugh.

    In the past, he had even started to wonder if it was possible for Elias to show such emotions. But now that he truly saw Elias laugh, a smile also spread on his lips.

    For the first time in a long while, Elias looked like a normal child with a normal life, and not someone who had to walk between a thin line of life and death every day of his life

    Elias wiped the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes from laughing. "You must be the wealthiest Constellation with this kind of side business."

    "I was indeed the wealthiest Constellation, until another Constellation opened a stall next to me. That bastard ate all my business. I tell you, there are no loyal customers in this business."

    Astralious placed a hand on his chest, feeling as if he had truly been wronged by customers who went to his competitor.

    "Don''t worry. I will teach that bastard a lesson. How dare he steal business from my friend." Elias answered lightheartedly, as he started rolling the carpet to take it back.

    The progress of the merger on his storage was still only ninety percent, which left him with a lot of time in his hands.

    "Friend?" Astralious mumbled, watching Elias watch away.

    "Hmm? Did you say something?" Elias looked back at Astralious.

    "Nothing. I said nothing at all." Astralious followed after Elias.

    Even though it was only an imaginary spiritual form while his real self was still trapped, he still felt like he was a real person, especially when talking to Elias. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He followed after the boy.

 Chapter 142 - 142: Defective Lyra

    ............

    Merger has completed. Storage has evolved into Advanced Storage.

    ............

    After returning to the main hall, Elias was greeted with a notification. Without a second of delay, he opened his storage.

    He looked inside his storage, and was pleasantly surprised to find the materials from his temporary storage being shifted to his class storage.

    "It worked."

    There were hundreds of thousands of objects floating in the space that was even bigger than his temporary storage used to be. There was no instability in the storage space.

    With the evolution, the class storage was not restricted to just the materials of his creation. He was able to keep anything in it.

    He tested the theory by placing a nearby chair in his storage. The chair disappeared magically, and ended up inside the Advanced Storage.

    "Why are you surprised that it worked? Didn''t you already expect that?" Astralious watched Elias bring the chair out and keep it back where it used to be.

    "I knew that the merger would be successful. But even I couldn''t be confident if the materials from the temporary storage will be shifted to the new space or not."

    Elias brought out a packet of chips from the upgraded storage. "Looks like we won''t be going hungry anytime soon."

    He tore open the chips packet and started eating the child, savoring in the taste like a child with a taste for spices of earth.

    "Have you thought about what will happen after two weeks?" Astralious reminded Elias. "Didn''t that professor say that you won''t be allowed to interfere personally?"

    "So?" Elias sat on the chair, and placed another chip in his mouth.

    "Only the Soul Beasts can take part, and your soul beast is only a low tier beast. Your personal strength or ability to kill other Soul Beasts is useless there. Won''t it be dangerous for Lyra?"

    Astralious crossed his arms, waiting for Elias to offer an explanation. He didn''t believe that the boy hadn''t thought about this. So why was he so carefree? That was the answer that Astralious wanted.

    "Are you going to skip it and use some excuse to stay behind?" he asked, thinking of a possible solution.

    "If it was any other world, I would have skipped it. But we are going to earth." Elias answered, a blue flame lightning up in his hands to turn the remnant empty packet into nothingness. "I am definitely going there."

    "So what''s the plan?" Astralious directly asked. "And don''t you dare lie to me that you don''t have a plan."

    "I don''t have a plan." Elias shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I''m not omnipotent after all."

    "Why do I feel like you are not being completely honest with me?"

    "Aren''t I?"

    "Are you?"

    "Do I have a reason to lie?"

    "If you aren''t lying, then why don''t you seem worried? I don''t think you just want to sacrifice that girl."

    "Will worrying solve anything? Don''t we have two weeks to think of something?" Elias answered as if he didn''t have the slightest care in the world. Still, Astralious was quite suspicious of him.

    He rubbed his forehead and started thinking deeply. ''If I was in his place, what would I do?''

    "Ah, that''s right!" His eyes lit up when he thought of something. He had completely failed to consider the most important aspect of Elias. "Are you thinking about using your merger to make her stronger?"

    "See? I was able to read your mind. Aren''t I clever?" He smugly looked at Elias, waiting for confirmation.

    "You truly are clever." Elias raised a brow.

    "Hahaha, of course I a-"

    Astralious started laughing. But Elias''s next words put an early stop to his laughter.

    "Except you''re completely wrong. She is an incomplete fable. I already checked the compatibility with merger. It''s zero percent. She would die if I tried to merge her with the fables."

    "What? How can that be?" Astralious expressions worsened. He had just complimented himself, only to be informed that he couldn''t be any more wrong.

    "As a human, even you can merge with the fable essence. So why can''t she? Just because she''s an incomplete fable?" he asked.

    "Do I look like a merger scientist who has been researching these abilities for centuries?" Elias shrugged. "Even I can only roughly guess how compatibility actually works."

    He paused for a moment, then added, "Maybe it''s entirely because she is an incomplete fable. Or maybe it''s because I only have the mid-tier and high-tier essence while she is just a low tier?"

    "So you can''t make her stronger with your shortcuts?"

    "That''s correct."

    "And because she is an incomplete fable, she can''t absorb other fables either. So she can''t become stronger through normal means either. Doesn''t that mean that she is completely useless?"

    Under normal circumstances, Astralious wouldn''t have cared about the fate of a mere low ranked fable. Their existences were insignificant after all. But she was the contracted beast of Elias.

    If she actually died after two weeks, then it was going to affect Elias. Not only was his soul going to be injured, but he might actually die. Lyra''s failure felt like his own personal failure to him.

    In this situation, Elias should''ve been the most worried. But the boy was simply listening to him calmly, not showing even the slightest of fluctuations in his expressions.

    "On a scale of one to ten, how worried are you?" he asked Elias, since he found it impossible to read his face.

    "Zero," Elias answered, and brought another packet of chips out of his storage. "Even if she can''t defeat others, she won''t die. So I am not worried." S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "And how can you be sure that she won''t die?" Astralious grimaced. "With how weak she is, she would be no different than a fish on a chopping block."

    "I will be there, so she won''t die." Elias answered with a single sentence.

    "Aren''t you not allowed to interfere? Don''t tell me you are planning to..."

    He couldn''t even complete his question when he saw the look on Elias''s eyes. He didn''t ask any further, and simply sighed, "Why did I even ask?"

 Chapter 143 - 143: Lady Sarah

    "May I ask why you would interfere when you''re not allowed, rather than skip that event entirely?" Astralious raised an eyebrow. "What is it about Earth that makes you want to go there so badly?"

    "Earth is no more than the lowest-tier world. It won''t have any treasures that could be of use to you. For someone of your level, isn''t that place no different than a dumpster?"

    Elias was willing to interfere in the affairs of the Academy to save his soul beast. That was understandable to Astralious.

    What he absolutely didn''t understand was why Elias didn''t simply take the easier route by staying behind, instead of doing the more complicated thing.

    He even said that he would''ve skipped it if it were any other world, but not for Earth. Just what was so special about the lowest-tier world?"

    "A dumpster, huh." Elias rested his head on the chair''s backrest and stared blankly at the ceiling. "I guess you''re not half wrong."

    "Have you been there before?" Astralious asked, finding something wrong with the way Elias talked even when accepting that he was right.

    It was less like a person of the prominent families who would look down on those useless worlds. It was more like someone who was reminiscing about a place.

    Elias''s gaze slowly recovered and he answered, "Earth is the world where Lyra was born. I think it should be helpful for her to go there. Even dumpsters have their uses, after all. Right?"

    His answer did make sense for Astralious and there seemed to be no flaws in it. But still, Astralious felt like something was wrong with his initial reaction. He couldn''t be certain if he was just overthinking at this point.

    He opened his lips to ask further, but looking at the tired look in Elias''s eyes, he closed his mouth. He didn''t ask what he initially wanted to ask.

    "If she was actually born on earth, then it might actually be helpful for her to go there." He simply nodded, putting an end to the topic.

    Elias closed his tired eyes and his breathing relaxed. Astralious didn''t know if Elias was going to sleep right here, or if he was just thinking. But he didn''t disturb him.

    Knock Knock~

    Only a few minutes had passed since Elias closed his eyes when there was a heavy knock on the door.

    The mansion was so big that just a knock shouldn''t be loud enough to be heard across the entire palace. Still, that one knock echoed through the entire mansion. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even Lyra opened her eyes, feeling the palace vibrate with the knocking. It was like someone had slammed the door with a heavy hammer.

    Elias also opened his eyes slowly. "Did the family send someone else? No. They wouldn''t come after knocking. They would be more like the uninvited bastards from before."

    He walked over to the door, which trembled violently with each knock. He opened the door, watching a fist come straight for his face.

    "Ah, watch out!" The person on the other side suddenly called out, trying to abruptly stop the fist.

    Elias tilted his body sideways, watching the fist stop right next to his face.

    He observed the person outside, finding his presence strange. It was definitely not a Professor, or even someone from his family.

    Instead, it was a young man only a few years older than him, wearing the robe of the Creator Class.

    It wasn''t strange for a student to be in the residential area allotted to influential students, but what was truly strange was for someone of the creator class to be in the area assigned to the destroyer class.

    "Can I help you?" he asked the young man whose silver lush green hair came down to his shoulders.

    "I thought you were sleeping. So I had to knock more forcefully. I didn''t expect you to open the door so abruptly. I''m so glad that I didn''t accidentally hit you," the fifteen years old boy placed a hand on his chest and sighed in relief.

    "I''m also glad that you didn''t accidentally hit me," Elias answered, implying that he might have subconsciously killed the boy if the attack had connected.

    It would''ve been a mess to deal with another mess when he was already in such a deep mess, so he was glad.

    The meaning behind his words felt completely different for the green haired boy. The boy thought that Elias was glad that he wasn''t hurt and his face was safe.

    "Are you Elias Ashborn?" the boy asked, extending his hand in a friendly gesture.

    Elias simply watched the hand, but didn''t reciprocate the gesture, leaving the hand hanging. The boy could only awkwardly retract his hand.

    "I am Jason. I was sent here by Lady Sarah."

    "Am I supposed to know either of you?" Elias frowned. "Is she a Professor?"

    He barely even remembered the name of his classmates in all this mess, but this was still the first time for him to hear these names.

    "Cough, that is a good joke. But please be serious now. Lady Sarah wants to meet you. She has told me to bring you to her."

    ''What was a joke in this? Who is this Sarah? And am I really supposed to know her?'' Elias grew more confused with Jason''s strange reaction to his words. He was absolutely certain that he knew Sarah for some reason.

    In any case, he didn''t want to leave this place at night. He wasn''t even sure if it wasn''t a trap. There were already so many people that wanted him dead. He didn''t want to give them more ammunition by leaving the safe space at night.

    "I am sleepy. I don''t want to go anywhere to meet anyone. Please tell your Lady Sarah that I will meet her next time."

    He stepped back and grabbed the door to close it, but Jason grabbed the door and pushed it back. When it came to raw strength, Jason didn''t lack in comparison to Elias.

    "I don''t think you understand what I just said. Lady Sarah wants to meet you," Jason said, his voice growing colder.

 Chapter 144 - 144: Sign

    "Please stop being stubborn!" Jason pushed the door back. "I insist."

    "Can you stop trying to force me?" Elias frowned, watching the boy being so stubborn, despite being in an area that belonged to the Destroyer Class.

    "I am not trying to force you. I just want you to have a meeting with her. At earliest, you might be back within an hour. I even brought a Portal Scroll to make the trip faster for you."

    The man revealed a scroll which was made from an old piece of paper. Even without using Analysis, Elias could feel spatial fluctuations around the scroll.

    "Have you thought about it?" he opened the scroll, revealing a formation carved in it. Without even waiting for Elias''s answer, he tore the scroll.

    "There is nothing to think about it," Elias sharply answered, watching the spatial energy surround Jason. If the man was interested in returning, then he had no problem with it. Just that he wasn''t going to return with her.

    At least that''s what he had planned until Jason did something that he hadn''t expected. He released the door, and instead his hand rushed like lightning, grabbing Elias''s wrists.

    The spatial energy that had covered Jason, spread out and covered Elias as well. Elias didn''t have a chance as he found his surroundings turned white with the portal scroll taking effect.

    He disappeared, along with Jason. The door slowly closed on its own, with no one to hold it open. The owner of the house had left the place, leaving only Lyra behind.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Elias pushed Jason back, sending him flying straight to the wall behind him.

    In mid-air, Jason regained his balance. He increased his weight, and landed on the ground before his body could crash on the wall.

    "He''s a feisty one," Jason patted his shoulders, not offended in the slightest as if he was just dealing with a child. But deep down, he was still a little shaken, feeling pain on his chest due to that push.

    He shifted his gaze off Elias and looked in another direction. He placed his hand on his chest and respectfully bowed. "I haven''t disappointed you, my lady."

    Elias also glanced in the direction where he was looking, noticing that he wasn''t in his house anymore. Behind him, there was a fifteen or sixteen year old girl, sitting on a couch with a drink in her hand.

    Around her, there were a few more youngsters of the Creator Class, all looking in his direction.

    "Are you Sarah?" Elias asked the woman that looked to be the center of attention. He also used Analysis at the same time, to see just what kind of existence that woman was.

    "Hmm?" He didn''t even need to wait for her answer, as his brows rose. The status screen of that woman truly felt out of this place.

    Even though she was only fifteen years old, all her stats were at least twice as strong as the High Tier Soul Beast. She was also on her fourth evolution, which alone made her feel dangerous.

    Even the weakest person around her was on their third evolution, including Jason who walked back to her.

    "He was refusing to come with me. So I had to force him. I hope you don''t mind." Jason said, stopping before the girl in the center of attention.

    The dark girl placed the drink to the side and stood up, her height being comparable to Elias, despite her being a few years older than him.

    Jason was expecting praise after successfully bringing the person that Sarah wanted to meet. He even thought he might get some reward.

    Slap~

    A loud noise echoed across the entire hall, which made almost everyone present here raise their brows.

    "Huh?" A hand imprint was left on Jason''s cheeks, as he looked in disbelief. He felt a burning sensation on his face, which was as much from the slap as it was from embarrassment that it had happened publicly.

    Instead of being rewarded, he was slapped by that woman? He found it hard to believe.

    "Who do you think you are to force him?" Sarah asked, her voice so cold that it made Jason shiver. This was the dignity of a fourth evolution creator, the best of the Third Year in Creator Class.

    "D-did I do something wrong? You asked me to bring him to you. He kept refusing, so I had no choice," Jason tried explaining, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Sarah simply walked past him.

    The dark haired woman stopped before Elias, who was just as confused as Jason, if not more. Just who was this girl? If it was a trap for him, then why was she hurting her own people?

    "I apologise for the way you were brought here. It was truly not my intention," Sarah told Elias, her words giving an impression that she truly wasn''t lying.

    He couldn''t feel even the slightest bit of hostility from that girl. Despite that, he didn''t lower his guard.

    "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, maintaining a calm exterior despite the turbulence in his heart.

    "Only you can help me," the girl said. She waved her hand, and a table came flying straight to her.

    The girl brought out a pen, and a blank paper. She placed the paper on the table, and the pen on the paper.

    "Please sign it."

    Elias observed the paper and the pen, none of which appeared ordinary. His first instinct was to use analysis, and what he saw left him even more confused.

    ............. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Object Name: Paper of Oath.

    Main Materials Used: Wood from Tree of Binding, Soul Stone.

    Description: An object used for contracts. Once a person signs the paper, whatever is written on the paper, will become a part of the oath. The oath MUST never be broken.

    .............

    .............

    Object Name: Soul Pen

    Main Materials Used: Seven Star Caldognia.

    Description: A pen that doesn''t use ink to write. Instead, it uses your soul power to leave a distinct soul imprint on everything that you write.

    .............

 Chapter 145 - 145: Arrangement

    "What is this?" Elias asked the girl, who was eager for him to sign without telling him everything about it.

    "This is your confirmation of what we discussed before," Sarah answered.

    ''Huh? What did we discuss before? Is she talking about the time before I possessed this body? How am I supposed to know what we discussed?''

    Elias frowned, looking at the paper before him. He didn''t even know what kind of deal was discussed with this girl. All he knew was the name of the girl, and that too because of Analysis.

    There was nothing written on the paper, so he couldn''t even read the words to understand what the so-called deal was in the first place.

    He didn''t believe that someone in the position of Elias, who was suppressed by his family, could get a girl like her to make a deal beneficial to him.

    Even though he didn''t know what the deal was, he knew that he couldn''t sign it. The person who made this deal was different. It had nothing to do with him.

    "Why don''t you elaborate on the deal again, just so I know that we are still on the same page?" he asked Sarah, who was waiting for him to sign.

    When she saw him delaying the signing, she was a little suspicious. She wondered if Elias was having second thoughts about their deal. But she couldn''t read anything from his expressions alone.

    The woman clapped her hands once, and set a sound barrier around them. Within the sound barrier, they could talk about anything and no one here could hear other than them.

    "The deal that you begged me to make with you. The deal where I am to help you escape to a place where your family can''t find you," Sarah explained, observing even the smallest of reactions of Elias.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t see any signs from his face. Was he hesitating? Was he having second thoughts? Or had he changed his mind? She couldn''t be sure.

    Elias, on the other hand, was also going through a lot of thoughts. He finally understood why Elias wanted to make this deal.

    He wanted to get away from his family, and he begged the person that could help him, someone who was also a part of another major family.

    ''Is that why he was looking forward to coming to the Academy? Because he was going to escape from here?'' Elias rubbed his forehead, wondering if the deal was actually beneficial for someone like him.

    Even if it was him, the thought of being able to get out of the academy was not as scary as before. The only problem was that he didn''t know what the girl wanted in return.

    He didn''t think that the girl would have helped Elias out of the kindness of her heart. But what could someone who was abandoned by his family offer her?

    "That''s correct. And what did I promise you in return?" he asked the girl.

    "You promised me that you would sign it and break the arrangement between us."

    "Ah, the arrangement between us." Elias nodded as if he remembered everything. In reality, he had not a single clue as to what they were actually talking about.

    "Can you still elaborate more on the so-called arrangement, just to be sure that you remember it as well?" he asked, maintaining his composure.

    "That''s enough joking around. Please sign it. I have arranged everything. By tomorrow morning, you will be out of the Academy, and on your way to the safe world that I have arranged. Even if it''s your family, they can''t find you there."

    Elias thought that he could get the girl to tell him everything, but she started insisting on him signing first. She was starting to be suspicious of his intentions.

    ''How can I expect me to sign when I don''t even know what you are supposed to get. What arrangement needs to be broken?''

    ''It can be anything, from the arrangement of us being equals as descendents of the founding family, which means the contract is about me being enslaved by her. Or it could be about something simpler. Should I take the risk?''

    ''Wait, what am I even thinking about? I don''t need to leave the Academy. I still have to get to earth. I can''t even be sure if she will actually keep her promise after I sign. Can I abandon everything over her words?''

    He rubbed his temples, trying to clear the jumbled thoughts from his mind. He knew he had to make a rational decision, but the allure of the deal kept trying to poke at him.

    He had already kidnapped Dreke after all. If she wasn''t lying and he left this place, then his safety was more or less ensured.

    He tried asking her a few more times, to tell her about the arrangement. At times, he even told her the truth that he didn''t remember. But the girl thought that he was lying.

    She didn''t answer him. Instead, her gaze kept turning colder. Her insistence also became stronger.

    "I''m sorry, but I have changed my mind. I don''t want to sign." After a long period of silence, Elias also spoke up and made up his mind.

    If she was forcing him so much, it made him even more suspicious about her intentions and this arrangement. He might not get an escape route, but he also didn''t want to give her what she wanted.

    "I should have known. A vulture like you would never want to break that arrangement. You are quite selfish," Sarah said, her voice almost freezing. "Have you thought about the consequences?"

    ''How can I think about the consequences when I don''t even know what I am supposed to sign? You are talking to the wrong person, idiot.'' Elias thought in his mind, but didn''t say it out loud.

    "Can I leave now?" he asked.

    "I never stopped you from leaving." The girl stepped back, cancelling the sound barrier. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 146 - 146: Flower of Flames

    Elias observed the woman one last time. She didn''t look like she wanted to stop him in the first place. She truly allowed him to leave, even though the others around her looked a little unconvinced.

    He turned his back on the group and walked out of the hall, using his Student Badge to find a route to take him back.

    Unlike before, he wasn''t as lost, as he realised how useful the academy badge could actually be. He soon found himself out of the place and on the street.

    "This is going to be a long trip back." Just looking at the holographic map of the Academy, he had a headache. The Academy was like a world of its own, and currently, he was in an entirely different continent of this world.

    Even if he was to fly at his fastest Speed, it was going to take at least half a year for him to return to his residence. Fortunately, there was a shortcut.

    Just ten kilometers away, there was a portal door which could be used to shorten the distance.

    "Shouldn''t you have asked her for a return scroll? We came here because of her after all," Astralious appeared next to Elias and reminded him.

    "Hmm?" Elias came to a sudden stop, just remembering that it was also a possibility. If there was a scroll to bring them here, then there was definitely a scroll to take them back.

    He rubbed his forehead, wondering if he should go back to ask for a scroll. But the thought of going back made him hesitate.

    "It''s just ten kilometers. It''s not worth asking her for a favor."

    In the end, he gave up on the thoughts and continued towards the Dimensional Gate. "Also, it''s not often that we will get to walk in the heart of the Creator Class. Right?"

    "That''s also true." Astralious nodded, and followed Elias, keeping his hands in his pocket. "If you are going to stay here, then it''s as important to know your enemy as anything. After two weeks, you would have to interact with them."

    "Though, which agreement do you think she was talking about?"

    "I have zero clue. I''m just as curious as you, what kind of agreement could I even have with her when I didn''t have any strength or value?"

    "Who would know if not you? You just want to hide it from me, don''t you?"

    "I am not even going to try to convince you. I would rather conserve my energy," Elias opened a portal and brought out another packet of chips, and started eating on his night walk back.

    "If she is serious about the so-called deal, then she will find me back sooner or later. Until then, I will probably be finished with my trip to earth."

    ....

    Back in the hall, a boy asked Sarah, "Why didn''t you force him? Is it just because of his family?"

    "His family might be strong, but they are not strong enough to intimidate you, right? Isn''t your family stronger than theirs?"

    "Do you think I would be this careful if it were just his family backing him? That''s not enough for me to make a deal with him, but the real people behind him..."

    Sarah gazed at the contract paper and the pen that was still left on the table, untouched.

    "The people behind him? If it''s not his family, then who is it?" The boy frowned, a hint of unease crossing his face. "This is getting more complicated than I thought. What should we do next?"

    Sarah didn''t answer. She stood up and raised her right hand, making the contract paper and pen vanish.

    ....

    After walking for over an hour, Elias finally reached the closest Dimensional Gate.

    He tapped his Academy Badge to the Dimensional Gate to activate the portal. Once again, numbers appeared before him, but only a rare few were lit up.

    Most of the areas were off-limits for him, even more so than for the second-year student who had used his badge to guide him back.

    This time, Elias wasn''t as ignorant as before and knew exactly which number to press to return. He raised his finger, about to touch the number.

    His finger drew closer, but just as it was about to make contact, a loud bang echoed from somewhere nearby.

    The explosion was accompanied by a trembling of the earth and even the Dimensional Gate, which made Elias press the wrong button. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t open the door that connected to the wrong place. Instead, he looked back toward the source of the explosion.

    He saw smoke rising into the sky, accompanied by a cloud of flames, not far from him. A few seconds later, there was another explosion and an even bigger cloud of flames rose in the distance, covering an area no smaller than a city of earth.

    "Is someone fighting?" Even though he was standing far from the site of the explosion, he could feel the surroundings getting warmer.

    "That''s quite destructive for people who are supposed to create."

    "Did you think the Creators were weak? Just because they are not as destructive as those from the Destroyer Class doesn''t mean that they don''t have their own firepower. If anything, they have a huge advantage over people like you."

    "The advantage that they don''t need to take a life to become stronger?"

    "Hmm? You know about it? And here I thought I would have to explain it again."

    "It''s not hard to guess." Elias turned back towards the door and pressed a different number, connecting him back to the right place. "If they were like us, things would only be worse."

    He opened the door, finding a portal that had stabilized.

    "Don''t you want to check out the cause of that explosion?" Astralious asked.

    "It has nothing to do with me. If it''s really a battle, it would be a hassle if I went there." Elias stepped forward, his foot barely touching the portal when he felt the surroundings becoming visibly colder.

    Specks of snow started falling from the sky, which made him glance back again. This time, he didn''t see the flood of fire. Instead, he saw a frozen sculpture the size of a city that was made by freezing the flames.

 Chapter 147 - 147: Ranked Third Treasure

    "What a beautiful sight." Astralious was unable to stop himself from complimenting the frozen flower of flames. "Don''t you think so?"

    "It looks decent." Elias lazily answered. He was somewhat interested, but not enough to go and check personally. At least that was the case until he saw many powerful presences flying in the direction of the frozen flower of fire.

    If it was just an unsanctioned battle, then one Professor was enough to handle it. But within a span of a minute, he felt the presence of at least five professors flying towards that frozen structure.

    "It might be more interesting than I thought..." He stepped back, and closed the Dimensional Gate.

    He changed his mind, and instead of returning to his mansion, he also started rushing towards the cloud of flames that was frozen by ice.

    If it was something that could attract so many Professors, then it had to be something more special than he had assumed. Under normal circumstances, he couldn''t enter this place.

    Fortunately, this time he had an excuse. He was brought here by the students of the Creator Class against his wishes. He was on his way back when he saw the explosion and decided to check out.

    Even if he was caught, with the excuse, he didn''t think that things were going to get worse for him. The Dean still had a use for him after all, even if it was to sacrifice him.

    Two shadow wings came from his back, and he rose in the air, flying straight to the place where the Professors and High Ranking Students had gathered.

    Once he was close enough, he landed on the ground and suppressed his presence, covering the test of the distance on foot.

    "Hmm? Now that I am closer, why does this thing feel a little familiar?" Astralious rubbed his chin, observing the grand, frozen structure that resembled a branchless tree from closer.

    "Haa! I remember! This ice! It''s not actually ice! It''s the frozen flames of that annoying guy! I must be getting really old to take so long to recognize it!"

    "Flames of the Ice Phoenix," Elias mumbled, looking at the Analysis Screen of the grand structure.

    Deep disappointment flashed in his eyes when he looked at the material compatibility with his own body, which couldn''t be any lower if it had tried.

    "Huh? You knew about it? Why is it that sometimes you don''t even know the most basic things of this world, and other times, you know things that should be harder to know?"

    Astralious was annoyed when he had to explain things to Elias, but surprisingly, he was even more annoyed when he didn''t get the opportunity to explain and flex his knowledge.

    "Still, you are right. This is the Flames of the Ice Phoenix, ranked third in the Flame Rankings of Gods and Demons. These flames were no different from the previous dean of the Academy''s visiting card. Is that guy still alive?"

    "It would be strange for him to be alive, since we are currently standing above his tomb," Elias answered, gesturing toward the area that was surrounded by the Professors of the Creator Class.

    "You mean the flames are ownerless? Why don''t you merge with them? This kind of opportunity doesn''t come often!" Astralious said with great enthusiasm.

    Unfortunately, for Elias, it felt no different than rubbing salt on his wounds. If he could take those flames, why would he waste time?

    "I can''t. The compatibility is too low," he stated, his void of any emotion, yet there was still a hint of frustration beneath the surface.

    "Oh..." Astralious''s enthusiasm deflated instantly. He scratched his head, trying to come up with a solution. "Is there any other way?"

    "Do you think the Dean''s body would be intact?" Elias asked.

    "Hmm? He was a godlike existence. His body wouldn''t decay. Everything else depends on how he died. But why are you asking?"

    Astralious found Elias''s question very suspicious. It felt like a useless question, but he didn''t think that Elias could ask a question for no reason.

    "What evil things are you planning now?"

    "I''m not planning anything." Elias innocently shrugged, but deep down, he was truly thinking of something. If the Dean''s body was still intact, then he could truly find a use for it.

    "Senior, that boy is talking to himself. Do you think he is crazy?" a girl said, pointing at Elias who was observing the tree while talking to Astralious. In her eyes, he was like a crazy man who was talking to himself.

    "Shh, don''t look at him. His stupidity might be contagious." The older boy held the girl''s hand and walked past Elias, who pretended to not hear anything.

    "If you have to struggle so hard to control your laughter, why do you even try?" Elias whispered under his breath. Behind him, Astralious had placed a hand over his mouth, trying to hide his muffled laughter.

    "Hahahaha!" Astralious took his hand off and started laughing louder, following the suggestion that he was given. Instead, it was Elias who was starting to regret telling Astralious.

    Meanwhile, at the core of the tree of ice flames, the Professors were looking at the opening in the ground. Even a stair had appeared, that led down to the tomb.

    "There is a barrier at the entrance. I can''t enter." The moment Medusa''s fingers touched the barrier, the ice flames attacked her, as if they were still alive and resisting her entry.

    She was forced to pull her hand back abruptly, but even then, the flesh around her finger had completely burned, leaving only the bones visible. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What if we attack together? I''m certain we can break a dead barrier. Right?" Another Professor suggested.

    The Professors agreed after a short discussion and told everyone else to step back. They rose in the sky, and attacked the entrance with their strongest attacks to break the barrier.

    Standing far away from the entrance, Elias watched the world shattering attacks targeted at the small entrance. But what happened next, left him even more awestruck as all the attacks were reflected by the barrier.

    Not even the combined attacks of the professor could break the barrier cast on the tomb.

    "Watch out!" Medusa exclaimed, hiding her body in the void quickly. The other Professors also tried to protect themselves in their own way, but not all of them were as lucky.

    One Professional was struck by the reflection, and just like that, a mighty existence of the Academy had fallen, with not even their bones left behind.

    The reflection of the attacks still rushed to the sky, causing a fracture in the sky.

 Chapter 148 - 148: Forbidden Existence

    "A fracture in the sky?"

    The scene left almost everyone aghast, especially the students of the Academy that had gathered nearby. The attacks of the Professors were not just reflected, but they were also strengthened when fired back.

    The long fracture in the sky even created a hole in the protective layer of the realm, allowing the students to see the outer space through the cracks.

    The Professor reacted quickly, and started healing the spatial fracture, giving it their all.

    "Why do they look like they are more scared of the fracture than anything else?" Elias mumbled, watching the Professors trying to repair the fracture, even if it made them go pale with the exhaustion of their own life force.

    "Isn''t it because they truly are scared?"

    "What''s so scary about losing the protective layer for a short time? It''s not as if there would be some grand threat right outside the realm. The Academy should have long taken care of the threats in the surroundings."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Astralious crossed his arms, looking at the fracture in the sky with squinted eyes. "The Academy is established in the realm between dimensions. They use specially created routes to enter and leave the realm."

    "A variable spatial fracture in the sky is no different than a spatial tunnel that might connect to any random dimension in the universe. If you were in their place, would you be fine with such a variable at your border?"

    The Spatial Fracture was slowly closed with the combined effort of the Processors. Within a few minutes, no more than a finger sized crack was left in the sky, which was also on the verge of closing.

    "Looks like it''s over," the nearby students sighed in relief with the crack almost healed.

    "I wouldn''t be that certain," Astralious thought differently, his voice growing more solemn.

    "What do you mea-" Elias tried to ask, but he couldn''t even finish his question when his heart skipped a beat, feeling an overwhelming aura that descended from the small crack.

    The aura was only growing stronger, with something on the other side of the crack approaching fast.

    "Elias..." Astralious mumbled, watching the nearby students falling to their knees under the overwhelming aura. Even Elias was having a hard time staying standing, his blood vessels bulging as he struggled to resist.

    "What?" Elias asked with clenched teeth, as he summoned the Sword of Harbinger and stabbed it in the ground to use it as support.

    "I think we should start praying that the crack closes before that thing gets in," Astralious said, gulping heavily.

    "What if it doesn''t?" Elias asked, even though he already knew the rough answer.

    "If it doesn''t close, then we would all die. Out of all the places in the universe, this fracture had to connect with..."

    The Professors also felt the aura, and a rare few recognising it. Their bodies were already overwhelmed, but the aura made things even worse.

    The spatial fracture that had almost closed, started getting bigger instead, with the force to close it growing weaker. A few Professors coughed a mouthful of blood, their struggle to close the portal growing even stronger.

    "I think we might truly be screwed at this point," Astralious whispered with a hint of despair in his voice. "Well, there goes my dream of having a second life, and eating delicacies of this world. It was good knowing you..."

    "Can you stop being so pessimistic? We aren''t dead yet."

    "It''s only a matter of time. Because if I''m right about the thing on the other side, then nothing in his academy can stop it once it passes through."

    "Is it some kind of monster?" Elias asked, still having no idea just what was approaching. As long as that thing wasn''t within his sight, he couldn''t even use his Analysis on it.

    "I don''t know." Astralious answered, making Elias look weirdly at him.

    "How can you know that it''s so dangerous, but not know what it is?"

    "Because not a single person who saw that thing, managed to return alive to tell about it. There are only stories about it, and that aura matches those stories very distinctly."

    "Should I be happy that I would finally get to see what no living thing had seen yet?" Elias rubbed his forehead, with the aura growing even stronger.

    The thing was clearly far, yet the aura that he felt had already surpassed the aura of his father that he had felt before.

    "How did you manage to connect to the forbidden place?" A man roared, bringing Elias out of his daze.

    He looked above, and saw that two more people had arrived. One of them was the Dean of the Academy, but the second person was none other than the man who had tried to kill him.

    The man bit his thumb, and tossed a drop of his blood at the portal. He brought out a treasure of Chronos, and connected it with the blood drop, increasing the speed of the spatial fracture closure.

    The Dean also used everything that she had. For the first time, Elias saw the panicked face of the Dean while her forehead was covered with sweat.

    Fortunately, with the help of the man from Chronos, the Dean was able to increase the closure of the fracture. Within ten seconds, the fracture was forcefully closed and the spatial tunnel to the forbidden place was closed.

    The horrifying aura disappeared, and the students were freed from its grasp. Still, a lot of them had already passed out, lying on the ground.

    There were only a few who were left standing, albeit barely, their bodies drenched in cold sweat. Elias was no different either.

    "Should we really be relieved? If that thing is so strong, can''t it still open a portal from his side?" Elias asked Astralious, while the other students had started cheering for the Dean.

    Astralious wanted to say that it was impossible, but even he couldn''t get himself to utter these words with how many impossible things he had seen happening already.

    sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 149 - 149: Inheritance

    "Your luck can''t be that bad... Right?" Astralious laughed awkwardly.

    With so many dimensions in the universe, it was impossible to connect one place to another without knowing the exact coordinates of the other place.

    It was already unfortunate enough that a spatial fracture had connected to a forbidden place, the possibility of which happening was less than one in a billion.

    It was as if someone had been told to guess a nine-digit password to open a safe and had succeeded on the first try. The chances of that happening again were even lower, but Astralious couldn''t say that with certainty either.

    "I think it would be better if we don''t talk about my luck." Elias sent the sword back within his body, and sat down. Just standing under that heavy pressure had already exhausted him more than he thought it would.

    "What happened here? How did you connect to that place out of all? Even Chronos doesn''t dare to do something like this!" The man glared at the Professors after closing the spatial fracture. "Are you all fools?"

    "We didn''t do anything. It was nothing more than an accident." Medusa wiped the trail of blood from the corner of her lips. She bravely stood before the man and the Dean, and explained everything that had happened.

    "You are truly naive..." The Dean sighed. "Did you really think you could break through the barrier of the Previous Dean if you attacked together?"

    Almost everyone in the universe knew the previous Dean of the Academy. In fact, it was because of him that the Academy enjoyed such a good reputation.

    Even in the era where godlike existences were common, the Dean of the Academy had roamed freely across galaxies, ranked amongst the top five experts of the universe. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Freya didn''t even dare to compare herself from the previous dean, even though she had gone through roughly the same number of evolutions that the Previous Dean had gone through.

    She couldn''t believe that professors of the Academy thought that they could break through the barrier of an expert like that with sheer numbers.

    "You are lucky that Lord Jeskirin was here to help us close the fracture in time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

    Even the Dean didn''t know just what kind of existence lived on the other side of the fracture, and she didn''t have any interest in knowing either.

    All she knew was that it was a place that almost every major force avoided. And those who didn''t, were wiped off the face of this universe.

    "It was my fault. I will take responsibility for it." Medusa stepped forward. Even though it wasn''t her idea to attack together, she had agreed to it as the leader of the group. She was willing to take all responsibility.

    "Sigh, what am I to do with you?" The Dean shook his head with a helpless expression. "The resources assigned to you will be reduced by ninety percent for the next six months. And you need to write an apology letter. It should be on my desk before morning."

    Medusa didn''t complain, and accepted the punishment. Even though she had taken the blame, the other Professors couldn''t avoid responsibility either. The resources granted to them were refused by fifty percent for the next three months.

    Once she finished assigning punishment to all the professors responsible for this mistake, she shifted her attention back to the main topic of concern, which was the Tomb of the previous Dean of the Academy.

    She landed on the ground next to the entrance of the Tomb, which was covered by a barrier.

    "What do you think about this barrier?" she asked.

    Jeskirin stepped forward and tapped the barrier lightly, only to have his finger burn until nothing the bone was left.

    "It''s definitely the barrier cast by your previous Dean. The flames that burn everything, while still feeling freezing cold." Jeskirin watched his finger, that slowly healed until not even the slightest trace of it ever being hurt was left behind.

    "Just what was he thinking when making this place?" Freya took a step back, and looked at the tree of frozen flames. Despite being the present Dean of the Academy, even she didn''t know about the existence of this place.

    She didn''t even know that the previous Dean was buried in the Academy itself. After elevating her to the position of the Dean, the previous Dean had simply disappeared.

    Ever since then, she never saw that man. Until now, she didn''t even know if that man was still alive or dead.

    Now that she looked at these flames, she grew more certain that he had actually died. He had died inside the Academy itself, within the tomb that he created for himself.

    There was no other way for the Ice Phoenix Flames to be here, unless he ripped these flames from his body and left them here.

    "Why would his tomb show itself out of nowhere? It couldn''t be possible, unless he wanted it to happen, right?" she asked, growing more perplexed with each passing second, trying to grasp his intentions.

    "Maybe he wanted his flames to be inherited by someone? After his death, it would certainly take some time for his flames to be detached from him?"

    "If that was the case, why would he place a barrier that doesn''t even let us enter?"

    "Who knows what he was thinking. Maybe you don''t match the criteria that he placed? Which expert would want their heir to be so old?"

    "Are you calling me old?" Freya''s lips twitched.

    "Are you not?" Jeskirin maintained his position, without a single care in the world. "Anyways, I can feel that the barrier resists us a lot. But at the same time, there seems to be something else in it."

    He further continued, "It only resists us as a warning, but not with the intention to kill us, as long as we aren''t stubborn."

    To prove his theory, he raised his hand, and summoned a youngster that was closest to him. An unknown force made the young boy reach out his hand towards the barrier, and the dean didn''t stop him either.

 Chapter 150 - 150: We are going in

    Instead of being incinerated like Jeskirin''s finger, the boy''s hand passed through the barrier without any resistance, as if it wasn''t even there. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "See? I told you." Jeskirin shrugged, completely unfazed. "It seems only people below a certain age or level of power can enter. He probably didn''t want someone past their prime stealing his legacy."

    As he spoke, he glanced at Freya, not even hiding the fact that she was talking about her.

    Freya''s eye twitched again, but she refrained from retorting. Instead, she focused on the implications. "So... it''s a trial?"

    "Most likely, but even I can''t be certain what''s beyond this barrier." Jeskirin observed the barrier carefully. "It also seems to be designed to prevent anyone from interfering once they''re inside. But that''s all just a guess at this point."

    "You would need to have more tests to confirm the exact criteria to enter. Fortunately, there are plenty of people here to help us test."

    Once after another, he brought forth the youngsters from different age groups and different evolution stages.

    Elias sat behind a rock, while Jeskirin started his testing with the students available there. Only occasionally. He only observed his surroundings with his senses, to ensure that he was aware of things without being exposed.

    A few hours passed, before the testing finally stopped. There were a few students that had suffered through the testing, their hands completely burned off. They were immediately sent off to the healing facility.

    "Only those who are younger than eighteen are able to pass through the barrier unharmed," Freya concluded just as the testing finished. "If that is the case..."

    She told the Professors to gather the best students under the age of eighteen, and bring them here, especially the ones that could be beneficial to the Academy if they became the owners of the third ranked Ice Phoenix Flames.

    Within hours, not just those from the Creator Class, but even those from the Destroyer Class were summoned. And none of these people belonged to the newcomers that had just joined the Academy.

    At the youngest, they were third year students of the Academy, and at the oldest, they were fourth year students. Amongst them, there were a few familiar faces that Elias recognized.

    One of the representatives from the Destroyer Class was the third year student who was sent to the Nightmare Tribe by Professor Grey as a punishment. He seemed quite unharmed, even after returning from such a harsh place.

    The other familiar face belonged to the woman who had sent someone to guide him to the Dimensional Gate. Other than those two, there was one more person who he had seen before.

    It was the girl that he saw in the meeting merely a few hours ago. Sarah was also here, and she was also one of the few people that caught the most attention.

    ''The Academy seems to be in a hurry. They can''t even wait for the morning.'' Elias thought, surprised with the kind of haste that the academy acted. ''They didn''t even give these people time to prepare.''

    "Of course they would be in a hurry. It''s the Ice Phoenix Flames we are talking about. If it were me in my prime, even I would have tried to make those flames mine." Astralious nodded slowly.

    "This makes things complicated. If they had waited till the morning, I could have found a way to sneak inside. But at this rate, it looks impossible."

    Only those that were summoned by the Professors were allowed to enter. As a first year student, he was not even invited here. And even if he wanted to enter, he didn''t think Freya was going to allow it.

    "She clearly doesn''t hold any goodwill for me. It would be a cold day in hell when she allows me an opportunity to get those flames," Elias rubbed his temples, finding the entire situation frustrating.

    If he had arrived here before everyone else, he might have had an opportunity to enter the tomb. But now that opportunity was long gone.

    He was still sitting behind a distant rock, while Freya started explaining the situation to the Senior Students that were selected for entering the tomb.

    When she told them that they had the opportunity to inherit the Flames of Ice Phoenix, the reactions of the students were of disbelief.

    Even if many of them came from the families that hoarded the treasures of heaven, but the Flames of Ice Phoenix was something that could even make their parents drool, let alone them.

    "We don''t know what kind of traps would be inside to test you. Most of you might not even be able to return alive if you are left to your own means. That''s why you must carry this."

    She gave a talisman to every student that was selected for this exploration.

    "Once you are certain that you are about to die, and you want to give up, activate these talismans and you would be forcefully brought out. But that is no different than giving up on the flames."

    The students took the heaven grade spatial talismans and held them firmly. The talismans couldn''t bring anyone inside from outside, as the laws of the tomb didn''t allow it. But they didn''t prevent anyone from escaping with their life on the line.

    "Even if you managed to sneak in, without those talismans, it would be extremely dangerous for you. I think you should give up at this point." Astralious sighed, watching the shining talismans being distributed.

    Even though it was a loss according to him, it was better than dying in the process.

    "In any case, with your unique skills, it''s only a matter of time before you become stronger on your own. There is no point in risking your life for these flames."

    Elias also knew that logically it made sense to give up now. But when he looked at the branches of the tree of flames, he didn''t feel like giving up. Moreover, there was something inside that tomb that he wanted more than these flames.

    "We are going in," he said after a brief period of silence.

 Chapter 151 - 151: Nothing can stop her

    "We are?" Astralious looked weirdly. "Don''t you see the people there? Even amongst the youngsters, all of them are stronger than you. And that''s not even counting the Dean, and especially the man who would want nothing more than to devour you."

    "That''s right." Elias nodded. "We are going to enter, despite their presence."

    "And how are you going to do that when the entrance is blocked by them?" Astralious was certain that Elias was messing with him. There was no possibility for them to secretly enter that place, even if they wanted to.

    "The answer is simpler than you think." Elias closed his eyes, and entered the shadow of the stone to hide himself.

    As long as he was inside the shadow, he couldn''t be detected by anyone, including Freya unless that shadow moved.

    "It''s a good place to hide, but I don''t understand how it will help us enter the tomb?" Astralious was just as confused as before.

    Nothing that Elias had done, should have helped him enter the tomb, unless he was missing something really significant.

    He wanted to see just what Elias was planning. Was there some secret weapon that this boy had kept hidden from him, which could help him? He glared at the boy, observing his every movement to see just what he was trying.

    "Hmm? That...?" His jaws almost dropped when he saw Elias bring something out of his storage. He thought that it was going to be something that was going to help Elias, like some invincible weapon he made using his barrier.

    "...a bed?" His voice grew uneven when he saw what was brought out. Elias took off his shoes and lay on the comfortable bed, and closed his eyes.

