《Calamity Upon This World》 Chapter 1: Ch-1 A Birth Celebrated By The Universe On a particular stormy day an event which would drastically alter the course of the world was ongoing."Push, my lady, push; you can do this." A woman''s voice was heard screaming at a lady who was crying and trying not to pass out. It was a large room with a lady laying on a bed in the middle of the room, crying with blood all around her. Her usually pretty face, capable of charming any man who laid his eyes upon her, was nowhere to be seen as it was covered with snot and tears. Surrounding the lady was an older woman in what appeared to be church clothes; from her attire, she looked to be a nun. Alongside her were two maids who were running around the room doing whatever the nun asked of them. From the bloated belly of the lady on the bed as well as the expression on her and the faces of everyone present in the room, which looked like it could easily house 10 people without any of them getting too. Uncomfortable, it was easy to deduce that the lady on the bed was pregnant and trying to deliver a baby with the nun and maids trying to help her. After a lot of time, tears, blood, and angry curses, they managed to succeed."He''s a healthy baby boy, my lady, congrats," said the nun with a newborn in her hands, barely 20 inches, and a towel rolled around him. Those words were more than enough to bring tears of joy to the faces of the two maids who helped with the delivery, and as for the woman who struggled the most during the process, she had a smile so big on her face, telling us that if not for her being too tired, she would''ve probably cried tears of joy at her first ever child. However, in the end, all she could do was muster up a small chuckle.Amidst the happy expressions of everyone present in the room, the door burst open. Emerging inside was a man easily dwarfing everyone present inside due to his tall build, standing over an impressive 6''2 feet. This, combined with his lean build, as well as his snow white hair and blood-like red eyes, meant he could easily woo any woman his heart desires.However, all of that was nowhere to be seen, as his face was covered in an extremely distressed expression. This, combined with his dark circles and sweat all over his face, would be enough to make anyone pity him."What happend, Kara? I heard wails from inside the room. Is everything alright?" asked the man with an expression looking like he was on the verge of crying until his eyes fell on a nun holding a baby in her hands and then on a woman on the bed, seemingly his wife. After confirming she was fine, he heaved a sigh of relief. "Congratulations, Mr. Rex. The delivery was a success. It''s a healthy baby boy, and Mrs. Myra is also safe," said Kara with a wide smile on her face. Rex, upon hearing this, took the baby in his arms with such care as if he were the most precious and fragile thing in the world. With moist eyes filled with tears of nothing but love, he walked towards Myra on the bed, who was smiling nonstop, watching her husband holding the baby in his arms with a wide smile on his face. "You did it, darling; I always believed in you," said Rex with moist eyes as he placed the child near Myra on the bed, letting her get a proper view of the face of her child, which to her looked like the most precious thing in the world, which caused a few tears of joy to escape her eyes."Wait, but why isn''t he crying?" asked Kara with a slightly confused and worried look on her face. It had happened as if in sequence¡ªsomething so unbelievable that no one present in the room could believe it despite having seen it with their own two eyes. If they ever told anyone, they''d only get themselves labelled as lunatics. Mana was moving around the child as if enamoured by his existence, as if dancing around him, congratulating his birth. All the while, the child was absorbing the mana at a monstrous pace, making the infant feel as if he was one with the world. Due to this, the room started quacking, the windows started cracking, and everyone inside the room was too stunned to speak. Just like that, after a few seconds, all the turbulence had ceased.The boy had awakened, and he had succeeded in forming his mana core, a feat so unbelievable that no one would ever believe it for many years to come. This feat required a person to at least be 10 years old, with the average being 15 years, and a success rate of barely 70% was achieved by a newborn who hadn''t even gotten a name yet. However, for this baby, this was just the beginning.As soon as this seemingly otherworldly phenomenon occurred, something far more outrageous happened. "What just happ-?" Before Rex could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a loud thunderclap right inside his head, disorienting him for a few seconds and making him fall to his knees. However, he was far from the only one to have heard the thunderclap, as it was heard by everyone in the entire universe, with reactions varying from person to person. This was a universal announcement of the birth of a divine aspect¡ªa human with the potential to become a god¡ªa phenomenon that last occurred six millenia ago. Of course, the only reason why people still remember it despite such a long time already passing is because it was recorded in the history books as the most important day in the history of the world. This time, Rex was too shocked to even form coherent thoughts as he once again witnessed something otherworldly. However, Rex knew what was to come¡ªthe elemental manifestation of his child¡ªbut due to his experience being an adventurer for many years and facing many life-threatening situations, his instinct kicked in as he covered himself, his wife, and even his son in his strongest defensive skill¡ªa decision that saved the lives of himself and his family. As soon as a sea of flames manifested, unfortunately for the maids, who were just regularly unawakened with no one to protect them, they were consumed with not even their ashes left. Thankfully for Kara, she had a defensive artifact capable of protecting her from any life-threatening injuries. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, this was just the start, as right after a tsunami manifested, putting out the room that was still on fire and also destroying it, after which gigantic rock spikes manifested, destroying a huge chunk of the mansion, a huge storm manifested, destroying everything in its path. After a few seconds, bolts of lightning spread everywhere, destroying anything in their path. If anything was left of the huge mansion, it was all frozen to the core. Thankfully, both barriers between Rex and Kara still held on. However, once it looked like everything was over, once again something went wrong, and the baby started emitting a crimson hue. Before anyone could even question what was going on, it exploded as a glorious crimson light enveloped the whole domain, levelling the entire mansion to the ground. Unfortunately for Kara, even her barrier was destroyed, thus killing her too fast for her to even process what happened. Thankfully, Rex and Myra were still unharmed due to the strength of the skill Rex used as well as their proximity to the baby, as it''s a well-known fact that elemental manifestation never hurts the person manifesting it. 11th, Julias 5668, a seemingly random date for now, but someday this date would become the most important event to have ever occurred in the whole universe as a child welcomed by the universe was born. Chapter 2: CH-2 Boy Named William "3.2.1, ready or not, here I come." said a white-haired boy with a mischievous expression on his cute face, which still had some baby fat and red eyes that held a glint of innocence in them.He was wearing some blue shorts along with a white shirt and a blue vest, which all looked pristine. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. From his clothes and vibe, it was easy to deduce that the kid was a noble.The kid was standing under the shade of a tree that was planted in the backyard of a massive mansion. From the above scene, one could guess the kid was playing hide and seek, and the boy seemed to be the seeker. Once he finished counting, the kid started moving around the large garden, checking every bush he came across, trying to find someone, but to the boy''s dismay, he could find no one. A maid was standing near the garden with a pleased expression on her face, watching her young master play with his friend without a care in the world about his surroundings. She had brown hair along with chestnut-coloured eyes, making her quite pleasing to look at. In her hands, she held a tray with a towel and multiple glasses containing a yellow-coloured drink that looked like lemonade. "Hey Alia, tell me, where did those little rats hide? Are they even inside the garden?" the boy asked the maid with an annoyed expression on his face, due to failing to find anyone despite trying his best for the past 20 minutes. "Well, young master, I''m afraid the game would lose its purpose if I told you that, and to answer the second question, yes, they''re still hiding in the garden," said Alia with an amused expression on her face, seeing her young master''s antics. Seeing her refusal to help him, the boy had an annoyed expression on his face, which made him look cute. The boy even considered breaking the rules and using mana, as he knew it wouldn''t even take him a minute to find everyone if he tried. However, just when that idea was taking root in his mind, he heard a rustle from a bush nearby. Upon hearing it, the boy had a pleased expression on his face as he ran towards the bush where the noise came from, and upon reaching it, he started digging into the bush, trying to find the source of the noise. After a few moments of digging, he found her, a black-haired girl with leaves sticking out of her hair and grey eyes that were a little moist, seemingly frustrated upon being the first to be found. "Hahahaha, I found you,Lilly! see? I told you that you suck at hiding," said the boy with a teasing expression on his face. "Shaddup William, you little cheat who tried to get Alia to help you." The girl replied with an expression expressing that she felt wronged. "Oh well, I was just overestimating you; in the end, I didn''t even need her help to find you. Now, how about you tell me where your brother is hiding and I''ll come over to play with your friends for an hour?" asked William with an expression saying he already knew what her answer would be. "Hmm," the girl said with a finger on her face, as if she were in deep thought."Make it two hours, and I''ll do it," said the girl with a smile on her face, as if she didn''t even care about selling out her brother. "Ugh," said the boy with a frown on his face, but after some contemplation, he decided to agree, although reluctantly. But before Lilly could sell her brother out, a boy with black hair and grey eyes jumped out of a tree nearby and said,"Hey, that''s not fair. How could you sell your brother out like that?" Said the boy with an expression on his face, saying how hurt he felt. "Well, brother, you were a worthy sacrifice for me to get William to agree to play with us," replied the girl with an expression showing no remorse for selling him out or for seeing his hurt expression. "So just to clarify, I don''t owe anyone my playtime; after all, the deal was only valid after Lilly told me where Zack was hiding, but since he came out on his own without her telling me, the deal is void," Willaim shot back with an amused expression on his face, feeling glad to not have to be forced to play with those nobles. "Hey, that''s not fair," Lilly shot back, tears welling in her eyes and a hurt expression on her cute face. "Well, life isn''t fair, little Lilly," replied William. His face still had an amused expression. "Hahaha, that''s what you get for trying to sell your brother out," replied Zack with an amused expression at his sister''s being punished for trying to sell him out. While the children were busy with their playful banter, a maid stepped into the garden and shouted, "Young master William, young master Zack! And young lady Lilly, please come inside the house; lunch is ready.". Upon hearing her, the kids decided to reluctantly agree and go inside, but not before grabbing the lemonade from the tray Alia was holding and drinking it. Upon stepping inside, the kids were greeted by a lavish white room with a marble floor. The walls were decorated with a bunch of photos containing William and his family. The room also contained a pleasing scent, which made sure to calm the nerves of anyone who stepped inside. It was also extremely clean, with not even a speck of dust in sight, which made one wonder just how hard it must be to clean such a massive room to such a degree. However, none of the kids cared about any of that, as it was just a normal sight for them. Once the kids stepped inside, a bunch of maids came forward and made sure to clean up any sweat or dirt the kids may have accumulated from playing outside. Once they were done, the kids made their way towards the dining room, where they were met with a golden-coloured room that had a giant chandelier on its ceiling, and in the middle of the room was a dining table with 12 seats. Decorating the dining table were dishes and delicacies of all kinds. Sitting at the table was a breathtaking woman with deep black hair and emerald-like green eyes. She had unblemished pale skin, which all combined to make her a sight for sore eyes. The woman was wearing a light yellow blouse and had a red necklace in the shape of a fairy around her neck, which perfectly contrasted her green eyes and made her look even more stunning. She had a smile on her face when she saw the kids approaching the table. Upon seeing her, William had a wide smile on his face and ran forward, shouting "Mother!!" Upon reaching her, the boy jumped into her embrace, hugging her tightly. "Awww! Did my little angel miss me so much?? " Said Myra with a delighted expression at seeing her son again after 3 days and how happy he was seeing her again. "Of course I missed you, Mother. You and Dad were gone for 3 whole days. Also, is Dad back?" asked William with an excited expression. "Yeah, your father will be back soon; he just had some county matters to handle before he could come back," Myra replied with a happy expression. Hearing her answer, William decided to take a seat on a chair beside her. Seeing how different William acted in front of his mother compared to when he was with them, Zack and Lilly could do nothing but sigh as they took a seat on the dining table.A few maids were still standing near the entrance of the room in case their lords needed something. They had a small smile on their faces, seeing the antics of their young lord."So how did your guys play time go?" asked Myra with a smile on her face. "William took 20 minutes just running around the garden trying to find us. He tried to cheat by asking Alia and was going to use mana till my idiot sister made a rustling noise and got found, after which she tried to sell me out," Zack said calmly, though his face still showed how hurt he felt upon almost being betrayed by his sister. "Hey, just so you know, I only took so long trying to find you because I was bored, and it wouldn''t be fun if I found you guys too soon. I only asked Alia to confirm if she still remembered the rules of not helping the seeker or not. Also, the only reason I didn''t use mana was to make it a bit fair for you guys," William quickly replied, trying to defend himself. "Yeah, yeah, I''m sure if you didn''t use mana and not for my idiot sister, it would''ve taken you all day trying to find me," Zack quickly replied.Upon hearing this, Lilly quickly shot back, trying to defend herself. "Hey, it''s not my fault. Do you know how hard it is to stay crouched inside a bush for 20 minutes? In the end, I didn''t even get William to agree to play with me and my friends because of my stupid brother." Lilly said it with a hurt expression.Upon seeing the antics of the kids, Myra, with an amused expression on her face, said, "OK, enough about that. Let''s all eat now before the food goes cold." With a lighthearted atmosphere in the air, everyone started eating the food, which tasted extremely good and was fresh as it was made by the best chefs in the whole county. Once they were done with the lunch, Zack and Lilly decided to go back home, as it was almost time for their classes.After both of them were gone, Myra took William to her room, where she chatted with him about everything she did with his father, cutting out some details that might not be appropriate for him to hear. In return, William also told her about everything he had done for the past three days. Once that was done, Myra said, "OK, enough chitchat. I''m sure you didn''t just spend the last 3 days playing around with your friends, so why don''t you come with me to the training room and show me everything you learned?" "Ha, mother, you know me so well. I was just itching to show off a little in front of you." With that said, William quickly followed behind Myra to her private training room. Once inside, William was greeted by a very spacious white room where the walls and floor were covered in white padding and the ceiling was covered in black padding. Inside the room were 12 scarecrow-like training dummies; a little further along the walls were six golems, which seemed immobile, seemingly awaiting instructions to move. Upon entering inside, William couldn''t help but think, ''It''s been 3 whole days since Mother last saw me; it wouldn''t be fair to her if I didn''t show off a little as he removed a seemingly plain grey ring from his left index finger, which was suppressing his mana so he could play with his friends. Chapter 3: CH-3 Showing Off In Front Of Mother Once inside, William was greeted by a very spacious white room where the walls and floor were covered in white padding and the ceiling was covered in black padding.Inside the room were 12 scarecrow-like training dummies; a little further along the walls were six golems, which seemed immobile, seemingly awaiting instructions to move. Upon entering inside, William couldn''t help but think, ''It''s been 3 whole days since Mother last saw me; it wouldn''t be fair to her if I didn''t show off a little''as he removed a seemingly plain grey ring from his left index finger, which was suppressing his mana so he could play with his friends.Once removed, William''s body emitted a violent crimson aura. Before it was quickly suppressed, however, just that brief pressure was enough to tell anyone how much power was contained inside that small child. "Mother, since I''m going to show off, I''ll show you something new," said William with barely contained excitement. Once he was done saying that he manifested a giant horizontal bow made up of pure wind, the bow was around 200 cm, which was easily bigger than William. In the centre of the bow was a giant arrow made up of wind, seeing which William smiled as he pulled back his arm, and as if following him, the string of the bow was also pulled back. "Mother, take notes, as what I''m about to show you is something only a genius like me can show you," William said playfully. The next moment, a flame was added to the tip of the arrow, which quickly engulfed the whole arrow, making it a flaming arrow. "Hey, this is just the fiery arrow you showed me last week," Myra said with a seemingly confused expression. "True, but who said I was done?" William playfully shot back. The next moment, tendrils of lightning were added to the bow. "Tri-triple elemental fusion," Myra said in a state of disbelief. However, she quickly recovered from her shock, as she said. "That''s very impressive; however, it''s very naive of you to think that your enemies will just stand still waiting for you to cast your spells," Myra said, now seemingly composed. As if waiting for her command, the six golems on the wall started moving. The Golems were made entirely of grain stone, except for a red orb in the middle of their faces. They all varied in size and shape, ranging from 5''0 to 8''0 feet, ranging from bulky to small and agile. They all started running towards William to stop him from casting his spell."Thanks, Mother, I was waiting for you to do something like this," William said, completely composed, as if the six gigantic golems running towards him didn''t faze him in the slightest. The very next moment, thick tendrils of pure darkness shot forward from the golem''s shadow, completely immobilising them. "W-what?" Myra was completely confused as she recognised the spell but wasn''t sure how her son, despite not having a shadow element, was able to use shadow bind. Paying no mind to his mother''s confusion, William just smiled playfully as he manifested six ice spears above his head, each around 20 inches long, and covered them in lightning. The next moment, the spears shot forward at a speed inconceivable to the human eye towards the six golems, who were still trapped by their own shadow. The spears precisely impaled the red orbs of the golems, leaving them with no choice but to crumble helplessly. "Well, now that that''s taken care of, let''s get this over with," said William as he released his hand. On his command, the wind arrow, reinforced by both flame and lightning elements, shot forward at a speed even faster than the spears before them, towards the helpless training dummy. BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! Just like that, with an ear-deafening explosion, there were no more training dummies or broken pieces of the golems. "So, mother, are you satisfied with your son''s progress in the last 3 days?" asked William with a playful expression. "H-how? " That was all Myra could utter, seeing the impossible-to-believe sight before her." Triple elemental fusion, dual casting, and infusing both spells with elements¡ªa whole new shadow element¡ªdestroying dummies capable of withstanding an attack of 1000 BF¡ªall destroyed by an 8-year-old," Myra said, still in shock at what she just witnessed. ''How did you two even birth such a monster?'' A serene voice echoed inside Myra''s head, asking this question. "I have no idea," Myra mumbled in a tone inaudible to William. "Hah, what can I say, Mother? I guess I''m just a genius, and I also ascended to the 2nd ascension while you were gone," William said in a tone as if he didn''t care about his narcissistic words. I was just gone for 3 days." Myra said in a tone, expressing how confused she was."Wait, so you awakened the shadow element for your ascension?" asked Myra, expressing her curiosity. "Shadow and darkness element manipulations," William replied. "What you got two elemental manipulations for just one ascension?" asked Myra, appearing confused. However, she quickly composed herself and said,"As expected of a divine aspect, it really is different." Myra said, appearing composed. "Wait, what''s your BF like now?" asked Myra, appearing curious. Hearing her question, William uttered, "Status." ------------------------------------------------------------ Name: William Verhein Age:8 Race: Human Aspect: Walking Calamity (Tier V) 2nd Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:1146 Strength:260 Agility:280 Endurance:250 Vitality:156 Intelligence:200 [Invariable stats] Mana: B- Charm: C- Luck: F- Resistance:F Skills:-Passive skills: [Child of Mana], [Loved by Spirits], [Master of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Martial Genius], [Mana Sense], [One with Shadows] Active skills: [Mana Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth] [Masteries] hand-to-hand combat (low) Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------"Oh, my BF is just a humble 1146," William said calmly, although his eyes still had a hint of mischief. "WHATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! " Myra was completely shocked by what she just heard. "Bu-but you''re just 8," asked Myra, still unable to contain her shock. "True, but mother, you''re forgetting something. I''m a genius," said William as if just stating a fact. "That may be true, but this is too absurd," said Myra, still not convinced. "Mother, I''m the second ever Divine Aspect user in existence; I''m hailed as a peerless talent throughout the continent; I''m the same boy who awakened the moment he was born; I''m a progenitor of an element; I think it might be a bit too late for you to start getting shocked by me possessing more BF than most D grade adventurers despite only being 8," said William, not even caring about his own narcissistic words. While saying this, William was looking at his own aspect being displayed on a screen in front of him. ------------------------------------------------------------Aspect Name:Walking Calamity Aspect Tier:V Aspect Ascension:2nd Aspect Flaw: Terrible Luck, Slight chance of personality being affected by aspect. 1st Ascension Ability: One-man army [Chaos Soldiers]:- (Life Bomb): You can create bombs capable of stealing life force from others upon contact. You can also add this property to your attacks.This collected life force can be used to: 1.Self Heal 2.Chaos soldiers Use life force to summon beasts of chaos who stay inside the shadow domain. You can also use the skills of these beasts; to add new beasts, you need to absorb a race seed. Contracted Soldiers 1. Shadow hounds x 10 [Chaos Servants]:- Absorb A or S rank natural treasures to summon a servant of chaos who stays in the shadow world until called forth. The summoned servants depend on the treasure used (as you ascend, you can use different tiers of treasures to summon). Summoned Servants:- 1.Noir 2.Golden Sting 2nd Ascension Ability: Power of Darkness 1. [Darkness Manipulation]: Gain the element of darkness; have an easier time manipulating the darkness element; strengthen darkness spells. 2. [Shadow Manipulation]: Gain the element of shadow, have an easier time manipulating the shadow element, Strengthened shadow spells, able to turn shadows tangible, able to sense shadows, and able to store items in shadows. ------------------------------------------------------------Looking at his own aspect William couldn''t help but smile and acknowledge why Tier V aspects are called divine. "Bu-" Myra was flabbergasted by hearing her son list his own achievements. However, before she could even say anything,~knock ~knock~She was interrupted by a knock on the door, while Myra was still a bit shaken. William ran past her, shouting "Father!!!! ". Chapter 4: CH-4 Father Came Home With Gifts "Father!!!" William shouted while running towards the man who had just entered the house.The man had a tall build around 6''2 feet with wide shoulders and well-toned muscles visible through his skin-tight white shirt and brown coat. He had pale skin matching his snow-white hair and crimson eyes resembling the colour of blood. Upon seeing the young boy, who looked like a miniature version of him, running towards him, he dropped his suitcase and bags and also ran towards the boy with a big smile on his face. Upon reaching the boy, he picked him up from the ground and hugged him tightly. After hugging him, the man lifted the boy into the sky and started spinning. Upon being lifted into the sky by his father, William could do nothing but laugh loudly and think about how much he missed him. Upon arriving, Myra saw her husband playing with their son, and she couldn''t help but be a little jealous of why she wasn''t greeted this way. However, in the end, she could do nothing but sigh as she knew how much the boy adored his father. Not wishing to interrupt their moment, she decided to wait till they were done. Once Rex let William down and it seemed they were done, Myra went forward and greeted her husband. "Welcome back, dear," said Myra with a smile on her face. Upon hearing her voice, Rex smiled as he said, "I''m back". There was a lot William wanted to talk about with his father; however, he was just waiting for his mother to finish greeting him. "Now let''s let Father go to his room and change clothes and freshen up before you talk to him, " Myra said, seeing her son''s eagerness.Upon hearing that, William had no choice but to reluctantly agree. Upon hearing his wife''s words, Rex had no choice but to go inside his room and go into his shower to freshen up. After what seemed to be ages for William, his father returned to the living room, where he and his mother were sitting.He was wearing a black t-shirt and grey pants. He had his hand behind his back as he entered the room with a smile eerily similar to William''s, he said. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Daddy bought gifts for his genius."Upon hearing that, William''s expression lit up as he ran towards his father, asking, "Really, presents for me?". "Of course, if not for you, who else would I buy gifts for?" Rex asked with a hint of mischief in his eyes. Upon saying this, Rex handed William a box wrapped in red gift paper, which William took excitedly as he tore the wrapping paper. Inside, he found a pristine wooden box covered in golden embroidery, which gave off a regal aura as if it hadn''t been touched in ages. Inside the box was a long sword around 30 cm in length with a dual-edged blade and a black handle. The sword also had silver runes on it. "The edge of Runerra, that''s the name of the sword; this was the sword that accompanied me throughout most of my days as an adventurer; this was also the blade I used to slay the Hydra," Rex said as he eyed the blade with eyes filled with nostalgia, recalling his youth." The runes etched on the blade strengthen the effect of any spells channelled into the sword; it''s a very powerful rune, which helped me a lot back in the day". "Wait, since you''re gifting me a sword, does that mean?" William asked, his voice filled with anticipation. "Yes, I''ve thought about it a lot and decided to finally fulfil your wish and teach you swordsmanship," Rex said, his expression full of conviction. Upon hearing his father finally agree to what he had been asking for the past 3 years, William couldn''t contain his joy, and he jumped on Rex with teary eyes, thanking him and telling him how he''d make sure not to disappoint him. Upon hearing his son''s heartfelt words, Rex couldn''t help but break out of his serious expression as he smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "Hah, alright, junior, trust me, you don''t have a choice anymore. I''ll be personally training you, so don''t expect it to be easy," Rex said with a playful expression. "I''ll be sure to not disappoint Father.". "Yeah, yea, but before that, did you complete today''s training?" Rex asked "Ehh," William made a weird noise as if caught red-handed. "Heh, I knew it. Before you go do your daily training here, take this ring," Rex said with a smirk as he took a wooden box and threw it. Willian skillfully caught the box and opened it. Inside the box was a black ring with purple engravings. "It''s a portable armour called the Armour of Bordor; it looked pretty interesting, so I bought it for you". Upon hearing that, William had a look of surprise on his face as he wore the ring on his right index finger. "Try channelling mana into the ring," Rex advised. William followed his father''s advice and channelled mana into the ring. Once mana was channelled into it, the ring emitted bright purple light, and the next instant, William was covered in onyx black armour with purple engravings. The armour covered his whole body and yet didn''t obstruct movement. "So, what do you think?" Rex asked, seemingly pleased with how the armour looked. "It''s perfect," William said as he tried moving a bit in the armour and getting used to the foreign sensation on his skin. The next instance, the armour reverted back to a ring as William stopped channelling mana into it. "The sword is an S-rank artifact, with the armour being B-rank; now, even if there''s another assassination attempt, you should be able to defend yourself against them" Rex said with a pleased look on his face. "Thanks for the gifts, father. I''ll be sure to put them to good use". "Now then suppress your mana and go train in your training hall". "Yes, sir," William playfully said as he went away with a grin on his face. ******* While William was busy training, Rex and Myra were in their room talking about the day their lives changed. "Are you sure it''s the right decision to start teaching him swordsmanship? You do realise that once he''s learned swordsmanship, he''ll decide to go on an adventure out in the world, and we won''t be able to protect him anymore," asked Myra, thinking about the consequences of her husband''s decision. "We don''t have a choice. Myra, if what you told me with telepathy about him becoming a second ascension awakened is true, we can only keep him sheltered inside for so long before he sneaks out on his own," Rex said with a defeated expression. Back when Rex was in his room, Myra had told him about everything that had happened before he came home through telepathy, thus greatly shocking him and making him finally decide to teach William swordsmanship. "If we can''t protect him forever, we might as well prepare him for whatever lies ahead," Rex said as he thought about the day his son was born and the day his life forever changed. Chapter 5: CH-5 Aftereffects Of His Birth 11 Julias,5678Right after William had destroyed the mansion. In the middle of a huge crater was a single, pristine king-size bed; laying atop it was a tired black-haired woman with a stunned expression on her face; beside her was a sleeping baby barely 20 inches big, covered in a towel. "Hey Rex, I think I must be hallucinating due to exhaustion from just giving birth". "Myra If you were hallucinating about our son awakening and killing 50 people inside our mansion as well as destroying the mansion, we might be hallucinating the same thing," said a white-haired man standing beside the bed with an expression of disbelief. "Ah, we both must be under some kind of collective hallucination," Myra said with a slightly insane expression. "Rosella, please tell me we''re under some kind of illusion magic," she asked, her voice filled with desperation. Once she said that a tiny fairy materialized, barely 8-inch tall with a green body and transparent silver wings, which all combined to make her adorable to look at if one ignored the troubled look on her face. "Myra, calm down, please," her tone filled with desperation. "THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN???? Calm down, my son just got born and killed 50 fucking people," Myra asked, her voice filled with anger. "Myra I know how you feel, but please don''t be irrational," Rosella said in a pleading tone. "Myra, Rosella is right; you need to calm down for a minute. Under no circumstances can we let the world know what just happened here". Hearing her husband''s voice, Myra decided to temporarily calm down. A bit further from the village, away from the now-destroyed mansion, was Helga Village, a modest village under the jurisdiction of Baron Verhein. The village was quite modest in size, barely housing 250 people. These villagers didn''t have much ambition and were quite content with their lives and the security provided to them by their lord. However, little did these poor villagers know that the son of the very lord they all loved and cherished would be the cause of their demise. "Hey, what was that bright crimson light that came from the lord''s mansion?" Asked an innocent-looking kid barely 8 years old with a worried look. "Don''t worry, Alar, our lord is the strongest; we don''t need to worry about him," said a middle-aged man with a calm expression, though he couldn''t help but contain the uneasy feeling inside his chest. However, unknown to him, the uneasiness he felt wasn''t for his lord but rather for himself. ********** "Rex, so what do we do now?" Myra asked. "Give me a minute to think, Myra." "From the universal announcement, we can deduce that our son has a divine aspect" "That doesn''t even make sense; he''s the first person to have it after the God of Mana himself" said Myra. "It does not matter if it makes sense or not; the truth is that it happened," Rex said, trying to sound composed. "But if that''s true, then he''d be getting targeted by practically everyone in the world, some for good reasons and even more for bad reasons". "It does not matter what happens, but we must not let anyone learn that our son has a divine aspect". "How? Everyone in the whole universe heard the announcement." Myra asked. "True, which is why the best solution is to trick the world into thinking that he was born a week later than today". "If the truth were to be revealed that we hid a divine aspect from the world, we would be executed for treason," Myra said with a knowing expression, as if she knew what her husband was going to say. "It doesn''t matter he''s my child; if it''s for his or your sake, I''ll gladly fight the whole world," Rex said with a determined expression, as if he really meant what he said. "God, if I wasn''t so exhausted right now, I swear I would''ve kissed you.". "No reason to make excuses for something so trivial," Rex said as he moved closer to kiss her before she could react. "Gosh, not in front of William," Myra said with her cheeks still blushing. "He''s just a child; he won''t remember it," Rex said before realising it. "Wait? William?" He said this as a realisation struck him. "Yeah, we needed to give this boy a name, and I think it''s only fair for us to name him after our party member who died to save us, don''t you agree?" "My how romantic, as expected of the women I fell in love with," Rex said proudly. However, while Rex and Myra were busy talking, something they could''ve never expected happened. RAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A deafening roar was heard heading towards them. Heading their way was a humongous purple dragon with nine heads. The dragon had massive black wings and a fearsome expression as he flew towards them. "What the fu?" Before Myra could ask her question, the whole bed was covered in a golden dome of protection, the same skill Rex used to shield from William''s elemental manipulation as he muttered [Safe Haven]. After securing his wife and son, he uttered a few more words. [Martial State] [Grand Lightning Armour] [Aura Manifestation: Sword and Armour][Martial Aura] [Sword Flame] [Might of the Sword] Once Rex had activated all his buff skills and techniques, he had completely transformed compared to his previous form.His shoulder-length white had grown long enough to reach his back; his previously, red eyes had turned blue; his old clothes were nowhere to be seen as he now donned a silver armour made up of pure aura. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He also had tendrils of lightning coming out of his body as he was covered in a blue hue. Held in both his hands were two swords: a 30-cm dual-edged long sword with silver engravings on it, and a golden sword made up of pure aura. However, one thing both of these swords had in common was the overflowing white flame coming out of them.Once his transformation was complete, he ran towards the approaching Hyrda at a speed invisible to the naked eye as he left trails of lightning behind him. Once he had reached far enough from his son and wife, he uttered [Grand Leap]As he flew in the sky, reaching the same height as the hydra, he activated a spell and held his hand towards the approaching lizard, who seemed intimidated by the man coming towards it. However, that was of no concern to Rex, as a giant palm made up of rocks manifested where Rex had pointed. The palm was a little smaller than the Hydra, but it was still enough to trap the Hydra as Rex closed his hand. With the lizard trapped in his spell, he flew away from the dome he had created so that his family wouldn''t get caught in the crossfire of the fight. ''This overgrown lizard won''t be making an orphan of my son'' This was the only thought in Rex''s mind as he flew with a S-ranked mana beast trapped in his spell, not even caring that he was flying towards Helga village. Chapter 6: CH-6 Rex Verhein VS Hydra BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!An ear-deafening explosion was heard as both Rex and the Hydra crashed into Helga Village. ********* *Alar Chron Pov* "What was that?" I asked, unsure about what that ear-deafening voice was. One moment I was inside having dinner with my parents, and the next moment I heard an explosion outside our house. "Alar, stay inside with your mother!! " My father called out to me as he grabbed his sword and ran outside. My father, Elric Chron, was my role model. He used to be an A-rank adventurer before he fell in love with my beautiful mother and decided to settle down in this village. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. To me, my father was the strongest as well as my role model, so when I saw him grabbing his sword and running outside, I was sure that regardless of whatever that noise was, he''d deal with it and come back to continue our dinner in no time. However, what I didn''t know at the time was that this was the last time I''d ever see my father. ********* *Rex Verhein Pov* Unknown to me, I had accidentally landed in Helga Village, which was one of the many villages under my jurisdiction. I used to often come here to interact with the locals or just to make sure everything was right or not due to it being close to my mansion. However, right now I didn''t care about any of that, as the only thought I had on my mind was ensuring my family was safe. Upon crashing, the Hydra had managed to free itself from my spell and was now glaring at me hatefully. Before it could attack me, I decided to activate another skill of mine. [Double Speed]Once my skill was activated, I disappeared from my previous spot and reappeared behind the Hydra. The previously 9-headed hydra had now become 7-headed. As if screaming in agony, the hydra let out a gut-wrenching scream and shot 7-breath attacks at me, one from each of its heads. ''I can''t get hit by that, as it might possess poisonous attributes'' I thought as I decided to use the [blink] skill as I disappeared away from my initial spot and reappeared away from the lizard. However, to my dismay, the Hydra had regrown its head, and upon missing me, it decided to settle for attacking the houses and villagers that were near it. The villagers tried to resist, but they were too helpless against the beast before them, and all they could do was perish helplessly. Normally, I would''ve tried to protect them. However, the beast before me was far too strong for me to try and do that. With a heavy heart, I decided to deal with the Hydra as fast as I physically could. With this thought in mind, I decided to use an aura slash and send two large sword slashes flying towards the beast. However, the beast used its wings and dodged the attack. Seeing that my attack did not affect it, I decided to charge towards the beast with all my speed, hoping to catch it off guard. However, as if sensing my intentions once I reached close to it. The beast displayed an expression I never thought a mana beast was capable of displaying; it was smirking. Momentarily stunned, I was flung back by the tail of the beast as I got sent away flying. BAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!! I crashed into a house, destroying it in the process. "Ow," I let out a painful grunt, feeling like I had broken a few bones. However, due to instinct honed over a lifetime of combat, I managed to activate my aspect ability, which healed my injuries before the breath attack of the beast could hit me. I managed to activate my skill [Safe Haven]. A golden dome manifested in front of me, shielding me from the nine purple beams of flame heading my way. "Hah, this is going to be tougher than I expected," I muttered, my eyes filled with resolve as I prepared myself for the incoming confrontation. "Come at me, you overgrown lizard!!" I shouted as I saw the Hydra flying towards me, and I also prepared myself to run towards it. I used aura to cover my blades in a shell of silver aura long enough to reach the head of the beast. With my trusty blades in hand, I ran towards the beast, and as both I and the beast met in the middle, its claws and my blades clashed. Both of us used all our might; the shockwaves of our clash were enough to destroy our immediate surroundings and send us both flying. A massive crater had formed at the location of our previous clash, and while flying back, I sent a bunch of lightning spears towards the beast. However, before they could meet their target, they were intercepted by a breath attack. Once I managed to land back, I started thinking of the most efficient way of slaying the beast in front of me. After a whole 30 seconds, a plan had formed in my mind. Admittedly, it was a desperate strategy, but unless I do it now, my mana reserves won''t be able to keep up.With a smirk on my face, I looked at the furious Hydra charging towards me. I activated my skill once again, potentially the last time if I failed [Blink], and with that, I reappeared in the sky a bit above the flying beast. However, as if expecting me, the Hydra turned one of its heads towards me and fired a breath attack towards me.It was too fast for me to react, as my entire left arm was burned off. With my arm being burned off, I was greeted by a huge wave of pain and panic, but instead of panicking or screaming as one might expect,I remained composed and smirked as I muttered [The Sword That Pierced the Sky]. Following my words, the upheld sword in my right arm grew in size as it reached above the clouds, piercing the very heavens above as it illuminated everything in the surroundings in bright silver light.The beast appeared to be panicking, looking at the sword in my arm. It was stunned for merely a second. However, unfortunately for him, this was the worst and last mistake he''ll ever make.I thought as I brought down my right arm and, consequently, the sword held within it. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!! An ear-deafening explosion was heard as the whole Karka Kingdom was enveloped in a blinding silver light. Once the light disappeared, there was no Helga village and no fearsome Hydra. Only a half-naked, one-armed white-haired man covered in purple blood smiling maniacally. Chapter 7: Ch-7 A Mothers Worry And Training "Hey, are you even listening to what I''m saying? " Myra asked with an angry expression as she looked at Rex, who looked lost in his own world."Ah, yeah of course I am" Rex said In a panic breaking out of his little nostalgia trip. "Yeah sure you were" Myra said with a suspicious expression. "So as I was saying the mana-thinning barrier we placed around the mansion to suppress William''s flaw is weakening" Myra said deciding to not pursue the topic of Rex ignoring her anymore. "Chh, what a monster he managed to reach a blue mana core despite having all the mana around him thinned out to the extreme and wearing a ring of suppression most of the day". "I wonder how strong he would''ve become if we didn''t need to suppress him" Rex said with barely contained curiosity. "Rex we''ve been over this before. The only reason William''s godforsaken flaw didn''t just randomly summon an army of dragons to our house is that we suppressed William so much and as a result his flaw". "Back when we didn''t suppress his mana, we had dragons showing up at our front door practically every day, I still remember back when you had to singlehandedly fight and kill 100 dragons," Myra said with a hint of fear in her tone. "It got so ridiculous that they started calling you " The Dragon Slayer" But still, " Myra said a hint of fear evident in her tone. "Hahha" Rex let out a small chuckle as he took Myra in his embrace and said. "Let those lizards have their fun, once William grows a little up killing a couple thousand dragons would be as easy as breathing for him". " I know Rex but I worry what if someday his flaw throws something at him even we can''t protect him from " Myra said with a worried look on her face. "Don''t worry Myra for as long as I''m here nothing will happen to him" Rex said with a confident expression on his face. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ******* Unaware of his parent''s thoughts a white-haired young man was busy training. "999, 1000,1001,1002,1003" The boy had sweat all over his body and the ground around him was wet with his sweat as he constantly went up and down. A little later once the boy was done with his daily 2000 pushups, he lay on the ground his body covered in his own sweat as he breathed heavily. "Phew that was tough" William said with a smile on his face. He had just finished his daily 20km jog, 2000 squats, 2000 sit-ups, 2000 pull-ups and 2000 push-ups. Finally, after more than 2 hours he was done. While he was getting drowsy and thinking of sleeping on the ground, A man with shoulder-length white hair and red eyes similar to his own entered the room. "Damm, and here I was thinking I''ll teach you swordsmanship". Hearing that the boy tried to stand up, however, he had greatly underestimated his own fatigue as he fell back down. " No need to worry father I can still learn" William said in protest. While he said that his body and the sweat around him said otherwise. "No need to worry Will, I''ll just teach you tomorrow and for now just go and rest in your room. " Hearing that William could do nothing but sigh as he tried to stand up however his body refused to listen to him and fell down again. Looking at the state his son was in, Rex could do nothing but sigh as he crouched down offering his back to William. "Climb over, I''ll carry you". Looking at the wide back of his father, William quickly climbed over his back wrapping his arms around the neck of his father. " Hah, you got heavier again". "Hey no need to make fun of me I''m still just a growing child after all". "Yeah yeah, whatever ". After a bit more playful banter, they finally reached William''s room as Rex laid him on his bed. " Make sure to rest well today Will, tomorrow''s gonna be tough for you" Rex said with a smile as he left the room with a smile on his face. Once his father left, William lay in his bed his body too tired to move so he just tried to sleep hoping for tomorrow to come soon. However, he was just too excited to sleep. After an hour of a failed attempt at sleeping, William decided to remove his ring and use (Rejuvenate). Upon using his spell William felt an aura of peace and calmness wash over him as he felt all his exhaustion washed away. Once the spell had done its magic, William got off his bed and made his way towards the family library. However, what William didn''t know yet was that his simple decision of going to the library to kill some time would drastically change the direction of his whole life and consequently the fate of the planet. Chapter 8: Ch-8 The Day His Life Changed *William Verhein Pov*After using my spell to heal myself I went out. ''Man sleeping when I''m so excited is hard, I might as well go and read a novel in the library'' With that thought in mind I made my way towards the family library. "I wonder what novel I should read today?" "Maybe something like ''An Extra''s Pov'' or ''Spellcraft'' would be a pretty good read today. While William was thinking about what he should read today he finally reached the library. The library had a wooden interior, with the floor being made of wood and the walls and ceiling being White to avoid distractions. The library had 4 tables with 4 chairs present on each of them. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It had multiple shelves each filled to the brim with books of all genres. Usually, William would find his mother in the library reading the autobiography of some old dude, whenever he came to slack off in here. However, today his mother was nowhere to be seen. ''Weird I wonder what mother is up to right now? ''. ''Well it''s none of my concern I''ll go do what I came here to do''. While William was making his way towards the novel section, something peculiar caught his attention. On one of the shelves was a book glowing in bright golden light. "What''s up with that book" William said as he made his way towards the book. However, before he could touch it for some reason he removed his ring of suppression releasing all of his suppressed crimson mana. As William moved his hand towards the golden book, something odd happened as he felt all his mana being sucked inside the book. Feeling a wave of weakness wash over him due to the sudden expenditure of all his mana. William couldn''t help but mutter "What just hap-" However, before he could conclude his sentence, William felt an odd sensation as the whole room was covered in bright golden light. "What''s going on? " He said unable to hide his frustration. However, uncaring about his inner turmoil an uncountable number of pages started flying around the room. William tried to read them however, he soon found out that the writings in the book were in some undecipherable language. Before William could say anything, all the flying pages flooded into his head showing him memories which didn''t quite belong to him. From the overflowing amount of information flooding his head, William passed out. ******* After some time. When William woke up he found himself in a dark room, with darkness all around him. However, in front of Will was a brown book floating in front of him beckoning him to touch it. Instinctively William reached out his hand towards the book and once it made contact. William saw a bunch of memories which didn''t belong to him however, unlike last time he was able to make sense of them this time. ********** In a classroom, around 30 students diligently listen to their teacher explaining something. All the students were wearing white T-shirts with a green logo of an eagle on their chest, combined with green pants for the boys and skirts for the girls However, among them sat a young boy with brown hair and green eyes sitting near the back of the class and staring out of the window instead of listening to his teacher like everyone else. The peculiar thing about him was that unlike everyone else he was wearing a white shirt with a green eagle logo paired with green pants, the boy also had large dark circles around his eyes as if he hadn''t slept for days. However, for some reason, no one seemed to notice or care about the boy''s oddity. After some time once the bell rang and the teacher left the classroom, all the children also started leaving. However, at that moment a girl''s voice interrupted everyone "Hahhhahhahha, look at Naoya he''s staring out of the window creepily again, if you ask me he should just jump out and be done with it" Said a brown-haired girl with a mocking expression as she laughed at the poor boy who upon closer inspection looked to be malnourished. Upon, hearing her words all her friends started laughing as they made fun of the boy who was sitting in the back minding his own business. The boy was broken out of his Stupor by the annoying voice of the girl. The boy stared at her hatefully for making fun of him as he started packing his stuff preparing to leave. "Aww, look at how he''s staring at me looks like he''s gonna go home and complain to his mother oh wait," The girl said In an annoying tone as she started laughing even louder. "Imagine having the audacity to still attend school after being the reason your mother died, how shamel-" However, before the friend of the brown-haired girl could complete her words she was punched in the face as she got sent flying across the classroom. "How dare y-" Before the brown haired girl could complete her words, she was hit in the chin as she bit her tongue. However, this was just the start as she felt another punch to her face as she fell on the ground causing her blood to spill everywhere. Once she fell down she felt a weight on her stomach and when she looked up she saw a brown-haired boy with a crazy expression on top of her pummeling her face. "Hey someone goes stop that crazy fucker he''s going to kill her," said a young girl in a panic. "Fuck off I''m not going near that thing" Another voice replied". "Someone go call Jason". Hearing that a bunch of students ran out of the classroom in a panic trying to find the boyfriend of the girl. Oblivious to the drama his actions had caused the boy continued to punch the girl. After what seemed like hours he finally got up, his hands dripping with the blood of the girl. "Hahahhha that face matches your personality doesn''t it Rachel?" He said as he spitted on the once pretty face which was completely disfigured now and didn''t even look human anymore let alone that of a pretty girl. As Naoya was walking out of the classroom he found a giant blonde muscular guy standing in front of him with an expression fuming with rage. "Sup Jason" Naoya said with a calm expression as if he hadn''t just nearly killed his girlfriend. "I''m going to kill you Naoya I promise you". " What like you killed my parents? ," Naoya asked with an annoyed tone. "Yea". "Alright try your luck in that case". A crowd had gathered around the 2 of them expecting to see a grand fight. However, unfortunately for all of them instead of fighting someone nearly twice his size and on steroids like a madman. Naoya ran away for his life. He ran with such a speed that it was hard to believe it came out of such a malnourished and small physique. This was the last time Naoya was ever seen in Jay Public High as he had dropped out the next day. Chapter 9: Ch-9 Memories Of A Past Life A dishevelled brown-haired boy of a small stature was seen running on the streets."Fuck I messed up this time," said the young man. "Well, now what? I''ve got no parents, no home, no school and almost no money". S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Should I just agree to what Rachel said? " Asked the young man with a contemplative gaze. "Nah, I can''t die without making the killer of my parents pay". "But how do I pull this off? I barely have enough money to last me 3 days". While the boy was contemplating between suicide and revenge. He saw a young teen girl standing on a bridge in quite a dangerous position as if she planned to jump. However, before she could jump a voice called out to her " Hey since you''re going to die anyways wanna have sex before you die?". "WTF!!" The girl almost fell from shock however, she managed to balance herself in the end. "Of course not you crazy pervert" The girl shouted back. "Well you can''t blame me if you''re going to die anyway shouldn''t you at least experience it once before dying? " The boy innocently asked as if oblivious to the absurdity of his own words. "No, I''m not about to give my first time to somebody as ugly as you". "Fine, but just remember once you jump your corpse won''t need consent". Shocked by what she just heard, the girl quickly stepped down and ran away from the bridge worried that the perverted boy would follow her. "Well, that was pretty fun," The boy thought with an amused expression once he saw that she was gone. After some time the boy finally had a good idea about what to do. "Let''s use my remaining money to move to a different city and look for a stable source of income, as Jason''s father has too much influence in this city". "I can think about revenge once I''m able to feed myself". ******** Once Naoya had reached Altair city, he had no more money. It was already night time by the time he reached the city so he had to settle for sleeping in the train station. Once morning arrived Naoya was kicked out of the station. "Ow so rude" Naoya couldn''t help but grumble about the rough treatment he received. "Whatever I at least managed to get through the night". After this Naoya spent the whole day looking for a job however, all to no avail as he failed to get any job due to him being a minor and also looking weak. "Shit" ''This wasn''t how it was meant to be'' Naoya thought with a frustrated expression. ''I need to get stronger and taller, if I can do that I can pretend to be an adult''. While Naoya was thinking about ways to get stronger, he stumbled upon an establishment which perfectly fitted his needs. [Zard''s Fight Club] ****** "Just like that, Mike''s on a roll tonight, is there anyone here who would like to challenge our champion for a chance at the prize pool?" Said a beautiful blonde woman with glossy red lips and a revealing red dress showing her cleavage. In the middle of the room was a giant caged arena with a tall bald man with a dark complexion standing and smiling at the blonde man lying unconscious on the ground. Surrounding the cage were rows of seats with the audience cheering loudly seeing the man they bet on winning while those who bet on the loser could do nothing but sigh in regret for giving into their greed. The bald man who just won was Mike Wingar, the undefeated champion of the arena who has been undefeated for the past 2 months. "Is this the end of tonight''s fight club or will a brave man like to challenge our champion for a chance to win tonight''s pool of 7000$? " Asked the blonde woman. Silence..... No one dared to raise their voice or hand, after seeing all the matches of tonight and how no one had even managed to land a hit on Mike. That is until from the back of the crowd a hand was raised, the hand looked malnourished. "Oh looks like we have a brave fighter amongst us" Said the announcer looking at the raised hand amongst the crowd. Upon, hearing the announcer''s voice the crowd gave way revealing a short brown-haired boy with green eyes and dark circles. The boy was wearing a plain black hoodie with grey sweatpants and black shoes, the boy also looked a bit malnourished. "Hey boy how did you get in? " Asked the woman puzzled by how the security let in such a sorry-looking boy in the establishment. "I beat up the security" The boy shot back completely ignoring how ridiculous what he just said sounded. "Wait what?" The woman was stunned by what she just heard so she decided to send someone to check the validity of the boy''s words. Once the staff member returned and confirmed the boy''s words. She couldn''t contain her joy as she said "Hah, very well kid, what''s your name?" The woman asked a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "Naoya Zingar" The boy shot back. "Hah, what an interesting name but very well Naoya come on the arena let''s see how you beat up our guards". The crowd was amazed to hear that such a small kid managed to beat the security guards and sneak. "Hey 100$ on Naoya" "200$ on Naoya" "50$ on Naoya" Sensing the opportunity a bunch of people couldn''t contain their greed as they started betting on Naoya in hopes of winning big. However, these risk-takers were still in the minority as the majority of people still bet on Mike as usual. While all this was going Naoya only had one thought in mind as he ascended the stairs. ''It doesn''t matter how strong someone is as long as they are a man they all have one weakness'' Naoya thought as he entered the arena with a confident expression. ********* After some time murmurs of the crowd could be heard as they all had the same thought on their mind. ''This kid is insane''. Chapter 10: Ch-10 Memories Of A Past Life-2 The cheers of the crowd could be heard as Naoya ascended the stairs and entered the arena."Hah, how bold" Mike playfully said as he saw Naoya enter. "I like you kid, I hope there won''t be any bad blood after I beat you right?". "Nah it''s all good I just hope the same thing applies once I beat you" Naoya said with confidence oozing out of his tone. "Haha, very well let us begin then" Mike retorted. "Now if both the fighters are ready please begin on the count of 3,2,1 Begin!!" Said the announcer. Naoya took his stance as he saw Mike rushing towards him. ''I probably won''t survive a direct hit from him'' he thought as he rolled dodging the attack coming his way. Mike not discouraged by his attack missing, changed his stance as he performed a roundhouse kick aiming for his opponent''s head. However, Naoya used his short height to his advantage as he ducked, dodging the kick in the process. Unfortunately for Mike by extending his leg, he had put his future family in danger as Naoya punched him with all his might in the nuts. |Crack| Utter silence envoleped the arena before "AhhAhhahHahahahahahah!!!!!!!" A loud wail was heard as Mike fell down and grabbed his family jewels in the process. Naoya smiled seeing his plan working as he kicked him in the face with all his might causing Mike to take his hand off his groin. Utilizing the opportunity he created Naoya started stomping and kicking his nuts hoping to knock him out before he could get back up. "This kid is insane" Similar murmurs could be heard amongst the crowd as they stared at the brutality before them. After some time Mike finally got knocked out as his eyes went white and he stopped moving. "H-He won? " The announcer asked stunned by the unexpected turn of events. However, quickly recovering her senses she shouted "We have ourselves a new winner, Make some noise for our new champion Naoya Zingar!!!!! ". Her voice brought the crowd out of their reverie and they all started chanting Naoya''s name. " NAOYA" "Naoya!! " "The Nut Crusher!! " "The Family Destroyer!! " "The Kid Who Kills Children" Many such names started being chanted by the crowd as they all cheered for their new champion. Naoya didn''t know this yet however, his simple decision to fight for some quick cash would alter the course of his life forever. ******* |Thump| "Ahhh," said a blonde middle-aged man as he was thrown into a dark room. After some time regaining his senses. He asked, "Who are you bastard, how dare you do this to me? ". "Just when I thought you couldn''t get any worse, you proved me wrong how disappointing" Said a tall brown-haired man as he appeared in front of the plump old man. The young man had a small scar near his lips and green eyes which together would''ve been a sight for sore eyes if not for the disgusted expression on his face. "Do you kn-" The plump man was kicked in the face and sent flying before he could complete his question. "Chh disgusting," said the young man as he walked over to the plump man. "Hey, Lark wanna see something fun? ". Asked the young man. However, before the man named Lark could reply all the lights in the warehouse turned on, revealing a group of of 20 men around them as if awaiting orders. However, Lark paid them no mind instead his eyes moved towards a blonde malnourished young man tied to a chair with his mouth taped, struggling to break free. Upon seeing the horrid condition of his son Lark couldn''t contain his pain as he shouted "Jason!!!". Jason once donning an impressive hulking figure and an attractive face, now looked no different from a corpse. His current condition was caused due to drug overuse, a side effect of all the steroids he took back during high school. Aside from that his body was also covered in bruises and blood was leaking out of him, suggesting that if not offered medical assistance he would soon die from blood loss. However, Naoya had no plans of letting Jason have such an easy death after everything he put him through back during high school. Seeing that Jason''s eyes were stuck on the bruised body of his father, Naoya couldn''t help the smile forming on his face as he took a hammer which he used to break Lark''s legs. "Ahhahahahahahhaha!!!!!" Lark let out a horrifying wail upon experiencing the sudden pain. "Hahahahha, this feels good," Naoya said as he used the hammer to break all other limbs on Lark''s body. After a few minutes once he was satisfied and Lark was only a few moments away from dying unable to even scream anymore. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Naoya moved towards Jason who had a bloodshot expression on his face suggesting that if looks could kill Naoya would''ve died many times over. Unfortunately, for Jason that wasn''t the case and as if to reinstate his point. Naoya kicked him in the nuts with force capable of breaking the wooden chair holding Jason down making him fly away. "So Jason how does it feel to have everything taken away from you by the very person whose parents you killed over a little joke?" However, Jason was too weak to even react anymore as if he was just awaiting his inevitable end. "Ch, boring" Naoya couldn''t help but grimace upon not getting the reaction he wanted. However, he quickly got over it as he asked his men "Is the task over? ". "Yes boss" Naoya couldn''t help but smile to himself observing the warehouse covered in oil. After observing that he and his men walked out of the warehouse. Once they were outside Naoya took a lighter out of his pocket. After taking one good look at the warehouse now behind him he threw the lighter towards the warehouse covered in oil. Once the lit lighter made contact with the oil inside the warehouse, the whole warehouse was engulfed in flames. Making sure to give an agonising death to the two men still stuck inside and also erasing all traces of what Naoya had done. "So boss how does it feel to finally take your revenge after 10 years?" Asked a bald black man with a hulking physique. "Satisfying, it was all worth it" Said Naoya with a smile on his face remembering the day he lost everything. Chapter 11: Ch-11 Memories Of A Past Life-3 It was just like any other day Naoya was sitting in his classroom talking with his two friends.He wasn''t that popular in class but he still had friends who he hung out with. "Hey did you read the latest chapter of Jump Kaisen? " Asked a black-haired boy with brown eyes. This was Mark, Naoya''s childhood friend who''s been with him since middle school. "Of course, I wouldn''t miss Godjo dog-walking fraud kuna for the world" Naoya retorted. "Nah you need to trust me sukuna gonna make a comeback next chapter" Said Billy. Billy was a short plump boy with freckles and wore glasses. Naoya had only met Billy this year, but he always had the impression that he was a bit autistic so he made sure to be careful of what he said around him. While Naoya and his friends were busy arguing about their favourite manga, they were interrupted by the sobbing of a boy. "Ple-please stawp" A boy begged 3 tall boys were standing around a crying boy lying on the ground covered in what seemed to be milk. The boy''s cry for help seemed to have attracted the attention of his classmates. However, none of them dared to intervene after seeing who was the one bullying him. The one bullying the boy was Jason Winrad, the son of Lark Winrad. His father is the CEO of Winrad Industrials, the biggest enterprise in Randur city with influence worldwide and connections in the police and even with politicians. His father was also the biggest donator of their school, due to which even when Jason and his friends bullied someone the teachers just ignored him. "Too late for that nerd you shouldn''t have snitched on me back when I asked you to show me yesterday''s homework" Jason replied in an annoyed tone. "I''m s-sorry, please forgive me just this once" The poor boy begged. "Nah don''t wanna" Jason said as he kicked the boy sending him flying. BOOOOMM!!! sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A loud thud was heard as the boy crashed into the wall causing him to bleed. "Chh so weak" Jason said as he walked towards the boy. However, as he was about to punch him he felt someone grab his arm. "Hey stop he''s going to die" Once Jason looked behind him he saw a handsome brown-haired boy with green eyes holding him back. "Hey pipsqueak, I''m going to give you one chance to take your hands off my arm" "Sure but only if you let me take that boy to the medical room" Naoya retorted While Naoya and Jason were talking two of Jason''s goons came from behind trying to grab Naoya. However, before their punches could land on him Naoya ducked. Due to this, their punches landed on Jason causing him to stumble back as he grunted in pain. "Chh how predictable" Naoya retorted as he jumped upwards performing an uppercut on one of the men in the process. Due to the sudden hit, the boy almost fell down however, just when the boy was trying to balance himself again he felt a strong impact on his chin as he was knocked out. "1 down 2 more to go" Naoya said looking at the boy lying on the floor in front of him. Despite how he looked Naoya was a regular at the local boxing gym, where he practised daily. "I''m going to kill you Naoya" Jason shouted in anger. "Try your best Papa''s boy" Naoya retorted back arrogance oozing out of his tone. While Naoya and Jason were exchanging remarks, Jason''s other goon ran forward trying to punch Naoya. However, the punch appeared slow in Naoya''s eye as he easily dodged it. Once the goon had outstretched his arm to punch him Naoya performed a calf kick on the goon before he could bring back his arm causing him to grunt in pain. "Motherfu-" Before the boy could complete his curse he felt an impact on his nose strong enough to break it and also knock him out. "Ok now we can finally have ourselves a proper 1v1," Naoya said with a smile. " I''m going to kill you Naoya" Jason shouted as he grabbed a metal water container and rushed towards Naoya. "Look''s like papa''s boy is mad at little old me" Naoya observed Jason rushing towards him with an eerily calm expression. ''If I don''t take this seriously I might seriously get hurt'' Naoya thought to himself. As the blonde boy swung the metal container at Naoya. Naoya dodged it by rolling. "Since you''re using a weapon it''s only fair if I also use one right? " Naoya asked as he took a pen from his pocket and stabbed it into Jason''s shin without getting up from the ground. "Ahhahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!" Jason let out a gut-wrenching scream upon experiencing the pain of being stabbed. "Man you scream like a girl" Naoya said as he jumped atop Jason causing him to fall down with a painful thud. |Thud| Naoya was sitting atop Jason''s face as he started pummeling his face. "I-" Bam "mot-"bam "Do-"Bam" "Sto-"Bam Jason tried to mutter something however any time he tried to say anything he felt a strong impact on his face causing him to bleed. The ground was covered in blood, and broken teeth and Jason was no longer saying anything as he had bitten his tongue. The whole class was filled with silence as all students observed in horror Naoya the usually silent kid brutally pummeled Jason. After a few minutes which felt like hours to everyone in the class, Jason finally passed out as Naoya got back up. "Chh, this is why I told him to just stop," Naoya said wiping off the blood from his hand as he walked towards the boy-covered milk. Upon reaching him Naoya offered his hand to the boy helping him stand back up. "Hey, are you fine? " Naoya asked with concern evident in his tone. "Ah, y-yea," The boy said still stuttering. Naoya accompanied the boy out of the class towards the medical room. "Hey thanks for that" The boy said no longer stuttering. "Ah no problem" However, what Naoya didn''t know at the time was that his little heroic act of kindness would end up ruining his life forever. Chapter 12: Ch-12 Memories Of A Past Life-4 Once, the teachers came in Naoya was suspended for a week.However, he didn''t mind he was just curious about how his parent''s anniversary was going. With nothing better to do Naoya just decided to sleep for now. ******** Once Naoya woke up and checked the time it was 8 pm right now so Naoya had slept for roughly 10 hours. "Wow, I must be really tired after all that fighting I just planned to sleep for an hour or two". "Well it doesn''t matter, but I wonder how Mom and Dad''s anniversary is going? " However, once he checked his phone he saw a bunch of missed calls. Seeing all the calls from the local hospital number he couldn''t help the uneasy feeling growing inside his hear. Ignoring the feeling inside his heart he decided to call back the number. After a few seconds, the call was picked up. "Hello, I was called I just wanted to make sure Is everything alright? " Naoya asked hoping for the best. "Excuse me are you a relative of Mr. Derrik Zingar and Maki Zingar? " A feminine voice asked a hint of concern in her voice. "Y-yes I''m their son Naoya Zingar, is everything alright? " Naoya asked trying his best to prevent his thoughts from wandering off to a grim possibility. "Oh I''m sorry to hear that, I feel it would be better for you to come in person to our branch in Rungar City as it won''t be appropriate to discuss these things on the phone" The woman replied with a hint of pity. |Thum| Naoya had dropped his phone. However, the next moment he picked up the phone and he replied: "I will be there as soon as possible". *****" Naoya had booked a taxi to reach the hospital, which took him roughly 120 minutes. After the call Naoya had no expression on his face as it was eerily calm, his thoughts were empty helping him suppress the dark thoughts. Once the staff had confirmed his identity, he was led to the room where his parents were kept or rather their corpses to be precise. Lying on the bed was a middle aged man with brown hair, his facial features were strikingly similar to Naoya''s, and his eyes were closed as he had a peaceful expression on his face. On a bed beside him lay a beautiful woman with brown hair who had soft features and she too like her husband had a peaceful expression on her face. "We''ve been told they were the victims of a hit and run" The nurse said with pity evident in her tone Seeing his now deceased parents, he fell down breaking down. However, this was just the start of his hell. ******* Once his suspension was over Naoya found himself standing between teachers and the principal shouting at him. These teachers didn''t care about the kid losing his parents just a week prior, all they cared about was not losing favour with Lark Wingar aka their biggest donator. Naoya at this point was broken his thoughts were consumed with revenge. He didn''t even defend himself against all the false or exaggerated charges against him. Instead, he just stood in the centre with an eerily calm expression as if he didn''t even care about potentially getting expelled. After that day Naoya had tried to end his own life multiple times however each time he convinced himself to keep going at least until he could have his revenge. Due to this, his arms were covered in scars causing him to wear full sleeves despite the summer season. Naoya didn''t care even if he was expelled today, if anything it would give him a excuse to finally move out. However, unfortunately for Naoya before he could be expelled Lark intervened. "Oh come on there is no need to ruin the future of such a bright young man over just a childish skirmish" A bunch of teachers tried to make him reconsider however they all stopped after seeing his insistence on the matter. Once the council was done as Naoya was leaving he met Jason standing at the door. Naoya tried to ignore him and leave however just as he was about to leave the school gate he felt a strong impact on his chest as he was thrown back. |cough||cough| Naoya coughed up a little blood as he tried to stand up. However, just when he stood up his head was bashed in the ground. |splat| His blood was splatted on the ground, as Naoya looked up he found 2 muscular men wearing black suits and sunglasses. Just as one of the men was about to punch him he heard a voice. "Move" Almost instantly both men stopped and moved away giving way to the blonde youth who donned an arrogant expression displaying how he was enjoying the current situation. "So how does it feel?" Jason asked. |silence| Naoya didn''t want to give him satisfaction by showing an expression or saying something. "Remember how I said before that I will kill you? " "I thought about it and I figured it would be too easy for you to die like that so instead I will make you beg for death" Jason chuckled a little as he said this expressing how pleased he was with the idea he had come up with. Hearing this Naoya felt boiling rage within him threatening to consume him however, he contained it knowing he couldn''t win in his current condition so instead with a calm expression he settled for just raising his head to look at Jason. However, what he saw unsettled him greatly as standing before him was a blonde youth far too muscular and even taller than he previously was. He also had veins popping up throughout his body, looking at him it was easy to deduce that the boy had consumed substances. "Hah what do you think of my new body, still think you can beat me? " Jason asked arrogance oozing out of his tone. |silence| Naoya didn''t bother to answer Jason''s question. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Annoyed by Naoya''s attitude he decided to provoke him a little more. "While we''re on the subject as you might be able to guess I was the one behind your parent''s death" "It''s unfortunate but your mother was quite the beauty won''t you agree? Maybe I should''ve had some personal f-" However before he could even complete his sentence he was punched with such speed that Jason or his bodyguards didn''t even have time to react. The blow was powerful enough to make Jason a boy nearly twice his height and weight as well as on steroids fall down and bleed. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!!! " Naoya shouted His eyes were bloodshot, with blood dripping out of his head and fists his whole body was practically covered in his own blood and he was donning an expression crazy enough to send shivers down a grown man''s body oozing out intense bloodlust that anyone who saw him would mistake him for a demon who crawled out of hell. Jason almost pissed himself seeing such a being running towards him. However, fortunately for him, Naoya was quickly intercepted by his bodyguards. While Naoya put up a valiant fight and even managed to injure them a little, he was quickly overpowered and thrown to the ground which resulted in him receiving the worst beatdown he ever received. Thus began his hell which he endured for one whole month before he ran away. He wanted to get stronger however, he didn''t have the money to pay the gym fees. He had tried to get a job but Lark''s influence in the city ensured he didn''t get a job. Naoya soon found himself starving for days. For one whole month, he had endured bullying, starvation, being ostracised by everyone including those he once considered friends as well as physical brutality leaving him on the verge of death but he was always saved by Jason''s men. This was hell, this was Naoya''s personal hell orchestrated by Jason. Chapter 13: Ch-13 Im You Naoya felt rage boiling inside him, remembering the humiliation and despair he experienced at the hands of Jason.However, he calmed himself, remembering how he had already taken his revenge already. After calming down, Naoya looked at Mike, the same man whose balls he had crushed 10 years ago. But surprisingly, he managed to survive and even his balls somehow remained intact. After his victory against Mike back in the fighting arena, the arena was shut down for six months. 6 months, which Naoya used to train and become strong enough to win fights without relying on underhanded tactics. Once the arena reopened, Naoya remained the undefeated champion for two years. This was a brutal phase in his life where he had to fight day and night, causing him to amass scars of all sizes all over his body. However, scars weren''t the only thing Naoya amassed in those 2 years, as he had also become filthy rich to the point he could live his whole life in luxury if he chose to step down. But unfortunately for Lark and Jason, the fire of revenge burning inside Naoya instead of getting extuingished had only grown to the point where it threatened to consume him. So with thoughts of revenge, Naoya willingly stepped down from his position, and using the wealth and connections he had amassed over the last two years, he formed his own gang. However, the most surprising thing was Mike staying true to his words and not starting any conflicts with Naoya. Even though he only lost through underhanded tactics, he never complained. Instead, over the two years, he and Naoya had developed a bit of friendly rivalry which, paired with strength, caused Naoya to make him his right-hand man. ***** Five years later, Naoya''s gang, the Crimson Tigers, had become the biggest and strongest gang in the whole underworld. They practically ruled the entire underworld on the whole continent of Mankar. At long last, Naoya finally had the power he had craved for the past 7 years, and now, with this newfound power, he has finally set his eyes on getting his revenge. If he wanted, he could''ve just killed Jason and been done with it, but he knew that he didn''t go through everything he went through the past 7 years just to kill Jason. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wanted him to experience a hell worse than what he experienced. For the next 3 years, Naoya killed the whole Wingar family one by one, with a few-month interval between each death. Each death made it look like an accident. Jason''s 6-month pregnant wife Rachel, was also killed in front of him causing him to break down. Naoya practically eliminated all drug distribution from the entire continent, which caused Jason to experience extreme withdrawal symptoms. Wingar Industrials, a multibillion-dollar enterprise that took three generations of the Wingar family to get to the position it had, was slowly destroyed over the course of a year as Naoya started surfing the dark history and all the illegal activities they were involved in as he let the public do the rest of the work for him. Jason at this point had lost all his family except for his dad; his body was ruined due to a drug overdose; his mental health was ruined due to trauma and withdrawal symptoms; and as he watched his family company crumble, he was always so proud of him. This was hell; this was Jason''s personal hell, orchestrated by Naoya. This was the hell he experienced before he died at the hands of the boy he had forgotten about, a year after his departure from Rungar City. ********* Now Naoya stood atop a rooftop; he had already resigned from his position as gang leader and made Mike the new leader. He had decided a long time ago to end his own life once he took his revenge. Naoya acknowledged that in order to kill Jason, he had become a true monster. While no one in the whole Wingar family was innocent, they all had been accomplices in one crime or another, especially Rachel, who had multiple girls killed simply for having a crush on Jason. Even during his years of trying to control the underworld, he never broke his own morals and never divulged crimes involving children, human trafficking, prostitution, or drugs. In fact, once he had reached his peak, he singlehandedly drastically reduced the crime rates of these crimes. However, to Naoya, he had become the devil himself in the process of killing a demon. He knew he was not going to go to the same place as his parents once he died, so he had no hopes of ever meeting them again. However, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, Naoya had received a notification of a novel that caught his interest two years ago called "The Mage Who Reached Infinity.". It was a novel that caught his interest one day, and for some reason he decided to read it. The novel wasn''t very well written, and it was quite bland, honestly. However, it used to update daily, and for some reason, Naoya found himself checking out this novel whenever it updated. Seeing the update, Naoya decided to read the newest chapter before he ended it all. However, there was something different about this chapter; it was different. The writing style felt professional; the usual grammatical and punctuation errors he had gotten used to in this novel were nowhere to be seen. The characters, who usually felt bland and one-dimensional, felt real, almost like they were real people, instead of some random letters pieced together by a random dude on a screen. The chapter lit a newfound fire inside Naoya; he couldn''t die yet; he couldn''t die without knowing how this novel ends. ********** For the next 3 years, he religiously read the novel every day. Over the past few years, he has read a bunch of webnovels, lightnovels, manga, manhwa, and manhua. However, none of these left an impression on him as deeply as his first novel did. Over the course of the past 3 years, something even more outlandish happened. Naoya became obsessed with a concept that wasn''t even real¡ªa concept he didn''t even know existed until five years ago. This concept was mana, or more specifically, magic. It started as a simple fascination with this newfound concept, whose whole existence revolved around making the impossible possible. He thought about how easy his life would''ve been if he had this power back in his youth and how he would''ve never needed to suffer or become a devil, which he hated himself for. His fascination grew into a longing for what he couldn''t have, until eventually it transformed into an obsession. He needed it; his life was incomplete until he got magic until he could reach the apex of it, just like how the protagonist of [Mage, who reached infinity] did it: the inner child inside Naoya, who was killed 13 years ago, was now revived. After that, he searched everywhere for anything or anyone who could''ve given him what he needed, anyone who could''ve quenched the fire burning inside him. However, it was all for naught, as Naoya eventually came to terms with the fact that magic didn''t exist in the world he lived in. The novel that kept him going for the past 3 years had long ended, and no other novel interested him that much. He had no lover, as while he had a few one-night stands, Naoya didn''t feel he deserved to feel happiness. His gang was in capable hands, and he had no other friends aside from his gangmates. So Naoya finally decided to do what he couldn''t do three years ago, and he jumped off the building. As Naoya fell, he only had one thought: a prayer. if magic and reincarnation were real, he wanted to be reborn in a world where he could practice magic. It felt like a pointless, fleeting thought of a dead man; however, fortunately for Naoya, his prayers were answered. *********** Now standing in front of William was a tall, brown-haired man with green eyes and a small scar near his face. "So, does that explain who I am?" The man asked already, knowing the answer to his question. "Yea," William calmly responded as he looked at the tall man standing before him. "I''m you," said the man as both he and William started merging inside the dark room. ** An: There seems to be some confusion amongst readers despite my best efforts to make it clear but. Naoya is just the past life of William, who had been reincarnated without his past life memories but now after getting [Memoirs Of The Great Sage] Ancient power he has reawakened his memories, basically all that these past 5 chapters have done is make William less naive, childish and arrogant and instead made him more mature with a deep love for magic and a proper goal but he''s still the same person overall. Chapter 14: Ch-14 This isnt how this usually goes Once William woke up, he found that the library, contrary to what he expected, was still in pristine condition, as if the scene of pages flying all around the room before he went unconscious was just his delusion.After taking a look at the clock, it turned out William was unconscious for barely a minute; however, what he saw in that minute drastically altered the course of his life. "Reincarnation, I guess all those novels were onto something after all," William muttered under his breath, too quiet for anyone to hear. ''Wait, does this mean?'' With great anticipation, he stretched his hand, and to his disbelief, a small fire appeared on his palms. "Hahahahaha, magic is real, after all," William shouted with tears in his eyes. Magic was the thing he wanted the most in his past life but failed to obtain till the very end. A concept that nearly drove him crazy in his past life had finally been acquired by him. In both of his lives, this is perhaps the most epic he has ever felt. William could feel the mana inside him and in the atmosphere flowing; right now, he felt one with the world. This feeling was addicting; he wanted more of it. He needed more of this. In this moment, William had decided that he would reach the apex of magic and uncover all there is to discover about this fantasy concept. It was a dream, which sounded childish and impossible to anyone who heard it. However, for William, he knew what body he was in. He was blessed by mana itself, and he also had a divine aspect; if anyone could make this impossible dream true, it was him. With that thought in mind, William decided to revisit all the memories he had accumulated over the past eight years After a few minutes, William couldn''t help but laugh at what he saw. "Hahahahaha, how peculiar! This is a bit different from what I expected, but this should be fine," William said, wiping off the small tear that formed near his eyes. When William first came to learn that he had reincarnated, his first instinct was to assume he must have reincarnated into the world of [Mage, who reached infinity] or some other novel he had read. However, as it turned out, that wasn''t the case at all; he had instead reincarnated into some random world, and much to William''s dismay, he didn''t possess knowledge of the future. On the bright side, though, his current body was overpowered by all senses of the word. If he properly utilised his new body to realise his dream of reaching the apex of magic, he might be able to make it a reality. However, instead of thinking about his new body, he decided to think about the world he was reborn into. Astressa, the world, was basically the textbook definition of a fantasy world. It was based in a mediaeval European setting with stuff like nobility, royalty, magic, swords, dragons, elves, and dwarves. And all such elements one would expect from a typical fantasy world. However, that was the case until a thousand years ago.When a massive portal to another world opened,The portal led to a world called Morgov, which was a post-apocalyptic world. Morgov was similar to my previous world in both technology and culture. However, people in that world were afflicted with a strange disease called Voidstruck. Which allowed them to access a dimension called Voidworld. It was a strange, perverse world filled with people called Voidfolk and monsters called Voidbeasts. After some time, portals connecting Voidworld and Morgov formed, causing Voidbeasts to enter Morgov and wreak havoc on their world. However, inside this Voidworld were divine trials that could be challenged by humans or Voidfolk to acquire an energy called mana and also awaken their aspect. Such people were called Voidwalkers. Unfortunately, the mortality rate of this trial was far too drastic, as the trial had regular human beings fight off monsters. A rough estimate of the mortality rate would be that only 1 person out of 10,000 succeeds in becoming a Voidwalker. But regardless, thanks to Voidwalkers, humanity managed to survive in Morgov, but unfortunately, even that wasn''t enough, as after a few hundred years of struggle, humanity was pushed to be stuck on the brink of extinction, only having a single city to its name while the rest of the world was overrun by Voidbeasts. However, just when all hope felt lost for humanity, a portal appeared connecting Astressa to Morgov. At first, there was a lot of discourse among the people of both worlds, and the people of Astressa even considered eliminating the people of Morgov all together. However, regardless of the world, the nature of humanity remains constant: greed. The people of Astressa discovered just how abundant with resources both Margov and the Voidworld they had access to were. However, the thing that really sealed the deal was the fact that the aspect people of Morgov obtained through divine trials and the aspect unlocked by people of Astressa through their mana cores were the same. So after a lot of experimentation, the possibility of a human with two aspects was discovered if a person formed their mana core to unlock the aspect inside their soul and then got an aspect through a divine trial. However, there was just one problem with this train of thought: people of Astressa didn''t possess the disease Voidstruck, and people of Morgov didn''t have high enough affinity with mana to form mana cores. So with goals of mutual benefit, both the world''s leaders signed a peace treaty in the form of a mana oath, and with the help of the people of Astressa, the people of Morgov were able to reclaim their world and were no longer on the verge of extinction. Now, after a thousand years, both races had intermingled enough to the point that people of Astressa could possess the disease Voidstruck, whether naturally or through artificial means, and people of Morgov had enough affinity to form mana cores. Thus making it possible for humans to have two aspects, as a result of all this, the relation between the two worlds was good enough that any discrimination against someone based on what world they were born in was highly frowned upon. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Remembering all that he was taught in history classes, William couldn''t help but smile, thinking how interesting this world was. The next thing William did was open his status screen. Chapter 15: Ch-15 Breakdown Of Current skills ------------------------------------------------------------Name: William Verhein Age: 8 Race: Human Aspect: Walking Calamity (Tier V) Ascension:2nd Battle Force:1246 [Variable Stats] Strength:260 Agility:280 Endurance:250 Vitality:156 Intelligence:200-->300 [Invariable stats] Mana:B- Charm:C- Luck:F- Resistance:F+ Skills:- Passive: [Child Of Mana], [loved By Spirits], [Martial Genius],[Mana Sense],[Master Of Mana], [Mana Sense], [Magic Amplification], [One With Shadows] Active: [Mana Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth] Masteries:Hand To Hand combat(Intermediate+), Photographic memory Ancient Powers: [Memoirs Of The Great Sage] Elemental Afinities:- [Basic Elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Lightning (100%) Ice (100%) Shadow(100%) Darkness(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ "How broken" William muttered seemingly pleased at his overpowered body. [Child Of Mana] the skill he was born with drastically increases the rate of his Mana absorbtion, this was also the reason he awakened the moment he was born. It also allows him to see Mana in the air. It also makes it so any attack containing Mana which hits him will only do 70% of it''s intended damage. Another feature of this skill is that it costs him way less mana to cast a spell for it do more damage. For example a fireball spell which costs 10 mana, will only cost him 5 mana and it will be as effective as if he used 20 mana for this spell. However, the most broken part about this skill is that regardless of what element he gains he will have 100% affinity in it. Elemental affinities is the most important part of having a element. As they determine how easy it is for one to learn spells from a particular element and also how strong a spell will be. For example if person with 10% affinity in fire element and 20% affinity in fire element both casted a fire ball at each other, the fireball casted by the person with 20% affinity will overpower the other one. This skill paired with his divine aspect is the main reason why William is so overpowered despite his young age. William had once asked Rex how much BF he had to which he replied an absurd 690K back then William had thought his father was just joking but William no longer doubted his father''s words. For some reason William now remembered every single detail in both his lives as if he was looking at a picture. Due to this he also remembered how his father was able to singlehandedly kill 100 dragons all alone. ''I can surpass father before the age of 20'' he thought. Another skill which William had was called [Master of Mana], it allowed him to easily understand most concepts related to Mana. This also meant that he could learn and copy most spells with just a single glance. In this world there were two ways of casting a spell chanting and chantless. Most people prefer to use chantless spells as it''s more practical and efficient. However, chanting spells are usually significantly stronger than their chantless counterpart but due to their long preparation time usually around 30 to 60 seconds, their not that popular. This is where [Magic Amplification] comes in this allows William''s chantless spells to be as strong as if he had chanted them. His [Mana Sense] came from his affinity with magic and allowed him to sense Mana. These 4 skills combined to make William unparalleled in terms of magic power, well they will once he grows up for now he''s too young and inexperienced. He also had [Martial genius] which made it easier for him to learn martial arts, this probably came from Rex''s genes. After he became a 2nd Ascension awakened, he had acquired [One with shadows] which drastically increase the strength of his shadow element attacks and also allowed him to sense shadows. [Child Of Mana] also had another purpose it granted the user an ascension skill. Ascension skills are extremely rare skills which are hard to obtain and allows the user to display a higher level of strength than they should be capable of. William had [Mana ascension] this can be considered his Trump card, he can currently only maintain this state for 1 minute at most however in that one minute he could probably go toe to toe with an A-rank adventurer. William also had had a skill called[Loved By spirits] which did exactly as the name implied, giving him the highest possible affinity with spirits. Spirits were beings who were pure manifestation of a element and by contracting with one ,humans or species could use spirit energy which is just pure elemental energy. For example a fire bal casted by mana will only function for as long as it''s provide with mana however, a fire casted with spirit energy is basically real fire which burn untill it''s extuingished by the user who casted it or some third party. In a sense it''s fair to say Mana allowed someone to make a replica of a element while spirit energy allowed them to create the real element. Moving on ,he acquired [shadow step] from his shadow hounds due to his aspect and it allowed him partial teleportation through the use of shadows. [Stealth] was a skill gifted to him by his father and it almost erased his presence. William was quite pleased with everything he had acquired over the past 8 years although admittedly he was basically just born with most of these abilities. Once William was done with his skills he decided to focus on his aspect. ------------------------------------------------------------ Aspect Name: Walking Calamity Aspect Tier: V Ascension: 2nd Flaw:Terrible Luck, small chance of personality getting affected by aspect. 1st Ascension ability: One man army 1. [Chaos Soldier](Click For More Information¡ý) Contracted beasts:- 1. Shadow hounds x10 2. [Chaos Servants](click For More information¡ý) Contracted Beasts:- 1. Noir 2. Golden Sting 2nd Ascension abilities: Power of darkness 1. Darkness manipulation(Click For more information¡ý) 2. Shadow manipulation(click for more information¡ý) S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ------------------------------------------------------------ "How overpowered as expected of a divine aspect" William said with a smile on his face. His first ascension powers let''s him summon minions to fight for him, it''s very good especially since it doesn''t have any real limits the only limiting factor is probably the massive amounts of resources this ability requires. It''s easy to get life force and make more soldiers. The troublesome part is [Chaos servant] as it requires and A Or S rank natural treasure to Summon a servant. Natural treasures take thousands of years to form in nature and they can be used in multiple Way''s such as potions, making artifacts or increasing one''s strength. Due to these things natural treasures are almost impossible to find and cost a massive amount of money just to buy one especially those of high ranks like the one''s required for my aspect. On the bright side he was the son of a Count so he had been able to summon and contract two servant. Noir a werewolf like servant who was summoned from a S rank treasure and Golden sting a bee like servant summoned from an A rank treasure On the bright side these servants increased his combat force many times over and even if they get destroyed they will heal themselves over time. His second ascension ability was pretty simple as it just allowed him to be really strong with the elements of darkness and shadows. However, the thing that really hindered his growth so far and will continue to do so in the future was his flaw, William thought with a dark expression on his face. Chapter 16: Ch-16 The thing hindering growth and changes in status screen While having divine aspects may sound like a dream and a easy route to the top of the world, there''s something about them most people don''t know.All divine aspects have a flaw, normal aspects don''t have these flaws. For William his aspect gave him horrible luck and the small chance of his personality being affected. William wasn''t worried about the latter effect as his mental strength was very high due to his past life. The problem came from the first part of the flaw, while having bad luck in exchange for all that his aspect granted him may not be too bad. However, the scale of this bad luck is simply far too absurd. The reason a hydra showed up on the day of his birth was due to his flaw. After that dragons or other monsters would keep appearing almost everyday. Once a army of hundred dragons showed up. "The worst part is the flaw gets stronger, the higher the quality of my mana" he muttered The only reason William is still alive is due to his father being the Sword Saint and the mana around him being thinned out to the absolute extreme and him wearing a suppression ring most of the day. If he didn''t need to worry about his flaw he could''ve gained an golden core by now. Due to his flaw, he can only use his mana for a hour or two per day before his flaw starts acting up. Ideally William wanted to adventure the word particularly the Voidworld to gather natural treasures and lifeforce for his aspect abillities. However, with this flaw he''d die in less than a week. "How annoying" William muttered with a troubled expression. "Whatever, I''ll think about this later, for now let''s focus on something even more interesting" While William was looking at his skills he didn''t miss the changes in his status screen. His intelligence had grown by 100 points increasing his BF from 1156 to 1256, his resistance had also grown by one minor grade. Another change was his hand to hand combat going up to intermediate+ grade as well as addition of Photographic memory in his masteries. This must be why he suddenly remembered all details in both his life. William had a pretty good guess about why all this happened as he clicked on the new section which appeared in his status screen. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ancient Power Name: Memoirs Of The Great Sage. Type: Artificial Description: There once was a boy who hated how the world functioned so he decided to change it and in the end he succeeded before, ascending to godhood he left his legacy behind. Abillities Unlocked: Photographic memory, increase in intelligence as state of existence increases, access to memories of the great sage. [1st page unlocked] ------------------------------------------------------------ "Lega-legacy of the great sage" William said his voice expressing his shock. ''It looks like I''ve inherited the memories of my predecessor'' William thought with a smirk on his face. That''s right this great sage was the first ever divine aspect user and just like William he too was a [Child Of Mana] and now William had inherited his legacy. Without any hesitation William decided to click on the first page of memory he had unlocked. The next second William once again blacked out as his consciousness took a peak at his predecessors life. ***** A blonde haired boy barely 8 years old with bright yellow eyes and unblemished pale skin could be seen playing with a few other kids of similar age. 2 children were standing barely 300 inches apart from each other, one of them holding a rubber ball around the same size as a football. Between the two children was a cute looking blonde boy with a calm expression on his face and hands in his pockets as if he didn''t even care about the kids aiming for him. Standing a bit further from the boys were 6 other kids who seemed to have already been eliminated. The children seem to be playing some variation of a game which resembled dodge ball. " ***** I''m gonna get you this time for sure" Said a black haired youth with a angry expression on his face. "Sure you will noel" The blond youth retorted The black haired youth called Noel seemed to have said the name of the blonde youth however, for some reason William wasn''t able to understand it and it just sounded as gibberish to him. After some thinking William was able tor remember what his mother once told him ''one must not say the true name of God''. With this William could guess that the blonde youth was the one who''s legacy he inherited and also the one who ascended to godhood in the future. As the Noel threw the ball towards the blonde boy, the boy easily managed to dodge the ball without any effort. The boy standing opposite Noel quickly grabbed the ball and shot it at the blonde boy hoping to catch him offguard. However, the blonde boy didn''t even glance at the ball coming towards him or the boy who shot it and yet he still managed to dodge it. After an hour of back and forth the boy called Noel finally dropped down as he said. "It''s just not fair ***** how are we supposed to compete against you when we don''t have mana, I give up" "Wow what a loser" The blonde boy retorted. All the kids started laughing hearing the blonde boys remark. Just as the kid''s were laughing at the expense of their friend, the were suddenly overwhelmed by a ominous presence. All the children aside from the blonde boy fell down Some of them started crying, some vommiting on the ground and others just passed out. Standing a little further away from them stood the malefactor donning a hideous grin which would send shivers down the bravest soul. The malefactor was a tall black humanoid entity with its left arm reaching it''s waist while it''s right arm was touching the ground. The entity stood at a massive 3 feet in height, it had a slim body with a face that came straight out of nightmares. It had no lips, nose or ears only a crooked set of long yellow teeth and small white eye''s with no pupils. The entity was drooling looking at the kids and was also emitting a murky purple hue. Looking at his fallen friends the blonde boy stared at the entity with silent rage in his eyes as he said. "How annoying a demon shows up just when I try to play with my friends" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hearing the boys words the demon charged at the boy in a mad frenzy. However, right before the demon could make contact with the boy the whole scene froze as if someone had stopped time itself. In his confusion William heard a voice from behind him. "So did you have a peek at my life boy?" Chapter 17: Ch-17 Conversation with A God "So were you peeking at my life boy? "William heard a voice behind him that almost made him jump. However, he quickly regained composure and just when he was about to glance and the being behind him he remembered the words told to him by his mother. ''Never stare at a God'' With this advice in mind, he quickly closed his eyes and bowed. "I greet the Mana God" William uttered a hint of reverence in his tone. "Hah, relax kid you can look at me inside the memoirs" A soft childish voice responded with a hint of amusement. William opened his eyes glancing at the being being before him. He breathed a sigh of relief realising that the mana God had taken the form from back when he was a kid. The kid in front of William was the same one in the memories. "There''s no need to worry I''m not here, this is just a piece of my consciousness I left behind in the memoirs for my successor" Mana God replied. ''Phew it seems he''s not too stuck up so I don''t need to be all formal with him'' William thought with a pleased expression on his face. William stared at the God unsure of what to say or how to address him. "No need to be afraid William you can just call me Zephyr, after all, while you''re a mortal now It''s only a matter of time before you reach the same status as me" Mana God said with a chuckle staring at the kid in front of him. "Wait how do you know my name?" He asked confusion evident in his tone. "I''m a God" Zephyr calmly responded. "I foresaw you being born 6000 years ago so I left my legacy for you who possess [Child Of Mana]. "But why would you do that? " William asked his tone carrying a hint of scepticism no longer caring about offending the diving being in front of him. "Why not?" Zephyr responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What? " William exclaimed confused by what he just heard. "I''m a God I don''t need reason for my actions also I''m curious about how far you can go with proper guidance" "So you''re helping me just on a whim?" William asked a hint of shock present in his tone. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yeah pretty much" "Anyways now moving on to a more pressing topic," Zephyr said with a hint of finality not letting William change the matter anymore. "I''m going to take you in as my disciple from now on" "What?" William said still not sure if he understood what was happening. "Whatever it doesn''t matter" William finally said understanding the futility of his question. "Good I''m glad you''re smart" "I had a look at your status screen and I couldn''t help but wonder why are you so weak?" "What?" William asked unsure of if he heard properly. "You heard me, now answer my question" "I''m only 8 what do you want from me man?" William asked his voice portraying his frustration. "Yeah but you''re a divine-human you should be better," Zephyr said in a tone telling he was stating the most obvious thing in the world. "Back when I was your age I could easily beat 1000 of you" Zephyr uttered with a hint of nostalgia. "Yeah I''m sure you could" William said unconvinced. "Wanna test it out?" Zephyr said playfully "Sure" William retorted. The next instant time returned to normal as William stepped in front of the the Zephyr from the memory. Gone were the kids on the ground and the demon now only Zephyr and William remained staring at each other with palpable tension present in the air. "This is just a simulation fight with no real consequences so feel free to go all out," Zephyr said still carrying his careless attitude and refusing to take a stance. "Say less" William took a stance with a determined expression annoyed at the God in front of him. In the next instance, William used all his strength something he had never tried before as he summoned all his chaotic servants and soldiers. After his command 10 wolf-like beings emerged from his shadow These wolves were covered in a coat of deep shadow paired with purple lines across their body. Alongside them, two imposing figures emerged. The first was a 2-foot-tall werewolf with grey fur and red tattoos along with long claws and a yellowish horn on his head. The second was a giant bee a bit smaller than the werewolf but still pretty big, it was flying in the air. The bee was yellow in colour with black stripes on its body and had large round red eyes, the bee also had a large stinger on its tail as well as two smaller drill-like piercers on its hands. Paired with all his summons William looked quite imposing however, this was just the start as in the next instance William used his ascension skill. [Mana Ascension] As soon as he said this William emitted an overwhelming blue aura enveloping the whole forest region in his aura. Right now William felt on top of the world as if he could defeat anyone in this state. Once his transformation was done William took away the ability to use Mana from all living beings enveloped in his aura. Using it all to power his strongest spell, the one he used back when showing off in front of his mother. (Tri Elemental arrow) Following his command a gigantic arrow of wind powered by the elements of fire and lightning shot forward towards Zephyr at a speed too fast to be seen. William expected the fight to be over once the arrow made contact however, unfortunately for William that never happened. Just as the arrow was about to hit him Zephyr simply raised his hand and absorbed the arrow still not dropping his carefree attitude. "Boring" Zephyr said in an annoyed tone scaring William down to the core. "My turn" In the next instant, an divine ray of light descended from the sky hitting William too fast for him to react as it covered enough area to destroy a city. The fight between two 8-year-olds with divine aspects lasted 5 seconds. As William Verhein for the first time in his second life experienced death. Chapter 18: Ch-18 A risky preposition Silence.Utter silence overwhelmed the dark space as Zephyr watched Williams body reconstruct. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Blegh!!" William let out a nasty sound as he vomited on the ground. "Eww, dude," Zephyr replied with disgust in his tone as he waved his hand, erasing the filth that came out of William''s mouth. "H-how? " William asked in disbelief, still not sure how he had lost. The body that he was boasting about a couple minutes ago lost against an 8-year-old in 5 seconds, 4 of which were William transforming and attacking. So William lost in a single second once Zephyr fought back. "The answer is pretty simple; you''re just too weak," Zephyr replied confidently. "Bu-" William wanted to say something, but he quickly lowered his head, finally understanding how truly weak he was. His own weakness, paired with his God''s awful flaw, means he''s practically living on borrowed time. However, he quickly got out of his own melancholy as he asked Zephyr with determination evident in his eyes. "How do I become stronger?" "Finally, a good question," Zephyr said with a smirk on his face. "If you want to become stronger, the most important thing is neutralising your flaw." "Sounds reasonable, so any idea how to do that?" "Well, glad you asked," Zephyr said with amusement. William was a bit taken by his enthusiasm, but he made sure to listen carefully to what he was going to say. "Go to no man''s land; there''s an ancient power there for you to get there, which can help neutralise your flaw." "No disrespect, but if I go there, I''ll just die. I''m not strong enough to survive there." "That, paired with my flaw, is a death ticket for me." William was familiar with No Man''s Land; it was the only continent in the world that was not owned by any one race and was instead a place where mana beasts were allowed to roam free. To make matters worse, this was also the place with the most number of mythical beast spottings. "No risk, no reward," Zephyr retorted. "However, I''m glad you''ve at least not been blinded in your pursuit of strength and possess some amount of rationality." William calmly observed Zephyr with anticipation for what he was about to say. "Which is why you should break your mana core?" "The fuck?" William asked, confused, thinking Zephyr was joking. "You hear me, William, break your mana core," Zephyr reiterated in a tone emphasising he wasn''t joking. "Ok, but why would I do that?" William asked, still confused about what he heard. "Because the technique I''m about to teach you can only be learned if you have a white mana core." "And what exactly is this technique about?" William was intrigued by what Zephyr was saying. "Multiple mana cores," Zephyr replied in a calm tone. "What??? " William was exasperated, as the words that came out of Zephyr''s mouth sounded absurd to him. "It''s pretty simple. I''m going to teach you to form multiple mana cores." "Now before you ask anything, hear me out.". "The reason behind your flaw being so disastrous is the large amount of mana you possess, so with lower amounts of mana, you''ll be safe from the influence of your flaw and could go and get the ancient power." "But I''d lose 8 years of cultivation," William asked, still not convinced. "It doesn''t matter; you''ll still have a 2-year headstart compared to even the most talented children," Zephyr retorted. "However, the best part about this cultivation system is that you''ll cultivate way faster than everyone else," Zephyr said, resembling a shady businessman. "There are a couple other benefits to this cultivation system, but tell me, William, are you willing to bet on your future for a chance to get stronger?" "I am," William said with a smile resembling that of a madman. Unbeknownst to everyone in the world, the fate of their beloved genius was starting to change, and this was only the beginning. After their talk, Zephyr explained to William all the benefits of his new cultivation system, as well as how to practice it. After some time, William just stared at Zephyr and thanked him for helping him before leaving the memoirs. *** Once William was gone, Zephyr was left all alone in the dark space of the memoirs. "How intense!" Zephyr let out a soft murmur as he thought back to how he lied to William. Truth be told, Zephyr couldn''t see Williams future anymore. He was able to foresee the past 8 years of William''s life; however, whenever he tried to foresee his future after today, he was blocked. Zephyr still shuddered, remembering the monstrous crimson eye that blocked him and almost blew out the fragile consciousness he left in the memoirs. If possible, Zephyr wanted to cripple William; however, he knew he couldn''t do that, so instead he decided to take him under his wing with hopes of preventing the future he saw. As Zephyr closed his eyes, he remembered his most deadly prophecy, the one that foretold the end of all existence, and the white-haired and red-eyed man who seemed to be responsible for it all. For the past 6,000 years, Zephyr has been preparing for this prophecy, and now the cogs of the world have finally started spinning. Zephyr couldn''t help but laugh, thinking about all the turmoil that awaits William. While Zephyr couldn''t foresee the future of William, he could see glimpses into his future through the lens of other people''s future. At this point, Zephyr had constructed his own version of the future, which would play out if he didn''t interfere and eventually lead to the destruction of all of existence. Thankfully for everyone, the child of Mana took up responsibility to prevent that future from ever happening. **** After a few minutes of being passed out, William finally woke up in the library. William was grinning like a madman, remembering everything that had happened. William could tell that Zephyr had a hidden agenda behind helping him; however, William didn''t care, even if he was being manipulated, as long as he could gain strength. Also, while he didn''t care about being manipulated for now, William swore to himself that he''d make Zephyr pay for the humiliating defeat he suffered today. After all, throughout his past life, the most prevalent trait of Naoya was his pettiness; now, even as William, that pettiness is ever present. Chapter 19: Ch-19 Multiple Mana Cores Once William woke up, he looked at the time.It had been half an hour since William had come to the library. ''I might as well make my multiple mana core before sleeping''. With that thought in mind, William went to his personal training room. Once he entered the room, he was pleased by what he saw. The training room was identical to his mother''s training room. With white paddings and training dummies, William decided to place the dummies aside and activate the sound-proof feature of the room. William decided to remove his shirt, so it didn''t get destroyed, and sat in the middle of the room. ''This is going to hurt'', William thought as he removed the ring of suppression, releasing his crimson mana. William took a few steady breaths to calm his mind. The first part of this cultivation method is the need for proper mana-pathways. For a normal awakened, mana flows through their blood. Thus, they don''t require specified mana pathways. However, in order to practice this cultivation method one needed wire like mana pathways for proper flow of mana in the body. Which makes having a formed mana core a perquisite of this technique. With careful precision and a masterful control of mana, William made specific pathways for mana, allowing it to flow separately from blood before finally connecting to his mana veins. Once he was done, William felt a newfound strength in his body as the efficiency of mana flow was boosted tremendously. ''Now here comes the hard part'', William thought as he sent a mental command to make his core self-destruct. After a single second, the whole room was involved in a bright blue light. "AHHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" William let out a gut-wrenching scream, but thankfully for him, the room was soundproof. However, just when William was about to pass out from the pain, he bit his own tongue to regain consciousness. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was the most important part of the process. With a broken core. The mana sealed inside rushed out. Before this mana inside could dissipate, he needed to utilize as much of it as he could to form his mana core. His first primary core was made in the same place where his previous core was, which was his solar plexus. After a bit of effort, William succeeded. Now for his second core, he had decided on his lungs so that he could absorb mana whenever he breathed. The second core was a bit harder than the first one, but it was still possible. Once he succeeded in this, he had managed to form his second mana core and had successfully started cultivating the multiple mana core method. However, this wasn''t enough for William. He still had some mana.Which he used to form a third mana core near the right side of his chest. This was by far the hardest one, but he managed to succeed. He now had a 3 mana core. However, this was just the start, as the part which made this cultivation technique so overpowered was still left. One''s mana core is like a blank vessel. However, most people are unable to utilize them and those who can use it to sign contracts with spirits and house them in their core. However, there is one more possibility that, while theorized in the past, it was impossible for everyone aside from two people in all of history as it required an extreme affinity to mana. An affinity that can''t be obtained through any means unless one is the child of mana itself. That theory was forming a mana core inside one''s mana core which, if is formed, allows a person to have a seemingly endless number of mana cores. Right now, William was planning on doing just that. He planned on forming a mana core inside his primary mana core. It was extremely hard, almost ridiculously hard, but after a lot of trial and effort, he succeeded. William had done the impossible, made a theory which had long been given up on by everyone possible. He had formed a mana inside his primary mana core. Right now William felt elated considering all the possibilities which were now opened to him. While, yes, William now had a way to easily gain more mana, there was something even more important. Something which had drastically increased his future potential. The reason why everyone only has one spirit is due to spirits needing a mana core to house them and a single mana core is only able to house one spirit, regardless of the size of the core. However, now with multiple cores, William could have multiple mana spirits. This was huge, as having even a single spirit depending on its rank could significantly boost the overall strength of someone. There were a few other theories and possibilities William needed to try. However, they were all put on back burners for now. "I need to ask mother to teach me how to contract with a spirit" William muttered. His mother was the first one that came to his mind when he thought of contracting with a spirit. Myra had contracted a marquiss ranked nature spirit which formed the most important basis of her strength. William had the pleasure of watching her fight many times and, while she wasn''t as powerful as Rex, she was still a powerhouse, with many people calling her the "The queen of nature". ''Wait, I''m getting side tracked. I need to check something first'', William thought as he opened his status screen. ------------------------------------------------------------ Name: William Verhein Age:8 Race: Human Aspect: Walking Calamity (Tier V) 2nd Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:1246 Strength:260 Agility:280 Endurance:250 Vitality:156 Intelligence:300 [Invariable stats] Mana: F+ Charm: C- Luck: F- Resistance:F+ Skills:-Passive skills: [Child of Mana], [Loved by Spirits], [Master of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Martial Genius], [Mana Sense], [One with Shadows] [Mana pathways] Active skills: [Mana Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth] [Masteries] Hand-to-hand combat (intermediate+), photographic memory Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ William couldn''t help but feel bitter looking at his Mana core and 8 years of his hard work gone to waste. "Sigh it is what it is", Muttering the mantra which kept him going throughout his past life, he finally got over the feeling. With F+ Mana, he had the same amount of mana as someone on the verge of breaking through to a red mana core. Another thing which caught his attention was the addition of [Mana pathways] to his passive skill tab, so out of curiosity, he clicked it. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Mana Pathways]-Drastically increases the efficiency of Mana flow in the body and the amount of wasted Mana during each spell is reduced to an amount very close to zero. ------------------------------------------------------------ "Increased Mana efficiency, how neat" William muttered with a pleased expression on his face. However, something else which caught his attention was the time. He needed to go to sleep now if he wanted to perform well during tomorrow''s training. With a slight, bitter feeling, William decided to swallow his own curiosity and go to his room to sleep. Once he was on his own bed, he took a few minutes to reflect on all that happened today. "What an eventful day", William muttered, knowing that today was going to be one of the most important days of his life. ''Finally, after 3 years of begging, I finally get to learn swordsmanship'' he thought,with a pleased expression on his face as he thought back to the day 3 years ago when he almost died and the day he became obsessed with the sword. Chapter 20: Ch-20 Cause of obsession 17th Marias, 156833 years before the day Williams life changed. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Is William still sleeping? " Rex asked Myra. "Yea" Myra replied. In her lap was a sleeping 5 year old William with a peaceful expression on his face. The Vehein family were currently in a carriage heading towards Rungarr mountains to camp. Rungarr mountains lie in Verhein County so they were under Rex''s jurisdiction and he planned to take his family to camp here to take a break and get to spend some time with them. He was still annoyed how ever since he killed the hydra on the day of Williams birth he was treated as some sort of savior and got promoted from a Baron to a Count. While he understood the emperor''s reason behind his decision as he did save the whole Karka kingdom. But being promoted more than tripled his work load causing him to not be able to spend as much time with his family as he would''ve liked. After some time once they finally reached the mountains, upon reaching the mountains they took all their supplies from the carriage and sent the driver back. Once they had reached Myra waked William back up. "Wakey, wakey we''ve reached the mountains" Myra said lovingly as she gently shaked William off her lap. "Five more minutes please" William begged trying to fall back asleep. "No can''t do young man" Myra said sternly not leaving any room for negotiation. Hearing his mother''s stern tone William finally decided to get back up with a disappointed expression. However, his disappointment was quickly washed away as he laid his eyes on the beautiful sight in front of him. In front of him a magnificent gigantic lush mountain with it''s tip reaching the clouds. The area was a bit secluded but due to that the wildlife was able to fully thrive without artificial interference. "How beautiful, I''m glad I was able to preserve the charm of this place" Rex said with a pleased expression on his face. "I couldn''t agree more" Myra said agreeing with Rex. "I bet the view would be even better from above" Rex said as he bent down signaling William to climb on his back. For a normal unawakened people it would probably take around 12-16 hours just to climb the mountain due to the uneven terrain and the sheer size of it. However, for awakend people the time is reduced to barely 2 hours or even less. This time is even further reduced for power houses like Rex and Myra who could climb the mountain in under a minute if they tried. So seeing his father''s wide back William quickly climbed on his back using his own mana to shield himself from the wind or other leaves or twigs which posed a danger at the high speed his father was about to run. Once william had sucessfully climbed over, Rex leaped forth at a inhumane speed with Myra following closely behind him. In just under 2 minutes they has reached the peak of the mountains. Upon reaching the peak Rex William down as he gazed at the beautiful scenery before him. William was completely enamored by the beautiful sight before him. The village a bit away from the mountains looked like a tiny dot almost unnoticeable but the 3 people stop the mountain were able to see it due and they couldn''t help but smile at seeing their people living peacefully without needing to worry about anything. A bit further away from that was a bright green lush forest flourishing with wild life. "How sweet" Rex said pleased with the fact that all his hard work allowed his people to live carefully. "Well if we should also take a page from their book and relax and spend time together" Myra said as she began unloading the giant bag she had been carrying. As Myra was unloading the bag, William''s gaze was locked on the people of the village they had seen earlier. ''I wonder what life is like that for them'' William thought with childish curiosity however, another thought that was going through his head was that he needs to be strong so he could take over father''s position and protect this land so that the people could live a carefree life. Throughout the past year William had been getting praised as a heaven defying genius due to his affinity with mana as well as awakening 6 years before even the biggest geniuses. However, even now William''s achievements were a bit downplayed as he had awakend the day he was born. While William was a bit confused as to why his parents lied to everyone and insisted on him not telling the truth to anyone till he was strong enough, he knew better than to question his parents decision as they were the most important people to him in the whole world. However, getting praised by everyone everywhere he went did cause him to devolep some arrogance, but due to the presence of his parents in his life he was able to contain it and didn''t become cocky. Alongside this arrogance was also a deep sense of responsibility as he wanted to ensure the safety and peace of all the people who were kind to him and brought gifts for him, as well as protecting the land his father worked so hard for. William had a very good relationship with his mother and he loved her dearly. however, the same couldn''t be said about his father as he spent most of his time in his office managing the territory or on expeditions clearing dungeons or gate''s ensuring the safety of his people. William understood the importance of his father''s job so he didn''t blame him for not spending much time with him however, today with his father taking a off from work and spending time with him and Myra. Today, however,he was determined to improve his relationship with his father. unfortunately, for William while he was thinking about ways to improve his and Rex''s relationship he sensed a ominous presence heading his way. William almost couldn''t breathe; the presence was overpowering, bearing a deep killing intent aimed at him, and William was almost certain that he was going to die today. However, thankfully for him, he was the son of the sword saint. Chapter 21: Ch-21 Dance Of Blood, Fire And Steel Rex could feel the ominous, suffocating aura, which resembled the hydra he killed five years ago.He could instantly tell that whatever this aura was, it was drawn by his son''s flaw and was most definitely aiming for him. Ever since the incident, Williams flaw hasn''t caused much trouble aside from some petty bad luck, so Rex stopped thinking about ways to neutralise it. However, now sensing the presence approaching him, he knew that he needed to do something to protect his son from his flaw. But that''s something for the future; right now, he needed to neutralise the being releasing blood lust towards his son. With that thought in mind, Rex transformed into his strongest form with his white hair, reaching all the way to his back, and replacing his clothes with a blue armour made up of aura with tendrils of lightning surrounding him. Both his hands held two swords with two magestic white wings on his back. However, instead of flying off, he summoned his aspect beast. Instantly, a tall brown griffin standing on its four legs with two majestic brown wings materialised. "Williams, get on Stormswill; I''m going to show you something fun," Rex said as he looked at William. "What?" William asked, looking confused. "Rex, what are you trying to do?" Myra asked worried by her husband''s demand. "Don''t worry, just get on. I just saw where the presence was coming from, and it''s not a threat for us," Rex muttered in a playful tone. "And besides, I''m the strongest, so instead of being scared, I want you to come take a good look at the beings you''ll be fighting in the future, William.". "Wow!" William exclaimed, amazed by his father''s confidence, as he quickly got on the Griffin. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. William was a bit afraid of the creature at first, but it quickly bowed down to him, letting him easily climb up as if recognising him as its master. William was a bit surprised because, as he got on, he was able to feel the soft texture of the bird''s fur, contrary to how it looked. "William, keep your eyes peeled, as what I''m about to show you isn''t something you can see anywhere else," Rex said. After saying that, Rex started flying towards the presence at breakneck speed alongside Stormswill, who was carrying William. Rex and Stormswill quickly passed the village as they both flew towards the gigantic walls surrounding Karka Kingdom. ''Phew, I''m glad I didn''t end up implicating an innocent village in my fight again,'' Rex thought with a relieved expression on his face. After a few minutes, Rex and William atop Stormswill quickly bypassed the walls, and the sight before them shook William to the core. A whole army of approximately 100 gigantic dragons was brutally massacring the wall guards, trying to breach the walls. The whole area around the walls was surrounded by blood, dead bodies mangled in grotesque ways, and fire burning the whole ground. Mangled human limbs were spread on the ground, and the walls had sustained serious injuries as some guards were burning alive, causing inhumane screams of agony to be heard constantly. This was the first time William had ever witnessed such brutality; no, this was the first time he had ever witnessed brutality and death. The scene horrified William; he wanted to puke. He needed to close his eyes to try and forget about what he just saw. However, just when he was about to listen to his body instincts and let out everything he ate, he felt a hand on his shoulder as he heard. [Cleanse], almost instantly William felt relaxed, no longer wanting to puke and almost forgetting about the horrors he just witnessed. Unfortunately for him, just as he was about to let his body relax, he heard a gut-wrenching scream. "Ahahahahahahahahaha" As William looked down, he saw a man engulfed in flames, screaming in agony. William almost fell down in panic; however, he was quickly held back by a sturdy hand. "Relax yourself, William Verhein," Rex said in a sturdy tone with conviction in his tone as he started at William. This was the first time William had ever heard his father speak in such a tone or say his full name. "Look at the battlefield; observe it; no, engrave it inside your mind," Rex said in an almost commanding tone. Hearing his father''s voice somehow managed to overcome his natural repulsion for the horrors and made him stare at the scene before him. Seeing all the bloodshed and horror scared him; however, he overcame the natural repulsion he felt and, instead of reverting his eyes, stared even more intensely at the sight before him. "Do you see all these dying men before you?" Rex asked the obvious, despite already knowing the answer. "All of them have families just like you, me, and Myra," Rex said. "However, most of these men will never be able to see their family before them due to their own weakness." William was a bit weirded out by why his father was insulting these dying guards, but he continued to listen. "And yet here they are fighting on the front lines, risking it all; most, if not all, of them want to run away inside back to their families." "But they all ignore that instinct because of one simple thing: responsibility." "Many would consider them stupid, thinking it would be better for the men to run away, but they''re all wrong." "Because if they ran away, then these overgrown lizards would slaughter thousands of innocent souls; among them would potentially be their own family, for that simple reason they continue to fight." "Now you might not understand why I''m giving you a speech right now instead of going to help save these men. But that''s because life isn''t fair." "I''m sure you''ve seen countless fools preaching to you about the fairness of life, but in reality, those fools just want to cope with their own circumstances." "For example, just look at yourself as the son of the sword saint, with an aspect far greater than everyone else as well as an affinity for mana surpassing even dragons." "The truth is, you were born with a golden spoon, a clean road to success; all you need to do is walk on it." "The reason why I''m telling you all this is because I need you to understand that people like me and you have a responsibility far greater than everyone else." "Our responsibility is towards everyone weaker than ourselves who was born less fortunate than us; we need to protect them from forces that they can''t fight against." "Right now, it is my responsibility to protect my territory and even this whole kingdom to repay it for everything it has given to me." "However, in the future, that responsibility will fall on you, and once it does, I want you to do a job even better than mine." "Cause remember, someone who uses their own strength just to abuse the less fortunate is a scum." "And if you become a scum, I won''t hesitate to drive a blade up your throat, even if you''re my own son." William was stunned by everything Rex said to him; this was the first time his father ever talked like that to him, and it deeply affected him, making him forget about the tragedy around him. One might think that Rex was just wasting time bragging about his own fortune while people were dying around him. However, Rex knew that what he was doing right now was more important than even protecting the kingdom. His son in the future would have the power to end or save the world, and it was Rex''s duty to make sure that William was never led astray in life and didn''t take his own powers for granted. "Well, with all that said, just watch me," Rex said as he cast [Safe Haven], encasing William and all the guards. Seeing the golden dome, William and all the guards stared at Rex as they finally noticed his presence. What followed next was a massacre, just like before; however, there was one main difference: humans weren''t the victims anymore. With each swing of his blade, countless dragon heads flew into the sky as purple blood sprayed the sky and filled the ground. Each swing of Rex''s blade was elegant, with not a single wasted moment. It looked like he was dancing on the battlefield with his elegant movements. It was a dance of blood, fire, and steel. The dragons tried to fight back; however, they were too helpless and outmatched against the beings before them. On the battlefield, he looked like their apex predator, so, with a natural desire for survival, they all ran away in fear. Unfortunately for them, Rex had no plans of letting them go as he flew towards them, not even letting a single one escape after claiming so many innocent lives and trying to kill his son. William, strangely unlike before, wasn''t repulsed by the sight before him; instead, he was mesmerised by the dance-like movements of his father with the blade. Rex didn''t use any fancy spells or abilities; all he used was a simple blade and technique honed to perfection. William couldn''t look away from the sight before him; he was amazed. He was obsessed with the blade and the burning desire to stand up to the responsibility that his father talked about. **** Present day Now sleeping peacefully on his bed was William as he dreamed about the day he came to make his father his role model. Clueless to Williams dreams, Rex entered his room. Chapter 22: Ch-22 Swordmanship 101 As Rex entered his son''s room, he smiled, seeing him sleeping peacefully."Wakey, wakey time for training," Rex said calmly as he nudged William on the bed. William was still lost in the world of dreams as he refused to wake up. Seeing his son not waking up, Rex, with a mischievous expression on his face, conjured a ball of water. After that, the peacefully sleeping William was greeted by a ball of cold water to the face. "Ahh!" He fell down the bed as he felt the sensation of cold water on his face, kicking him out of his peaceful sleep. "Haha!" Rex let out a soft laugh at the expense of his son. Hearing the laughter, William glared at Rex with an angry expression, demanding an explanation. "Wake up, princess, it''s time to train," Rex said, still trying to contain his laughter. "Ahh!" William exclaimed, remembering everything that happened yesterday. After that, William looked at the time, and to his surprise, it was still 5 AM; he had barely slept for 4 hours. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Why so early in the morning? Let me sleep right now," he pleaded, still feeling tired from yesterday''s affairs. William tried to get back on his soft bed, which felt like his sanctuary. But he was stopped by Rex''s hand as he said, "Nah, the early bird gets the worm.". "Quick young man, follow me. I''m about to teach you what you''ve been asking for the past 3 years. Be excited." If this were regular William, he probably wouldn''t have even cared about his own sleep and instead would''ve happily followed his father, but this was William after he received memories of his past life. Due to these memories, his interest in swordsmanship had waned a little, replaced by a newfound obsession with magic. But alas, in the end, he couldn''t argue with his father, so he just followed after him, hoping to get some sleep after the training. **** After a few minutes, the father and son arrived in Rex''s training room. It was different from Myra and William''s training room. This room resembled a lush green forest. There were even some trees and a flowing river in the room, with the floor having dirt on it and a few large boulders present sparingly. Another detail to notice was how serene and tranquil the room looked. Giving off the illusion that a person had been transported to an actual forest instead of being in a room inside a mansion. "Wow!" William exclaimed. This was his first time in his father''s training room, and it was definitely a lot different from his or his mother''s training room. "Heh, you like it," Rex asked, clearly pleased with his son''s reaction. "Yeah," William replied almost absent-mindedly. "Good, because you''re going to be spending a lot of time here," Rex said, his face still having a smile, seeing William''s reaction to his training room. "Alright, enough dilly-dallying," Rex said as he summoned a plain wooden sword from his spatial ring. Once the sword had materialised, he threw it towards William, who quickly caught it. ''How nice'' William thought as he did a few practice swings with the swords, pleased with the weight and size of the thing. "Alright, for starters, do 1,000 vertical swings; no use of mana is allowed, of course," Rex said. "Sure," William said, understanding the need to learn the basics. In his past life, William had learned and mastered various martial arts, and while all of those didn''t involve the use of weapons, he at least understood the importance of the basics and proper stance. While he didn''t learn anything related to weapons in his past life, he did use a metal pipe, which was quite similar in size and shape to the sword in his hand. So this knowledge, paired with his passive skill [Martial Genius], quickly allowed him to become accustomed to the motion and keep his breath and stance steady in each swing. Rex was very pleased with William''s progress and realised his talent was on par with his own. After about an hour, William was finally done, as he dropped his sword. He was about to drop his sword when he suddenly felt a strong impact on his chest, sending him flying. "BOOOOMMM!!!" With a loud noise, William crashed into a wall, causing smoke and dust to be generated. Cough-cough William coughed a bit, feeling drops of blood coming out of his mouth. William was shaken, but he quickly took a stance, ready to intercept whatever attacked him. "Good, very good," Rex said. William was surprised to hear Rex''s voice, but he was even more shaken seeing the raised leg of his father. "Let this be your first lesson to never let down your guard," Rex said, smugly enjoying himself. "For a swordsman, dropping his weapon is no different from a death sentence," Rex said as he picked up William''s dropped sword and threw it towards him. William quickly grabbed the sword as he asked, "That was still too much". "I already told you that training with me won''t be easy; you asked for this now; don''t complain," Rex retorted with a serious expression on his face. "Bu-" William looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped looking at Rex''s expression. "Ok, what next?" William asked, deciding to drop the matter of being kicked and hoping to complete the training so he could go back and sleep again. "Now that''s the attitude; come give me a thousand horizontal slashes now," Rex said, pleased with his son''s decision to drop the matter of him kicking him. Truth be told, William was right; he didn''t need to hit him; however, he felt this was the best way to leave a lasting impact on him. From now on, whenever he wanted to drop his guard or his weapon, he would always remember the kick he received from him. It''s better for him to learn like this than to lose his life due to carelessness. William could only sigh and curse himself for asking for this as he started the horizontal slashes. Chapter 23: ch-23 Addiction ''I''m going to make him pay for this,'' William thought, panting, barely catching his breath as he swung his blade. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.He had been in his dad''s training room, swinging the piece of wood in his hand, for the past 5 hours. He had started at 5 AM, and it was now 10 AM; his whole body was hurting. The whole area around him was covered in his own sweat. When he started, he thought he would be done in an hour or two max, but now here he was repeating the same piece of movement for the past 5 hours. He didn''t even feel any improvement in his stance; he was repeating the same swinging motion like a machine. He had tried to drop the sword or lay on the ground for a moment of rest, but each time he would be greeted by a kick and get sent flying. This wasn''t even training anymore, but just torture. William had considered using mana multiple times, but each time he was reminded of his father, who was observing him with a smile as if enjoying his misery. William had wondered if his father was always such a sadist or if he had done something to offend him. But each time he got distracted by useless thoughts, he reminded himself of the humiliation he suffered at Zephyr''s hands. How would he ever beat a god if he couldn''t even follow a simple training routine? So with a burning determination to get his revenge, he pushed forward, following Rex''s instructions to the T. Rex was observing William from the sidelines; he was hurting from inside, seeing his son''s condition. But he knew he couldn''t stop; he needed to know just how strong William''s willpower was. Swordsmanship isn''t like magic, where you can get carried by talent; for swordsmanship, hard work is arguably more important than talent. Rex knew all the countless nights he had spent just training with the blade, and the bruises on his hand were proof of that. Truth be told, he had expected William to give up in an hour or two max; after all, he''s just a kid who''s yet to experience the hard ships of life. But yet here he was, even after 5 hours, pushing his body to inhumane degrees, all in pursuit of power. Rex was quite proud of William for his willpower, as he knew even he couldn''t have displayed such insane willpower back when he was William''s age. *** Another three hours had passed. William was hurting all over his body. His eyes hurt from the lack of sleep he got last night, his muscles were sore from over exertion, his stomach was begging him for some food, and his arms were completely numb, with William no longer being able to feel them. But despite all that, he had a smile on his face, covered in his own sweat. Finally, after so many hours, he was able to notice improvement. His stance was getting better, and his technique was becoming more refined. For the past 8 hours, William has only been practicing 3 motions: vertical slash, horizontal slash, and thrust. During the start, the movements felt unnatural and awkward, but now they came as naturally as breathing to him, and while William hadn''t yet checked, he was quite sure he had acquired swordsmanship mastery. Feeling himself getting stronger, William couldn''t help but agree with his younger self that swordsmanship was fun. While it wasn''t as flashy or versatile as magic, the feeling of getting stronger after hours upon hours of hard work definitely had a unique charm to it. William was once again regaining his love for the sword that he had lost after regaining his memories. Another thing that caught his attention was the dopamine he felt from getting stronger. In his past life, William never understood people who were into dangerous sports or did drugs all for dopamine. But right now he could finally understand the feeling; this feeling was addicting. ***** Just like that, another 6 hours passed. By all logic, William should''ve long collapsed from exhaustion. He was running on a lack of sleep; he was starving; his body had long gone numb; he was no longer able to feel anything. His body was only 8 years old with undeveloped muscles, and with his mana sealed, he wasn''t that different from a regular person. He was still superior to a normal unawakened by quite a large margin, but it wasn''t big enough for him to pull off such a superhuman feat of strength. Even the dopamine, which had kept him going for the past few hours, had run out. With all that in mind, one might ask, Why exactly was he still in the same location as before swinging his sword? Well, the answer to that is simple: he had already passed out. For the past hour, his body has been in a trance, mechanically repeating the same motion of swinging a blade. For a normal person, this wouldn''t make sense; however, one thing one must never forget when dealing with William is that he wasn''t a normal person. But rather a semi-divine human with the dormant potential to become a god. Right now, his body is simply answering his subconscious desire to become stronger, and if no one interferes, his body will continue to answer his desires until it breaks, and judging by his current condition, that breaking point should be coming pretty soon. Thankfully for him, Rex was still in the room and had been observing him for the past few hours. He had tried to stop William multiple times in the past few hours; however, his son simply ignored him. At first, he was proud of William''s determination to prove himself to him, then he became elated seeing the smile on Williams face and the improvement he was showing. Rex was certain that in 10¨C12 years, William would surpass him as a swordsman. However, this feeling of pride was quickly replaced by a sense of worry for his son, who had been ignoring his existence just to mechanically practice the movements he told him to. He wanted to step forward and stop him, but something inside him told him that if he stopped him now, he''d never be able to forgive himself. William''s expression resembled his own back when he was a teenager hellbent on taking revenge against the one who took everything from him. The thing that drove Rex to such drastic lengths to forsake his own body in favour of strength was a desperation for power and a desire to take revenge. But that shouldn''t be the case for William; he was born with a golden spoon and a loving family. So why would he make such a desperate expression? In the end, the only conclusion he could come up with was that his son wanted his validation. Maybe he had been neglecting William too much, which now made him desperate for his approval. Rex wanted to beat himself up for being such a terrible parent, especially when he boasted about fighting the whole world for his son back when he was born. Now, a few years later, that same son is hurting himself just for his approval. However, Rex quickly got out of his own self-loathing as he finally knocked out William and decided to carry him back to his room. ''I should spend more time with William from now on'' With that thought in mind, he decided to leave the training room. Chapter 24: Ch-24 A Conversation About Spirits "Is he alright?" Myra''s concern was evident in her tone."Yeah, he should be fine," Rex said. The two of them were in Williams room right now, and on the bed, William was passed out. It had been two days since William overexerted himself. Myra originally wanted to scold her husband for William''s condition, but she could see the guilt evident in Rex''s eyes, so she stopped herself. Myra knew her husband''s personality despite his strength or looks; he was a softie on the inside, and he cared about his family more than anyone else. So she didn''t want to be too hard on him; at this point, all she could do was pray for her child to wake up soon. *** After another day, Williams finally woke up. At first, he was bombarded by questions from both his parents about what happened to him, but seeing his confusion, they dropped the subject. Now he was sitting on the dining table, enjoying his mother''s cooking. Myra was always an exceptional chef, but she usually didn''t cook much and just let the chefs do their duty. However, seeing her son''s condition, she decided to make food for him herself, and she couldn''t say she regretted it. After all, William had a wide smile on his face as he devoured the food in front of him. ''It''s been a while since I last ate my mother''s cooking, and it''s still as good as I remember,'' William thought as he took a sip of some orange juice. "Thanks for the meal," William said with a satisfied expression once he was done eating. "I''m glad you enjoyed it," Myra said with a smile on her face. After that, for the next few minutes, there was an awkward silence as no one said anything, not wanting to be the first one to start the conversation. "William, if there''s anything you need to tell us, feel free to open up." Rex asked, finding the silence suffocating. "I''m not quite sure what you''re talking about." William asked, clueless, about what his father was talking about. "Oh, come on, don''t pay dumb; we both should know what I''m trying to say here." Rex said he was a bit annoyed by William''s antics. "Ah," William let out a weird sound, finally understanding what Rex was trying to say. "Finally, now tell me why you went crazy three days ago." "Well, I''m not quite sure." William took a second to think about what he was about to say: "Honestly, it''s just that swordsmanship was more fun than I expected.". "At first, it was really tiring and boring, but once I noticed improvement in my stance and technique, I was hit with a wave of dopamine, and I couldn''t really stop." Rex was a bit stunned to hear William talk about his reason, but at least he was glad that his son wasn''t pushing himself just for his validation. "You''re really talented with the sword; if you continue to devote yourself to it, you can eventually even surpass me," Rex said with a hint of pride in his tone. He figured it''d be best to compliment William for his effort, as he deserved it in his eyes. "Thanks, dad. I hope we can continue our daily training from now on." "Of course, I can''t let a talent like yours go to waste, though we should do it in moderation from now on." "Sure," William replied with a smile on his face. "Well, with all that sorted, it''s going to be your birthday in a month, so tell me if you want anything." Myra decided to chime in, seeing that the Rex and Williams conversation was over. William was a bit taken back, as he had almost forgotten about his own birthday, but now, with Myra bringing it up, he had a pretty good idea as to what he wanted. "Well, actually, there is something that I would really appreciate for this birthday." "Sure, go ahead." "I want an elemental spirit." "WHAT!!!???" Both Rex and Myra asked in unison. "William, we''ve already talked about this before. You can only have one spirit companion your whole life. You should wait for now and make such an important decision once you''re older." Myra said trying to coax her son out of doing something stupid. "Don''t worry, mom, I know what I''m doing; you can trust me." William tried to reassure her, even though he knew she was right. What Myra said was indeed correct; making a decision like this was one of the most important aspects of a awakend, something that would greatly affect their future prospects. So making a decision like this, which can only be made once in anyone''s life while you''re still a kid and haven''t fully matured, is about one of the dumbest things someone can do. But what Myra didn''t know was that this wasn''t the case for William due to his multiple-mana core. He''ll be repeating this process multiple times in his life. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Another reason why people prefer to wait before contracting a spirit is so that they can fully develop their prospects and mana core to attract spirits. However, once again, that wasn''t a problem for him; after all, he had [Child of Mana] and [Loved by Spirits] passive skills; spirits would practically beg just to sign a contract with him. So William was quite certain about his decision. Another reason why William was so stubborn about getting a spirit was because it was extremely hard to learn spirit arts, and since he was going to be practicing multiple of them, it''s better for him to start early. In a few years, once he''s confident, he''s going to go to the neutral continent. While Zephyr told him to go now, William didn''t fully trust him, so he wanted to be strong enough to at least survive on that godforsaken continent. "Bu-" Myra still looked unconvinced, but before she could object, she was interrupted by William. "Mom, trust me, I don''t plan on ruining my future over a childish game," William said, his words displaying his conviction. "Sigh fine, whatever. I hope you can back up your confidence." In the end, Myra decided to give in; after all, no parent can win against their child. "Yay!" William let out a victorious yelp. "Alright, stop getting so excited and go to bed. It''s getting late, I''ll see you tomorrow." "Sure," William said as he got up from his chair and made his way to his room. Chapter 25: Ch-25 Getting A Spirit It was now morning again William slept quite peacefully last night.Now William and Myra were in the carriage on their way to the Verhein County private spirit zone. Spirits are special beings who don''t exist in the mortal world but rather in their own spirit dimension. However, in special zones in the mortal world where elemental energy is extremely concentrated they can open up a portal to cross through. But due to them not belonging in this world they can''t interact with anything or anyone and also feel pain every second they exist in the world,so they usually prefer to just stay in their own dimension. However, there''s a exception to this rule, that being people who possess affinity to spirits. By signing a contract with such people they can live in a awakend''s mana core and in return they allow the awakener to use spirit energy. Spirit energy is a special energy that exists in the spirit world and can only be used by spirit, but they can allow their contractee to use it by acting as a medium. This is one of the reason why having a spirit by your side is highly beneficial to all awakened. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sadly people with affinity to spirits are quite rare however, all of that is of no concern to William. "How long until we get to the spirit zone?" William asked with barely contained curiosity. "Just wait we''ll get there soon" Myra replied already used to her son''s impatience. After another hour which felt longer than normal for William due to his own impatience they finally arrived at the spirit zone "Finally we''re here" William said while stretching his body a bit as he got out. "Come on don''t be a drama queen the ride wasn''t even that long" Myra scoffed. "Yea yea" William retorted. "So this is a spirit zone? " William asked amazed by what he saw. In front of him lush empty piece of land, which looked pristine as if it had never been touched. It also had a giant river beside it which looked pure as if never tempered with before. The sunlight was also extremely bright shining brightly, resulting in a landscape which looked so picturesque as if it was painted into reality without a single imperfection. However, the reason for William''s amazement wasn''t the beauty of the landscape but rather the extreme quality and quantity of Water, Earth, fire and wind elemental particles in the area. Well there were also light elemental particle but William wasn''t able to sense them due to not having a affinity to that element. "Spirit zone''s really are some of the most beautiful places in the world don''t you agree?" Myra asked her eyes carrying a hint of nostalgia remembering the day she contracted with Rosella and how she was just like William the first time she saw a spirit zone. "Yea" William replied absent mindedly. "Well there''s only one thing left to do now" Myra said anticipating what spirit would repond to her son''s call. "Sure" "Oh esteemed, spirit of elements" "The one''s who represent nature" "Respond to the calls of this humble one who asks for your assistance and your company in my life" "Oh spirit with this humble wish, I request that you make your presence known to me" *** The spirit world A world filled with countess mysteries, not much is known about this mystical land as humans are not allowed here. However, from what''s known is that the whole land is much bigger than planet Astressa. The whole land is separated into countless lands each representing their own unique element and is inhabited by the spirits corresponding to the element of the land. Spirits usually live for extremely long with some of the older one''s being as old as millions of years. These spirits don''t have much desire or anything that can considered as entertainment. They can''t really die and their nutrients are provided by the element particles of their element. However, despite this all spirits instinctually wish to sign a contract with mortals to experience mortal world as according to them it''s much more entertaining than their world. Another reason why spirits seek a partner is that by staying inside a awakends mana core they get both nutrients as well as growing stronger. Right now in this mystical land of spirits something quite shocking was about to take place. As the voice of a human child resounded inside the minds of all spirits living in the lands of Earth, Fire, Water and Wind continent''s. Such a event created quite a commotion as the only possible reason for such scenario would be a human with perfect affinity to 4 elements. Such a individual is a anomaly someone who''s life is guaranteed to be ''entertaining'' which all spirits desire. Almost without exception every spirit who heard the voice wanted to contract with this human. However, unfortunately for them a human can only contract with 1 person so that means all these spirits are rivals all fighting for the same host. "Holy shit, I found my new host I need to get this kid" Said a ethereal looking red spirit seemingly a fire spirit. "Get your eye''s of my host" Another spirit shouted. "Both of you need to stop yapping, that''s my host" Said another spirit. "Shut up" Both the spirits which were previously fighting amongst themselves shouted causing a argument to break out. "If only I was born as a higher ranked spirit I could''ve also tried to contract with this human" Said a baron ranked spirit already giving up without even trying. Depending on the quantity of spirit energy a spirit can control their divided into 7 ranks as follow:- 1.King 2.Prince 3.Duke 4.Marquiss 5.Count 6.Viscount 7.Baron At any one moment in time there can only be one king, prince and duke of a particular element. while conflict was brewing due to almost all spiritstrying to get the human who showed up all of their plans were foiled with a new voice which spoke in everyone''s mind. "Shut up, I''m personally going to contract with him someone like him doesn''t deserve weaklings like you" The voice belonged Agnis the Duke of the fire spirit tribe. He was a extremely respected figure among his citizens and while the spirits all had their complains they could do nothing but remain silent knowing they don''t stand a chance now that Agnis himself was making a move. ** Now back to William. Flying in front of him were 4 ethereal spirits colored Red, Blue, Brown and Green depending on their element. "I didn''t know weaklings were trying to scam someone with a lot of potential" Said Wiz as she eyed Agnis with I''ll hidden enmity. "True, which is why you should just leave Wiz" Agnis retorted. Staying true to their elements the Duke of Water and Fire tribe never got along. "And there they go again" Said Sera, the green coloured elemental as she eyed Agnis and Wiz who didn''t act their rank according to her. "Let them be after all it''s not like any of them will be chosen anyways"Gione said playfully. "Yea sure buddy" All 3 spirits said in unison as if used to Gione''s delusion. "There seems to be a misconception here so let me clear it for your guy''s I won''t be choosing anyone of you guy''s" William said finally opening his mouth ever since the spirits showed themselves. "What!!!??? " All the 4 spirits exclaimed in unison However, before they could let the absurdity of William''s statement settle inhe said something which made them forgot about what he said before. "Instead I''ll be contracting with all 4 of you" Chapter 26: Ch-26 Getting A Spirit-2 "I''ll sign a contract with all four of you.""Wow, I didn''t know my new host also had a sense of humour. What a good deal."Wiz retorted, not taking Williams words seriously. "I''m not joking," William replied calmly, already expecting a reaction like this. Meanwhile, Myra was lost in her own world. ''Wtf is going on? Should I intervene?'' Myra thought as her expression remained nonchalant, without a single trace of her emotional turmoil. . [Nah, it''s getting entertaining] said Rosella in her mind, knowing that William wasn''t in any real danger. ''But he''s suggesting something absurd; what if the duke gets angry and hurt him?''