    "Can you wake me up in around three hours?"

    "Do you think I am some alarm clock?"

    "Aren''t you?" Elias to his side and grew more comfortable, leaving Astralious to ponder about Elias''s plan.

    Just what was this boy planning? How was sleeping here going to help him?

    "Sigh, whatever. Let''s see what you''re planning." He sat on the edge of the bed, and started waiting for three hours to pass.

    ....

    Outside the shadow realm, the students had started entering the Tomb, safely keeping the escape talismans in their storage rings.

    Within half an hour, almost all of the students had entered the tomb. Only those who were not selected by the Professors, and had arrived here because of commotion, were left behind.

    The Professors told them to leave as well, informing them that this place was restricted from this point onwards.

    Within ten minutes, the place was completely cleared from any other presence except the Professors and the two who held an even higher position.

    Another thirty minutes passed when Jeskirin glanced back, and saw a twelve year old girl arrive. "There she is."

    "What is your daughter doing here?" Freya watched the little girl, who walked with her head held down.

    "You don''t want to keep an opportunity like this to yourself, do you? Of course I thought my daughter should enter as well, and have an attempt. I already gave your students an hour of head start after all."

    "Who do you think you are to give us a head start? This is the Dimensional Academy, but Chronos. Everything that''s here, belongs to us. Did you think I would give you this opportunity?"

    "Are you scared that my little daughter can perform better than your fourth year students? That''s quite embarrassing for you if they are truly weak."

    "Even if I don''t think that your daughter can inherit the flames, why should I allow her when I don''t have to?" Freya didn''t fall for the trap, even though she was a little upset that the Academy was being insulted, that their best under the age of eighteen couldn''t even match a twelve year old girl. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Then how about we have a bet? Since you don''t think my daughter can inherit those flames, I''m certain you shouldn''t have a problem with this bet, right?"

    Freya maintained his silence, but she did look interested. She had seen the girl''s skills, but even that shouldn''t have been enough to cover the lead of the senior students of the academy.

    She was strong, but could she really be stronger than them? She didn''t think so. And so what if she managed to reach the flames?

    She was confident that the previous dean would have taken precautions that those from outside the academy couldn''t inherit the flames.

    The man brought out an envelope that had a very unique golden seal imprinted on it, which sealed it.

    "Is that...?" Even Freya couldn''t control her heart from beating faster when she saw the envelope.

    "If my daughter can''t inherit those flames, then I will lose the bet. I will give this to the person from the Academy who inherits the flames."

    "And what if you win?" Freya asked, trying to calm herself at the sight of the envelope. "What do you want?"

    "If I win, I don''t want anything. Those flames are enough of a compensation for me. If my daughter gets those flames, you won''t make it an issue and it will be kept a secret from your side. How about it?"

    Freya was confident that the girl had no chance of succeeding, but still she felt a little hesitant, seeing the confidence of Jeskirin.

    Still, the allure of that envelope was something that she couldn''t ignore. It was something that even she couldn''t get, despite all her influence.

    "You have a deal." After a long period of silence, and delaying confirmation for another ten minutes to give her students more lead, she finally nodded.

    Jeskirin knew why she had delayed so much, but he didn''t expose her. He simply smiled, and told her daughter to enter.

    "Are you not going to give her an escape talisman?" Freya asked, watching the girl pass through the barrier without taking a talisman like her students.

    "She will not be needing it. You should worry more about your students, because in that tomb, there will be nothing that can stop my daughter." Jeskirin watched his daughter disappear inside the tomb with the fluctuations of the barrier.

    .....

    "To think that he can sleep so peacefully even at a time point. I wonder if we can truly enter that tomb..." Astralious glanced at Elias, who was sleeping ever so peacefully.

 Chapter 152 - 152: Preparation Control

    ....

    "Wake up." Astralious shook Elias slightly, "It''s time."

    "Already?" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He stretched his arms, a small yawn escaping his lips. "That was fast."

    "Yes, already. It''s been three hours since you went to sleep. And I still don''t understand your plan." Astralious gestured impatiently, grabbing his head in frustration. "How is sleeping going to get us past those powerful people and into the tomb?"

    He had been thinking about it for three hours, but even if he was to overestimate the skills of Elias, he couldn''t think of a way to get past Freya and Jeskirin.

    "It depends."

    Elias slid off the bed and landed on the shadowy ground which was cold to the touch. He sent the bed back, and wore his shoes before opening the exit to the realm.

    "Depends on what?" Astralious asked while following Elias out of this place.

    "It depends on their patience." Elias landed behind the rock after editing the shadowy realm. He peeked off the rock, and observed the entrance of the tomb.

    Three hours had passed since the first person entered the tomb, which looked like enough time according to him. Still, he wanted to be certain.

    "I suppose I was right. Freya and that man are not here anymore."

    "They aren''t? Did they leave already?"

    "Did you expect such powerful existences to wait here for days? I doubt they even stayed here for over two hours."

    "Then why did we wait for three hours? Was that just to be safe?"

    "You are starting to understand me." Elias confirmed Astralious''s suspicions. He considered their tolerance and took an extra hour as a favor of safety.

    Now that the two more troublesome existences had left, things had become much easier. Even better was that there was only one Professor left behind, one that Elias had barely any recollection of.

    "The other Professors are probably writing their apology letters somewhere."

    The Dean has personally cast a barrier around this area to stop any intruder, so they probably didn''t think that there was any need for unnecessary security.

    Even if there was to be any security, it was to be outside the dome shaped barrier that was the size of a football field. Elias had never left this area, so he was already inside the barrier before it was cast.

    "I understand that delaying things helped us, but aren''t we still late by three hours compared to others? Can we still get the flames?" Astralious asked, rubbing his forehead.

    He didn''t even know if he should be happy that they could enter the tomb, or be upset that they were behind others by at least three hours. Didn''t it mean that even if they were to enter, they were going to be left nothing more than spectators?

    "If I''m to believe Freya''s words, this place was created to select an inheritor to the flames. It''s not a place where there hours of lead is unassailable," Elias explained. "And if we are late, then there''s nothing gained, nothing lost. We are just trying our luck, aren''t we?"

    "Sometimes, you are a little too carefree. Even with such a treasure within your reach, you can still be so lax." Astralious found this trait of Elias a little impressive, but also somewhat frustrating.

    "How are you planning to get past that one professor though?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that. He will open a path for us himself." Elias looked at the time on his watch, the second hand slowly moving to complete the mark.

    "Creation Control," Elias mumbled with only twenty seconds left until midnight. "Explode."

    Boom~

    A deafening sound responded in the surroundings, accompanied by the ground trembling and a cloud of fire rising. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Compared to the explosion caused by the flames of ice phoenix, the new explosion looked like a child''s toy. But if it was to be compared to something humanly, then it was comparable to the explosion caused by explosives on earth.

    The explosion alerted the professor who was assigned to protect the tomb. He immediately informed the other professors through his badge, while rushing to check the explosion which happened inside the protective dome.

    With the professor moving past the right side of the rock, Elias moved to the left side to hide his body. Only after the Professor had gone past him, he came out of his hiding and started running towards the entrance of the tomb.

    "When did you even prepare that? I''ve been with you all this time!" Astralious floated behind Elias, repeatedly looking back at the explosion.

    "Now isn''t the time to explain. The other professors have been alerted. Some of them will definitely come here to guard this place." Elias exclaimed, running as if his life depended on it. "We probably don''t even have a few seconds!"

    As he closed in on the tomb entrance, he felt the spatial fluctuations in the surroundings. More Professors were arriving.

    "Fuck, was I too optimistic?" He jumped forward, dark wings coming out of his back to give him one last push as he jumped forward.

    His body passed through the barrier of the tomb, and he disappeared within.

    Merely a fraction of a second after Elias passed through the entrance of the tomb, a Professor appeared before the entrance. The other professors materialized at the sight of the explosion.

    Inside the tomb, Elias fell on the ground, his back drenched in cold sweat, his heartbeat running faster than he had.

    "We did it." Elias placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. At moments like this, he truly felt like he was alive, with the fear of death dancing over his head.

    "It looks like we truly are safe." Astralious also sat next to Elias, appearing to be exhausted even though he hadn''t really done anything. "Now tell me. What was that explosion? When did you prepare it?"

    "We are inside a tomb created by the owner of Ice Phoenix Flames. Do you really think this place is any safer than outside?" Elias asked, wondering just how lax was the definition of safe for Astralious.

 Chapter 153 - 153: Little one

    "Don''t try to change the topic. Tell me when did you arrange it?" Astralious glared at the boy. "How did I not know about it?"

    "When you have too many explosives in your stockpile, isn''t it normal to drop one ever so often to keep a backup distraction on standby?" Elias brought three more modified mines from his storage, and waved them before Astralious.

    "You! Stop waving such a dangerous thing on my face! What if it accidentally exploded?!" Astralious subconsciously took a step back, momentarily forgetting that he was only in a spiritual form.

    "It won''t explode without my permission," Elias explained, trying to calm Astralious. "It''s due to another one of my abilities called Creation Control. As long as I don''t want it to explode, it won''t explode."

    He tossed the mines back on his inventory. "If I do want them to explode, they will explode without someone stepping on them. Isn''t that a neat little ability?"

    He brought a bottle of water from his storage, all this running and talking making his throat dry.

    "Why didn''t I notice you drop these things?" Astralious asked, trying to recall the last few hours of his life, but he didn''t remember Elias ever arranging these things.

    "Isn''t it simply because you were so distracted by the frozen tree of flames?" Elias gulped down the water, almost emptying half the bottle in a single gulp, despite his small size. "Why would I roam so freely in the enemy territory without something like that?"

    Even though he didn''t know what this tree actually was when he first saw it, he still considered the threat because this was the territory of the creator class.

    If things went from bad to worse, he needed a distraction, which was why he dropped a mine every few hundred meters at spots that couldn''t be easily noticed in a single glance.

    Every time he did that, Astralious was looking at the frozen tree of flames like a fanboy, and trying to flex his knowledge, not even paying attention to Elias dropping unknown objects on the ground.

    "This..." Astralious was at a loss of words. Was he really so bad at observing things that he didn''t notice such a simple thing? He couldn''t even blame Elias for not telling him such things.

    "I spend every second with you, trapped in your mind. Still, why are there so many things about you that I know nothing about? At times, I truly feel like a failure."

    "Well, that makes it the two of us." Elias tossed the empty bottle aside and stood up, patting his clothes while the black wings behind him slowly disappeared.

    Tuck~

    A strange sound echoed in the passage, and the empty bottle of water came flying back to Elias, falling next to his feet. He stomped on the empty bottle and gazed at the direction where he had tossed the bottle.

    "It looks like we have some guests."

    There was a clunking noise, as if bones were hitting against each other. Flaming torches across the entire passage lit up, filling the dark passage with light.

    "That''s..." Astralious saw the things standing in the distance, and his eyes widened, but not from shock. It was simply a reaction of disdain. "That''s it? This is what that man prepared? A mere skeleton?*

    "I don''t think I would call it a mere skeleton." Elias, on the other hand, looked more grim.

    Even though it looked like a mere skeleton that was only four feet tall, its stats were so dangerous that he had to take a second glance to make sure that he hadn''t seen anything wrong.

    .............

    Assigned Title: Little Skeleton

    Species: Undead

    Threat Grade: SSS

    Age: Seven Thousand Three Hundred Years

    Description: A Skeleton roaming across the tomb, looking for something. If you can''t give it what it wants, it will never let you go.

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 550

    Defence: 430

    Speed: 490

    Element: Undead

    Elemental Affinity: 90

    Hostility: 50

    ............

    He thought that his own stats had grown to a somewhat impressive extent after returning from the Land of Fables. But compared to this, it was an understatement to call his own stats to be lacking.

    .............

    Name: Elias Ashborn

    Age: Twelve

    Class: Architect (Rank 2)

    Level: 15

    Class Grade: Ex

    ~Stats~

    Strength: 150 (+87)

    Defence: 115 (+55)

    Speed: 130 (+96)

    Intelligence: 58 (+10)

    ~Elemental Affinity~

    High affinity with Space

    Medium affinity with Darkness

    Medium affinity with Wind

    Medium affinity with Fire

    Medium affinity with Water

    Medium affinity with Earth

    Medium affinity with Lightning

    ~Class Skills~

    Precise Extraction (B)

    Advanced Merger (B)

    Extraction Control (B)

    Analysis (A)

    Creation Comprehension (A)

    Advanced Storage (B)

    ~Additional Skills~

    Fable Creation (C)

    Shadow Blades (D)

    Wings of Darkness (E)

    Fire Domain (C)

    Shadow Domain (B)

    Water Domain (C)

    Blessing of the Wind (C)

    Earth Domain (C)

    Lightning Summoner (C)

    Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (90% Percent), Core Essence of Elemental Fables (7 Percent), Bones of Ancient Dragon (3 Percent)

    Material Stability: 75 Percent

    Extraction Possibility: High

    .............

    His stats were close to the stats of a person who had gone through their third evolution, especially if he was to use the extra abilities that he had gained. Still, they paled in comparison.

    The small and seemingly ordinary skeleton before him was even stronger than a peak tier fable in the Land of Fables. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Why do you look scared of this weak skeleton? Just kick it, and it should break into pieces. Don''t tell me you are scared of Undeads?"

    Astralious found Elias''s grim expressions suspicious, especially since he couldn''t see anything special in the skeleton.

    He came to the conclusion that it might be because Elias was scared of the undead, something that couldn''t be far from the truth.

    "If I had my body, I would have slapped that skeleton into oblivion," he reiterated.

    "If you had a body, I would have loved to toss you to that skeleton," Elias sarcastically answered. If he was to fight that skeleton, he had a feeling that he might be able to destroy it despite the large difference in stats.

    Still, there was something about this ordinary looking skeleton that he couldn''t quite put his finger on.

 Chapter 154 - 154: You have two?

    The little skeleton''s jaws moved up and down, making a strange clicking sound that echoed through the dimly lit passage. Its empty eye sockets seemed to search for something.

    "What is it looking for?" Astralious asked, watching the skeleton that looked a little crazy, as it looked left and right while moving closer to Elias.

    Elias took a step back to maintain his distance from the strange skeleton. His movements appeared to alert the skeleton that was holding a dagger only slightly longer than a dagger.

    One moment it was standing several meters away from Elias, and the next it was right in front of him. Even with heightened senses, Elias couldn''t properly see his movements, which looked like a blur.

    The little skeleton thrust his small sword made of the same bone material as him.

    "Move!" Astralious yelled, left in shock at the speed of the seemingly insignificant skeleton, but his warning came too late.

    Elias barely managed to summon his Harbinger Sword, deflecting the blow at the last possible second.

    The force of the impact, however, still sent him staggering back. On the other hand, the skeleton hadn''t taken even a single step back.

    "Just what is this thing?!" Astralious exclaimed in shock. "I take back my previous words. It is not an ordinary skeleton!"

    "I know!" Elias gritted his teeth, blocking another attack while flying back. His movements were soon obstructed by the wall behind him.

    He adjusted his grip on the Harbinger Sword, readying himself for another attack as the little skeleton slowly advanced, its empty eye sockets glowing with a strange light.

    "Should we hide inside the shadow domain again? Maybe if we wait a few hours, that thing might also get bored and decide to leave?"

    "We have already wasted enough time outside. I don''t think we can afford to waste any more time on it, especially when we don''t even know if it will leave or not." Elias turned his Sword around and stabbed it on the ground before him.

    "Are we really going to fight it then? From the brief glimpse that I saw, it''s at least twice as strong as you. It''s not like the Soul Beasts that are trapped in a domain for you to take advantage of them."

    "What else will we do if we don''t fight? Negotiate with it?"

    Elias knew that the skeleton was looking for something. Until he found that thing, he wasn''t going to leave. But without knowing what that thing even was, he couldn''t give it to that little skeleton.

    Since he couldn''t make the skeleton leave by giving him what he wanted, he could only fight it.

    "Are you going to use your other weapons?" Astralious asked, thinking about the mines. But when he noticed that they were in a small closed space, it didn''t look as effective.

    Elias had other weapons that he had used previously, but even they weren''t as effective against an undead as before.

    "If only you had some holy element, you would have had a little easier time."

    "There is no point in crying over what we don''t have." Elias calmed his heartbeat, with the skeleton getting within five meters of him. "Instead, let me show you something new."

    With no space behind him for him to run away, even the skeleton didn''t appear to be in a hurry, as if he was trying to give the boy one last chance to give him what he wanted.

    ''What can you show me that I haven''t seen before?'' Astralious wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth closed, remembering how many times in the last few hours he had been surprised by this boy. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I really hope whatever you want to show me, is worth it," he said, deep down, looking forward to it.

    The skeleton raised his small sword after reaching within two meters of Elias.

    "Flame Domain." Elias held the hilt of his sword with both hands, and mumbled.

    The second these words escaped his lips, a fire lit up in his hands, and spread from the hilt to the blade of the Harbinger Sword.

    Flames appeared beneath his feet, and spread behind him. The flames moved as if they had a life of their own, and completed a circle around the skeleton and Elias, forming a ring of fire with ten meters diameter.

    "What is..." Astralious looked at the ring of fire which made the temperature rise in the surroundings. "Is this... another Domain?

    He was familiar with Domains, having seen Elias use the Shadow Domain extensively. However, this felt fundamentally different.

    The Shadow Domain was a manipulation of space, a pocket dimension. This felt like a direct manipulation of the elements themselves.

    The little skeleton, for the first time since its appearance, showed a different reaction, observing the ring of fire around him. It took a hesitant step back, the clicking of its jaw momentarily stopping.

    Elias pulled out the Harbinger which was now completely engulfed in the deep red flames. Meanwhile, the ring that was burning in flames only half a meter high, became fiercer.

    The flames rushed out of the ring of fire, creating a complete wall of flame in the surroundings that reached the ceiling.

    "This is a basic form that I can control for now," Elias explained as the flames of the ring reflected in his eyes. "I can manipulate flames within this space, and to a limited extent¡­ control their behavior."

    "It''s not perfect," he continued, as the flames burned bright. "It consumes a lot of energy, and I can''t maintain it for long. But against an undead¡­ I believe it should be effective."

    "It''s not perfect... You brat, do you even know how hard it is for a human to get a domain? And you already have two? A domain will only get stronger as you get stronger and you already have two?!"

    At the moment, Astralious even forgot that he was in a situation where someone wanted to kill them. He was more interested in the domain, an ability that even a Constellation like him couldn''t write off.

 Chapter 155 - 155: Water

    He could somewhat understand the Shadow Domain, as it wasn''t inherently offensive. But a domain that allowed him to wield flames? That was no different than having received another elemental blessing.

    "If you already have the blessing of flames, then you might have a higher chance of making the Ice Phoenix Flames your own. And when you do, you might even be able to incorporate them into this domain."

    Just thinking about the value of this domain, if it were able to use the Ice Phoenix Flames instead of normal flames, was enough to make Astralious burn with jealousy.

    If he had possessed these things, would he really have lost to Silas? There was no way in hell that would have happened.

    "Arghhh!!! Why couldn''t my luck be as good as yours?" He grabbed his hair, cursing the heavens for being so unfair to a Constellation like him.

    After looking at Astralious''s crazed response, Elias quickly dropped the thought of telling him exactly how many domains he possessed.

    If two domains were enough for Astralious to curse the heavens, then he didn''t know what he was going to do if he heard that he had four domains, not two.

    These were the domains that he had gained after merging with the essence of the fables.

    The fables that he merged with, didn''t have these domains. But once their purest form of essence combined within his body, it formed the essence of five elements and granted him these domains.

    So far, he hadn''t needed to use the other Domains as his Shadow Blades and Shadow Domain had helped him deal with any unexpected situation. If the skeleton hadn''t forced him, he still wouldn''t have used anything else.

    "Can you stop crying for a moment? I don''t want to be distracted by yo-"

    Elias tried to restrain Astralious, but his words were cut short when the Skeleton moved again, turning into a blur. He had finished analyzing the domain of fire, and returned his attention to Elias.

    Two wings came from Elias'' back, but unlike the wings of the shadows from before, they were the wings that were burning in bright red flames.

    The skeleton was faster than him in speed, strength and even defence. Even with the help of the Domain of Fire, Elias had barely managed to reduce the gap but not completely erase it.

    "He is stronger than you in strength and speed. Even with the domain, can you really close the gap?" Astralious asked, watching Elias fly to the little skeleton to attack him.

    "Who said I was going to turn this into a battle of stats? Even I am not a fool like that." Elias swung his Sword at the little skeleton.

    The little skeleton raised his dagger sized sword and blocked the attack.

    "The Domain was never meant to refuse the difference in stats. Its entire use..." Elias was pushed back by the skeleton, but he didn''t look upset.

    Instead, it was the skeleton that reacted sharply when the spheres of flames came flying towards him from the walls of the ring.

    "...was to turn this into an unfair advantage of number towards me," Elias completed his sentence, as he attacked the skeleton again, while the flaming orbs kept raising on the skeleton.

    "The small skeleton might have high strength, defence or speed. But even it can''t take hundreds of attacks alone!"

    Every time the skeleton cut off the flaming orbs, the orbs exploded and hurt him. But even worse was that it allowed Elias an opportunity to strike him.

    Even if his attacks barely managed to chip off small parts of the light skeleton''s bones with each sword strike, but the damage kept accumulating as he struck on the same point.

    If the skeleton tried to block his attack instead, the flaming orbs struck him from every direction, hurting the skeleton ever so slightly.

    "I see. You have turned this into a battle of attrition!" Astralious clapped his hands, watching the battle within the flaming domain.

    As long as Elias was not directly struck by an attack and died, it was truly something that was beneficial for him. It even allowed him an opportunity to practice a pure battle.

    There was only one problem that he could see. As per Elias''s own words, the Domain consumed a lot of his energy. And each attack consumed even more.

    Within twenty minutes of the battle, he could see the flames of the wall growing weaker. Elias''s face was slowly growing more pale with each passing minute, his clothes drenched in sweat.

    The battle of attrition was as bad for the skeleton as it was for Elias. At a certain point, Astralious wasn''t sure if Elias could actually take it down anymore.

    "Are you sure it is working as you wanted?" Astralious asked loudly, watching the throat bone of the skeleton that was only chipped halfway throughout this battle.

    "It''s working better than I wanted," Elias answered, breathing heavily. "Just a little more!"

    The fight continued for another ten minutes, with the temperature almost reaching a boiling point.

    The chipping of the throat bone reached almost eighty percent after hundreds of strikes, but even now, Astralious couldn''t see any possibility of completely severing it anytime soon.

    The flames in the domain had almost died down, with the wall of flames being left only a few centimetres high, the attacks from the walls almost ending.

    "We can still try to run! You don''t have to be brave and put your life on the line! There is no shame in running!" Astralious yelled at Elias, who was sent flying back with another strike that he barely blocked with his sword and trembling arms. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias flew back towards the wall in the back, barely regaining his balance in the air. His feet touched the wall, and he used them to propel himself back, the flaming red wings on his back slowly shifting color into a deeper shade of blue.

    The wall of flames also completely died, but something else rose from their place.

    "Water?" Astralious mumbled, watching the flames on Elias''s sword change to a very thin layer of water.

    "Why would I run when I am going to put an end to this?!" Elias swung his sword, putting every bit of his strength behind the attack to overcome the stat difference.

    The sword that was surrounded with cold water instead of the hot flames, struck the exact point on the bone Sword that it had hit multiple times before. But this time, the bone Sword failed to block it, having weakened already.

    The Bone Sword shattered in two parts as a trail of beautiful blue shade was left behind. The Sword flashed past the skeleton, cutting completely through the bones connecting his skull to the rest of his body.

 Chapter 156 - 156: Left Behind

    The skeleton was cut in two halves and fell on the ground behind Elias, but Astralious was more distracted by the domain of water.

    "Was that another Domain?" Astralious mumbled, even forgetting how to react to the incredulous sight.

    Elias ignored the question, realizing that there was no need for it. Astralious was already wise enough to understand what he had used, and what it meant.

    He turned to the skeleton, that was lying on the ground. He reached out his hand to secure the little skeleton''s bones.

    "Hmm?" His fingers had barely touched the skeleton when he saw a deep blue flame rise on the skeleton.

    He was forced to take his hand back while the freezing blue flames engulfed the skeleton, leaving not even the ashes behind.

    The only thing that was left behind was the small dagger-like sword that was broken in two halves.

    "No wonder I didn''t see any other bodies here. This place is like a dungeon that devours everything that dies here." Elias reached out his hand, and picked up the two pieces of dagger.

    He knew that everyone else who came here before him was strong. Despite that, he expected at least a few of them to have died if they came across this skeleton, but there was not a single corpse left behind.

    It made him think of the possibility that everyone might have had a different starting point within this tomb. He wasn''t sure of that possibility anymore.

    "How long are you going to stand there glaring at me?" Elias placed the two broken pieces of the small bone sword in his storage space and turned to Astralious.

    "As long as it takes until you tell me how many domains do you actually have?" he asked Elias, who scratched the back of his head, still hesitant.

    "Do you think Domains rain down from the sky?" he sarcastically answered, before quickly changing the topic. "Anyway, what did you think about that skeleton?"

    "Hmm? That thing was definitely strange. When he first appeared, I couldn''t sense even the slightest of strength within it." Astralious fell for the trick and started thinking about the skeleton, rubbing his chin with great curiosity.

    "Then again, I should have expected something like this from a tomb created by that person. If I''m not wrong, there might be more than one of those skeletons in this place. Or maybe that one will repair itself and appear again. We should keep moving before that happens."

    Elias didn''t contradict Astralious, since he thought the same thing. If the other group managed to get past this place, it meant they killed the skeleton, even if they had a few losses of their own.

    For the skeleton to appear again during his turn, meant that there was more than one, or that one could repair itself with time.

    "I am not fond of this place. If it wasn''t for the Ice Phoenix Flames, I truly wouldn''t want you to come here." Astralious followed after Elias, with the two of them leaving, without resting.

    ....

    "Argh, this cursed place! Why did it have such stupid rules!" In a different part of the tomb, a girl was complaining constantly in frustration.

    In front of her, there was a single statue that was hiding a door behind it. The twenty feet tall statue, depicting a man that had six hands, and held one item in each hand.

    "We can only blame our luck! If that one bastard hadn''t died before, we might have had enough people. But now, we can''t even do anything with just the five of us!"

    Another girl picked up a small rock and tossed it at the statue in anger. The rock was tossed without using any skill, but just the raw strength of the girl made the rock fly out like a bullet from a gun.

    It struck the statue of the masked man, and disintegrated, failing to leave even a single scratch on it.

    "Should we go outside and try to bring another person back with us?" A third person suggested.

    "Didn''t they say that we can only enter this place once? If we leave, isn''t it as good as giving up?" Another person argued.

    "What is even the point of not giving up then? Even if we wait for an eternity, nothing is going to change. Without a sixth person, we can''t even participate in the second test of the tomb."

    "Why are you stating something so obvious? Do you think we don''t know it?"

    "Tch, he is starting to annoy me at this point. Should I just kill him?"

    "Why don''t you give it a try? I also want to see just how strong you have gotten since the last time we fought."

    "I might not be the strongest in my class, but I am at least strong enough to crush that smug face of yours!"

    "Hah, the Creators have always been foolishly confident. No wonder you fall like flies when you come across someone truly strong like Lord Aliath."

    "Hmph, so you really think you are someone comparable to that Reaper? Also, didn''t Reaper also disappear somewhere? He probably died without even leaving a corpse behind."

    "You truly have an absurd fantasy. There is no way the Reaper would be dead. But if you don''t stop annoying me, you might truly end up dead."

    "Can you all please shut up? All your nonsense is starting to give me a headache," the fifth person opened his eyes, rubbing his forehead.

    Unfortunately for him, the bickering didn''t stop. Everyone at this place was frustrated that they didn''t have enough people to take the test, and were left behind by the others.

    The arguments kept becoming stronger, until two of them summoned their weapons. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tap~

    Tap~

    The two were almost ready to rip each other apart, as their auras flared up. It was only when they heard the sound of footsteps that they looked towards the entrance of the hall, growing suspicious.

    They were certain that no other student came with them, which made them think that it might be something from the tomb.

 Chapter 157 - 157: The Six

    "I was getting quite bored after being left behind. If the Tomb wants to send something to us to keep us entertained, then what could be better?" The few who had grown bored after being left behind, also rose up with interest.

    They also summoned their weapons. If they wanted, they could attack before that thing even entered the hall, but confident in their abilities, none of them was too hasty in killing what they thought to be another monster in this tomb.

    With the light footsteps getting closer, their eyes started revealing a desire to hunt.

    "Huh?"

    "What?"

    "Is that a..."

    Almost all their expressions grew worse when they saw the owner of those footsteps, which had assumed to be a human shaped monster.

    "Is it someone from the Academy?" Not only was the person not a monster, but he was also wearing the attire of the universe.

    "How can that be possible? He looks like he is just twelve years old. At best he would be a newcomer at the academy. Why would he be sent here by the Academy?"

    "Could he be a monster that can take human shape?"

    "Disguise like that doesn''t work on me. I can feel his aura. Although it is a little unique, it''s definitely human. Moreover I can also feel the aura of the Academy badge on him. He is definitely a human."

    Even though the five of them were confused with the arrival of the child, they still lowered their weapons.

    "Could it be that the Academy realized that we needed a sixth person and sent whoever they could find the closest to save time for us?" a girl suggested. "The Dean is definitely farsighted."

    "Isn''t that no different than sacrificing that child? Wouldn''t they have selected someone stronger even if it took a little longer?"

    "Tch, children like him are dime a dozen in the academy. Do you think he is more important than us? We are the future of the academy." A young man brushed his fingers through his long hair, revealing a smug smile. "Of course the Academy would try to help us."

    "Whatever the case, we have a sixth person. That means we can begin the test to get past the statue!"

    On the other end, Elias was also observing the five left behind. Amongst the group that he remembered entering the tomb, these five were the weakest. But that was only within the context of that group.

    Within the Academy, their strength and talent was definitely reigning supreme if they were selected by the Dean herself.

    "They are looking at you as if you are some delicacy for them. You should be extremely careful. I don''t think they have good intentions towards you." Astralious grimaced. "I don''t like them."

    ''It would have been more strange if they did have good intentions towards me,'' Elias answered Astralious using his thoughts.

    "Why are they left behind though? It''s like they were waiting just for you."

    ''It probably has something to do with the statue behind them. If they are left behind, then it probably has less to do with their intentions and more to do with their ability to go forward. I suppose we will find out.''

    Amongst the group, there were five people in total. And two of them were wearing the attire of the Destroyer Class, while the remaining three belonged to the Creator Class.

    The numbers looked unbalanced in favor of the Creator Class, but with his arrival, the balance was restored between the classes.

    "Child, introduce yourself," a girl from the Creator Class teleported before Elias, and commanded.

    Even though she should have been grateful that she had a sixth person that she needed, there was still a condescending gaze in her eyes as she looked down on Elias who was shorter than her. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias was tall for his age. Still, he only managed to come up to her breasts, having to raise his head to even look in her eyes.

    "I am Elias, a first year student from the Destroyer Class."

    "And what is your last name?" The girl frowned. Even though she looked down on Elias, she wanted to be sure that she wasn''t dealing with someone troublesome.

    With her age and experience, she had long learned that there were many dragons hiding within the academy that were descendants of a few troublesome families.

    With the second test right beyond the corner, she didn''t want to make the same mistake of underestimating a little unknown dragon.

    "Elias Greyson," Elias lied through his teeth, keeping his true last name hidden since it only brought him trouble with others from start to end.

    So far, there were many people that hated him simply because of his last name. Even though he couldn''t use the influence that came with that name for now, it was still a worthy loss if it saved him more unnecessary trouble.

    "Hmph." The girl nodded. She didn''t remember any founding family that was called Greyson. Even amongst a few influential mid tier families, there was none with that name.

    It made her believe that Elias truly came from an insignificant family, and wasn''t a threat for her. The others also thought the same thing, as they hadn''t seen the Asbborn Identification Badge that Elias kept safely in his storage.

    "Did the Dean force you to enter?" Another person asked.

    Elias didn''t know what kind of stories they had formed in their minds, but he still nodded his head and let them live in their decisions.

    "I thought so." The young man rubbed his chin. "This is good. I should really express my gratitude to the Dean after I leave this place. But before that..."

    He turned to the statue which has six hands like a rakshasa and an object in each of his hands. "All of you, take one object and get ready for the second test!"

    He flew towards the statue, and the other four also did the same. None of them went for the same object, as if they had already decided amongst themselves about the items that they were going to take.

    Only one item was left on the status by the time everyone landed back on the ground.

 Chapter 158 - 158: What would you do?

    The six arms statue was holding six objects in its hands, which included a sword emitting a cold light ready to cut through any obstacle in its path.

    In the second hand, there was a bloody rose, with the droplets of blood on its petals glistening in the dim light. The third hand held a small bell, made from ancient bronze.

    The fourth hand of the statue possessed a scroll that was made from some beast''s hide, whose aura was yet to completely fade. In the fifth hand, there was an axe which was the second and only clear weapon that the statue possessed.

    These five were the objects selected by the five youngsters who were here before Elias. They even looked quite pleased with their selection when they landed back on the ground.

    "Go ahead, kid. We left one for you," the boy with the axe told Elias and pointed at the sixth item that was still with the statue.

    "They left it for you? Just look at his shamelessness! It''s clear that they could only take one object! Otherwise, these selfish people wouldn''t leave even a speck of dust behind for you. You should be grateful."

    Astralious slapped the boy who had spoken, despite knowing that he couldn''t actually connect.

    ''I know. This probably has something to do with the reason they couldn''t go forward.'' Elias watched Astralious go past the boy, who didn''t even know about his presence.

    He started walking towards the statue and picked up the last object, which was a small pocket watch. The hands on the watch didn''t move, and the time in the clock was frozen.

    "Tch, he didn''t even thank me. What an arrogant child," the boy who had told Elias to take the pocket watch, rolled his eyes.

    He thought that Elias was going to thank him, or at least look at him like an idol since they were his seniors. In reality, Elias didn''t even show even the slightest reaction.

    "Didn''t you hear that he came from some no name insignificant family? Can you really expect manners from him? We can''t completely blame him." The girl with a blood rose in her hand, took a whiff of the scent, almost getting drunk on it.

    "That is correct. All that matters is that he is here to fill the numbers." Another boy brushed his fingers across the sharp frozen blade of his sword.

    "The more ignorant he is, the better it is going to be for one of us." A girl held the beast hide scroll in her hand, and prepared herself for what was to come. "After all, he might help one of us pass through at the cost of his own life."

    Once all six objects were taken from the statue, the sound of rock rubbing against rock echoed through the chamber. The statue slowly opened his eyes, revealing pupils that weren''t made from the stones like the rest of his body.

    The statue glanced at the youngsters, and every person that he observed, disappeared without being able to offer any resistance.

    Elias was the last person to disappear when the statue landed his gaze on him. Elias didn''t resist either, and let the spatial force surround him.

    "The Eyes of Ancient Beast Taimut. It''s been such a long time since I saw it," Astralious mumbled, noticing the eyes of a beast that was as rare to find as it was a phoenix or a dragon.

    The spatial force took Elias within its embrace, and teleported him into the space unknown.

    In the space, there was only white as far as his eyes could see, with no walls, no ceiling or even a sky in sight. It was just an endless white.

    "So you are the one selected for me. I can''t believe my luck." A voice came from the distance, feeling extremely relieved. "I was a little worried that it might be one of the others. It would''ve been more troublesome with those cunning bastards."

    "Do you know where we are?" Elias asked, glancing at the slender girl in the distance who was holding a beautiful blood rose.

    "This is a temporary space created by the eyes of Taimut." Before the girl could say anything, Astralious answered Elias based on his past knowledge.

    "This ability was what made Taimut so dangerous. It''s similar to your shadow domain, but it''s more of a condition based realm. If I''m not wrong, the condition to activate it was to take the six objects."

    ''If there was a condition to enter, then there must be a condition to leave this place as well?'' Elias asked Astralious.

    "Although I don''t know which condition the owner of Ice Phoenix Flames had kept, it most probably has something to do with the girl and the items in your hands. You must stay extremely wary of her."

    "We are inside a test of the tomb. After we finish it, we would be able to leave," the girl answered, surprising not only Elias but also Astralious.

    In this world, information was knowledge. She didn''t know that Elias had a Constellation Spirit, so she could have kept that information to herself, instead of telling him the truth.

    "Is this girl an idiot?" Astralious pondered.

    ''If she managed to survive in this academy for such a long time, then she most probably isn''t an idiot. Whatever she tells me, will be only to her advantage. That''s the one thing we can be sure about."

    "How do you know it?"

    ''Just a hunch.'' Elias thought, and maintained a friendly facade on his face before interacting with the girl further. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Senior Sister, how do we get out of here?" he asked the girl. "Do you know anything about it?"

    "You don''t look scared, even when you are trapped here." The girl moved, and in a single step, she covered hundreds of feet of distance to appear before Elias. "You are very interesting, Little Brother."

    "Little brother, what would you do if I tell you that the only way to escape this place is for one of us to die?" she asked, touching Elias''s chin to raise his head.

 Chapter 159 - 159: Game of Lies

    "If that was the case, you would have killed me already. Isn''t that right, Sister?" Elias didn''t step back, even when the girl right before him, looking deep in his eyes.

    Her words were frightening, but there was no murderous intent in her eyes. Moreover, he had maintained the false persona of a weak junior that didn''t have any backing in the Academy.

    If she wanted to kill him, then she didn''t really need to scheme against him. She would have attacked him right away, the moment he appeared.

    He didn''t trust the girl, but he trusted his own observation. It made him certain that the girl didn''t want to kill him, at least not yet.

    "Hah, are you sure that I don''t just like to play around with my prey before I hunt them?" the girl asked, bringing the rose closer to Elias''s cheeks.

    Elias didn''t feel as much of a danger from the woman, as he did from the bloody rose which made him subconsciously take a step back.

    "Are you finally scared?" the girl asked while smiling in amusement. "Though you are right. I don''t want to kill you. If I kill you, we will both die."

    "It is true that one of us needs to die in this place, but you can''t be the one to kill me, and I can''t be the one to kill you. That''s one of the conditions of this place."

    She took another whiff of the bloody rose, almost addicted to it even as the effects were harmful for her, turning her skin even more pale each time.

    "We can''t kill each other, but still one of us needs to die?" Elias frowned. "Is that even possible? I don''t think any of us will kill ourselves. Aren''t we just trapped in this place then?"

    Even when he thought about the fact that he couldn''t satisfy the condition of this place, he was still not quite worried. He could always break this entire place and leave. But he was still somewhat curious to see just what this place planned.

    Did the previous dean simply make this place to kill half of the most talented youngsters in the academy? Or was the girl lying?

    "It sounds complicated, doesn''t it?" the girl laughed, covering her mouth with her fingers. "But it''s not that complicated. We don''t have to kill ourselves. The laws of this place will do the work itself."

    After a hearty laughter, she raised her head. "If I''m not wrong, it should descend soon."

    "What should descend?" Elias also raised his head, and thirty seconds later, he truly saw something falling from the sky.

    It was the same statue that they had seen before. It fell from the sky, and landed between Elias and the girl. Three of his arms faced the girl, while the other three faced Elias.

    Words materialized before the statue, and no matter from where these words were looked, they were completely readable for the two youngsters that were facing each other.

    ...

    Greetings, Descendants of the Dimensional Academy! Welcome to the Test of Lies.

    Test Duration: 30 Minutes

    Test Conditions:

    1) You are not allowed to kill each other. Violation of this rule will result in immediate ERASURE of both sides.

    2) Only one participant can pass the test and leave this place alive, provided that neither participant violates the first condition.

    3) Each participant will make one statement to the other, which can be either truth or a lie.

    4) Participants will take turns until both sides have completed three turns.

    5) The recipient of the statement must declare whether it is the truth or a lie. If they are correct, one arm of the statue facing their opponent will break. If they are wrong, one of the arms facing them will break.

    6) If all three arms of a participant break, that participant will be considered to have failed the test and will be ERASED. The other participant will pass.

    7) If time runs out and neither participant has managed to break all three of the other''s arms, both participants will be ERASED.

    8) You may use any method to determine the truthfulness of a statement, except for harming the other participant.

    9) The first question will be asked by the participant designated as "Challenger." The Challenger will be randomly selected.

    10) The two objects that each participant received from the statue may be used in the test. However, once used, they will shatter and disappear.

    11) The use cases of the Objects will be transferred to your mind once the test begins.

    Best of luck to all participants.

    ...

    After going through all the rules, Elias rubbed his forehead. The test was not a test of skill, or even the test of strength. It was more like a test of bluff, entering the Territory of gambling with their lives.

    ''Was the previous Dean a gambling addict? What kind of absurdity did he leave here?''

    The Academy would have definitely wanted to protect their best students. If it was a normal test, then the strongest or even the most skilled could survive. But if the test was this, then even the strongest could fall.

    "I did hear a few rumours about that," Astralious answered, just as taken aback as Elias. "I think there was also a rumor that he had placed the entire Dimensional Academy on the line during one of his gambling attempts."

    "What a crazy guy. Even in his death, he doesn''t let the academy breathe easy."

    A small, spinning arrow appeared above the statue and started rotating rapidly before slowing down and finally pointing directly at Elias.

    After the arrow stopped, a mark appeared above Elias, which showed a single word, "King."

    Another shining word appeared above the girl''s head, "Challenger."

    "So I am going first. Well, it doesn''t matter." The girl was completely prepared for anything. If anything, she was more confident about winning with Elias in her competition.

    The others in her group were much more cunning, and had gone through a lot of life.

    They had a lot of convincing things that they could lie about. But what about a mere child who came from an insignificant family? As for fooling him, she believed it was just child''s play.

    sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 160 - 160: Slight of Hand

    The girl crossed her arms confidently. She was simply facing a child that had yet to see the true cruelty of the world. For her, the task couldn''t be any easier. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Shall we begin?" she asked.

    "You can go ahead." Elias nodded. If there was any person here who was more carefree than the girl, then it was Elias.

    "I will start with something simple." The girl smiled and continued, "My name is Gracia."

    She confidently said, as if it was a name that she had already spoken a thousand times before. From her tone, it didn''t look like she was lying.

    "Oh wait, I already said my name outside! Fck, I want to change the statement!" It took her a moment for the realization to set in, and she started panicking.

    She had already introduced herself as Gracia before they were even brought to this space, and it was also a name that the others were calling her with.

    Unfortunately, she wasn''t given any choice to change the statement. The words of her statement materialized before Elias.

    "I am dead! How could I make such a basic mistake!" the girl grabbed her head, and started panicking, an expression that she hadn''t shown before.

    "It''s a lie," Elias said, shocking the girl.

    Her expressions darkened when she raised her head, all the previous panic and friendlies nowhere to be seen anymore.

    The golden words in the statement turned red, and started disintegration. One of the three arms facing the girl shattered into pieces, leaving only two arms.

    "How did you know?!" she asked with clenched teeth. She had placed the entire trap, and even used a fake name in front of Elias, placing the pieces in preparation of having good luck and coming across Elias in this test.

    There was no reason for Elias to think that she had lied. Not only was the setup elaborate, but even her acting was also on point and she made every attempt to sell her panic.

    She still couldn''t understand how Elias knew that this wasn''t her name.

    "My turn," Elias didn''t answer her question. He took his eyes off the Analysis Screen of the girl, and focused back on her.

    The test might be a game of luck for others, but he was able to cheat. There was no ban on class skills in the test, as long as it didn''t harm the other person.

    For her to ask the most basic thing about herself had already made Elias have the easiest time ever.

    "I truly underestimated you. Fine. Go ahead. Even if you take the lead, I will be winning in the end." The girl took a deep breath and calmed herself, as she still had a chance to win.

    "I lied to you about being from an ordinary family. In reality, I am a descendant of the Ashborn Family," Elias told the girl.

    "I am a descendant of the Ashborn Family." The words materialized before the girl, who frowned at the absurdity of the statement.

    Why would the Academy send a descendant of the Ashborn Family into this place to die? There was no way this was the truth. At the same time, there was some suspicion in the back of her mind.

    Was the boy really this foolish to tell such an absurd lie? Or was this the reality that he wanted her to find absurd?

    She glanced at a bloody rose in her hand, and thought of something. Could this absurd thought really be true? The absurdity of this statement was what made her have second thoughts about it.

    After all, Elias did share some characteristics with the descendants of the Asbborn Family that she had heard about.

    "It is true." She decided to take the risk on it, no matter how absurd this statement was. After all, she had some certainty that no matter the answer, she was going to win this time.

    Once she gave her answer, Elias revealed a smile and summoned the Identification Badge of the Esterin Family that he had taken from the corpse of Rey Esterin.

    "You lost," he said, before the words in the air even had a reaction.

    "Did I?" The girl was taken aback at the sight of Esterin Family''s identification badge. As absurd as the statement of him being a part of the Ashborn Family, the Esterin Family was just as absurd.

    She had truly lost this round, but she already prepared something for it when she bid for such an absurd statement.

    "Why don''t you check again?" she tossed the bloody rose at the words in the air, as they were starting to reveal the answer.

    Once the bloody rose touched the words, everything stopped. Time seemed to have gone back by a few seconds, before she even gave the answer.

    Elias also felt the strange sensation of being brought back in time by a few seconds with the memories of the future still fresh in his mind.

    With the time reversal of Bloody Rose, the time was brought back to before she had given her answer.

    Although it exhausted the use of the bloody rose and made it disappear forever, it had given her an opportunity to win now that she already knew the right answer.

    "The statement is false! You are not a descendant of the Ashborn Family!" The girl smugly answered, having seen the sight answer already. "Even if you are from the Esterin Family, you are still a child!"

    For the next few seconds, she laughed heartily at the ease with which she had managed to fool Elias.

    Elias, meanwhile, maintained his silence and waited for the words to change and reveal the answer for both of them to see.

    "Huh?" The laughter of the girl abruptly halted as the words started changing and revealed the answer. The golden words changed to green, verifying the authenticity of the statement.

    "How is that possible? There is something wrong with this test! It''s impossible!" The girl truly started panicking this time, as she watched another arm of the statue facing her, crumble into nothingness.

    She glared at Elias, almost jumping at him to attack him, only to stop herself midway.

    Elias brought an identification badge from his storage and waved it before the girl, whose expressions went blank. This time, it was the identification badge of a direct descendant of the Ashborn Family.

    "How...?" she mumbled in disbelief.

 Chapter 161 - 161: Beast of Divination

    "Why do you have that?" The girl couldn''t find herself to believe it.

    Just a little while ago, Elias waved the identification badge of a direct descendant of the Esterin Family. And now he had one that belonged to the Asbborn Family?

    "You knew about the effects of the bloody rose! You tricked me!" she exclaimed, with the realization slowly setting in.

    Once she had given her answer, there was no point for Elias to show her the Esterin Family badge and the grin on his face, unless he knew that she could reverse her choice.

    She bloody rose that was her greatest weapon, had become her shackles and shoved her into this unavoidable trap set by Elias.

    If she had given the wrong answer, she would have failed. And if she gave the right answer, Elias would have made her change that answer with his manipulation.

    Her shock at the realisation overwhelmed the shock of coming across an Ashborn Family descendant. Instead of using his might like other Ashborn Descendants, this child had used his brain.

    It was as if nothing could escape his eyes. She even wondered if he could read her mind. Why else would he know about the use of the Bloody Rose.

    "It''s your turn." Elias kept the Asbborn Family identification back in his storage.

    He didn''t answer a single question that came from her, as there was no point. She was not her friend, and only one of them could leave this place alive. Both of them were simply trying to kill each other.

    The girl looked at the statue, which was missing two arms now. And both the missing arms were on her side, with only one arm left facing her.

    If she failed once more, then her life was as good as gone. She didn''t even have the bloody rose anymore to change his choice later.

    The panic had started setting in, and she couldn''t calm herself. She walked back and forth, her breathing getting restless as she held her head and tried to think of a way to survive.

    She couldn''t even threaten Elias into sacrificing his own life, by using the might of her family.

    If he was truly from an ordinary family, she could have just told him that he was going to be killed by her family if he left this place alive, instead of her. She could even threaten his family.

    That was only valid if he came from an ordinary family though. Could she really threaten him by saying that her family was going to be destroyed if he didn''t let her win?

    He was a part of the freakin Ashborns, who were crazier than the Nightmare Tribe. Half the cards she held in her hand were made useless by the revelation of his family.

    She couldn''t blackmail him into sacrificing his life. She couldn''t even kill him, as that was against the rules and she was going to be killed as well. There was really no other way that she could see.

    Ten minutes passed in the back and forth, and there were only fifteen minutes left in the test.

    "If he can truly read my mind, that means no matter what I say, he can find the answer as long as I know that answer."

    After a long time, she returned to her place, growing more serious than ever. "Which means that... there is only one option to take away his advantage."

    If he could read her mind, then the only other possibility for her to win was to say something that even she didn''t know the authenticity of.

    "Do you want to take another round back and forth? Or are you prepared?" Elias asked, not moving an inch from his place in the last ten minutes.

    "Little child, you won''t be smug for long." The girl clenched her fists, not letting Elias''s words sway her emotions into making a mistake.

    He was looking forward to the statement that she was going to make.

    As long as it had something to do with the things that he had seen in her Analysis Screen, it was his victory. But if it wasn''t, then things were slightly more complicated since he couldn''t read her mind.

    He still had one use of the pocket watch left, but based on the information that he learned about the watch, it was only useful in very specific situations.

    The girl took a deep breath, and prepared for the risk that she was taking. As she didn''t know the answer herself, the chances of success or failure were equal. Even a random guess from Elias could make her lose her life.

    "Aliath Ashborn is alive," she said, and the words materialized before Elias.

    Even she didn''t know the answer to this question. Most people in the universe believed that he was dead, but the Ashborn Family had still not given up hope.

    If Elias was part of the Ashborn Family and cared for his family, then she didn''t believe he was going to say that he was dead. Wouldn''t a child believe that his loving brother was still alive somewhere?

    As long as he played along, the chances of her success were high since she played on Elias''s emotions. And even if he didn''t go according to his emotions, she still had a small chance of being right.

    Elias raised a brow at the statement, not expecting something like this. Did the girl know something about the real fate of Aliath that even the Ashborn Family didn''t know?

    Her expressions didn''t give anything away. It was almost impossible to read her face when it came to this statement.

    ''Did she... ask this because she didn''t know either? Can this place even find the real answer in any case? It''s just a small treasure, isn''t it?'' Elias looked at the golden words floating before him.

    Aliath had disappeared long after the previous dean set up this place and passed away. From what he had guessed, this place verified the authenticity of the answers through their memories. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If that was true, and none of them knew the right answer, what was going to be the result? He wondered, looking at the trembling words.

    He asked the question to Astralious using his thoughts.

    "Taimut isn''t an ordinary beast. It''s also a beast of divination. So this space doesn''t simply rely on your own memories, but also the divination when it comes to verifying answers," Astralious answered.

    "At least that''s my guess. I might be wrong, since the Taimut is dead, and i don''t know how that man set up this space," he further clarified and swiftly took his hands off all responsibility of being wrong.

 Chapter 162 - 162: Double Failure

    ''Then let''s check Taimut''s divinations.'' The words of the statement hovered around Elias, waiting for him to either confirm or reject the statement.

    "It is true," he said, looking forward to the answer that even the Ashborn Family wasn''t able to find. Was his eldest brother still alive? Or did he pass away a long time ago?

    The floating words went completely still, once he gave an answer. All that was left was for the words to change color into red for lie, or green for truth. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Seconds turned into minutes, and the wait became longer. The answer didn''t come, and the words remained still, akin to being frozen in time.

    "Is it performing divination?" Elias pondered, as the words were taking a really long time to change colors, unlike with the previous statement.

    The time kept passing away, and in the blink of an eye, ten more minutes had passed, but nothing changed. The only change was that the timer left to finish the test had only five minutes left.

    If there was no complete winner in this test before the time was up, then both of them were going to be erased.

    The girl was the most panicked under this situation, as she still needed to win three times to complete this test, while Elias only needed to win one time.

    "Why isn''t it doing anything?" She screeched, her patience growing thin.

    Four more minutes passed, and there was only one minute left on the clock. By now, the girl was drenched in cold sweat, almost accepting her death. Even if the result came in her favor, the test wouldn''t end in time.

    Elias, on the other hand, brought a small crystal gem out. He held the gem in his hand in preparation, and watched the timer in the clock nearing the end.

    Ten seconds... Nine Seconds... Eight Seconds...

    The girl fell to her knees and started laughing. She was dying here, but even Elias, who had performed better than her, was going to die with her. To not feel the fear over her own death, she laughed at Elias''s misfortune.

    It was only when five seconds were left, something changed in the floating words. They started shaking, and their trembling only grew fiercer.

    The words didn''t turn green, but they didn''t turn red either. They, however, started cracking and turned into specks of light, disappearing into the void.

    Once the words disappeared, one arm of the statue facing Elias started breaking apart.

    "Did I win? Hah, what''s the point when we are dying anyway?" The girl didn''t even have the time to celebrate, watching only three seconds left in the timer.

    "Hmm?" Her expressions only twisted when she saw an arm of the statue facing her side start to break apart.

    "What?" She stood up in disbelief with the clock coming to a stop with only one second left.

    ............

    The test has been completed. The Challenger has lost.

    ............

    More words appeared before the two of them, marking the end of the test. Elias still had two arms left out of the three, while the girl had lost all three.

    The words flew towards the girl, and changed into shackles that trapped her and prevented any movement. She watched her body slowly disintegrate, as she was being erased."

    "No! NO! This isn''t fair! He should die with him! He cheated! He must have!" she screamed, her voice breaking apart with desperation. Her body continued to fade, particles of light flaking off like ash in a breeze.

    "I... I don''t want to die..." Her final words were a whispered plea, lost in the endless void that didn''t care for her please.

    Elias watched the girl embrace death, struggling until her last moment. But after having seen so many deaths in the past, there was not even the slightest ripple of pity in the ocean of his emotions.

    He lowered the crystal gem, but he didn''t send it back. He still didn''t trust the realm created by Taimut and the previous dean.

    The thing that disappointed him even more was the fact that he hadn''t received the results of the last statement. It was neither confirmed, nor denied. It was considered a failure for both sides, as two arms broke apart.

    "To think that even the Beast of Divination couldn''t divine the fate of that person. Just who is he?" Astralious had been trapped before Aliath was even born.

    He had never actually seen that person, and occasionally only heard rumours about that man when someone rarely walked past the place where he was trapped in the Forest of Fables.

    Even if the rumours were impressive, but they weren''t out of this world for someone like him who had seen much worse in his life. But he didn''t expect the beast of divination to fail in finding more about his fate either.

    "Then again, maybe it''s because the Beast of Divination isn''t really alive. It''s only his eyes that have been set up by that man. Maybe that''s why..."

    He justified the failure with a logic of his own, refusing to believe that the beast of divination could fail in finding more about the life and death of a person if the beast was alive and well.

    "Congratulations to the King. You have completed the test without using the object of the Tomb. You have been rewarded with additional points."

    The words before Elias changed, congratulating him. But before he could ask more about the points, and their uses, he was ejected from the realm of Taimur.

    He returned back to the main hall, only to find out that he had never really left this place. He was still standing in the same spot where he had stood before.

    Out of the six people that were present here, four of them were missing, including the girl that was in the Domain of Taimut with him.

    In one of the tests, both sides had died. Other than him, only one more person had succeeded, and now that person was looking at him.

 Chapter 163 - 163: Unworthy

    Five people had been here before Elias arrived. Four of them had already become victims of the test. Only one remained. It was a girl who belonged to the Creator Class.

    Elias met her gaze, finding suspicion in her eyes.

    "I never thought," the girl in white said, "that you, of all people, would be the one to survive."

    After a moment of silence, she asked, "Who did you pair up with?"

    "I don''t know her name," Elias replied, carefully constructing a lie that was masked by his innocence. He chose to go for a physical description instead.

    The girl''s eyes narrowed. "Her? How did you manage to defeat that cunning vixen? Don''t lie to me!"

    "I didn''t do anything," Elias said, maintaining his harmless facade. "I just told the truth. Every time. But she was so suspicious, she kept insisting I was lying. In the end, she defeated herself."

    The girl''s lips twitched.

    "Hmm? Her own overthinking brought her down?" she mumbled, tapping a finger against her chin, seemingly lost in thought.

    She visibly struggled to suppress a laugh, her shoulders shaking slightly, the corners of her mouth betraying her amusement. She was desperately trying to maintain her composure and her dignity before a junior.

    Elias noticed the barely-contained laughter.

    ''Does she really have to try so hard not to laugh?'' he thought, but wisely kept the observation to himself.

    "Senior Sister, where should we go from here?" he asked the girl after another moment of silence, to bring her out of her amusement.

    "Cough, of course we go forward." The girl quickly recovered herself and pointed toward the six arm statue. "Just wait a second, and the opening will appear."

    The statue looked identical to the ones in Taimut''s Domain, but all six of its hands were perfectly fine. Moreover, five of his hands were holding the objects that were previously taken from it.

    Even the Bloody Rose was back to its original place. The only thing that was missing was the pocket watch in Elias''s hands.

    He wasn''t certain if it wasn''t taken because he hadn''t used it, or if it had something to do with the reward for passing the test with bonus points.

    Instead of the pocket watch, another item appeared in the sixth hand, taking its place.

    As they watched, a low rumble echoed through the chamber. Dust and small pebbles rained down from the ceiling as the massive stone statue began to shift.

    It didn''t swing open like a door, but instead slid sideways with a grinding sound that made the girl close her ears. Behind the statue, a passage was revealed, filled with darkness that seemed to absorb the light.

    "Well, Junior Brother. I will graciously allow you to take the lead since you have managed to impress me," the girl told Elias. Her voice was filled with kindness, but her intentions couldn''t be clearer.

    She didn''t know what kind of traps might be ahead, so she was simply trying to use him as a shield and a pawn. There were no other seniors to keep her in check or make her feel threatened.

    The only reason she didn''t kill Elias, was because she wasn''t sure if there was another test ahead which needed more than one person.

    "Thank you, Senior." Elias didn''t argue with her either, and entered the dark passage. In this place, he could only hear the sounds of footsteps that belonged to the girl behind him.

    Even with his heightened senses, he couldn''t see anything in this darkness. He tried to light up a small flicker of his flames to brighten his surroundings. Unfortunately, even the flame wasn''t able to remove the darkness.

    The light coming from the flame was devoured before it could even move past a few inches. It doesn''t help anything.

    "There is no point in trying to use your abilities. In this place, there won''t be any light. I have already tried," the girl behind him said, having tried the same thing a few seconds after entering this passage.

    "Not even the abilities, but even treasures that could emit light are useless at this place," she continued. "If I came across the crazy person who made this tomb, I would have loved to beat him up."

    "If she came across that person, do you think she would even be able to open her mouth?" Astralious asked Elias, scoffing at the arrogant words.

    There were only a handful of people who could beat up the owner of the Ice Phoenix Flames even in his own era after all.

    "In her dreams," Elias answered in response, his voice barely growing louder than mumbling.

    "Did you say something?" The girl tilted her head, trying to catch Elias'' words. "Speak up, I can''t hear you clearly in this cold and desolate tomb."

    "I just said that I agree with Senior. You are very wise."

    "That, I am. Even if you are in the Destroyer Class, it seems you''re not a complete nutcase like the others there."

    "I am unworthy of Senior''s compliment."

    "It''s good to be humble." The girl nodded, growing pleased with the way Elias treated her. She truly felt like an elder sister, who was accompanying a kid that looked up to her.

    "Senior, I think I see light at the end," Elias increased his pace, noticing a small speck of light in the distance that was even more visible in this darkness.

    The girl also increased her speed. "Finally we are at the end. Fortunately, there were no traps here."

    She grew relieved, being worried throughout the time that there might be a trap.

    "Huh?" Elias suddenly exclaimed in shock, watching the light getting closer to him instead. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Within a second, the light was right before him, still being the same size as a small wooden arrow. He abruptly ducked, barely missing the arrow of life that came straight for his head.

    "Aaaah!" Unlike him, the girl wasn''t so lucky as the arrow pierced through her heart. Her painful cry went silent within an instant, and there were no further movements from her within the darkness.

 Chapter 164 - 164: Boss Room

    "Senior?!" Elias called out, feigning concern, though he was already certain that she was dead.

    He reached back and started searching. Soon, his hand brushed against the lifeless corpse. He carefully felt for the spatial ring on her finger and slipped it off, pocketing it. There was no time to examine its contents now.

    He turned his attention back to the direction the arrow had come from, and noticed another speck of bright light. The numbers kept multiplying until there were hundreds of such light specks, shining like stars in the darkness.

    "Is it really an inheritance ground, or an execution ground?" Astralious mumbled to himself, watching the hundreds of light sources getting bigger as they flew to them, leaving only a whistle of wind behind.

    Elias grabbed the girl''s body by the collar, and raised her before him. His physique was already smaller than the girl, which made his figure completely hide behind her.

    "Are you seriously using her as a shield?" Astralious raised a brow. "Shouldn''t you respect the dead?"

    "I would''ve asked for her permission, but she seems a little too dead already," Elias answered in a carefree manner and kept walking forward.

    The light arrows that were aimed for him, kept striking the girl, and disappeared within her body. The other arrows missed them, and flew past only to disappear in the darkness.

    Similarly attacks came a few more times, but not a single arrow managed to reach Elias. The attacks only stopped when he reached the end of the dark passage, and stepped into the light once more.

    He waited for a few more seconds to see if there were any more attacks. After confirming the place to be safe, he moved the corpse aside.

    He didn''t outright throw it away, and made it sit with the support of the wall. Now that he was in the light, he could finally see just how badly the arrows had destroyed the corpse.

    She was beyond recognition, and her previous charm was nowhere to be seen.

    "Thank you," he told the girl, even when she wasn''t alive to hear it.

    "Fate works in mysterious ways. She sent you ahead because she wanted to use you as a shield. But she ended up being used as a shield instead. Isn''t it ironic?"

    "Just a few minutes ago, you were telling me to respect the dead. And now you are making a mockery of her. Isn''t that just as ironic?"

    "I..."

    "You don''t need to explain. I wasn''t blaming you. After all, this entire universe is filled with irony. The faster we learn it, the longer we might be able to live in this world."

    Elias took off his robe, and placed it over the corpse, like a blanket to accompany her in the afterlife, as the last offering from him. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He was faced with five wooden doors, each being twenty feet tall and brimming with the essence of space.

    Each door had a different sign carved on it, but for him, all of it was meaningful. He didn''t know what was the intent of the person who left these marks on these doors.

    He didn''t even try to apply his common sense to the thoughts and actions of the owner of the Phoenix Flames. He selected a door at random, and opened it.

    The moment he opened a door, he was pulled inside by an unknown force, and the door closed behind him.

    "What is this place?" Elias was surprised at the sight before him.

    It was a small room, unlike all other grandiose halls that he had done across. It was a square room, only three meters wide.

    In the center of the room, there was a comfortable chair that was covered with an unknown beast''s hide. The chair was facing a mirror, which was the only other thing in this place.

    The last time Elias had come across a mirror, he met Astralious and almost ended up trapping himself forever. This time, he was even more cautious to not make the same mistake.

    Instead of taking a step towards the mirror, he stepped back. He kept stepping back, until he was met with a wall and no space to move back.

    "Do you really have to be so scared?" Astralious let out a soft laugh. "It''s a mere mirror."

    "Once burnt, twice shy. It''s a very famous saying from where I come from." Elias used Analysis to check the mirror, and confirm if it was dangerous for him.

    ..........

    Material Name: Mirror of Observation

    Grade: A

    Description: A mirror that has become an inherent part of the tomb. It can be used to observe every part of the tomb, and also as a portal to enter that place.

    ..........

    "So this place is like a monitoring room?" It felt surreal, but he didn''t doubt the description since it was a class skill that had never failed him.

    There was only one thing that he didn''t understand. Why was he alone in this room? There was no sign of anyone else entering this place at all.

    "Did no one select that door? Is it just luck?" He walked around the chair and sat before the mirror. The instructions to control the mirror started appearing in his head.

    "Is this it?" With the instructions, the realization started setting in. The destinations behind the doors weren''t fixed.

    Even if two people had selected the same door, it didn''t mean they would''ve been brought to the same place.

    As for why he ended up in this place, he learned it through the instructions.

    He placed the pocket watch on the armrest, a reward that he had received along with the bonus points. It was the same reward that brought him to this place.

    After he placed the watch on the armrest, it fixed into place and the mirror started showing a scene.

    "That''s the core of the Ice Phoenix Flames!" Astralious excitedly yelled before Elias could even have the time to observe the scene carefully. "The others already reached that place?"

 Chapter 165 - 165: Bombarding into Oblivion

    Elias found himself sitting in the boss room, right after passing through two tests, while everyone else had to go through a myriad of life threatening tests to reach the room with the Ice Phoenix Flames.

    It was truly a place created by a gambler where luck reigned supreme. All he had to do was walk through the mirror to enter the final room which others had to fight with their lives to reach.

    There was only one problem with the final room. It was that the room was filled with corpses that belonged to the seniors that had the highest chance of succeeding according to the Dean who sent them here.

    The Seniors didn''t have any wounds on their bodies. There were no signs of fighting either. It was more like they had just died out of nowhere after reaching the final room.

    In the final room, there was only one person who was still alive and standing on their feet. But that person didn''t belong to the Academy.

    Every single person sent by the Academy had died already. Most of them died throughout the tests, and even those who survived until the end, lost their lives.

    Elias didn''t know how they died in the end, but he was certain that it had to do with the little twelve year old girl who came with the man from Chronos.

    She was the only one still alive, and merely a few feet away from the core of Ice Phoenix Flames.

    "Argh, to think that we came so far, only to watch someone else take the flames!" Astralious grabbed his head, seeing the girl approach the core.

    He was still unaware that the mirror could lead them straight to that place if they wanted. He simply thought that they had already failed, and they were only made to watch this scene as a mockery arranged by the tomb''s creator.

    The girl reached out her hand to touch the Ice Phoenix Core. At the same time, Elias brought out a small hand grenade that he had evolved.

    If the mirror was a portal that could lead him to that place, then he was convinced that it could also send other things to that place.

    He pulled the pin of the grenade, and tossed it inside the mirror.

    The girl was about to touch the Ice Phoenix Core, when she abruptly stopped. She felt a subtle spatial fluctuation, and turned back to find a small fruit-like object flying to her.

    She raised her hand, and caught the grenade. She was visibly perplexed, unsure where this thing even came from, since she was the only living person here.

    It was as if this thing had appeared out of thin air.

    Boom~

    The grenade exploded with a force hundreds of times stronger than normal. Dark smoke filled the room, obscuring everything. Elias couldn''t see anything through the mirror, but he did hear a loud sound that followed the explosion.

    Once the smoke dispersed, he saw the source of the second sound which came when the girl crashed against the wall, far away from the Ice Phoenix Core.

    "Is she even a human?" Elias''s frown deepened at the sight of the girl. Her clothes were torn from a few places, and there was a burn mark on the hand that she had used to grab that grenade.

    That was the only extent of damage that she had suffered, which Elias found hard to believe. Even if he had taken an explosion at such close proximity, he would have been hurt more than the girl.

    "We can use the mirror to enter that place?" Astralious was surprised about an entirely different thing.

    "Is that what you should be thinking about now?"

    "What are we waiting for? We should go to that place and take the Ice Phoenix Core."

    "It''s not that easy." Elias had used Analysis on the girl with silver pupils, but he witnessed a rare sight. There was no description on the girl''s analysis screen. Even her stats were unclear.

    He could only see a few things clearly, but those few things also looked extraordinary.

    .........

    Name: Ishira

    Age: Twelve S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Class Grade: Ex

    Class Rank: 4

    Affiliation: Chronos

    .........

    It was the first time he saw someone who had an Ex Rank Class, aside from him. It meant her class was at least in the same grade as his class.

    Even worse was that her class had already evolved to rank four.

    She had already gone through three evolutions when she was just twelve years old. Even after using the evolution stone, he had only gone through one evolution.

    "She is the one who killed them, and that too, without even fighting. She most probably killed them in an instant. Do you still want us to go down there without knowing anything more?"

    Astralious had grown a little too excited at the realization that they were so close to the Ice Phoenix Core which could help Elias even more.

    His explanation came like a cold bucket of water being poured over his head to calm his hot head. If even Elias was being so serious, he understood just how serious this risk really was.

    After all, he was the person who didn''t even hesitate in kidnapping his own brother. If he was hesitating now, it wasn''t a simple matter.

    The girl landed on the ground, and looked at her burnt hand. She was clearly in pain, but she didn''t show it. Instead, she looked around, still trying to find the source of that thing.

    Did she activate some kind of trap when she tried to take the Ice Phoenix Core? At least that''s what she believed.

    She waited for a few more seconds, before approaching the Ice Phoenix Core again.

    "I don''t believe I can''t bombard you to oblivion." Elias brought a landmine, that held even stronger force after evolution.

    He tossed the landmine into the mirror like a frisbee. The girl again noticed the presence and turned around, but once again, the mine exploded under Elias''s control, causing an explosion that was even felt in the boss room where Elias was sitting.

 Chapter 166 - 166: If its you

    Elias felt the tremors caused by the explosion, his chair shaking violently along with the mirror. The room displayed in the mirror was filled with dark smoke, which made it impossible to see anything that was happening within.

    "She wouldn''t be unharmed after that, right?" Astralious asked after seeing the impact of the explosion.

    "I am not sure. That''s why we need to be absolutely certain before entering that place."

    "How can you be certain, when you can''t even see anything in that place because of smoke?"

    Elias didn''t answer Astralious right away. He opened his inventory, and brought out multiple modified landmines.

    He tossed the landmines into the mirror, one after another. Even before the smoke from the previous explosion could be dispersed, the room trembled with the combined strength of multiple explosions.

    "Now we enter." He stood up, following the last explosion. He quickly tied a thread to the armrest of the chair, and held the other end of the thread in his hand before flying straight inside the mirror.

    He didn''t waste a single second even after arriving in the treasure room. He wasn''t sure if the girl was really dead, and he was in no mood to find out either.

    He flew straight to the Ice Phoenix Core, having calculated the distance from the mirror exit to the core through the objects he had thrown before.

    He took off his robe, and wrapped it around the Ice Phoenix Core. The Core started burning the robe, but it still gave him a few seconds.

    He used the robe like a sack to carry the core, and rushed back, following the thread that still maintained spatial connection with the boss room.

    The entire process took less than two seconds, and he was back in the boss room, the thread alongside him.

    His robe held out just long enough. The orb only fell to the ground after burning through the fabric when he had returned to the boss room.

    He took a deep breath, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

    "We got it."

    "Why didn''t you keep it in spatial storage? Wouldn''t that have been easier?"

    "I don''t know this thing well enough. If I had kept it in my storage and it burned through every other object stored there, wouldn''t that have been a big loss?"

    He sat before the Ice Phoenix Core. As a material, it revealed complete incompatibility with him, just like he had guessed before. Even after using his class, he couldn''t merge with the Ice Phoenix Core forcefully.

    "You said I should try the normal method to be accepted by it. So what should I do now that I have it?" he asked Astralious, who was the only expert when it came to such things.

    On the other hand, he was a complete novice in most things.

    "Is there really a need to think so much about it? Just touch that thing. If it accepts you, it will become your strength. If it doesn''t, then you will only be hurt a little as long as you don''t try to force it."

    After hearing the advice, Elias nodded. He reached out his hand towards the small orb that was burning like a bright sun. Instead of feeling the heat, his fingers felt cold when he approached the core.

    "Hmm? Isn''t it behaving strange?"

    When his fingers reached near the core, the blue flames on the orb started retreating. They didn''t accept him, but they didn''t try to hurt him either.

    "Why does it look like these flames are scared of you?"

    "You ask me. But who should I ask?" Elias answered, his fingers connected with the ice Phoenix Core which was made with the purest and most condensed form of the phoenix flames.

    "Nothing is happening..." He waited for a few seconds, but nothing changed. Where was the pain of rejection that he was supposed to feel, or the acceptance and blessings of these flames?

    When he touched the orb, it was like he was only touching a crystal ball that was slightly cold, with the flames staying on the completely opposite side of the orb, away from him.

    He moved his fingers closer to the flames without taking them off the orb, but the flames moved in a similar manner, always maintaining the distance.

    "Let''s see how long you run!" He used his other hand, and grabbed the other side of the small football sized core, but once more, the flames moved, and hid in the space between his two hands on the orb.

    Astralious was also perplexed at the scene. The core of the phoenix flames was no different than the soul of the ice phoenix. It was the true consciousness that was taken by the previous Dean. It also had its own intelligence in some ways.

    That''s why its actions left him surprised.

    For quite some time, Elias kept struggling to establish contact with the bright flames on the surface of the core, but he was always failing.

    His frustration also kept rising, as he failed one after another.

    "At times like this, don''t you wish you had more than two hands?" Astralious jokingly said. He wondered how he should advise Elias to give up on it, since the flames didn''t want to accept him. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias kept holding onto the core and stood up. He walked around the chair and sat on it, facing the mirror since he couldn''t see any short term solution. In his hands, the core was no different than a ball.

    Elias thought about it for a moment, before glancing at Astralious.

    "Why are you looking at me like that? I find it really suspicious," Astralious took a step back, having a bad feeling about this.

    "Say, what will happen if you merge with these flames?" he asked.

    "These flames can materialize in real life. If I''m not wrong, a Phoenix is also capable of being reborn from its own flames."

    "If I merged you with the flames, you might be able to materialize in the real world using these flames. You might even be reborn again, in a body stronger than you had before."

    He made a wild suggestion that looked more plausible in his eyes since he could truly touch these flames when they were condensed. If someone used this condensation to create a real body, then it could bring back Astralious.

 Chapter 167 - 167: Unexpected Guest

    If Astralious truly merged with the Ice Phoenix Flames, then Elias could easily suppress the fragile consciousness of the flames and make them his own.

    Even if Astralious were freed from the prison of his mind, he could still be controlled through the Creation Control Skill, as long as he was merged with something like the flames.

    Elias didn''t have to worry about losing a precious material like the flames.

    The flames trembled suddenly, as if they could understand what Elias was talking about. Based purely on instinct, the flames grew even more scared.

    They didn''t want to lose their consciousness, or the semblance of freedom that they still possessed. To protect themselves, they moved straight to Elias''s hands and accepted him as their master, even though they were still scared of him.

    For the first time, the flames on the surface made contact with his fingers, of their own accord. The core began disintegrating, and the blue flames covered Elias before he could even blink.

    His entire body was engulfed in fire, but he didn''t feel any pain. He didn''t feel burning, or even cold. Instead, it felt extremely soothing, like being embraced in a soft blanket.

    The Frozen Tree of Flames above the tomb also started burning brighter, and a blue, flaming bird materialized on a tree branch. The bird absorbed the flames of the tree and shone even brighter.

    It spread its wings wide and rose into the sky amidst the fascinated gazes of all the Professors stationed around the tomb.

    Every bit of essence that the flames had released on the surface was absorbed by the bird, which flew straight inside the tomb.

    It passed from one wall to another, taking every single speck of flame in its path, like a customer collecting every bit of money from the bank.

    "Did the Flames select their new master?"

    "Hurry up and inform the Dean!"

    Soon, the bird reached the boss room and passed through the door.

    "Watch out!" Astralious called out in shock when he saw the terrifying bird fly towards Elias.

    The bird struck Elias and entered straight inside his body, along with the core essence. It flew straight inside his heart, but within a second, it moved out like a frightened rabbit.

    The flames were meant to form a core within Elias''s heart, like they had done with their previous master. But something had frightened them a lot

    Instead of making a home in his heart, they started forming a new core on the right side of his chest. The flames around his body started gathering within the new core that was marked with his blood, accepting him as the new master.

    Astralious observed the scene. He was relieved that Elias wasn''t harmed, but there was still a feeling of loss in his heart. If he could become a part of the phoenix core, could he truly be revived?

    Even if that was true, it was too late as the flames accepted Elias.

    ''It is not as if I could have succeeded. Didn''t he say that if the merger fails, all Materials are destroyed?''

    He shook his head, and stopped thinking about it. There were already too many regrets in his heart. He didn''t want any more regrets about what could have been.

    He turned to the mirror, with the smoke almost dispersing completely.

    "She is still alive?" In the mirror, he caught a vague silhouette that became more clear with each passing second.

    It was the little girl that was struck with so many explosives. To his dismay, she was still alive.

    "Just what kind of monster is she? After all that, she only lost an arm?" he mumbled at the sight of the girl who was missing her left arm.

    There were also a few more wounds across her body, but they stood out less than her missing arm.

    Even with that, she didn''t groan in pain. She was more concerned about the missing Ice Phoenix Core that she had just seen.

    She searched across the room, but the orb was nowhere to be found. It even made her wonder if the core was destroyed in the explosion?

    "No, someone was here!"

    She quickly rushed out of the hall, to catch up with the person that might have taken the orb, unaware that the person hadn''t taken that exit. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She treaded back through the passage that everyone had taken to reach this place, but other than the corpses, she couldn''t find anyone, no matter how frantically she searched.

    She soon reached the hall where the doors were present. Elias was hiding behind one of the doors, but with the myriad of spatial passages that the doors connected to, it was impossible for her to find him.

    She saw the lifeless girl sitting on the ground with her back resting against the wall, covered by Elias''s robe that he wore before switching to a new one.

    "This is the same scent." She walked closer to the girl, and picked up the robe. Even though it was a faint trace, she was certain that it was the same.

    "Where is that pers-" She suddenly jumped back, as a rock fell above, where she was standing before.

    Cracks rose amidst the walls, and the entire tomb trembled even more fiercely.

    Once the phoenix flames chose the owner, the tomb had finished serving the purpose for which it was prepared. It started breaking apart, as if trying to erase every trace of it ever being present.

    Spatial energy surrounded the girl, and sent her out of the tomb. The tomb used its last bits to send the students out, even if they were in the form of a corpse.

    One after another, bodies started disappearing from the tomb, and appeared at random places outside, with the teleportation being unstable.

    The last person to be teleported out was Elias, who had just finished making the Ice Phoenix Flames his own. Before he could be sent out, he quickly grabbed the pocket watch.

    Outside the tomb, many people were waiting for the students to return, including Freya and Jeskirin.

    Strangely enough, Jeskirin was less focused on the tomb. His gaze remained on one man, who had arrived uninvited. His usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen before that person.

    Instead, there was raw hostility, as the person was the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family.

 Chapter 168 - 168: Where did it go?

    Thud~ S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A lifeless body fell before Jeskirin, materializing out of thin air. He rolled the body over with his feet, to check the identity of the person who still had the attire of the Academy.

    His lips crept up when he saw the face of the person. Amongst the people who had entered the tomb before his daughter, this boy was the strongest.

    His body had no wounds, and not even the slightest trace of blood. He had died without suffering through any physical attack. He knew who was responsible for this boy''s death. It could only be his daughter.

    "It seems you are about to lose. My daughter has taken the Ice Phoenix Flames," he told Freya, his confidence shooting through the roof.

    More and more bodies started falling from the sky, right outside the tomb. Amongst the bodies, there were only a rare few that hadn''t died at the hands of the little girl, and had wounds all around their bodies.

    "Here she comes!" Jeskirin felt the aura of his daughter, which had materialized not far from him. He flew to welcome his daughter who had inherited the Ice Phoenix Flames.

    Freya''s pupils trembled when she saw the corpses of the students that she had sent inside the Tomb. Almost everyone that she thought might inherit the flames, was lying lifelessly before her.

    Even worse was that the little girl that didn''t belong to the Academy, had received the flames. She couldn''t even stop it, as it was part of the bet that she made with Jeskirin.

    She subconsciously looked at Silas. She could stop Jeskirin if she had the help of Silas, but if that happened, the full wrath of Chronos was going to descend on the Academy.

    That in itself was a problem, and she didn''t even know if she could convince Silas to go along with her schemes this time as it would''ve involved the Ashborn Family as well.

    She was extremely frustrated, and regretted the decision to not stop the girl from entering. She mumbled, "Is it already too late?"

    Suddenly, an aura brimming with killing intent rose from the distance, so powerful that it spread throughout thousands of miles.

    "It''s coming from Jeskirin. What happened?" She flew straight to the source of the frightening aura.

    Silas lazily glanced in that direction as well. He took a single step, and travelled through hundreds of meters to appear near Jeskirin.

    Jeskirin was fuming, holding onto his daughter who was missing an arm. "Who dares to hurt my daughter?"

    "Father, I failed. I didn''t get the flames," the girl lowered her head, and said with her voice almost breaking apart.

    "Stop speaking. First we need to heal your hand. Take this." Jeskirin brought a celestial healing pill from his ring, and placed it in Ishira''s mouth.

    "Is that a Celestial Healing Pill that can heal any wounds, as long as the person is still breathing? As expected, you are quite a wealthy man." Freya also arrived, not even trying to hide the smugness on her face.

    Her previous worries were nowhere to be seen, as she heard Ishira say that she had failed. It meant someone from the Academy that was sent by her, had managed to receive the inheritance.

    The pill started taking effect, and the bones from her missing arm extended. Flesh and nerves started growing around the bone, the recovery moving at the speed of light.

    Only after Ishira''s arm healed, Jeskirin asked, "Who took the Flames? How could they harm you to this extent?"

    Jeskirin did care about the loss of the flames, but more than that, he was concerned about the person who had achieved something like this.

    His daughter had an ability that allowed her to kill anyone, as long as she wanted it. It was an instant death ability, and all she needed was to look at that person and think about his death.

    It was impossible for someone to steal something from her, and also to hurt her to this extent. Just who was this person that was unaffected by her ability?

    He had a lot of questions in his mind. Did the Academy really have someone that could counter Ishira? Was it their secret weapon? He thought about the students that had entered the Tomb, but none stood out to him in this manner.

    Ishira shook her head. She only said a single sentence, "I don''t know."

    She only looked at the long robe in her hand, which seemingly belonged to that person.

    The only problem was that this robe could fit almost anyone. It wasn''t a small robe. Even if her father wore that robe, it wouldn''t look odd on him.

    Jeskirin found these words hard to believe, but he was sure that his daughter couldn''t lie to him.

    "We will talk about it later."

    He temporarily placed a stop to the conversation and turned to Freya. "It looks like you are the one who won this bet. Congratulations."

    Freya was so pleased that she hadn''t stopped smiling for even a single moment. "There is nothing to be surprised about. Didn''t I tell you that the Academy is filled with talents."

    "Why don''t we meet this talent?" Jeskirin asked. "I would like to congratulate them as well."

    He returned to the tomb''s entrance that had crumbled into nothingness. Freya also returned, and waited for the person who had inherited the flames to arrive.

    She also told the Professors to prepare a grand welcome for the inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames. He had the potential to become as strong as the previous Dean after all.

    Unfortunately, even after they waited for half an hour, no other survivor returned. The only thing that came was the news from the Administrative Office.

    A professor whispered some words in Freya''s ears, which made her expressions darken.

    "How is that possible?" she mumbled in disbelief as she heard that the soul lamp of everyone who was sent to the tomb by her, had broken. It meant all of them were already dead.

    If they were dead, then they couldn''t have inherited the flames. But other than them and that little girl, no one had entered the tomb. So where did the flames go?!

    She rubbed her forehead, and looked at the corpses on the ground. It was a big mystery and she couldn''t think of anything to answer.

    She turned to Silas to ask him if he had any guesses about what could have happened.

    "Hmm? Where is Silas?" It was only then, she realized that the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family wasn''t there anymore. "Did he already leave?"

 Chapter 169 - 169: Because you are my son

    "Where are we?" Elias was sent out of the Tomb just before it came crumbling down. There was only one problem.

    He didn''t know where exactly he was sent, or how far he was from the tomb where the other Professors had gathered. He had taken the Ice Phoenix Flames, and the last thing he wanted to do was to get caught by them.

    He used the Identification Badge and activated the holographic map to check his location, and the distance of the nearest Dimensional Gate.

    A map materialized around him in the form of a holograph, with his presence marked by a red dot. He zoomed out in the hologram, and after he confirmed his location, he sighed in relief.

    "Is this what we call luck?" The map showed him that he was already back in the territory of the Destroyers, without having to use the Dimensional Gate.

    Although there was a few hundred kilometres of distance between his residence and his current location, at least he didn''t have to worry about the Professors finding him and relating him to the disappearance of the phoenix flames.

    After catching a breath of relief, he closed the map and kept the badge in his pocket. Two dark wings unfurled behind his back, and he rose in the sky. He started flying to the residential area.

    He travelled hundreds of kilometres in less than an hour, and reached his residence, with the area still as empty as ever at such late night.

    He opened the door, and entered the residence.

    "Lycorice?" he called out to the Soul Beast who was left behind as he was abruptly brought away. "Are you awake?"

    "She is sleeping," a voice came in response, which sent a chill down Elias''s spine.

    He saw a sofa in the hall, whose back was facing him. A man was sitting on the sofa, and even without seeing the face of that man, Elias was able to realize who it was.

    "Why is he here?" Astralious also felt a shiver down his soul, as terrifying memories were brought back.

    The voice was a little more mature than he remembered from the past, but there was no doubt in his mind. It was the person who had killed him.

    It was the man who led the Ashborn Family into reaching the heights that it had never reached before, despite being a Founding Family. It was the Patriarch of the Ashborn Family, and the name that Astralious could never forget.

    "Your Soul Beast is really weak. Is it pity that made you select her?" the man asked. "An incomplete fable at that."

    Elias was frozen in place. He had thought that he had grown stronger, especially after inheriting the Ice Phoenix Flames. He thought that if he ever came across Silas, then even if he couldn''t defeat him, he could at least put up a decent fight.

    Only when he came across that man again, he realised how naive he had been. Now that he was stronger, he could truly feel the extent of terror that the man called Silas Ashborn was.

    He was like a wall that could never be climbed. Freya felt completely insignificant in front of this man, and the same was true for Jeskirin that he had thought to be a mighty existence.

    This man... No, this monstrous existence was his father. It was a true Destroyer, whose wrath could make hundreds of upper worlds crumble apart. And now that man was sitting before him, not even facing him.

    "Do you know why I came here personally?" Silas asked, his voice holding no warmth even when he was talking to his youngest son.

    "Is it to save the Fourth Brother?" Elias asked, his fists clenched so right that his veins were visible. He knew that he couldn''t run from this person.

    Even if he hid in the shadow realm, he could be found and destroyed in a second. He couldn''t let his father see the shadow realm, especially since Dreke was still kept alive there.

    "It seems like I don''t need to explain any further. Since you already know, bring him to me."

    "I already killed him. If you want to kill me for that, then go ahead." S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After Elias answered, there was only silence in the room. Meanwhile in Elias''s head, there was a constant noise with Astralious scolding him for telling the man to kill him.

    He didn''t understand why Elias was taking such risks to keep Dreke hostage, even when someone like Silas was sitting before him. What was this enmity that made him want to sacrifice his own life, to kill Dreke?

    After all, if Elias died, then the Shadow Realm was going to disappear forever. But Dreke wasn''t going to be freed. It was only a matter of time before Dreke died as well.

    "After coming to the Academy, you have learned to talk back. Is it because the Academy claims to provide safety to all the students from outside interference?"

    "If you want to do something, can the Academy stop you? I would be naive enough to believe that. But you are asking for something that I can''t do. I can''t bring someone who is already dead."

    "His soul lamp is still burning, albeit weakly. He is still alive. Do you still want to insist that you killed him, knowing the potential consequences?" Silas asked. "No matter your enmity with him, he is still my son."

    "Am I not?" Elias asked a question that Silas didn''t expect.

    The Question made him go silent, but the suppression on Elias grew stronger. The force was so strong that it made Elias fall to his knees with a thud, and the tile beneath his feet cracked with the impact.

    Silas stood up, and walked around the sofa.

    Elias had only seen Silas once before, and it was at the banquet. At that time, he was almost broken, and not in his right mind. He didn''t pay too much attention to Silas.

    It wasn''t wrong to say that this was the first time that he was actually properly seeing Silas, who walked closer. Each of his footsteps made Elias''s heartbeat grow faster, his body not being in his control.

    "You are only alive until now because you are my son."

 Chapter 170 - 170: Because of a name

    "The reason you are at this academy, the influence, the power that you hold over others, and even your life, it is all because you are my son. It is all because you carry this last name."

    Silas stopped before Elias, who could barely raise his head under the suppressing to watch the silhouette of his father.

    "I knew that he was a cold person. Still, to talk to his son like this..." Astralious was at a loss of words.

    Even though he was scared that he might be detected by Silas, he still couldn''t hold back talking to Elias.

    "I don''t think you shouldn''t provoke him anymore. He might truly kill you, forgetting that you share his blood. Return that child to him! Nothing is more important than your life!"

    "Are you going to return Dreke to me?" Silas asked, his eyes not holding even the slightest of warmth towards his son. It was like he was looking at a complete stranger, and not his son.

    "I will not return him to you. If you want to take my life in return, then you are free to do so," Elias said, only for the pressure on him to suddenly grow multiple times stronger.

    He punched the ground, and forced himself to not fall flat on the ground. The pressure grew so strong that Elias felt the bones of his arms slowly crack, just to support him.

    Blood trickled out of his nose, but he didn''t lower his head. "I stand by what I said. Even if you kill me right this instant, I will not return Dreke. You will never find him."

    Silas didn''t say anything for quite some time. He only watched Elias, like a god of death. In his eyes, the child looked no different than an ant, trying to resist the weight of a mountain.

    He hadn''t even released one percent of his energy pressure, but the child was already bleeding. If he increased his pressure a little more, he was certain that Elias was going to die.

    He didn''t think that Elias was naive enough to not know such things. Despite that, he was still defiant. Was it courage? No, it was foolishness.

    "Do you not fear death?" he asked. "As far as I remember, Dreke hasn''t done anything to you. So why do you go so far to hurt him?"

    He knew that Elias wasn''t treated the best at home. He knew many things, but he always turned a blind eye to it. Still, things weren''t bad to the point that he would want to kill Dreke at the cost of his own life.

    Why was he resisting so much? Was it truly because he wanted to hurt Dreke? Or was it because he wanted to hurt him through Dreke?

    If he really wanted to kill Dreke, then he had plenty of time to do it already.

    Dreke''s soul lamp was still lit, which meant he wasn''t dead. So the enmity certainly didn''t seem extreme. Silas was slightly curious about Elias''s intentions.

    "I will give you ten days to think about it. If you Release Dreke within ten days, I will forget that it ever happened. You won''t be punished. But if you didn''t release him in ten days, or if you killed him..." S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Silas''s killing intent was so sharp that Elias couldn''t even breathe under it. Fortunately, it only lasted for a fraction of a second, before it disappeared as if it was never there.

    Elias heard the sound of footsteps growing distant, until they completely went silent. Silus stepped into the void, and disappeared.

    Only when he was gone, the pressure disappeared and Elias was free from the suppression.

    "Are you alright?" Astralious materialized before Elias, not even trying to hide his concerns.

    "I am still breathing," Elias''s body was covered in cold sweat, and his hands were still trembling in weakness.

    He forced his body up, that was still traumatized by that pressure. He stumbled across the hall, and reached the bedroom. His first priority was to check if his Soul Beast was actually fine, or if his father did something to her.

    "She is fine. She seems to be sleeping peacefully, even after all this," Astralious mumbled. "Good thing she isn''t hurt, or you would have grown even weaker."

    Elias fell on the large bed in exhaustion. He didn''t say anything to Astralious, and simply closed his eyes.

    Astralious also stopped speaking, thinking that the child fell asleep because he went through so much, and was tired. He remained unaware that Elias had simply closed his eyes, but he didn''t fall asleep.

    His mind was filled with a lot of questions, especially after seeing the frightening strength of Silas. Even if he used everything that he had, he couldn''t harm even a single nail of that person.

    Silas wasn''t even the strongest entity in this universe, and there were probably many more people who were comparable to him.

    Elias felt frustrated. He was upset at his own foolishness. Just because he was able to surpass a few children at the Academy, he really thought that he was growing stronger.

    In the end, he was still insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He was still a human, in a world filled with gods.

    Silas''s words were true. He wasn''t alive simply because of his own abilities. He was alive because of his last name. If he didn''t have this last name, would he still be alive after kidnapping Dreke?

    If he didn''t have this last name, would he still be alive after he killed the descendant of the Esterin Family?

    Even the Professors would have neatly decorated him on a table to be slaughtered, before inviting the Esterin Family representatives to eliminate him.

    If he didn''t have the last name of an Ashborn, he wouldn''t be targeted by the Professor in the Land of Frost. But it was also true, that if he didn''t have this name, he would''ve been executed after hurting the Professor.

 Chapter 171 - 171: Rewards for the Inheritor

    Even if the rules allowed it, the Academy would still settle scores with him for killing a Professor. It was his name that protected him, and allowed him to run wild in the Academy.

    If his own class and abilities were a pillar that kept him alive, then his last name was another important pillar.

    Throughout the night, Elias was lost in thoughts. He barely fell asleep when the sun started rising on the horizon. There was no class today, so he could sleep for as long as he wanted.

    It was only in his sleep that he finally had a moment of peace, not having to worry about the things that kept him awake at night.

    The Academy, on the other hand, was missing that moment of peace. The Professors had searched throughout the Academy, and even announced rewards for the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames.

    The announcement was delivered through the Academy Identification Badges. The announcement had sent a wave of shock throughout the academy.

    The news about the appearance of the Ice Phoenix Flames was only limited to a few people previously. With the announcements, it reached every corner of the academy.

    From the first year students, to the last year students, the news stunned everyone. An even more shocking thing was the reward that the Academy declared.

    The Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames was going to receive a High Grade Growth Stone that could be used as long as a person hadn''t gone through four or more evolutions.

    Throughout their lives, a person could only use two growth stones. One was the ordinary growth stone, that was only helpful when a person had just awakened.

    It was a rare item that only a few large families possessed. It could only be used once throughout the person''s life, before they had gone through their first evolution.

    Meanwhile, the High Grade Growth Stone, could be used even if a person had gone through his third evolutions, as long as they hadn''t passed the fourth evolution.

    Even though it could also be used only once throughout a person''s life, it was still thousands of times more valuable than an ordinary one, because of its use and rarity.

    If there were a hundred ordinary growth stones in existence, then there were only ten. And the Academy had declared such a reward for the inheritor.

    Almost every student who heard the announcement felt jealous. They complained why they couldn''t have such good luck.

    Not only had someone inherited the Ice Phoenix Flames, the third rank Mythical Flame in existence, but they were also receiving a High Grade Evolution Stone.

    Even worse was that the announcement didn''t stop with that. There was another reward for the Inheritor of the previous Dean''s Legacy.

    The Academy announced that the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames, was going to become the Core Student at the Academy, a position that was equal to an Academy''s Professor.

    It was no different than saying that the Academy was going to do everything in their power to help that person grow, as they were the star of the future generations.

    There were only a few Core Students at the academy. Not many people knew their exact numbers, but it was largely believed that they didn''t number more than ten in the Academy that had tens of thousands of students.

    The Core Students weren''t forced to take parts in the Academy Examinations, or even tests. They were free to attend whichever class they preferred, even if it didn''t align with their years.

    Everyone who heard the news, felt their regret increase by a million times. If only they knew about it before, they could have tried to take the Ice Phoenix Flames. They could also become a Star Student of the Academy. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They would have agreed to put their lives on the line for this one opportunity.

    Meanwhile, the person who actually received this opportunity, didn''t even know about it. He was sleeping peacefully, being hugged by his Soul Beast.

    The Academy waited throughout the day for the person to come forward to claim the reward. The Dean was also looking forward to rewarding the person that could defeat Jeskirin''s daughter.

    Unfortunately, even when the sun started setting, no one came forward to claim the reward.

    "No one came yet?" The Dean kept asking the same question every few hours, but the answer was always the same.

    "None."

    "Why isn''t the Inheritor coming to claim the reward? He achieved such a great feat, but he is still so shy?"

    "Maybe he is worried about getting published? After all, that person did enter the tomb without permission."

    "What foolishness! Why would I punish the Inheritor of the previous Dean''s Legacy? If he hadn''t entered the tomb without permission, then the flames would''ve been taken by that man''s daughter! If anything, I want to thank that person!"

    "I don''t think he knows your thoughts. He is a very cautious person, from what I can guess. Even after we are willing to give him so many rewards that people would die for, he can still ignore it."

    "I can''t accept that." The Dean slammed the table and stood up. "We need to find that person at any cost. We can''t let the legacy be withered in unknown silence. If he reveals himself, we can help him!"

    The Dean wanted the Inheritor to come forward. She wanted to reward him, but more importantly, she wanted to make that person grow stronger.

    That person had the potential to become the next Aliath Ashborn if he could be helped. They had all the records of the previous dean, and how that person mastered these flames and made them grow.

    There were also a few skill stones that the previous Dean had left behind, which no one else but the Inheritor of the flames could use.

    In her eyes, these skill stones had always been useful since the previous Dean had simply disappeared, and no one knew his fate or where his flames ended up.

    Now that the flames had shown themselves, she couldn''t let it go to waste. Even if that person had no intentions to show himself, she wanted to make it happen more than anything.

    "After a long time, we have an opportunity to create a monstrous force like Aliath. I won''t miss this opportunity. We must find that person!"

 Chapter 172 - 172: Lycorices cooking

    Elias finally woke up late at night, not because he wanted to, but because his stomach wouldn''t stop growling.

    He felt stiff, his muscles still aching from the previous night''s ordeal. The memory of his father''s overwhelming pressure was still fresh, but there was also a warmth within him that made him feel a little better.

    "Feeling better?" Astralious materialized beside the bed. "You slept like a rock. I almost thought Silas had actually managed to break your spirit."

    Elias swung his legs over the side of the bed, his body aching with every movement.

    "Just tired and hungry." He glanced around the room. "Did anything happen while I slept?"

    "Besides your Soul Beast wrecking the entire house?" Astralious replied, floating closer.

    "That reminds me. Where is that little girl?" Elias landed on the ground, and left the bedroom.

    Astralious wasn''t panicking, and he didn''t feel any soul injury, which made him certain that the girl was fine. So what did he mean by wrecking the house?

    "Hah?" Elias had taken a step out of the bedroom, and he was greeted with a proper mess. Through the open door, he was able to peek at the nearby kitchen, which was absolutely wrecked.

    It was as if a storm had wrecked through this place. "What happened here? Did our kitchen get robbed?"

    "It would be better if we were robbed. But what you see before you, is nothing but an attempt by your soul beast to cook."

    In the Land of Fables, Lycorice was fed well. She could eat the fruits that she grew, and she didn''t need to cook anything. So her experience in these things was lackluster at best.

    Elias stepped inside the kitchen. There was black slurry on the shelves that looked like some monster''s innards had exploded. Even poison would have looked more delicious.

    On top of the slurry, there was a small book floating. The book had the last page open, which showed a depiction of a person eating some delicious looking soup.

    "She waited for you to wake up, but she was so hungry that she started looking around for things to eat. And then she saw that..." Astralious facepalmed himself, before pointing at a book.

    "A cooking book? Isn''t it a simple guide to help students settle in, and cook something if we really need it? Can she even read it?" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "She wasn''t able to read it. That was the problem. She saw the pictures and the depiction of the cooking. She tried it on her own, and the results were disgusting. Even if I was dying, I wouldn''t want to eat the things that she cooked."

    "At least this place didn''t explode. We can give her some credit for that." Elias walked out of the kitchen and went to the main hall, where the girl was sitting across a table.

    There was a bowl before her, which was already half empty. She had a spoon in her hand, and she kept eating that disgusting slurry, even though the taste was so disgusting that it made her go pale.

    After hearing the footsteps, Lycorice turned around. Her pale face regained some color, and a smile formed on her lips. She stood up like an excited child who was happy that Elias was awake.

    "Are you eating that?" Elias asked the girl, looking at her with pity. He was so immersed in sleeping, that he had forgotten that the girl had nothing to eat. Even though she was a fable, she also needed to eat.

    The girl nodded, and there was pride in her eyes. She didn''t know that she had made something bad. She simply believed that this was how human food was supposed to taste, as she had never eaten it before.

    Elias looked at the bowl, which was half filled with that disgusting black soup. He had the delicacies of earth in his storage ring, yet his soup beast was eating such things. He felt quite bad.

    He thought about giving her some of the food that he had been storing, but when he saw the pride and optimism in her eyes, he couldn''t get himself to tell her that she made something bad.

    "Did you make this?" He approached the table, thinking about complimenting her a little before taking this thing away. Unfortunately, his stomach growled once more.

    Lycorice was taken aback. She knew that it meant he was hungry. She quickly dipped the spoon in the black soup.

    After filling the spoon completely, she brought it closer to Elias''s lips. "You are also hungry. Eat."

    "Eww. Don''t eat that poison!" Astralious didn''t hide the disgust on his face. "Just tell her that it''s disgusting."

    Elias didn''t pay heed to his words, and opened his lips. He drank the soup. His body momentarily flinched. The soup tasted worse than he had imagined.

    He smiled wryly and nodded, "It is good. It''s exactly as this dish should have tasted."

    He didn''t tell her that the soup was bad. He also didn''t tell her that it was the best thing in the world that humans could eat.

    He kept his words vague, to give him some room in the future to introduce other foods to her that were hiding in his storage.

    Lycorice looked genuinely happy after getting complimented. Her pale face bloomed like a beautiful flower. Suddenly, all the effort she placed in the cooking seemed worth it.

    Seeing her smile, even Elias felt like tasting this thing was worth it. Unfortunately, that happiness lasted only until the girl moved the entire bowl towards him.

    "Have more."

    "See? That''s why you should''ve listened to me." Astralious crossed his arms, scoffing at Elias''s choice.

    Elias felt his heart suddenly die at the thought of eating this thing, a spoonful each time.

    ''Rather than suffering every second, I would end this with a short burst of suffering.''

    He grabbed the bowl with both his hands, and drank it in one sip. His face slowly lost color, and the taste made him want to vomit, but he held on.

 Chapter 173 - 173: Allure of the Reward

    "That was good." He sat on the table, feeling even worse than he had after being bullied by his father.

    "Should I make more?" Lycorice asked, feeling extremely happy that Elias liked her soup so much, even though it was her first time cooking.

    "N-No need. This dish... Humans only eat it once a year. This is a rule amongst humans. So don''t make it again!" Elias abruptly stood up and grabbed Lycorice''s shoulder.

    "Hmm? What a weird rule. Should I try making something else? That book had a few more images that I can follow."

    "You don''t have to worry about that. It''s the job of the servants. How can I make you cook for me? In fact, the servants did deliver some things to eat."

    He had eaten this thing once, but he couldn''t do it every day. Rather than teaching the girl to cook, he would have her learn to fight.

    He brought food from his subspace, and placed it on the table.

    "These things aren''t as tasty for us humans, as your delicious dish. So it will taste better for Soul Beasts. Moreover, we can eat it every day as the rule doesn''t affect it. Try it."

    "And next time you are hungry, just tell me, so that no human rules are broken. Alright?"

    He didn''t forget to remind her, before walking away after leaving the food for her to eat. He returned to the bedroom, and fell on his bed, still feeling the taste of that soup.

    He ate some chips to drown out the taste from his tongue, while catching a moment of peace.

    "Now that we have dealt with that, is there anything else that happened last night? No one came here after my father, right?" he asked while his teeth crunched on the spicy chips.

    "No one else came. Though, the Academy seems to be in quite a stir. Something about an announcement? I only heard the people outside talking about it."

    "How did you manage to get outside? Aren''t you trapped in my mind?"

    "I am still trapped in your mind, but I think after your evolution, I am able to put more of my conscience in my spiritual body outside. It''s not as useless as before. Though I can''t move far from you, and can''t physically interact with the world."

    Elias raised an eyebrow. It was truly an interesting growth for Astralious, who was still trapped. It made Elias a little suspicious, if it meant Astralious could free himself on his own in the future.

    "Which announcement were you talking about though?" He hadn''t bothered to check his Academy Badge.

    He usually ignored the general notifications unless they were specific assignments or messages directed at him which were always more prominent. He reached for the badge lying on the bedside table.

    As soon as he picked it up, the badge shone with a faint light, displaying missed notifications. He scrolled through them, his eyes widening slightly as he read the main announcement.

    "Urgent Notice: Seeking the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames. Substantial rewards offered, including a High Grade Growth Stone and designation as a Core Student. Inheritor, please report to the Dean''s office at your earliest convenience."

    Elias blinked, reading it again to make sure he wasn''t mistaken. Ice Phoenix Flames? High Grade Growth Stone? Core Student? They were looking for him?

    "Well, isn''t that something," Astralious mused, reading over Elias''s shoulder. "They''re practically rolling out the red carpet for you. A Growth Stone and Core Student status? That''s unprecedented. They must be desperate to find you."

    Elias remained silent. This changed things. The Academy wasn''t hunting him down for punishment for entering the tomb. Instead, they wanted to reward him.

    The rewards were tempting, especially the Core Student status, which offered freedom and resources. But revealing himself meant exposing the Ice Phoenix Flames, and his identity.

    It meant drawing even more attention, the kind he wasn''t sure he wanted, especially with his father''s ten-day ultimatum hanging over his head.

    An even bigger problem was the Academy itself. Could he truly believe the words of the Academy? They could easily be lying. If he revealed himself, and they didn''t like him, what was to stop them from making him disappear forever after taking his flames away?

    "What are you going to do?" Astralious asked, sensing the conflict within Elias. "Going to claim your prize? Become the Academy''s shining star?"

    "I need to think," Elias said quietly. He slowly put the badge down. He stood up, stretching his sore limbs.

    He walked towards the window, pulling back the curtain to look out at the sprawling Academy grounds. Students were walking past his mansion, some undoubtedly discussing the very announcement he had just read.

    His father''s words echoed in his mind. ''It is all because you carry this last name.''

    Was this opportunity something that could make him get past the shadows of his father? No, Freya wasn''t stronger than his father. Moreover, she was a friend of his father.

    It was no different than revealing all his secrets to his father. He had multiple secrets, and if he accepted that he was the one who took the flames, many questions were going to arise about his true abilities. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Revealing one secret might risk exposing the others. Silas had given him ten days regarding Dreke. Could he afford to step into the spotlight right now, becoming a ''Core Student'' while hiding such dangerous secrets?

    The Dean wanted to nurture the next Aliath Ashborn, but Elias knew he was walking a much darker path.

    "Thinking is good," Astralious commented. "But don''t think too long. An opportunity like this... it doesn''t come often. And hiding forever isn''t really an option, is it? Especially not with that father of yours."

    Elias didn''t answer. He continued to stare out the window. The Academy''s generous offer felt like a sweet poison that he couldn''t drink, but also couldn''t reject.

    He was still insignificant, still vulnerable. But maybe, just maybe, these unexpected rewards held the key to gaining the strength he desperately needed. The question was, could he claim the prize without paying an even heavier price?

 Chapter 174 - 174: Persona

    Elias gazed out the window, carrying a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hiding isn''t a plan. It''s simply denying the inevitable. But revealing myself now... it feels like walking into a cage, even if it''s a lucrative cage."

    "So, you won''t go?" Astralious asked.

    "Not yet. Not like this." Elias looked back. "Going to the Dean means answering questions I can''t afford to answer."

    "It is a problem indeed," Astralious nodded. "After all, it''s not as if you can claim the rewards without revealing your identity.

    "Receiving the rewards without revealing my identity, huh." Elias knew that Astralious was talking about the impossible, but still, the words stuck with him for some reason. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If his identity was the problem, then if he could somehow create another identity which couldn''t be linked back to him, then he might be able to claim the rewards.

    There was only one problem. The Academy had the record of every student. He couldn''t just create an identity out of thin air, that wasn''t even in the records of the Academy.

    For a new identity, he needed many things. And the most important out of all the things, was an Identification Badge which had a record in the central system of the Academy.

    "I need a new persona for the Academy, separate from my real self. With that, it might truly be possible..." he mumbled.

    The more he thought about it, the crazier this plan sounded. But at the same time, it felt just as feasible as ever. There was only one problem. How could he create another persona which was official? The academy wasn''t stupid after all.

    He could kidnap another student, and take their identity. All he needed was to find an art to disguise himself into that person. But it was more complicated than it looked.

    If he took the identity of another person, then there were risks of being exposed, since that person was definitely going to have friends and family that would know him better.

    The identity also needed strength, that would make it possible for it to enter the tomb secretly, and be able to leave.

    "I recognise that crazy look in your eyes." Astralious glared at Elias. "Which absurd thing are you planning now?"

    "I wonder..." Elias didn''t answer, since the plan was incomplete for him as well. He could think of a few possibilities, but he wasn''t certain which of them were more feasible.

    There was only one thing that he was certain about. It was that he couldn''t claim the rewards anytime soon. Moreover, he couldn''t reveal the Ice Phoenix Flames to anyone.

    If the Ice Phoenix Flames were to make an appearance, then it had to do with someone who wasn''t Elias Ashborn.

    "I need a blank slate, something that doesn''t come with baggage of its own. I think I know how to do it."

    "How to do what? What exactly are you scheming now?"

    "Earth."

    "Earth what? Can you at least be more specific? At times like this, I really regret that I can''t read your mind without your permission."

    "Earth is where this blank slate will be found." Elias answered vaguely. "That is the answer lies. The long erased world needs a representative. Won''t you agree?"

    "You will have to be more clear. Can you tell me like I am a five year old?" Astralious asked, growing even more suspicious about Elias''s intentions.

    "Do you really want to hear?"

    "I do. Why else would I ask?"

    "If I tell you, then you are not allowed to complain about it. I don''t want to hear that nagging every day over it. Do you promise?"

    Astralious looked suspiciously, his lips twitching uncontrollably. Just what was this scheme that made Elias certain that he was going to be nagged about it?

    Astralious didn''t want to make it promise, almost certain that it was something truly stupid but his curiosity got the best of him and he nodded.

    "I promise that I won''t complain about it."

    "Alright. So I am planning that..."

    In the silence of the room, Elias told his plans to Astralious. These were the plans that could allow him to claim the rewards of the Academy, without inheriting all the negativity that he had inherited as an Ashborn.

    "Are you serious?!" Astralious''s voice grew louder. He knew that Elias was planning something absurd, but even he didn''t expect something like this.

    "I am serious. Do you have any complaints?" Elias raised a brow.

    "Tch, no complaints." Astralious swallowed his complaints, remembering the promise he made.

    Even though he knew that Elias wanted the promise for this exact reason, a promise was a promise.

    "I am just curious about something," he changed the method of conveying his doubts from nagging, to something more logical.

    "Nine days later, the deadline given by your father will be over. I don''t think you are planning to return your brother to him. Will you even live long enough to reach earth, because the trip to earth is scheduled for the twelfth day from today."

    Elias had also realized this problem. The schedule itself was problematic, since he only received nine days of relief from his father.

    He had to deal with his father on the ninth day, and defending the way he dealt with it, his future trajectory could be cut short.

    His first priority was to find a way to deal with his father that didn''t involve returning Dreke to him.

    "I think I have a solution for that as well," Elias said after a long period of silence.

    "Don''t tell me you are going to fight him?" Astralious asked. "You will be obliterated."

    He expected Elias to confirm that he wasn''t going to fight, but the silence that he received in response, made him have second thoughts.

    "You''re not, right?" he asked again, but he still didn''t receive an answer. In the end, he sighed and said only one sentence, "We''re f*cked."

    ....

    Nine days later, a man arrived inside the house assigned to Elias. His presence didn''t trigger any security, as he was an existence that shouldn''t be stopped or even detected by the systems of the Academy.

    "Have you decided?" the man asked Elias, who was sitting on the sofa this time, waiting.

 Chapter 175 - 175: Kill Aliath

    Elias stood up, and looked back at the man that had materialized like a ghost.

    The man was meeting his son, yet there was no greeting, or questions about his well being. He came straight to the point.

    "Have you decided?" His question echoed across the room.

    "I have decided. I will not return him to you." Elias stood up, and turned back to his father.

    His answer didn''t surprise the man. It was as if his father had already somewhat expected an answer like this. He only looked disappointed in that answer, as if it was truly a pity that things had come to this.

    "Is that your final decision?" Silas asked, his sharp eyes glaring down at Elias as if looking deep within his soul.

    This time, he didn''t release any aura that could suppress or injure Elias. Instead, he simply stood there like an ordinary man, who didn''t have even the slightest of supernatural abilities.

    If Elias came across this man and didn''t know him better, he truly would have thought that it was just an ordinary human from earth, and not one of the strongest existences of the universe.

    "That is right. I-" Elias confirmed, but he seemed like he wanted to say something more.

    He had already planned an answer. He knew that he couldn''t return his brother, but he also couldn''t fight his father who could truly obliterate him with a single thought.

    That''s why he had planned to ask for more time from his father. He knew that his father could always confirm that his brother was alive, as there was a soul lamp at home which confirmed their life and death.

    It was something that the family started using, right after Aliath had gone missing with his fate being unknown. They didn''t want the same thing to happen to the others, which made them create a soul lamp for every direct descendant.

    As long as his brother was living, he didn''t think his father was going to attack him.

    It made him come up with a plan that was simple, yet the most effective. He just had to pretend like a child, who was still angry with his brother, but not to the point that he would kill him.

    If he asked for more time to calm down, was there a reason for his father to reject it? It was a solution that came without any problems as long as his father agreed.

    "Alright. If you have made up your mind, I will not interfere anymore." Silas turned around. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Huh?" His reaction made Elias swallow his words that he was about to utter.

    He didn''t even tell his father that he wanted more time. He just said that he wasn''t going to return Dreke, and his father agreed?

    Was it still the same man who had almost crushed him to the ground the last time he was here? Why did he agree so easily, out of nowhere?

    Something felt out of place. When he said that he will stop interfering, it felt surreal. Elias had a bad feeling about these words.

    Did he mean that he would not interfere in his matters? Or was this interference about something else that had nothing to do with him?

    He had a lot of questions in his mind, but there was still a sense of relief that Silas wasn''t going to force him. Even if there was a problem in the future, he had at least bought some time for his trip to earth.

    Now all that was left to do was to prepare for his trip to earth. Deep down, he was a little scared of seeing that place, which he once called home.

    He wasn''t even sure if his body from his previous life was still there, or if the Academy already destroyed all the bodies left on earth.

    Even though it had only been a few weeks since he had transmigrated into the body of Elias Ashborn, it still felt like an eternity had passed since he left earth.

    .....

    "I assume you have failed?" Silas heard a voice, as soon as he stepped into the void.

    "I gave him an opportunity, but he didn''t listen. Everything that happens next, has nothing to do with me," Silas answered.

    "Is that what you should be saying about your son?" the man asked, the golden robe on his shoulders fluttering behind him as he flew inside the void, accompanying Silas.

    The two of them travelled thousands of light years with each passing second.

    "I have interfered enough, stopping my wife from doing something foolish. If neither side wants to listen to me, then let it be. I will stop interfering. Whatever happens, will be their fate."

    "Couldn''t you have forced him? You could have ended it before it began."

    "You wouldn''t say that if you had seen his eyes. He would have died, but not listen to me. If he''s going to die, then I don''t want it to be through my hands. That''s the last favor I will do for him as his father."

    "I never said that you had to kill him. You could control his mind, and make him give up. Even though he would lose some sanity, he would still live."

    "If only it was that easy. Don''t forget who his mother was."

    "I remember. The world calls you a monstrosity for your strength. How ignorant. If they knew more about his mother..."

    "That''s enough. Have you found what I requested from you?"

    "Tch, only someone like you can order another Founding Family Patriarch to do such things."

    "It was not an order to a patriarch. It was a request to a friend. We have to find Aliath at any cost. If he is dead, we need to retrieve his body."

    "And if he is alive?" The unknown man asked, his voice growing somewhat uncertain.

    "Then we have to kill him before he recovers," Silas clenched his fist, as he rushed through the void.

 Chapter 176 - 176: End of Peace

    ....

    Two weeks had passed since Elias inherited the Ice Phoenix Flames. Even now, the Academy didn''t know the identity of the person who inherited the most prized possession of the previous Dean.

    The Academy even increased the rewards to make the person come forward, but it was to no avail. The Inheritor didn''t come forward.

    In the Academy, there were a few students that had abilities which allowed them to control flames. Their greed made them come forward and declare themselves to be the Inheritor.

    They thought that they could simply be accepted as the Core Student of the Academy and receive the growth stone after performing slight flame manipulation.

    Even if they were caught lying, what was the worst that could happen? The rewards were worth the risk.

    Their expectations were overwhelmed when the Academy expelled them outright after confirming that they were lying. Once enough of the liars were expelled, no one came forward to lie about being the Inheritor.

    "One more person was expelled from the Academy today."

    Elias was sitting on the roof of his mansion, overlooking the entire Residential Area when Astralious came flying to deliver the news that he had heard.

    "As long as you don''t use the flames before them, the Academy can''t really confirm if you have the Phoenix Flames or not. But when you do use flames, it''s quite easy for them to confirm what type of flames they are."

    Elias wasn''t surprised with the news. When the Academy didn''t try to test every student to see if they possessed the Phoenix Flames or not, he had already confirmed it.

    The Academy didn''t have any methods to confirm if a person had the phoenix flames, as long as the real Inheritor didn''t use the flames before someone who knew these flames.

    If they had a method, they would have forcefully checked everyone to find the Inheritor. There was no need for them to reward the person to come forward.

    "They thought that the Academy can''t find the Inheritor, which means they can simply lie because the Academy can''t confirm it. But you can only fool them to a certain point," Astralious nodded, standing on the edge of the roof.

    "It''s not hard to differentiate an ordinary flame from the Phoenix Flames, especially if it''s the Ice Phoenix Flames," Elias raised both left hands, and an ordinary red fire lit up. He didn''t use the phoenix flames, that were deep blue, and freezing cold.

    "You still haven''t merged your flame domain with the Ice Phoenix Flames yet?" Astralious raised a brow, wondering what Elias was waiting for. "Are you keeping that reserved for the other identity that you''re planning?"

    "That is true. Some things are better kept separated." Elias snapped his fingers, and the red flames disappeared into nothingness. "I need flames for Elias Ashborn, that won''t get me caught."

    Beep~

    The Academy Identification badge lying on the ground started ringing, and a holographic notification rose from within.

    Elias looked down at the badge, and read the notification. "It''s time to return..."

    He picked up the badge, and stood up. He kept the badge in his pocket, and draped a robe over his shoulders.

    After two weeks of waiting, it was finally time for him to return home. He had already prepared everything, and even kept Lycorice in the space within the ring, only reserved for Soul Beasts.

    He walked to the end of the roof. His gaze roamed over the surroundings, as far as his eyes could see.

    He could see other students from his class stepping out of their residences, accompanied by their Soul Beasts that looked even stronger than before.

    "To think that they have already evolved their soul beasts into a Constellation." Astralious stood next to Elias. "Something I forget how easy it is to become stronger when you''re wealthy."

    Lycorice was only a low grade soul beast. The difference between her and the other soul beasts was like heaven and earth in the past. And how, that difference had only become bigger.

    Elias climbed over the low stone parapet that marked the edge of the roof. He balanced there for a moment while the wind tugged at his newly worn robe.

    His gaze swept one last time over the Academy''s elite students before he stepped forward, jumping off the roof.

    The air resisted his descent, whipping his hair and robe around him. Just before reaching the lawn in front of his mansion, his descent slowed abruptly, as if controlled by an invisible force.

    He landed softly on his feet with not a speck of dust disturbed by the impact of his landing.

    "The last few days have been so peaceful. It truly feels surreal. If only this peace had lasted longer," Astralious rubbed his forehead, before disappearing.

    He materialized on the ground right next to Elias, having no need to jump as he was in a spiritual form attached to Elias. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Many students paid attention to Elias the moment he arrived, their gazes roaming around him to find his Soul Beast.

    "Is he hiding his Soul Beast?"

    "If I had a Soul Beast which was only a low tier, I would be hiding it as well. Isn''t he only coming as a formality? There''s no need to bother him."

    "You idiot, don''t forget that he might be the one who killed Rey Esterin. Even if his Soul Beast is weak, he is still strong in himself. Don''t mess with him for no reason!"

    "Tch, who said I wanted to mess with him? Can you stop trying to put words in my mouth?"

    The students walked past Elias to leave the residential area, advancing towards the meeting point.

    Elias also followed after them in silence. He left the Residential Area and found the other students that had already gathered outside.

    The group waited there for the professor to arrive and escort them to Earth. But the Professor didn''t arrive.

    What arrived was a large gust of wind, coming from the sky. It made the students raise their heads, and they caught a glimpse of a Battleship marked with the Academy''s Insignia.

    The entrance of the battleship was open, a person was sitting there, his feet dangling in the air. The person rubbed his eyes that had dark circles around them.

 Chapter 177 - 177: Worst person for the trip

    The winds became stronger as the Battleship approached the ground, but it didn''t land. It hovered fifty meters above the ground, and the man sitting at the edge jumped off the Battleship.

    The man landed on the ground before the group of students. Following him, a rope ladder came down from the Battleship.

    The sleepy man stepped aside and said, "Climb up."

    "Who are you? Where is Professor Grey?" a child asked, seeing the unfamiliar face of someone who looked barely twenty years old.

    "He is not coming. I am stuck here with you. So don''t waste my time, and climb up." The young man stretched his arms and yawned lazily, barely keeping his eyes open.

    "You-" A few students wanted to ask more questions, but they quickly stopped when they saw another student taking the lead and climbing the rope stairs.

    They also rushed forward, not wanting to be left behind. Soon, there were no questions, and everyone was doing as they were asked.

    Most of the students climbed up the stairs, with only a few left behind.

    "Do I have to give you a separate invitation?" the young man asked the children, who proudly wore the insignia of the founding family members.

    "Are you also a Professor?" A child asked, his gaze filled with cold pride.

    "Did you think I was here to kidnap you all? Geez, this is why I hate dealing with children. I could''ve been sleeping, instead of wasting my time here. If only it wasn''t for the Dean."

    The man scratched the back of his head. "All I did was to steal the body of a dead Professor? Was there really a need for making me babysit you idiots as punishment?"

    "Steal what?" The child looked weirdly, wondering if he heard what he thought he heard.

    "If you are done interrogating me, then get up. I will leave you all behind after thirty seconds." The man didn''t answer, and issued his last warning.

    "Tch, fine." The boy didn''t use the rope to climb. He jumped high, and using his own raw strength, landed inside the battleship. His Soul Beast followed behind.

    Behind him, a Soul Beast picked up a little girl. He carried the girl on his shoulders, and flew into the sky, landing inside the battleship as well.

    The high ranking students also entered one after another. None of them used the rope ladder, as it was a sign of weakness for them.

    The last person left on the ground beside the young professor was Elias, who was still surprised to see the familiar face.

    The person before him was his second brother Elten. He was the one responsible for them in this test? It meant he was coming to earth with them?

    He didn''t know how it was going to affect his plans related to earth and creating a new identity separate from Elias Ashborn.

    "Little brother, I heard you did some really interesting things in my absence." Elten approached Elias now that he was alone with him.

    "Did father make you take charge of this trip?" Elias asked, not believing that his appearance here was merely a coincidence.

    Was he sent here to save Dreke from him? He didn''t put this scheme beyond his father, since threatening him didn''t work.

    "You don''t have to worry about this. It''s been a long time since I talked to father. The only reason I am here is because of that b-, I mean because of the Dean."

    "Because you stole the corpse of the Professor that I killed?"

    "That''s right. I took a short vacation after stealing the corpse, and turned it into an undead. Even if that crazy woman wants it back, she can''t take it now."

    "To punish me, she assigned me this annoying responsibility. I am sure that woman would''ve given me more punishments, but she was distracted in search of the new Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames."

    Elten was frustrated that he had to babysit a group of kids, but he was also a little pleased that his little brother was in the group. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Finally he could see just what his little brother was capable of. So far, he had done quite a few things that surprised him, and made him look forward to his future path.

    "If I was here when the tomb appeared, I would have tried to send you inside. I''m sure you could have inherited the flames. What a missed opportunity."

    He placed his hand on Elias''s hands, and ruffled his hair. "I wonder which lucky person got the flames. If I find him, I really should..."

    Elias raised his head, thinking that his brother was going to talk about recruiting that person. Unfortunately, his next words shocked him.

    "I really should find a way to kill him. Ice Phoenix Flames are the best weapon against the Undead. That person holds something that can become my weakness."

    He doesn''t mind saying his thoughts out loud, especially before Elias.

    He didn''t think that the child was going to tell others these things, especially since he hadn''t done anything bad for the child. And even if others knew about it, what could they even do to him? He was Elten freaking Ashborn.

    "You should keep your eyes open, little brother. If you find the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames, don''t forget to inform me, alright?"

    Elias was shaken to his core, but he didn''t reveal his true thoughts. He simply nodded. However, his mind was truly in a mess.

    His trip to earth was the first step in creating a new identity that would belong to the Inheritor of the flames. And now the person leading them for this trip, was the worst person possible for his plans.

    "Good child." Elten grabbed Elias''s hand, and flew towards the battleship. He entered the battleship, and the gate closed.

    In another part of the realm, another battleship picked up the first year students of the Creator Class, and left the realm for earth.

 Chapter 178 - 178: Realm of Chaos

    ....

    "Is it just me or does your family''s dynamics keep getting more and more complicated?"

    Elias was escorted to a room that was assigned to him. Each student had received a room of their own, where they could rest until they reached the destination.

    He didn''t answer Astralious. Instead, he glanced at the man escorting him and asked, "How long until we reach earth?"

    "Two days," the man answered, keeping his sentence as short as possible. "If everything goes right."

    "If everything goes right? Is there something that you''re worried about going wrong?"

    "It''s nothing for you to be worried about." The man stopped before a room, and opened the door.

    "This is your room. You are allowed to leave the room whenever you wish, but don''t create any unnecessary problems for the staff." He left the room open for Elias, and walked away, without offering any other explanation.

    Elias watched the man leave, and only after he disappeared from sight, did he enter his room. He closed the door behind him, and started observing his rooms.

    "The room isn''t half bad. The Academy does know how to travel with luxury."

    Astralious sat on the bed, which had taken more than half the space in the bedroom. There was also a bathroom attached to the room, with a separate door leading to it.

    "Do you have any idea about what that man was talking about? What do you think he meant when he said the journey could take longer if something went wrong?" S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias walked over to the window and moved the curtains, to observe the vast yet beautiful space.

    "Who knows. There are many things that can go wrong. We can have an engine malfunction," Astralious answered. "We might also be attacked by the Space Pirates, even though the chances of that happening are low because we represent the Academy."

    "There are thousands of things that could go wrong, so it wasn''t wrong for that man to say that it''s nothing for you to be worried about. Just relax and enjoy the trip."

    "That makes sense." Elias nodded, observing the meteorites that looked like they were moving extremely slowly in outer space, even though they were traveling at a speed faster than light.

    ....

    The first day passed without anything significant happening during the trip. Food was delivered to their rooms three times a day, and each time, it was a delicacy.

    Elias made Lycorice eat the delivered food, as it was the most nutritious for a Spirit Beast. Meanwhile, he only ate the food from his storage that carried the taste of earth.

    He spent the rest of his time either watching space through the window or in the Shadow Realm, playing with the virus while observing Dreke''s agonizing suffering.

    During his first day on the battleship, he only slept for four hours. It was on the second day that things became a little more exciting.

    The battleship crossed the threshold, flying past the range that was guarded by the upper worlds. Beyond this point, no force of the Upper World could be seen patrolling.

    It was the region where the Space Pirates dwelled, living in hiding and robbing the ships that travelled from the upper realms to the lower realms.

    It was also the realm where the criminals of the Upper Realm, who were being hunted by the upper worlds, came to hide.

    There were many times when the forces of the upper worlds tried to attack the realm to wipe out the evil elements, but every time, they suffered great losses.

    In this place, it was extremely easy for people to hide, and ambush the forces of the upper worlds. There were also many traps that made it harder for large forces to travel through this place.

    If the Upper Words wanted, they could easily cleanse through this place with brute force. But they didn''t think that all this effort was worth it, for a small gain.

    The Upper Worlds turned a blind eye to the flourishing crimes in the place. The Forces of the Chaotic Realm also didn''t touch the reverse scales of the great powers of the Upper Worlds.

    They only robbed and harmed the forces that didn''t belong to the major forces of the upper world, and the great merchants. Only a rare few chaotic elements ignored the unspoken rules.

    "That''s a living thing?" Elias watched a giant asteroid the size of Earth''s moon.

    Just looking at it with the naked eye, it was impossible to believe it was actually alive. If it weren''t for his Analysis, even he wouldn''t have known it was alive.

    "Ah, the Void Beast. That brings back memories. It''s a very peaceful creature. As long as you don''t attack it first, it won''t react. But once provoked, that thing can be truly frightening."

    "Generally, no one targets the creature, since its corpse is useless and filled with a poison that can''t even be diluted. Even the Poison Masters ignore it."

    Astralious''s explanation made Elias understand just how dangerous this place truly was. Even a seemingly ordinary meteorite could be a Void Beast in disguise.

    "The Chaotic Realm is filled with such strange things. That''s why it''s impossible to travel through this space unless you are escorted by a Grade Seven Battleship. Even then, your safety isn''t guaranteed."

    "Grade Seven Battleships? What grade is the battleship we''re traveling in?"

    "It''s Grade Eight, though it might not look like it. The highest ever created is Grade Ten. So it''s quite impressive that the Academy sent a Grade eight to escort you. As long as we don''t go looking for trouble, we should be quite safe."

    "That man''s ship... Was it a Grade Ten?" Elias asked, remembering Jeskirin''s battleship, which was even more fascinating than the one his family had used to send him to the Academy.

    "Hah, he wishes. That could only be called a Semi-Grade Nine. Almost Grade Nine, but not quite. Why? Planning to steal it?"

    "If I were planning to run away from the Academy, stealing it might not be a bad idea," Elias answered.

    "You¡ª"

    "Calm down. I''m joking. I don''t plan to make an enemy of him yet."

    "Isn''t it a bit late for that, after you chopped off his daughter''s arm? When he finds out it was you¡­"

 Chapter 179 - 179: Death Flag

    "You talk as if I was rubbing after him with a sword to chop her arm off," Elias sharply retorted. "Whatever happened to her hand, was an accident."

    "Good luck trying to convince her father of that when he finds out about you." Astralious let out a dry laugh. "Then again, it was worth it to win the Ice Phoenix Flames."

    "Why does it look like you are eager to watch her father beat me up?" Elias raised a brow. "Whose side are you even on?"

    "Of course I''m on your side." Astralious pumped up his chest, and stood proudly. "Moreover, it''s not as if they can even find out that you were the one who did it. If they had a way, they would''ve already found you."

    "You know, where I come from, there is a saying that perfectly fits you right now. It''s called raising a death flag. So can you stop doing it? I might not be superstitious but still I don''t want to test a death flag."

    "A death flag?" Astralious tilted his head sideways. "Is it some treasure flag of the Ashborn Family? What does it do?"

    "It gives you bad luck," Elias vaguely answered.

    "Hah, just that?" Astralious burst into laughter. He placed an arm over Elias''s shoulder in a friendly manner. "You don''t have to worry about it then. Isn''t your luck already bad enough? It''s not as if it can get any worse when it''s already rock bottom."

    Elias''s lips twitched uncontrollably. Did this person raise a death flag about his luck as well?

    He opened his lips to respond, but before he could say anything, he saw Astralious point towards the window.

    "Hmm? What''s that?" Astralious frowned in disbelief. "A ninth grade battleship in a place like this?"

    There was a battleship that was missing parallel to the Academy''s battleship. And it didn''t have the symbol of the Academy either. It wasn''t the battleship used to pick up the students of the Creator Class.

    After looking carefully, Elias noticed a glimpse of another battleship that was traveling behind the grade nine battleship.

    "An eighth grade battleship as well. Are they pirates?" he mumbled.

    The battleships had no symbol on it. There were no markers to recognize the owner, something that pirates did to keep their identity secret from the forces of the upper world.

    A ninth grade battleship wasn''t just faster than their battleship, but it was also stronger. The pirate battleship moved past their battleship, and blocked their path.

    The Academy''s battleship was forced to slow down, and came to an eventual halt when facing the unknown battleship.

    The eighth grade battleship that was moving parallel to them, also prepared to attack.

    The electromagnetic guns started getting charged, and lightning flickered around the barrel of the unique looking guns of the sides of the battleship.

    Elias couldn''t see it, but he was certain that the pirates didn''t just target them from one side. There was a battleship on the other side of their ship, aiming for them.

    There were probably also a few battleships behind them, prepared to attack. They were surrounded from all sides, and any movement might result in an attack from every side.

    Even if he didn''t count the ninth grade battleship, there were still at least three battleships surrounding them, which were ready to attack at a moment''s notice.

    "See? That''s what a death flag does," Elias rubbed his forehead in frustration. Even if they were representing the Academy, they were still targeted by mere pirates.

    "This doesn''t make sense. They should know that our ship is carrying the descendants of the major forces of the upper worlds. Even after that, they are targeting this ship? Are they foolish? Or do they not fear death?" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Astralious also found it hard to believe. Even if he was the one who said that a few pirates overestimated their abilities and attacked the forces of the major families, even they weren''t foolish enough to make enemies of the Dimensional Academy.

    "Dogs of the Academy, listen well!" A loud voice came from outer space, echoing in every room of the Academy''s battleship. "We have surrounded you from all sides. Your life and death is in our hands."

    "We can destroy you whenever we want. So you better listen to us if you want to pass through the chaotic lands safely!"

    The voice made almost everyone within the Academy''s ship panic, especially when they looked out the window and saw the weapons ready to attack.

    "What do they want? If they want treasures and money, just give everything to them! Our life is more important!"

    "I don''t want to die here! My father is very wealthy! As long as you let us live, we will give you lots of money!"

    "My father is a Warlord. If you touch even a single hair on my head, he will wipe your seven generations!"

    Many voices rose from within the rooms, belonging to the students. Some negotiated for their safety, while the others resorted to threats. None of them knew that their voices didn''t reach the enemy battleships.

    Elten was sitting in the control room of the Battleship, his face covered with a book. He was having a nap, but he was abruptly woken up by the house.

    He lowered the book, and looked at the ninth grade battleship aiming straight for them.

    With his feet, he tapped the red button and activated the communication, "What do you want?"

    "Lower your shields, and open the doors! My men will enter your ship, and take everything that we find valuable! Once we are done, you will be allowed to pass through," the Pirate King replied.

    "If you don''t agree, then I would blast you into oblivion, and have to scourge through the wreckage to find valuables." He didn''t forget to end with a threat to let the Academy know what they were dealing with.

    "Do you realize who we are? Are you sure you want to do this?" Elten asked lazily as he slowly closed the book.

 Chapter 180 - 180: Giving in

    Inside the Ninth Grade Battleship, an anxious voice spoke up. "Captain, that person doesn''t sound even the slightest bit intimidated. Could they have someone strong inside? Should we give up?"

    "Tch, he''s bluffing," the captain retorted. "We already have the information that there''s only one professor and a bunch of kids inside. Don''t forget the reason we came here. The payout is going to be huge. Even if we have to offend the Academy, so what?"

    The man in the captain''s seat pressed a button and turned on the communication channel again. "I will give you only two minutes to think. If you don''t lower the shield, I will blow your ship up. Even if you survive, the children will die."

    It was a battle of nerves between the Pirate Captain and Elten. In this battle, Elten was the one at disadvantage since he had to worry about the safety of the children in the ship.

    The other side was right. He was strong enough to survive an attack from the Ninth Grade Battleship, but even he would have to suffer a bit from the attack. The children were even more vulnerable.

    Even if he survived, it wasn''t beneficial for him if the children died as the blame was eventually going to fall on him. The children in the ship represented many great powers that even he found annoying to deal with.

    "Lower the shield. Let them take whatever valuables they want to take. As long as they don''t take our Engine Reactor, it doesn''t matter."

    After considering the safety of the children, Elten decided to give up. He was too lazy to fight over some insignificant treasures, especially for something as useless as his ego.

    "But sir, if we lower the shield, we would be like sitting ducks. What if they attacked us then?"

    "Do you really think this shield can resist the onslaught of a ninth grade ship? It would only be able to buy us a few minutes worth of time before it is destroyed. Might as well save it some trouble."

    Elten tossed his back on the chair, and covered his face with the book, closing his eyes. With his feet, he flipped a switch to turn off the shield, removing the last bit of protection that the ship had.

    The staff within the ship opened the gate, granting the pirates an easy entrance.

    "See? I told you that he was bluffing! In the end, he gave up so fast. Tell the second group to board their ship and bring the target back. Oh, and don''t forget to steal some valuables while we''re at it."

    The Pirate Captain let out a hearty laughter. "With the bounty, we would probably be able to buy at least a semi-ninth grade battleship, making us even stronger. All thanks to the employer." S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Eighth Grade Battleship that was stationed parallel to Academy''s Ship moved closer, and established a passage between the two gates.

    Pirates carrying the high grade laser weapons and covered in armors that were made from combining different pieces that didn''t belong together, entered the Academy''s ship.

    They laughed like crazy, and spread out within the Academy''s Ship and started robbing everything valuable that they came across.

    They didn''t even check what was within the storage rings of the children, and stole the entire ring. There was no room, and no hallway within the battleship of Dimensional Academy that wasn''t checked thoroughly by the Pirates.

    Some of them even barged inside the Control Room, where they found a few men standing around, carrying looks of disgust towards them.

    There was also one person, who was lying on the chair, with a book covering his face.

    "He is sleeping at a time like this? Not bad. At least he won''t feel bad when we rob him clean until he wakes up."

    A pirate walked to Elten, aiming with his weapon. The other pirates also started snatching the rings of the crew that didn''t resist.

    He tapped the book a few times with the barrel of his gun to see if the man was actually sleeping or not.

    "Take whatever you want and don''t bother my sleep," Elten''s muffled voice came from under the book as he raised his left hand which had a very ordinary storage ring.

    As he kept everything within a spatial realm, he didn''t really use the storage ring. He just wore it for the show, and didn''t care if it was taken away. He could buy hundreds of such rings for cheap.

    "Tch, at least you are wise enough." The Pirate pulled the ring from Elten''s fingers. He kept the ring in his pocket, and left the control room with the other pirates.

    "Have you found the target?" In another place, the pirates were rushing across the corridor when a voice came from their earpiece.

    "We are still looking for the target. We have already finished searching through most of the ship. It shouldn''t take long," the Pirate said, before stopping across another door.

    He banged on the door a few times, and asked, "It''s a robbery! Open the door, unless you want us to barge inside and kill you!"

    The door soon opened with a click, and the Pirate saw the person on the other side. He raised a brow, trying to match the facial features with the target.

    "Tch, it''s not him either," he mumbled in frustration. He barged inside the room, and started searching for anything valuable, especially since the boy wasn''t wearing any storage ring.

    "You bastard, are you so poor that you can''t even afford a storage ring?" This was the first time that he didn''t find anything valuable from a room that had a child staying inside.

    He almost felt like smacking the boy in the back of his head in frustration. Not only did he not find the target, but he also didn''t find anything worth his time.

    "I am too poor to afford anything valuable," Elias answered, shrugging innocently. "That''s why I am the last ranked in my class, almost about to be expelled."

    "Tsk, what bad luck." The man turned around and left the place, unaware that the person he just came across held the most valuable things within the entire academy.

 Chapter 181 - 181: Not a savior

    After the Pirate left the room, Elias closed the door and walked over to the window to catch the glimpse of the battleships outside. He brought the Soul Beast Ring from the shadow realm, and wore it back on his fingers.

    "They are definitely looking for someone. Are you not curious about it at all?" Astralious asked.

    Elias brought out a packet of chips. He tore it open, and started eating.

    "As long as it has nothing to do with me, I don''t care. I have already gotten involved in the mess of other people quite a few times. I don''t have the strength to do it again," he answered, before munching on the chips.

    "The pirates are daring enough to invade the Academy''s Battleship. Even though they say that it''s to rob us, that man''s initial reaction was quite strange," Astralious said, giving Elias more hints to increase his curiosity. "Their main purpose is definitely not robbery, but to find someone,"

    "I noticed that the moment he looked at me. He''s looking for someone, and that person is probably a boy as well. If it was a girl, he wouldn''t take so long to verify."

    "How can you say that? Maybe he found you quite feminine and thought that you might be a girl that he''s looking for?"

    "Can you stop taking advantage of the fact that I can''t touch you?" Elias raised a brow, his hand itching for something really bad.

    "Fine. He was looking for a boy." Astralious rolled his eyes in annoyance. "But do you truly not want to check? Why would the pirates take the risk of offending the Dimensional Academy for a mere boy?"

    "Not all mysteries are meant to be solved. I''m not a hero that can go around saving people, especially the ones who will eventually be responsible for the destruction of millions of lives. If you''re curious about it, you can go check it out yourself."

    Even if Astralious tried to pique his curiosity, it didn''t work. He couldn''t care in the least about what the pirates wanted, as long as it wasn''t related to them.

    "You think I wouldn''t check it out myself? The only problem is that I can''t get too far from you. So even if I want to check it out, you have to come with me."

    "Then you can just wait and relax. I''m not going to fight the pirates for your curiosity. I just want to reach earth, without any accidents. Everything else can be handled later."

    "You''re so boring." Astralious scoffed and paced back and forth across the room. After thinking for some time, he rushed to the door.

    Even if he couldn''t go too far from Elias, he could at least enter the hallway and wait for the pirates to return with the person they were searching for. At least he could find out their target.

    He passed through the door like a spirit, and waited in the hallway where the pirates had just passed through after checking their room.

    He waited for thirty minutes even though there were no significant movements across the hallway. It was only after the thirty first minute that he heard the sound of rushing footsteps.

    Soon saw two pirates in the lead, carrying their weapons that were fully charged to kill anyone that came across them. Behind them, there was another pirate who was carrying a boy on his shoulders.

    The boy''s legs and hands were tied with unique-looking shackles that were made from bones which even Astralious couldn''t recognize, even though they had the aura of a Constellation.

    "They are made from the bones of a Constellation that was definitely stronger than me. The Pirates had made a lot of preparation for this. Just what are they planning? And who is this boy?"

    He had been with Elias when they attended their first class. He remembered the rankings, which were topped by Elias. The man that the pirates were taking with them was also present in the ranking.

    He was also a topper like Elias. The only difference was that he topped from the bottom. He was the last ranked person, out of all the surviving students in the batch.

    He had stood out for Astralious since he had managed to contract a High Ranking Soul Beast, despite having the last rank. He was the only person who didn''t come from the major family, yet succeeded in the land of fables.

    "Where is his Soul Beast? Why isn''t it trying to save him? Unless...?"

    Astralious''s gaze fell on the shackles around the boy''s hands. "They prepared it for just that? How did they know that he had a decently strong Soul Beast? The more I think about it, the more suspicious it looks."

    He stepped back, and passed through the door, returning to the room.

    "They are right outside. They found their target and are taking him away."

    Elias turned around, and asked, "Are you asking me to save him?"

    "No. Things are more complicated than I thought. It''s best if we stay out of it. It won''t help us." Astralious shook his head. Even though he was curious about their purpose, it didn''t mean he cared about protecting others to the point of risking his own life.

    The pirates rushed past the corridor with the boy, and no one came across them to stop them. Almost everyone was staying inside the room, after being mugged by the pirates.

    The staff was also staying near the control room, cursing the pirates. They didn''t think that the pirates were actually going to kidnap a student.

    Soon, the pirates reached the exit, where they came across the staff of the Academy for the first time.

    "Wait, who are you carrying?" The staff of the Academy exclaimed in shock, only to have their heart be blown up by laser weapons.

    The pirates had killed for the first time, and they didn''t stay behind to see the aftermath. They quickly left the battleship, and entered their own battleship, severing the connection.

    S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 182 - 182: The Small Stone

    The alarms rose across the Academy battleship. The staff members, initially focused on the robbery, now scrambled in panic and disbelief. The casual looting had escalated into murder and kidnapping right under their noses.

    "They took a student! They killed Meyers and Chen!" someone shouted over the comms in terror.

    Inside their room, Elias remained by the window, watching the pirate battleship that had started to depart, growing distant with each passing second.

    He hadn''t moved, and his expression remained unreadable as he finished the last of his chips.

    Astralious materialized beside him again, his spiritual form flickering slightly. "They are leaving."

    Elias crumpled the empty chip packet. "I told you. Not our problem. They got what they came for."

    "You know, sometimes the smallest stone could create the biggest ripple in the water. I hope that child isn''t one such stone," Australia mumbled.

    He knew that he shouldn''t be thinking too much about such an incident which had nothing to do with them, but he still couldn''t put his mind at ease for some reason.

    "We are swimming in the ocean which is filled with tides trying to swallow us whole. We don''t have time to worry about some ripple. You are allowed to think that I''m being too cruel."

    If it was in the past, he would have tried to save the stranger, just like he had saved a few people in the World of Frost. But he wasn''t the same. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    What was the point of even saving the world of frost, which he simply put the survivors in the path of a worse fate? Was he responsible for their misery that could have been avoided if they had faced a simpler death of freezing to death?

    He didn''t know. The only thing he was certain about, was that his emotions were a lot more faint ever since he returned from the world of fables. He wasn''t phased by such things. His morality had grown a lot weaker, and he couldn''t care less about it.

    Even though he didn''t go out of his way to kill others that had nothing to do with him, he wouldn''t go out of his way to save people unless necessary for his own self.

    A heavy knock echoed through the door, which brought Elias out of his daze.

    The knock was followed by a tense voice. "Students, please remain in your rooms! We are assessing the situation."

    Elias glanced at the door, then back at Astralious. "See? The Academy is handling it. Or trying to. We just need to lay low until we reach Earth."

    "Lay low?" Astralious scoffed. "Will they really continue on the trip to earth even after all this? I wouldn''t be surprised if they just turn around and return to the Academy."

    "This..." Elias hadn''t reacted this sharply even when the pirates had invaded their ship. But when he heard about the prospects of the trip to earth being cancelled, he couldn''t control his emotions.

    The last thing he wanted was for this trip to earth to be cancelled. So many of his plans were relying on this trip. If they just returned, it was all for nothing.

    "They can''t return. They can just send the information back to the Academy, and let them deal with it. There''s no need for them to cancel the test for one student, right?" he asked, but his voice gave away his nervousness.

    If he knew that this was a possibility, he would''ve definitely tried to stop the Pirates from taking the boy. Unfortunately, it was too late now. He could only hope that they didn''t turn back now.

    .....

    Inside the control room, Elten watched camera footage that showed pirates killing academy staff. The footage also showed the pirates carrying away a student from the academy.

    On another screen, information about the student was displayed, including his rank and class.

    "Why is there nothing about his family in this?" he asked, noticing a gap in the information panel.

    "He''s an orphan. He doesn''t have any living family members that we know of," the man next to him answered.

    "How did he even manage to take the Academy entrance examination? Even though we accept commoners, they also need connections to the Academy. How did this child... Who was his sponsor?"

    Elten tapped on the information and looked for the name of the person who had recommended the boy for the Academy Entrance Exam.

    Unlike the descendants of prominent families, commoners could only enter through recommendations, especially if they managed to attract the attention of Academy graduates spread throughout the galaxy.

    He couldn''t help but frown after noticing another gap in the information. "Hmm? This section is empty as well. Are you saying that no one recommended him either?"

    "I''m not sure." The second in command scratched the back of his head. "We would have to talk to the Administration Department to find out how he managed to take the entrance examination. Should we turn around and return to the Academy?"

    "You asked if we should return to the Academy. Why don''t you ask if we should chase after the pirates to get the child back?"

    "Because we can''t catch up with a Ninth Grade Battleship. We also have to keep the other students safe and can''t risk an attack from the pirates. And lastly, this is the Chaotic Realm. This is their home, and we might be the ones suffering if we try to go after them."

    "That''s right." Elten''s fingers kept tapping the armrest of his chair. He closed his eyes, and frowned. "We can''t go after them. Or rather, you can''t go after them. But it''s me..."

    He opened an eye, and looked at the portrait of the kidnapped student on the screen. "But it''s too much of a hassle for a nobody."

    After a brief moment of silence, he came to a decision. "Make a report about everything that happened here. Send that report to the Academy, along with the recording. Tell them that we would be continuing on our journey to the test site."

 Chapter 183 - 183: Small ripple

    "Are we still going to continue?" the man asked in shock. They had just been robbed. It made complete sense for them to return to the Academy, but they were still going to rush forward?

    "Why? Are you worried that we are going to be robbed again?" Elten picked up the book, and laid cozily on the chair. He covered his face with the book again, and closed his eyes.

    "Wake me up when we reach the destination."

    He would have chased after the Pirates if they took someone like his brother. And he would have returned to the Academy if they took a descendant of some major family, as it meant the test would''ve been cancelled.

    If it was just an ordinary student, he didn''t need to do either of that. He could still continue the test, and let the Academy deal with the rest.

    It didn''t matter if the Academy wanted to send a crusading force into the Chaotic Realm to crush the pirates and save the child. It had nothing to do with him, even though he was in charge of this test.

    "The students who will be taking part in the test were just robbed. Every treasure or medicine that they might have prepared for the test, might have been stolen," the man said in hesitation.

    "So?" Elten answered in a single word, anything more being a waste of his time.

    "Isn''t this unfair for them to compete with the Creator Class when they lost everything they might have prepared? They would be crushed."

    "If they will be crushed just because they can''t rely on external treasures, then it''s their problem. Don''t disturb me anymore."

    Elten stopped responding, and the man didn''t ask any questions either. He was simply cursing his luck for being stuck with such a lazy person.

    His laziness wasn''t even the worst part about him. The worst thing about him was that he was completely moody.

    One moment, he might even talk back to the Dean of the Academy, or try to kill another Professor to get their body. The next moment, he wouldn''t budge even an inch, even when someone walked all over his dignity by robbing the ship that he was in charge of.

    The man gave up on trying to understand Elten. He sent a few men to deliver the information to the students that there was no change in plans about the upcoming test.

    Meanwhile, he spent the next few hours writing detailed information. He sent the information back to the Academy, along with everything that Elten had said.

    He didn''t forget to sneak in a few complaints that he had about Elten, including the fact that they allowed pirates to enter the ship in the first place.

    He knew that he might be in deep trouble if his complaint was discovered by Elten, but he had faith in the higher ups that they wouldn''t do such a thing.

    The information about the battleship being robbed, soon reached the Academy.

    There was an urgent meeting called by the higher ups, which included the Head of the Administrative Department, the Head of Defence Department, the Head of Teaching Department and a few more prominent names. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Just as Astralious had said, a big ripple was created by a seemingly insignificant incident of a single kidnapping and robbery.

    On the other hand, the battleship that was robbed, had an even more explosive atmosphere. The children complained less about being robbed, and more about the fact that the test wasn''t cancelled even after all their preparations were ruined because of the robbery.

    The loudest were still the ones that relied on external treasures, hoping to get a good reward in the coming test.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t matter how loud they were. Their words didn''t even reach the professor who was in charge of them in this test. The person was simply sleeping, as peacefully as ever.

    In the entire ship, there were people who were upset with Elten''s decision. There were also people who didn''t care about that decision in any way, shape or form. But there was only one person who was happy with the decision.

    The moment Elias heard the news that their trip to earth wasn''t cancelled, he could finally sigh in relief.

    He put his worries to rest, and was more relaxed for the rest of the journey. Fortunately, the journey was also very peaceful from that point onwards.

    Astralious didn''t raise any death flags. They also didn''t face any more dangers. There were no more robbers, and they easily managed to leave the chaotic realm that was spread across billions of light years.

    The journey that was said to take less than fifty hours if everything went smoothly, took close to sixty hours before it came to an end.

    The Academy''s Battleship reached closer to Earth, and soon entered the atmosphere. Through the window, Elias watched the familiar moon in the distance, a sight that felt like a dream.

    He was back on earth after a long time, but it was an earth that lacked any semblance of life anymore. Moreover, they weren''t alone here either.

    The Battleship stopped a few hundred meters above the ground, and another battleship could be seen in the distance that came here much earlier than them.

    "We have reached the earth. Every student is advised to step out of their rooms and reach the exit." An announcement was heard in every room and the doors opened on their own.

    Elias stepped out of the room, and traced across the hallways to reach the exit of the battlefield. With each step he took, his heartbeat grew stronger, as he was getting closer to his home.

    In this journey, he had often imagined what this moment would feel like. Now that it was finally here, it was surreal. It was the land of death, where he had lived the worst moments of his life. It was also the place where almost all his happy memories resided.

    This was the world called Earth, which was an insignificant star for the upper world, but everything for him.

 Chapter 184 - 184: To keep you company

    "This is Earth? It isn''t as primitive as I thought it would be."

    Elias reached the exit of the Battleship and saw the other children already gathered there who were looking out with some fascination.

    They pushed out the rope ladder, and started climbing down the battleship to reach the ground. The others that were confident in their abilities jumped down freely, and landed on the ground.

    Elias walked closer to the gate, and leapt out as well. Like the other children, he landed atop the nearest skyscraper that gave the best view of the city.

    Elias didn''t recognise the place where he was, since he didn''t live in an urban city as fancy as this. He didn''t think that this was the same country where he was born. It was more like a place where the wealthiest few gathered.

    Unlike the place where he was born, this city looked much clearer as there were no corpses littered on the street.

    Even if the people here died, they probably took their last breath within their fancy rooms, overseen by the doctors. At least that''s what he thought.

    "I see more people. Look over there," Astralious pointed in the distance, catching Elias''s attention.

    "What do you see now?" Elias turned to the direction where Astralious was pointing, and saw another skyscraper at least a few kilometres away from him.

    On the skyscraper, there was a giant flaming lion that stood out like the sun, his entire body being on fire. His mane looked even more fierce, with a darker shade of flames.

    There was a person standing on the flaming lion. The distance between them was a lot, yet Elias was able to pick up the features of that person.

    It was a girl, as old as him, if not a little older. She was standing on top of such a fierce beast, yet she was perfectly calm. Her hands were behind her back like an otherworldly expert, preventing her creator class robe from fluttering in the wind.

    "There is one on that side as well!" Astralious noticed another person, his finger changing direction swiftly.

    Elias kept following his movements, and saw others from the Creator Class. They had surrounded them from all sides, but they also maintained a safe distance, not coming across as threatening.

    The ones who were more threatening were the Summoned Beasts, which were no weaker than the Soul Beasts. The Summoned Beasts instead had their own advantage, which made them superior in some aspects.

    The Summoned Beast''s strength didn''t rely on the strength of the world whose destruction brought them into existence. Instead, it relied on the purity of their bloodline.

    They could grow stronger without needing any external resources, as their bloodline purity increased with each awakening.

    Each Summoned Beast was said to have a faint trace of a mythical bloodline. Most of them couldn''t even awaken a fraction of that throughout their lives, but that still didn''t take away their potential.

    A Summoned Beast had the potential of evolving into a mythical beast, something that was a rare sight even in the upper world.

    "Is a Constellation stronger, or a Mythical Beast?" Elias asked after hearing the explanation from Primordial.

    "Of course a Mythical Beast is stronger. There is not even a comparison. But do you think it''s child''s play to evolve into a mythical beast?"

    Astralious scoffed, feeling a tinge of pain in accepting that he was weaker than a Mythical Beast.

    Once all the children of Destroyer Class landed on the skyscraper, Elten stepped out. He didn''t jump off the ship. Instead, he simply walked out the ship, as if the air was nothing more than solid ground for him.

    "I thought Grey would be escorting them. I didn''t expect them to send a lazy pig like you for this." A crack appeared in the void, and a woman stepped out, appearing right next to Elten.

    The woman didn''t hold back on her words, or even her volume. Her words echoed across the entire city, being heard by almost everyone. The children of the creator class started snickering, having no respect for Elten either.

    Elias recognized the woman. He had seen her near the Tomb. She even seemed very close to Medusa and Freya. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He tried to use Analysis on the woman, but it failed, only showing that his evolution wasn''t enough. It was the same when he tried to use Analysis on Elten. Both of them were existences that lived in a completely different realm from him.

    "Maybe they knew that only a pig can keep another pig company?" Elten answered, covering his mouth as he yawned.

    Even after he had slept throughout the entire trip, he was still sleepy. Looking at his face, no one would have thought that he already slept for close to an entire day.

    He looked like he hadn''t received a single second of sleep for months.

    The woman''s lips twitched, but before she could say anything, Elten continued, "If you''re done with childish taunts, can we start? I am too tired to waste time here with you, Helen."

    "Fine." Helen rolled her eyes, and didn''t argue back. It was true that they weren''t here to fight, but to simply be guides of the children.

    She raised her hand. A scroll materialized in her hand, which she tossed into the sky.

    The scroll opened, and grew larger as it flew into the sky, until it was so huge that it should be seen from almost every corner of earth.

    On the scroll, there were names written, but none of those names were familiar to Elias. They were the names of the children from the Creator Class.

    Elten also brought a scroll, and tossed it into the sky. The scroll opened and grew just as large, soon taking its place beside Helen''s scroll.

    The names in Elten''s scroll were different. They belonged to Elias''s class, with his name being at the top. All the other names were also arranged based on the rankings that they had achieved in the first test.

 Chapter 185 - 185: You are the target

    This time, the scroll didn''t just have the name, but also the last names of the students. It made Elias''s name stand out even more, since everyone remembered him as the person who had awakened the auxiliary class.

    Not only was he in the Destroyer Class somehow, but he was also considered the top rank student? It made those from the Creator Class start paying even more attention to him.

    "Oh? Your brother is also taking part in this test? Is that why you came here as a supervisor? You want to help him?" The corner of Helen''s lips crept up. She thought that she finally understood why someone like Elten was here, instead of Grey.

    Elten didn''t bother explaining either. It didn''t matter to him if she thought that he was here to help him. Even if he wanted to help him, could she even do anything to stop him? She could just sulk.

    In any case, he didn''t think that his brother needed help. Although he couldn''t quite understand it either, his brother was someone who had achieved the impossible many times already.

    He had killed a Professor at the Academy, being only the second person after him to have achieved such a thing. Not only that, but he also killed Esterin Clan''s heir.

    He had kidnapped Dreke, and even stood up to their father. If he could stand up to Silas Ashborn, then was this test really something where he would need help? It was impossible.

    It was more accurate to say that Elten was looking forward to watching a good show that could keep someone like him awake.

    "Just so you know, I won''t allow you to help him. If you ever tried, I would expel him right away, even if he is your brother," Helen told Elten, who again ignored her.

    "I''m so scared," he jokingly said, before clapping. A throne made of bones materialized behind him in the air. He sat on the throne, resting one leg over the other like the Monarch of Death.

    "Since you''re worried about my interference, I will allow you to take the lead. You can tell them the rules, and everything else that they need to remember."

    "Tch, is it not because you''re simply lazy? Whatever." Helen was frustrated that she had to handle everything alone, but she also didn''t want to give Elten an opportunity to chest.

    "Listen up everyone!" She said loudly. Her voice again echoed in the surrounding, but it felt particularly sharp in the ears of the Destroyer Class students. It was as if she targeted them intentionally.

    Elten raised a brow, but he didn''t intervene. As long as it wasn''t something that could hurt the children, he let her have her fun. But it didn''t mean he wasn''t going to have his own fun.

    He raised his hands, and clapped once. His clap was just as sharp, and sent the ears of the Creator Class children ringing.

    Helen glared back at him.

    "What? I was just helping you get their attention." Elten lazily answered.

    "Don''t help me anymore."

    "As you wish, fellow pig. I''m too lazy to argue with you." Elten yawned once more, and closed his eyes. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Helen shifted her attention back to the children spread across the city. "I am sure you are already given a few briefings about this test by the Professor escorting you?"

    The children of the Destroyer Class were more stunned when they heard it, and looked at Elten in the sky. Did that man tell them anything? They couldn''t recall anything. Just what lazy professor were they given?

    The only time they heard anything about this test was when Professor Grey first informed them, about two weeks ago. But that was also very vague.

    Fortunately for them, Helen''s words didn''t stop there. She further continued, bringing a wave of relief in the Destroyer Class.

    "Still, I will repeat it one last time," she stated.

    "The most important thing to consider, is that this isn''t a test where you should fight amongst yourselves like your previous tests."

    "This will be a battle of classes. You can work together with your classmates, but that doesn''t mean you can''t backstab them if it benefits you."

    "The second most important thing to consider is that you can''t use your abilities. Your role in this test is only that of a commander. You can only issue commands to your Soul Beasts, or Summoned Beasts."

    "You can grant your treasures to your soul beasts or summoned beasts to help them, but that''s the extent of any external help you can provide. This is a battle of your intelligence, and the capabilities of the Beasts that you managed to win over."

    "We understand that we can''t help our soul beasts, but what even is this test? Are we simply fighting their Summoned Beasts to kill them? We don''t even know the crux of this test yet. Will the test end when all their Summoned Beasts are dead?"

    A child from the Destroyer Class raised a question, cutting Helen''s sentence in between.

    Helen didn''t take the interruption lightly, and even thought about teaching that boy a lesson. But when she noticed the emblem on his chest, she controlled her temper.

    "That is a very good question, and the answer is no. The test has nothing to do with you killing their Summoned Beasts, or them killing your Soul Beasts. If that was the case, we would simply have one on one battles."

    "The test is about you taking down the commander of the other side using your Beasts!" Helen explained, before asking, "And who are the Commanders?"

    "Us," a child said.

    "That''s right. You are the target! In this test, you can''t use any of your abilities! You can only command your beasts, and that''s it. And you are also the target. If you are taken hostage by the other side, or killed, you will lose."

    "We will be temporarily sealing your class to ensure that you can''t cheat and use your abilities!"

    "The team which takes more hostages, or kills more commanders on the other side, will win. There will also be individual scoring, which will be decided by us."

 Chapter 186 - 186: New Battlefield

    "You will have twenty-four hours. You can use that time to strategize with your soul beasts, make alliances with your classmates, or hide yourself in this vast world. There are no other rules except the ones I have mentioned. If someone dies, they can only blame themselves for it."

    Helen finished her explanation, which was short. There were only two points to consider. The humans couldn''t use their abilities, no matter what happened, and the Beasts had to do all the heavy lifting to get scores.

    "After twenty-four hours, I will personally seal all your abilities, and the test will officially begin. Put this time to good use."

    After she finished speaking, a timer materialized atop the scrolls, ticking down from twenty-four hours with each passing second.

    She also summoned a throne, which materialized next to Elten. For the next twenty-four hours, there was nothing for them to do except wait.

    "Do you want to work together?" Once the rules were mentioned, many eyes rested on Elias.

    He was the top ranker. Even if he was in the auxiliary class, many people looked forward to working with him. They believed that he could increase their chances of success.

    He was known to have a weapon that could even kill a Professor. If they could get that weapon for their Constellation, then they could truly stand out from the rest.

    "I am not interested." Wings unfurled behind Elias''s back, and he rose into the sky. He took the direction of the sun as his guide and flew away, leaving the others behind.

    "Tch, that arrogant bastard! Just because I was being nice, did he really think I needed his help?" The boy who had asked for help clicked his tongue.

    He also turned away and joined with the other students to create another strong alliance with the founding family descendants and other top rankers.

    There were a few more among them who preferred to act alone and left the group. But most of them still agreed to work together, at least during the initial phase.

    In the sky, Elten opened an eye and observed Elias who was flying away. He could see that there were a few people from the Creator Class that were flying after Elias who was the top ranker.

    Elias was already marked by them as the target, and they didn''t want to lose him.

    He closed his eyes again, the corner of his lips creeping up.

    ....

    "Where are we going now?" Astralious asked Elias, who was flying away from the group.

    "We are going somewhere else," Elias vaguely answered. Even he wasn''t certain if he was going in the right direction since he didn''t know his current location.

    There were many street signs across the roads, but they were all in languages that he couldn''t quite understand. Even the language of this country felt unfamiliar.

    "We might be on the completely opposite side of the ocean." The thought made him frustrated, as it would take most of his time to even get back to his home if that was the case.

    It took him over half an hour to finally get the complete understanding of his whereabouts. He also gathered a map, and used it to find his destination.

    He soon reached the ocean, which looked endless when he stood at the shore. The sun was behind him, casting his shadow over the ocean water.

    "If we fly nonstop, we should be able to reach that place with an hour to spare," he mumbled, even as a part of him kept trying to persuade him against going to that place.

    "Are you going to keep following me?" he suddenly asked.

    "Should we allow you to run away instead?" An answer came from the back, with two people landing on the sand.

    "For the next twenty three hours, we can''t kill you. So we can only follow you and wait for the time. It''s nothing personal, kid. It''s just that you''re a top ranker, and you will give us the best score."

    "Even if I give you the best score, it can only go to one person? The other person will go empty handed, and might even fail if they get no score. At the end of the day, one of you is going to betray the other. Isn''t that right?"

    Elias''s words touched the nerves of the two people in the back. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Both of them wanted the points that Elias would give them, but they also knew that only one person could get it. In the end, it was going to be a fight between the two of them.

    "You don''t have to worry about that." One of them suddenly smiled, catching sight of another person flying in their direction. "Isn''t there one more person here that we can target?"

    "Hmm?" Elias also felt the presence, which belonged to someone from the Destroyer Class. It was so faint that even he could barely sense it.

    "Do as you please," he flew into the sky, and started treading the ocean. After getting high enough in the sky, he summoned his Jet and controlled it with Creation Control.

    The cockpit opened, and he sat inside. The engine blasted loud, and the jet that had started falling down from the sky, regained its balance before the tip could touch the water.

    Once regaining the balance, the jet soared into the sky again and started flying towards the destination.

    "As expected of a wealthy kid. He brought quite a few treasures with him," the children of the Creator Class summoned their beasts, and landed on them.

    The beasts unfurled their wings and chased after Elias. The second person from the Destroyer Class wasn''t far behind either and rushed over the ocean.

    It was only a matter of time before more people flew above the ocean, from both classes, as another battlefield seemed to be created, wherever Elias was traveling.

    "The number of people chasing after us is increasing." Astralious peeked out of the jet, and said.

    "Let them come. I''m long past the stage where I need to be worried about some children. They should be the one worried if they come after me."

 Chapter 187 - 187: Everyone knows

    "I know you''re strong, but aren''t your abilities going to be sealed when the test begins? It will wipe every advantage that you have gained so far."

    Astralious appreciated the confidence that Elias had, but he didn''t want them to shy away from reality either.

    "We should try to lose them so they can''t come after us," he suggested. "It''s better to be safe than sorry."

    "I barely have enough time to get there. If I start trying to lose them, it will waste even more time. I will not be able to reach that place either. So as much as I want to follow your advice, I can''t at this moment."

    Elias rejected the advice outright, just as Astralious had expected. But he had at least given his reasoning, which was rare for Astralious. Normally, there was no explanation for his actions.

    "Then so be it. I trust that you will have a way to deal with them. After all, it seems like a perfect place for another person to make their debut."

    The time in the sky kept trickling away like sand passing through an hourglass. And every second was spent by Elias, inside the jet, flying over the ocean.

    The ocean was filled with life, unlike the surface which had long lost everything except the lifeless structures that were created by humans. No one was alive to make good use of the tall skyscrapers or the satellites that were still circling earth.

    Soon, twenty three hours had passed, and only one hour was left in the timer on the sky scrolls.

    "Are we there yet?" Astralious asked the same question that he had been asking every hour for the last twelve hours.

    "We are."

    This was the first time he had received an answer that they had truly reached their destination. Elias opened the cockpit, with the jet trailing above a small city.

    He stood up within the jet, and kept it back on his inventory. With the jet beneath his feet disappearing, he started falling from the sky, but he didn''t react in fear.

    Two black wings appeared behind his back, and made him regain his balance once more. He gently landed on the ground, being caressed by the winds created from his wings.

    "This place looks like it went through a massacre. It''s completely unlike the previous city." Astralious was the first to comment, when he saw the entire street littered with corpses of people that looked worse than zombies.

    There were no serious wounds on their bodies, but many of them were still covered in black blood that they coughed out themselves.

    "Even death in large cities looks fancy, because it''s hidden behind a curtain made of glitter."

    Elias carefully treaded on the narrow street, which barely had any space left for him to step without landing on corpses.

    It looked like a very vague and distant memory, but he remembered running through these streets with his sister in arms. The street was just as bloody at that time, but there were a few less bodies here. It looked more crowded now.

    Astralious didn''t know what to say. He had always been feeling that something was wrong with Elias, every time earth was mentioned, as if it was deeply connected to his heart. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had already learned that this was the first time Elias came to this world, so what could the relation be? It didn''t make sense. Moreover, out of all the places on earth, why would he come to this place?

    Elias was a man that didn''t show such grief even when he killed people, as he did now for mere strangers. Something doesn''t feel ordinary, but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it.

    "Are you alright?" he asked Elias, who felt like he was a little too distant suddenly. Astralious didn''t know why, but he felt like Elias could simply disappear.

    "I am alright. It''s not my first time seeing blood. You don''t have to worry about it." Elias answered, as he continued treading through the street.

    After reaching the end of the street, he took the left turn and continued taking the same path, remembering every single thought that was going through his head when he was running through this place, trying to find a doctor.

    Everything was so different, yet it was still the same. In the past, he was just an insignificant person on earth, who couldn''t save even the person closest to him.

    And now, he was the descendant of the Ashborn Family that could decide the fate of small words with a single whisper. He was as strong as he could be, yet he couldn''t change the past.

    Even if he had all the power in the world, the past was the one thing that couldn''t be changed as it was what led him to this path in the first place.

    Even if he had the ability to change the past, it would only create a paradox that would eventually lead him down the same path. The things that were lost were forever gone.

    "Why are you walking in this dumpyard of corpses?" The two youngsters from the Creator Class also arrived, and landed behind Elias. "Is this the place you want to be our battlefield?"

    "Eww, my shoes got dirty in their blood! These bastards!" One of them said, almost stumbling on a corpse. In anger, he kicked the corpse, and sent it flying through a nearby building.

    "Who told you to walk through the trash? You should''ve been floating above them like me," the second boy smugly said, following after Elias while floating in the air.

    "These bastards are so annoying. If I had my body, I would''ve sent them to hell already," Astralious clicked his tongue, watching their pathetic behaviour that even made him upset.

    "I didn''t know that even you people had the concept of hell," Elias mumbled, ignoring the actions of the people behind him, even though it also angered him somewhat.

    "Why won''t we know about hell? Everyone knows about it. It''s a place as real as it can be. Don''t tell me you didn''t know about it either?" Astralious asked, but he didn''t get an answer from Elias.

    Instead, he saw Elias''s body suddenly tremble when he came to an abrupt halt.

 Chapter 188 - 188: Real or Imagination

    He looked at the neon sign on the nearby shop, which wasn''t lit anymore. On the other wall, there was a familiar graffiti, which was one of the last few things he had seen before his death.

    It was certainly the place where he had died, but something didn''t add up. He couldn''t find his body here. There were all the other bodies that had been present when he died in his first life. Only his own body was missing.

    His sister''s body was still there, looking just as bad as all the other bodies in the surroundings. Her clothes were covered in dirt, as her body was left here to rot in rain and water.

    Elias walked closer to his sister, and his gaze fell on the knife nearby. It was the same knife that he had used to stay himself.

    The knife had rust, but he couldn''t see any blood on it, even though the last thing he remembered from this place was it plunging in his chest.

    It was as if not only his body, but even his blood had been raised from existence. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Did someone clean up this place?" he mumbled, his pupils trembling. "No, why would anyone do it?"

    In this world, he was one of the millions of unclaimed corpses. There was no reason for anyone to take his body, or even clean up the blood from his knife. Even Dreke wouldn''t have been so considerate to do something like this.

    ''Did my transmigration completely erase my past? No, if that was the case, why would she be at the exact place? I was the one who brought her here.''

    His sister''s body was lying right before him. Still, his mind was thinking about his own corpse more than anything. Even he didn''t understand why he didn''t feel the same level of grief for his sister that he thought he would feel when he was here.

    No, there was grief in his heart. It just wasn''t prominent enough to distract his thoughts from the disappearance of his own body.

    He rubbed his forehead tightly, with the strength that could peel off the skin if he was an ordinary person.

    "What is wrong?" Astralious saw veins on Elias''s forehead become visible, as he kept rubbing his forehead. His gaze kept shifting between the girl''s body, and the knife next to it.

    "Do you recognise her?" he asked.

    Elias didn''t answer, but the question did bring him out of the frustrating phase. He closed his eyes for a moment, and took deep breaths.

    Although the question was still crawling in his mind, he tried to stop thinking about it, feeling as if he might go crazy if he didn''t.

    After a long time, he opened his eyes. The previous calm had returned to his gaze, but it came with coldness like never before. He had momentarily suppressed even more of his emotions to control his thoughts.

    He bent forward, and reached out his hand. Astralious thought that he was going to pick up the girl since he appeared to be affected after coming across her. But he was slightly taken aback when Elias simply picked up the rusted knife next to her.

    "Is there anything special about this knife?" he asked Elias.

    "I just have a feeling that this thing is very close to my heart," Elias turned the tip of the heart toward his chest, but he didn''t stab himself.

    He just tried to gain the familiar feeling of the past, that felt like a dream. Did it really happen? Or were these memories just somehow planted in his mind by someone? Was it even a transmigration in the first place?

    "Don''t you dare stab yourself with this," Astralious started panicking when Elias turned the knife towards him. The knife''s top was merely inches away from his chest.

    "I''m not going to kill myself. Stop being foolish." Elias waved his hand, and sent the knife in his inventory, feeling as if he needed to do a little more experimentation.

    After sending the knife back, he turned to the girl on the ground. His gaze was filled with a lot of conflict, as his emotions, thoughts, and memories all started having a conflict.

    He had suppressed his emotions to resolve the conflict, but the memories and the thoughts still made him feel confused. Was this girl truly his sister in that life?

    Was he a human from earth who had entered the body of Elias Ashborn? Or was he Elias Ashborn in the first place, who had just received some manipulated memories.

    Did he even bring this girl here? Or did she walk here alone, and the memories made it seem like he was responsible?

    ''I don''t know anymore. If it''s not real, then what is the purpose of these memories? To make me hate the Family even more? For me to lose a sense of belonging? Or am I just overthinking it?''

    He reached out his hand, and picked up the little girl in his arms, just like she had done in those memories.

    His eyes looked at the lifeless girl, but they were missing the sense of warmth that he had expected before coming here.

    ''I don''t know what is true, and what is a lie. But until I find out, I will assume those memories to be true, sister.'' He hugged the girl close to his chest, and his dark wings unfurled again.

    He soared into the sky, leaving a gust of wind in the sky.

    "Why is he taking that rotten corpse with him? Did he become a garbage collector as well?"

    "It doesn''t matter. Aren''t we here to get the points from him? There is only half an hour left in the timer. I will still follow him. Whoever kills him, will get the points!"

    The two children from the Creator Class also climbed back on their Summoned Beasts, and chased after Elias.

    The trip was very short for Elias, and only took ten minutes before he landed again.

 Chapter 189 - 189: Bigger than you can imagine

    He landed softly on a patch of overgrown grass, far from the alley filled with decaying corpses.

    This place was just as quiet, but it looked much cleaner than even the city, with not even a single lifeless body in the open.

    He looked down at the small, frail body in his arms. Real or not, this fragile girl deserved better than to rot unceremoniously in a filthy alley.

    With a heavy sigh that stirred the dust around him, Elias gently laid her down on the softest patch of grass. He didn''t have a shovel, but he didn''t need one.

    He extended his hand, and dark energy gathered around his fingers. He channeled his power into the earth, not with destructive force, but with careful control.

    The ground softened. Soul and small stones started rising, and were aside as if guided by an invisible hand, forming a small, neat grave. It was deep enough to protect her in the afterlife.

    Once the grave was ready, he carefully lifted the girl again. The coldness in his gaze flickered for a moment, replaced by a complex mix of sorrow, doubt, and a strange, distant sense of loss.

    Was this grief for the sister he remembered, or pity for an unknown child caught in the crossfire of a world he barely understood? He couldn''t be sure.

    ''Real or not,'' he thought, echoing his earlier resolve, ''You deserve peace.''

    He lowered her gently into the earth. Her dirty clothes seemed even more pathetic against the dark soil.

    For a moment, he hesitated. Should he say something? Offer some words? But what could he say? Apologies felt hollow, and promises felt pointless.

    The confusion clouding his mind stole any genuine sentiment he might have mustered.

    Instead, he simply stood, observing the still face for a final moment. Then, with another gesture, he commanded the soil to return.

    The soil flowed back into the ground, and covered the small body, tucking her away from the harshness of this world. He didn''t create a mound, or any trace that could be used by a stranger to find her.

    He left almost no trace, except for the disturbed patch of earth that would soon be overgrown like the rest. He didn''t want a marker. He didn''t want this place to be found. It was a secret between him and whatever truth lay buried with her.

    He remained standing there for a long time, the dark wings folded tightly behind him, looking lonely against the backdrop of crumbling ruins.

    The conflict in his mind hadn''t vanished. Burying her hadn''t brought clarity, only a sense of emptiness that he had lost even his past that he couldn''t completely trust. His identity itself was in question, along with his sense of self.

    "A graveyard? Why did he come here?"

    Two children from the Creator Class landed behind Elias, watching the traces of soil being littered around. It made them understand what had happened here.

    They had followed him while keeping their distance. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "He buried her," one whispered, sounding very confused himself. "Why? It''s just a corpse. And why specifically that girl? Does he know her?"

    "Who cares? Maybe he looked similar to someone he knew? It''s not as if an Ashborn would know someone from this trashy world," the other retorted back, his eyes fixed on Elias. "He wasted time. Look at the timer. Only fifteen minutes left. We should be ready."

    "Hah, I am always ready! Whoever gets him first, will own the points. Don''t come crying to me after I win."

    "You will win in no universe. Just you wait."

    Elias finally turned away from the unmarked grave. The coldness had fully returned to his eyes, which were sharper now.

    "You know why I didn''t stop you from following me?" Elias asked, his cold eyes staring down on the two boys.

    "Because you know that you are going to die anyways? What''s the point of resisting when you''re only going to lose. It would be such an easy score. Don''t think we don''t know how you killed the Professor!"

    "Exactly! The story of you cheating has already spread across the entire Academy! You used a treasure that you received from your family. As for your soul beast, it''s a pathetic low grade one. Do we even need to be scared of you?"

    "The only one we are serious about even a little, is the girl that has been sneakily following us, maintaining a distance of a few miles. After we deal with you, we will crush her as well as everyone else that came here!"

    "You seem very confident," Elias raised his head, and watched the timer which had only ten minutes left.

    The two boys had already had their Beats ready to chew him up the moment that timer hit zero. They didn''t even take him seriously.

    Elias rose into the sky again, and flew away from the cemetery.

    "You think you can run?" The two boys chased after him again, and inside a football field, surrounding Elias once more.

    The timer had only sixty seconds left now, with the test on the verge of beginning.

    "Although it''s useless, you can still try summoning your low grade beast. You still have a few seconds. Make it fun for us!" The boy said while his flaming lion roared loudly, taunting Elias.

    Meanwhile Elias simply stood there, with his arms crossed around his chest. Professor Helen landed before them.

    She placed a bracelet on his wrist. The same bracelet was placed on the others'' wrists before she disappeared, not sparing even a single glance to either side.

    Within a few seconds, she placed the bracelet around the wrist of children that were spread around earth, and returned to the sky next to Elten.

    "I am warning you. Don''t even try to help your brother," she reminded Elten one last time, who looked as carefree as ever, only watching the football field on an illusory screen.

    "You should worry about the others. It might be a bigger disaster for your class than you realize yet." Elten smirked, noticing something on the screen that Helen hadn''t noticed in her hurry.

 Chapter 190 - 190: Useful

    The countdown projected in the sky hit zero. The numbers vanished and were replaced by a single, sharp chime that echoed across the entire landscape.

    "Time''s up!" the boy with the flaming lion smirked.

    The lion lunged forward, leaving a trail of fire behind. Its claws aimed straight for Elias''s head.

    "He''s mine!" The Summoned Beast of the second boy materialized right behind Elias, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Two people targeted Elias, not even giving him a chance to call forth his Soul Beast. They were face to face with each other over who could get the points.

    The two beasts attacked Elias simultaneously, leaving no room for him to escape. The claws of both of them came straight for his life.

    The Shadow Beast that had teleported behind Elias was the first to reach him, his claws stabbing in the back of the boy. But his claws failed to penetrate deeper into the boy''s flesh for some reason.

    The Flaming Lion was different, but his claws couldn''t even reach the boy, who remained still in his place. Instead, it froze in place and turned around as its body started disappearing.

    Its connection with its master was suddenly disconnected, and the summon was being undone. He didn''t understand why his master was sending him back at such a time.

    It was only when he looked back, he understood that his master wasn''t sending him back. It was a forced removal of their link, because his master... had already died.

    Only a second had passed since he attacked, and his master was already lying on the ground. There was a hole in his head, and he was bleeding, unable to even put up any resistance.

    The Flaming Lion looked towards the stand, and finally noticed another presence in that place, especially in the direction where the hole in the boy''s head was pointing.

    A woman was sitting in the stand, holding a metallic object in her hand. And the object was now aiming in a slightly different direction.

    When he looked at the aim, he found the boy who was a friend of his summoner. The second boy looked fearful after seeing the death of one of them.

    He was looking around frantically, and even raised his master''s body to hide behind it. He didn''t tell his beast to stop the attack, as he was so close to success.

    The flaming lion wanted to see more, but with the connection with the summoner being removed, he was forcefully sent back, and disappeared into the unknown.

    The shadow beast behind Elias was still alive, but also confused when his claws failed to cut through Elias''s bones. Just what material were these bones made from that even he couldn''t cut through it?

    If he couldn''t hurt his bones, then he had only one choice. It was to ho for his throat.

    He turned into smoke, and materialized in front of Elias, and swung his claws once more.

    There was only one problem. The moment he looked at Elias, his body also froze. It wasn''t because his connection was cut. Instead, it was sheer fear when he looked at the pitch black eyes of Elias.

    He felt like Elias''s shadow was alive, and tried to devour him. As an intelligent beast, he jumped back in fear, and stopped attacks.

    The slight hesitation in its reaction was enough time for Lycorice to launch another attack. A faint bang resounded, and the second boy was struck. The bullet passed from one side of his head, and left from the other side.

    Even the human shield didn''t manage to help him. And just like that, the second beast also started disappearing. But his disappearance wasn''t so peaceful.

    When his body had just started disappearing, Elias stepped forward and grabbed the shadow beast by his throat.

    "You can see, can''t you?" he asked, his pitch black eyes looking straight into the depths of the beast''s soul. "You have good affinity. I will keep you for myself..."

    He tossed the disappearing beast down on the ground. The beast that had almost entirely disappeared touched Elias''s shadow, and disappeared completely.

    For everyone watching the scene, the beast had disappeared because the connection with its master was gone. Only Elias knew the truth.

    The beast had simply been sent back to the shadow domain by him, temporarily halting the forceful return of the summoned beast.

    After killing the two boys from the Creator Class that couldn''t use any class abilities, Elias raised his head.

    High in the sky, he saw a girl sitting on the shoulder of a humanoid soul beast.

    Elias had thought that his class abilities were going to be suppressed by the bracelet that was used by the Academy. He didn''t worry about that since he had already gained a few abilities that didn''t come from his class.

    To his surprise, his class abilities were also left intact, as he could still feel the creation control. He could also see the material composition of the surroundings.

    The bracelet had been completely ineffective on him, to the point that it didn''t matter if he had them or not. Still, he didn''t use any abilities that could be detected outright.

    He simply observed the girl in the sky, who had been following him along with the boys of the creator class.

    He raised his hand, and pointed at the girl.

    "Why is he pointing towards us?" The girl frowned. She wondered if he was calling them down, but she soon realized that she was wrong when she saw a silver object rushing towards her, reflecting light on the way up.

    It was so fast that she couldn''t even react. It was her Constellation that brought his hand forth, and blocked the bullet from hitting her.

    "That child... He is truly ruthless. Even though you two are from the same class, he is still targeting you?" The Constellation frowned. "Should I kill him? It would save us some trouble."

 Chapter 191 - 191: Utopia, the hidden strength

    "Do you think it''s that simple? Even if we kill him, we won''t get any points. And if we fail, we might die. I don''t think he has shown us everything that he has." The girl shook her head in hesitation.

    "But he tried to kill you. Can we let him go like that? Isn''t it better to just remove a competition? After you kill him, you will become the first rank in class."

    "I don''t think he was trying to kill me. He wouldn''t be foolish enough to not understand the strength of a Constellation when he comes from the Ashborn Family. It was more like a warning shot."

    "Should I give him a warning of my own then?" The constellation who had taken a completely human form asked, as an evil aura started rising around him.

    "Should we?" The girl truly started considering.

    Although she was cautious about Elias who had taken the first rank and killed a Professor, she also didn''t find it pleasing to run away after such a crass warning.

    After thinking for a long time, she eventually gave in. There were too many things that she didn''t know about Elias. He was the strangest person in the entire class.

    Although there were many rumors about him floating across the Academy about his undeserved first rank, she had always felt that something was off about him.

    She came here to see if she could actually find anything about him when he was challenged by others. But the battle ended so fast, that there was never any danger for that boy.

    "Let it go. We will wait for the others to challenge him. If he is truly anything special, it would be more interesting. But if he isn''t..." She mumbled, but she didn''t finish her sentence.

    She commanded the Constellation to turn around and leave. She still had to collect some points from the others that were coming to the second battlefield, while ensuring to leave just enough to threaten Elias.

    "She was wise to leave. If she had come down..." Astralious mumbled, feeling the heavy killing intent around Elias.

    After the girl left, Elias lowered his head to look at the two corpses before him. He walked closer to them, and checked their clothes to see if there were any useful Materials there or not.

    ....

    The sun had started setting, and no one else came to challenge Elias for the next few hours. He was sitting on the wall of the stadium, overlooking the small town that was covered under the heavy scent of blood.

    Astralious approached him and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

    "This world is said to have died. But there are still so many useful things left in this world. Only the life forms have disappeared. But every other thing is left perfectly in fact, as if frozen in time." S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What about it?"

    "I can''t bring a person back to life. But if it''s a lifeless world, is it still impossible?" He was looking at his own analysis screen, something that only he could see.

    His class was that of an architect, and Earth was no different than a utopia for someone like him.

    After the trial was over, this world was going to be left completely empty, and become a perfect place for him to revive this world as an Architect.

    "I don''t understand a single thing that you''re saying. Are you talking about turning this world into your own Territory?"

    "That''s right. A territory that can become my strength. A modern utopia that might be lifeless, yet something that could never be surpassed."

    "Hmm? It''s easier said than done. Where will you get the manpower to make it happen? It''s also not easy to surpass the upper world. The technology and the materials available on earth are still insignificant."

    Astralious shook the incredulous thought off. It was just a fleeting dream in his eyes. Even if an Upper World wanted to create a Territory like that, they would need to spend wealth that would take them hundreds of years to gather, and employ millions of people.

    "What even made you think of something like that?"

    "It''s just my class," Elias mumbled, gazing at his screen.

    His class did allow him to gain strength beyond the wildest imagination of others, but at the end of the day, it was still called that of an Architect.

    His class allowed him to fight, but was it truly what it was meant for? Did an Architect even need to fight personally? If he could truly use his class as it was conventionally meant to, he could draw out a thousand times more value.

    It might even make it easier for him to upgrade his class further. Only when a class was put to the right use, it could evolve without needing external resources.

    It was just like how a poison master could evolve when they surpassed their poison making skills. It didn''t need them to kill people, or to fight with others. It was more of an intellectual class than many people thought.

    It didn''t matter if his memories related to earth were real or not. But this was still a territory that didn''t have an owner.

    Unlike other worlds that went through apocalypses that left them ravaged, earth had only lost lives and nothing else.

    It was like a corpse master finding a perfect corpse that had died without having a single wound on their body.

    Astralious slapped the back of Elias''s head, but his hand simply passed through. "Enough thinking about such nonsense. It''s impossible."

    "Is it really impossible?" Elias placed his hand on the wall beneath him, and the material composition opened up before him.

    Everything pointed towards his link with lifeless things, as if the universe was trying to guide him down the right path. But he knew that Astralious was also right. The resources needed to fulfil his dream were astronomical.

    "Maybe in the near future," he mumbled, closing the material composition screen of the wall that was made of bricks.

 Chapter 192 - 192: Two Priorities

    It was the third day of the test, and the battle between the Soul Beasts and Summoned Beasts had just reached the high point with many cities being destroyed in their entirety while the battles shifted from one place to another.

    Many students were eliminated, but surprisingly, only a few were killed. Many from the Creator Class mainly preferred to suppress their opponents instead of outright killing them.

    It was their way to show their superiority as it was a harder thing to do.

    In the last three days, another group had come to target Elias, as if guided straight to him by someone. However, once again, they were unable to force Elias to reveal his secrets.

    After the third assault on him, no one else came to target him, as the second battlefield had only two people left, including Elias and a girl.

    Elias had been completely free for the last twenty four hours as he left the town. He occasionally looked at the sky, especially the Scrolls which showed the rankings of the students.

    Amongst the Destroyer Class, he was ranked second at the moment. The first ranked was the girl that he had met before.

    The gap between the third place and the second place was shrinking though, with only a few points left between them.

    "I don''t think you are going to get any more points here. Everyone who could be hunted here, has been hunted by you. At this rate, you would lose."

    Astralious felt more frustrated by the shrinking gap between Elias''s score and the score of third ranked student. He was more involved than Elias himself in this test.

    "Did you forget our main purpose in coming here?" Elias asked. "Taking the top rank is insignificant. If anything, that''s the least of my priorities. There are two bigger priorities."

    "I know one of your priorities is to create another identity. But what is the other priority?"

    "It''s to complete something that was left incomplete."

    "Complete something?"

    Astralious failed to understand what Elias was talking about. Did it have something to do with his plan to turn earth into his so-called utopia? Didn''t they already agree that it was impossible? How did it become his priority for this trip?

    "Are you talking about completing this world?" He asked, raising a frown.

    "Not at all. That would have to be a long term project. And the first step in that would be to eradicate the essence of death which is littered across this entire world."

    "How will you eradicate it? Wait a minute, by completing something incomplete, do you mean...?" It took Astralious a moment to understand. The moment he thought about it, he couldn''t ignore the possibility.

    He even wondered why he didn''t think about it first. This was truly something that he could only achieve on earth, because of the compatibility issues as the incomplete thing was born on earth.

    "Even if you complete her incomplete fable, it will only turn her into a middle tier Fable, right? Is it worth it!"

    "A middle tier fable wouldn''t be worth it. You are right. That''s why, I will throw something else into the mix. I have plenty of things in my storage after all. I should at least be able to bring her into the realm of a high tier fable, if not a Constellation."

    "This will also give us the distraction that we needed, to put our first priority into motion. Because I truly don''t like the fact that we are being watched constantly." Elias raised his head once more, and gazed at the moon.

    It was as if the moon itself was being used to spy on him. It was the entire reason he was using his thoughts to talk to Astralious in the first place.

    It was the fourth day of the test, and there were only twenty people left in the test, combined from each side. Time was slowly running out.

    "This should be the center, where most of the chaotic essence of death gathers." Elias had reached another country, which was covered in snow.

    He stood on a frozen lake, and called out Lycorice once more. The girl looked at him in confusion, before looking around to see if there were any threats.

    In the last few weeks, she hadn''t been trained in utilising her fable skills, which were pitifully weak. Instead, she was only told to master her marksmanship with the rifle that Elias gave her.

    The world of her training was not perfect by Elias''s standards, but by normal standards, she had already mastered it.

    "This place is beautiful." Lycorice said, taking in the beautiful sight where snow was spread for as far as the eyes could see.

    Beneath her feet, there was a lake that had frozen into a solid block of ice, but it was still somewhat transparent. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Lycorice had felt a familiar feeling the moment she was first called out on earth. But in this place, that feeling of comfort was most intense, something that even she didn''t understand.

    She had always felt that something was missing, but she could never put a finger on it. But when she stood in this place, that dreadful feeling grew much weaker.

    "This might hurt a little. But I''m doing this for your own good." Elias placed his palm on the girl''s forehead.

    Before she could ask him anything, she saw his lips move, and two words coming out of them, "Confirm Merger."

    The moment his words were spoken, it was as if a magical spell had covered the entire earth.

    The dark essence of death which had spread across this entire world after the death of billions of people, started rushing towards the girl like a flooding storm.

    Normally, that essence was barely visible. But when it was rushing, almost everyone was able to see it clearly.

    Many people even followed the essence to see if it was the work of some treasure or another competitor. Fortunately, the merger storm had also materialized.

    It shrouded Elias and Lycorice within, hiding them from the sight of the world, including the two demigods in the sky.

 Chapter 193 - 193: Switch

    "Hmm?" Elten had been keeping an eye on his nephew, but when that storm appeared, he wasn''t able to see his nephew anymore.

    Even with his godlike abilities, he wasn''t able to see through the storm which looked like it was made purely from the essence of this world.

    "Now that I think about it, that little spirit was born on earth and caught by Dreke, right? Is she going through a completion on her own? What an interesting little fable."

    "How can it be possible?" Helen''s reaction was much more incredulous. "Once the creation of a fable is interrupted, they are left as an incomplete fable. Even if they are brought to the same place again, nothing can happen. So how can it be now?" Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Just because we haven''t seen it happen before, doesn''t mean it''s impossible. Maybe it needs talent, as well as the right opportunity?" Elten mumbled, standing up from his throat.

    He disappeared, and materialised before the merger storm. He tried to walk inside the storm to see the complete process, trying to walk through the privacy curtain.

    "Hmm?" To his surprise, he was sent back flying the moment he touched the storm. He couldn''t simply pass through the storm without first destroying it.

    He believed that he could destroy this storm if he really wanted to, but that would interrupt the completion of the fable once more.

    In the end, he gave up the thought. After all, it was still a fable that belonged to his little brother. It wasn''t a good thing to interrupt the process, especially if it was such a unique process.

    He returned back to the sky, and sat on his throne next to Helen. "I look forward to the kind of growth this little spirit will have, if it can even push me back."

    He didn''t know that he wasn''t pushed back by the completion of Lycorice, but by the Merger Storm. And Elias would''ve wanted it to be that way.

    ..............

    Merger Completion Time: 23:59:01

    ..............

    "Almost an entire day for the merger? It''s a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be."

    Elias was somewhat pleased by the merger duration, although not quite satisfied since he wanted a longer duration.

    Still, twenty four hours was enough time for a distraction. It was enough for him to put his first priority into motion.

    With the merger storm lasting for an entire day, he didn''t have to worry about Lycorice''s safety. He had at least twenty four hours to put his plans into motion, and that''s exactly what he did.

    The merger storm stopped others from entering or leaving. But for him, it was no different than a thin veil that he could pass through any time he wanted.

    Still, he didn''t leave this place directly.

    He placed his fist on the layer of ice beneath his feet. A deep blue fire started burning under his fist, and melted the snow just enough to create an opening for him.

    He took off his clothes, and changed into the clothes of the Creator Class Students that he had killed. He jumped into the river, a thin layer of fire surrounding his body.

    The river kept melting as he swam through it, going farther from the merger storm.

    It was only after getting a hundred miles away from the merger storm, he swam up. He melted the surface of the ice again. His hand came out of the water, and the layer of flames was gone.

    He grabbed the ice, and pulled his body up. His clothes were drenched in cold water, but he still didn''t feel cold. After the merger with the Ice Phoenix Flames, his tolerance for low temperatures was much higher now.

    Just to be safe, he erased his presence as much as he could, using the Domain of Shadow and traveled even farther from this place.

    He traveled back to the small town where he had killed the students of the Creator Class. After killing the first few of them, he only knocked out the rest of them, and made sure that he was seen by the two Professors.

    Amongst those he left alive, there was one very particular person that had caught his attention, someone who was absolutely perfect for what he wanted to do.

    His Analysis Screen, and the information that he gathered through Astralious in the Academy further helped him narrow down the target from the Creator Class.

    It was a young boy, who was only two years older than him. He had a weak ability, and came from an ordinary mortal family.

    The reason he was even able to attend the Academy was because his family had once helped a previous graduate of the Academy.

    It made the graduate help him, but that was the extent of it and their connection was cut with the favor being repaid.

    His other target was a boy who was an orphan, and had no one to care about him. But something about him had made Elias suspicious, so he gave up on taking the identity of that person.

    He was also somewhat surprised to find out that it was that same person who was kidnapped by the Pirates. But that had nothing to do with him anymore.

    He soon reached the small abandoned building where he had stocked all those from the creator class that he had beaten up.

    He made it seem as if he did that only to insult the boys, but it was just the perfect place for him to stay out of everyone''s sight.

    Now that everyone''s attention was on the merger storm, and the city was already left empty, it couldn''t be any better for him.

    He entered the small house, and walked past the bodies of unconscious boys and girls that were still not saved by the Academy since the test was yet to be over.

    All of them had their Summoned Beasts being killed by him, which further removed anything that could give away the identity of one of them being fake.

    Still, not wanting to get any more burden, Elias went straight to the little boy that he had targeted.

    He grabbed the boy by his collar, and dragged him inside the shadow realm.

 Chapter 194 - 194: New Home

    Elias brought the unconscious boy inside the Shadow Realm, where he had created a special place.

    It was a small house that was made from plain wood, created right next to the lab where Dreke was trapped. He had further reinforced the wood with other elements, to make it almost impossible to break.

    He opened the door of the small wooden house, and dragged the boy inside.

    The house was small, and only consisted of two rooms. One was a room where a small bed was placed, which he stole from his own mansion at the Academy.

    There were also a few more things to make it feel like home, including some books that could be read to spend time and maintain sanity. There was an entire shelf created for the books.

    On the other side of the room, there was a dining table with a few chairs around it. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I still wonder, if we really needed to go this far for a simple captive. Won''t it be easier if you just killed him?" Astralious materialized and sat on a chair around the table.

    "That would be easier indeed, but I need him alive. I am taking his identity, and there are still many things that can go wrong. It''s better to have him alive."

    Elias placed the boy on the bed, and walked over to another shelf where he had kept reinforced shackles that had a one meter chain between them to allow the boy some mobility when it came to eating.

    He tied the shackles around the boy''s hands, but not before switching their clothes. He also took the rings of the boy, and even the accessories that he was wearing, including an earring on the left ear.

    "This is truly a hassle," Elias placed the small cross shaped earring on his left ear. He didn''t care about the small amount of bleeding from his ear when he wore the earring.

    The thing that truly worried him was that he might accidentally forget to take off the earrings or place it on his ears if switching back and forth with his identities.

    "I will try to not make such an obvious mistake. But if I''m switching back, and I forget to take this thing off, it''s your responsibility to remind me."

    He instructed Astralious, who was always with him, just to be on the safer side.

    Once he was finished changing clothes, there were only a few more things left to finish.

    The first thing was to take a blood sample of the boy for emergency cases, in case he ever needed to verify his identity with blood and couldn''t come to the shadow realm.

    He also took the identification token of the boy that was given by the academy. As it wasn''t linked to the soul of the person, it was easy for anyone to use.

    With that, he now has three identification tokens, with one belonging to the descendant of the Esterin Family.

    Once he finished changing clothes, there was only one thing left. It was to change his looks.

    Fortunately, that was even easier, as it was something that he had been something he was prepared for for a long time.

    He glanced at the boy, his facial features slowly transforming into the identical features to the boy.

    He could only make minor changes to his body, but that was enough to disguise as the boy who shared an almost similar physique, and somewhat similar facial features already.

    "How do I look?" He asked Astralious, even as he could see his reflection on the academy badge.

    "You looked better before. Now you look completely identical to that boy. It''s like looking into a mirror image."

    "That should be good enough." Elias tapped his forehead and extracted the sleeping poison from the boy''s body.

    He stepped back, and turned a chair around. Facing the boy, he sat on the chair and started waiting for him to wake up.

    A few minutes passed, before the boy''s eyelids trembled.

    "Hmm?" He slowly opened his eyes, feeling something soft like a mattress beneath him.

    For a moment, he thought that he was at the academy, forgetting about the test entirely. It was only when he regained his senses completely, he remembered that he was beaten by Elias.

    He suddenly sat up to analyze his surroundings, and when he did that, his eyes widened to find another person in the room. The person in this room looked identical to him. It was as if they were twins.

    "Who are you?" His eyes shifted to the earring around the boy''s ears, which belonged to him. Subconsciously, he touched his own ear and came to realize that he was missing his earring.

    Not just his earring, he was also missing many more things. He was wearing clothes that didn''t quite belong to him. And there were also chains around his hand, which only allowed his hands to be one meter apart from each other.

    "Is this a dream?" he asked, pinching his cheeks. Nothing that he was seeing here made sense to him. It could only be a dream.

    "It''s not a dream," Elias calmly answered. "But it would be easier on both of us, if you do treat it like a long dream."

    The pain felt too real when the boy pinched his cheeks. He was wide awake, and certain that this truly wasn''t a dream. But then why was he seeing his clone before him?

    "Do you have a shape-shifting ability?" the boy asked, his expressions slowly growing worse.

    "You can say that as well." Elias nodded.

    "Who exactly are you?" the boy asked. "And what do you want with me?"

    "Do you really need to ask that question, even though I haven''t even changed my voice yet?" Elias asked, clearly showing his disappointment. "Don''t tell me I knocked your senses off when I thrashed you?"

    "You! Elias Ashborn!" The boy''s pupils trembled, and he stood up in disbelief. The person who had taken his face, was the same person who had killed his Summoned Beast?

 Chapter 195 - 195: At least an arm

    The scene was still clear in his mind, where five of them had attacked Elias together. Thirty seconds... That''s all it took for the boy to take them down, and that''s when he didn''t even move from his place or use any abilities.

    From the start to the end, they didn''t even know how they were beaten. All they remembered was the pain, and the coldness on his face when their Summoned Beasts were dying.

    "You killed my Summoned Beast! Did you really think these shabby shackles could restrict me? I might not be as strong as you, but if I want to leave, you won''t be able to stop me in this closed space!"

    The boy pulled his hands to break the shackles that had tied his hands. The shackles looked ordinary, made from cheap iron. Even if he had lost his summoned beast, he was still strong enough to break it.

    At least that''s what he thought. The reality hit him differently when he heard the clanking sound of the chains that refused to break. Instead, it was his wrist that was hurting when he tried to break the shackles.

    "Why can''t I break them?" The boy thought, looking at the chains in disbelief. Was this not ordinary iron? Then what was it?

    He didn''t have time to think about this. If Elias had taken so much effort to restrict him, it couldn''t be anything good. He had to leave this place! He had to go to a place where the Professors could see him.

    He had already failed the rest, so he was sure that they would save him. Elias had already missed his chance to kill him in the test. Once he failed, it was too late to change his mind.

    As long as he could leave this place, he could escape whatever tricks the spawn of the Ashborn Family was planning.

    He rushed to the door, and slammed on it with his shoulder to break it. Once again, the outcome was the same. Let alone breaking the wooden door, he failed to leave even a single scratch on it.

    "You can''t escape this place. Wouldn''t it be better to just listen to me? It would be much better for you."

    "You crazy f*cker, what are you planning to do with by kidnapping me and taking my face? My family had sacrificed so much for this one chance! Do you think I would let you screw me over?"

    The boy flew back to Elias, raising his knee which went straight for Elias''s face. If he couldn''t break the door, at least he could break Elias''s face, who was also restricted by the Academy.

    His Soul Beast was not here yet. And even if he was to summon it now, it was still enough time for him to thrash him as long as he was fast enough.

    Elias clenched his fist, and brought it before his face, blocking the boy''s knee.

    The boy''s knees had connected, but not with Elias''s face. Instead, they connected with his fist. Elias wasn''t sent flying, instead, it was the boy who felt a sharp pain rising across his body.

    He could even hear the sound of his bones cracking, even though Elias had simply blocked and not attacked.

    "Arghh!" He cried in pain and fell to the ground, holding his knees.

    "I told you before. I don''t want you to die. But that doesn''t mean I won''t protect myself. The next time you attack me, I will rip apart at least a hand from you. I hope you won''t force my hand."

    "If you want me alive, then let me go! Or I will bite my tongue and kill myself!" said the boy with clenched teeth.

    "I don''t want you to die. But it doesn''t mean it''s necessary for you to live. If you want to kill yourself, you are free to do so. But at your level, just biting your tongue won''t kill you."

    Elias summoned a knife from his hand, and tossed next to the boy.

    "If you want to kill yourself, it''s easier to use the knife. Or you can use the knife to attack me. It will only cost you an arm. I don''t think your mortal parents would like that though. Maybe I should give them a visit after you''re gone..."

    Elias talked as if he was truly concerned about the boy, but he made it clear that it was a warning. It wasn''t just his life in his hands, but also the life of his parents.

    It was just a threat that he wasn''t going to fulfil even if the boy killed himself. There was no need to involve the mortals in this. Moreover, he was certain that the boy was going to choose wisely.

    "That look in your eyes. I like that. It seems you have made up your mind." Elias smiled, watching the boy clench his fist, even though the knife was right next to him.

    He didn''t want anything he wanted more than to slice Elias''s throat, especially after that threat. But he had a feeling that if he touched that knife, he was going to die.

    Even if Elias''s class abilities were supposedly sealed, there was still something overwhelming about him.

    He didn''t want to die. His parents only had one child. He was even planning to return to his parents after graduation and make them experience the true luxury of the Upper Realm.

    If he died here, then his parents were going to be all alone. And if Elias truly went to his parents... Just the thought sent chills down his spine.

    He didn''t think it was beneath an Ashborn. After all, the Ashborns were known to eradicate the seven generations of the people who offended them.

    He was disgruntled. Although it looked like he had a choice, it was clear that there was only one path before him.

    He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, and made a decision. He placed his hand on the ground, and lowered his head, his disheveled hair covering his expressions. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 196 - 196: When Im done

    "What do you want from me? I don''t have any wealth. I don''t have any treasures that I can give you. I don''t even have any influence at the Academy that can be used by you."

    "You don''t have to worry about your influence. When I am done, no one would dare to claim that they have more influence than you in the Academy, including the descendants of big families."

    Elias didn''t want any treasures. He didn''t even want any wealth or influence. He already had enough of it. What he wanted was a somewhat blank slate, which was exactly what the boy had.

    "You..." The boy raised his head, finding Elias''s words strange. His eyes looked through the gaps in his disheveled hair with suspicion.

    "There is only one thing I want from you," Elias said, ignoring the suspicious look.

    "And what is that?"

    "Just stay in this place, and don''t create any trouble. In this place, you won''t lack food to eat. You can also read the books that are available here to keep you entertained."

    "You just want me to stay here? For how long?"

    "I am not certain. Maybe a few months? Or maybe longer. It''s an unknown territory for me as well. So I can''t answer for certain."

    "If I go missing, won''t the Academy try to find me?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that either. I will take care of it." Elias pointed at his face. "The Academy won''t even know that you went missing."

    "You..." The boy raised a brow. "So that''s why you need to keep me hostage. You want to take my identity at the Academy. I don''t know what you are planning, but I will cooperate. I only need one promise from you."

    "To not touch your family?"

    "To not touch my family."

    Elias and the boy spoke at the same time, but the essence of their words were the same.

    "As long as you stay here like a good boy, you don''t have to worry about the safety of your family." Elias stood up, having reached an understanding with the boy faster than he expected.

    Just as he had thought, the easiest way to convince someone was to use threats. No one wanted to lose things that were most precious to them.

    It was a weakness that everyone had, irrespective of the fact if they were humans or gods. Only people like him, who had already lost everything that they truly cherished, were free of this weakness.

    Elias waved his hand, and many delicious dishes appeared on the table. "You can try eating it if you are hungry, unless you''re worried about it being poisoned."

    "If you want me dead, you can kill me already. You won''t have to go as far as to poison me." The boy stood up. The chains around his hands made noise when he walked closer to the table.

    "I will come here regularly to check up on you. So I will remind you one more time. Don''t do anything stupid." Elias opened the door and left the room.

    The boy watched the door being closed. He was left all alone in this place, not even knowing how long he was actually going to be imprisoned for.

    ....

    After separating from the boy, Elias stepped inside another structure that was inside the Shadow Realm. It was the lab that belonged to his brother.

    Inside the lab, he saw his brother who was still seething in pain. He hadn''t been able to sleep a single second for weeks, as the torment kept him awake.

    His skin had turned completely dark, and there were wrinkles all over his body. He had aged a lot in the last few weeks, and even his hair had turned white. He looked like an eighty year old, with the physique of a teenager.

    "How have you been doing, brother?" Elias walked closer to Dreke, whose eyes had lost any focus, but he was still struggling like a wild beast. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    His lifeless eyes only reacted when they heard Elias''s voice, and seemed to regain focus for a brief moment before returning to the usual state due to pain.

    "I did promise you that I would grant you death when I reach earth. But looking at your state, why is it that I want to keep you alive longer? Is it because killing you here is too merciful for you?"

    "Or is it because..." He mumbled something, but he didn''t complete his sentence. He turned his back on his brother and walked over to the desk.

    He started playing with other poisonous materials, and filled the syringe once more before returning to Dreke.

    He slowly inserted the syringe in his resisting brother''s arm, and emptied it in an instant.

    He kept the syringe back on the desk, and left the lab, but not before further reinforcing his brother''s shackles, along with the table on which he was lying.

    After leaving the shadow realm, Elias extracted the sleep poison from the body of the other children.

    He tied his own hands, although in a shabby manner. After he finished, he lied on the ground and closed his eyes.

    The children of the Creator Class slowly started waking up. All of them had lost their Summoned Beasts, and their class abilities were sealed by the bracelet. But a few of them still had higher strength than ordinary people.

    They quickly broke off the rope that tied their hands, using raw strength. They also freed the other children that couldn''t free themselves.

    Elias also matched the timing, and ''woke up'' right around that time. He pretended to break off the ropes, and stood up.

    "Where are we?" A girl asked, rubbing her forehead. "I remember fighting that damned Ashborn child. Did he leave us alive?"

    "Hmph, did you think he would kill us? He must have been scared. Even if he''s an Ashborn, he can''t kill too many people, or he would offend everyone."

    "Isn''t he the one who killed a Professor? Would he really be scared of killing too many of us here?"

    "Of course he would. Isn''t there a difference between a mere professor, and us? I am a descendant of a Founding Family. I have a backing that a mere professor doesn''t."

 Chapter 197 - 197: The Factions

    "It must be true! There is no other reason for him to leave us alive." The children stood proudly, with their chest pumped up.

    "Wait, I understand why he left us alive. We are from the founding families. But aren''t there a few people here who are from trashy families with no backing?"

    There was only one person who raised a question, casting a side glance at Elias. His question also made others turn to Elias.

    "That''s right. Isn''t he from a commoner family? We didn''t even bring him with us. He just followed us like an idiot. Why is he alive?"

    "It must be because Elias thought he was with us. He must''ve confused him with another descendant."

    "So this bastard simply got lucky, huh." S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "His luck isn''t bad. First he managed to enter the Academy, despite being a commoner. And now, he survived because he was confused with someone he''s not?"

    "That aside, wasn''t Elias a bit too much of a monster? Is he really someone who awakened an Auxiliary Class? I didn''t even see how he defeated us."

    "He must have used another treasure. That bastard is just using the help from his family to dominate. If I start using my family''s treasures, I won''t be weak either. It''s a pity that all the treasures that I brought with me were robbed by those pirates."

    The group soon forget about the person whose identity Elias had taken. They shifted to talking, or rather insulting Elias who had defeated them, trying to feel better about their loss.

    They left Elias behind, and stepped out of the building. They had already lost in this test, and they didn''t even gain a single point. Despite that, they couldn''t leave this place until the test was completed for everyone.

    They simply wandered around the city, occasionally looking at the scores in the sky.

    The first name in the scroll had almost stabilized. In the Creator Class, the first ranked name didn''t surprise anyone. They already expected that person to dominate this test.

    What truly surprised the people, was the ranks of the Destroyer Class.

    In the initial phase, the top rank was dominated by Elias Ashborn. But now, he was already out of the top ten in his class rankings. His score had stopped increasing entirely, while the others kept increasing their score and rising above his name.

    Many were curious about him, including those from the Creator Class. How could he rise so fast at the start, and then stop completely? Just what was that person doing? Had he already given up on the test?

    The Professors were the only ones that didn''t find it surprising, since they knew that Elias was caught inside the storm that was caused by his Soul Beast.

    As long as he was inside the storm, he couldn''t defeat any opponent, even though many of them had gathered around the storm.

    In the initial phase, there were only two battlefields created between the students, which increased to more than ten as time went on. But now, there was only one battlefield for everyone who had survived until now.

    Children from almost all battlefields had travelled to the frozen North, where all the chaotic essence of this world was moving.

    It was their curiosity which led them there, as they thought that some kind of heavenly treasure was forming in this world. For that, they stopped their battles.

    The children soon reached the storm, and many of them tried to enter it to see the so-called treasure. There was only one problem. No one could get past the storm, especially none of their beasts.

    Their own class abilities were sealed, so they couldn''t even use their special skills. In the end, they could only give up on the storm for now.

    Almost every survivor in the test was present at the same place, and with nothing better to do, they turned this entire place into the last battlefield to increase their scores and put an end to this test.

    Everyone was gathered here, and they didn''t have to worry about searching for the opposite side. It also made solo battles impossible for many, and it eventually became a faction war.

    The faction of the Creator Class was on one side, and the faction of the Destroyer Class on the other side. After rejecting the proposal of working together, eventually everyone was led to the same choice and this time they didn''t reject it.

    The first rankers of both sides led their factions, and each faction had people that were responsible for tactics to win without causing too many losses.

    Even the people who had lost their Beasts, had arrived in the North, as this was the place where most action was taking place. Even if they had lost their Beasts, they still wanted to see the main battle unfolding with their own eyes.

    Elias had also arrived, disguised as a person from the Creator Class.

    "This should be the right place..." he mumbled, looking at the storm in the distance.

    The camp of the Destroyer Faction was created in the east of the storm, and the Creator Faction had taken the area on the western side of the storm to establish their camps.

    "Should I go crush the Destroyer Class right now? No, it would look a little off if I showed off the Flames of Ice Phoenix after hiding it for so long. I need to give the Professors a good show... A situation where I had no choice but to use it..."

    Elias followed the group of people that were beaten by him. Even though he had heard their taunts repeatedly about following them like a coward even now, he hadn''t cared about them.

    He followed the group, and went to the Campsite of the Creator Class, which was more affirming to his disguise.

    Throughout the way, Elias kept thinking about the best way for him to create a situation where he could justify using the flames that he didn''t use even when he had his Summoned Beast killed by ''Elias''.

 Chapter 198 - 198: The Reason

    Elias arrived at the Creator camp, which was heavily protected. Summoned Beasts could be seen all around the campsite, patrolling regularly.

    Only those from the Creator Class were allowed an entry into the camp. The students didn''t stop Elias from entering, believing him to be one of them.

    After entering the camp, Elias was able to see even more students of the Creator Class. All of them had truly gathered at the same place.

    Most of the students in those places were those that hadn''t lost their Summoned Beasts yet. But there was also a small minority that had managed to survive, despite losing their Beasts.

    Even though those students were allowed to stay in the camp, they were also looked down on. Even the descendants of the big families that had lost their Beasts, were looked down on by the other descendants.

    Most of the top rankers in the Destroyer Class killed those that were defeated at their hands. If someone had survived, it was believed that they either lost against the lower ranks, or they begged for their life after losing.

    It made everyone look down on them, without even knowing the reality. They weren''t even invited for any strategy meetings. They were just seen as a burden, more than anything.

    "How long are we going to wait? Can''t we just have an outright battle and kill them all? What''s the need to be so cautious?"

    "It''s probably because the top rankers from our side are being cautious. The stronger you are, the more scared you are about losing your life. So it isn''t that surprising."

    "So basically they are just cowards."

    "Shhh! Don''t speak that loudly! If anyone heard you, I would also be screwed with you! Don''t drag me down with you if you have a death wish!"

    Inside the camp, there were many people who were growing tired of waiting, and having these small-scale battles while the top rankers simply stayed back.

    Most of the students didn''t even have hopes of clinching the top rank. They just wanted to survive until the end, and get back faster. The more that end was being delayed, the more restless they felt.

    Slowly, yet steadily, the anger was starting to be diverted to the top rankers. It wasn''t just the case in the creator faction. The Destroyer Faction had the same state.

    "Are we still not going to do anything? The lower ranks are starting to talk about us. I don''t know about you, but I don''t like being called a coward."

    "Why do you let the words of the insignificant ones affect you? We aren''t here to please them. We are here to win!"

    "Do you think we will win while sitting back on our asses?"

    The restlessness in the camp was something that was noticed by higher ranks as well. There was also a split in opinions at top rank about the strategy they needed to follow.

    One side was adamant on one battle to end it all. While the other side wanted to use their tactics to reduce the chances of failure. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Both sides were equally strong amongst the top ranks, especially since the First Ranker hadn''t taken any sides yet.

    "Do you think we don''t know that?! The only reason we are even acting cautiously, is because we don''t know the whereabouts of that boy. Until now, Elias Ashborn hasn''t shown himself."

    "Without him on their side, our side is a little stronger. We have lost less people than them. But if he is included, then we are on the weaker side at the moment."

    "Isn''t that all the more reason to take action? We should finish it before Elias joins them."

    Even if Elias was out of the top ten ranks in his test, the Creator Class was paying particular attention to him, especially since he held the first rank in the initial phase of this test.

    His name was still lit brightly in the scroll, which meant that he still hadn''t been caught.

    "What if this is their trick? Maybe he is already with them. What if they are simply trying to lure us, and make us underestimate them?"

    "If they had that boy, why won''t they just attack us? So you think they are so clever and patient that they would come up with a plan like this?"

    "We can never underestimate them. In this test, we absolutely can''t afford to lose. It''s a question of our dignity. We need to consider all possibilities. We can''t be hasty?"

    The back and forth between the two sides continued for over an hour, and they still didn''t reach a decision.

    "In that case, why don''t we do this?" someone said. "Why don''t we send someone to find out if they have Elias or not?"

    "You mean you want someone to sneak inside their camp and investigate? Won''t it just be sending them to their deaths? We can''t afford to lose more forces."

    "Who said we need to send those who can fight? Aren''t there a few who are useless to us anyway since they already lost their Beasts?"

    "That..."

    "Their class abilities are already sealed, and they lost their Beast contracts. They won''t be detected by their formations. They can sneak inside that camp more easily."

    "It does sound feasible. But will they agree?"

    "Do they have any other choice? It''s for the greater good."

    "I agree. We should make use of them."

    "I agree as well. It''s better than waiting here for god knows how long."

    "I second the motion."

    The two sides that were initially divided, finally agreed to something in the second hour of their discussion, and came to a conclusion.

    It was that they needed to make use of the students that had already been defeated once, yet managed to survive.

    ....

    Elias arrived in the camp, still thinking about ways to give him the reason to show off. He had thought of a few possible methods, and all of them required making use of the top rankers in this camp.

    Fortunately, he didn''t even need to put any of the plans into action as he was given a great reason right after he stepped inside.

 Chapter 199 - 199: Good Cop, Bad Cop

    He had barely stepped into the camp when a few students came, and intercepted him and the others that he was accompanying.

    They were led to a tent, where the second and the third ranker were present.

    They were informed of the plan, where they needed to sneak inside the enemy camp and gather information about the whereabouts of Elias Ashborn.

    Quite a lot of students that were forcefully selected for this mission, raised a voice against it. None of them were willing to take part in this suicide mission.

    Their voices of resistance only fell on deaf years. The only few people amongst the so-called ''losers'' that managed to avoid being forcefully recruited, were the descendants of the major families.

    Even after they had lost their Summoned Beasts, and were locked down on, they were still given a choice. If they wanted, they could stay out of the mission.

    Those that didn''t have any significant backing, weren''t given any such choice. Hence, only those who came from mediocre families and had lost their beasts, were included in the infiltration group.

    Elias was also part of the group, and he also tried to oppose this decision, even if it was just for show. Deep down, he was quite pleased that he was selected.

    After all, he was being sent to the enemy territory. As long as he was in the enemy camp, and was ''caught'', he had complete reason to reveal his ice phoenix flames.

    As for why he didn''t use these flames in front of Elias, he thought of a valid reason for that as well.

    He had already thought of an explanation for that. The reason he didn''t use Ice Phoenix Flames was because he was taken out before he could even use it. It happened so fast, that he didn''t even have time to use the flames.

    It was also a decent excuse since he had taken out Kaelen almost instantly in that battle, without giving him a chance to even utter a single plea for mercy.

    Just as he wanted, their resistance was completely ignored by higher ranks. Moreover, those who made the most noise were also beaten by those from the higher ranks.

    One of the boys that kept saying that he wasn''t going to take part in this suicide mission, recieved a punch straight to his gut which made him cough blood.

    The boy fell to the ground, holding his stomach and groaning in pain. But the punishment didn''t stop there. The second ranker also kicked him, making the pain even worse.

    "Did you think I was requesting you all? You bastards have already lost to them once. I am giving you one more opportunity to redeem yourself and help our side. And you are still being a coward?"

    "You don''t have a choice in this matter. This is an order, and not a request. If you think you will die if you go there, then just know."

    "If you don''t go there, you will definitely die at my hands! If your family has any problems with it in the future, they can come and complain to my family if they dare!"

    The third ranker revealed a little more compassion, even though it was only on the surface.

    He stopped the second ranker, and said, "Let me talk to them."

    He helped the boy who was groaning in pain, and placed a healing medicine in his mouth.

    "I am strong, but he is stronger than me," he said. "I cannot stop him if he wants to kill someone. So please don''t sacrifice your life. If you infiltrate that place, you still have a high chance of surviving. But if you don''t, then you are almost certain to die at his hands."

    His voice was filled with kindness, as if he was talking to a friend and trying to help them. But deep down, he was only threatening the boy in the guise of compassion. For Elias, who was watching silently, it felt like a good cop bad cop tactic.

    "Will you go to the Enemy Camp?" the third ranker asked as he helped the boy stand on his feet once more.

    With no other choice, the boy nodded. It was true that he was definitely going to be killed here if he rejected once more. His family couldn''t even raise any complaints if he died at the hands of these people.

    At this moment, he was completely regretting coming to this camp after losing his beast. If he had just stayed back, and waited until the test ended, he could have survived until the end. But his greed got the best of him, and he was stuck in this harsh reality.

    "Good boy." The third ranker smiled, and patted the shoulders of the boy. He raised his head, and his gaze swept over everyone else. "Does anyone else have a problem?"

    Almost every other person lowered their heads. Although many here had a problem with this, but they couldn''t raise those problems without being beaten. They could only silently accept this decision, no matter how brutal it was.

    "Good. Then it''s final. You will infiltrate the enemy camp tonight. And your mission is simple. You just need to find out the whereabouts of Elias Ashborn, and the current strength of the Destroyer Faction."

    "When you return alive after succeeding, you will be rewarded heavily. You will personally be granted a high ranking treasure. And you will also be given another opportunity to contract with a Summoned Beast with our help. So I hope everyone gives their all to it."

    After getting the stick, a carrot was hanged before them, to give them a reason to come back alive. Even if they were forced to this mission, the top rankers wanted them to give it their all.

    For that, they even decided on a reward that they were going to give to the person that could bring the most accurate information without dying.

    With so many people selected, they were certain that at least one might be able to return alive, since all of them were given a different route to take during infiltration. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 200 - 200: Roleplay

    As the meeting concluded, the selected students were separated from the rest. They were given some basic instructions on how to avoid detection and what to look for.

    Most of the students looked dejected and terrified. Their faces were pale with the realization of the danger they were in.

    Elias, on the other hand, acted appropriately scared, but inside, he was already formulating his next steps.

    He needed to make sure he was "caught" in a way that would allow him to reveal his flames without raising too much suspicion. It needed to be a perfectly natural and unavoidable situation.

    Later that evening, under the cover of darkness, the infiltration group set out. Each of them was escorted by a ranker of the Creator Faction, as far as possible without being detected.

    Elias was given the north point for information.

    "This is as far as I can take you. If I go any farther than this, they would be able to detect me. The traps are especially made to detect the Summoned Beast energy."

    The boy pushed Elias forward, and said, "From this point onwards, you need to go alone. The traps can''t detect you, since your Contracted Best is dead. But don''t underestimate the enemy, and still try to be cautious."

    The boy gave Elias more reminders to be safe, but not because he was worried about his safety. It was purely for his own benefit.

    Elias had no choice. The boy watched him enter the territory of the Destroyer Faction in the darkness of night. He didn''t leave as he was worried that Elias might run back out of fear instead.

    "Your life and death doesn''t matter. But I really hope you survive, and get us the information that we need."

    Only after Elias disappeared in the distance, the boy finally turned around and left. He wasn''t sure which of the selected ones was going to succeed, if any.

    "To think that a day would come where you would have to search for information about your own whereabouts." Astralious snickered behind Elias, finding it amusing that Elias was sent to search for himself. "So, how are you planning to get caught?"

    "Who says I''m planning to get caught?" Elias answered, without much of a reaction.

    "Are you not? How will you be forced to reveal your abilities then?"

    "It depends on how capable those people are. If they fail in finding me without me trying to be caught, then I would be quite disappointed. I really hope it won''t come to that."

    Elias travelled under the curtains of night, making as little noise as possible. It was as if he truly had no intention of getting caught.

    Whenever he heard the sound of footsteps, he hid himself and waited until the sound of footsteps grew distant. He was also helped by Astralious, who alerted him if there was any Constellation or Soul Beast nearby, making him hide his presence even more fiercely.

    He moved with extreme caution, but along the way, he did hear some explosions in the distance. There were multiple bright flashes, tens of miles away from him. The explosions were coming from the directions that were selected by the others to infiltrate.

    "It hasn''t even been a few hours, and most of them are already caught?" Astralious frowned. "If any of them are taken alive, won''t they know the exact number of infiltrators? The security would be strengthened. Did you expect it?"

    "They lasted much longer than I thought. With their class abilities sealed, and their summoned beasts dead, they were no different than ordinary people. It was only a matter of time before they were caught."

    Elias didn''t stop moving, especially since most of the attention was in the other direction at the moment. He quickly sprinted through the ice, and rushed to the camp before the security could be strengthened.

    The last five hundred meters were the hardest to cover, as there was no space to hide. There weren''t even any snow peaks like before, as everything had been cleaned and the area flattened.

    If he tried moving through this place, he was sure that he was going to be detected. It was a foolish thing that someone who wanted to hide his abilities would never do.

    "Is there no other way to enter?" he mumbled, his eyes shifting from one place to another. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The only way he could think of, was to dig through the snow beneath his feet and create a tunnel. For someone with his physical strength, it wasn''t a hard thing to do.

    Even if Kaelen''s class abilities were sealed, his strengthened physique was still there. It wasn''t suspicious for him to dig, and that was exactly what he did.

    He started digging through the snow, and created a small tunnel. It took much of his time, but eventually, he was successful, as he didn''t need to dig a deep tunnel. He just had to hide himself from being detected under the snow.

    He came out of the Tunnel after reaching the camp, only when Astralious told him that there was no one else nearby.

    "Hah, I thought I was going to suffocate." He came out of the group, his clothes still covered in snow. He was gasping for breath, being under snow for such a long time.

    Once he was out, patted the snow off the clothes that were given to him by the Creator Faction. These clothes were taken by them from the Destroyer Class students that were caught, and were merely means for a disguise.

    He quickly closed the hole in the ground. Even as he was wearing the clothes of the Destroyer Faction, he still didn''t make his presence known publicly. His face was still that of Kaelen.

    He moved even more cautiously now that he was inside the enemy camp. Along the way, he heard many students talking with each other, and there was often the mention of Elias Ashborn.

    Many students were speculating about his whereabouts. By now, he hadn''t met the top rankers but he already verified that Elias was not in the camp, something that he knew better than anyone in the first place.

 Chapter 201 - 201: Just getting started

    "So he is not here," Elias said, making Astralious look weirdly at him.

    "Cough, aren''t you a little too into this roleplay?"

    Elias ignored Astralious''s words, and maintained the persona.

    "I have received the information that Elias isn''t here. Now all I need to know is the current strength of the Destroyer Faction."

    He moved from one part of the camp to another, occasionally writing down something in a diary that he was given. It included the names of the people that he had seen in the camp, along with their ranks on the scroll.

    "There are not as many as I thought there would be."

    While performing reconnaissance, he soon reached the Central tent, which was the last step on his journey. It was also the place where the top rankers from the Destroyer Faction were gathered.

    The security here was also the weakest, since no one knew that an infiltrator had already managed to enter the camp.

    Elias moved closer to the tent, and sat behind it. He closed his eyes, and lowered his head, pretending to be a student of the Destroyer Faction that had just fallen asleep here out of exhaustion.

    As long as his face wasn''t seen, then even if someone saw him here, they wouldn''t suspect him. At least that was his plan.

    He kept his head down, and used his heightened senses to hear what was being said inside.

    "Have you still not found the whereabouts of that person?" A man''s voice came, raising a question.

    "Do you think it''s child''s play? In such a vast world, he could be anywhere. I can''t even use my Class Abilities to find him because of this damned bracelet."

    "We have been waiting for such a long time, thinking that he will come here. If we could work with him, we would definitely be much stronger."

    "Aren''t we overestimating him? Doesn''t he just have a low tier soul beast? I can kill his soul beast with a single slap with just my physique alone."

    "His Soul Beast might be weak, but that doesn''t mean he is weak. Didn''t you see how fast he rose through the ranks at the start? It''s impossible based on the strength of his soul beast alone."

    "He must have given some treasures to his pathetic soul beast to increase her strength."

    "Weren''t all the treasures taken by a Pirate? How did he manage to protect his treasures? Where did he even hide them?"

    "I don''t know. All I know is that he somehow protected his treasures. If he works with us, and shares some of them with our soul beasts, we would have an even bigger advantage."

    "Of course we will. Our soul beasts are stronger than his. They can put those treasures to a much better use than a trashy low tier could. That''s why we had been waiting for him to arrive."

    "Could it be that he already expected this? He is scared of being robbed by us, so he didn''t come here?"

    "I wouldn''t put it beneath him. It''s no wonder his ranking didn''t increase after everyone had gathered here. It''s because he is scared of even coming here."

    "If he doesn''t come, then what''s the point of waiting? We should give up and just attack the enemy ourselves."

    The back and forth in this place was similar to the one that took place in the Creator Camp. Even the reason was the same person. Just that the perspective was different.

    "What do you think?" All the top rankers in the room looked towards the girl who held the first rank of the scroll.

    "I wanted to wait for him. I thought he would be able to show me something interesting. But if he doesn''t come, then I can only give up." The girl sighed, disappointment evident in her eyes.

    She wanted to see just what Elias was capable of. That''s why she even sent a few people to kill him. Everytime she did that he came out on the top without even revealing his true depths.

    After that, he just disappeared and she couldn''t find him. She came here when the strange signs started appearing, expecting Elias to also arrive at this place. But it didn''t work.

    "We will wait until tomorrow morning. And if we still can''t find him, then we will take matters into our own hands. It''s time we end this test, once and for all."

    As the current leader of the Destroyer Faction, she agreed with the decision of the majority. Once she was done, she left the tent, accompanied by her Constellation. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''Wait for me, huh. Unfortunately, I won''t be coming anytime soon.'' Elias raised his head. He had received every information that he needed to make this performance realistic.

    He stood up, and walked away from the tent of the top rankers. He walked to the North, to take the same route back that he had taken to come to this place.

    He looked around to ensure that he wasn''t followed. He soon entered the tunnel, and left through the exit on the other side.

    "It looks like they didn''t disappoint you." Astralious smiled, the moment Elias came out from the tunnel.

    The first thing he saw were the slender legs of a person, who was standing before him. He raised his head, and saw the face of the person. His expressions became darker.

    It was someone that he had seen before. It was the same girl, who held the top rank right now. She was also the one that had followed him to his town.

    The girl wasn''t alone here. He also felt more presence. When he turned his head around, he saw that more people from the Destroyer Class had gathered here.

    Almost everyone from the top tan ranks was gathered here, as if they knew where he was going to come out from.

    "Did you get the information that you wanted?" The girl asked, looking down on Elias who hadn''t yet completely crawled out of the snow.

    "I surrender." Elias raised his head, making it evident that he had no intention to fight.

    The girl clapped her hand. The constellation behind her waved his hand, and Elias''s body flew out of the snow.

    "Oh, but we''re just getting started." The girl smiled.

 Chapter 202 - 202: Trap

    Elias dropped on the snow when the force stopped controlling his body. A Constellation appeared behind him, and grabbed his wrists, pulling his arm behind him.

    His arms were tied behind his back, and he was made to stand up.

    "I have already lost my Summoned Beast. I am not a threat to you. I was just forced to come here," Elias said, his expressions growing painful.

    "I know that you lost your beast. I also know who killed your Beast. As for your threat, that was never our concern," the girl answered, not having the slightest fluctuations in her expressions.

    "Then can you let me go?" Elias asked with hopeful expressions. Unfortunately, the situation was getting less optimistic with each passing second. The people here didn''t look like they were willing to let him go. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Should we kill him?" a boy asked. "There is no point in keeping him alive."

    Elias was nothing weak in their eyes, but he was still someone from the enemy camp. They didn''t know how much information he had gathered about them, but even if he didn''t know anything, there was still no point in letting him live.

    "Is it finally the opportunity that you were waiting for?" Astralious smirked next to Elias. If they actually tried to kill Elias, then he truly had an opportunity to reveal himself. It was as realistic as the situation could get.

    "Huh? What?" A few minutes later, Astralious looked blankly at Elias. They were not killed. Instead, they were brought back to the Destroyer Faction, and imprisoned inside a tent with his hands tied behind his back.

    The tent that was chosen to keep him imprisoned wasn''t an insignificant camp either. It was the main tent in the camp, which was at the heart of it.

    "They didn''t try to kill you? Just how useless can they be? Are they really from the Destroyer Class?"

    Astralious complained non-stop, as they were trapped instead of being killed.

    "They are not kind enough to let me live for no reason. They must be planning something." Elias was as calm as ever, sitting inside the camp.

    He was certain that he was being used by them. But he didn''t know exactly how. Just what were they planning?

    ....

    Meanwhile, on another side of the camp, there was another spy from the Destroyer Class who was captured. But he was also not killed.

    He was also captured, but the restraints around his hands were much weaker than the ones used for Elias. They were such that anyone with slightly higher strength could easily break them.

    "The bastards from the Creator Faction keep sending these useless spies. Did they really think that we can''t catch them?"

    Outside the tent where the second spy was kept, a few guards were assigned that talked amongst themselves.

    "If only Lord Elias wasn''t injured, and needed time to heal, we would''ve already destroyed their camp."

    "How long will it take for Lord Elias to heal?"

    "I heard that he should be healed in a day. Once that happens, we will flatten their camp."

    "Ah, no wonder the other rankers are so relaxed. With Lord Elias working with us, we will definitely win."

    "But if Lord Elias is injured, shouldn''t we strengthen the security around the tent? He''s staying in the central tent, but there is no one guarding him. Is it really fine?"

    "What are you worried about?"

    "Isn''t it still dangerous? After all, the other rankers are going to be away from camp tomorrow. They are going to search for things that could help fasten Lord Elias''s recovery. We would be at our weakest then. I still can''t help but worry."

    "Do you think that the enemies would barge right inside our camp? How can they know about it? We have already captured all the spies."

    The conversation of the guards was heard by the second spy, who was also in shock. The Destruction Faction had such a weakness? They truly had Elias, but the reason they didn''t attack was because he was injured?

    The more explosive news was that the top rankers of the camp weren''t going to be here tomorrow. Isn''t that the perfect opportunity for the Creator Camp to flatten this place and capture Elias?

    If he could return with this information, then he was going to be hailed as a hero. He could already look forward to the rewards he was going to receive from the rankers of his camp.

    The Guards kept talking, and giving various information without realizing. After a few minutes, they even left the sight, saying that they were bored and going for a walk.

    The second spy didn''t find anything wrong with their words. He just thought that they were very lazy.

    He quickly applied some force on the ropes that were tying him. He easily broke the rope, and freed himself.

    He sneakily left the camp, moving as cautiously as possible. Fortunately, the security within the camp was much lax. He was easily able to run away from the camp with the information that he had gathered, without being detected.

    He didn''t know that all the top rankers of the Destroyer Faction were watching him run away, without even trying to stop him.

    "To think that a spy could be so foolish. We were able to feed him lies with such ease. These people are really idiots."

    "The more foolish they are, the more beneficial it is for us. For now, the trap has been laid. All that''s left is for the fish to take the bait. Once that happens, it will all end in our favor."

    The top ranker of the Creator Faction said, her expressions growing more amused with each passing second.

    Even without Elias, she was able to win this entire thing because of this simple trap. This way, she could prove to everyone that she was truly the best of the Destroyer Class.

    "These foolish children. Can''t they even see that they have been trapped?" High in the sky, Helen clicked her tongue at the foolishness of the child from Creator Faction.

 Chapter 203 - 203: Its Time

    "It''s easy for us to see the situation. We have seen through much of the treachery of this world. We have lived for a really long time after all. But those children are still young. It''s normal for them to be fooled," Elten lazily said. "It would be a good learning experience for them."

    "It would indeed be a good learning experience for them." Helen nodded. "That is, if they managed to survive. This trap is more elaborate than it looks. If the others fell for it, they would literally be walking to their deaths."

    Elten didn''t respond to her. He knew that her words were correct. The Destroyer Faction had placed an elaborate trap to bring the enemy straight to their domain.

    The only thing that disappointed him was Elias. He hadn''t seen Elias for a long time. The storm was still just as fierce as ever, and his Soul Beast still hadn''t been completed.

    If he didn''t come out anytime soon, then the rest was going to end before he could even come out. Elten wanted to see his little brother''s performance the most, but that was the one which was missing throughout this test for the most part.

    The Second Spy reached the Creator Faction. His face was a little swollen, with a palm imprint on his right cheek. He was clearly slapped before he was caught by the Destroyer Faction.

    Still, there was no pain or anger on his face. He was smiling from ear to ear, looking forward to the reward. He had achieved something that no one else could achieve.

    Once he told everyone that he had returned from the enemy camp, he was immediately brought to the tent where the top rankers of the Creator Faction were waiting.

    "Did you find anything useful?"

    The top rankers didn''t ask him about his health, or why his face was swollen as if he had been thrashed by someone. All they cared about was the information that he brought back.

    Still, the boy didn''t hold back. He told them everything, including how he was caught. However, he did slightly elaborate on his achievements.

    He didn''t tell them that he heard this information while he was imprisoned. He told them that he broke free and ran straight to the heart of the enemy camp, and secretly heard the discussion amidst the enemy camp leaders.

    Once he had all the information, he ran away, putting his life on the line to bring this information back.

    "Tch, if he had mentioned that he was fed this information when he was trapped, to some extent, they would have at least doubted that it might be a trap. But he changed that story entirely, and changed its essence."

    Helen almost felt like descending and slapping that foolish boy, for bringing their entire camp at death''s door to exaggerate his achievements. Unfortunately, she couldn''t interfere.

    She had already told Elten that she wouldn''t allow him to intervene to help his brother. Could she intervene to help her students now? She couldn''t be a hypocrite, at least not so openly.

    Just as she had thought, the top rankers of the Creator Faction believed these words, especially now that the story had become a little different.

    "Their top rankers won''t be in the camp? Isn''t it the best opportunity for us to attack?"

    "If we wait for them to return and heal Elias faster, we would be at a disadvantage. We have to kill their people and Elias before they return! We can even create a trap for their top rankers to shock them when they return."

    "If we take advantage of this information, we can wipe all those bastards in one fell swoop!''

    There was not a single person who doubted this information. Even if someone had suspicions about it, their suspicions were buried under the moment of excitement over winning.

    Without the top rankers of the Destroyer Faction, they could kill to their heart''s content and increase their rankings. Once the top rankers returned, they could further rise.

    The discussion this time was just shorter, and everyone came to the same conclusion. They had to attack the enemy camp.

    They decided to attack in the morning, after confirming that the Top Rankers of the Destroyer Faction actually left. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    They immediately sent more people to surround the enemy camp while maintaining a distance. They weren''t responsible for another infiltration. Their only responsibility was to inform them once the top rankers were seen flying away.

    ....

    It was early morning when they received information that the Top Rankers of the Destroyer Class were seen flying away, each taking a different direction.

    They were also informed that the enemy top rankers looked to be in a hurry, as if they were trying to find something fast.

    It removed even the smallest of suspicions that anyone could have about that information.

    The top Rankers of the Creator Faction issued a command for everyone to gather. They were going to attack the Destroyer Faction right this moment.

    Everything happened so fast that within a few minutes, those from the Creator Faction were running towards the Creator Camp, accompanied by their beasts.

    Those whose beasts could fly, were high in the sky, rushing even faster.

    "We are under attack!" A loud shout resounded in the Destroyer Faction, but the man who shouted, was the first to be killed.

    He died at the hands of the beast contracted by the top rank of Creators. The beast hovered above the tent in the center of the camp.

    Through the thin layers of the tent, they were able to see a silhouette of a person, who was sitting in the center of the camp.

    "It must be him! Blow him up!" the top ranker commanded his beast, who started gathering energy for his strongest attack.

    A bright beam of light shot out from his beast''s mouth, rushing for the central tent to evaporate it completely.

    Inside the camp, Elias raised his head, feeling the elements in the surroundings becoming more chaotic. His surroundings became so bright, that made it look like a second son had risen, and it was falling on his head.

    "Is it time now?" Astralious asked, his grin growing wider.

    "It''s time now," Elias mumbled, as a small flicker of flame rose up around his wrists, burning the shackles.

 Chapter 204 - 204: Inheritor Found

    The bright light descended from the sky like the punishment from heaven. Not just the tent where Elias was imprisoned, but even the nearby hundreds of meters of area was swallowed by the destructive beam.

    Everything that came in contact with the beam, evaporated into nothingness. Even the people that were guarding outside the tent died as their Soul Beasts failed to protect them.

    "That takes care of the most unorthodox one of their batch."

    The man, who had commanded his beast to attack, was filled with satisfaction as he raised his head to look at the ranking scroll.

    If they were outside, he would have been a little hesitant about killing an Ashborn Descendant, but in the test, where it was recommended, he didn''t hesitate in the slightest. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As a descendant of the Asbborn Family, Elias was already a future opponent of those from the Creator Class. They didn''t mind taking him out a little sooner, especially if it benefited them to grow their score in the process.

    When they were facing the weaker ones from the Destroyer Class, they could still show some mercy by capturing them. But they couldn''t afford the same leniency with Elias and the other top rankers.

    "Hmm? Is there something wrong with the ranking?" Olsen rubbed his eyes and looked again, but nothing changed.

    He was still the top ranker in the Creator Class, and his score had increased by a few points. But he hadn''t gained Elias''s points.

    A few names had disappeared from the destroyer faction ranking, but Elias''s name wasn''t in that group. His name was still intact, and doing perfectly fine.

    The names that had disappeared from the ranking, were that of the lower ranked children that were intentionally left behind by those from the Destroyer Faction to make this trap more realistic.

    They were the necessary sacrifices who weren''t informed of the real plan.

    At the same time, multiple powerful auras approached, with the rankers from the Destroyer Faction returning. An entrapment formation was also activated that was cleverly hidden around the Destroyer Factions camp.

    Those from the Creator Faction had been surrounded from all sides. And even worse was that they were trapped in the formation that made it impossible for them to leave this place.

    "Did you like the gift that I prepared for you?" the top ranker from the Destroyer Class asked, sitting comfortably on her constellation''s shoulder.

    "Siera..." Olsen clenched his fist, his figure remaining still on a two legged green dragon that he had summoned. "Is this the trap that you prepared for us?"

    "Just because we are caught in this formation, does that give you confidence? Don''t tell me you really think you can defeat me with just the help of this formation," he added, with no sign of panic on his face.

    The formation did restrict them to this space, but it didn''t mean that they were helpless. They were still as strong as ever, even if they were surrounded from all sides.

    "I don''t see Elias with you either. Without him, our strengths are fairly similar. We can crush you just as easily! So don''t be arrogant, you bi*ch!" another boy from the Creator Faction roared.

    "Who says that this is the only formation that we prepared for you?" Siera''s grin widened. The moment she planned this trap, she had already arranged everything.

    She had prepared two formations. One was to entrap them in this space, and the other was to weaken them.

    The second formation couldn''t run on its own, and they didn''t have enough resources after being robbed. But they still had their own Constellations to power the second formation.

    She gave a signal, and three top rankers flew to three points around the camp, stationing their Constellations on those points to activate the formation.

    When the Constellations started supplying the energy to the formation, the ground lit up, forming the shape of a complex trigram.

    "You!" Those from the Creator Faction already couldn''t leave the space, and even when another formation appeared, their expressions grew worse.

    They could feel their Summoned Beasts growing weaker, their strengths going down by at least ten percent.

    Even though it was a small percentage, when their strengths were somewhat comparable, every percentage made a large difference. It was especially the case for the stronger ones.

    "We can''t stay in this formation for long! Break the formation for me!" Olsen commanded his dragon.

    The Dragon fired another aura beam, which was even stronger than the attack used to destroy the camp.

    "Is that the strength that gave you the confidence just now?" Siera mocked Olsen, while her Constellation cast a celestial barrier to deflect the attack.

    She was perfectly calm on the surface, but deep down, she was a little surprised as well. Olsen was at least ten present weaker now, but even then, his attack had managed to leave a crack on her barrier.

    ''If he had his full strength, wouldn''t he be able to break the barrier and hurt us?'' she thought.

    "There is no need to waste time with them. Just kill them all." She raised her hand, and commanded the others from the class.

    She was already accepted as the leader in the class, and everyone followed her instructions and prepared to attack. None of them wanted to give the enemy a chance to break through the formation to hurt her.

    "Damnit! If my class abilities weren''t sealed, I could have broken through this pathetic barrier with a wave of my hand, as a formation lord."

    "Don''t cry over spilled water! We have to fight back! I''m certain their formation can''t last for an eternity! We can still deal with this mess!"

    Those from the Creator Class also prepared their strongest attacks to protect themselves.

    The battlefield intensity had reached its peak, but the two Professors paid no attention to it. Instead, they were looking at something else.

    Helen''s eyes were wide open, and even Elten showed emotions that he rarely revealed before.

    They were looking at the center of the creator, where a tent used to be, which was destroyed by the Creation Faction recently.

    The dust from the attack had just started to settle, and a figure was starting to come into sight.

    What made that figure special, was that there were blue flames around his body. Even his clothes seemed to be burning in the blue flames that looked freezing cold.

    "Is that..." Helen stood up at the sight of the flames.

    "The Ice Phoenix Flames," Elten mumbled. "Looks like we found our little Inheritor."

    He didn''t show it openly, but for a moment, killing intent flashed in his eyes. His shadow that carried his death domain, felt a little scared before those flames.

 Chapter 205 - 205: Deal with the devil, or Angel?

    The boy in the middle of the crater had remained unharmed even under the attack. Both Professors understood why he managed to survive that attack.

    The only thing that could have helped him, were his flames. Even if the Bracelet sealed class abilities, it couldn''t seal inherited abilities. And that flame was one of the most dangerous inherited abilities.

    Amongst the most dangerous and mysterious flames in existence, the Ice Phoenix Flames was ranked in the top ten.

    There was even a saying that the flames were omnipotent. If someone could master these flames to their peak, then they could freeze anything, including time and space.

    They could also burn everything, including the soul of a person, cutting off their path to reincarnation.

    The flames were truly special, which was why the previous owner of these flames had managed to roam through the entire galaxy like a true monarch.

    It was also why the Dean of the Academy had declared such precious rewards for the Inheritor of the flames.

    If the Inheritor of the flames could survive long enough, then he could easily possess the same strength as the Founding Families, if not more. Of course, the extent also depended on the Inheritor''s own comprehension.

    "The Holy Son of the Academy has been found. I need to convey the message back to the Academy!"

    Helen''s initial shock was replaced by excitement. She quickly brought out a communication device, and contacted the staff on the battleship to send the message, along with every information of the Inheritor.

    Not just the Professors, but even the students had also seen Elias when the dust dispersed. It didn''t matter which faction a person belonged to, but the look of disbelief was common on their faces.

    "Kaelen is the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames?" The top rankers of the Creator Faction gulped heavily, remembering the way they had behaved with Elias before.

    They had sent him into the enemy camp, as an expendable.

    At that time, they didn''t know his value or abilities. It was no different than sending the boy to his death because he was weaker than them. They were certain that Elias knew that as well.

    "If I had known it before..."

    "What a grave mistake!"

    "Do you think he will hold a grudge against us?"

    Amongst the top rankers of the Creator Class, there was not a single person who wasn''t regretting their past behaviour.

    As for the lower ranks who had nothing to do with Kaelen being sent to infiltrate the enemy camp, they were filled with jealousy.

    "So he is that lucky bastard that won the lottery!"

    "Tch, why couldn''t it be me in his place?"

    "Argh, Heaven is so unfair!"

    Those from the Destroyer Class looked just as incredulously. They had just dragged the entire Creator Faction to their trap.

    They were so close to success, and now the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames had appeared, right in the center of their trap?

    "Kaelen, kill those three people! We need to break the formation, or we will all die!" Olsen quickly recovered from his shock, and shamelessly asked Elias for help, as if he couldn''t remember his last behaviour.

    "Kaelen, we might not have treated you the best, but we are still your classmates! You must help us!"

    "That''s right! You can''t let your classmates die, just because you are the inheritor of those flames! You need to help us!"

    "My family is a founding family! If you don''t help us, then even if you become a Star Disciple of the Academy, you will still suffer!"

    "Don''t be cruel to us! You must learn to forget and forgive! You must not be evil like those bastards from the Destroyer Faction!"

    One after another, everyone in the Creator Faction asked Elias for help. Each of them used their own methods.

    Some begged, while others threatened. There were also a few who outright commanded him, while others who shamelessly requested him.

    "Is there some conflict between them?" Siera saw the Creator Faction trying to convince ''Kaelen'', and understood that everything was not well in that group.

    "That''s right. If they were on friendly terms, why would they send him to infiltrate? He was clearly trying to hide his flames, and they thought that he was weaker. No wonder they are begging him now." sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We must take advantage of this situation, and get his help!"

    The Destroyer Faction realized everything, and shifted their attention to Kaelen, unaware that he was Elias in disguise.

    "Little brother, we had no enmity with you. Don''t forgive these bastards for the way they treated you. We will only kill them, to let you vent your anger! We won''t even hurt a single hair on your head," Siera said, yelling at the top of her lungs.

    "Don''t listen to her! They are Destroyers! They are our enemies! They would even sell their own souls to the devil! Do you think they would let you live if we die?!" Olsen also roared, her face filled with anger that someone was trying to steal what could become his biggest card.

    "You are the inheritor of the flames! You are going to become a Star Disciple of the Academy soon! We have no reason to kill you! You are not like them! You are precious to the Academy! Don''t get your hands dirty by saving them!" Siera retorted.

    "They are demons! If you don''t help us kill them, just how many worlds do you think they will destroy in the future? Their existence is like a parasite in this universe! It''s our responsibility to eliminate them! Don''t fall for the sweet words of the devil!"

    "Who sent you to the enemy camp to die, because you were weaker than them? Don''t you know who the real devil is? They hide behind a false virtue and commit all sorts of crimes! Don''t forget what they did to you!"

    Both sides gave it their all to convince Elias, since no one wanted to hurt the person that the Academy was paying so much attention to. It was even more so, since he held the key to turning this situation in either direction.

    ....

    "It''s like a bidding war for our little inheritor." High in the sky, Elten glanced at the entire situation with a lazy expression.

    "I really hope he helps the Creator Faction," Helen mumbled. "Even if they didn''t do right by sending him for infiltration, they are still a thousand times better than the Destroyers."

    "I suppose we will find out soon." Elten said, his unmoving expressions making it impossible to guess what he was actually thinking. "Will he make a deal with the devil to take out the people he should hate? Or will he side with the so-called angels, like a fool trapped in his false morality."

 Chapter 206 - 206: The Choice

    "What are you going to do now?" Astralious also had the same question for Elias. He knew that Elias was going to embrace a new identity, but he wasn''t sure what kind of personality this new identity was supposed to have in Elias''s mind.

    He already had his real identity, which was a descendant of the Ashborn Family, and could be cruel and ruthless. Was this new identity going to be that of a friendly person, who could easily be accepted by the Academy as a creator?

    "You have already revealed yourself. You don''t have to do anything else. You can just leave this place. In any case, you won''t get any points even if you killed anyone here."

    According to the rules, the students weren''t allowed to use their own abilities, except for a small extent that was permissible, like the formation that was set up. Only the beasts were allowed to fight.

    Kaelen had already lost his Summoned Beast. Even if he killed everyone in the Destroyer Faction, he wasn''t going to get a single point. His ranking was still going to be dead last.

    He didn''t have any need to stain his hands in the blood of others, to maintain a pure persona for Kaelen.

    "I know I won''t get any points." Elias mumbled, as the blue flame around him burned brighter. He had truly achieved his main purpose, but it didn''t mean he wasn''t going to do anything anymore.

    He was going to erase all his future problems, now that he had an opportunity. Kaelen didn''t have any future problems as he was going to become a Star Disciple. It meant he was going to enter a unique class of the Academy.

    The only problem was for Elias Ashborn, who still had classmates that wanted to snatch the top rank from him.

    Even if they didn''t come for Elias in this test, it was only a matter of time as the Academy itself said that they were going to give them more opportunities in the future.

    If he had to engage with these children in the future, then it was going to waste a lot of his time. Their families were also troublesome, and could create more of a mess for him even if Elias killed them.

    There was only one exception. What if there was not a single person left in his class at all? What if the Destroyer Class was completely destroyed, except for Elias Ashborn?

    It wasn''t the first time something like this was going to happen. There was already a precedent for it, since there was a person who had destroyed an entire class alone.

    The only difference was that the person had destroyed his own classmates, while he was going to destroy the enemy classmates. Even if their families came for revenge, the Academy would protect him as a Star Disciple.

    As for the classmates of the Creator Class, he couldn''t care less about them at the moment.

    Even if he had a reason to be offended by them, if he killed them, he was going to come across as petty. And if he killed them, what would Lycorice test her abilities on after she completed the merger?

    The two sides continued their attempts to win over Elias, who was disguised as Kaelen. Their attempts only stopped when Elias raised his right hand.

    The flame on his hand condensed, and became darker. The temperature, which was freezing up to this point, started getting warmer. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The flames over his hand took the shape of blades, and he swung his arm, sending the flaming blades flying.

    "What?" One of the blades flew straight to the person whose Soul Beast was supplying energy to the weakening formation.

    The blade didn''t target the beast, but instead went for the master of the beast. The person was momentarily frozen in shock, and couldn''t even command his beast to protect him, as the flames sliced through his body.

    He was sliced in two halves, and each half of his body fell separately, but the fire didn''t stop. His entire body was burned to ashes, with not even a single bone left behind.

    Another blade went for the second person, who was holding the formation in place. The person had a faster reaction, and commanded his beast to abandon supporting the formation.

    The beast jumped before him, and attacked the blade of blue flames, but his attack was burned by the flames, that were the worst enemy of the soul essence.

    The blade sliced through the beast, before cutting past the master of the beast. Another person had died.

    The third and the last person, who was holding the formation in place, was frightened out of his wits.

    He quickly jumped off the beast, and didn''t try to block the attack. Instead, he dodged, as the beast flew high in the sky, abandoning the formation.

    Even the third student also left the formation, the entire formation collapsed, and the children from the Creator Class regained their previous strength.

    The person who had abandoned the formation, sighed in relief after seeing the condition of his two friends, who hadn''t abandoned the formation. He was glad that he hadn''t tried to face the attack head on.

    The relief on his face didn''t last long, when he heard the shriek of his Soul Beast, and a pain rose in his soul. The blade had changed its direction, having a mind of its own.

    "What the fu-" the boy mumbled, watching his beast being sliced in two halves, with the blade flying up.

    He was sitting on the beast, and his entire body was also sliced in two halves. Even in death, he couldn''t believe what had happened to him.

    "He has already managed to control the flames to this extent?" The elation on Helen''s face was a sight to see as she stood up in excitement.

    She couldn''t be any happier, now that Kaelen had made his choice, especially since he sided with his classmates in the end.

 Chapter 207 - 207: Cutting through the heaven

    What made Helen even happier was the kind of control Kaelen had displayed with the flames. From what she knew about those flames, it was impossible to gain such a level of control without at least half a year''s worth of training.

    The boy had gained this control within just a few weeks after gaining the flames, which meant his compatibility with the flames was even higher than previously assumed.

    "Those flames..." Elten mumbled, feeling the aura of those flames, even though he was far away from them.

    The flames were strong, but he could easily suppress them with his strength, even if they were the innate enemies of his essence of death.

    The thing that truly made him frown was that this was just the boy''s strength when he had gained these flames. If he progressed like this, then within a few decades, the flames could grow stronger to the point that even he wouldn''t be able to suppress them.

    "Congratulations on gaining a talented student." He congratulated Helen with a false smile on his lips. "I really hope he can live long enough for me to witness the true glory of those flames"

    "Same. The previous dean died such a long time ago, that even I never saw the true strength of these flames." Helen laughed heartily, not finding anything wrong with Elten''s words. "This is truly a great blessing for the Academy, and the entire Creator Faction."

    "Indeed a blessing," Elten mumbled, as he closed his eyes. There was no surprise left anymore. He could already see what was going to happen next.

    Now that the formation was broken, and someone with these flames had appeared, it was almost impossible for the Destroyer Faction to win.

    At best, it was going to be a complete defeat of the Destroyer Faction, with the survivors being captured alive. At worst, it was going to be a complete slaughter like the one his Elder Brother had caused when he annihilated his entire class.

    The battle grew even more intense after the formation broke. There were constant loud explosions, as each side attacked the other with everything they had.

    For the next thirty minutes, it was as if the world itself was falling apart, with constant earthquakes. The show around thousands of miles had evaporated, with only the area near the merger storm being left intact.

    Earthquakes were felt all around the earth, and many houses and tall towers came crumbling down. It was as if a second apocalypse had struck earth, trying to take whatever was left in this world.

    The person who achieved the most throughout this test, was Elias, who kept killing. His flames burned everything that came before me, irrespective of their strength.

    It didn''t matter if they were rich or poor. It didn''t matter if they were from Great Families or just commoners. It didn''t matter if they were rankers, or just weaker ones from the Destroyer Faction.

    He kept erasing the people from the Destroyer Faction now that he had no reason to hide his flames. Even those that were on the verge of being killed by other creator rankers, were killed by his flames. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    His actions did offend the Creator Faction''s had Rankers, but none could blame him. He had freed them and turned the tide after all. Moreover, he was a future star disciple of the Academy.

    He couldn''t get any points from killing them, so they didn''t see it as him trying to steal the points from them. They just thought it was because he hated them for tying, which led to him revealing his abilities.

    Instead of being angry at him for stealing their prey, they thanked him for his help. Everyone was trying to get in good books of Elias, even if they were from the founding families.

    If nothing went wrong, he could become the future Dean of the academy after all. He was the only person amongst all the Star Disciples to have the signature ability of the past Dean.

    "We haven''t offended you. Why are you trying to kill us?!" A child from the Destroyed Faction shrieked, watching his Soul Beast burn to death right before his eyes.

    Elias didn''t answer the boy. He covered the boy''s face with his palm. A blue flame rose from his palms, and shrouded the child, who kept cursing Elias even in his death.

    "Kill him first!" The other rankers from the Destroyer Faction stopped attacking the others, and left the fight to their subordinates. They all came for Elias, to kill him faster, as he was a bigger threat.

    The Constellations attacked him from every side, with an attack that could erase an entire continent. A loud explosion rose from the place where Elias was standing, the moment these attacks connected.

    It was as if a nuclear bomb had fallen on the place, with a thousand miles loud cloud of flames forming in the sky.

    The rankers from the Creator Class didn''t try to save Elias either. Even though they wanted to maintain a good relationship with a future Star Disciple, it didn''t mean that they minded his death.

    His life and death didn''t matter to them, now that the battlefield had already turned to their favour. If anything, his death was more beneficial as the disciple who shone the brightest in the first year, was going to die.

    Still, they maintained their act. After the explosion, they all shouted in unison for the Professors to see.

    "You demons! How dare you kill Kaelen!"

    The Rankers from the Creator Faction attacked the other side''s rankers, thinking that they could end the fight once and for all. They had already killed the others from the Destroyer Faction, leaving only five rankers.

    "Huh? What''s that?" Olsen was about to attack Siera when he froze in place, watching a blue light shine in a dissipating cloud of flames.

    "You think you can distract me with that trick?" Siera scoffed at Olsen''s childish attempt, but when she noticed everyone else looking behind her, she felt something was wrong.

    She also looked back briefly, and saw a sight that left her awestruck.

    Behind her, the flames of their explosion had started to gather in a single line, as if the flames were being controlled by someone.

    The flames rose as high as they could see, forming a giant sword with a blue streak running between a hundred meter wide sword, which was cutting through the clouds.

    Under the sword, there was a twelve year old boy, whose robe was slightly torn. His flames were a deeper shade of blue, burning in the freezing flames.

    The boy looked like he had descended straight from heaven with a cleaver to cut through all life.

 Chapter 208 - 208: Annihilation

    Silence descended upon the chaotic battlefield. A wave of disbelief washed over everyone that saw the flames rising through the sky. Was it truly something that a child could do when his class abilities were sealed?

    It was not a strength that the child should have possessed, as it made even the Constellations feel a chill run down their spines. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The roars of the battle, and the screams of the dying, were all momentarily swallowed by the sheer, overwhelming presence of the colossal blade hanging in the sky and the boy beneath it.

    The five Destroyer Faction rankers, the very ones who had launched the devastating combined attack, were frozen in the air. The energy they had poured into their attack to obliterate Elias, was completely ineffective. Instead, they were the ones facing that blade.

    Elias lifted his head. His eyes were calm like always, but there was a deep shade of azure flashing in his eyes that matches with the giant sword above. There was no anger, no triumph, just an unnerving, cold focus. He met the gaze of the five rankers, one by one.

    "You..." one of them stammered, his voice cracking in disbelief. All his bravery was utterly stripped away. "How...?"

    Elias offered no answer. He simply raised his right hand, index finger pointing towards the heavens, towards the base of the flame sword.

    With an almost imperceptible gesture, a slight downward flick of his finger, the universe seemed to come to a sudden halt.

    Then, the sword moved.

    It didn''t fall like a weapon dropped. Instead, it came down, as if it was being controlled by a divine will. There was no sound of rushing air, only a deep hum that resonated deep within the bones of everyone watching.

    The blue streak within the blade intensified, burning brighter than a star, seemingly sucking the very light from the surroundings.

    The five Destroyer rankers didn''t even have time to scream or attempt to flee. There was no explosion, no blood, just instantaneous, silent obliteration. They were erased by the flames of the mythical beast that now moved according to the will of a human.

    "Just what is..." Siera mumbled, watching her entire world being engulfed by the deep blue flames. If she still had her treasures that were robbed, she could have teleported away. But now, she was completely at the mercy of these flames that devoured her completely.

    Even the Constellations were struck by a soul stirring fear before the flames of the Ice Phoenix. They watched their bodies being destroyed by the flames. Fortunately, there was no pain. It was instantaneous, happening in the blink of an eye.

    At the last moment of their lives, they did feel a little regret. If they hadn''t followed these children out of the land of fables. If they had simply stayed back, they wouldn''t have died with no chance of rebirth.

    Their greed for becoming a Constellation had brought them to death''s door, and they couldn''t even resist before this almighty strength.

    The sword continued its descent, carving a silent path through the air before striking the already ravaged earth. The impact wasn''t explosive but implosive.

    The ground didn''t shatter outwards. It seemed to fold inwards along the line of impact, creating a deep ravine that was hundreds of meters deep, and stretched for thousands of miles.

    Within the ravine, there was no snow. Even the rocks had melted, with a small trace of blue flames still flickering in the depths. The residual blue energy caused the surrounding rock and ice to vaporize, sending plumes of steam into the air.

    For a long moment after the impact, the only sound was that of melting ice. The colossal sword had dissipated, leaving only the boy hovering above the newly formed canyon, his slightly torn robe fluttering in the air.

    The entire surrounding had turned desolate. The camp created by the Destroyer Faction was completely destroyed, with not even a small piece of cloth being left behind. All those who fought for the Destroyer Faction were killed.

    In an instant, all the names in the Destroyer Class Ranking turned grey, as they were not only killed but also eliminated from the rest. There was only one name that was still left intact, shining more brightly than ever.

    It was the name of Elias Ashborn, who had slipped out of top ten in the Destroyer Faction. But now that everyone in the Destroyer Faction was killed, he was the only person left in the ranking. He automatically rose to the top rank in this test.

    Meanwhile, in the Creator Class ranking, something miraculous had happened. A new name had taken the top rank.

    Kaelen''s name was now at the top rank in the Creator Faction''s Ranking Scroll. As per the rules, a student couldn''t use his own abilities to kill the enemies, or the score wouldn''t be counted. It was a battle of beasts.

    Despite that, Kaelen, who had just annihilated most of the Destroyer Faction, had taken the top rank. It was something that even Elias hadn''t expected. Somehow, both his personalities were top ranked in their classes now.

    ''Is it because the flames aren''t considered my class abilities, nor are they considered an external treasure? So using them doesn''t break the rule?" Elias mumbled, looking at Kaelen''s name at the top.

    His score was almost five times higher than Olsen''s score, who was now ranked second in this test. There was no possibility for Olsen to surpass his rank, since we had already killed everyone in the Destroyer Faction.

    The only survivor was Elias, who was his main persona. Even if Olsen had hoped to kill Elias, he couldn''t take the first rank since the gap was just too much. It was enough to discourage almost anyone in this test.

    Unlike Elias, those from the Creator Class didn''t quite pay attention to the rankings yet. They were more immersed in the scene of destruction before them.

    When the Sword descended from the sky, it clearly didn''t target them. But still, those that were closer to the sword, had died.

 Chapter 209 - 209: The Last Problem

    A few of them had also gotten serious hurt, and one even lost an arm. Despite that, they couldn''t blame Elias for it.

    Those from the Creator Faction rankers side felt a chill creep down their spines. If the sword had targeted them, could they survive? All of them knew the answer.

    This was the strength of the inheritance that made the Academy pay so much attention to the Inheritor. They finally understood why the Academy was willing to offer so many rewards for the Inheritor to come forward.

    These flames... Even if a person had the worst class awakening, the flames could still make him a supreme being in an entirely different category. The flames also grew with the owners, so their growth was unlimited with time.

    Having these flames was like gaining an entirely different class that wasn''t part of Destroyer, Creator, or Auxiliary Faction. It was as if a fourth faction was created, just for the inheritor of these flames.

    "This is just a flame ranked in the top mystical flames. Then what about the other four flames? What about the flame that''s ranked even higher? Just how much of a difference can these things make?" Olsen mumbled, gulping heavily.

    He had made up his mind. He also wanted a mystical flame that was ranked in the top ten. Even if it was almost impossible to find these flames, he still wanted to beg his family to give it their all.

    The others thought the same thing, unaware that it was easier said than done. For thousands of years, almost all major families had tried to look for these mystical treasures, but they had failed to find any. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If it was easy to find these flames, then the Inheritors wouldn''t be so rare. In that case, the Academy wouldn''t be so eager to find Elias. It was precisely because it was so rare that a Mystical Flame Master was such a rare heavenly occupation.

    Olsen slowly lowered his weapon, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the chasm, then at Elias.

    High above, Helen''s hearty laughter had died in her throat, replaced by a sharp intake of breath. The sheer extent of the destruction was breathtaking. This wasn''t just talent. It was dominance on a scale she hadn''t anticipated seeing so soon.

    Looking at the scene, she finally understood why the previous Dean was said to be such a heaven-defying existence in the universe, to the point that even the Heavenly Rulers had to pay respect to him every time they saw him.

    Elias slowly lowered his hand. The deep blue flames around him subsided slightly, though their intensity remained evident. He turned his gaze, sweeping it across the remaining, terrified students of the Creator Faction.

    His expression remained unchanged, cold and impassive. The test, for him, was over. There were no enemies left to erase. But there was still one problem.

    He had made Kaelen, the Inheritor of these flames, appear. But Elias Ashborn also had to appear. If both of them weren''t seen at the same time, then it was going to raise a lot of questions.

    He turned around, and went back to the camp of the Creator Faction, not saying even a single word to the other rankers of his Faction.

    Now that he had already revealed himself, he had achieved his aim. There was no need to pretend to be subservient anymore.

    He soon reached the tents that were arranged by the Creator Faction. There was no one to stop him, and he had just gone through a battle.

    He made everyone believe that he just wanted to test for now, as he entered the largest and most luxurious tent in the entire camp.

    The camp previously belonged to Olsen, who didn''t raise any objection. What could he even do about it? Was he going to fight Elias for a single tent, when the person could use these flames while his own class abilities were sealed?

    He didn''t make it an issue, especially since the test was almost over. With everyone except Elias being wiped out, it was only a matter of time before the Professors declared the end of this test.

    "Should we search for Elias Ashborn?" A ranker approached Olsen, looking at the Destroyer Faction Ranking.

    They would have searched for the survivors of the Destroyer Faction, but the rankings already made it evident that only one was alive. It was Elias Ashborn, the most unorthodox person in the entire destroyer class.

    "It won''t be easy to find him. Just let him be. Either he will show up before us on his own, or he will stay hidden. In any case, the ball is in his court."

    Olsen took another glance at his own ranking in disappointment. If killing Elias was enough to help him take the first rank from Kaelen, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

    He would have used all his resources to find Elias, but there was no point in it anymore. Killing Elias couldn''t help him improve his rankings. And without any benefits, there was no point in unnecessary poking the Ashborn Family.

    The only people he was worried about were the third and fourth rankers. He couldn''t raise his ranks by killing Elias, but they could take the second rank if they killed Elias and took his points.

    To prevent that, he kept the third and fourth rankers with him, using any excuse that he could find.

    The third and fourth rankers did want to find Elias, but they couldn''t think of an excuse to secretly slip away from this place.

    They were dragged by Olsen, wherever he went. The situation had been kept like that by Olsen to protect his second rank.

    The other creator faction students, who have survived, were free to do anything they wanted.

    Many of them left the frozen land, to roam around the world as it wasn''t often that they came to see such barren lands that were left in such pristine conditions after being part of a trial.

    Meanwhile, Elias wasn''t behind either. He still had to take care of the last issue in his plan.

 Chapter 210 - 210: Acceptance

    Elias was in a hurry to return to the merger storm to see the extent of progress with Lycorice. But after entering the tent, he didn''t make any extreme movements.

    He simply sat on a chair, and closed his eyes. He started expecting a guest, that was inevitable.

    A few minutes later, he felt a gust of wind brush past his skin, and someone appeared in the room.

    Elias slowly opened his eyes, and glanced at the person that had arrived. Everything went as per his expectations, and now Helen was standing before him.

    Elten still hadn''t arrived, and he didn''t find it strange. His Elder brother didn''t want to be in close proximity with someone that inherited such hateful flames.

    "Professor!" Elias stood up, expressing his shock to find Helen before him. "I..."

    He hesitated, and didn''t know what to say next. He had been exposed as the Inheritor because of an unexpected situation, and now the Professors knew about his flames.

    He was quite hesitant, and a little worried about his safety. At least that was the impression he gave to Helen.

    "You have hidden yourself quite well. I never thought that you would be the inheritor of these flames. The person that stood out the least in the class, was hiding such a big secret."

    Helen extended her hand, and placed it over Elias''s head. She started rubbing his hair, and her expressions softened.

    "Were you worried about your safety? Is that why you don''t come forward to accept the reward?"

    Elias lowered his head, and didn''t reply to her. But his eyes were filled with sadness, as if he had been caught by her.

    "You brat, did you really think the Academy would let anyone hurt you after you inherited these flames? Do you not even trust us?" She lowered her hand, and pinched Elias''s cheeks hard. "Did you think the Academy would kill you and snatch those flames of yours?"

    Elias still kept silent, like a hesitant child. Still, he gathered some courage and nodded his head.

    "No wonder you didn''t reveal these flames even when your Summoned Beast died. If it wasn''t for your life being in danger, we still wouldn''t know what kind of treasure you were hiding within this small body."

    Helen could understand why Elias was scared. He didn''t have any big family to rely on. He came from a mortal family, and didn''t have anyone to support him.

    If he was killed at the Academy, no one would even raise a brow. He was just being cautious, as he thought that the Academy would just kill him and take the flames.

    "You don''t know anything about these flames. No wonder you were so frightened. You brat, no one can take these flames from you, even if they killed you."

    "Once the owner of the flames is killed, the flames would just disappear with them. That''s why it''s so rare to possess these flames in the universe."

    She didn''t scold Elias for being scared. In her eyes, he was just a child who was scared. So she tried to explain more about these flames, to make him understand that the Academy wouldn''t harm him.

    "There are only two ways for the flames to pass over to another person. The first method is for the owner to die a natural death of old age, without any outside interference. Then the flames don''t disappear, but stay inside the corpse, waiting for the next suitable owner."

    "As for the second method, it''s for the other to willingly abandon the flames, without any external interference like use of force, or mind control. The flames can sense your feelings, and even the status of your mind. So it''s impossible to snatch the flames by forcing the owner."

    "That is why, the Academy can''t snatch these flames from you. It''s just easier to just accept you as part of the Academy, and raise you as one of the leaders of the future generation."

    Helen finished her explanation, and saw a wave of relief wash over Elias''s face. He truly looked like a child at this moment, and not like the person that had just washed the battlefield with the blood of the Destroyer Faction.

    "So I will not be harmed?" Elias asked, looking up with sparkling eyes.

    "Tch. Such fake acting." Astralious spat out, but no spit came out of his mouth as he was just in the spiritual form that only Elias could see. "If I was in her place, I would have caught your acting in an instant."

    "I promise you. The Academy has no intention to harm you. The Dean truly wants to reward you, and accept you as part of the Academy. As you''re not a descendant of another great family, it''s even better for the Academy."

    If it was an ordinary child, she wouldn''t even spare a second glance at them. But it was the person that had the potential to become the best leader of the Academy. She truly treated him like her own child, with great compassion.

    She repeatedly patted his head in affection, to appear more welcoming.

    "Do you trust me?" she asked as a warm smile spread across his face.

    Elias looked in her eyes, with his uneasiness vanishing from them. "I trust you."

    "You don''t want to hide your abilities from the Academy? Will you come with me to meet the Dean when we return and accept the rewards from the Academy?" Helen changed her question, reeling in the golden fish that she had just hooked.

    "I will meet the Dean. I will accept the award and become the Star Disciple of the Academy." Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Great!" Helen''s eyes also lit up after Elias had accepted her as a mentor. "The test will still continue for a little longer. So I can''t take you back yet. But once we are done, you will come back with me."

    She quickly disappeared after achieving her purpose, and returned to Elten. She had already broken a few rules by talking to a participant before the test ended, but Elten didn''t raise any objection.

    He remained seated on his throne, his gaze shifting back and forth between the inheritor within the tent, and the Merger Storm.

 Chapter 211 - 211: Choice

    After Helen returned, Elias finally had a moment of peace. He didn''t have to worry about another trip from the Professors anymore.

    He went straight to the bed, and rested on it. To ensure that he wasn''t hurt while he was sleeping, he used his flames, which surrounded the entire tent.

    Just like the Merger Storm, the spherical barrier around the tent also made it impossible to see within. Even the Professors couldn''t see through the flames.

    In the eyes of the Professor, it was just him going to sleep, and using the flame barrier to protect himself from any unexpected attack while he was in a vulnerable state during his sleep.

    "The child is very cautious. It''s a good trait. It means he will live longer." Helen nodded with satisfaction.

    Not only was ''Kaelen'' not greedy for rewards, but he was also extremely cautious, even when he was sleeping. Now that he didn''t have to hide his abilities anymore, it was as if a burden was removed from his shoulders.

    "Who knows. Sometimes, it''s the cautious ones that die the fastest in reality." Elten broke his silence.

    "Hmph, Kaelen is different." Helen scoffed. "He isn''t just cautious, but he also had the abilities to support himself. Even if his class might not be the best, but with the help of these flames, his achievements would definitely be beyond us!"

    "You talk as if you have seen the future. Wasn''t the same thing said about my Elder Brother? What happened in the end?" Elten raised a brow. "A genius is only a genius while they are alive. After they die, then nothing is left behind, except a few stories about their greatness.

    He couldn''t help but remember his brothers who shone even brighter than the Inheritor of the Mystical Flames could ever shine in the Academy.

    He had seen even the greatest geniuses in this universe fall right before his eyes. He could kill a so-called genius like ''Kaelen'' with just a single wave of his hand.

    Just like him, there were millions of people in this universe who could completely erase the Inheritor of these flames before he was allowed to completely bloom.

    In his eyes, there was no point in talking about a person''s future greatness. If they were a threat, then they could be removed before they grew up. And if they were not a threat, then they were just materials for his necromancy.

    "Why do you always have to be a downer? Does it come complementary with being a Necromancer?" Helen smirked. "Or is it because you''re jealous that the Inheritor isn''t from the Destroyer Faction?"

    Elten stretched out his arms and yawned. "You can think whatever you want. I don''t have time to argue with you. Just wake me up when this test is over, or if my brother comes out of the storm."

    On the ground, Elias had gone down the bed, and he started digging the ground, under the shroud of the barrier. He once again went underground, and travelled towards the Merger Storm, whose distance was perfectly calculated by him.

    He came out of the ground, only after entering the Merger Storm which didn''t resist his entry. He soon came out of the group, right next to the storm wall.

    Before the storm, he could see the timer that was still showing that half a day was left before the merger was completed.

    Within the storm, Lycorice''s body was shining brightly. He couldn''t even see her properly, as she looked like she was made purely of the chaotic essence with no other features.

    Her body was greedily absorbing the essence of death and chaos from this world, that had overwhelmed this world after every life form was killed here.

    It was enough to turn Lycorice from an incomplete fable to a complete fable. But something even better had happened.

    The humans weren''t the only beings that had died here. He had personally wiped many students from the Destroyer Class, right next to the merger storm. Even the Soul Beasts were killed, and their essence was also greedily sucked in by the merger storm.

    He didn''t even have to use his own stockpile of essence crystals to merge with her. She received the essence from even better materials, which were the constellations.

    The souls of the constellations were burned by the Ice Phoenix Flames, which was their weakness. But a trace of their essence, and their hostility was still left behind, even in their death.

    It became a nourishment for Lycorice''s growth, something that even Elias hadn''t expected.

    He could feel that she was growing stronger than he had expected. Even if she was born in the lower world, her aura had already reached the high ranking Soul Beast, and the merger hadn''t even completed yet.

    At this point, Elias even felt as if it was a little wasteful. If he had killed even the students of the Creator Class, Lycorice could have absorbed even more essence and hostility from superior beings. It didn''t help her even more.

    It truly felt like a waste to not kill them, just to maintain a good reputation for his new identity in the Creator Faction.

    "It''s still not too late. There is a little over ten hours left. It should be enough to kill them." He rubbed his chin, and thought about it seriously. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kaelen couldn''t kill the students of the Creator Faction, but Elias had no such restriction. He was free to kill them, to make his Soul Beast reach the realm of a Constellation of earth.

    "I can''t use the flames with this identity. I also can''t use the class abilities, or they would know that the bracelet is ineffective for me. It would raise more problems for me."

    He had a rough aim, but there were also many problems with it.

    "I can''t reveal the abilities that I had gained beyond my class abilities. I also can''t use Lycorice to control the artefacts to kill them either. If I want to kill them, I will have to do it myself. Should I...?"

    He took a deep breath, and turned to Astralious who was staring at him.

    He raised two fingers towards Astralious, and asked, "Choose a finger."

    Astralious looked at him suspiciously, but he still chose a finger. He tapped on Elias''s middle finger.

    "I accept your decision." Elias nodded.

    "Wait, what? Since when was it my decision? I didn''t even know which finger had which choice?!" Astralious yelled in disbelief.

    Elias stepped out of the merger storm, and a long object materialized in his hand.

    "Why does it feel like it didn''t matter which finger I chose? Both had the same decision behind them?" Astralious scratched his temple, and rushed after Elias.

 Chapter 212 - 212: Power over the strong

    Helen was also starting to get lazy with the test almost on the verge of ending. It was only when she saw someone stepping out of the storm that she straightened her back.

    "Oh?"

    Elias was the last survivor of the Destroyer Class. If he had come out when the Destroyer Class had an advantage, they could have ended this battle before Kaelen finished them off.

    He was already late. The reason he was even alive after the Destroyer Faction had died, was because he was protected by the storm. Revealing himself at this point was no different than walking straight to his death.

    She glanced at Elten, who had asked her to wake him up if Elias came out. She thought for a brief moment, before giving up on the thought of waking him up.

    If he was awake, and Elias was in danger, then was he going to stay behind peacefully? No. She was sure that he would intervene to save his brother, interrupting the test.

    If she wanted to stop him, then she would have to risk her own life. She didn''t want to fight him, but she also didn''t want him to interrupt in the test when it was nearing the end.

    She kept Elias'' arrival a secret, and didn''t wake him up. She even used her abilities to cast an invisible domain around them, suppressing any noises from outside.

    With the barrier, no matter how much noise was made by the students, it wouldn''t be heard by Elias. Because of this, she couldn''t hear anything happen on the ground either, but she didn''t care about that.

    Except for the areas near the storm, almost the entire surrounding had signs of destruction. Despite that, many people were still gathered near the storm, left here to guest and alert the rankers about any changes within the storm.

    Elias was immediately detected by them when he stepped out of the storm. And his appearance sent an immediate shock wave to the observers.

    "Look, someone came out of the storm!"

    "Wait, isn''t he Elias?!"

    "When did he even enter the storm?"

    "He must have entered before any of us arrived! It must be because only one person could pass through that storm, that no rankers from our side were able to enter!"

    "So he was hiding inside the storm for so long?"

    "What do you mean hiding? He was probably snatching away the treasure formed inside the storm! He must have found something really incredible!"

    Almost all the observers looked at Elias with greedy eyes when they thought about the treasure that could have formed such a storm in the middle of nowhere.

    Even the rankers from both sides were attracted by the storm initially, believing there to be a treasure within it. They only gave up after they failed to enter.

    "Should we inform the rankers?"

    "You fool, do you want the rankers to snatch away the treasure? If they came, none of us would get anything. But if we take him down, at least one of us will get the treasure! Then we can negotiate with the rankers for a better reward in exchange for the treasure!"

    "What a great plan! No wonder you''re a genius!"

    The greedy students kept Elias''s arrival a secret that was limited to themselves. None of them went to inform the rankers. There were already so many of them here. They thought that they could easily take him down.

    "I know that you are a child of the Ashborn Family! But no matter how strong you are, you can''t take all of us down! Hand over the treasure that you found inside."

    "And if I don''t?" Elias asked, raising the sniper to have the barrel resting on his shoulders.

    "Then we will be forced to take you down! We might not be able to afford the consequences of killing you, but it won''t stop us from taking you down!"

    The girl who had assumed the leading position amidst the group, reached out her hand. "Give us the treasure, and we won''t have to hurt you!"

    "You want this?" Elias straightened the sniper, and asked with a puzzled gaze.

    "Is that what you found inside that storm?" The girl looked at the gun, which certainly had a very unique aura around it. "Hand it over! And after that, strip yourself down to nothing, so we can be sure that you didn''t find anything else inside!"

    "You want me to strip myself?"

    "That''s right! Throw all your clothes to us, so we can check your pockets!"

    "Why don''t you come here and check my pockets directly? Is there a need to embarrass people?" Elias raised a brow. He thought that they were going to rob him, but even he didn''t expect for them to be so brazen.

    "Stop arguing!" The girl waved her hand. Elias felt a sharp pain in his cheek. He raised his hand, and touched his right cheek, which had a small cut now. And that cut was bleeding.

    "It is just a warning! Do as you are told, or it is going to be very painful for you! Next time, it will be your neck."

    "Fine." Elias wanted to give them death in the first place, but he didn''t expect them to give him a good reason on their own.

    He was attacked first. He had all the reasons to protect himself. In the absence of his Soul Beast, he had to use his treasures, even if it wasn''t allowed. He had all the justification that he needed.

    "What are you thinking about? Hurry up and toss that thing here! And start stripping after that. If you make me wait longer, I might really start slicing you apart!" The girl yelled at Elias again. "I will count to three! Don''t force my hand!" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She came from a mediocre family. In front of the descendants of the founding families, she doesn''t even raise her voice normally. But in this situation, she felt as if she held power over Elias.

    He was a descendant as well, and the feeling of being able to suppress someone like him, felt like a delicacy. She was able to let out all the frustrations in her life, while feeling powerful before a descendant.

 Chapter 213 - 213: Voice of the dead

    The girl enjoyed the feeling of being able to suppress a descendant, something that she couldn''t normally witness.

    Even if Elias was strong, all his class abilities were sealed. He was at their mercy. Or rather, he was at the mercy of her Summoned Beast, which was already standing next to Elias, completely invisible.

    The beast was standing on two feets, and had blades for hands. His blades were merely inches away from Elias''s neck, and he simply needed an order from his master to move.

    The girl didn''t have the courage to kill Elias either, but she enjoyed the feeling of holding his life and death in her hands.

    Soon, she started counting down, and the beast moved his blade, letting Elias experience the feeling of something sharp brushing against his neck. It was a warning for him to listen to others, if he didn''t want to lose his head.

    "One... Two... Thre-"

    The girl''s counting abruptly stopped, as a muffled bang echoed in the surroundings. She suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood, unable to breathe anymore, as her throat was painted red in blood.

    There was a small hole in the middle of her throat. She grabbed her throat, trying to stop the blood, but it failed. She couldn''t even speak, and fell on her knees.

    At the same time, the invisible beast also suffered, with a blade being plunged straight into its chest.

    Elias didn''t wait for the beast to disappear after its master died. Instead, he killed the beast, which was supposed to become a feast for Lycorice. It was also a punishment for the beast, for making him bleed.

    ....

    "He is truly as wild as the rumours said..." Helen mumbled, looking at the bloody scene that was taking shape on the ground.

    There was only a little snow left around the storm, and even that beautiful white show was slowly painted red, forming a gruesome scenery.

    Not just the students, but even their Summoned Beasts were killed by Elias. And he doesn''t use any class abilities while killing them. He simply used the weapons.

    In his left hand, there was a long sniper rifle, while his left hand held a blade that was stained in blood of the Summoned Beasts.

    What surprised her was the fact that these weapons were able to kill the Summoned Beasts, something that only other Beasts should have been able to do.

    "The Ashborn Family has a lot of depth. These weapons must have been made from the corpse of some godly beast. That''s why it can counter the other beasts."

    She rubbed her chin, watching Elias walk away from the storm after killing everyone there.

    "I heard that the Ashborn Family didn''t really like him. He was said to be almost abandoned by his family. Their relationship was said to be estranged. Was it just a rumor to fool the outside world?"

    "If he was really hated by his family, why would they give him such precious items for him to succeed at the Academy?"

    Initially, she thought that Elias was going to suffer a little. She knew that the others wouldn''t kill him, but they were definitely going to embarrass him after taking him down. But the reality was quite different.

    Not only had Elias been completely unharmed, but he was also walking towards the tent of the Creature Faction where almost all the rankers and other students were resting, waiting for the end of this test to be declared. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kaelen, the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames, was also supposed to be sleeping inside the Creator Faction.

    She somewhat looked forward to their clash, especially since she was sure that Kaelen was going to win. Even though Elias had a few unique treasures, Kaelen had the mystical flames, which made him almost invincible in the same realm.

    Kaelen also had the support of the other rankers. Meanwhile, Elias was all alone since everyone else in his class was already killed.

    "If he was caught by the others, he would have just lost his points. But if he came across Kaelen, he might really die. Should I do something?"

    Even though she wanted to see Elten''s distorted faces when he heard the news about his brother''s death, she didn''t know if Kaelen could truly bear the brunt of the Ashborn Family if he killed Elias.

    It wouldn''t matter if he was truly hated by his family. But she thought that it was just a rumor. He was treasured by his family in reality.

    In that case, the relationship between the Ashborn Family and the Academy was going to get worse if Elias died.

    If it was any other founding family, she wouldn''t care much. The Academy could protect their Star Disciple. But it was that one family, which even the Academy didn''t want to outright offend.

    "I should stop him before things get worse." She stood up, and decided to intervene by giving Elias a warning personally.

    She opened the void, and was about to enter. But as she was about to walk inside, she felt a cold hand grab her wrist.

    She looked down at the pale yet cold hand which was holding her hand, before turning back to Elten.

    "You were awake?" she asked the man, who still had his eyes closed.

    "Your barrier is good. It can stop the sound of everything. But even it can''t stop the voices of the dead."

    The barrier around the place made it impossible to hear anything. But Elten wasn''t a normal person. He was a Necromancer with great achievements.

    He didn''t have to rely on his senses to hear things. He could hear the voices and grievances of the dead, including those who had died at Elias''s hands just now.

    He had already woken up when Elias killed the first person after stepping out of the Storm.

    "I should have guessed." Helen sat back on the chair, and the void closed. "Do you not want me to intervene to save your brother?"

    "Is he really the one who needs to be saved?" Elten slowly opened his lifeless eyes.

 Chapter 214 - 214: Upside down

    Elten had heard quite a lot of good things about Elias. It was a child who had even remained steadfast when facing their father.

    He had always kept a low profile in the past, bordering that of a coward. But after coming to the Academy, he had turned into a bird that was trying to soar through the sky without fear of the vultures.

    He had even kidnapped Dreke, and refused to hand him over. On the surface, it looked like a foolish decision that was going to upset the family, but it was actually a very clever decision.

    As long as Dreke was under his control, and his whereabouts were unknown, the family couldn''t really afford to kill. Dreke''s safely had ensured Elias''s safety from the family, especially with Dreke''s mother holding so much power.

    Silas Ashborn was the undeniable Overlord of the Ashborn Family. But after him, it was Dreke''s mother that was said to hold the most influence in the family. He had aimed straight at her heart, by kidnapping her only child.

    Elten didn''t feel any pity for Dreke. They were simply half brothers, and he wasn''t particularly fond of Dreke, or his mother either. He didn''t care about the fact that Dreke was kidnapped, but he still found it quite clever.

    So far, Elias had taken many decisions that looked like they were made because he was a petty person. Only Elten thought otherwise. He was a very cunning child, who also had quite an interesting talent that even he couldn''t see through.

    If Elias came across Kaelen, was he really going to be taken down? It was uncertain at the moment.

    Even though Elias had a really low chance of success against the Inheritor of the Phoenix Flames, Elten still had a feeling that if anyone amongst the young ones could take Kaelen down, then it was his little brother.

    There was another reason he didn''t try to stop Elias. He needed Kaelen to be dead. Even if he had overestimated Elias, and the child couldn''t defeat Kaelen, it was still good enough if he could give him a reason to take action personally.

    Elias approached the camp of the Creator Faction. But no one was able to alert the rankers that were resting inside their tents.

    There were a few children who were guarding the camp with their Summoned Beasts. Before they could even see Elias, a small hole was left in the middle of their forehead. Their bodies kept falling on the ground, and their names turned grey in the ranking.

    The test was supposed to be a simple one. The Academy had already considered the possibility of quite a few students dying, but the number of dead had long surpassed any expectations they might have had.

    The Destroyer Faction of the First Year had been completely eliminated, with only Elias being left alive. Even the Creator Faction had lost at least half their people, and more were dying. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The test, which was made to gauge the strength and coordination of the beastly partners of the students, had turned into a feast of blood.

    Inside one of the tents, a ranker was lying in bed, waiting for the time to run out. The ranker of the creator faction sat up, noticing the shadow of a person cast on the walls of his tent.

    "Is anyone outside?" he asked, but there was no answer.

    His feet landed on the ground, and he walked to the exit. "Are you deaf? Don''t you hear what I''m asking? Who is outside?"

    He moved the curtain aside to see who was outside. But all he managed to see was the face of a person that he never expected to be there.

    "You are-" He mumbled, taking a step back. He was about to summon his beast, but no voice came out of his throat.

    Instead, his world was turned upside down when he noticed that his body was still standing, while his head was flying in the air.

    With a thud, his head fell on the ground. His vision darkened, and the last thing he saw was Elias''s foot, which landed on his head. Before he could even close his eyes in death, the foot came stomping down, and his skull shattered.

    The rankers had started dying, but no one was able to notice it soon enough. Only one name was left in the scroll of the Destroyer Faction, while only four names were left in the Creator Faction''s scroll now.

    The Creator Faction hadn''t expected something like this to happen, near the end of this test. They had already lowered their guard, and were quite relaxed, still drunk on the pleasure of success in this test.

    Besides Kaelen, only three rankers had survived. And all of them were gathered together, getting drunk. Normally, they were competing with each other, but at this point, they were drinking together, and laughing.

    The third and fourth rankers had been gathered by Olsen, who didn''t want them to have any opportunity to find Elias and surpass his ranking. So he marked the end of their test with his own, and already started celebrating, getting them drunk.

    "To think that we have achieved something that had never been achieved before! We have managed to wipe out the entire Destroyed Faction. Even our seniors hadn''t managed to achieve that when they were in their first year!"

    "Even though most of the credit goes to Kaelen, our contribution can''t be ignored either. After we return to the Academy, we will become legends! Hahaha, I can already see the shocked expressions of my father when he hears it!"

    "Good riddance. The Destroyer Faction of the first year would have become our enemies in the future. We might have suffered like the seniors are suffering! By ending this mess in the early stages, we can rest easy in the future!"

    "The Destroyer Faction was pathetically weak in the first place. If they didn''t have the help of that formation, we could have wiped them without Kaelen''s help. The Seniors must be very incompetent if they didn''t manage to kill the Destroyers of their years."

 Chapter 215 - 215: The Last Two

    What started as a celebration for their achievements, soon turned into a bragging session where they mocked the Destroyer Faction, and even the seniors of the Creator Faction.

    "If only we could kill Elias Ashborn as well, we would have finished them all. Who would have thought that the coward would stay hidden until the end."

    "It''s fine. He can hide here, but what about the Academy? Sooner or later, he would come across us! Then we will teach him a lesson!"

    "Tch, if that coward came before me, I would just grab his throat and crush it!" A drunk ranker raised the glass of wine, and reached out his left hand in the air, making the gesture of grabbing someone''s throat.

    To his surprise, his hand did manage to grab something, which felt like someone''s throat.

    "Hmm?" His vision was a little blurry, but he still felt as if he was seeing the silhouette of Elias Ashborn before him. "I think I am a little too drunk. I am seeing that bastard''s face before me."

    "Hahaha, it looks like I''m just as drunk as you. I am also seeing the face of that bastard." The child who was currently ranked third, rubbed his eyes. "I think I should sleep. This drink is very heavy."

    "You..." The only person who looked sober was Olsen, who had drunk the bare minimum.

    He kept offering drinks to the other two rankers to prevent them from trying to find Elias in the future. But even he was left shaken when he saw Elias in the tent with them.

    Elias didn''t even target the two drunk children who were thinking that they were living in a dream-like illusion because they were too drunk. Instead, his main target was Olsen, who was momentarily overwhelmed by shock.

    Olsen chanted the name of his contracted beast to summon it, but something went horribly wrong. The moment his beast was summoned, Olsen was already dead. In this test, his class abilities were already sealed.

    Be could only rely on his physique, and his summoned beast. But his physique was only mediocre, with his class being related more to the domain of pure magic.

    Even when he saw Elias aim at him and thought about dodging, his body was too slow. And just like that, the second ranker from the first year creator faction had also died.

    That left only two rankers that weren''t even in their right state of mind at the moment. Their minds were dizzy, and their bodies didn''t even stay still. They weren''t in a state to fight back, or even register what was happening to them.

    It still didn''t make Elias have mercy on them. Blood splashed on the inner walls of the tent, and two more bodies fell down.

    Elias moved the curtain aside, and stepped out of the tent. He raised his head, and looked at the two scrolls in the sky.

    The left Scroll had the name of Elias Ashborn, while the right scroll had the name of Kaelen.

    In the entire earth, only two participants were left alive, one from each Faction. At least that was according to the scrolls. In this entire place, only Elias knew the reality.

    Although Kaelen was actually alive in his Shadow Domain, it didn''t count as him surviving this test. The one who truly survived this test, was his second persona, which was going to hold the position representing the Academy in the future.

    Helen had thought about intervening in the test multiple times, especially since Elias started slaughtering all the surviving rankers of the Creator Faction.

    She was always stopped by Elten, who reminded her that they hadn''t intervened when the students of Destroyer Faction were getting slaughtered by Kaelen.

    "You can''t be biased towards your students. The window of interference has long passed. It''s time to enjoy the spectacle," Elten said.

    "If something happens to the Inheritor of the Flames, none of us would be able to take responsibility. We should stop them!"

    Initially, she didn''t think that Elias would be able to annihilate everyone with such ease. But the weapons in his hand were truly strange, even for someone like her.

    At this point, she didn''t think that it was beneficial for either side for this test to continue.

    "Both of them are the pillars of our Academy. It would be a great loss if either of them died, especially Kaelen! We need to intervene!"

    "Were the other students not the pillars of the Academy? Don''t forget that many of them were also the descendants of the Founding Families. If you intervene now to save someone, will we be able to answer them about why we didn''t intervene?"

    "This..." Helen froze in place. It was also true. Initially, they could just say that they weren''t allowed to intervene in the test because of rules, so things deteriorated. It wasn''t their fault.

    If they intervened now, it would tell the founding families that the rules were insignificant in the first place, and could be broken at any time. It was just that they didn''t break them when it was their children, but broke them for Kaelen.

    It was going to attract too much hostility for the Academy, as it would cut all bridges of consolation.

    The only way to avoid that situation was to not intervene until there was only one survivor left in the test. Either that, or the time for the test officially ended.

    "There are still thirty minutes before the test ends. At this rate, they might actually die before the end."

    Helen rubbed her forehead harshly, looking down in frustration. She wanted to rush down, but she couldn''t even do that because of Elten.

    ''It doesn''t matter. If Kaelen''s life is really in danger, and he''s on the verge of death, I would rush down! To hell with the rules! I can''t let the Inheritor die! But if he isn''t in danger, and Elias is the one to die, I can just sit back and relax.''

    After making a plan in her mind, she stabilized her thoughts and watched Elias approach Kaelen''s tent.

    Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 216 - 216: Wake up

    The entire camp of the Creator Faction was void of life. There was only one person in the Creator Faction who was still believed to be alive, and Elias stood outside the tent of that person.

    He moved the curtain aside, and stepped inside the rent, only to be greeted with the extreme temperatures that felt cold, and hot at the same time.

    There was a large sphere of blue flames that had covered most of the space inside the large tent.

    The flames belonged to Elias, who could easily make them disappear with a single thought. But instead, he made the flames become even more fierce when he stepped closer to them.

    "Hmm?" He looked stunned at the fierceness of the flames, and took a step back subconsciously.

    "Are you the Inheritor of the Ice Phoenix Flames?" he asked. Even though he knew that there was no one inside the flaming sphere, he still put on a show for the Professors that were watching him.

    He received no response to his question, as his voice failed to pass through the flaming barrier.

    "It doesn''t matter." Elias brought out a few landmines from his storage, while ensuring that they weren''t strong enough to actually blow away the flaming barrier. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He placed the mines around the flaming barrier, surrounding that place completely.

    After he was done, he stepped out of the tent. He aimed his gun at one of the mines after getting far enough. He could blow the mine with a single wave of his hand with Creation Control, but once again, he didn''t want to reveal his abilities

    He pulled the trigger, and his bullet flew like lightning, striking at the heart of the mine. The mine blew up, causing a great explosion that made the ground tremble.

    The flames of the explosion struck other mines as well, and they also exploded. With each passing second, the explosion kept getting bigger. The entire tent blew away with the explosion, along with the rest of the camp.

    The entire place was surrounded by flames, and a cloud of smoke rose up into the sky. The strength of the explosion management to unnerve Helen as well, who hadn''t expected this level of strength.

    She grew worried, unsure if Kaelen would actually survive this attack. Unfortunately, it was too late. Even if she went down now, she couldn''t save him if he was caught by that explosion. And if he had survived that, then there was no need for her to go down.

    She clenched her fists, and waited for the flames to die down.

    "Hah?" The flames of the explosion didn''t die, but they still disappeared, revealing the sphere of ice phoenix flames that was left completely intact.

    The barrier wasn''t just intact, but it had grown even stronger, as if it had absorbed the minor flames into it.

    "No wonder these flames are ranked so high. They can actually absorb weaker flames." The corner of Helen''s lips crept up.

    She was worried about Kaelen''s safety, but the barrier that he had cast was truly incredible. Even she hadn''t expected the barrier to be so stable to the point that she wasn''t even sure if Kaelen actually felt that explosion outside.

    If Kaelen had heard the explosion, why would he still be sleeping peacefully inside? Wouldn''t he have come out to check the commotion?

    "To think that he is still sleeping. It looks like I was worried for no reason." She glanced at Elten with smugness. "Your little brother can''t even disturb Kaelen''s sleep, let alone hurt him."

    Elten didn''t react to her taunts. Was the barrier really so stable that Kaelen couldn''t feel the disturbance outside? He found it a little suspicious, but it was indeed the fact that the barrier was extremely stable.

    If Kaelen didn''t come out to fight Elias, then how could he get a reason to interfere? Things were going off the track, and he didn''t like it.

    "If Elias''s Soul Beast had completed her evolution, then he would have been much stronger. But he is alone, and his class abilities are sealed. No matter how strong a treasure is, at the end of the day, it''s only an external object that has limitations."

    Just as he thought, Elias tried to shoot at the barrier, but the bullets that came from his gun were melted by the flames before they could even pass through the barrier.

    He failed to even call Kaelen out, no matter what he tried. And just like that, thirty minutes passed, and the trial officially ended.

    The last two survivors of the test didn''t even get to face each other in the end. Elias looked frustrated, and didn''t even try to hide it.

    He looked at the sky, his gaze piercing through the clouds as if he could see his brother and Helen.

    Elten and Helen stood up from their thrones, and materialized before Elias. With the rest officially over, they could finally intervene.

    "The test has ended," Elten said. There was no pride or happiness in his eyes about Elias''s performance, as he was still a little distracted by the flames of the phoenix.

    "How long will it take for your Soul Beast to complete her evolution?" he asked, as he couldn''t return with Elias until his soul beast completed the evolution.

    "It would take longer. Maybe a few days," Elias answered. "Before it''s finished, it can''t return to the Academy."

    He knew that Elten wouldn''t like the answer. He was someone who was lazy by personality, and didn''t like to do unnecessary things. He could easily return to the Academy and enjoy his lifestyle, but now he was stuck with him as a Professor.

    "Kaelen, the test is over. Wake up." Helen went directly for the flaming barrier, and called out to Kaelen.

    "Kaelen?!" After receiving no response, she grew even louder. Despite that, there was only absolute silence.

    Seeing her growing impatient, Elias also started to worry. Unlike him, Helen could actually break the barrier as the flames hadn''t reached their full potential in his hands yet.

 Chapter 217 - 217: Failed Analysis

    If she actually broke the barrier, then she was going to find out that no one was inside. She might even find a hidden tunnel that led straight to the eye of the storm, where he came out from.

    "It''s time to return. Is he still not waking up?" Helen rubbed her forehead, and thought about breaking the barrier. "Maybe I should break the barrier. There is no danger for him outside anyway."

    Helen actually decided to break the barrier and wake up Kaelen. He could sleep in a more comfortable environment inside the battleship after all. Moreover, she was in a hurry to return Kaelen to the Academy. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Elias was worried about her breaking the barrier. Although it was suspicious, he took the lead to say something

    "He is someone who didn''t wake up even with the explosions. You think he can wake up from your voice? That barrier most probably prevents any disturbance to the owner inside. You can only wait for him to wake up and come out on his own."

    "I guessed that much. It''s why I was planning to break the barrier. It might be hard for you, but for us, it''s child''s play at this stage." Helen reached out her hand, and gathered condensed essence on the tip of her fingers.

    "If I''m not wrong, these must be the Ice Phoenix Flames. Is he the Inheritor that the Academy is looking for?" he asked, but he didn''t wait for the confirmation, as Helen was almost ready to break the barrier. "If that''s the case, then breaking the barrier might actually hurt him."

    "What?" Helen abruptly stopped, as the thought of hurting the Inheritor scared her. If she actually hurt the person that the Dean was looking for, then wasn''t she going to be skinned alive as punishment?

    "Why do you say that?" she asked.

    "If the Ice Phoenix Flames are connected to his soul, then forcefully breaking the barrier might actually hurt his soul. I don''t really care for his life, but he is the only person that I failed to kill in his test. If he is to die, then it has to be at my hands."

    Elias didn''t want them to find it suspicious that he was helping Kaelen after trying to kill him. So he tossed out a vague excuse about wanting to kill Kaelen on his own.

    Elten didn''t say anything through the process, and even Elias didn''t know what he was thinking. If anyone wanted Kaelen dead the most, then it was Elten. And now his younger brother was saving that child?

    He was worried that it might make Elten hate him, but there was no other choice if he wanted to protect his other identity.

    As for the soul being hurt with the destruction of the barrier, he just made that story up. There was no way the destruction of that barrier was actually going to hurt him.

    He just tossed out that possibility to muddy the water as the Ice Phoenix Flames were not that well known, despite being connected to the Academy.

    "You... You are right. If the flames are connected to his soul, then it might actually hurt him." Helen quickly dispersed her energy, finding the possibility of Elias''s words being true.

    She even felt a little grateful to Elias for helping her, even though his reasons were somewhat vicious like wanting to kill Kaelen on his own.

    "I guess I can only wait for him to wake up and come out on his own." She summoned a chair, and sat before the barrier.

    The battleship in the sky was on standby. As soon as Kaelen came out, they were going to leave this place.

    "If there is nothing else, I will be returning to my Soul Beast to check on the progress of her evolution." Elias also prepared to leave, taking one last glance at the scrolls in the sky that were folding back again, growing smaller.

    He walked back to the storm, but this time, he wasn''t alone. Elten also walked next to him.

    After they were far enough from Helen, he asked, "Why did you save him? Didn''t I tell you that I want the Inheritor to be dead?"

    "I didn''t help him. I helped you, brother," Elias answered. "The destruction of that barrier wouldn''t kill that boy, would it? At most, it will only hurt his soul."

    "What do you think will happen if his soul was hurt? The Academy would try to help him, and hide him from the world until his soul healed. At that point, will you be able to kill him?" He further asked, making his reasoning even more clear.

    It took him a lot of effort to think of a reason like this to justify his actions. But finally, he managed to think of something to fool his brother.

    "If you want him dead, then we can''t allow the Academy to take him into hiding. If his soul isn''t hurt, the Academy wouldn''t hide him from the world. It will give us many more opportunities to kill him in the future. Isn''t that for the better?''"

    "That is... true." Even Elten didn''t deny that Elias had a good reason. But for an odd reason, something still felt out of place.

    Elias soon reached the merger storm, that only he could pass through. He took a step forward, and was about to enter the storm when Elten called out to him.

    "Wait a minute."

    ''Hmm? Did he still not believe my excuse?'' Elias frowned, coming to a sudden halt.

    He quickly recovered his expressions and turned around.

    "Yes brother?"

    "I had something to give you. I forgot it last time, but here." Elten tossed out a small object towards Elias, who caught it.

    "Hmm? What is it?" This was the first time that Elias had seen an object that even the Material Analysis failed on.

    Normally, he could at least see if there was a possibility of material merger or not, but he couldn''t even see that. It was as if this object wasn''t recognised by his Architect Class.

    "I don''t know. For me, it''s been no different than paper weight. But someone really insisted that I needed to give it to you in the future."

    "Who insisted?" Elias asked. Someone wanted this strange item to be given to him, and they asked someone like Elten? Was it their father? If not, then who else could get Elten to do something for them?

    Elten didn''t answer him. He simply waved his hand, and walked away.

    Elias remained there for quite some time. After Elten disappeared from his sight, he also took a step back and disappeared within the storm, still having a lot of questions about this strange item.

 Chapter 218 - 218: Realm of Necromancer

    "What a strange object," Elias mumbled to himself, turning the smooth, obsidian-like object over in his hand.

    It felt strangely warm to the touch, yet there was no information about it. It was called a ''Paperweight'' by Elten, but Elias was certain that it was more than that.

    Who wanted this to be given to him? That was the question which he didn''t quite understand. For now, he kept the item back in his inventory and shifted his attention back to Lycorice after entering the merger storm.

    Lycorice still hadn''t come to her senses, but her body had clearly changed beyond recognition. She had already entered the realm of a High Tier Constellation, but she was far from completion.

    Her aura had grown stronger, and there were also many physical changes around her. She had grown taller, and her skin became even fairer like the purest form of snow.

    Her hair had also grown longer, and now came down to her ankles. Each of her hair threads was so sharp that it could be used as a blade to cut through a metal.

    Lycorice looked completely mesmerising, even to someone like Elias who often paid no attention to such things. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    There was also another side to her, that went beyond her charm. It was the incredible amount of bloodlust and hostility that she had absorbed from the surroundings.

    It was this hostility and chaos of earth that had given birth to her. Before she could completely absorb it in the past, she was captured and taken away by Dreke.

    Now that she was back in this world, she was once again being accepted as an existence that was essential for this world.

    She was being accepted by the forces of this world with open arms, and she was being granted every last bit of blessing that she could get from this world.

    "There''s still so much time left."

    Every passing second felt like an eternity for Elias, who could see precisely how much time was left for the completion of the merger. The merger was close to completion, but there were still hours left.

    "Shouldn''t you be rushing to the other side? They are waiting for Kaelen to wake up." Astralious appeared behind Elias, and reminded him to bring him out of his daze.

    "I still need to complete some preparation before that," Elias said, and sat on the ground. "I can''t be at two places at the same time, right?"

    "Shouldn''t you have thought about this problem before? It''s too late at this point."

    "Who said that I didn''t think about this problem before?" Elias brought out a corpse that he had collected in the ancient tomb of the Ice Phoenix Flames.

    The corpse had a similar physique to him, but the face was different to some extent. Beside that, the corpse was in a completely perfect state with no wound to be seen anywhere.

    It was a corpse of a person who was granted instant death in the tomb, which left him as a perfect specimen.

    "What are you going to do with this?" Astralious asked with a frown. Elias wasn''t a Necromancer, so he couldn''t bring the corpse back to life. There was no point in him dabbling with the corpses of other students.

    "I am going to create someone who can temporarily take my place." Elias answered and started changing the clothes of the corpse with his clothes.

    At the same time, he wore the clothes of Kaelen.

    "Don''t forget the earring," Astralious chimed in when Elias finished dressing up.

    "I haven''t forgotten." Elias placed an earring on his ear, and changed his facial structure into that of Kaelen''s.

    He also used the same skill to change the bone structure of the corpse before him, making the corpse look identical to him.

    "I still don''t understand. How are you going to do something like this? Even if you make the corpse look identical to you, it''s useless if it can''t move and walk like you. It''s just an empty shell at this point."

    "Isn''t the answer simple?" Elias answered. "We just have to fill this empty shell. I might not be a Necromancer, but I do have something that can help me with that."

    He was moulding the body into a perfect specimen, like a craftsman. But without a soul, it was truly a useless thing. That''s why he had already arranged for a soul to possess the body.

    Initially, he thought about sending Astralious. The only problem was that Astralious wasn''t perfectly compatible with it. As a Constellation, he didn''t know many things about being a human.

    Elias wanted to grant Astralious a human body, but not the body that needed to take his place temporarily.

    Another problem with Astralious was that Lycorice didn''t know him. If Astralious pretended to be him, Lycorice was going to see through it with ease because they didn''t have a soul bonding.

    To prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings, he indeed had to be at both places at the same time. That''s why, he had once again planned to do something foolish.

    He had a class skill that had evolved into something greater. His Extraction had evolved into Precise Extraction, which was what he planned to use.

    The thing that he planned to extract were not his unusual abilities. Instead, the thing that he truly planned to precisely extract, was a fragment of his own soul, which meant that he could indeed be at both places at the same time.

    Just to be safe that his fragmented soul didn''t think of itself as the main body, he only planned to use a small fragment that could be extracted back and merged with him, if needed.

    He didn''t tell Astralious his plans because he didn''t want to be told that he was being foolish, especially when it came to matters involving meddling with souls.

    Normally, even Necromancers were afraid of messing with their own souls, and here was a bit who was planning something like this without a single care in the world?