. [They can''t; William is far too important for that.] [Though I must say your son never fails to amaze me, getting a Duke rank spirit to come running for a chance of contracting is insane, let alone four of them.] ''Tell me about it; he''s my son after all, Myra thought with a smug expression, despite knowing that William''s talent far outclassed her. Even her getting a marquis-ranked spirit like Rosella was enough for people to start calling her a prodigy, so by that logic, her son couldn''t even be called a human. He was a true monster in all senses of the word, and Myra had no doubt that in a few years he would even surpass her husband. Unaware of Myra''s thoughts, William was just staring at the four spirits in front of him, waiting for them to accept his deal. "Hey kid, are you making fun of us right now?" Agni asked, annoyed at Williams antics. "Nah, why would I do that?" William asked "I don''t know; you tell me," Agni exclaimed. "Ok, Kid, stop joking," Gione intervened before things could get heated between Agni and William. "I''m not joking." "Elaborate," Sera asked, annoyed by Williams antics. "I''m a genius; I can contract with all four of you; I don''t need to explain myself to you." "Oh, alright, Mr. Genius, I''m sure you can get a Duke-ranked spirit anytime you want," Wiz scoffed. "Sure, and I''m sure you can get a Child of Mana divine human with an affinity for spirits and a perfect elemental affinity for your element anywhere," William retorted. "Divine human!!!!" All four of the spirits exclaimed. They knew the child in front of them was special, but him being a divine human changed everything. It was practically the dream of every spirit to be able to accompany a divine human on his path to godhood. If they could do that, then even if they had to share the same host, it''s not a bad deal. "So do guys trust me yet?" William asked with a smirk, already knowing their answer. "Ugh," Agni said, making a weird sound, still refusing to forsake his pride as a Duke. "Alright, kid, you have yourself a deal," Gione said without hesitation. "Gione, where''s your pride as a Duke? How can you just agree with the kids demand?" Agni shouted, annoyed by the kid and Gionne''s admittance to his demands. "Who cares about pride? I''m not about to let go of a host who''s going to become a god in the future; if your pride is more important than this opportunity, then suit yourself," Gionne retorted. "Ahh, finally, at least one of you is smart. Come over here, new partner," William said with a smile that resembled that of a shady businessman. ''Why do I feel a bit uneasy?'' Gionne thought internally. But ignoring the feeling, he still went near William. The other three spirits were just standing and observing Gionne to see what would happen. "Alright, hold out your hand; let''s get it done," said William as he held out his hand towards Gionne. Gionne, despite his hesitation, also held out his hand, touching William. Following which, a bright brown light engulfed the whole area before it was gone the next second. Following the light, Gionne had vanished, and William had signed a contract with the Duke rank spirit of the Earth tribe. "Chh, I missed my chance," Wiz said in annoyance. The other two also sighed, blaming themselves for being too arrogant, and prepared to go back. However, before they could leave, a voice called out. "You seem to have forgotten what I said before. I''m going to sign a contract with all four of you now. Come over here." "Huh?" "You can''t be serious?" "I am. Now come over here and hold out your hands," William said, a bit annoyed by the spirits not taking him seriously. Sadly, he couldn''t let them go just because he found their personalities a bit annoying, as each element only had a single Duke. The spirits were a bit wierded out by Williams stubbornness, but for some reason they were also a bit curious. The kid is special after all; maybe he''s not lying. With this thought in mind, Wiz decided to act before the other two and held out his hand. "You''re smart; I like you," William scoffed before holding out his hand and touching Wiz''s hand. The next moment, the whole ground was covered in a bright blue light . The next instant, it was gone as if it were never even there; strangely enough, even Wiz was gone. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This could only mean that William had done the impossible and actually contracted two spirits, as he said. "Wtf?" "Wait, he wasn''t joking?" "How?" Murmurs like this could be heard from Agni, Sera, and Myra. "Now stop wasting my time and come over here," William said, annoyance evident in his tone for not being taken seriously before. After a few more minutes, they were finally done. William now had four Duke-ranked element spirits at his disposal. "Wow, how did you do that?" Myra asked, her disbelief still evident in her voice. "I''m a genius," William retorted with a smirk. Myra seriously considered beating up William, but in the end, she just decided to let it go. After some time, the carriage arrived to take them both back home. On the trip back home, William had a smile on his face as he thought. ''Now all that''s left is to get stronger'' Chapter 27: Ch-27 Child chosen by God 15 Julias, 5678In the world of Morgov, in a small city called Alus, lived a small family of three; their life was modest but peaceful. All three of the family members didn''t wish for much but just to continue their peaceful life together; sadly, they all made one mistake. That mistake was being weak; in this world, only the strong get to choose their own fate, and now, due to this single mistake, both the mother and father of the family were brutally killed by assasins clad in all black suits with a mask covering their faces. These assassins were now chasing the child of the family through the woods. A brown-haired boy barely 10 years old was running through the woods clutching his left arm, which was bleeding. His face was decorated with tears and snot, and the boy knew that he was going to die, but he didn''t want to die. He wanted to live; he needed to live; he didn''t even get a chance to mourn his fallen parents yet. How can he die without avenging them? He needed to somehow survive these assassins and eventually kill the one responsible for his misfortune. But the question is, how? He was about to have his awakening in a few more days, but before that, these assassins infiltrated his home and tried to kill him. His mom and dad tried to fight the assassins and buy him some time to run, but in the end they were no match, as proven by their mutilated corpses lying in their home. "Hey kid, stop running, and we''ll give you an easy death." One of the assassins chasing him scoffed. From the tone of his voice, one could infer that he found the whole situation amusing. "Aww, don''t you want to go meet your parents, kiddo?" Another assasin sneered. "How long till your legs give up on you?" From their words and attitude, one could guess that these assassins weren''t taking this seriously, but instead they were enjoying themselves. They were playing with him, like a predator having fun with his prey before eating it. This was the only reason the chase lasted so long after all they were awakend, who were trained in the art of murder since they were kids, while their target was a mere unawakened bleeding boy. Hearing their sneers ignited a flame inside the boy as he thought, ''I will kill you all someday in a way far more brutal than you can even imagine; let''s see who''s laughing then''. However, for now, all he could do was control his urges and run for his life; after all, he couldn''t take his revenge if he was dead. Unfortunately for him, even the heavens were against him, as he soon tripped on a small rock and fell. "Aww, poor kiddo," one of the assassins sneered. "I feel kind of bad for him; maybe we should just let him go." One of the assassins said his expression was showing pity as he turned around, seemingly leaving. "Just kidding," he said as he turned around with a sadistic expression on his face as he threw a small, throwable knife at the fallen kid, piercing his abdomen. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHH" The kid let out a gut wrenching scream as the pain engulfed him, his own blood painting his clothes and the ground near him. "How lovely" One of the assassins commented, revelling in his sick pleasure. However, the kid was in too much pain right now to care about what the assasin thought. ''I''m dying, I''m dying'' he thought with tears in his eyes as his vision started going dark. Just when the kid was about to give up, he bit his own tongue to not lose consciousness. ''Fuck this shit, I can''t die like this,'' he thought as he tried to get up. After a lot of effort, he finally got up, only to fall down again. Sadly, he had lost too much blood; even if the assassins let him go, he was going to die of blood loss in a few minutes. "Hahahahaha" "Hahahaha" "Hahahhaha" The assassins were just observing the boy''s effort in intrigue before they all started laughing, finding the boy amusing. ''Shit, this can''t be the end. Please, someone help me. Anyone is fine. It doesn''t matter if it''s a god or demons; just please save me,'' he thought as his body remained motionless on the ground. Slowly, even as his thoughts grew hazy, he was about to die. "Man, I kind of feel bad for him; I might as well go and give him a painless death." One of the assassins said as he took out his knife and moved towards the kid. The child had already accepted his fate, so he just closed his eyes, awaiting his inevitable end. However, contrary to what he expected, this end never came, and as he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find the whole world greyed out and the assassins frozen. Almost as if frozen in time, the whole world was frozen in time, and in front of the kid was a popup. [You have been chosen by the Martial God system; do you accept it?] [Yes/No] "I accept," the kid said without even thinking. [Congratulations, host; you have been successfully paired with the War God system.] [Assessing threat to host''s life,executing host protection protocol] [Divine Smite x1] [Will the host choose to use it?] [Yes/No] "I don''t care, just kill these fuckers," the kid spat out. [As the host wishes] The very next second, a blinding divine ray of light descended from the heavens, engulfing the whole Alus kingdom before disappearing the next second. The light didn''t affect anything except for the six assassins clad in black, who were now nowhere to be seen, almost as if they never existed in the first place. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *** Inside the memoirs sat a lone blonde-haired boy atop a luxurious throne. The boy looked no older than 10; this was Zephyr, the God of Mana. His form looked a bit older than when William last met him. "I see, so you finally made your move, Elona." "I suppose I, too, should move the pace up a little," he scoffed with a smile on his face. Chapter 28: Ch-28 Divine thunderclap In a greyed-out world frozen in time lay a child covered in blood and wounds.However, the most eye-catching thing about the boy was the flabbergasted expression on his face as he stared at, or rather, the lack of the assasins who were trying to kill him. Truthfully, he felt as if they got too easy of a death after everything they did; however, he didn''t have time to dwell on it as he was interrupted by a new popup. [Host''s life is in critical condition; does he wish for assistance in healing his injuries?] [Yes/No] "Yeah, heal them, please," the kid said, remembering the condition of his body. Soon his body was enveloped in a bright golden light, which gave the boy an invigorating feeling. After a few minutes, his body was back to normal with his previous injuries, not even leaving a scar. Seeing the state of his body, it all finally hit the child: his parents just died, and he too almost died. He didn''t cry; he just kneeled on the ground. His expression was broken, devoid of any childlike innocence one would expect from someone his age. Instead of that face, he was just despairing, his eyes appearing soulless as he thought about the future. However, just before he could get lost in his own thoughts, a new pop-up appeared in front of him. [The host has met the requirements for awakening. Does host accept?] [Yes/No] The boy was momentarily stunned; the popup temporarily distracted him from his emotional turmoil, and as there wasn''t much danger with awakening after some thought, he accepted it. "Go ahead," he said. All the mana in the surrounding area started moving towards the boy and entering his body, forming a mana core. The boy felt a strange hit of dopamine as he felt mana for the first time. However, before he could get distracted, another pop-up appeared in front of him. [Does Host wish to upgrade his aspect?] [Yes/No] ''What?'' The boy wasn''t exactly sure what was going on, but since the system had only done good so far, he decided to trust it and say yes. [Excellent choice host] This was the first time the system had displayed such a strong reaction to anything. However, before the boy could ponder over it, his body violently exploded, leaving all the surroundings red with blood. The boy had died. There was no more trace of the boy aside from a small floating white ball that was pulsating. However, the mana that the boy was absorbing before dying was still being absorbed, but instead of the boy, it was being absorbed by the white ball. Slowly, the small white ball became bigger and bigger, as well as gaining a golden tint, until finally it was the size of a palm and fully golden in colour. The only way to describe the now-golden palm-sized ball would be ''Divine''. Once this was done, a skeletal human-like structure and other organs started materialising around the ball before the skeletal structure was covered in a human-like muscular layer. At last, but not least, skin started forming around the structure before regrowing its former black hair. The newly formed body looked the same as the child''s previous body, aside from the much brighter and cleaner skin tone as well as more luscious jet black hair. "AAAAhHhhhahahahahhahha!!!!!!!!!" The boy let out a gut-wrenching scream as soon as his body regained function. The boy had been in unbelievable pain since the moment his body exploded before eventually reforming. The pain was far too much for anyone to go through, let alone a child, but the boy desperately held on with the single desire of eventually taking his revenge. The boy wasn''t sure who hired the assassins to kill him or why? , but he knew that it must''ve been someone highly influential to have such skilled assassins at his disposal. So if he wanted revenge, he needed strength and a lot of it. So with this single thought in mind, he endured the pain, which was similar to if someone poured lemon juice inside an open wound as well as being pricked by 1000 needles in every inch of your body at the same time. After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity to him, the pain subsided as a new popup appeared in front of him. [Congratulations, host, you have awakened.] Seeing the popup, a smile of relief found its way up the boy''s face. Finally, it was over. No, this was only the start of his journey for revenge. Once the boy had awakened, time started moving again as the world regained its colour, with not a single soul aware of what happened until . CLAPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A loud, thundering clap resounded inside the minds of every single person in the world. The boy panicked upon hearing the sudden, loud noise inside his head and fell on his buttocks. "Owww," he cried out as he rubbed his rear. ''No more importantly than that, it couldn''t be right?'' he thought as he opened his status screen, praying to be proven right. ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:1(0%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:75 Strength:11 Agility:19 Endurance:10 Vitality:15 Intelligence:30 [Invariable Stats] Mana:F- Charm:E- Luck:C Resistance:F Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light] Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(24%) 2.Earth(19%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(60%) 2.Light(95%) Host Exclusive Perks 1.Inventory(0/100) 2.Shop(Locked) 3.Quests 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ------------------------------------------------------------ Shock¡ªthat was the only way to describe how Aiden was feeling right now. He had to double-check his status screen just to confirm he wasn''t hallucinating. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even after that, the content didn''t change. He had actually done the impossible; he had awakened a divine aspect. He almost thought he was the second one to ever have it, but then he remembered how his parents told him about there being a divine thunderclap 10 years ago. So he should be the third-ever divine human. Aiden didn''t bother worrying about there being another divine human like him somewhere out there; all he cared about was that he had the potential to become a god as well as being able to take his revenge. It almost felt like a dream. Another thing he noticed was the mention of a sponsor on his status screen. "Goddess of Light, huh?" He muttered, feeling glad he didn''t actually sell his soul to a demon accidentally. After all, while he said that he didn''t care who helped him, he really hoped he didn''t accidentally sell his soul in his moment of desperation. "Thank you, Goddess; I promise to someday repay you for all you have done for me," he said, his voice expressing his genuine gratitude. He was initially a bit weirded out about why his status screen looked so different compared to how other people described their status screen. For example, his status screen was golden, and it even had the mention of a "Level" and some exclusive host perks. Aiden was a bit curious about what all these were and why he had them, but he just jolted it down to him being sponsored by a god, and as for his curiosity, he held it back as he had something more important to do as he moved towards his house. His parents still needed a proper burial, after all. Chapter 29: Ch-29 Strength Acquired Over The Past 2 Years A bit before Aiden awakened. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.William had just finished his training for today, and now he was just lying on his bed, thinking about the past two years. It had now been two years since William gained the memory of his past life. Over the past two years, he has dedicated everything he had to getting stronger by learning more spells, improving his swordsmanship, and making his own combat style. He even ascended once, and last but not least, he increased his mana again. He now has 30 mana cores, and his current mana grade is C-, which isn''t bad. While William had improved a lot over the past two years, he still didn''t feel safe going to the neutral continent. If possible, he''d like to wait at least two more years until he''s stronger. "Status Screen" ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:William Verhein Age:10 Race:Human Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:8200 Strength:1500 Agility:1700 Endurance:1200 Vitality:1600 Intelligence:2200 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C- Aura:F Charm:B- Luck:F- Resistance:E- Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Child Of Mana], [Loved By Spirits], [Mana Circuits],[Master Of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Mana Sense], [Master Of Elements], [Martial Genius], [One With Shadows], [Danger Sense], [Pain Resistance], [Poison Resistance], [Genius Of Aura] [Active Skills]: [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth], [Strings of Mana], [Elemental Strings], [Heavy Hit] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) and Swordmanship (Advanced+), photographic memory Spirit Water Arts (Intermediate+), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ William couldn''t help but smile at how much stronger he had gotten. He was really proud of himself, and even now, if someone asked him what the best feeling in the world was, he''d answer it was the feeling of getting stronger. Even after 2 years, he couldn''t get enough of the hit of dopamine he felt from getting stronger. At this point, he was definitely addicted. On that note, Rex had taught him a brand new type of energy called aura; this was apparently the energy that martial artists preferred to use. However, while it was mostly intended for martial artists and their body enhancement, it also served the purpose of strengthening spells. Apparently, each person had a unique colour aura. William''s was crimson-red. At this point, he had started noticing that the colour crimson was really reoccurring in his life. After all, first his eyes were crimson, then even the colour of his mana was crimson, and now his aura was crimson too. Honestly, Crimson wasn''t exactly his favourite colour in his past life; he definitely was more of a blue or purple kind of guy, but over the years, the colour definitely grew on him. Now the most important change over the past 2 years was definitely his ascending. William thought as he clicked on his aspect. ---------------------------------------------------------- Aspect Name:Walking Calamity Aspect Tier: Tier V Aspect Ascension: 3rd Aspect Flaw: Terrible luck; slight chance of personality being affected by aspect. 1st Ascension Ability: One-man Army [Chaos Soldiers]:- (Life Bomb): You can create bombs capable of stealing life force from others upon contact. You can also add this property to your attacks. This collected life force can be used to: 1.Self Heal 2.Chaos soldiers Use life force to summon beasts of chaos who stay inside the shadow domain. You can also use the skills of these beasts; to add new beasts, you need to absorb a race seed. Contracted Soldiers 1. Shadow hounds x 35 [Chaos Servants]:- Absorb A, S or SS rank natural treasures to summon a servant of chaos who stays in the shadow world until called forth. The summoned servants depend on the treasure used (as you ascend, you can use different tiers of treasures to summon). Summoned Servants:- 1.Noir 2.Golden Sting 3.Machak 2nd Ascension Ability: Power of Darkness 1. [Darkness Manipulation]: gain the element of darkness; have an easier time manipulating the darkness element; strengthens darkness spells. 2. [Shadow Manipulation]: Gain the element of shadow, have an easier time manipulating the shadow element, Strengthened shadow spells, able to turn shadows tangible, able to sense shadows, were able to store items in a shadow domain. 3rd Ascension Power-Shadow Slime (Aspect Beast) 1. A dark slime-like creature that grows in size and strength as the user ascends. It can consume weapons, armour, or items and then recreate a strengthened version of them with 100% magical conductivity. 2. The user can also combine the properties and abilities of the consumed items to make new, stronger items. 3. The user can make any shape using the slime as long as he''s familiar with it. Consumed items:26 ------------------------------------------------------------ His 3rd ascension ability was definitely a lot more unique than his 2nd ascension power, as it gave him his first ever aspect beast. He then stretched his hand forward, and a gooey black blob manifested. William commanded it to turn into a bunch of shapes. It first became a simple dagger, then a spike, then a sword, and then a helmet before it returned to being a blob. At first, William was a bit sad about his aspect beast, as he also wanted a cool summon like his father''s griffin. But after some thinking, he already had the power to summon monsters, so something like this that provides utility is definitely a lot more useful than a simple summon. Plus, it''s really unique and allows him to never be out of a weapon, and he can also create his own weapon. Right now, his go-to weapon was the Blade of Runnera that his father gifted him, combined with a few other abilities from other artifacts. He really didn''t want to feed his father''s sword to the slime, but in the end, he convinced himself it was for the best, and Rex also chimed in, giving him permission. Another thing to note was that he had acquired a new chaos servant called Machak; it came from an A-grade natural treasure. It was a blue-muscular human-like monster with big pink lips, a blue skin tone, and four huge arms. The creature looked like a wrestler from his previous world. Since he was bored anyway, he had already done his daily checkup on his own stats. He decided to go meet Zephyr inside the memoirs. Today he was feeling confident, so he planned to challenge him to another duel. It''s been 2 years of constant of nonstop training; surely he could now at least beat a kid version of Zephyr, and even if he loses again, he should at least be able to last more than 5 seconds, right? With that thought, William entered the Memoirs. Chapter 30: Ch-30 A Risky Gamble And Forbidden Knowledge As William entered the world of memoirs, he was greeted with the sight of a humongous, luxurious golden castle.The whole world was covered in gold, including the land and the sky. William still couldn''t get used to Zephyr and his weird obsession with the colour golden. The world of the memoirs took whatever shape Zephyr wanted it to take, despite having come here numerous times in the past. The whole golden landscape looked weird to William. Over the past 2 years, William had come to memoirs multiple times, and he no longer felt unease around Zephyr. William still didn''t fully trust him, but he at least didn''t feel uncomfortable around him anymore. Zephyr also taught him a bunch of techniques, in this sense they kinda had a sort of master-disciple relationship. Ever since his loss two years ago, William didn''t bother challenging Zephyr, as he didn''t possess a way to counter that attack from last time. However, that wasn''t the case anymore; it was probably Zephyr''s ultimate move, and now that he has a counter to it, surely he should be able to win, right? With that question in his mind, William finally reached Zephyr''s room, where he was sitting atop a luxurious throne wearing a lavish white suit with deep golden embroidery and a small golden star on the left side of his chest. He had a carefree expression while holding a golden book, as if he wasn''t even paying attention to the book in his hand. Zephyr had the same golden book in his hand every time he came to the memoirs, and for some reason it was written in a language William couldn''t understand. Every time he tried to inquire about the book, Zephyr only replied in an ambiguous manner. Eventually, William just decided to ignore the book altogether, as there was no point worrying about it. "Hey, what are you thinking about?" William asked casually, just trying to strike up a conversation. "Just thinking about how brutal a death your aspect will cook up due to you ignoring my advice," Zephyr retorted with an annoyed expression as he eyed the carefree boy in front of him. Zephyr had been desperately trying to make William go to the neutral continent for the past two years. But for some reason, this idiot in front of him just refused to go, always making excuses. In the end, he could do nothing but give up. However, not anymore Zephyr could sense it; the other god''s were making their move, and unless he intervened, William would either die to his flaw or go down the villainous path he saw in his prophecy. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The book in his hand was a divine artifact made by him called the book of prophecy, which, like the name suggests, was capable of telling the future. In all the future''s he saw William''s end was never pretty, and if he survived, he became the worst villain in the history of the universe and set his eyes on destroying existence itself. Zephyr''s vision of William''s future was extremely unreliable, as it skipped a lot of years of Williams life, and the knowledge came from a third-person perspective. So he had to look through the future of every single living being in the whole universe just to piece together a rough idea of what Williams future looks like. This was the first time Zephyr had ever been pushed to such lengths; he still wasn''t sure why he couldn''t look through Williams future directly like he could for other people. One might wonder why Zephyr was even trying so hard for a nobody who could destroy all of existence in the worst-case scenario,instead of just killing him? The answer to this question is because Zephyr was investing in Williams future. Out of all the futures he saw, none of them were capable of stopping the grim future that awaits this world, and the most worrying part was that the seal that he placed on that thing was weakening. Even at the peak of his power, he wasn''t strong enough to stop it, so all he could do back then was place a barrier around his universe to prolong its destruction in the hopes someone in the future would be able to do what he failed to do. Sadly, there had yet to be any individual capable of that over the past 6,000 years. That is, until now, with the little glimpses into his future as well as him being unable to see his future. William was the best bet this universe had for survival. As long as he could just change his fate, maybe they''d have a chance. Zephyr hoped that, with Williams past life memories paired with his guidance, even changing his fate would be possible as long as he played his cards, right? Zephyr was aware of his own selfishness; after all, he was risking the whole of existence just for the possibility of saving his own universe. But it doesn''t matter; he had always been selfish, even before he ascended, and now that he''s already become a god, what can anyone even do about it? Yet unaware of his internal turmoil, William continued to treat everything as a joke, chasing his childish pursuit of magic while hiding in his parents mansion. Honestly, from an outsider perspective, William was set for life; after all, he was the son of the sword saint and the ivory queen and also had a divine aspect. William''s current thinking also followed this line of logic; he currently only wanted to learn new spells and practice swordsmanship to eventually be able to surpass his father and inherit his position as a count. Zephyr was aware of just how awful William''s past life was and why he wanted to live comfortably this time around. Sadly, he was also aware that, according to the future, he saw that his second life was going to be far worse than his first life if nothing changed. Honestly, Zephyr wanted to tell William about his future as well as the danger the whole universe was in. But William would just straight up die if he learned the things Zephyr knows due to his own weakness. In this world, there are certain things known as forbidden knowledge that, if learned by a mortal, would lead to their death. This was also the reason why sayings like ''One must never gaze directly at a God''s'' or ''One must never learn a God''s true name'' gained popularity because mortals would just die if they possessed this knowledge. "We''ve already talk-." William attempted to reply to Zephyr, but he was interrupted by Zephy. "William Verhein, I challenge you to a duel," Zephyr said with anger evident in his eyes. Chapter 31: Ch-31 Reality Check "I challenge you to a duel, William Verhein."William smirked as he heard the challenge from Zephyr. He was a bit weirded out by Zephyr''s behaviour, but he was planning on kicking his ass anyway, so it doesn''t matter who issued the request. The world transitioned from a world of all gold to a forest. This was the same forest where William and Zephyr fought before, or rather, where William got his ass kicked. "Doesn''t this place bring back memories?" Zephyr asked in a condescending tone. "Enjoy the feeling while it lasts," William retorted as he removed the silver ring of suppression from his finger, releasing his crimson mana and turning the world around him a bit more red than it was before. "As weak as ever," Zephyr sneered as he eyed the mana being released by William. "We''ll see about that," William retorted as he prepared to go all out from the start. "Mana Ascension, Quadra Elemental Spirit As-" However, before he could complete his transformation, Zephyr intervened. Zushh "Nah, I don''t want to (time stop)" Just like that, the whole world of memoirs greyed out, and William was frozen in his place, unable to complete his transformation or move. Zephyr smiled, seeing the frozen world, as he slowly started moving towards William, who still had a confident expression on his face, expecting to win. In a single swift motion, he pierced Williams chest and pulled out his heart, which wasn''t beating due to time being frozen. With his heart in hand, Zephr teleported back to the position he was in before and stopped his spell, allowing time to resume to normal. "Cension," William said, his words growing a bit weaker as he fell on his knees. His gaze stuck on Zephyr''s figure, which was standing only a little away from him, holding what seemed to be a beating heart. Finally, his vision went towards his own chest, or rather, the hollow hole in the left side of it. Until finally he fully fell down, his blood spreading everywhere and dying the ground red. The second match between two fellow 10-year-old divine humans was over, barely lasting even a second. After a few seconds, William''s figure and his heart in Zephyr''s hands broke into tiny light particles and disappeared. Once William was gone, the landscape changed again, returning to the golden castle. It was before the duel, with Zephyr sitting on his throne arrogantly and William on the ground. "AAAAHHHHH!" William screamed as he finally regained his sense, panting heavily as he placed his hand on the left side of his chest, finally heaving a sigh of relief at the absence of a hole there. This was the second time he had died in his second life, and William still wasn''t used to the sensation of dying; he wasn''t even sure how exactly he died. One second he was about to transform, and the next he was on the ground with an empty hole on the left side of his chest and his heart missing. "How Pathetic" A familiar voice finally brought him back from his thoughts as he stared at the being sitting in front of him as well as the one responsible for his current state. Zephyr sat on his lavish throne with his arm resting on the armrest and his chin resting on his hand. He stared at William with eyes filled with contempt and disgust. "Is this really all that you achieved over two years?" He asked, his tone oozing with condescension. "You didn''t even let me do anything," William retorted. "Your enemy won''t wait for you to finish charging up your strongest move; this isn''t some anime," Zephyr spat out, anger evident in his voice. "William, stop making excuses for your own incompetence. You were born with the perfect golden spoon. The fact you''ve been awakened for 10 years and still can''t even beat a S-rank monster is embarrassing." "Do you know how hard it is for me when I have to be lumped in the same category as a weakling like you just because we both have the same tier of aspect?" "But the truth of the matter is, despite both of us possessing the same tier of aspects as me as well as a similar skill set with your current mentality, you''ll never be able to reach my level in this lifetime." "As you are soon going to die, the fact that you''re still alive is nothing short of a miracle. Stop underestimating your flaw; it''s trying to kill you every chance it gets, and with your current strength, it will soon succeed. I''ve been trying to help you get rid of it for two years now!!! But no, you refuse to follow my plan because it''s too ''dangerous'' for you." "Well, let me tell you something: unless you''re willing to take this risk, you''ll die a horrendous death with your loved ones paying the price for your incompetence." "Do you really think you can ever become strong by just swinging your sword a little daily or reading some books from the safety of your house?" "Don''t fuck with me!! True strength is built upon blood, sweat, and tears through actual combat experience." S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I hate to say this, but stand ashamed, William Verhein; you''re weak." "Now leave and only come back if you change your mentality," Zephyr said as he waved his hand, pushing William away and kicking him out of the memoirs. This was Zephyr''s last ditch effort; if William still refused to go to the neutral continent with him, he planned to abandon him. Right now, Zephyr was really reconsidering whether his choice to help William was the correct one or not. Zephyr was still getting goosebumps all over his skin, as he felt a familiar feeling he didn''t want to feel "The barrier is weakening," he said a sentence whose meaning was only known to him. But there was one thing that anyone should be able to guess: someone or something was coming, and the world wasn''t ready for it. Chapter 32: Ch-32 Reality Check-2 Now, sitting back on his bed, William finally said something."What is wrong with him?" After all that time spent together, William was starting to consider Zephyr his friend; after all, they both practically talked daily. The duel request came as a surprise to him, but he still accepted it, not thinking much of it. However, now that the duel was done, William had a feeling he wouldn''t forget this duel for a very long time. William expected Zephyr to once again use that divine smite he used last time since it seemed to be his strongest attack, so he devised a counter to it by turning incorporeal by using [shadow step] before attacking him with his strongest move right after Zephyr used his smite attack. However, what happened completely blew all his expectations out of the window. William had a feeling that Zephyr had stopped time. It may sound absurd for a 10-year-old to be able to stop time, but it''s the only logical conclusion after what just happened. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Zephyr had once mentioned to him how he had time element affinity, but William didn''t think much of it, considering it to be like his chaos element, aka an element too strong to properly master for a kid. In this world, there are three types of elements, the first being the basic type,which includes fire, water, wind, and earth. Deviant, which includes the vast majority of the world''s elements like steel, poison, light, darkness, ice, and lightning. And last but not least, conceptual elements are basically elements that infringe on the territory of concepts such as time, space, gravity, life, death, or William''s very own chaos element. The system just shows concept elements in the Deviant category, but they couldn''t be more different, as in order to use conceptual elements, you need to fully understand a concept, and mastering even a single basic spell of such elements takes multiple years of practice. Even William, with all his mana-related skills as well as his [Progenitor] title, wasn''t able to learn even a single chaos element spell. So to see someone the same age as him with supposedly similar talents casually using a conceptual element really made him rethink a lot of things. Especially his own mentality regarding this second life. In this second life, initially he wanted to reach the apex of magic and only focus on magic, but that quickly changed with him living here. He came to really love his new parents and wanted to spend time with them. Initially, he wanted to become strong enough to protect them. But he quickly realised just how flawed his thinking was. Both Rex and Myra were power houses that didn''t need his protection; after all, both of them were born commoners, but they managed to rise to the status of count and countess through their pure strength and talent. So why would such people need his protection? William just wanted to enjoy the things he was never able to in his past life while cultivating his magic and swordsmanship on the sidelines. Eventually he would inherit Rex''s position as a count, and he could live happily for 200¨C300 years, as it''s possible for humans to extend their lifespan with magic, and eventually he would ascend to godhood. This was Williams plan for his second life; according to his knowledge, the world has been in an era of peace for thousands of years, with no reason for a war to break out in the future. So in such a peaceful world, mindlessly chasing strength instead of enjoying his new-found life sounds stupid. William had everything he ever wanted in his past life: a loving family, friends whose company he enjoys, wealth, status, strength, and even magic. What more can he even ask for? And yet here was Zephyr, challenging all the beliefs he had developed over the past two years and proclaiming his death. How could someone like him even die out of nowhere? It just sounds like a desperate attempt by Zephyr to make him go to the neutral continent, and yet for some reason he couldn''t ignore him. He kept on thinking, What if Zephyr was right? What if he really does die without having accomplished anything in his second chance at life? No, that can''t be possible, right? He can''t die, not like this. He needed to at least live for hundreds of years to enjoy the life he got after so many hardships. While William was having a mental breakdown, a deafeningly loud divine thunderclap was played inside the minds of every single person in the universe. A new divine human had been born, the second one in this generation, and the universe had already given its congratulations to the newcomer. Right now, the whole world is in a state of chaos. Even one divine human was enough to change the world, but now there were two of them. Only God knows what kind of consequences that would cause. However, contrary to the state of events in the world right now, inside the mind of a young boy, there was only peace and silence. Before he got up from the ground, recovering from his initial shock "Hahahha, I''m such an idiot." "Why did I ever believe I could live a life of comfort and safety?" "My life has never been that simple, but fine, I''ll stop complaining too now," William said in a self-deprecating manner as he once again entered the world of memoirs. He was once again greeted by a sight of pure gold, but he didn''t pay attention to it anymore, instead setting his eyes on the humongous, luxurious castle in front. William walked with a carefree expression, completely forgetting about everything that happened here a few minutes ago. Before finally reaching the throne room to greet William, over there was Zephyr sitting on his throne with an annoyed expression plastered all over his face as he eyed William. "Didn''t I already tell you to not co-" However, before Zephyr could complete his sentence and kick William out again, he felt an overwhelming impact on his face. BOOOOMMM A loud, ear-defeaning noise was created as Zephyr crashed into a wall nearby. "What do you think you''re doing?" Zephyr exclaimed, shocked at the sudden turn of events. "Do you think your enemy will wait for you to charge your strongest attack? This isn''t some anime," William said back in an amused tone, quoting Zephyr''s own words against him. Right now, Zephyr was the angriest he had ever been over the course of the 10 years he had been alive, and he planned on making William pay for it. "(Time sto-) Just as Zephyr was about to cast his trusty spell, his abdomen was impaled by a giant ice spear that came out of nowhere, sending him flying. ''Spirits'' he thought, but due to him being too focused on William, he failed to notice the ice spirit, which caught him by surprise. ''It doesn''t matter; I just need to activate time stop.'' However, just as he was about to activate time stop mid-air, he was engulfed in a gigantic firestorm, burning him to a crisp. It should be noted that while he has some memories of his future self ,his current skill set, personality, and experience were set to match William''s due to which he was caught off guard. But it doesn''t matter; despite being burned to a crisp, once the fire subsided, he instantly healed himself. Zephyr possessed an overpowered healing skill, allowing him to basically be immortal as long as he didn''t die. Zephyr once again stood, his clothes torn and his hair and face a mess, but he was unharmed. "What do you think you''re doing?" Zephyr asked as he eyed William dangerously. "I''m just testing if you have the power to back up the words you said earlier," William retorted. "You dare test a god?" Zephyr asked, his anger evident in his tone. "I do," William shot back with a slight chuckle as soon as his whole aura changed. Chapter 33: Ch-33 Resolve "I do," William shot back.Zephyr was beyond pissed right now at both being beaten and defied like this, and he was planning on thoroughly beating William to a pulp. However, before he could make a move, Williams aura completely changed. The entire world of golden was overwhelmed by a bloodcrimson aura threatening to destroy everything. On Williams head was a tiara-like crown made up of the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth in equal distribution. His eyes glew a majestic cyan colour, and he was donning a luxurious cyan robe that can only be described as one befitting royalty. In his hand was his trusty Blade of Runera in all its 30-inch dual-edged glory; however, unlike the normal Blade of Runera, the one in his hands was pure matte black, with the usual silver runes now being red. The black blade shone with a dangerous gleam as it was engulfed in an overwhelming cyan flame, promising to bring destruction to anyone or anything it came in contact with. On his back were four wing-like objects that didn''t quite look like how you would expect wings to look; they all glew in an ethereal bright orange, blue, green, and brown light, respectively. He had finally activated his [Mana Ascension] and [Quadra Spirit Ascension], which he wasn''t able to use in his previous fight with Zephyr. The only way to describe his current form would be as a divine angel who descended from heaven seeking retribution. The aura William was emitting was overpowering the whole domain, making it crimson. For the first time in all 10 years of his life, Zephyr felt fear. He didn''t really expect William to be so strong, with him overpowering all the surrounding mana. It was a bit hard for Zephyr to stop time anymore. "Impressive; it seems I''ll need to actually try for once," Zephyr said with a wide smile on his face, perfectly hiding his uneasiness. "[Mana Ascension]" As soon as Zephyr activated it, his whole body started emitting an overwhelming golden aura, overpowering all the crimson aura around him. Now the whole domain was painted in a crimson and golden aura as two 10-year-olds stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. Until finally, William made his move as he flew towards Zephyr at breakneck speed with the blade of runnera in his hand, planning to end the fight as fast as possible. Both [mana ascension] and [spirit ascension], while powerful, take a lot of mana to use, which William sadly doesn''t have much of. So unless he can quickly end the fight, Zephyr will win again, which William can''t allow. Right here and right now, he wanted to prove his resolve. He needed to prove that he wasn''t some lazy weakling who had been wasting his talent for the past 10 years. Seeing William charge at him, Zephyr also summoned a sword made up of pure light as he charged at William, preparing to intercept his attack head-on. If he wanted, he could''ve just teleported away and maintained his distance while barraging William with spells, and he would''ve probably won. But not anymore. Zephyr had no plans of running away after William insulted him; he planned on crushing him at his strongest to prove his superiority. This fight at first didn''t have any stake; none of the fighters could be really damaged, and even if they died, they would simply revive, but not anymore. Now it was a matter of pride. As Zephyr''s bright golden sword clashed with William''s black sword covered in cyan flames, it released a loud shockwave, destroying all their surroundings. The impact sent both of them flying back. As Zephyr was about to fall, he saw giant shadow spikes coming out of his own shadow, aiming for him. "(Flash) ," he muttered, his body instantly emitting a blinding white light before disappearing as quick as it came after destroying the sharp black spikes. "Not bad," he muttered as he observed William standing a bit away from him. Zephyr was honestly impressed with William''s ability to keep up with him, but he was getting annoyed now, and even if he can''t use Time Stop, he still has an attack that his opponent can''t defend against. With that thought in mind, he used his Divine Smite. The next second, a gigantic ray of light descended from the heavens, intending to purge William out of existence. William just smiled, seeing the light heading his way. Originally, he wanted to dodge it, but now, seeing the light again, he felt as if he could block it. "(Bow of Elements)" He muttered as a bow made up of all four elements manifested itself in his hand. It was barely 62 inches in length and had a strong string of pure mana. However, he wasn''t done yet. As William pointed the bow towards the beam of light, he pulled back the string, and on it two arrows made up of pure cyan flare manifested. As he released his hand, both arrows flew towards the incoming ray of light at a speed invisible to the naked eye. However, one of the arrows changed its direction mid-air as it started flying towards Zephyr, who had let his guard down due to assuming he had already won. Zephyr expected William to try and use [shadow step] to dodge his smite, but what William didn''t know was that smite could destroy incorporeal things, so regardless of what he did, William was going to die. Or at least that was how it was supposed to be until William randomly summoned a bow and fired at the light, and before Zephyr could even react, the arrows made contact. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As the arrows and the light made contact, they created an ear-bursting explosion, which destroyed the whole domain and even killed Zephyr. In a now-destroyed golden kingdom, only dust and rubble remained; the whole sky had turned crimson, and in the middle of this explosion stood a boy looking lifelessly into the sky before he started laughing. "Hahahahaha!!!!" William let out a maniacal chuckle as he looked at the destruction around him. The third fight between two 10-year-old divine humans had now come to an end, and it lasted 5 minutes and 24 seconds, ending in the first ever victory of William against Zephyr. "So this is what winning feels like?" He asked seemingly no one. "I like it.". The feeling of finally winning against an overwhelming foe was exhilarating; he had given it''s all, and it paid off. Now, finally, William could stand straight and call himself strong without a shred of doubt; after all, he had just defeated a god. Or did he? "Not bad for a weakling." William heard a familiar, bone-chilling voice, and as if waiting for the voice, the whole reality started cracking. Chapter 34: Ch-34 Resolve-2 "Not bad for a weakling."Fear was the only way to describe the overwhelming feeling flowing through William as he observed reality crack and break. It should''ve still taken a few more minutes for Zephyr to revive, so why did he hear his voice? Well, there''s no way to find out other than by waiting and bracing himself for whatever comes. After a few second which felt like forever to William, he found himself back in the golden castle which was still in pristine condition unlike the one destroyed in his and Zephyr''s clash. William finally mustered up the courage to lift his head and look at the blond-haired boy who was still sitting on his throne; however, unlike before, his gaze wasn''t condescending but one of respect. "H-how?" William asked, his voice containing disbelief. He already had a guess as to what was going on, but he still wanted to hear from the man responsible himself. "Just a little trick I picked up; you''ve been in an illusion ever since you came back in the memoirs." "I originally just wanted to send you back, but my curiosity got the best of me." "I must say you really surprised me, punching me right after coming into my domain." "How daring!" Zephyr snorted, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Well anyways, I wanted you to change your mentality, and you succeeded, not bad." He said it in a tone containing a newfound respect for the boy in front of him. "Also, let me tell you this right now." "Do not try a stunt like that again; you should be glad it was only an illusion, or you would''ve been long dead," he said as the pressure inside the castle intensified, making it hard for William to breathe before it was gone again. Helplessness was the feeling William was feeling right now, seeing the futility of his own action against the boy in front of him, who''s supposed to later be a god. Unsettled him, he was supposed to possess similar talent and skills to him, and they''re even the same age. So why was there such an insurmountable gap between them? Despite what Zephyr said before, William had never been lazy; he had always trained and practiced diligently. His training regiment only got harsher once he regained his past life memories. Sure, he had other goals and aspirations than becoming stronger. But he still highly valued strength due to the values he learned in his past life and the nature of the world he lived in. And yet here stood a boy of similar age and talent to him, overwhelmingly more powerful than him. William wasn''t even able to fathom the vastness of the power that the boy in front of him possessed. Could Rex beat Zephyr? Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Had he really been lazy, wasting his talent? Was this how strong he would''ve been if he had trained harder? Nah, he already knew the answer to the last one; regardless of how hard he trained, he wouldn''t have achieved the same type of strength that Zephyr possessed, maybe in the future, but definitely not now. While William was on the ground with multiple questions in his mind, contemplating everything he knew about this new world, a voice called out to him, finally bringing him out of his own self-deprecating thoughts. "Do not be ashamed, William; weakness is not a sin, but staying weak is." "If you feel weak, just use this feeling to push yourself until you can call yourself strong, and while you may be weak compared to me or other divine aspects compared to everyone else, you''re strong, what I''m trying to say is" "Stand proud; you''re strong," said Zephyr, his voice filled with pride as he looked at the boy he considered his protege. After hearing the voice of the boy responsible for his current state, William finally looked up as his eyes met Zephyr''s, which were filled with nothing but pride for him. Finally mustering up courage, he stood back up as he asked. "How did you get so strong? Even for a divine aspect, it doesn''t make sense for aa 10-year-old to possess such power." "The answer to your question is pretty simple; it''s the same reason why you were able to kill Jason in your past life, so any guesses?" William was lost for a moment as to why Zephyr was bringing up his past life all of a sudden. "The answer to your question is desperation," Zephyr said with a calm expression, reflecting on the horrors he experienced in the past, which pushed him to pursue his current strength. "Back in my era, the world was in a war with demons. These demons were horrifying and sick, perverse beings who took pleasure in the agony of everyone around them." "They just wanted to see the world burn, and sadly for us, no one possessed the power to stop them." "Dragons, the only beings capable of destroying demons, were too arrogant to help creatures; they considered them ''lower'' than themselves, so the demons used the opportunity to strike a deal with the Dragon God to not implicate the Neutral continent in the war, effectively removing dragons from the whole war." "But even despite this, the people didn''t give up. Humans, elves, dwarfs, vampires, and beast folk all united under one banner now called the United Race Federation, or URF for short." "The URF fought valiantly, holding the demons back for many decades, but unfortunately for them, the demons were just too strong." "As a kid, I always knew I was different from everyone else and that I was special. I watched all my friends and family die; despite possessing considerable strength already, it wasn''t enough." "I could tell if nothing changed, the demons would kill every other race in the world, so I decided to be the change the world needed." "I joined the battlefield as a kid; at first I was made fun of for my age, but I proved all of them wrong with my strength, proving myself worthy of standing beside all of them." "With each near-death experience, with each kill, I grew stronger; I saw countless men I considered my friends get slain brutally; and I myself killed millions of demons." "It was a brutal lifestyle, but my desperation, talent, and intelligence kept me alive even while my comrades died, and just like that, before I knew it, I had killed the demon king, sealed the demon race, and restored peace to the world like I promised." William was stunned hearing Zephyr talk about his life; everything he said was pretty much common knowledge as the URF still existed and made sure to maintain the peace that Zephyr brought. However, the thing that really weirded him out was how expressionless Zephyr was telling the story, almost as if he didn''t care about talking about all his friends and family brutally dying in front of him. "So does that answer your question and what you need to do?" Zephyr asked. William was brought back from his own thoughts by his voice as he responded. "Yeah, let''s go to the neutral continent. Also, I promise to someday beat you." "Yeah, sure," Zephyr responded, happy that William finally agreed to him, and as for beating him, he didn''t take it seriously. **** Author''s note:- With that, the first volume of ''Descent of Calamity'' has ended. I''ll be starting the second volume, ''A Calamity Out in the World'', tomorrow. I hope your guys are as excited as I am. It''s always been a dream of mine to write a novel, and thanks to you guys, I''m able to live out my dream. Now, as for some things, I wanted to say , I''m a complete newbie with this being my first novel, so there might be some errors. I proofread my chapters multiple times, but I''m only human,so if you see any such errors, feel free to point them out. Also, it was a bit weird for me to write daily at first, but I''m yet to miss a day of daily upload, and in the future, I hope I can release chapters at a fixed time daily instead of whenever I finish writing them. Also, I hope you guys can enjoy volume 2 as much as volume 1, as according to me, it should be much better than the first volume, and the writing quality should also be higher as I''m slowly getting used to writing. Chapter 35: Ch-35 Birthday Party 18th Julias, 5678"Hey, William, what are you thinking about right now?" Zack asked as he nudged the shoulder of the white-haired boy standing beside him. Zack was currently donning a grey tuxedo and grey pants, which nicely complimented his grey eyes, along with a plain white shirt and a silver tie. Standing beside him was a white-haired boy who wore a single-breasted white suit with white pants nicely complementing his white hair and a red shirt with two black shoulder straps with white lines going from his shoulders all the way to the end of his shirt, which nicely complimented his stunning gem-like red eyes along with a plain golden tie. Both the boys standing together looked stunning despite their young age and screamed of their noble lineage, with a bunch of young maidens glancing their way, hoping to catch the attention of at least one of them. These two boys were Zack and William, who were standing in a corner. William was holding a glass containing a red liquid containing what appeared to be a wine of some kind, which he drank, looking lost, unaffected by the music or the voices of everyone else around him. On a second glance, one might be able to see that the glass in Williams''s hand wasn''t wine; it looked more like pomegranate juice, which he was slowly savouring, almost as if it were wine, which gave the illusion. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Finally, after hearing Zack''s voice and being shaken a bit, he broke out of his own thoughts as he answered. "A-uh, nothing!" William exclaimed. Right now, Williams mind is filled with thoughts of how he told Zephyr about going to the neutral continent with him and completely forgot about his fake birthday party. He was born on 11th Julias, 5668, but due to their being a divine thunderclap on that day, many people might get suspicious of him. Due to this, his parents told everyone that he was born a week later than he actually was, on the 18th instead of the 11th. They even delayed news of his awakening for 4 whole years and announced that he had awakened at the age of 4, which was more than enough to make a mess throughout the kingdom, with almost everyone praising him as a once-in-a-century genius. The fact that his father was the strongest man in the Karka kingdom only made things worse. And to sell the lie even more, his parents hosted a grand birthday celebration on the 18th every year, inviting all the nobles and influential figures in Karka Kingdom and neighbouring kingdoms. There were 6 total kingdoms on the human continent; 5 of them were handled by nobles, with the last one belonging to royals who rule the whole continent, due to which it''s the most prosperous and rich kingdom. Another thing that makes the Royal Kingdom so special is the fact that the first ever portal to Morgov opened there. Now, a bunch of other portals have been replicated and created in other places using spatial mages, but the one in the Royal Kingdom is still the biggest one. The royalty of the human continent are descendants of Zephyr, so they''re all very talented at magic, and they all have striking blond hair and eyes, just like Zephyr. Their surname is Leonard, but no one knows if that was actually Zephyr''s surname too, or did they make it up? William had tried to ask Zephyr this question before, but he refused to answer, saying that it''s dangerous for him to know his name. After vanquishing the demon king and saving the world, Zephyr separated different races on different continents, giving all of them appropriate land and resources to maintain peaceful relations with them. The URF was responsible for maintaining world peace as it had members and representatives of all races. As for Zephyr, he became the emperor of the human continent and ruled for hundreds of years before he ascended to godhood. In his lifetime, magic was considered weaker than swordsmanship or other martial arts due to the only way of casting magic being the chanting method, which required around 20¨C60 seconds for a spell, making it very impractical for actual combat. But Zephyr made and popularised the chantless method, allowing mages to instantly cast spells that, though weaker compared to their chanting method counterparts, were far more appropriate for combat. He also made countless new spells, proposed countless theories regarding magic, and solved many pre-existing problems with magic. Before making the modern-day version of magic, which is considered equivalent to, if not superior to, martial arts. Throughout history, he''s indisputably the individual responsible for making magic as great as it is today, with many naming him the ''Great Sage''. Zephyr also had many achievements outside of magic, such as solving the issue of beggars and unemployment throughout the human continent, which sadly, his successors couldn''t maintain throughout the years, making these things a problem once again in modern society. But due to his countless such achievements as well as saving the world, many call him ''the boy who changed the world''. This was probably also the reason why the memoirs had a giant castle and Zephyr chose to sit on a throne, as he really had an obsession with ruling and being in a position of power. He had already celebrated his birthday with his parents on the 11th; it was a very fun experience to get to spend time with them, and his parents had gifted him a skill book containing [Heavy Hit] and an A-rank shield that could reflect energy-based attacks. Of course, it had some limits, but it was still very useful, so William fed it to Shadow Slime so he could have some defensive options. Right now, he was just waiting for the party to be over so he could depart. The incident with Zephyr happened three days ago, and it most certainly changed William far more than he could even imagine. At this point gone were all his other thoughts; he just wanted to become strong and wipe that smug grin off Zephyr''s face. "Bro, stop zoning out; what are you even thinking with such a serious expression on your face?" Zack asked, looking annoyed. "Ye, I''m sorry, I got distracted," William quickly apologised, realising his own mistake. Ever since that incident, William has developed a tendency to get lost in his own thoughts. "Why are the two of you just standing here?" A cute and soft voice asked from behind them. Once William turned around, he was greeted by a cute, short, black-haired girl in a black gown and black heels. It was Lilly Zack''s little sister and William''s childhood friend. Karka kingdom was governed by four counts: the Verheins, Shadowhearts, Flamewells, and Luther family. Both Zack and Lilly were children of Count Shadowheart, and as such, they were the successors of the family. Count Shadowheart, just like Rex, only had one son, so thankfully for them, there wasn''t any sort of battle of successors. Old William really enjoyed teasing her, and the current William was also the same. "I was just asking Zack why you''re so short." William retorted in a teasing tone with a smirk on his face, a sight that would be enough to smite the hearts of many young maidens. However, Lilly didn''t care about his charms, as she replied. "Just wait; I''ll one day be taller than you, and then we''ll see who''s laughing." She replied with a cute pout, clearly affected by the comment on her height. William just smiled calmly as he replied. "Sure shorty" "Jerk," Lilly replied. "Anyways, what are you doing, Lilly? Wanna hang out with us?" Zack asked "Sure, also, I just wanted to ask you guys about the blonde girl over there who keeps stealing glances at William," Lilly said as she pointed towards a cute blonde-haired girl standing a bit further away from them. Hearing her comment, William finally saw the blonde-haired girl whom his father had tried to engage him with a while back. Ciara Fiel, the daughter of Duke Fiel, was also someone whose talent in magic was only second to his own. Looking at her, William remembered his first meeting with her. Chapter 36: Ch-36 First Meeting "Rex, my good friend, it''s been so long since I last met you," said a tall, well-built brown-haired man as he stepped forward, outstretching his arms to hug the white-haired man in front of him."Cloward I''m glad to see you again," Rex said as he hugged the man named Cloward. Finally, after a few seconds, both men broke out of their hug and stepped back. "Rex, meet my beautiful wife Cleona and my cute son and daughter," Cloward said as he pointed behind him towards the pretty blonde-haired lady and the brown-haired boy. "My name is Jack Fiel; it''s an honour meeting you, sir." The boy came forward and bowed as he introduced himself. "Ho, you''ve taught him well," Rex replied, amused at the manners of the boy in front of him. "But where''s your daughter?" He asked. "Ah, she''s a bit shy around strangers, but Ciara, come on out," Cloward said. Hearing her father''s voice, a small girl walked out from behind Cleona. The girl had blonde hair and gem-like blue eyes; she also had a small, round face, making her look very cute and like a miniature version of Cleona. The girl took a second to mentally prepare herself before bowing and saying. "H-hello, sir, my name is Ciara Fiel." Her voice was very pleasant to the ear, making one ignore her little stutter. "Hi sweetie, it''s a pleasure making your acquaintance," Rex replied, feeling his heart get lighter looking at the cute girl. If possible, he wanted to grab her cute, chubby cheeks. But he was a master of self-control, so he restrained himself, as he said. "Why are we just standing here? Come, let''s go inside. "Sounds good," Cloward replied. As both Rex and Cloward made their way to the living room, Rex stopped and said, "Jack and Ciara, why don''t you go to the garden to play with William?" "Belle, come out and guide these two to where William is." "Yes master" A brown-haired girl in a maid outfit materialised out of shadows as she bowed and agreed to her master''s orders. Both Jack and Ciara didn''t mind, as they didn''t want to get bored with ''adult talks'' anyway. And besides, they were really curious about the boy called William; after all, he was currently being acclaimed as a once-in-a-century genius throughout the Karka kingdom. "Hey Ciara Are you alright? Talking in front of a stranger for the first time must have been hard," Jack asked as he moved closer to Ciara. "No, it''s fine," she replied, appreciating her brother''s concern. *** After a few minutes, both the children reached the garden. The garden was at the backside of the mansion and looked completely picturesque, as if a part of nature itself and untouched by human hands. It had green grass on the ground with many trees and bushes, making it look very luscious and appealing to children. However, the most eye-catching thing was the white-haired boy sitting on a swing, holding what seemed to be a book. The boy was completely immersed in the book, ignoring the squirrels and birds who had gathered around him and seeming to be playing as if enjoying the boy''s presence. "Hello, you must be William Verhein, right?" "My name is Jack Fiel, and over here is my sister Ciara Fiel. It''s a pleasure making your acquaintance." Jack stepped forward and introduced himself, curious about the boy he had heard so much about. William finally noticed the two kids in the garden and frowned as he noticed all the squirrels and birds running away as Jack stepped closer. He finally looked up and said, "Yeah, that''s me," he said as he immersed himself back in the book. William originally wanted Jack to apologise to the animals, but he remembered how his father had scolded him in the past for being mean to kids his age aside from Zack and Lilly, so he just decided to let it go. It must be noted that William right now still doesn''t have the memories of his past life, so he is just a really talented 8-year-old for now. "Wow, what a jerk!" Jack muttered, and just as he was about to leave the rude boy alone and leave with his cute little sister, he heard something that completely shattered his world. "Pretty," Ciara muttered, too silent for anyone to hear her, but due to Jack''s close proximity to her, he was able to hear her loud and clear. Right now, Ciara wasn''t talking about William''s above-average looks, even for a noble, but rather the purity of the mana surrounding him. Ciara was just 8 years old right now and still hadn''t awakened, but she had an extremely high affinity for mana, due to which she could sense the aura of people''s mana. Due to this, she was shy around the adults, as most if not all of them had a very intense aura honed throughout their lifetime, which was more than enough to scare a little girl like her. However, the aura of the boy in front of her was pure¡ªridiculously pure¡ªto the point that it blended in with the nature around him. Due to which, despite the crimson colour of it, which would scare her normally, the boy looked very pretty. Unfortunately, Jack was completely oblivious to all of this, and to him, the rude boy in front of him had stolen the heart of his cute little baby sister. But that can''t be right? After all, she had already promised to marry him when she grew up, all those years ago on his birthday. So how could he let the rude jerk in front of him steal his sister? Due to his irrational anger, he shouted. "William Verhein, I, Jack Fiel, challenge you to a magic duel." Jack had just turned 11 this year, so he had now been awakened for a whole year, and he was proclaimed a genius by his family; after all, he had a whole 400 BF. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Which was way above what someone his age would normally have, so surely he could beat someone 3 years younger than him and win back the heart of his little sister, right? *** "I''m so proud of you, Rex, my old friend. I always knew you were meant for greatness." Cloward said his genuine pride in his friends achievements was evident in his tone. Rex and Cloward were both friends ever since their days in the academy. Back then, Cloward was the heir of Fiel Douchy and was acclaimed as a genius throughout the academy. However, that all changed when Rex, a commoner at the time, joined the academy with a scholarship earned through his pure talent. Due to this, he was put directly under the spotlight, with everyone acknowledging and admiring his talent. Back then, Cloward was jealous of Rex, as he had stolen all the spotlight that should''ve belonged to him. Due to his own jealousy, Cloward did a bunch of things to annoy Rex back then, until Rex finally had enough and challenged him to a duel. The duel was completely one-sided, with Cloward getting completely humbled and being forced to acknowledge Rex. However, this didn''t stop the boy, as it only strengthened his desire to win, causing him to declare Rex his rival. At first, Rex was very annoyed by Cloward''s constant pestering, but after months of constantly duelling and challenging each other. What started as an annoying one-sided jealousy eventually grew into a friendly rivalry, with both boys acknowledging each other and pushing each other to grow beyond their limits. Back then, Cloward always knew that Rex was destined for greatness; after all, he was the man whom he had declared his rival. It would look bad for him if his rival, whom he was never able to defeat, just ended up being a nobody. Thankfully for him, his hunch about Rex was right. Back when Cloward had heard news about the numerous times Rex defended the whole Karka kingdom and how he was promoted to the status of a count. It was one of the happiest days of his life, right after his marriage and the birth of his children, of course. However, despite his pride in his friend''s achievements, he was still bitter about never being able to beat him. And after he heard the news about his achievements, he knew the gap between them had only grown larger over the years. But instead of wallowing over that, he decided to welcome his best friend into his family by marrying his daughter to Rex''s son. Rumours about William''s talents and awakening at only the age of 4 were enough to tell Cloward that his monster of a friend had created another monster who would reach the same level as him, if not higher. This was the reason why he had come today to talk about the engagement with him. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! However, before he could even start the conversation, he was interrupted by a loud bang. Which completely interrupted all of them as they ran out to see and neutralise the threat. *** Author''s note:- Thanks to everyone for all the recent support. I really appreciate it and hope the novel can live up to your guy''s expectations. Chapter 37: Ch-37 Too One Sided To Be Called A Fight A few minutes before the explosion."I, Jack Fiel, challenge you to a duel," Jack shouted as he pointed towards William in a provocative fashion. "Nah, you''re too weak," William retorted while reading his book, not even bothering to look at Jack, who was fuming in anger at being disrespected for the second time today by the same boy. However, Jack quickly composed himself as he retorted. "If you''re too scared to fight me, you can just admit it; there''s no need to make excuses," he said with a smirk. "Brothe-" Ciara tried to stop her brother, but she was interrupted. "Shhh, don''t worry, sis, I''ll make sure to only break one of his arms." However, what Jack didn''t know was that Ciara wasn''t worrying about the boy but rather about him; after all, to Ciara, the difference between the boy and Jack was like night and day. William was slowly losing his patience with the boy, and he just wanted to finish reading the novel he was reading; the story was just about to reach its climax. So realising the boy''s stubbornness, he finally removed the ring from his left hand, unleashing his mana, as he said. "Fine, you win; let''s fight," William said in a reluctant tone. William knew that he needed to hold back to not accidentally kill the boy, which was annoying to him. "Hah, don''t worry, I''ll go easy on you," Jack replied with a smile, misunderstanding William''s reluctance. "Brother stop" Ciara tried to stop her brother from doing something stupid, but sadly, Jack just ignored her. As both William and Jack stood face-to-face, barely 50 metres apart, Jack made the first move as he pointed his open hand towards William as he cast "Steel Lance." After his command, a grey magic circle manifested on his palm as three 20-inch plain steel spears shot forward towards William at breakneck speed. Jack''s aspect was tier III, called [Steel Bender], and it let him create and manipulate steel or iron structures. It was quite a powerful ability, definitely putting him in the realm of geniuses. However, William just eyed the spears heading his way nonchalantly, completely unfazed by the threat, before he cast a spell of his own (Storm Wall). Heavy winds started forming around William as they all coalesced to form a giant storm with him in the centre. Once the spears got close to William, they were caught up in the strong winds of the storm as their trajectory was forcefully changed to target Jack instead. Jack didn''t panic seeing his own spell being used against him, and instead he used a spell of his own as he muttered, "(Steel wall).". Heeding his call, a 100-inch, giant-thick slab of pure iron came up from the ground in front of him, blocking the spears from hitting him. Before Jack could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard William''s voice. "Alright, my turn," William said as he disappeared from his position. Jack was confused as he looked around the garden, trying to find William. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, his search didn''t last long as William reappeared in front of him, mere inches apart. Before he could even react, he felt an overwhelming blow to his abdomen as he was sent flying before stopping when he hit a tree, breaking it in the process. However, before Jack could recover, William appeared beside him and kicked him in the face, sending him flying again. Before Jack could hit the ground and stop, William reappeared and punched Jack, sending him flying again. This whole helpless beatdown of Jack continued like this for a whole minute before William finally stopped and allowed Jack to fall down. Jack was passed out on the ground; however, just when Ciara was about to go help him and William was about to continue his book, he stood back up as he shouted. "Where do you think you''re going?" "(Metalic Casing), he said as his whole body became encased in a metallic coating. In his new form, Jack was far more durable and stronger than normal. He wasn''t sure what kind of skill William was using, but he was sure that he could tank it in his new form. Unfortunately for Jack, William wasn''t using any skills; he was just too fast for him to see, and him getting back up had finally managed to annoy him enough to actually try. Jack observed as William bent his knees before disappearing from his sight. He prepared himself for the blow, preparing to counterattack once William came closer. However, the next second, he felt a tremendous blow to his face, breaking the metal casing on it and even a few of his teeth as he was sent flying. Once he finally landed, he tried to stand up; however, his body was paralysed. This was due to the (Lightning Fist) spell William coated around his fist, and this lightning was only amplified due to steel being a good conductor of electricity. Just when Jack was about to be free from the paralysis, a gigantic red magic circle manifested on the ground. William took a good look at the boy and adjusted the strength of the spell to not kill or critically wound the boy as he cast (Flame Burst) . BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!! S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A loud, ear-deafening explosion was heard as a gigantic pillar of flame manifested from the ground before subsiding in a few seconds. And in the middle, a charred boy was knocked out. Thanks to Williams adjustment, the boy was still breathing; however, he''d take at least a few hours to wake up, even if he was treated by healing magic. After the explosion, both Williams and Jack''s parents quickly rushed over and had Jack healed, while William got an earful and was scolded for hours for going overboard. A few days after this event, Rex told him about the engagement offer he got from Ciara''s parents, which William refused as he found the girl too weak and boring. Now this brought us to today''s event, as things between William and Ciara were kind of awkward due to him beating up her brother and also calling her weak and boring. However, realising the situation, he mustered up the courage to ask her. "Do you need anything?" **** Authors note:- Congratulations to William for his first win in the novel, even if it was a flashback. I''m proud of him. Also, sorry for the late upload. I was sick. Chapter 38: Ch-38 Potential Partner? William Verhein, a boy who had been living rent-free in Ciara''s mind since two years ago,She last saw the boy when she went to her father''s friend''s house. Back then, she didn''t think much of it; however, in that house, she found a boy with the most pure aura she had ever seen. Even after two years, she had yet to see any aura like the one that boy possessed. She still remembered the overwhelming strength he displayed in his fight against her brother. No, it was too one-sided to be called a fight; however, Ciara couldn''t blame the boy; after all, it was her own brother who was at fault for provoking and challenging him. At first, she hated the boy, especially when she heard her father talking about engaging her with him, which he refused by calling her weak and boring. Sure, she might be weak at that time because she hadn''t awakened, but surely she wasn''t boring, right? The boy didn''t even know her, so how could he call her boring? She wanted to hate him, but for some reason she couldn''t get the boy''s pure crimson aura and gem-like red eyes out of her mind. Now that she had awakened, people were calling her a genius in her kingdom; after all, she had awakened a Tier IV aspect, one that increased her affinity for mana and let her summon mana constructs. It was a very powerful and versatile aspect, which caused many people to start comparing her with William, and while Ciara hated to admit it in her heart, she knew that she was no match for the boy. The overwhelming magic talent the boy had displayed two years ago was scary to her, especially when you consider the boy was supposed to be the same age as her. Just how much stronger will he become when he grows up? She didn''t know, but she was sure it would be scary. Another thing she knew was that she wanted the boy to regret calling her weak and boring. For the first time in her life, she had a goal that she was working hard towards achieving, and yet today, when she saw the boy, her mind basically blanked out. The boy had grown even more handsome; his facial features were even sharper; however, the thing that concerned her was his aura. Her ability to sense mana before her awakening had grown into a passive skill called [Genius of Mana], which let her see mana and a few other things. Overall, it was a very powerful skill. But right now what it was showing her was shocking to say the least. After all, the boy''s mana, while lower than what it was before, was even more pure. If before his mana ''almost'' looked similar to nature, now it was indistinguishable aside from the crimson colour. She couldn''t keep her eyes away from the boy and his aura, which were both the prettiest things to her. ''No, wait, why am I thinking like that about that jerk?''she questioned her own thoughts. However, just as she was about to leave the boy alone and look for her brother, she heard a voice. "What are you doing?" William asked as he moved a bit closer to Ciara. Blank Ciara blanked out; this was the first time the boy had talked to her. She wasn''t sure how to respond; was she just supposed to say that she was interested in him? Nah, that would be too weird. While her mind raced through different possibilities, trying to find an explanation, she was brought out of her thoughts by Williams voice. "Hey, I asked you a question," he said as he placed his hand around her shoulders, shaking her a bit. "The walls behind you are very well painted." Ciara finally responded with the best possible excuse she could think of. "Ah, right," William replied, not buying her lie. To William, the girl was very weird; he had brutally beat up her brother, with whom she seemed to have a very good relationship, and even insulted her. And yet here she was, showing interest in him instead of avoiding him like he expected. Now that he took a good look at her, he could see that she was definitely very talented, probably the person with the highest affinity for Mana he had ever seen aside from himself and Zephyr, of course. "Ho, regret rejecting the engagement offer, already?" Ciara asked in a smug tone as she saw William staring at her, completely ignoring how she was practically ogling him before. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Nah, I''m just thanking the past me for not settling for mediocrity," William retorted, unfazed by her question. "Wtf? " Ciara exclaimed. Truthfully, she wanted to leave the rude boy alone, but she couldn''t contain her curiosity as she asked. "Why are you so talented in magic?" She asked, hoping to strike up a conversation. "Why were you born with such average looks?" "Exactly. God just gave it to us, so don''t ask me stupid things like that," he said as he walked back to Zack. [I didn''t gave you shit boy] Zephyr replied in his mind, which William completely ignored. Honestly, Ciara was very cute, and William was pretty sure she''d grow up to be a beauty like her mother. But he could also tell that her interest in him would slowly become a one-sided crush, and she''d eventually end up with a broken heart. If he wanted, he could''ve reciprocated her efforts to make conversation, but he didn''t want to get her hopes up. Honestly, William really wanted to try dating someone in this life, as he wasn''t able to do it in his past life. However, right now he didn''t have time for this as he was too focused on his pursuit of strength. Another reason was that Ciara was too weak for him. William already expected to live a very very long life, and he didn''t want to experience the death of his partner. Which is why he had the perfect plan for his future partner. For a future god like him, only a future goddess would suffice. In this world, there were three main gods: Zephyr, the god of mana; Selena, the goddess of night, and Elona, the goddess of light. Zephyr was a boy, so he was automatically out of the equation. That left him with Elona and Selena, and while he had never met any of them before, he had very high expectations of them; after all, they were God''s, and no mortal like Ciara could ever compare to them. This was a perfect plan once all his conquest for power was over and he had humbled Zephyr and became the strongest in the world. He could ascend to godhood and court a goddess to enjoy immortality with him. Meanwhile, Zephyr was just observing the whole ordeal with a calm gaze through William. He was pleased by William''s intention to stay away from worldly desires like women. Thankfully for William, Zephyr was incapable of reading his mind. Otherwise, after hearing the nefarious intentions his protege had towards his sisters in divine blood, William would''ve had both the world and a god trying to kill him. While William was enjoying the party and planning his plans for hundreds of years later, A plot to end his journey to godhood and, more importantly, a divine wife were in danger. *** Authors note:- I''m sorry if the romance ever feels wonky in this novel; that''s because I have no experience. However, let''s hope that by the time William ascends and tries to chase some divine skirts, this author has also experienced his youth. Chapter 39: Ch-39 Assasination Attempt Laughing CoffinAn infamous evil group of misfits whose only purpose in life is ''entertainment''. Unfortunately for everyone, their definition of ''entertainment'' was a tad bit different than what normal people find entertaining. For most of the members of Laughing Coffin, the pain and misery of others is a source of joy. They''ve existed for over a hundred years now, and countless people and factions have tried to destroy the group, but for some reason it''s impossible to find any trace of them. It''s almost as if they don''t even live in this world, which is why there was even a search for them in Morgov, but even there, no one found any trace of them. In the past, a few of their members were captured for interrogation, but they all committed suicide before anyone could question them; even mind-reading or similar abilities don''t work on their members. For the past 100 years, Laughing Coffin members have consistently hunted down and assassinated a bunch of prodigies or other people who could help progress the world and civilization, like scholars and researchers. It''s almost like their only purpose is to constantly hinder and sabotage the growth of the world and its population. Thankfully, for the past 10 years, there haven''t been any sightings of members of this group, due to which most people have already forgotten about them. However, the people who have personally witnessed the brutality and carnage that this group has brought could never forget them. This is the reason behind the extremely tight security around today''s birthday venue; however, the biggest security measures aren''t the countless guards, CCTVs, and other defence mechanisms. But rather, the guests invited to today''s party, most of them are nobles or other highly influential people, which also means most of them are powerhouses due to the nature of this world. All these measures were taken to protect William; after all, he''s the prime target for groups like Laughing Coffin, aka someone who will greatly benefit the world given the opportunity to grow. Measures like this were taken every year for his birthday and pretty much most other noble children. The infamous group hadn''t made any appearances over the past ten years, so people were a bit more relaxed this year, hoping that they wouldn''t have to deal with that group of psychos ever again. After all, the world was in an era of peace, and a group like Laughing Coffin is just a dark stain of the past. It''s only fair for people to want to now move on rather than always being on edge and wary of a potential attack. In a way, it was fair to say the world had grown soft, which isn''t necessarily a bad thing after all. This greatly enhanced the quality of life of citizens, and with people not needing to fight for their lives every day, more important problems of civilization could be tackled. Unfortunately for the world, their worst nightmare had come back to life, and if their plan succeeds, they''re about to have the worst reality check of their lifetime. *** "Wow, dude, weren''t you a bit too rude back then?" Zack asked, genuinely concerned by his best friend''s rudeness to the girl, who probably just wanted to be his friend. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In the past, William used to be somewhat of a loner, with his only friends being himself and Lilly. However, over the past 2 years, his friend had gotten a lot more social and approachable. So it was a bit weird seeing him suddenly be mean to a girl who just wanted to be his friend. "Meh, leave it; if I''m too friendly with her, she''ll just misunderstand and eventually get her heart broken," William retorted, trying to defend himself. Zack couldn''t really retort, as even to him, it was obvious that the girl had a crush on his friend. A bunch of other girls had already fallen for Williams charms, and they were all rejected for being too ''weak and boring''. While Zack could somewhat understand why William was so arrogant and picky when choosing a partner, He was sure that his best friend would be the natural enemy of the common guy. After all, he was born with status, wealth, looks, and talent. Aside from his somewhat shitty personality, William was quite literally the perfect guy. Of course, Zack had no reason to be jealous of him; after all, he too was born with a golden spoon. "Anyways moving on, wanna eat something?" William asked Zack, to which Zack happily agreed. After all, despite their looks, the brother-sister duo were quite the foodies, always surprising William with their unnatural talent to devour food. Just as William was making his way towards the food section, he called a waiter over to bring him a glass of orange juice. An observation that William had made about his new body with the memories of before he regained his memory was that he really loved fruit juices. Due to the mana present in the atmosphere, the quality of fruits and vegetables in this new world was at a level of purity that couldn''t be compared to his past life. This was already his 12th glass of juice. Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting However, once William grabbed the juice, his passive skill [Danger Sense] started ringing like crazy. He wasn''t sure behind the reason until he took a closer look at the glass in his hand. And then his gaze moved towards the butler, who was observing him intently, waiting for him to drink the juice. So, not wanting to appear suspicious, he drank it like usual. Of course,he didn''t actually drink it; he just opened a miniature portal to his shadow domain inside his mouth, sending the ''poisoned'' juice over there instead. William was pretty sure this was an assassination attempt on him and that the glass was poisoned. Sure, he had a poison resistance skill, but that didn''t mean he was going to test his luck playing around with poison. He had already gone through an assassination attempt once in his second life and more attempts than he could count in his past life. So it''s safe to say he was a veteran of surviving attempts like these. After a few seconds of thinking, he quickly thought up a plan to bail out all the assasins and get rid of them at once, but just to be on the safe side, he asked Zephyr about how strong the butler was, to which he replied. [Wow, you''re really using a God to power scale for you? But fine, I''m feeling generous. This guy is quite weaker than you, so you don''t need to call for help. If anything, this should serve as a good learning experience to get used to your new powers in a life-or-death battle before you leave the safety of your parents house.] William smirked upon hearing that as he placed the now empty glass on the tray the butler was holding, as he said to Zack. "Go and eat some food without me; I need to use the restroom real quick. I''ll be back in a jiffy," he said as he made his way towards the restroom. "Chh, I told you to not drink so much juice," Zack replied in a tone suggesting he already knew this was about to happen as he made his way towards the corner where food was placed. *** Now standing in front of the mirror, William washed his face. He was all alone in the restroom right now; he had already checked; there wasn''t anyone else here after all; what he was about to do couldn''t be seen by anyone else. Now he was just waiting for the assassins to finally come to claim their lives. Thankfully, he didn''t need to wait long, as after a few minutes, two identical-looking buttlers made their way inside and locked the door behind them. The butlers were both brown-haired and had brown eyes with average facial features. They also looked completely indistinguishable from one another aside from their hair cuts; one of them had a buzz cut while the other had shoulder-length hair tied in a ponytail, due to which William assumed that they were twins. They smiled upon seeing William as they used an S-rank artifact that was given to them by their higher-ups to separate the space inside the restroom into a sub-dimension. Finally, seeing everything going perfectly, the long-haired man smiled as he eyed William and said, "It''s nothing personal, kid; we''re just following orders, but since you''re going to die anyway, it''s only fair for you to know the names of your killers so you can spread our infamy in heaven." "My name''s Zaratul," the long-haired man proudly said. "People call me Baratul" The short-haired man followed his brother''s introduction. Both men didn''t take the kid in front of them seriously; after all, why would they? He''s just a 10 years old, after all; if they needed to even be scared of a little kid, they might as well just commit suicide. Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong kid to target this time. As soon as the hunter was about to become the prey and a dance of pure brutality was about to ensue. "The name''s William Verhein; make sure to spread my name in hell, as I''ll be sending many bastards like you over there soon." William retorted as he removed his silver ring,dying the whole sub-dimension in his own crimson aura. *** Discord link:- Chapter 40: Ch-40 Hunter Becomes The Prey Silence.Complete silence overcame the sub-dimension as both Zaratul and Baratul observed the violent crimson aura filling up everyone around them. "What''s wrong, feeling scared of a kid?" William asked as a wicked demonic smile found its way on his face. "Step out of it; he''s just a kid," Zaratul said as he shook Baratul''s shoulders, trying to snap his brother step out of his trance state. "Ah, yes, my bad," Baratul replied, finally waking up from his trance. Finally, both men summoned a silver cutlass sword from their storage rings. Baratul prepared his stance as he leaped towards William at an impossible-to-follow speed, even for William. However, just as Baratul was about to reach William and slice his head off, he stopped right in his tracks as an extremely thin line impossible to trace appeared all over his body. The next instant, before Baratul could even react, his body was sliced from where the lines appeared as his body parts fell apart on the ground. Baratul had died, and before his blood or flesh could sully Williams clothes, a thin mana barrier appeared between them. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A 10-year-old had killed a veteran assasin with many years of experience, taking life without even moving from his spot. It was an unbelievable thing to believe, but alas, it''s not possible for everyone to understand the actions of a genius. Before the fight even began, William had used his [Strings of Mana] skill, which allowed him to create extremely strong strings of mana that are strong enough to even cut through steel and are almost impossible to see unless one has an extremely high sensitivity to mana or can see mana. He had created this skill a while ago, back when he was still thinking about ways to efficiently use his wide array of skills and spells in proper combat. However, despite the strength of the skill, William knew the same skill wouldn''t work twice, so he undid his skill as he summoned his trusty blade of the Runnera sword as well as a dark hooded cloak that contained the properties of multiple armours he had fed his dark slime just in case. Now donning a long black overcoat with a hood covering his head, along with thin red stripes running across the cloak and a matte black longsword with red runes on the blade, William looked like a warrior of night who was out for vengeance. As William held his dark blade in his hand, he prepared his stance before he leaped from his position, prepared to swiftly end the life of his adversary. Seeing the death of his brother Zaratul showed no emotion, and instead he just smiled eerily as he himself prepared to intercept the white-haired boy before he could build momentum. BOOOOMMM!! A loud boom sound was generated as both the blades of the white-haired boy and the brown-haired men met in the middle, with the shockwaves destroying their surroundings and even threatening to send them both flying back. However, both of them just stood their ground, with neither being willing to back down. Both the men and the boy kept pushing, trying to overpower each other. At first, they both seemed evenly matched, but that was just on the surface, as William was using a bunch of his mana along with the effects of his mana-enhancing coat just to barely match the strength of Zaratul, who only seemed to be using his raw physical strength. In a fair fight, it was easy to see that William was quite outclassed against his adversary,both in terms of pure stats as well as experience and skill with the blade. Thankfully for him, this wasn''t a fair fight, as a sharp black spike emerged from Zaratul''s shadow, aiming to wound him. Which he easily countered by finally using a skill to enhance his strength to send William flying, before using his sword to break the spike heading his way. As William was flying and was about to hit a wall, he swiftly activated his [Shadow Step] skill to jump in a nearby shadow, creating some good distance between himself and his enemy, as he thought. ''Alright, let''s try to just keep my distance from him,'' he thought as he summoned his Chaos servants and Chaos beasts. William''s shadow expanded a few metres, and from it, Nox, Golden Sting, and Machak, along with around 20 shadow wolves, manifested and charged at Zaratul while keeping his distance. Zaratul remained calm as he eyed the beasts heading his way. Before long, his blade clashed with Nox''s beastly claws, which he was able to overpower and send flying. After that, a giant bee stinger made its way towards him but managed to dodge it and used a fireball spell on the golden stinger to send it flying back in pain. After that, Machak descended on him, planning to crush him, but he just used a (storm blast) spell as a small storm of wind sent Machak flying before it could get too close. The shadow hounds all charged at him at once, but he was easily able to kill around three of them in less than a few seconds before he jumped in the air and made some distance. Zaratul knew that his target was a summoner; according to his knowledge, the kid had a Tier IV aspect called Shadow Summoner, which allowed him to create creatures of shadows. However, he didn''t expect them to be so strong; if he wasn''t careful, all the monsters summoned by the kid might be able to end him. Which is why he used multiple speed and strength-enhancing skills to boost his stats as he charged towards the boy. Attacking the user was the most common tactic against a summoner, and he had already tested the boy''s strength and confirmed he was weaker than him. However, just as he was heading towards the boy, he heard him mutter something. "[Spirit Ascension:Dual Spirit Fire and Wind]" William muttered. As soon as his words finished, a dual-colour crown of fire and wind manifested on his head, with the right side being made up of an orange fire and the left being made up of a bright teal colour. His previous black overcoat was now gone, and he now donned a royal-like orange and teal robe. On his back, two wing-like objects manifested both bright orange and teal respectably. His eyes glew an orange and teal colour as the sword in his hand was burning in an orange and teal flame. Activating dual-spirit ascension was his current limit, and he could only maintain that for a few minutes. The only reason he was able to use all of his spirits to ascend at once as well as [mana ascension] against his fight against Zephyr was because it was an illusion. Thankfully, two spirits were more than enough for his current foe as he muttered a spell he only developed a few days ago. "(Set Your Heart Ablaze) " As soon as his words fell, Zaratul felt a slow heat rising up in his chest, which before long devolved into a full-blown fire emerging from his insides. Before long, his whole body was engulfed in a violent fire. "Ahahaahahhahaha" He screamed; however, his screams fell on deaf ears. Before long, he was unable to scream, not because he was dead but because his voice box had been burned off. Thankfully, after a few seconds, he finally died as his charred corpse fell on the now-destroyed restroom floor. Both the assasins had died, with only a boy covered in an orange and teal royal robe, along with a similar-coloured crown and wing-like objects, surrounded by multiple monsters still standing. After assessing that there were no more threats, the boy undid his transformation as well as cancelling the summons of his Chaos servants and beast. This was his first intentional kill in his second life; however, due to his experiences in the past, he didn''t panic. Instead, he had a disappointed look on his face before he muttered. "I''m still too weak." William sighed in disappointment. *** Author''s Note :- Please rate the fight scene out it 10 for me. Chapter 41: Ch-41 Apology "How weak!" William sighed.He really wanted to not have to rely on using his spirits in every single fight; they were supposed to be like a Trump card. He could even tell that he could''ve taken the man in front of him down if he just worked together with his summons. But in the end, he ended up panicking and just used [spirit ascension] to quickly end the fight. (Don''t beat yourself up over it; you were up against someone older and more experienced than you) said Wiz inside his mind. (Yeah, what the blue thing said, you did great.) Agni also chimed in. "Thanks guys", I appreciate your effort to cheer me up." "However, there is no need to make excuses for me; I just need to get even stronger," William said with determination in his eyes. (That''s the spirit.) Sera chimed in, happy that her host was serious about getting stronger. (I see what you did there.) Gionne said finding the joke amusing. Unfortunately, neither the other spirits nor William agreed with him, as an awkward silence followed for a few seconds. "So, like I was saying before, let''s depart for the neutral continent tomorrow," William said, choosing to ignore Gionne''s previous attempt at a joke. But first things first. He wasn''t really hurt; his clothes got a bit dirty, but they could easily be fixed with a little (clean) spell. "What a mess," he said as he observed the now-broken restroom as well as the two corpses around him. Thankfully, the man created a sub-dimension, so the restroom will appear normal on the other side. As for the corpses, he just put them inside his shadow domain. Now moving his attention towards the palm-sized ball that the assasins used to create a sub-dimension, he thought. ''It would be a shame to just leave such a useful S-rank artifact like that'' [Don''t bother, it''s most likely enchanted with location tracking magic or some other similar spell.] Zephyr said in his mind, warning him against keeping the artifact. "Yeah, I figured." William sighed, already having guessed that. With a heavy heart, he finally destroyed the artifact, returning everything to normal. Wiliam was now back, standing in a pristine restroom with no trace of the battle that just took place. The whole fight lasted a total of 3 minutes and 36 seconds; if it had lasted another minute or two, Rex or some other powerhouse might have been able to detect the disturbance in space, but thankfully it didn''t, so Williams secret was safe for now. With a calm expression on his face, he just washed his hands and walked out of the room. *** As William was making his way towards the area with all the food, he was stopped by an unexpected voice. "Hey, do you have a minute?" A voice called out from behind. Hearing the voice, William turned around, curious to see who had stopped him. However, he didn''t really expect to meet the boy he had beaten up two years ago again. Jack was wearing a clean double-breasted white suit with pants of the same colour, along with a white tie. His brown hair was neatly gelled, and his face had a slight make-up just to make his skin look a bit cleaner and have a better texture. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Overall, the boy looked like one of those arrogant nobles who like to abuse their status. ''Sigh, this is going to be annoying,'' William thought. "Hey, I asked you a question," Jack said, annoyed by being ignored. "Yeah, sure, I have a minute go ahead," William replied, hoping not to need to beat up the idiot in front of him again. "So I''m not really sure how to say this, but..." "I''m sorry for being a douchebag back then," Jack said with visible difficulty. (No shot) Wiz said in Williams mind. (Aww, man, I was hoping for a fight) Agni also chimed in. ''Shut up guys'' "I''m sorry; I seemed to have misheard you, but did you just apologize?" William asked, still in disbelief at being apologised to. "Aww, come on, it was hard for me to apologise. Don''t make me repeat myself." "Alright, but why would you apologise for something that happened two years ago?" William asked, still unsure about why he would apologise like that out of nowhere. "Well, it was my fault back then for being a douchebag, and it was weighing on my consciousness," Jack said, a bit embarrassed by saying it out loud. (Wow, what a plot twist) Sera said in Williams mind. (Damm, I didn''t expect him to be a decent dude) Wiz also chimed in. (Let''s just beat him up anyway.) Agni said, still annoyed at missing an opportunity to beat up someone weaker than him. The spirits had gotten to see Williams memories back when they contracted, as that was just a basic thing to do when contracting with a spirit. They didn''t really care that William had memories of his past life, as it didn''t really affect them. ''Man, you guys need to stop butting in so often,'' William said in his mind. "You still here?" Jack asked, unsure why the white-haired boy was randomly blanking out. At first, after getting beaten, he was really annoyed at William and even more so at himself for embarrassing himself in front of his sister. However, over time, as he grew up, he realised that it was his fault, and the realisation was haunting him as Jack wanted to use his powers to help the weak like his father. So for him to try and beat up someone younger than himself over his little sister was embarrassing, to say the least. Speaking of his little sister, over time he came to realise that maybe he couldn''t marry her due to being related. He was disappointed at first, but on second thought, people just marry to live together, and they already live in the same house. So they didn''t even need to marry in the first place. And for the issue of her marrying another boy and leaving their home, Jack can just make it so that her husband moves in with them. That way, they could all live together forever; it was the perfect future. However, before he could get his happy ending, he needed to own up to his own mistake so it wouldn''t haunt him in the future, which is why he took the opportunity to apologise when he saw the white-haired boy all alone. "O-oh, yeah, my bad, but sure, I forgive you," William exclaimed, still a bit taken aback, but he stopped paying mind to it as he made his way back to the corner where food was kept. "Oh, nice," Jack said, happy that the boy was a reasonable person who didn''t hold grudges. However, just when he was about to leave, he remembered something, as he asked. "Hey, before you go, have you seen Ciara anywhere?" Hearing that name, William also stopped as a bad premonition came over his heart. "Why, what happened?" He asked, hoping that his guess was wrong. "Oh, nothing too bad; it''s just weird why I haven''t seen her for like 20 minutes now; I was just looking for her when I saw you," Jack replied in a relaxed tone. ''shit'' William thought as a possibility he hadn''t previously considered took over him. *** Authors note:- Sorry for the late upload. I had an exam. Also, tell me if you guys would like the spirits to have a few dialogues every now and then, like in this chapter, or if I should just keep them muted. Chapter 42: Ch-42 Finding Clara ''Shit'' William thought.''It couldn''t be right?'' "So did you see her?" Jack asked "Nah, I don''t think so, but I''ll be sure to let you know in case I find her," William said as he left. While he had a calm expression on his face, his mind was in a complete mess. ''Hey guys, do you think it''s possible that Laughing Coffin had targets other than me?'' He asked the spirits inside his mind. (Well, now that you mention it) Wiz said. (You guys are just overthinking; it''s already bad that they decided to target William; they wouldn''t dare target even more kids in an event like this.) Agni retorted. (You might be right, but you''re forgetting that we were dealing with a bunch of lunatics.) Sera retorted. ''Fuck, this could be very bad,'' William thought. He was right; while William didn''t particularly care about Ciara, having the daughter of a Duke get kidnapped or, even worse, killed at his birthday party would naturally place all the blame on Rex for not taking proper precautions. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. After all, a talented kid like Ciara was the perfect target for Laughing Coffin; after all, she was being proclaimed a genius throughout the Rubalt Kingdom. Who, just like him, had a Tier IV aspect, according to the general public, so since they were targeting him, why would they not target her? Following that line of logic, wouldn''t it make sense for there to be other assassins in the party aiming for other kids? "Fuck," he finally muttered, realising the severity of the situation. ** "I hate that jerk," said a little girl in a beautiful golden dress with white embroidery. The girl had blonde hair that was so slightly dishevelled. She was currently in the female''s restroom, washing her face after crying. She was alone right now, as she had used her father''s name to make a few maids and women of relatively lower status leave so that they wouldn''t see her current state. As for why she was crying, well, that was due to a certain white-haired boy who had verbally insulted her. This was the first time anyone had ever been so mean to her, and it was just because she wanted a friend. It was really unfair; thankfully, the place they were in was relatively empty, and most people just ignored them due to their status, so she wasn''t insulted in front of others. However, that still didn''t help her pride, which was practically broken now¡ªaverage-looking?, boring?, weak? Just how can someone say things like that to a lady? Due to him, her makeup was ruined, and she planned on just going home now. But she swore in her mind that she would make the rude boy eat back each and every one of his insults. However, just when Ciara was about to leave, a feminine, seductive voice caught her attention behind her. "Aww, did someone get her heartbroken?" "Just leave; I''m not in the mood right now." She retorted in an annoyed tone, not even bothering to turn around to see the newcomer. "Sorry, sweetheart, I don''t think I can do that." "After all, I need you to come with me." The newcomer retorted in a seductive tone that was almost hypnotising. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As soon as her words fell, the world started to shift as a massive blue barrier started encircling the whole area. Sensing the disturbance in space and feeling weirded out, Ciara finally turned around to meet the women who had entered the restroom. "What d-" before she could even voice out her question, a small, almost invisible dagger came flying towards her at an inhumane speed. Skring-skring However, just before the dagger could find its way towards her neck, a thick golden barrier manifested itself. Saving her life, at least for now. This golden barrier was automatically generated by a S-rank defensive artifact that was given to Ciara by her father, and it activated as it sensed the danger to her life. As Ciara finally saw the woman responsible for her current situation, she was shocked. The women had shoulder-length black hair and round violet eyes. She was very well endowed in all the departments a boy would find attractive, which were very well on display due to underwear like a purple dress that barely covered her chest and groin areas. She was wielding a 10-inch-long silver dagger and had around three more daggers hanging from her belt. She was also wearing a plain brown coat. It was really a wonder how the women even managed to sneak inside an establishment like this while wearing such lewd and revealing clothes. The woman was definitely very pretty, if one ignored the crazy look she had on her face, which probably made her look even more attractive, according to some people. However, Ciara didn''t have any such thoughts; all she felt was disgust towards the women who looked like prostitute, according to her. However, even that disgust was overwhelmed by her fear; that dagger was about to kill her if the artifact her father gave her didn''t activate. She was having a mental breakdown as she soon realised that her life was going to be in danger again once the barrier dissipated in around 4 minutes. Thankfully, she didn''t have to worry, as 4 minutes was more than enough time for her father to find and save her once she activated the ring on her finger. She was currently wearing a green-coloured ring, which, once activated, would send a signal to her father informing him about her being in danger. However, when she tried to activate it, something strange happened; it didn''t work. "Aww, what''s the matter? Realising Daddy isn''t going to save you?? The woman was amused by the desperate expression on her target''s face. "Why?" Ciara asked with desperation in her voice. "Obviously, because I separated us in a different dimension," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. ''No, this can''t be?'' Ciara thought her grave situation was finally settling in. ''Am I going to die today?'' ''Is this it for me? '' ''No, this can''t be; I can''t let it all end like this'' Taking a deep breath, she finally calmed down as she once again thought about her situation. Sure, her life was in danger, but for the next 4 minutes, she could freely attack her enemy while being immune to all attacks she threw at her. While she may have only awakened a few months ago, due to her talent and hard work, she had learned multiple different spells. "Fine, since you have such a death wish, I''ll gladly fulfil your wish," she said with determination in her tone as she took a stance. She didn''t really think about killing her enemy or anything like that right now; her only priority was survival, which, judging by her current situation, would only be possible if she could take down the psycho in front of her. "Now that''s the spirit; make sure you make it entertaining for me." as a insane expression made its way onto her face as she dashed towards the little girl, surrounded by a bright golden barrier. And thus began Clara''s desperate struggle for survival. *** Author''s note:- Thanks to everyone for 100k views. I really appreciate all the support, and to thank you all, I''ll be mass-releasing once my exams end on February 23rd, so please try to bear with me until then. Also, I''ll now be applying for premium, which means all chapters from 43 and onwards will be locked, so I hope you guys can continue to support me. Chapter 43: Ch-43 Clara VS Mela "Now that''s the spirit; make sure you make it entertaining for me." as an insane expression made its way onto her face as she dashed towards the little girl, surrounded by a bright golden barrier.Before Clara could even react, the woman was in front of her, with only her barrier separating them. As the woman used her dagger to pierce the barrier, it didn''t budge before she could try to stab again. A sword made up of purely mana lunged at her, which she dodged by jumping back. "Ooh, that was close," the woman said, her relaxed tone betraying her words. Ignoring her words, a bunch of swords of mana lunged at her, which she easily dodged due to her superior speed. The swords that she wasn''t able to dodge were broken by her dagger, which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be laced with some sort of purple liquid, most likely lethal poison. However, Ciara didn''t care, as she was panicking, thinking about the ticking time of her barrier. She knew that once the barrier dissipated, she would die. The women in front of her outclassed her far too much. Right now, her lack of experience and the realisation of her impending doom are both contributing to her current state of panic. She was just throwing spells at her adversary, hoping to hit her; thankfully, she was blessed with a relatively large mana pool, which allowed her to keep spamming her spells at least for a few minutes. Her aspect being mana-related probably also helped. Clara had awakened a tier IV called Loved by Mana, which at its first ascension allowed the user to create any and all non-living objects out of raw mana. She could also imbue elements into these items, but it took a bit of concentration to pull off. In this world, mana was abundant in nature itself; however, humans, or all species for that matter, could wield pure mana, but they had to form a mana core or use some other mana cultivation method in order to first purify it before using it. So Clara being able to use it to form any non-living object is definitely a very overpowering and versatile ability. However, in her current state of panic, she wasn''t utilising it to its full potential, instead just forming and throwing swords at her enemy, desperately hoping to kill her. "Stop moving already and just die, please!!" Ciara shouted as she launched another sword towards her, hoping, against all odds, for her enemy to stop. "Nah, it''s too fun to see Daddy''s little princess struggle so much." The assasin said as she ran around the area, which was mostly destroyed due to Clara''s attacks. "Btw, I feel you should at least know my name so you have someone to curse in the afterlife, so just call me Mela." The woman said this as she countered an incoming mana sword by throwing a dagger. "Mela, huh? I''ll be sure to get it written on your grave," Ciara said as she launched another five swords, which Mela easily dodged. After dodging, Mela threw another dagger towards Ciara, which, just like all the previous ones, was blocked by her barrier. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A similar exchange continued for a few minutes before, at last, something changed. Sring The golden barrier around Clara disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. Clara felt her heart drop, realising the implications of her being exposed. This was it; she was about to die. And just like she expected, BOOM!! Clara felt a strong impact on her face as she was sent flying and hit a wall, breaking it in the process. "Finally, you have no idea how long I waited for this." Mela laughed, her tone containing pure ecstasy, as she stood where Clara was previously, with blood dripping from her right hand. "Ugh," Clara groaned as she opened her eyes again, only to see her vision dyed red; she was bleeding. Her whole body hurt. Mela probably held back her punch, because otherwise it would''ve definitely blown her head off. And the only reason she would hold back in an attack probably meant that she wasn''t allowed to kill Clara. However, this didn''t make her feel relieved, as a group of lunatics like Laughing coffin definitely won''t have a pleasant reason to keep her alive considering how they''re known to usually kill talented children. So why would they want her alive? Well, she didn''t have the chance to ponder about it as a dagger flew towards her, which she thankfully blocked by creating a barrier around her abdomen, almost on reflex. "Hoh, you still have mana?" Mela exclaimed, her tone showing genuine praise for the girl. "Well, since you blocked it, try blocking this too," Mela said as she disappeared from her spot. BAAM!! And before she knew it, Clara''s face was on the ground. Mela had rushed over to her and slammed her face on the rock-solid floor. Her whole head was bleeding right now. She had almost lost consciousness, but she bit her tongue to stay awake. But even after that, if nothing was done soon, she was going to die, and she couldn''t die just yet; after all, she still had one last trick up her sleeve. "Haha," Ciara let out a soft chuckle just as Mela was about to slam her head down again to knock her out. "The fuck? Did you lose your sanity on the verge of death?" Mela asked in genuine confusion as she brought the bloodied face of Ciara to eye level, and what she saw shook her. The girl was smiling, and the smile downright scared her. Ciara''s previously cute face was gone, as it was now covered in her own blood and dirt. Her eyes barely looked open. Her previously pearly white teeth were now covered in red, with two of them even being broken. However, the most unsettling thing was the smile on her face, which looked even more insane than the one Mela had on her face previously. And why wouldn''t she smile? After all, her plan had worked. There are two ways to break a subdimension. The first one is to use superior spatial magic compared to the one that was used to create it to break it. And the second method involved using a monstrous burst of mana to disturb the carefully arranged spatial particles to forcefully break a subdimension. However, in her panic, Clara had almost forgotten about the second method. Thankfully for her, she started counting the seconds inside her head the moment her barrier manifested. And while she was panicking at first, around 1 minute and 12 seconds after the fight started, she slowly started regaining composure; however, on the outside, there wasn''t any difference in her behaviour. Once she regained her composure, slowly a plan started forming inside her head as she realised a way for her to break the subdimension. She slowly, ever so slowly, started lowering the mana output in her attack, as she needed mana to execute this method. Ciara''s aspect has a second ability that only she and her parents knew about; it allowed her to use her own mana to ignite the surrounding raw mana particles to make them explode. However, the only problem with this plan was that the explosion would need to be extremely concentrated in order to break the dimension, which would allow Mela to dodge the explosion. And she couldn''t bet on being rescued by someone before Mela could kill her. So she needed to be in extreme close proximity in order for the plan to work. This was obviously too risky, as nothing''s stopping Mela from just killing her by throwing a dagger like she did at the start. However, for some reason, she had a feeling that the woman in front of her was far too mentally deranged to give her such an easy and quick death. And now it all worked out perfectly; she was in the perfect position to execute her plan, so with a smile, Clara muttered. "(Mana Burst)" And following her words, a blinding blue light enveloped everything before. BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! An ear-shattering explosion took place as the whole sub-dimension and even the restroom exploded. After that, Clara wasn''t able to see anything else as she lost consciousness due to mana exhaustion. However, just before she lost her consciousness, she felt an awfully familiar crimson mana, and just before she gave in to darkness, she managed to mutter in an almost inaudible tone. "Pretty" *** Authors note:- So I''m kind of curious: what are your guys thoughts about Clara? And also, if you guys think she would make a good ship with William? Chapter 44: Ch-44 Consequences Of Trying To Screw Him Over "Fuck," William muttered.Finally calming himself down after a few seconds, he started thinking about plans for a few seconds before finally having an idea. ''Spirits, go check up on all the names I''m giving you. These are all the kids in this party who have a Tier IV aspect according to the public'' Since Jack was fine, he assumed that laughing coffins were only targeting kids with Tier IV aspects. While the spirits went to check on the kids, he''d go and search for Rex or some other capable adult, as this issue is clearly out of his league. He isn''t strong enough to detect sub-dimensions, and even if he could, he couldn''t be certain of being able to take down the laughing coffin member. However, just when William was about to move and begin his search, he was interrupted. BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!! A massive, ear-shattering explosion shook the entire celebration venue, with almost all the guests being caught off guard by the sudden explosion. All guests aside from William, almost instinctively, before he even realised what he was doing, he used wind magic to fly towards the explosion, completely disregarding any previous thoughts of finding Rex or someone else for help he had. In just a second, William found himself in the room¡ªor rather, the remains of the room where he previously insulted Ciara¡ªwhich was also the area where female restrooms were located. However, now only smoke and debris remained. Unaware of what might come out once the smoke dispersed, he went all out and activated both [mana ascension] and [spirit ascension: dual spirit fire and wind], not caring about hiding his strength as most people wouldn''t understand it even if they saw him. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Almost instantly following his transformation, visible Crimson mana appeared in the destroyed room, with Williams appearance now taking a drastic change as the sheer power he exuded cleaned out the smoke. Once the smoke cleared, two figures came into view. One was a brutally beaten and bleeding blonde girl on the ground who seemed to be in critical condition. The other, in stark contrast to the girl, was a beautiful woman who seemed to be wearing what appeared to be a lewd top and pants, only covering her privates, as well as the almost torn remains of a brown cloak covering her body. The woman barely looked human, as her skin had a greyish tone to it and her left arm was bleeding, but it didn''t seem too fatal. Seeing Ciara as well as the women who seemed to be responsible, the one main emotion William felt was anger. Anger at the fact that someone dared to attack him or his peers at his own birthday party. Even in his past life, William had a pretty bad experience with assassins. And the women in front of him made him relive some pretty bad memories; strangely enough, the assassins who were after him didn''t seem to trigger his trauma, but something about the women in front of him just pissed him off. William didn''t care too much about the girl named Ciara; however, he did care about the potential implications of a laughing coffin making an appearance at his birthday party, as well as the consequences if they succeeded. But William was far too experienced to simply lose his cool and attack the women, so he quickly calmed down as he erected a barrier around the room to prevent the women from escaping. He was going to set an example right here and right now of what happens when someone messes with him. ** ''Fuck'' Mela thought as she barely managed to jump back in time to survive the explosion by activating her aspect ability. Mela was blessed with a Tier II aspect called a demon-like human. Which allowed her to greatly enhance her combat ability and even allowed her to regenerate; she could receive an even bigger buff in stats at the cost of her mental wellbeing. But even with her relatively powerful aspect as well as her experience, she knew her place in the hierarchy. Now, with the sub-dimension gone, she was in the same building with multiple monsters in human skinning capable of ending her in seconds. She might be someone crazy who just took a dangerous job at the potential prospect of bullying some rich and lucky kid, but she didn''t actually want to die. Speaking of lucky kids, Mela had to admit that she had definitely underestimated the girl named Ciara too much, which caused her current predicament. On the bright side,it doesn''t matter even if there were some slight hiccups; she just needed to grab Ciara now that she''s unconscious and use an artifact her higher-ups had given her to teleport away before any of the true monsters in this establishment got to her, and once she''s away, she can torture the brat responsible for current misery to her heart''s content. She wasn''t really sure why her group insisted on wanting the girl alive, but she didn''t really care as long as she got her share of the fun. However, just before she could make a run for it, an overwhelming and visible crimson aura engulfed the whole room. She didn''t remember anyone worth noting who possessed such a distinct crimson mana, so out of curiosity, she turned around, and what she saw shocked her. Floating a few feet away was a kid who could only be described as majestic. The boy had a majestic dual-coloured crown on his head made up of bright orange and bright teal colour, respectively. On his back were too-wing-like objects of the same colour. And he was donning a royal-like orange and teal robe with eyes that shone of the same colour. Mela was almost entranced, looking at the boy, who didn''t even seem to belong to the same world as her. She almost even forgot about her survival instincts; however, she quickly recovered her senses, and as she took a look around her, she couldn''t help but notice a thick crimson barrier covering the whole room with visible mana particles of the same particles. Which was a huge problem as such a huge disturbance in the surrounding mana would prevent her artifact from working. Another thing she noticed was that her own ability to use mana was greatly hindered. Thankfully, it wasn''t completely gone, but it was just more difficult to cast spells or use skills inside the barrier. Upon closer inspection of the boy responsible for her current state, she soon recalled his identity. William Verhein, the son of Rex Verhein, the current sword saint, as well as someone who awakened at the mere age of 4, and that too with a monstrous Tier IV aspect. This boy was the perfect target for her group, due to which, just like her target Ciara, an assasin, or rather, a duo of assasins, were assigned to him. So to now see him in front of her completely fine could only mean one thing, but still, out of curiosity, Mela asked the obvious. "What happened to the Zaratul brothers?" Hearing her question, the boy released a bloodlust that was almost suffocating, which, while unbelievable for someone his age to possess, wasn''t enough to suppress a professional serial killer like her; however, it did intimidate her. Finally, after a few seconds, which seemed to go on for hours for Mela, the boy opened his mouth. "I sent both of those clowns to a very special place; coincidentally, I''ll also be sending you to the same place." "And that place is called hell." Chapter 45: Ch-45 Start of their destruction "And that place is called hell."As those words fell, a cold silence descended from the barrier. Mela felt a slight fear strike her heart as she knew that the boy in front of her was serious about his words. But she knew better than to just let a 10-year-old intimidate her. However, before she could rebut the boy in front of her, she felt multiple presences in the room outside the barrier, and as she turned around, she felt her heart stop. Rex Verhein, Cloward Fiel, and many other powerhouses were currently standing outside the barrier, and they all seemed furious at this point. Mela was in complete despair, having already forfeited her life. However, to everyone''s surprise, right before Rex could step inside and end Mela''s life, a voice stopped everyone. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "No, father, let me handle this, please," William said in a deep voice that reverberated throughout the broken room. It was the kind of voice that contained finality and left no room to argue. Rex wanted to argue, but something told him that William would never forgive him if he took this opportunity from him. So he decided to trust his son, and besides, if anything dangerous happens, he can save his son instantly, though for some reason he didn''t think William was in danger. And since the father of the boy didn''t intervene out of mutual respect for Rex, the other powerhouses also decided to just observe. However, this mutual respect didn''t stop a few guests from secretly recording the event that was about to go down. Ever since Morgov connected to Astressa over the past thousand years, technology has gone up by leaps and bounds. The technology isn''t advanced enough to be called sci-fi; however, it''s similar to the level of technology Williams''s Old World Blue Planet had. Due to this, mobile phones were commonplace. Due to respect for their roots, the architecture, aristocracy, and culture of Astressa represented medieval society. At first, a bunch of people were against the sudden influx of high-tech gadgets and modern-day concepts that the people of Morgov possessed, but the vast majority understood the potential the people of Morgov had for the development of their planet. And now, after a thousand years, we are at a place where the cultures of both worlds are widely respected and accepted, which is why most people nowadays prefer to own a cell phone for communication and entertainment purposes. While a few guests were trying to sneakily record the fight that was about to ensue, they were a bit afraid that they might get caught and punished. Thankfully for them, their worries were short-lived. "Livestream what''s about to happen; it''s time we give laughing coffins a taste of their own medicine," William announced, his tone still containing authority, which didn''t belong in the voice of a 10-year-old. Hearing the boy, the guests, who were trying to sneakily record at first, openly took out their devices as they started a live stream. Among these guests were a bunch of popular figures who naturally had a lot of followers, so once they started a live stream within minutes, the live stream had thousands of viewers. The chat was pretty curious about what was going on; however, they were also excited to see the prodigy William Verhein, who seemed to be engaged in some sort of fight against a woman in peculiar clothing. However, this curiosity was short-lived, as just after a moment, a bone-chilling scream caught everyone''s attention. "Ahahahahahahhaahahha!!!!!!!!!!" Mela screamed in agony as she felt her left arm burning. Everyone in the hall, including the viewers watching the live stream, was too stunned to speak as they were too confused about what was going on. However, this was just the beginning of everything William had in store for tonight. The Laughing Coffin is a notorious group of misfits infamous for the sadistic tactics of their members. They were known for killing out talents and sabotaging the development of society. However, there was another thing that they were known for, and that was the occasional live stream they conducted through anonymous accounts. The contents of these live streams were revolting, as they featured a member of their group brutally torturing, both mentally and physically, some of the talented kids they chose to kidnap instead of simply killing. Over 100 years ago, there was a similar live stream of them torturing the heir or a marquess, which made them infamous throughout both worlds. And now, to answer their return, William planned to give them a taste of their own medicine. After all, since William was going to destroy the group, he first needed to destroy the stigma of respect they have amongst the underworld as well as the fear their name invokes everywhere else. Before he physically destroyed the group, he wanted to turn them into a joke. Also, it''s a known fact that a member of the laughing coffin will just die if you try to interrogate them, so instead of that, it''s better for him to just humiliate them for now. After a few seconds of intense pain, Mela quickly cut her own arm without hesitation to free herself of the pain. However, before she could do anything else, William was right in front of her, whispering. "Aww, that''s no fun; you need to struggle more." He said as an almost satanic smile crept its way on his face. Mela was at the peak of her anger when she saw the boy who was responsible for her losing her precious arm smile at her, so with no hesitation, she activated her berserker ability as well as her healing ability to regrow her arm. With zero hesitation, she lunged at the boy with her trusty dagger in hand. However, to her complete surprise, the boy remained unfazed as he observed the weapon in her hand moving towards him before he caught the dagger between his fingers, looking unaffected by the deadly toxin on the surface of the blade. And before she could even react, ~Crack~ The dagger that had accompanied Mela throughout her childhood broke in front of her, almost like it was made of glass. And before she could even mourn the loss of the only belonging that accompanied her throughout her childhood or attack the boy, he uttered something. "Kneel" And as if given an absolute order, she found herself kneeling on the ground, almost praying to the boy responsible for her current state. "Good, now it''s time for you to pay for your sins," William said in a soul-chilling tone that made Mela consider committing suicide to escape whatever the boy had planned. **** Sorry for the late upload. My mood was kind of down today due to some haters, but all is well now. I''m just going to use their hatred to fuel my novel. Chapter 46: Ch-46 Declaration Of War (Trigger warning: this chapter is a bit dark.)"Good, now it''s time for you to pay for your sins." Mela felt her soul leaving her body as she heard those words. Right now, her body was almost paralysed; all the mana in the room was forcing her to kneel. It was almost like Mana had become sentient and was following the boy''s will. But it was actually a lot more complicated than that because William was currently focusing on all the mana particles near Mela and making them extremely dense, which was forcing her to kneel. This little antic of his took a lot of his mental power, but it definitely did its job of making him look stronger than he actually was and also making it seem like Mana was following his commands. And due to the dense nature of the mana around Mela as well as her weakened state, she wasn''t able to use mana. The potion William had fed her made all her sensory organs extremely hyperactive at the cost of her mana. William had bought this potion a while back, but he never expected to use it like this. At least he was able to use it to set an example. And as for what he had planned next, he had thought a bit about what would be the most humiliating way to kill the woman in front of her to achieve his goals. And in the end, he decided that the worst way would most certainly be the same way Laughing Coffin had killed that son of the Marquess all those years ago. That video back then was so revolting that it was practically impossible to forget for anyone who watched it, due to which there were still a few books about this incident that William happened to read a few years ago back in his household library. "Leave me, you bastard; you don''t know who you''re messing with!!! " Mela shouted, hoping to scare away the boy responsible for her current miserable position. Truthfully, she was scared right now; she couldn''t feel her mana, and she was surrounded by powerhouses all capable of ending her life. If she was just going to die, she would have accepted it, but she didn''t want to be humiliated like this on a live stream that thousands, if not millions, of people are watching. Mela had been an orphan ever since her birth. She didn''t have much back then; she didn''t even know who her parents were. She was used by the adults around her. Until one day she couldn''t take it anymore, and she picked up a knife for the first time in her life. She was just 12 back then, but when she plunged her knife into the throat of the repulsive old man, she saw his crimson liquid escape outside and his insides, which were supposed to remain inside him, come outside. It was an extremely gory and disgusting sight, but to her, it was the first time she was able to see the look of fear on the faces of those disgusting men as they saw her kill one of their friends. The faces, which used to be filled with disgust and lust towards her, now displayed a new emotion, and it was beautiful. After that, she killed all of those disgusting men one by one and as slowly and painfully as possible. The screams of terror they let out back then were like music to her ears. It was back then that she came to learn about the beauty hidden in the genuine screams of terror humans let out when their lives were in danger. After that, she just killed and killed. It became even easier to kill once she awakened at the age of 16. She wasn''t that talented in mana; however, she was lucky enough to have awakened to Tier II, which was much better than what most people had and allowed her to become a well-respected figure in the underworld. It was a few years ago that she was approached by a suspicious man and invited to join the group called Laughing Coffin. Mela had always hated children as they reminded her of her own dark past, and this hatred was only increased when it involved rich and talented kids, two things she never had. So without hesitation, she took the offer, and now, after a few years here, she was on her first mission. However, she never expected to be caught in a situation like this; she didn''t want to die, especially not at the hands of a rich and talented kid. But unfortunately, it didn''t seem like she had much of a say in the matter. "Nah, I know exactly who I''m messing with, which is why I''m doing it." William retorted to Mela''s bluff with a sneer. Once he retorted, his shadow grew as around five wolf-like monsters made up of shadows stepped out. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And what followed next shocked everyone as the wolves made their way towards Mela, and once they were close enough, one of them took a bite out of her left foot. "Ahahahahahaaha!!!! " Mela screamed in agony as her previously pretty face was nowhere to be found, now covered in snot and tears. With her mana already exhausted due to the potion, her body still being pressed down by the dense mana around her, and the potion enhancing her sensory organs. The little bite of that wolf had made her experience a wave of pain the likes of which she had never experienced throughout her already brutal life. And this was just the start of her hell. That she was going to experience tonight before she was allowed to die. That was right. The first ever activity that made Laughing Coffin so feared back then was feeding a young, barely 10-year-old kid to a pack of hungry wolf-like monsters while they gave a speech which was accompanied by the bone-chilling cries of an innocent child. So according to William, the best way to send a message would be to repeat the tragedy from a hundred years ago, except this time the victim won''t be an innocent kid. And with that began the event that would mark the first page on the history pages of the legend of William Verhein, or, as many would soon come to call him, the great calamity. Chapter 47: Ch-47 Declaration Of War-2 "Ahahahahaha!" Mela let out a gut wrenching scream as she tried to roll around to hopefully alleviate the pain a bit, but there seemed to be some sort of invisible string holding her in place.Seeing her state, William smiled as he undid his transformation, making it look intentional and perfectly concealing the fact that he was nearing his limit. However, William chose to ignore his building fatigue as he stood a few cm in front of Mela, allowing everyone to see her form slowly being consumed in the background. "Welcome, my beloved inhabitants of both our beloved worlds," William said in an authoritative tone, his voice sounding deeper than usual thanks to being enhanced by magic. "Tonight I stand before you as an important turning point in history is upon us." "Some pathetic vermin have crawled back out of their little hole," he said as his face contorted a bit to show an enraged expression before returning to normal as he continued. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Many of you guys might know these annoying pests by the name of ''Laughing Coffin'', a fitting name as soon as their eventual death and destruction will become the greatest joke to have happened since the fall of 4899." The mention of ''fall of 4899'' elicited a few chuckles out of his crowd as they remembered one of, if not the funniest, events to have ever happened in all of known history. However, they were quickly suppressed as William started speaking again. "That''s right, this is the kind of reaction a pitiful group like theirs should invoke." "Ahahahahaha!!!!! " William was interrupted by the scream of Mela as her right hand was eaten by one of the hounds. Seeing her scream, William smiled as he continued to scream, choosing to ignore all screams. "As you can see, the pitiful woman behind me belongs to the same group of ants that I was talking about." "The ''oh so great Laughing Coffin'' is a name that many of our mothers'' used to scare away their children to sleep, the same group that is practically idiolized by most criminals." "However, I disagree; in my opinion, all they are is a bunch of vermin who are too weak and scared to fight adults, so they aim for our children." "The only reason there are still not 6 feet underground is due to them being good at hiding themselves, just like insects, too afraid of the outside world." "And to prove my point, this pest is behind me as well as these little mosquitoes," he said as his shadow once again expanded and expelled a completely charred black corpse of what seemed to be a man before, as well as multiple flesh cubes of seemingly another human. Once they fully manifested, William stepped aside and ordered his summons to do the same, revealing a sight that caused many viewers at home to puke. Laying all alone on the ground was the mutilated and bleeding head and torso of a woman; her limbs seemed to be missing. However, little stumbs of flesh could be seen in their place; it was almost as if they were ripped apart, or rather eaten alive. Her face was covered with disgusting fluids like tears, snot, mucus, saliva, and blood. The same red liquid completely painted the ground around her. It was really a surprise how she was still alive, as evident by the up-and-down motion of her chest. Her supernatural tenacity and endurance to still be alive could probably be attributed to her being awakened, and that too with an aspect enhancing her physical stats. The gory sight presented was enough to make even some of the adults present in the room gulp a bit, as most of them had never witnessed such gore due to the peaceful nature of the era they were born in. It was hard to believe that the one responsible for all of this was just a 10-year-old, but before anyone could voice out their concerns, three golf ball-sized purple balls manifested in Williams hands before they flew towards the two corpses and one barely alive woman. Once these balls made contact with the body, they expanded before envoleping their targets in an egg-like-shaped object that was purple in colour. After a few seconds, ~crack~ At almost the same time, the eggs hatched, and three wolf-like monsters made up of shadows stepped out and walked towards the same group of hounds that ate Mela. "And just like that, three pests were removed from the world." William sneered as he smiled, looking towards the camera again. "It''s just that easy." "This is the same fate that awaits each and every person that belongs to this group of worms." "It doesn''t matter how many of them there are or will be; this is a threat. I will find you, and I will give you similar, if not worse, deaths than these 3 insects." "In a sense, you can even thank me for promoting your insects to the status of dogs." "And yet these same insects are the ones who''re responsible for the condition of this poor girl." He said as he used his invisible strings to grab Ciara and make her float towards him, showing her poor state to the viewers. The poor, bloody body of the girl was more than enough to even move the coldest hearts in pity for her. "These same insects that had thankfully disappeared for years are now back, and they were hoping to once again instill the fear that we had barely forgotten about all those years ago." "Are we really going to let these clowns make fun of all our ancestors who fought and died for our current peaceful era?" "Let me ask all the parents watching this video: do we really want to live our whole lives in fear for the safety of our children?" Right now, the words that William was spitting out do not belong to a child and instead sound like those of a leader. In which case they would be right after all; it was William''s charisma that allowed him to get his revenge in his past life, and now he was going to use the same charisma in this life to unite the whole world to purge out the group that tried to ruin his life. "Well, it doesn''t matter what all of you think, but I promise everyone that I will snuff out these groups of pests." "I will brutally kill and destroy all of these fuckers." "However, let me ask you now: are you going to let a single child fight all alone for the future of your children?" He asked as he held out his hand towards the camera. "Hey brat, are you stupid? Do you think we haven''t been trying to get rid of these fuckers for years already?" asked some random guy William wasn''t sure who it was, but he was grateful that someone asked this question, as he replied. "That''s true; however, you''re forgetting something I wasn''t born yet." "I know my words might sound like the yappings of an arrogant, delusional kid to some of you." "But I promise on my family name of Verhein that I will not rest until each and every last member of this group has been eradicated from the face of both our beautiful planets." "That''s right, tonight, on the 18th of Julias of the year 5678, I, William Verhein, declare war on the group known as Laughing Coffin." *** Authors note:- Now, before any of you guys jump to conclusions, let me cook until the next chapter. I promise you guys that the MC isn''t some dumbass who just put a target on his back for no reason. Chapter 48: Ch-48 History Has Its Eyes On You Inside a dark room in an unknown location where no light could enter, a figure sat; his features were completely hidden from sight except for his bright silver tophat, which shone even in the darkness.The figure seemed to be watching something on his device, but for some reason, the light from the device didn''t seem to illuminate the room around it or the man holding it. A deep authoritarian voice played out from the device; it contained a unique charm and a charisma of sorts that could motivate even the laziest person to follow their dreams or, in this case, declare war. "That''s right, tonight, on the 18th of Julias of the year 5678, I, William Verhein, declare war on the group known as Laughing Coffin." That''s right, this was a video from Williams Livestream, which was only viewed by a few thousand people while live. But now it had spread like wildfire throughout the human continent of Astressa as well as Morgov. When people first heard about the return of the laughing coffin, they felt a deep-seated fear inside their hearts that they had barely managed to forget about and move on. Had resurfaced, making them worried about the tragedy from the past century repeating itself, especially with their own children this time. But thanks to the sheer mockery William had made of the group as well as the video of him brutally crushing a member of the feared group before turning three of them into his eternal slaves in the form of summons, It had definitely achieved its effect of making people no longer fear the group; however, it didn''t mean that everyone started looking down on the group; instead, with the fear now gone, all that remained was pure, unadulterated rage for the tragedies of the past. And even those who didn''t care much about the past were moved by the sight of Ciara, the beloved daughter of Duke Fiel, and this sentiment was only strengthened in the Rubalt kingdom, which was Ciara''s home kingdom, where she was treated as a princess due to her talent, status, kind-hearted nature, and cute looks. So seeing their beloved princess on the verge of death was more than enough for the citizens to completely forget about everything else and instead focus their attention on seeking retribution on the group responsible for her poor condition. However, not everyone seemed to share the sentiment. In his attempt to turn Laughing Coffin into a joke, William had naturally been placed in the limelight of the entire world. The whole world seemed divided on what to think of the boy. Many people considered him the spawn of the demon king itself due to the brutality he displayed despite just being 10 years old and considered his actions crimes against humanity, despite the one''s towards whom these actions were directed being criminal. They wholeheartedly believe that the boy will plunge the world into chaos unless he is purged out while he is still relatively weak. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And they wanted him gone before he could grow and become even more powerful than he already was. Of course, this group was just a minority and was heavily suppressed due to the father of the boy they were accusing. Another group considered him a disillusioned, arrogant rich kid who let the attention and praise he received in the past get to him and now thinks the world revolves around him, anticipating his eventual failure to meet his promises so they could openly mock him. And just like the last group, though a bit bigger in size, it was still a minority. Another group were the fan boys and fan girls who either idolised Rex due to all his achievements, were fans of Myra due to her days as an adventurer or her breath-taking beauty, or were fans of William who were anticipating the glorious achievements that they were sure he would achieve in the future so they could brag about how they supported him from the start. And of course, this group was doing exactly what keyboard warriors do best, which is spending their whole day defending their idol or their son against all the allegations and slander. Now, for the vast majority, they already consider him a pioneer of the future, the undisputed no. 1 once he matures due to his parents as well as his awakening at just the age of 4, and that too with a Tier IV aspect. This sentiment was only further strengthened once they saw him completely manhandle a member of the infamous criminal group and even imply how he had killed two other members. But that wasn''t what they were concerned about right now. Because now all their attention was on the words he spoke, saying he could destroy a group that had existed for 100 years. And even suggesting that the only reason all of them had failed to do this till now was because he wasn''t born yet. And even more arrogant claims similar to these. It was definitely enough to cancel just about anyone who said this in just a few hours. And yet, due to the background of the boy involved as well as the sheer confidence and determination he displayed, many people found themselves believing the boy even if they didn''t want to believe it. It was absurd to believe the words of a kid, especially when it involved taking down a criminal organisation that had existed for a whole century. And yet here they were, getting their hopes up. For now, no one knew which group was right; after all, no one knows the future, and even those that do are oftentimes unreliable. But one thing was sure: regardless of the results, the boy had already cemented his place in history. Whether that was as a clown or a grand figure capable of doing the impossible, only time could tell, but one thing was for sure. That history has its eyes on William Verhein. And yet, as the man who was perhaps the most affected by the contents of the viral video, instead of feeling enraged or scared, he just laughed. "Hahahahaha! This will be fun." It was impossible to see the face of the man, but just from his voice and words, it was fair to assume that he was smiling. Chapter 49: Ch-49 Conversation With Parents "Hahaha, this will be fun."The man, shrouded in darkness, snickered. This was the leader of the laughing coffin, and yet he laughed watching his members get killed, his group being humilated in front of everyone, and even being declared war on. He had remained in hiding for the past decade or so, not because he was scared but just because he needed to pull some strings in the shadows. And after coming back, his plan was to kill some of the most prominent and talented kids in their own celebration to reawaken the fear hidden inside people''s hearts. But his plan failed, and not only that, he and his group were made a complete mockery of by a 10-year-old. It really couldn''t get any worse So why was he laughing? The answer to that question was entertainment, and finally, after years, he found something to entertain him. He was right there at the Williams birthday party, disguised as one of the many guests. Only he himself knows how hard it was for him to not laugh back when William was insulting him and talking about how he''s going to destroy his organisation. In fact, he was the same person who questioned William near the end of his speech, and he couldn''t say he was disappointed by his answer. If he wanted, he could''ve easily killed William and everyone else, including Rex, but why should he? A show isn''t fun if one side is too overpowered or if it ends prematurely. So to fully milk William out for the entertainment he''s worth, he decided not to intervene. "William Verhein, I have my eyes on you; make sure to not disappoint me." ** "So do you have anything you want to say to explain your actions, young man?" Rex asked in a calm tone, making sure to not let any of his rage show in his tone. Rex had ended the party after Williams little stunt and made sure to maintain his silence until they were back home to not make a scene. And now he and Myra sat in their living room with William in front of them, who seemed awfully calm for someone who had just publicly declared war on arguably one of the most dangerous groups in the underworld. "I''m glad you chose to listen to the reasoning behind my actions before saying anything, father." William smiled as he finally started explaining his plan. "So I basically declared war on laughing coffins because it was important for someone to address them before they could do something to make people fear them again." "Which is why I took the initiative?" William said it proudly. "But why do you care?" Rex asked, still not convinced. "I don''t know, maybe because they tried to kill me." William asked as if stating the obvious. "They tried to kill you????!!!! " Both Rex and Myra exclaimed in unison, shocked by what they heard their son saying. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it; I was almost assassinated at my own birthday party." "Thankfully, I''m too strong for some no-name assasins to end my life like this," William said, pointing at his own chest pride emanating from his voice. To someone who knew about him receiving his past life memories, his current behaviour might seem a bit childish considering he now has 20+ years worth of memories, which is exactly what he wanted; after all, to his parents, he''s just their 10-year-old son. He was sure they must already be having doubts about someone having replaced their son. Because the speech he gave a few hours ago as well as the violence he displayed were not something a 10-year-old could show. Others who don''t know him might just blame it on him having a few screws loose in the head; however, for his parents, who have been raising him since his birth, the shift in attitude wouldn''t go unnoticed. And yet they chose not to address it, which could only mean that they''d chosen to trust that he was still their son. The same son that Myra has had inside her for nine months¡ªthe same son Rex¡ªfought and killed thousands of monstrous foul beasts and became the natural enemy of the strongest race on the planet to protect. And knowing this, William couldn''t help but thank whoever was responsible for his reincarnation for giving him a second chance at life with loving parents, and this time he''d be sure to not let the tragedy of the past repeat itself. Internally it was at this moment that William promised himself to never betray the trust they placed in him. "You were right, son, those bastards don''t deserve to exist on both our beautiful planets; they should be eradicated, and I''ll make sure of it," Rex said, finally finding an outlet for all his new-found anger he''s had since the live stream from a few hours ago. This was the second assassination attempt on William. Back when he was 7, a group of idiotic mercenaries hungry for money took a bounty offer and tried to assassinate him. Of course they failed, and Rex ensured to wipe out their whole organisation as well as the one who hired them from the face of Astressa. An incident that is still remembered by many prominent names in the underworld also causing them to make a rule about blacklisting all assassination requests involving William Verhein. After all, Rex didn''t spend almost one-third of his life fighting monstrous beasts to protect his son, just for some lowlifes to do him in. Which is why hearing that William almost got assassinated again made him forget about all the anger he previously felt towards William for his rash actions, as he found a new outlet for his emotions. "Yeah, I agree with that. Since William already declared war on them, we need to make sure to not make him lose face." Myra chimed in after gaining a new understanding of her son''s previous actions as well as the reason behind her husband''s anger. However, both of them quickly calmed down as they addressed the main reason behind their anger and frustration. "Ok, so I can understand your anger now, but why would you choose to livestream and place a target on yourself?" Myra asked. "Yeah, you might be strong among kids your age, but you''ll be helpless against someone half decent." S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Sure, you might have the potential to become the strongest one day and even have a divine aspect to back you up, but none of that changes the fact that you''re just an inexperienced 10-year-old," Rex asked, his confusion palpable. "Well, I''m glad you asked that," William said before sighing, as this was the important moment where whether he could actually put his future plans into action or not would be decided. It was now time to try and convince his parents to let him travel to the neutral continent. Chapter 50: Ch-50 Convincing Arguement "Well, you see.""So you see, before I answer your question, I need to tell you guys something," William said, his nervousness oozing out of his voice. "Sure, go ahead," both Rex and Myra said in unison, a bit curious about what could cause their son to suddenly get nervous. "I''m going to go to the neutral continent," William said, finally ignoring his hesitation and choosing not to beat around the bush. "What??" Both Rex and Myra exclaimed, doubting their own ears. Why would their 10-year-old suddenly ask to leave their protection right after declaring war on a dangerous criminal organisation only to travel to one of the most dangerous places in the world? Surely they must have misheard, right? "Well, you heard me the first time I''m going to the neutral continent." William sighed as he witnessed his parents disbelief, which arguably made sense. But since William couldn''t explain everything to them in detail, he chose to twist the facts a bit and continued to explain himself before they could retort. "I''m aware that I''ve put a target on my back; however, it was intentional and not something I did while being swayed by my emotions." Rex wanted to start questioning him already, but he decided it''d be best to give his son a chance to explain himself before he started questioning him. "I want you guys to announce to the world that I''ve entered solitary training inside our territory." "And due to father''s status, no one except the emperor himself can really question this, and this will also limit Laughing Coffin''s actions as they would spend time searching for his whereabouts inside Karka Kingdom, which obviously won''t exist." "While all this is going on, I plan to use a different identity to travel to the neutral continent and get strong enough to back up my words." "While Laughing Coffin is focused on William, who in their eyes is hiding inside his house, I''ll go to the neutral continent, and when I come back, I''ll no longer need to hide." William said he was hoping that his parents could understand his intentions. Both Rex and Myra were silent for a few seconds after hearing William explain the reasoning behind his actions. Truthfully, they didn''t expect him to have such solid reasoning behind his actions; they half expected him to have declared war simply because of his anger. In which case, while they could understand where he was coming from, they at least planned to give him some form of punishment for putting himself in so much danger. But the more they listened to his explanation, the fewer flaws they could find in his reasoning. Everything he said made sense, all except one thing: why would he want to willingly go to the most dangerous place in the world? And besides that, that place is the home of the dragons and mythical beasts¡ªthe same dragons and beasts¡ªwho have been trying to kill him ever since his birth. He should know how hard Rex has worked over the years to protect them, and yet why would he willingly go to their home continent? S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So with a desire to satiate his curiosity, Rex finally asked the thing that had been bugging him. "Well, so you see," William breathed deeply, preparing to tell his parents the half truth. "My flaw, father, mother, I have found a way to fix it, and it exists on the neutral continent," William said, his eyes containing determination, proving that he wasn''t joking. Silence followed Williams words as his parents took a few seconds to process what he just said. Finally, Myra asked. "What? " She asked almost inaudibly, her voice containing pure disbelief. Hearing her voice, Rex also snapped out as he realised the implications of his son''s words. A flaw is not something that''s common among any of their two worlds. Only a divine aspect user had a flaw, and according to popular belief, it was the only thing preventing them from ascending. The only thing maintaining their humanity and suppressing their dormant divinity. Many believe that after a divine aspect''s 10th ascension, they can get rid of their flaws and ascend to the higher planes. Of course, these were all just rumours and speculations, as there had only ever been one divine aspect user in history, and he obviously only divulged very limited information about how this tier of aspects functioned. And even a lot of this already limited information had been lost to time. But people widely believed that it was impossible to get rid for a divine human flaw of his flaw without ascending 10 times. And this was only further solidified after both Rex and Myra had spent years searching for a way to remove or, at the very least, suppress it to some extent so that their child could lead a somewhat normal life. And yet it was all to no avail; nothing they did or tried worked. A few years after his birth, they came to the realisation that the will of the world wanted to kill him. They weren''t sure what exactly their newborn son had done to warrant the anger of a being of such scale, but they had no intentions of giving up without a fight. The will of the world is a very complicated concept, with not much known about it, but a few tribes chose to worship this unknown entity. According to them, the Will of the World is an amalgamation of all emotions, dreams, hopes, fates, futures, pasts, souls, and many other complicated concepts of every single entity that lives on Astressa. And according to them, the reason behind the merger of both Astressa and Morgov was because the will of Astressa devoured the will of Morgov. Of course, most people considered this just the ramblings of some senile, uneducated old people. But both Rex and Myra had reason to believe them due to a few things they found during their research. And according to their beliefs, dragons are the most closely connected beings to the will of the world. Which is why it was able to manipulate them to try and kill William, even ignoring their usual neutral stance throughout history. At this point, they had basically given up on getting rid of his flaw and instead chose to focus on making William strong enough to resist whatever the world wanted to throw his way. So to hear William talk about how he had managed to find a way to fix his flaw out of nowhere definitely came as a shock to them. Causing Rex to finally snap out of his trance and ask. "Surely you jest, right?" He asked, his tone practically begging to be proven wrong. Thankfully for him, his wish was granted. Chapter 51: Ch-51 Convincing Argument-2 This was practically a dream to him ever since Williams birth; this is all he had ever wanted¡ªnot to have to clip their child''s wings and let him fly freely.To not have to worry about dragons knocking on their door just because they allowed him to use the gift he was born with. To allow their child to be happy and live out his dreams instead of being scared for his safety. If it were up to Rex or Myra, they''d without hesitation choose to have a non-talented kid they could easily protect and keep safe. Instead of the second-ever divine aspect in history, who''s destined to ascend to godhood and has quite literally the world itself trying to kill him, Sure, Rex and Myra were considered overpowered by mortal standards, but at the end of the day, they were just two people, and even despite their strengths, there was only so much they could do. Even Rex knew that the only reason he was able to protect William for so long was because he''d only been fighting S-SSS-grade dragons instead of true-born dragons. Even he doesn''t know if he can come out unscathed against a true-born dragon. Which is why he had been desperately training nonstop ever since William was born, which allowed him to now be recognised as one of the strongest humans in the world. Almost as if sensing his father''s worries, William smiled as he said. "No, father, I would never joke about such a thing." "While I haven''t found a way to completely free myself from my flaw, I have at least found a way to suppress it to the point that my life won''t be in mortal danger every time I use mana." "How?? " Both Rex and Myra exclaimed in unison. They didn''t really doubt William, as he has no reason to lie to them, but they did think that someone had scammed their innocent son, in which case they were going to make sure to make the perpetrator pay. "It was conveyed to me in a dream," William said playfully. "Elaborate." Both of them asked, thinking about scolding William for joking about such things with them. "Ok, so basically, I have inherited the legacy of the God of Mana," William said nonchalantly, not caring about how absurd his words were. "What the fuck?!!" Both of them screamed in horror at what they heard. God of Mana, aka the first person to have ever owned a divine aspect in history,. No one knew his real name, but according to the church of Mana, which was also the most popular church in the world, as well as the church from which the nun who died back during Williams birth belonged, Thankfully, for them, a hydra had shown up trying to kill William that day, so they could pin all the blame on it. But still, out of guilt over what happened, the Verhein household preferred to try and avoid that church instead, opting for either the church of light or the church of dreams. But to now hear that their son had inherited the legacy of that very same God almost made them consider that their son had developed some sort of mental illness from the frequent attempts at his life. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, what other explanation would even make sense? While the existence of ancient powers allowing people to inherit legacies of powerful historical events wasn''t something exactly unheard of. But no one had ever inherited a god''s legacy. And even ignoring the fact that ancient powers are supposed to be impossibly hard to find, that people spend their whole lives trying to find one. And even when they do, they need to go through nearly impossible-to-survive, life-threatening traps and tests just to claim it. And yet here was their son, proclaiming to have acquired the legacy of a fucking god despite barely having ever left their mansion. Are they supposed to believe that the legacy of a god was just resting in their own house? What other explanation for just ridiculousness could even be there other than their son being delusional? And yet, when they looked at his expression, it didn''t look like the face of a delusional or insane person. But rather a person who had everything planned out and now only seeked their approval. So they decided to once again trust in their son, hoping to not regret it in the future, as Myra asked. "Ok, so for a second, let''s believe that you magically obtained the legacy of a god." "Why would he choose to help you, a complete stranger?" She asked, her voice still containing clear scepticism. Well, here''s the rough part: he can''t exactly tell his parents that he was going to risk his life because God had given him some advice out of boredom. He had thought a lot about what would be a convincing argument to let his parents let their 10-year-old child travel to the most dangerous continent in the world. And after a lot of thinking, he had a good excuse. "According to what Zephyr has told me throughout history, I''m the only person with talent similar to his own, so he has chosen to pass on his legacy to me." "This is also the reason why he has advised me of a way to suppress my flaw so that I can properly inherit his powers," Williams said, his smile resembling that of a con man. But Rex and Myra were too shocked by what he had said to care about his expression right now. After a few seconds of contemplation, they started the questioning. Wasn''t their son supposed to have terrible luck? So how could he be born with a divine aspect¡ªthe highest affinity for man¡ªarguably comparable to the God of man¡ªand now he''s even managed to become the disciple of said God? But even despite being convinced about whether their son was telling the truth or not, they still had too many questions that needed answering. "Wait, but why would...?" Now that he had explained his main reasoning, it was time to answer some questions so he could convince them about the validity of his plans. Chapter 52: Ch-52 Convincing Argument -3 Getting taught by a God himself sounds about as ridiculous as something gets.But once you realise who the person being taught is, it starts to make sense. This was also the reaction of Rex and Myra. At first, they found it absurd, but the more they thought about it, the more sense it made. And if everything William said was true, in that case, they would have no choice but to agree to let him go on this journey. After all, they can''t possibly take the opportunity of inheriting a God''s legacy from their child. And the fact that there was a possibility of finding a solution to his flaw only made this journey even more important. That was at least what the logical side of their brain said, but it''s hard for a parent to think logically when it involves the safety of their own child. So, still unable to fully get rid of their worries, they continued questioning. And finally, after what felt like hours to William, Rex asked something that he wasn''t exactly sure how to answer, so once again he had to make something up. "Ok, so I understand everything, but why can''t I or any other guards accompany you?" Rex asked, looking genuinely confused. "Zephyr told me to go all alone." "And besides, father dragons would be able to sense your presence due to your [Enemy of All Dragons] passive skill, so taking you with me is too risky," William spat out with zero change in expression. Obviously, Zephyr had not said anything like this, but he couldn''t tell Rex that, so he had to make an excuse. And as for why he did not want to take Rex with him,? The answer to that was simple: It would restrict his freedom too much. William wanted to expand his army of summons before he made his way to the neutral continent. It doesn''t matter how much Zephyr assured him about how safe it was. William still didn''t fully trust Zephyr; after all, why would he? For all he knew, Zephyr wanted him to die for his hidden agenda. The only reason he was following his plan was because it was his best bet at getting stronger than he currently was. But if things did go wrong, he needed to be able to protect himself. "Ugh," Rex groaned upon hearing his son''s words. "Fine" "But wait, how do you plan on sneaking inside the neutral continent?" Myra asked, looking puzzled by her son''s plan. After all, it''s almost impossible to gain access to the neutral continent unless you''re a special exception. If he just wanted to normally go into the neutral continent with his normal identity, they could definitely manage that as long as he was accompanied by guards. But since William wanted to go in with a secret identity, it would look suspicious for the Verhein household to help a complete stranger gain access. Hearing her question, William smiled, already anticipating this question, as he answered back. "Adventurers guild" "I plan to become an adventurer and gain fame." The Adventurer Guild is an independent branch of mercenaries who complete missions to gain credit. This credit can be used for a variety of activities, such as upgrading one''s rank or exchanging it for prizes or money. The thing that sets the Adventurers Guild apart from regular mercenary organisations is that they have existed for thousands of years, even before the merger of Astressa and Morgov, and that they don''t delve into illegal activities. Even contributing to eliminating many national threats. All their achievements over the years have earned them a lot of praise and merit, to the point that being an adventurer is looked upon as one of the most popular professions among children. And all these years of service have allowed them to amass a disgusting amount of natural treasures and other valuable items. There are natural treasures that William needs for his aspect to summon chaos servants that will do his bidding. Even now, William didn''t know where the beasts and servants his aspect summoned were coming from; after all, none of them existed anywhere in either of the two worlds. But for now, he didn''t care about that, as he had more important things to take care of. Williams aspect was quite tricky, as it required either an A-rank or an S-rank natural treasure. Both of which are extremely hard to acquire and even more expensive. Yes, the Verhein household was a count family and thus loaded in terms of money. But their influence and money were abysmal in terms of other noble houses that had existed for hundreds to thousands of years, while the Verhein household had only existed for 15 years and was established by Rex himself. Originally, the Verhein household was a baron family, which was created due to Rex''s multiple achievements in his years as an adventurer. But it was promoted to a count family after Rex killed a hydra and saved the kingdom on the day of Williams birth. The only reason they even had any influence in the first place was due to Rex being one of the strongest humans alive and due to the talent William displayed, which dwarfed everyone his age. But that wasn''t the case for the Adventurer Guild, which had amassed a load of treasures that had Williams name written on them. Silence followed Williams answer before Rex asked. "You would need to be at least a S-rank adventurer to gain access; you do realise that, right?" "I know, which is why I plan to become a S-rank adventurer." Rex and Myra wanted to retort, but they knew that, knowing William, he''d likely be able to achieve it with relatively little effort. Honestly, they felt a bit jealous after all; it took them years of hard work to be promoted to S rank. But they soon managed to control their own emotions; after all, if anything, they should be happy to have given birth to such a genius. Finally, looking convinced about letting him go, Rex said. "Fine, you win, you can go, but before you go, I feel like I should give you your birthday gift. Rex said as he left the room. ''Well, that turned out better than expected'' William thought. Honestly, he didn''t really have a contingency plan in case his plan failed, other than maybe just sneaking out. Which he really wanted to avoid simply because it would be akin to betraying the trust his parents had placed in him. "So what were you planning on doing if we didn''t allow you to go?" Myra asked, displaying no emotion in her tone. "I would have cancelled the trip," William answered without hesitation, already knowing what his mother wanted to hear. Hearing her son say that, Myra smiled, pleased with his attitude. After that, a silence followed as they both awaited Rex''s return. But after almost a minute, William broke the silence, as he said. "I''m sorry," William said, his tone expressing his regret. "Why would you apologize?" Myra asked, looking puzzled. "For not informing you guys about my departure before." "Because of my rash actions, the internet must be exploding right now, with a lot of people pointing fingers at you guys for the way you raised me." William hadn''t yet seen the internet after his actions, but he had a pretty good idea about how the people on the internet behaved from his past life experiences. The same people who were praising him for his talents yesterday must now be insulting him, and if in the future he manages to actually succeed in his promises, they''ll act like they had supported him from day one. He already knew all of this before he went live, but it was only now that he once again witnessed his parents blind trust in him that the consequences of his actions truly settled in and the guilt started settling in. Hearing her son''s honest thoughts, Myra was a bit stunned before she broke out into a fit of laughter. "Hahaha!!!! " Hearing her laughter, William was flabbergasted as he looked at her, asking for an explanation. Seeing her son''s dumbfounded expression, Myra laughed even harder as she stood up and moved towards William. Before finally envoleping him in a hug for a few minutes, easily avoiding all his attempts at resisting. Finally, once Myra let him go, William moved away, as he asked. "What''s exactly so funny?" Annoyance evident in his tone. "Nothing; it''s just that after all the recent events, I almost forgot that you''re just 10; thanks for reminding me," Myra replied, her expression and tone depicting pure joy at her son''s childish antics. Hearing her reply, William was stunned, but before he could further say anything, Myra put her hand on his head, patting him. "Don''t worry about such stupid nonsense; you''re just 10 years old." "Just leave things like this to your mama and papa," Myra said proudly. "But aren''t you even a bit angry at me?" William asked, still looking confused. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Of course not; I''m your mother, and no mother could ever truly be angry at her own son." "Even if you destroyed the whole world and plunged a knife in my throat, I''d gladly accept it simply because I love you too much." "So stop wasting your time on useless things and just focus on your journey; after all, you can''t be distracted during such an important phase of your life." William was honestly touched by his mother''s words to the point he wasn''t even sure how to reply, but thankfully for him, he didn''t have to as Rex entered the room again, this time holding multiple boxes wrapped in wrapping paper. Chapter 53: Ch-53 Gifts "So, what did I miss?" Rex asked as he observed both William and Myra, who seemed to be standing near each other."Nothing" "Nothing" Both of them replied at once, choosing to keep their conversation a secret. "I guess you guys are now keeping secrets from me." Rex sighed, feeling sad at being left out. "Anyways, take a seat, William, Myra." Once both of them were seated, Rex took a seat beside Myra as he handed William one of the presents, as he said. "Happy birthday, son." "Thanks dad" "Open it and tell me if you like your gift." "Sure" As William ripped off the wrapping paper, what greeted him was a red rectangle box and another much smaller wooden box. As he opened the box, he found a pair of stylish brown long boots. "A-rank artifact called boots of agility" "As the name suggests, this artifact increases your speed; feed it to your slime, and I''m sure it will be helpful to you," Rex explained. "Thanks, dad, these will be really useful on my journey." "No problem, and as I hope you could guess, my intention in giving you this is clear." "In the future, if you ever encounter something you can''t handle, please just run." "Even if you have to leave innocents or your friends behind, please don''t die a fool''s death and just run away," Rex said as he looked into Williams eyes, hoping to have properly conveyed his intentions to his son. "Sure, father, you don''t need to worry; I won''t die, I promise you," William said, confidence oozing out of his tone. Rex smiled upon hearing his answer as he answered. "I''m glad you''re smart. Well, since you like your first gift, why don''t you check out the other wooden box?" Hearing his father''s voice, Williams opened the small wooden box, and inside he saw a silver ring with weird engravings on it resting between blue clothing like protection. "What''s this?" William asked, intrigued by the small ring. "An improved model of your current ring of suppression," Rex replied. "Unlike your current ring, which needs to be fully removed before you can use mana, this one has five modes controlling how much mana you can use." "I don''t think I need to tell you this, but please try to keep your mana utilisation to the minimum so your flaw doesn''t act up," Rex said, looking bored from saying the obvious. "Of course I already know that," William replied. After that, Rex gave William some money for his upcoming journey as well as a few more artifacts meant to save his life in case something unexpected happened. After that, the three of them just chatted casually for an hour before William went to his room to sleep for the night. After all, he needed to be well rested for tomorrow''s journey. ** As William now lay in bed, he muttered. "Status screen" ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:William Verhein sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Age:10 Race:Human Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:8210 Strength:1510 Agility:1700 Endurance:1200 Vitality:1600 Intelligence:2200 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C- Aura:F Charm:B- Luck:F- Resistance:E- Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Child Of Mana], [Loved By Spirits], [Mana Circuits], [Master Of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Mana Sense], [Master Of Elements], [Martial Genius], [One With Shadows], [Danger Sense], [Pain Resistance], [Poison Resistance], [Genius Of Aura] [Active Skills]: [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth], [Strings of Mana], [Elemental Strings], [Heavy Hit] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) and Swordmanship (Advanced+), Spirit Water Arts (Intermediate+), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of the Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of the Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of the Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of the Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ It seems his strength increased by 10 after the fights he had today. William smiled, seeing the increase in strength, but his mood was quickly ruined as he muttered. "Sigh, still too weak." Honestly, he was overpowered compared to people his age, but compared to Zephyr or the enemies he needed to beat, he was too weak. He needed strength, and a lot of it too. It didn''t matter what he needed to do for this strength; he wanted it, no, he needed it. Which is exactly why he needed this trip, even if it was all just a ruse that Zephyr was using to kill him off. He didn''t have a choice; he was desperate. Speaking of Zephyr, William had a feeling that there was something that Zephyr was hiding from him, so he went inside the memoirs. Once he entered, he was once again greeted by the same glamorous golden castle, which he entered, no longer getting distracted by how grandiose and over-the-top it looked. As he made his way through, he reached the throne room, where Zephyr was sitting on his usual grand throne. "So what brings you here?" He asked. "Don''t you already know that?" William asked, looking annoyed at his attempts at playing dumb. "No, I can''t read your mind, remember?" Zephyr retorted, still refusing to properly answer him. "You don''t need to read my mind to know what I''m asking," William retorted, his annoyance evident. Honestly, Zephyr had been rubbing William in the wrong direction for a while now. He was almost certain that Zephyr had some sort of hidden agenda, but every time he tried to question him, he always avoided him, and due to him being so much stronger than him, he couldn''t even really force him to answer. Right now, all that William could do was hope that Zephyr wasn''t secretly his enemy as he followed his suggestions. "Ah, you must be talking about that thing," Zephyr said, acting like he just remembered something. "Did I mention that the leader of the laughing coffin was at your party watching as you killed his subordinates and humiliated him?" "What the fuck? " William exclaimed Chapter 54: Ch-54 Departure "What the fuck?" William exclaimed"You heard me," Zephyr replied calmly. "No, surely I must have misheard."William tried to retort, but it was useless, as Zephyr replied. "No, I''m pretty sure you didn''t." "Holy sh*t, why did you not tell me something like this?" William asked, shocked by what he heard. "Why should I?" Zephyr asked, acting genuinely confused. William wanted to retort, but he wasn''t sure how. He didn''t trust Zephyr, so why would he expect his help? "I''m glad you at least have some level of shame still left," Zephyr said, observing his speechlessness. "And besides, if I told you the truth, you likely would have done something stupid and gotten yourself and everyone else in the party killed." "That''s not possible." Rex was still there; he would''ve protected me," William retorted. "No, trust me, he wouldn''t; in fact, from what I was able to sense, even if every person at the party teamed up together, that person would''ve still won," Zephyr quickly refuted. William was speechless at what he heard. He wanted to retort, but for some reason, he didn''t feel like Zephyr was lying or exaggerating. But how could that even be possible? Some of the most powerful people alive were present at his party, and yet Zephyr was claiming that the leader of the laughing coffin could''ve beaten all of them on his own. Just how absurd was that? It should borderline be impossible even for true-born dragons to do, and yet the leader of a mere criminal organisation who was too scared of being found and had to hide for a decade could boast such a feat. William didn''t even want to believe it, and yet he somehow found himself believing it. After all, one of the most idiotic things someone can do is underestimate their enemy, and while William wasn''t the smartest person alive, by no means was he a fool. So all he could do now was rush himself to get stronger, even more than he already was. "Anyways, what''s the plan?" Zephyr asked. "What do you mean you already know what the plan is?" William replied. "I do?" Zephyr asked, appearing clueless. "Well, I guess in that case, you just need to witness it as it unfolds," William replied. "Aww, man, you''re no fun," Zephyr sighed in disappointment. "Come on, at least tell me where we are heading first," he pleaded. "Chh, fine, but only if you tell me about the new divine aspect user" William chose to use the opportunity to the fullest, asking the main thing he was curious about. "Hoh, getting cheeky now, are we?" Zephyr asked, impressed by his boldness. "Just answer the question; I know you already know the answer." "You''re right I do, in fact, know already, but it isn''t fun if I just tell you, so don''t worry about it yet." "When you come across him, I''ll tell you." "As annoying as ever." William commented In the end, William could do nothing but sigh in disappointment as he prepared to leave. But before he could, he was interrupted by Zephyr. "While I''m not telling you who the other divine aspect user is, I can at least tell you that when you meet him, make sure not to kill or critically wound him." "Why?" William asked. "If you anger the person backing him, not even your parents or I would be able to save you." William was a bit stunned as he wondered about the identity of this mysterious backer, but he quickly gave up, finding it to be a waste of time. As he was about to leave, he turned around and said,. "Markwelter" "Hm?" Zephyr questioned. "Markwelter Kingdom, that''s our next stop." "Since you gave me some good advice, I figured you deserve to have a bit of your curiosity satiated," William replied before he truly left. Confirming that he had truly left, Zephyr sat back on his throne, as he said. "What a nice kid." "It''s really a shame about all the hardships that destiny has in store for him." "Oh well, it doesn''t matter what the future is; after all, I''m here to change the future anyway. I guess it wouldn''t hurt to help make his life a bit easier." With that said, Zephyr closed his eyes, excited for all the entertaining things William had in store for him. ** It was a beautiful day outside; the sun was shining brightly, birds were chirping, and squirrels were climbing trees and enjoying nuts. And on such a beautiful day, people on the internet were doing what they do best, which is finding things to hate. And today''s topic of hatred was a peculiar 10-year-old boy who, in their minds, made statements that he couldn''t back up. Well, their opinion didn''t really matter to the boy, as he was currently standing in front of his parents, looking completely different from his usual looks. He had black hair and black eyes and was wearing a black tuxedo with a small black bowtie near his neck. His face was currently covered in a mask, which looked quite unique, covering his face from the nose down in a plain black mask. And his eyes were covered by a black lens, allowing him to see but not letting others see his eyes. Around the eye portion were red outlines covering the whole upper portion of his face except for his forehead, which was covered by his long black bangs. He was also much taller than before, looking about 5''8 feet. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of this was achieved thanks to the appearance-changing artifact he fed his dark slime to make him look unrecognisable. "So, what do you think?" William asked, looking at his parents. "Well, this is most certainly a very unique look, but since you''re going to be an adventurer, it should be fine; after all, it''s common amongst adventurers to hide their faces," Myra commented. "I agree, and since your goal was to not be recognised, I think you did a pretty good job well done," Rex chimed in. "I''m glad to hear that," William said. "Well, I guess there isn''t much left to say anymore. I''ll be taking my leave. See you guys later," William said as he turned around, preparing to use [Shadow Step]. "Good luck, son," Myra said. "Stay safe and make sure to come back soon," said Rex as he suppressed the tear that was threatening to spill out while watching his son leave. "Yeah, will do, and once again, thanks for everything. I appreciate it." And just like that, the black-haired boy disappeared among the shadows. "They grow up so fast," Rex commented as a small tear slipped out. *** Authors note:- And just like that, we are done with this first part of the novel, which, in my opinion, is probably the weakest portion of the story I want to convey. I can''t wait for you guys to see all the things I have planned for the future, but still, out of curiosity, I would appreciate it if you guys gave me a review of the first 54 chapters of the novel so far, as well as rating it out of 10. Thanks in advance, and also, while I''m writing this privilege, chapters are out, so if any of you guys are curious about the future plot, feel free to buy them, and just know that I appreciate all of you guys regardless of whether you''re a paying or free reader. Chapter 55: Ch-55 Opportunity For Growth -ding +5 exp for slaying beastly howl[Quest: first 100 hunts completed] "Phew, that was tough," Aiden muttered as he observed the dead body of a wolf-like beast lying at his feet. It had now been a whole month since he had awakened, and everything still felt like a dream to him, and he wished it was maybe then his parents would still be alive. But there is no point crying over the past; all you can do is move on and look forward to the future, which is exactly what he planned. He was blessed with powers beyond his wildest dreams, and he planned to use them to avenge his dead parents. The only problem was that he still wasn''t sure who he was supposed to take revenge on. And the fact that he was still too weak was also a problem. Ever since his awakening, the system has given him a special quest, which he has now finally managed to complete after a whole month of blood, sweat, and tears. But it''s fine; this amount of hard work is the least he can do for revenge and to repay the god who gave him this opportunity. "Status Screen," Aiden muttered. ----------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:7(69%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:1100 Strength:346 Agility:210 Endurance:147 Vitality:190 Intelligence:87 [Invariable Stats] Mana:F Charm:E Luck:C+ Resistance:F+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (low) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(28%) 2.Earth(19%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(60%) 2.Light(95%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (34/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ------------------------------------------------------------ "It''s still hard to believe how fast my growth is," Aiden mused. And he was right; in just a month, he had gone from a mere 75 BF to a whopping 1100 BF, all thanks to his system. If anyone hears him, they''ll practically shed tears of blood out of jealousy, with many saying he didn''t deserve this gift. But Aiden didn''t care about that. All that mattered to him was getting stronger, and this system was just a means to an end for that. Besides, the system didn''t just give rewards to him for existing; he had to work hard for them, even risking his life for the past month. And thanks to that mission, he now also has a pretty good grasp of his current skill set. [Strong Mind] just made it easier for him to resist mental attacks and allowed him to remain calm in stressful situations. [Appraisal] allowed him to put living beings or items into quantifiable numbers. This skill was a personal favourite of his, as it let him judge if it was safe for him to fight something or not and made it so he wasn''t going into fights completely blind. [Circulation of Light] allowed him to rid his body of most status effects. It was very overpowered , as this meant that while he wasn''t fully immune, he did have a very absurd resistance to poisons. Next was his [light railgun]. This one was his personal favourite, as it allowed him to fire a beam of pure light out of his fingertips, capable of destroying most things in his path. Sadly, it took too much mana, so it was still only a trump card for him. As for [accelerate] and [heavy hit], they did exactly as the name implied and allowed him to increase his speed as well as make his attacks hit harder, respectively. He had also brought Flame Sword Style, a sword technique that allowed him to summon hot flames capable of burning his enemies around his blade. Aiden really liked this sword style and planned to take it to a high level before he purchased another sword style. He had managed to take it all the way to low rank in just a month, a feat testifying to his monstrous talent in terms of martial arts. Speaking of talent, next was his aspect, and this was something he was really excited about. ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:Aiden Lunar Aspect Name: Martial Blade God Aspect Tier: V Flaw: Spellless: The user is incapable of learning spells. Ascension:1st 1st Ascension Power:- (a) Trace of All Weapons The user can trace any weapon and later materialise it to use it. He can also summon duplicates of the same weapon or fuse or modify existing ones, thus creating his own custom weapons. (b) Trace of All Armours The user can trace any armour. The user can trace any armour and later materialise it for his use. He can also summon duplicates of the same armour,fuse or modify preexisting ones, thus creating his own custom armour. ------------------------------------------------------------ Aiden was very pleased by what he saw; his aspect definitely was deserving of the ''Divine'' status. Sure, his aspect may not appear that impressive right now, but that''s just due to it being an accumulation-type aspect and him lacking proper resources right now. In the future, once he has hundreds, if not thousands, of legendary, divine, or maybe even one or two mythical-grade weapons traced, he''ll basically be peerless and truly unparalleled. But of course, that''s for the future; he can''t waste his present drooling over the prospects of the future. So he opened his quest menu, excited to finally claim the thing he had been grinding for the past month. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Quests] 1. [Kill 100 Beasts] Beasts slain: (100/100) Time limit: 2 months Prize: [Light Ascension] (Claim) (Yes/No) Penalty: Reduction of current BF by half ------------------------------------------------------------ Aiden smiled as he clicked on the prize and finally acquired the thing he had been anticipating for the past month. He had finally acquired his own ascension. He could tell that even in the future, this would be his trump care; he still didn''t have enough mana to use it, but just having it made him feel stronger than before. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. -Ding It seemed the system had no intention of letting him rest, even for a moment. He smirked as he clicked the notification, excited for the new opportunity. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Quests] 1. [Calling of an Adventurer] Details: Go to Markwelter Kingdom in Astressa and acquire the status of S rank adventurer. Time limit: 2 years Reward: [Sword of Light] Penalty: reduction of all stats by 100 ------------------------------------------------------------ "Wow, you''re asking me to achieve S rank just after I awakened a month ago?." "Call about having insane standards." "But it''s fine after all; tough challenges are usually followed by great rewards that I have no intention of missing out on." "I guess I''m going to planet Astress, which should be fun." Aiden mused with a smirk on his face as he planned his future journey. ** Authors note:- I guess our two divine humans might end up meeting much sooner than expected. Feel free to place your bets on how it will go down and how they will interact in the future. I can''t wait to see all the theories you guys come up with. Chapter 56: Ch-56 Adventurers Guild Markwelter KingdomA kingdom ruled and governed by the three Marquiss families of Alashouse, Balakar, and Orlions It was a very well-managed and peaceful kingdom, with all the citizens satisfied with their lives; however, that wasn''t what made this place special. It was the fact that this was the place where the first ever Adventurers Guild headquarters were located. And by extension, it was also the biggest and most well-managed branch. While there were branches in other regions, the branch in Markwelter had the best rewards to exchange for merit points. Due to this, most adventurers, after making a name for themselves in other regions, move to Markwelter for the prospect of better rewards and more prestige. It was also for the same reason that Markwelter had the toughest criteria for registering as an adventurer. But that was of no concern to today''s young lady, Jasmine Verona. Jasmine was a 15-year-old young girl who had a young brother and a mother back in Rubalt Kingdom, but sadly, her father had left them back when she was just a kid. Thankfully for them, she had awakened a Tier III aspect called size manipulation, which allowed her to manipulate the size of herself or any item she was holding. Her mother had supported all of them ever since their father left, but sadly, she had now fallen sick, and due to her brother being too young and unawakened, the responsibility of her family fell on her 15-year-old shoulders. She needed to earn money fast so that they could afford treatment for her mother. She had come here to Markwelter as it was a well-known fact that the difficulty of missions in the main branch was higher compared to other branches, which also meant that the reward would also be higher. Which was the best bet for a teenager like her to quickly earn a lot of money. Jasmine had long, deep black hair, blood-like crimson eyes, fair skin, and a cute face, which she didn''t bother to hide. She was wearing a red jacket with a plain white shirt and pants; she also had a red katana around her waist. As she entered the lively adventurer building, she quickly caught a lot of attention due to her cute looks and young age. The guild hall looked like a tavern with a clean wooden interior. In the centre was a reception area where a blonde-haired woman was smiling at her. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. On her right side was a giant board with a bunch of different sheets of paper posted on it. A bit on the left side of her were a bunch of tables and chairs made up of wood, which were being occupied by men and women of all shapes and sizes who were enjoying booze and other delicious dishes. Behind them was a staircase that pointed to the above floor, which was filled with just adventurers enjoying food,talking about their adventures, and laughing overall. Overall, it was a very pleasant and lively atmosphere capable of allowing one to relax after a brutal day of work. Which was much needed for the mental well-being of adventurers. After all, despite the romanticism surrounding the profession among children, it was a brutal profession with a high mortality rate. "How may we help you today, young Miss?" The blonde-haired receptionist asked Jasmine for a smile donning her face. "I uh-" Jasmine stumbled over her words a little, which caused a slight chuckle to emerge from the lips of the adventurers observing her. Hearing the laughter, Jasmine''s cheeks grew slightly red out of embarrassment, but she still preserved as she said. "I would like to register as an adventurer." "That''s great!! " The receptionist replied, her smile growing bigger. "What''s your name, young miss? And what alias would you like for your adventurer name?" She asked. "My name''s Jasmine Verona, and as for my alias, Jasmine is just fine," Jasmine replied. "Jasmine, what a pretty name. I''m glad you''re choosing to join us as an adventurer." Receptionist smiled. "Now for the last thing, I just need you to follow me so we can get you appraised and choose a suitable and safe rank for you." "Sure," Jasmine replied as she followed the receptionist, who opened a door behind her and led her to a dark underground pathway. Normally she wouldn''t follow a stranger down an underground pathway, but since this was the Adventurers Guild, she considered it somewhat safe, and even if something went wrong, she was confident in escaping. After a few minutes of walking, she finally arrived at a large white room. The whole room was gigantic in size, and it also had very bright white lights. It was so bright, in fact, that it was hard to believe they were still underground. In one corner of the room, there were a few seats, and in one seat sat a mysterious brown-haired individual. He had long back hair that was tied in a ponytail behind him; he also wore specs and was wearing a buttoned white t-shirt. Jasmine didn''t know who he was, but he looked ordinary, almost like a non-awakened person, which was weird since they were currently at the Adventurers headquarters. But she was soon distracted, as after her, 5¨C6 more adventurers arrived. She wasn''t sure why they were here since they had already awakened, but her question was soon answered, as one of the men said. "I can''t wait to see what this new young adventurer is capable of." said A bald man with bulging muscles "I hope we can get a cutie like her amongst our ranks," said a blonde-haired, pretty woman. It seems these adventurers were curious about her, but she didn''t have time to delve into it as the receptionist started speaking. "The ranks of adventurers range from F rank to SSS." "Your rank determines what kind of missions you can access and, by extension, what kind of rewards you can exchange your merit points for." "The highest rank an adventurer can get during their entrance exam in our branch is B rank." "But please be careful with what rank you choose, as it will determine how difficult your missions are, which also means more risks for you." "And our guild won''t take responsibility for any harm that befalls you during a mission." "For the sake of this test, just choose what rank you would like to start out at, and then you''ll have to fight and kill a monster of the same rank." "So let me ask you what rank you would like to apply for." The receptionist asked. Hoping the young girl has understood the implications of her choice. "B rank," Jasmine replied, confidence oozing out of her tone. Chapter 57: Ch-57 Adventurers Test ------------------------------------------------------------Name:Jasmine Verona Race:Human Age:15 Aspect: Size Manipulation (Tier III) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:8080 Strength:2300 Agility:1500 Endurance:2100 Vitality:1200 Intelligence:980 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C Charm:B- Luck:D+ Resistance:E+ Skills:- [Passive Skills]: [Iron Skin], [Pain Endurance], [Great Sense] [Active Skill]: [Strong Fist], [Strengthen], [Wind Slash], [Endure] Mastery: swordsmanship (novice+), hand-to-hand combat intermediate+-), archery (low+) Elemental Affinity:- [Basic Elements] Wind(50%) Earth(48%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(24%) ------------------------------------------------------------ Jasmine smiled upon seeing her status screen. She was ready; her training over the past 5 years had been perfect; failure was not an option. She was going to win; she had to; her family was counting on her after all. So once again, she said. "Yeah, I''m ready. I''ll take the B-rank test." "Sigh, fine, don''t say I didn''t warn you later." The receptionist sighed as she took a small cube-like object out of her spatial ring and placed it on the ground. Once placed, the cube expanded in size until it was as big, if not bigger, than Jasmine herself. After expanding, the exterior of the cube came off, revealing inside a ferocious tiger-like beast locked behind a cage. ~Growl~ The tiger growled as it eyed Jasmine''s mouth, salivating. The tiger was twice the size of an average-sized adult, with bulging, thick muscles. It had grey fur with yellow hunter eyes and green stripes all over its body. "The Furlion Tiger, a fearless B-rank predator" "Known to frequently target beasts stronger than itself due to its pride," "It''s a very ferocious and violent beast, and due to being held captive for weeks now, its anger must be reaching an all-new boiling point." "If something goes wrong, you might lose a limb or even your life. Are you still sure about this?" The receptionist asked, hoping to deter the young girl in front of her from doing something reckless. Sadly, her prayers fell on deaf ears as Jasmine replied. "Yes, I''m sure. Now let''s do this." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Very well" With that, the receptionist as well as the adventurers took a seat beside the bespactled man, leaving Jasmine and the beast inside the cage alone. Once they were gone, a giant golden dome barriee erected itself, ensuring not to let the aftereffects of Jasmine and the tigers fight affect the spectators. Once the barrier was erected, Jasmine unsheathed her katana and took a stance as she mentally prepared herself for the fight. The katana in her hand had a red and black handle and a single-edged, 10-inch curved silver blade. Seeing Jasmine ready, the receptionist also gave the signal to open the cage, unleashing the beast trapped inside. As the tiger walked outside, it roared. "ROAAARRR" It''s growl hurting the ears of everyone present inside the basement as it''s eyes glew in a dangerous yellow shine. It''s mouth emited a soft white mist as it slowly walks near the edge of the barrier, eyeing its prey. ''It''s a bit stronger than I expected,'' she thought, her back slightly drenched in her own sweat. From the aura it was emitting, she could tell that the beast was dangerous and that, even in its hungry state, it had not lost its rationality. All it would take was one wrong move from her, and she would lose her life. But now was no time to hesitate. As she gripped her trusty blade tighter, she activated [Strengthen] and [Endure], buffing up her strength and endurance. But she still didn''t blindly charge in; after all, she lacked information about her enemy. Blindly charging in would be dangerous. So she motioned her hand, holding her katana above her head, and as she brought her hand down in a clean vertical slash motion, she activated [Wind Slash], unleashing a high-pressure, 20-inch-long slash of pure wind towards the tiger. ~ching~ While the slash was invisible, the devastation it caused in its path and the voice it generated were a dead giveaway. Thankfully, the speed and power of the attack easily made up for it. But unfortunately for Jasmine, the tiger jumped sideways, dodging the attack. But this was just the start, as Jasmine sent another slash flying towards the beast, which was also dodged. The only difference was that this time the tiger moved a little closer to her. This whole sequence repeated itself for a whole minute, with Jasmine using up her mana to attack the beast and the tiger dodging and moving closer to her. Until finally, a slash caught the tiger by surprise, sending it flying towards the end of the barrier. BOOOOOMMM!!!! "Phew." Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief as she observed the smoke generated by the tiger upon impact. It was a bit hard, but she succeeded. While at first it may have looked like she was just uselessly wasting her mana, in truth she had been attacking in a specific pattern, using the beastly nature of her enemy to lure it into a specific position where it wouldn''t be able to dodge and she''d be able to land a sure-hit attack. The slash that hit the tiger was much stronger than her normal ones, as she had poured a great deal of her mana into that attack. Now leaving her with only 50% of her regular amount. But it was worth it after all; thanks to it, she was able to easily slay the beast without having to get close to it and needing to risk her life. Now, with great anticipation, she observed as the smoke cleared, but to her surprise, it was much different from her expectations. Instead of the dead body of a beast, what she saw was a body that, while bleeding from all over, was very much still alive. And the fury hidden inside its eyes made it look much more dangerous than back when it was in perfect health. It was at this moment that Jasmine remembered a famous quote. ''Always be careful of a beast whose back is pushed against the wall'' And in her inexperience, she had forgotten this and ended up underestimating her enemy. Unfortunately for her, it was too late now, as the tiger, for the first time since the start of the fight, used a skill. "ROAARRR" This roar, unlike the one from before, paralysed most people in the room, including Jasmine. As this was the tiger using its skill [Intimidation of a Predator],. Seeing its prey immobilised, the beast rushed towards it, intending to finish the job. As she saw the beast charging towards her, all she could think was:. ''I messed up'' Chapter 58: Ch-58 Adventurers Test-2 "I tried to warn her to choose a level she could manage." The receptionist said as she tried to get up to stop the tiger before it was too late.But before she could, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Sir? " She asked in confusion as she stared at the bespactled man holding her back. "Don''t interfere," he said in a casual tone. "If I don''t interfere, the girl will lose her life," she pleaded, hoping to convince the man. "If she loses her life, that would be her own fault," the man said emotionlessly. The girl was stunned by the words of the man. "Haha!! Just kidding, but you should see the expression on your face; it''s priceless." The man snickered, finding the situation funny. The receptionist wasn''t sure what to say as she observed her superior. "But don''t worry, I don''t think of human life as so insignificant." "I can see it in her eyes; she hasn''t given up yet; in fact, I believe she''s just about to get started, so it wouldn''t be fair for us to steal her opportunity." "So just trust me and watch; if anything goes wrong, I''ll personally intervene," the man said. Hearing his words, the receptionist also found her heart relaxing, so she just took her seat and chose to continue observing the fight, hoping to understand what gave the man so much confidence in the girl. ** ''Phew, calm yourself, Jasmine, she mentally told herself. Calming herself in the stressful situation helped weaken the paralysis. Just when the tiger was mere inches away from devouring her, she activated her aspect for the first time in the fight. As she signalled her body to do a jumping motion, which it unfortunately wasn''t able to do due to the paralysis, at least until her legs swoled and their mass increased dramatically. Turning the previously 5''4 girl to a whopping 7''0 feet, all thanks to the increase in the size of her legs, which forcefully broke the paralysis and sent her flying backward. In the process, she also managed to hit the tiger, sending it flying away from her. As Jasmine flew, she quickly undid the transformation as she did a backflip, landing back on her feet. The tiger unfortunately didn''t manage to get such a graceful landing as it slowly stood back up on its four limbs. It''s anger reached a brand new apex as it charged back at the girl responsible for her current poor state. Seeing the beast charging at it this time, even Jasmine didn''t hesitate as she brandished her sword and rushed at the beast. As the beast and the girl met in the centre, claws collided with metal as they generated a sharp noise. ~Cling~ Sparks flew in the air, but neither of the two responsible backed down, determined to devour or kill their enemy. Until finally, the beast started overpowering the girl. However, before it could fully overpower her, the girl activated her aspect, instantly turning her previously 10-inch katana into practically a greatsword. Catching the beast off guard by the sudden shift in the weight and mass of her weapon in just one plain swinging motion, she was able to send it flying. But the beast managed to restabilize itself back in the air and landed gracefully, managing to avoid crashing into the barrier again. This was bad, and from an outside perspective, it looked like she was winning, but she knew the truth. For each use of her aspect, she was wasting an absurd amount of mana. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This, combined with her earlier consumption of mana, left her with just a little over 10% of her total mana. She needed to end this fight with her next move, or she''d lose, and losing was simply not an option for her. And it seemed the tiger shared her sentiment; it seems it had already taken a bit too much damage, so it also needed to end the fight soon. With mutual understanding between the girl and beast, the fight was about to reach its climax. As the beast rushed towards Jasmine, she threw her sword at it, but it was futile as the beast grabbed the blade in between its teeth and threw it aside. As the beast was about to plunge its fangs into the girl, it seemed hopeless. The girl in panic had thrown her sword and lost her weapon, and she was now about to pay the price. Or so it would seem to an ordinary person, but the girl smiled. After all, since she was about to go all out, she couldn''t use the weapon, whose main purpose was to restrict her strength. Jasmine bent her knees as she readied her fist in a punching motion. It looked absurd after all; it was a little girl attempting to punch a beast nearly three times her size. Until it wasn''t, Jasmine activated her aspect for the last time and used [Strong Fist]. Her fist grew in size to an absurd degree, even dwarfing the previously enormous beast. It looked almost comical attached to the little girl, and with the effect of her skill, her hand turned red as it emitted steam. And once the fist made contact with the tiger, there was no more tiger. BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! An extremely forceful explosion erupted as the whole ground was destroyed; even the barrier shook greatly from the aftereffects. And as for the tiger, there was no more trace of it except for all the blood dying the whole area inside the barrier and Jasmine red. There was no more trace of the once terrifying foul beast. Just like the girl had said, she managed to win. And as for her audience, the only reaction they could muster was pure shock at the horrifying amount of power hidden inside her small body. Even the bespectacled man appeared shocked; it seems even he didn''t anticipate the girl hiding such power. As the dome-like barrier dematerialized, Jasmine was showered in praise by the adventurers who were observing the whole thing, and they even went as far as offering her to join their party. And even the receptionist was feeling glad that she listened to her superior''s words, or else they would''ve lost a really talented adventurer. But before they could complete Jasmine''s registration, everyone was distracted by the noise of a loud commotion upstairs. Chapter 59: Ch-59 A Strange New Adventurer As Jasmine cast the (Clean) spell on herself, her face and clothes became clean again.Now, once again, she looked like her regular self. She followed the bespectacled man, the receptionist, and the group of adventurers as they all went upstairs. And what greeted them was quite surprising, as most of the adventurers in the building were standing in a circle. As the receptionist pushed them aside, what she saw was. A strange-looking black-haired man in a black tuxedo who had his face covered in a strange mask that enshrouded his face from the nose down in a plain grey mask, and the part above in a red material with a black lens where his eyes were. But the most shocking thing was the mana around him that was sticking close to him. She could sense that even without the man''s action, all the mana in the room seemed to be moving towards him. It was almost as if it didn''t want to leave his side. Her whole life, she had been told about how she was talented in the art of magic or how she was loved by Mana, but as she observed the boy,. What she saw was pure, unadulterated talent¡ªthe kind of talent she could never compare to. However, distracting herself from the boy, she saw the unconscious bodies of Connor and Bron lying at his feet. So with a slight tension that quickly went away as she remembered about the bespectacled man that was standing behind her, the receptionist named Bella asked. "Are you responsible for their current state?" ** [A few moments earlier] As William finally saw the main adventurers guild branch building in Markwelter Kingdom, he smiled. This was it. Finally, after a whole month of travelling, he finally reached it. Truthfully, it took him way longer to reach here than he expected. He wished that he had spatial magic or some other means of fast travel, but sadly, he didn''t, so he was forced to travel by carriage like everyone else. The whole journey from Karka to Markwelter had been uneventful; it was almost boring. Which is why William found it scary, as he was supposed to be surrounded by bad luck, yet he was able to enjoy a peaceful and almost therapeutic trip as he got to witness the wonders of nature and human civilization in the new world. Without some sort of natural disaster, assasin, or dragon trying to kill him. Even with his mana suppressed, he was still no stranger to petty bad luck or other events that, while not life-threatening, most certainly did make his life annoying. But to be able to enjoy a whole month without nonsensical events happening around him allowed him to get some good rest before his journey. So as he entered the building, his mood was at an all-time high. However,unfortunately for William, all good things must come to an end. As he entered the building, he was greeted by the flying figure of a middle-aged man who was rapidly approaching him. Out of pure reflex, William grabbed the man by his shirt and slammed him on the ground. BAMM!! Everyone in the guild hall was shocked by the appearance of the man, and even more so by his actions. The man William had just smashed into the ground was called Bron. And right now, both Connor and Bron, after getting drunk, were brawling for a reason no one was really sure of. This wasn''t that rare of an occurrence; after all, both of these men had a friendly rivalry of sorts, due to which they occasionally ended up brawling to determine who was superior. Of course, the men never went far enough to seriously hurt each other, and both of them were too weak to actually endanger the establishment, and even if they did end up breaking furniture, the cost would be reduced from their merit points. Overall, it wasn''t anything serious, but for the adventurers, it was a form of great entertainment for them, so it was an unspoken rule among everyone to not interfere in the fight and simply enjoy the entertainment. But as they saw the newcomer, they were a bit unsure about what to do until they decided to just continue enjoying the show like they were doing unless he did something dangerous. "How dare you?" Connor shouted, his anger evident in his tone. Right now, he was too drunk to form proper thoughts, but he still managed to get angry at getting his fight with his rival interrupted by some random newcomer. With vengeance in his mind, he charged towards William as he brandished his fist, prepared to end the fight in one hit. Sigh William sighed as he observed the barbaric actions of the man and the unwillingness of everyone around him to stop them. So with no other option, he rotated the dial on his ring, turning it to level 2, and regaining his ability to use mana. As he did, all the mana started moving towards him, awaiting his command, which, sadly, never came as his opponent was too weak for him to use a spell. But that didn''t mean that the change in surrounding mana went unnoticed by the people around him who had a high affinity for mana. And quite frankly, they were a bit scared about why all the mana suddenly started moving towards the boy; they were even prepared to intervene in case he cast a dangerous spell. Thankfully for them, their worries were useless, as William just raised his fist and punched Connor downward, slamming him into the unconscious body of Bron. And it was here that Bella and her group arrived. As William explained the situation to Bella, the details of the story were attested to by the guild members who saw everything. She quickly apologised, feeling glad for not having rushed to conclusions and having done something irrational. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I deeply apologise for the actions of our guild members. Please forgive them." She said sincerity was evident in her tone as she bowed at a 90-degree angle. "It''s fine, no harm done," William replied, not wanting the young woman to feel guilty for the actions of her subordinates, especially when they didn''t really affect him. Hearing his response, Bella smiled as she finally stood up front again and asked. "Since you''re here at our branch, may I ask how we can assist you today?" "I want to become an adventurer; please help me register," he replied, smiling even though it was hidden by his mask. Chapter 60: Ch-60 Edge Lord "I would like to register as an adventurer," William announced."That''s wonderful; we''ll be glad to have someone like you register with us," Bella replied, her excitement contagious. It was true that she was excited about their guild having received not just one but two new talented adventurers. After all, more talented and strong adventurers just means that they could get through missions at a faster rate. The truth is, pretty much all adventurer guilds are flooded with commissions 24/7 due to their popularity and lack of real competition. While it''s great that they have monopolies, it also leads to both the staff and adventurers needing to overwork. So with a big smile on her face, she made her way towards her reception area to first complete Jasmine''s registration before she started the newcomers. After all, she wasn''t rude enough to neglect the first talent that came just because of a new talent. "Sir, please wait a moment. Let us complete the registration of the young lady who came before you first." "Jasmine, please follow me." William agreed, seeing no point in arguing, while Jasmine followed Bella to get her licence. Jasmine was honestly really curious about the newcomer, but she was able to keep her curiosity at bay as she figured it would be awkward to try and talk to him right now, and getting her licence was also more important. As both Bella and Jasmine made their way to the reception area, Bella took out an orb from one of the drawers. As she grabbed the orb, she placed it on a white rectangular artefact that was on her desk. This was an artifact that was exclusive to the Adventurers Guild and allowed them to create exclusive and unique registration cards for their members, allowing them to recognise each other. "Mrs. Jasmine, please place your hand on this orb," Bella said. Heeding her words, Jasmine followed her instructions as she placed her hand on the orb. Once her hand was on the orb, she felt an abysmal amount of her mana being absorbed into the orb. Before it stopped and the lid of the rectangular arti,fact opened, inside was a silver-coloured rectangular card with a picture of Jasmine, her name, her adventurers alias, as well as a giant B at the upper corner of the card, and at the bottom of the card was a big number 0. "Congratulations on becoming a B-rank adventurer, Mrs. Jasmine," Bella announced with a smile. Hearing her words, the whole guild hall erupted into claps and cheers, with everyone congratulating the newly registered B rank. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Thanks everyone!" Jasmine smiled as she grabbed her licence. She had finally done it; all her sleepless nights of hard work had finally paid off. But no, she can''t celebrate just yet. After all, this was just the start. Now she needed to actually complete missions and amass the funds she required for her mother''s treatment. "Congratulations on officially becoming an adventurer." She heard a voice behind her, and as she turned around, her gaze once again met that of the masked individual. Almost without thinking, she blurted out. "Thanks" She wasn''t sure why, but for some reason she had a weird feeling about this guy, but she wasn''t sure what it was. "With that taken off, let''s now proceed to the registration of the young man who has joined us here today," Bella said once again, moving her attention to the masked fellow. She was honestly very excited about this, as she wanted to see what true talent looks like. "Sure, let''s do this," William replied. "So, sir, what''s your name, and what would you like your alias to be?" She asked once again, repeating the same question she had asked Jasmine before. This was it. William had thought for a surprisingly long time about the name of his second identity, and in the end, he had decided. "My name is John Sinners, and as for my alias, just call me Edge Lord," William replied. ''God, this is so cringeworthy,'' William thought to himself. But this was actually an experiment of sorts. The languages of his old world, called Blue Planet and Astressa, were different. The only reason he was able to communicate with people in this world was because he had grown up in it. But even after his countless hours of studying, he never found a word similar to ''Edge Lord''. It was quite frankly an iconic word in his old world that pretty much everyone knows the meaning of. And why is that relevant? Ever since he had reincarnated, he just couldn''t get rid of the feeling that somewhere out there another person from his old world had reincarnated. So with a name like Edge Lord, he hoped that in case he ever came across someone from his old world, he''d get a reaction out of them due to his name and thus be able to recognise them. And as for everyone else, they would just react like this. "Edge Lord, huh? What a fierce name, but I guess it suits you " Bella commented. It seems his theory was correct, which was a good thing, or else it would have been embarrassing. "Alright, all done now. Please follow me downstairs so we can help measure you," she said. "Sure" With that, William followed Bella downstairs for his test, and unlike the time with Jasmine, where only a few adventurers followed, this time pretty much everyone followed inside as everyone was curious about the strength of the masked man. Sadly, the basement was not big enough for everyone, so they had to restrict it to only one-third of the population inside the establishment. Which also happened to include the bespectacled man from earlier and Jasmine. And as for everyone who didn''t make the cut, they could only sigh in disappointment as they cursed their own bad luck. Unbeknownst to them in the future, they would only curse their bad luck from today even more, causing them to miss all the sights the masked man was about to show everyone underground. Chapter 61: Ch-61 Too Easy To Be Called A Test As Bella, William, and all of their spectators arrived at the basement room, William had a pretty similar reaction to Jasmine, but unlike Jasmine, William had a mask on, so he just appeared stoic.Once they arrived, all the spectators took their seats among the guest chairs, leaving William and Bella alone in the middle of the room. "Sir, here at adv-" Before Bella could start explaining the basics again, she was interrupted by William, as he said. "Skip the yap, just explain how the test works." "Ah," Bella was a bit surprised by the sudden rudeness of the man named John, but she didn''t let it show on her face, as she said. "Very well in that case." "For this test, please choose a level between F and B rank, and once you''ve made your choice, you''ll need to fight a beast of your chosen rank, and if you win, you''ll be officially recognised as an adventurer of that rank." sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Do you have any questions?" She asked. "No, and for my chosen rank, I''ll go with B rank," William replied. Bella smiled upon hearing his answer; unlike last time, she didn''t try to discourage the man in front of her; she had already learned to not judge a book by its cover, and besides, just from what she had seen and heard about the man a few minutes ago, B rank should pose no problem for him. "Very well, sir." With that, she summoned a cube from her spatial ring and placed it on the ground. Once placed, the cube grew in size; however, this time the cube grew much bigger than the one used for Jasmine''s test. That was because the beast they were using for this test was the strongest B-rank beast they had available. Bella wanted to gain a proper understanding of the strength of the man in front of her, for which she needed a monster with high endurance. Which is why the beast she had chosen was perfect. As the exterior of the cube came off, a caged bear was revealed inside. It was a bear who was over 3 metres in size and had thick brown fur along with a black X scar on its forehead. The Thickmatte Bear was a unique type of monster they had captured on the neutral continent. It was infamous for its monstrously thick fur, which was impossible to pierce, which resulted in its insane endurance. It was also strong enough to snap an adult male in half like a twig. And yet it was still treated as one of the weaker monsters on the neutral continent. And according to some research, it was a particularly favourite food of dragons for unknown reasons. Once the beast was on full display,. "Hey, is that thing really a B rank?" "It looks so tough." "Yeah, I didn''t think I could slay that." "Isn''t this a bit too unfair for just a registration exam?" Many such murmurs could be heard among the observers of today''s exam. These murmurs did not go unnoticed by Bella, intending to quell the doubt she asked. "Do you have any problems with your chosen enemy?" "Nah, it''s fine," William replied, not minding the difficulty. "Since your enemy is stronger than the average beast everyone else fights, it''s only fair that we let you re-assert the test in case you lose." Usually adventurer guilds had strict rules of only letting each candidate take the exam once, but just like everything else, exceptions always existed. Hearing her words, William chuckled as he boldly announced. "Nah, I''d win." Hearing his words for some reason, no one felt like he was bluffing but rather that he was just stating the obvious, and with that whole exchange over, Bella walked away, joining the rest of the spectators. Once she was gone, the same golden barrier as last time materialised. With the barrier erected, the bars containing the bear inside were opened, unleashing the wild beast contained inside. Unlike the tiger that Jasmine fought, who was careful at the start and observed its enemy,. The bear had no such thoughts as it ran towards William. Seeing the charging bear, everyone was excited, anticipating a grand fight. Unfortunately for them, William had other plans as a gigantic red magic circle materialised. Its diameter covered the entire inside area of the barrier. And before anyone could react, William cast his strongest fire magic (flame eruption) as a humongous pillar of flame covered everyone inside the barrier. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!! A deafening explosion erupted, causing a ringing noise to resound inside the heads of all of his observers. Even the barrier that was supposed to contain the explosion had massive cracks on it, with the barrier threatening to break; however, it quickly repaired itself. Once the smoke cleared, what caught everyone''s attention was the pristine figure of Edge Lord standing unharmed in the middle of the barrier with not even a trace of dirt on his clothes. And as for the bear, there was no more bear, and unlike the time with Jasmine earlier, where blood was splattered everywhere, this time there truly was nothing, not even ashes left. The only word to describe the reaction of everyone observing the whole thing would be bewilderment, with most of them doubting their own eyes. As William observed the reaction of his audience, he was once again reminded of why he fell in love with magic in the first place. While yes, he could''ve still won even if he only used the sword, the fight wouldn''t have been as one-sided, and it wouldn''t have had the same effect on his audience. While many argue and call theatrics useless, William would disagree with that. His past life had taught him a very important and brutal lesson on repuation. One he never intended to forget. Another thought that was clawing at the back of his mind was about how easy it was and that even despite possessing enough strength for at least A rank, he would have to waste his time on B rank missions, which would give him fewer merit points compared to A rank missions. But before he could fully delve into this thought, a voice called out to him. "Hey boy, wanna skip ranks straight to A rank?" Chapter 62: Ch-62 Chance To Skip Ranks Michael HarionsThe younger brother of Vox Harions, who''s also known as the strongest man alive,. Throughout his whole childhood, Michael lived in the shadow of his older brother, always being compared to him. Michael didn''t hate his brother, but even when he tried his best, he couldn''t get rid of the inferiority complex he had developed because of him. That is, until, at the age of 13, he awakened a Tier IV aspect, just like his brother. At first, he was hopeful that maybe he might be able to defeat his brother someday, but after countless failures, he came to realise that even among aspects of the same tier, there exists a gap that simply can''t be crossed. So, having given up on his dream of defeating his brother, he chose a different path. After years of contributions and building connections, he had managed to succeed the position of head of the adventurer guild in Markwelter Kingdom. Now no one could undermine his hard work and achievements, and yet he felt unsatisfied. Deep inside him, his childhood dream of beating his brother was still alive, but it simply wasn''t possible for him. So he was instead looking for someone to accomplish his dream for him. The look on his brother''s face when he finally tastes the bitter taste of failure will be priceless; he couldn''t wait for it. But despite this, there was one main problem: there was no one strong enough in the older generation. Rex Verhein was the closest in terms of strength to his brother, but even he wasn''t strong enough. So as an alternative, his best bet was to place his trust in someone of the next generation. And out of all his potential candidates, he chose to place his bet on William Verhein. The son of Rex Verhein, the second-strongest human, who awakened a Tier IV aspect at the mere age of 4; even his own monstrous brother couldn''t boast such a feat. While Michael was a bit hesitant about all the rumours surrounding the boy at first, all his doubts were quelled once he saw the livestream a month ago. The aura the boy exuded and the fearlessness to boldly declare war on arguably the most dangerous criminal organisation. While many would call him a fool, Michael would disagree; in his opinion, the thing that separates the strong from the strongest. Was ego the absolute confidence in one''s own prowess to never lose? He could see this ego in the boy named William; if it was him, it might just be possible to beat his brother. But since the boy already had the guidance of Rex Verhein, someone stronger than him, there was nothing left for him to do other than just manage his guild and wait for William to grow up and beat up his brother. Or at least that''s how it was supposed to be until he came across the man named Edge Lord, whose mask may have fooled everyone else but not him. He could see the black-haired youth hiding behind him; he didn''t look any older than the girl who took the test before him, and yet the sheer difference in skill was insane. While the girl before him was strong and had a lot of potential, it wasn''t enough to beat his brother, so he didn''t have much of an interest in her. However, the same couldn''t be said about the masked youth. From back when he saw the way Mana reacted to his presence upstairs. He could tell that he was different. His talent in mana was potentially equal, if not higher, than that of William Verhein, the boy being praised as the second coming of the God of Mana himself in terms of his talent in the field of magic. And yet here was a youth with equal talent to that same William Verhein, just randomly showing up in his guild. This belief was only further strengthened once he got to see the boy in action. ''Since when did talented monsters become so common?'' Michael couldn''t help but think. But it wasn''t like he was complaining since such a talented boy had willingly appeared in front of him. It was the perfect opportunity to raise a person capable of beating his brother in case he was overestimating William Verhein or something unexpected happened to him. But before he went all in, he needed a bit more confirmation that he was betting on the right horse, and he had the perfect plan to achieve this. "Hey boy, wanna skip straight to A rank?" He asked. ** Everyone was silent as they observed Michael Harion stand up from his seat and walk towards Edge Lord. His words were insane; throughout the history of their branch, there had been almost no instance of someone skipping straight to A rank. But what were they supposed to argue with the leader of the organisation that brought food to their table? And besides, just from what they had seen, everyone could tell that the boy definitely deserved the rank, so all they could do was stay silent and watch the whole exchange go down. "What do you mean?" Edge Lord asked, his tone depicting confusion. "Don''t act clueless; I know you understand what I just said," Michael retorted. "Well, yeah, but I was more asking about how." Edge Lord argued. "Quite easy. Just spar with me, and if you impress me, you win." Gasps of shock could be heard from everyone in the basement. After all, Michael Harions, the younger brother of the strongest man in the world who was also among the strongest humans alive, as well as the leader of the Adventurers Guild, was challenging a no-name adventurer who had just registered and looked no older than 20. Hearing the crowd''s reaction, Michael quickly explained. "Of course, don''t worry, I''m not ruthless. I won''t use any weapon, skills, martial technique, spells, or even my own aspect to make it even more fair. I''ll restrict my stats to just about 20% of their normal amount." "And you only have to last 5 minutes against me without any restrictions on your abilities." "So, what do you think of the challenge?" Michael asked in a taunting fashion. "Sure, but aren''t you underestimating me too much?" Edge Lord asked, annoyed by being underestimated so much. "I don''t know, am I?" Michael asked in a clueless tone before suddenly his body emitted a luminescent white-bluish hue that engulfed the whole basement. The hue was sharp, almost like a sharp sword, and overwhelming, like a blizzard, making it hard to breathe for everyone subjected to it. William was also having trouble breathing, but unlike everyone else who was kneeling, William smiled, forcing himself to stand straight as he adjusted the level on his ring to 5. Requesting the mana to assist him, hearing the request of its child, Mana quickly answered his call. And as it did, William unleashed an overwhelming crimson aura matching that of Michael''s. The crimson aura was much weaker than its lumniscent counterpart, but it more than made up for it in terms of intensity. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now, once again, being able to breathe properly, Edge Lord announced. "Yeah, I think you are." Chapter 63: Ch-63 Edge Lord VS Michael Harions "Yeah, I think you are," Edge Lord announced."Ho, very well prove it to me," Michael replied. With that, he cancelled out his aura, causing Edge Lord to do the same, thus allowing everyone to breathe again. As both Edge Lord and Michael now stood in the middle,. The golden barrier from before had once manifested itself in all its glory. As both fighters stood face-to-face their audience held their breaths for what they imagined to be a completely one-sided match. And then it began. ** "You can have the first move," Michael suggested, to which Edge Lord happily obliged. ''He''s strong,'' Wiz commented inside Williams head. ''Thanks, Mr. Obvious'' William nearly rolled his eyes, but he couldn''t lose focus in front of his current opponent. After all, Zephyr and Rex aside, the man called Michael in front of him was the strongest person he''s ever seen. If he could go all out, as in [Spirit Ascension] and [Mana Ascension], combined with all his summons, maybe he could''ve completed the test, but with all of his trump cards being out of the equation. This was going to be almost impossible; the only hope he had was to be creative with his spells. After all, he lacked too much information about his enemy to think that going close to him and wacking him with a blade would be a viable strategy. If nothing else worked, he would just have to spam spells and stall; thankfully, he had more than enough mana for such a feat. As soon as the fight began, William casted his most destructive spell, the same one he had used to kill the B-rank bear. (Grand Eruption) BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! A similar explosion as last time occurred once again, shaking the spectators. However, the only difference this time was the state of the target the spell was cast on once the smoke cleared to everyone''s shock. Michael was standing there unharmed, even his clothes looked clean. It was absurd to think that he had tanked such an explosion with his bare body. And yet here he stood, proving it. "Not bad; I now understand how you managed to kill that B-rank beast," he commented. "How? " William almost instinctively blurted it out. "Who knows?" Michael teased. Annoyed by his comment, William decided to keep throwing spells until something worked. (Wind Storm) A green mana circle materialised in Williams hand, and from it emerged a storm of wind that quickly made its way towards Michael, intending to tear him apart. Seeing the spell heading his way, Michael smiled as he raised his hand in the air. Once the spell was close enough to tear him apart, he brought his hand down, destroying the spell. "Not bad" "My turn," he said. As soon as his words fell, Michael disappeared from his place. And before William could realise what happened, Michael was mere inches away from punching him. Thankfully, in the last second, Williams instinct kicked in as he activated [Shadow Step]. Before Michael''s fist could make contact with Edge Lord''s face, he descended into the shadow, reappearing near the opposite end of the barrier. "I see you have a teleportation skill not bad," Michael commented. "Well, it''s about to be bad for you," William said as he readied his hand and cast. [Rock Spear] With that, a spear made up of rocks shot forward from his hand towards Michael. Who quickly sidestepped, dodging the spear in the process. However, before the spear could fly behind him, he grabbed it by the back of the spear and threw it back at William. Before the attack could reach William, he launched another spear, breaking both of them in the process. Not giving him a chance to breathe, Michael was on him and was about to kick him. But before he could complete the action, tendrils manifested from his own shadow and immobilised him. Using the opportunity, he created William Casted (Quadra Elemental Arrow). A blue bow made of ice manifested in his hands. In the centre of the bow was an arrow made up of ice; it was engulfed in sharp winds, had a flame near the tip of it, and had lightning flowing through the whole thing. With zero hesitation, William released his grip, launching the projectile towards Michael, who was still immobilised. Allowing the arrow to hit him right in the chest and send him flying. ''Phew, that was dangerous,'' William thought. It was good that Michael was just playing around with him and used an obvious tactic; otherwise, such a trick wouldn''t have worked on someone as experienced as Michael. Seeing his first spell working, William had no intention of giving Michael a chance to recover, as he cast. (Fire Storm) (Earth Sword) (Thunder Spear) (Ice Shard) Heeding his commands, four magic circles manifested behind him. Each circle was responsible for one spell. "Wait, are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is he using four spells at once?" "No, I see the same thing." "But how?" "I don''t know." Many such murmurs could be heard from the spectator area. After all, what William was doing right now was considered impossible by the mass majority, and for good reason. A person can only cast one spell at once, with a few exceptionally talented mages being able to cast two, but that should be the limit. And yet here was a newbie adventurer casting double the known limit. The sheer number of calculations required for such a feat should be enough to label it impossible. But of course, William didn''t care about the reaction of his audience; all he cared about was winning. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Heeding their masters command, the storm of fire, a giant sword made up of rocks, a lance of thunder, and a giant shard of ice made their way towards their target. BOOM!! Before long, another explosion occurred. William was confident that, as long as Michael stayed true to his words, this should be enough to knock him out. No human can withstand this through sheer stats alone, right? Chapter 64: Ch-64 Edge Lord VS Michael Harions-2 BOOOOOOMMM!!!!An ear-deafening explosion occurred as four of Williams spells made impact with Michael, who was still lying on the ground and not given the chance to recover from Williams last attack. ''Is it finally over?'' William wondered as he observed the devastation caused by his attack. More than half of the floor was now completely destroyed, all thanks to Williams spells. He was hopeful that surely by now even someone as strong as Michael would''ve taken some serious damage considering how great of a handicap he had imposed on himself. But William knew better than to let his guard down, so he prepared himself to cast another spell in case Michael was still standing once the smoke cleared. However, unlike Williams skepticism, his audience was losing its mind as they observed the high level of fight between their guild leader and the newly appointed B rank. ''How does this even make sense?'' ''Is this Edge Lord guy really a new adventurer? '' Similar questions were resonating through the minds of almost everyone. While almost everyone inside the basement knew that the masked man was strong, which is why they came to spectate in the first place,. No one could''ve possibly expected Edge Lord, a man who looked to be in his early twenties, to casually flip their knowledge and limits of magic on its head. Within their hearts, regardless of whether it was intentional or not or if they even knew about it, the adventurers found themselves cheering for the masked man. At the start of today''s fight, everyone expected it to be a completely one-sided fight in favour of their beloved leader. But now they desperately wished to be proven wrong; they wanted the mysterious masked adventurer who broadened their horizons regarding magic to also prove their initial opinion wrong. "Hahahaha! That was fun." A loud snicker resounded throughout the basement. The source of this laugh? The silhouette of a man could be seen through the smoke, and as it cleared A lean, handsome man came into view; his shirt was slightly torn, and his handsome face was dirtied. His glasses, which covered his eyes, were now cracked. However, the most shocking thing was the lack of blood, or rather, even a single injury. Michael Harions had really managed to casually survive an onslaught of some of Edge Lords strongest spells using just 20% of his regular stats. And even worse, he came out unscathed. William almost wanted to accuse him of cheating. But he knew he was just being unreasonable; after all, if Michael had really gone back on his words, Mana would''ve reacted, and he would''ve been able to see it. But the fact that it didn''t just reaffirm the belief that the man in front of him was really just using 20% of his stats. For some reason, the more he thought about this, William felt his throat grow dryer, but now was no time to get distracted; he had to lock in or else he''d suffer a humiliating defeat against the monster in human skin in front of him. "Aww, man, I really liked those pairs," Michael said, a tinge of sadness present in his tone. As Michael removed his previously round glasses, his eyes changed colour. His previously dull brown eyes changed to a whitish, light blue colour, almost resembling the surface of the moon. "Pretty" Bella found herself subconsciously muttering. This was the first time she had seen the eyes of her guildmaster. She was always curious about why Michael wore glasses despite his vision being perfectly normal. Even if his eyesight was weak, someone as powerful and influential as him should easily be able to get it fixed. But now, as she looked at his moon with pretty eyes, she finally understood his reasons. If Michael didn''t hide his eyes behind glasses capable of changing his eye colour, his presence would be too distracting. And it seems all the other adventurers also agreed with her. Bella found herself lost in thought the more she looked at Michael. However, she quickly found herself snapping out of it as Michael called out to her. "How much time is still left, Bella?" He asked. "A-uh, one sec, sir." She stuttered a bit. As Bella took a look at the watch-like artefact on her hand, she announced. "1 minute and 13 seconds left until the conclusion of the test between Edge Lord and Michael." "Lovely!" Michael smiled. For some reason, as William heard his opponent''s voice, he found himself sweating. He wasn''t sure why he was sweating, but he had a dangerous premonition growing inside his heart. It was almost as if he was in for a bad time. But that couldn''t be it, right? After all, he had already lasted for 3 minutes, 47 seconds, and he was even on the winning end most of the fight. Now, with only a little over 1 minute left, he surely had this in the bag. So why did he feel so uneasy? Making sure to not let his guard down, he casted multiple mana barriers around his body just in case something went wrong as he prepared to cast one of his strongest spells. But before he could cast it, William felt his world spinning around, and before he knew it,. BAMM!! He was on the ground. His head hurt; he felt like he had broken at least a bone or two. If not for the thin layer of barrier he had cast around his body moments prior, he probably would''ve cracked his skull from how forceful the impact was. His head was still disoriented from the blow, and before he could figure out what happened, he felt a kick to his abdomen that was so forceful it sent him flying before he could even react. BOOOOOM!! William had crashed all the way over to the other side; his crash was only broken by the barrier. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Along with his crash, he had surely broken at least a few more bones. His whole body hurt. But as he tried to stand back up, he ignored the pain as his eyes caught sight of the handsome blue-haired man who was standing at the location he previously occupied. He had a dazzling smile donning his face, but it was his words that really caught Williams attention. "Oh, you''re still awake; not bad." As William heard these words, he realised that the man called Michael had finally stopped playing around. Chapter 65: Ch-65 Edge Lord VS Michael Harrion-3 "Oh, you''re still awake."''This fucker is crazy; a normal person probably would''ve died from attacks like this,'' William thought as he looked at the handsome blue-eyed man occupying his previous location. He could still feel the pain in his head and abdomen from Michael''s attack. He wasn''t even able to see him until it was too late. The only reason he was still semi-conscious was because of the barriers he had erected around himself, which lessened the damage he took. Before continuing to fight, he opened his shadow domain as a small purple ball launched from his shadow and landed in his hand, which he quickly consumed. This was the healing power of his aspect; it allowed him to use the life force of others to heal himself. While it wasn''t as efficient as having a healing skill or spell, it still did the job of healing. As the purple ball entered his mouth, Williams teeth bit it down and broke it, releasing the purple liquid sealed inside, which healed his injuries. "Oh, you even have a self-healing ability. How convenient," Michael muttered. Hearing his words, William felt rage build inside him at being beaten like this. But he was experienced enough to know not to let his emotions control him during a fight, so he calmed down as he cast another spell. (Pincer Rock Swords) This time, two giant brown magic circles materialised to the left and right of Michael. From these circles emerged two crudely stone-made gigantic swords aiming to destroy Michael. But their target didn''t even flinch in their presence as he bent his knees and jumped high in the air , easily dodging the spell. "Tch," William clicked his tongue, seeing another spell of his failing to do their intended job of defeating their target. But before William could cast another spell, Michael bent his knees in the air and launched himself towards William with his hand outstretched, moving at breakneck speed. It was too fast for William to even react, and before he knew it, he was in the sky with his neck being held by Michael''s hand. His legs flailed, trying to find solid ground to rest on, but to no avail. William tried to cast a spell to help make some distance between himself and his opponent. But before he could, Michael used his free hand to punch him in the face. BAMM. The noise generated from the punch was enough to tell everyone how monstrously powerful the punch was, but due to his neck still being grabbed by Michael''s other hand, William wasn''t sent flying. He almost lost consciousness, but he managed to endure thanks to the effects of all the armour-type artifacts, the dark slime that his current clothes were made of consumed in the past. But William could tell that this was bad; if nothing changed, he wouldn''t be able to last till the end of 5 minutes. He wanted to use [Shadow Step], but he couldn''t due to not being in contact with a shadow. While William was thinking about possible ways to get out of his current predicament,. BAMM!! He was once again punched in the face. At this point, William was almost on the verge of losing consciousness, but he regained focus thanks to the voices inside his head. (This is bad.) Sera commented inside his head. (Screw it, just use [Spirit Ascension] with me) Wiz suggested. And she was right. William had only used [Spirit Ascension] with Agni and Sera during the livestream, so technically he could probably get away with using it with another spirit. But before he could use it,. BAMM!! He was slammed into the ground. This was it; William had now lost consciousness. But due to his mask, no one could see this. Michael just grabbed his leg, lifted him into the sky, and slammed him again. BAMM!! By this point, all the spectators were speechless, seeing the brutal beatdown of the masked guy. While it made sense considering who his opponent was. A wide majority of them still wanted him to win, especially considering his previous performance. But now they just felt bad for him and wanted him to not get seriously injured. While they felt that their guild leader was being excessive, they could do nothing but watch. Feeling anxious for some reason, Jasmine asked Bella. "How much time is still left?" "50 seconds," she replied. "Yeah, it''s over." Jasmine sighed, disappointed by the masked man''s failure to make the bet. She wasn''t sure why she felt this way. At first, she was a bit annoyed by having her spotlight stolen by an unknown guy. But it didn''t really matter. Fame didn''t matter; the only thing that mattered was money. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And she was even planning on potentially teaming up with him. The abilities that Edge Lord had displayed were clearly above hers, so having someone that strong accompany her would''ve been reassuring. Which is why she was getting annoyed seeing her potential teammate get beaten up one-sidedly. ** ''Did I expect too much from him?'' Michael thought as he observed the knocked-out boy on the ground. For most of the fight, he was having fun and playing around. And when he got to experience the young man''s spells firsthand, he could tell that he had made the right choice. The man named John Sinner had the most talent in terms of magic he had ever seen. Which is why he got so excited and decided to get a bit more serious. But it seems he overestimated the boy, or maybe underestimated how much 20% of his stats actually are. If he had to take a guess, his current battle force is probably around 80k, due to which he was simply able to tank attacks and spells that would''ve killed a normal person with just his bare body. Michael was wearing a ring of suppression that limited his stats. Artifacts capable of suppressing one''s ability, while rare, were most certainly not that uncommon. You can find such items in most artifact shops; the only problem is how expensive they can get. Depending on how much strength they can suppress and what their upper limits are. On paper, an artifact whose only purpose is to make someone weaker than they are ,might seem stupid, but it''s actually very useful in real life. For example, in things like training, sparring, tests, and most importantly, interacting with normal, unawakened people or even those significantly weaker than oneself,. That''s right, once someone''s strength passes a certain threshold, they subconsciously release an invisible pressure of sorts that makes it hard to breathe for normal people. For example, someone like Rex probably needs to wear multiple suppression artifacts just to keep people from passing out in his presence. The same was true for Michael. But he was getting sidetracked, and realising that his opponent was already knocked out, he started walking away. However, just when he was about to announce the fight over, a voice called out. "Who said we''re done here?" Chapter 66: Ch-66 Edge Lord VS Michael Harrion-4 (Hey, wake up, boy.) Sera said calmly.(Stop napping) Agni said. (It can''t be helped that he was out of his league.) Gionne sighed (Shut up; he''s going to wake up any time now.) Wiz argued. (Stop being unreasonable, Wiz.) Gionne retorted. (No, the unreasonable one is you; my master won''t lose like this.) Wiz retorted. (Sure, whatever, buddy.) Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. While the spirits were arguing inside his head, William finally regained consciousness, and the first thing that caught his attention was the golden barrier above him. Which meant that the fight still wasn''t over. ''Fuck'' His whole body hurt; he had definitely broken multiple bones; he couldn''t even feel his left arm. The whole world looked red, probably due to his eyes being covered in his own blood. Speaking of blood, his whole body was bleeding. Honestly, it was a miracle that he was still alive. If he were being honest, he probably should have just given up by now. After all, this test didn''t even really matter. He had already become a B-rank adventurer, and he could start doing missions and gaining merit points for his goals starting today. While yes, he didn''t want to hide too much of his powers for someone who needed to hide his identity, he was drawing too much attention to himself. And even if he quit now, no one would blame him; after all, he was fighting one of the strongest humans alive right after registering as an adventurer. Even his performance until now was way beyond what most people could do. And yet, why was he trying to stand back up? What was this emotion he was feeling? Was it anger? Why did he feel this way? Was it perhaps due to getting beaten up almost to the point of death? or maybe because he was ''humilated'' in front of multiple people and treated as a ''joke''? He didn''t know, but he did know that he didn''t want to lose and be looked down upon. He hated that feeling, so to avoid that possible feeling, he stood back up as he announced. "Who said we''re done here?" Everyone in the whole basement who had considered the fight over already and were preparing to leave were shocked by Edge Lords condition and the words that left his mouth. His tuxedo was torn in various places, exposing his fair skin underneath it. His legs wobbling as he barely stood, his left arm completely limp, and blood covered the ground he stood on. His whole body and especially his mask were covered in blood, and speaking of his mask, it had multiple cracks, and before everyone present inside the hall, it cracked, unveiling the mysterious adventurer. Lustrous black hair and beautiful black eyes, with a sharp jawline and a small nose. The masked adventurer turned out to be a beautiful young man, looking no older than in his early twenties. Under normal circumstances, he probably could''ve given Michael a run for his money in terms of looks. But the scenario right now was anything but normal; the whole upper half of his face was covered in his own crimson blood due to having his head bashed in multiple times. ~Drip~ It dripped on the ground in a rhythmic tune. His eyes contained pure, unbridled rage and insanity that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone who observed him. But despite all this, he was smiling, and that was perhaps the scariest part. As to the people watching him, his smile resembled that of a mad man. Before it stopped, Edge Lord''s expression returned to the calm, stoic one that resembled his vibe from earlier. And from his shadow, another purple ball launched itself into his hand, which he quickly consumed, allowing it to heal him and properly expose his handsome features to the spectators. "I wonder why you would hide such a good-" Before Michael could complete his rhetorical question, he felt the ground beneath him being flipped, which launched him into the air in the process. That''s right William had used his skill [Strings of Mana] to attach thin invisible strings made up of mana to the land Michael was standing on, and by pulling it with all his strength, he was able to uproot it, thus managing to throw Michael in the air. Using the opportunity he created, William attached a small string to Michael''s hand, and by pulling on it, he was able to pull Michael closer to him and send himself flying towards him. Before Michael could even react to what happened,. BAMM!! He was punched in the face, sending him flying. Of course, it did zero damage, but it still hurt his pride to be caught off guard like this. However, before he could stand up, the ground beneath him started sinking, dropping him deep inside the ground. This, of course, was the effect of another one of Williams spells. It was intended to buy him time for his next spell. This was going to be the first time he was going to use this spell. But if his theory was right, it was going to be the strongest spell in his arsenal by far. With that, he activated (elemental burst) . As William outstretched his hand, Mana Circles of fire, wind, water, and earth materialised in his hand, and from them, a small ball started forming itself. However, before he could complete the spell,. Michael muttered. "(Frost) " And with that, Williams whole body was completely frozen, his spell cancelled, and himself covered in blue ice. As soon as Michael cast the spell, Bella deactivated the golden barrier, as she announced. "Congratulations to Edge Lord on becoming the first ever adventurer at our branch to start out as an A rank." The time limit was over, and Michael had also cast a spell, thus breaking his end of the bargain. So now Edge Lord had truly completed Michael''s challenge and became an A-rank adventurer. Hearing her words after a few seconds of silence, the whole crowd erupted into cheers. Chapter 67: ch-67 A Rank Adventurer ''Phew, that was dangerous,'' Michael thought.The reason why he had gone back on his words was due to how dangerous of a spell Edge Lord was about to cast. Just from what he felt, it would''ve most likely broken the barrier and killed everyone inside the guild hall, excluding him. But aside from that, he was now almost certain that the man named Edge Lord would one day become the strongest, just like his brother. His only real competition in the current generation was probably William Verhein, considering he''s as talented as the rumours portray him to be. It didn''t matter who it was going to be, as long as they defeated his brother in the future. However, while he was very happy with Edge Lords abilities in terms of magic, he couldn''t help but find his close combat abilities lacking. So in order to combat this and increase his chances of defeating his brother in the future, he was going to personally teach him. With that thought in mind, he unfroze Edge Lord. ** As the ice melted, Edge Lord finally regained his freedom of movement as he gasped for air. Throughout all 10 years of his life on Astressa, William had prided himself on his talent and affinity for magic, and yet today he was caught completely off guard by Michael''s spell. Even if he was stronger than him, William at least expected to have been able to see the flow of mana. But no, he was completely helpless, unable to know what had hit him before it was too late. Even the passive effect of his [Child of Mana] skill, which reduced the effect of all offensive spells used on him by 30%, was useless. ''So this is the power of one of the strongest men in the world?'' He smiled as that thought entered his mind because he knew it was only a matter of time until he had powers that surpassed anything Michael or anyone else could even dream of. Even now, he doesn''t know why he felt such intense anger near the end of his fight. But it seemed Michael''s spells had cooled him off both literally and figuratively, allowing him to regain control over his own emotions. And as he did, the first thing he noticed was that his mask was destroyed. Thankfully, it was only the second mask that got destroyed, not his artifact, or else things would have gotten complicated with his identity exposed. With a single command and a bit of his mana, he repaired his torn clothes and placed another mask on his face that was identical to his previous one. With his clothes fixed and his injuries healed, no one could guess that he had just come out of an intense fight with one of the strongest humans alive. Once his clothes were fixed, Michael approached him, as he said. "Not bad, you exceeded my expectations," a smile forming on his lips. "Thanks; you''re not too bad yourself" Edge Lord replied. "Hah, thanks, I guess," Michael snickered. "Anyways, I believe our audience has things to say to you, so I won''t take much of your time. However, once you get your licence, come visit me in my office. I believe there are a few things we should discuss." "Sure" William replied, not thinking much of it. With that, Michael took his leave. With Michael gone, he turned around, finally focusing his attention on the spectators who were waiting for their guild leader to leave. With him now gone, they bombarded him with invitations to join their party and questions related to his origins or talent in magic, while others just congratulated him for officially registering as an A-rank adventurer before taking their leaves. While William was starting to get a bit overwhelmed by being surrounded by so many people at once, he felt a bit awkward turning down all the invitations to join a party. It wasn''t that he disliked any of them; he just felt that they would slow him down, but at the same time, he didn''t want to become a public enemy by coming off as rude or arrogant. Thankfully for him, Bella intervened and saved him. "Alright guys, save all the questions for later. First, let''s get our new member officially registered." Bella was a very well-respected person due to her spending most of her day in the guild helping everyone to the best of her abilities as well as being a reasonable person. While sometimes her words might sound a bit rude, most of the guild members had received help or guidance from her at some point in their careers. Bella''s reputation was the complete opposite of Michael''s. Due to his status as one of the strongest humans alive, paired with his usually quiet and reserved personality,. Most members were a bit afraid of him, and this image was only further strengthened after seeing his brutality against Edge Lord, a newly registered adventurer. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So when they heard Bella''s words, most of them had no choice but to reluctantly agree and wait for their chance. After all that, William, Bella, and all the other adventurers finally made their way back up, and once they did, they were greeted by the eager expressions of all the unlucky adventurers who weren''t able to see the rank evaluation test of Edge Lord. Seeing their eager looks, the adventurers who were lucky enough to see the test told them about everything that happened inside. Hearing the things they heard, most of them felt like their adventurer friends were either exaggerating or just straight-up lying to them. After all, it was hard to believe that someone so young-looking could one-shot the most durable B-rank monster, have the guild leader challenge him, be able to quadra cast, and even succeed in a downright impossible test. But William didn''t pay them any mind, as he just followed Bella to get his much-awaited licence, and after a few minutes, he finally had it. A dark golden coloured card with his photo and details like his adventurer name, alias, and the branch he registered in a giant golden A symbol representing his rank as well as the 0 merit points he currently had. Comparing his card with the one he saw the girl named Jasmine receive, he deduced that adventurer licences were different colours based on the rank of the adventurer they belonged to. After a few seconds of admiring his card, he put it in his pocket. He wanted to start taking missions today, but he was too mentally drained as well as too low on mana for that. Right now, he barely had around 5% of his normal mana, but thankfully, due to his passive skills, it was quickly replenishing without him needing to do anything. So instead, he prepared to go meet the guild leader; he wasn''t sure why he wanted to meet him. But he assumed that it probably wasn''t anything dangerous, as aside from his aggressive battle style, Michael seemed like a pretty decent person. But worst come to worst, he had multiple artifacts capable of saving his life, which, when paired with [Shadow Step], should allow him to survive most things. With that reassurance in his mind, William made his way towards the guild leader''s office. Chapter 68: Ch-68 Proposal After a bit of walking, he arrived in front of a room that was named the guildmasters office.He had already reassured himself, but for some reason he felt nervous. He wasn''t sure what he was going to do if Michael discovered his real identity. In that case, things might get bad, but worse comes to worse: he can use Rex''s name to suppress him. After more self-reassurance, he finally took a deep breath to calm himself, after which he entered. The room was quite small, considering the status of the man residing inside. But despite its size, it looked neat and tidy, and a soothing aroma that calmed the soul floated in the air. However, the most eye-catching thing about the room was the overabundance of the colour blue, whether it be the walls, floor, or ceiling. The whole room was blue, almost like the owner was obsessed with it. Sitting in the centre of the blue room was a wooden table, which thankfully wasn''t blue. It had three chairs; two of them sat in front of the table; they looked quite comfortable, almost like they were luring him to sit on them; and on the other side sat Michael, the man who had beaten the shit out of him 10-15 minutes ago. Michael was once wearing round glasses, changing the colour of his pretty blue eyes to dull brown ones. It seems he had an extra pair of them. "Take a seat," he suggested. Hearing his suggestion, William quickly rested his buttocks on the comfortable chair, which, just like how they looked, was comfortable to sit on. "So what did you want to talk about?" William asked. "It seems you''re not interested in making small talk, but very well," Michael smiled. "So to start things off, I would like to apologise for beating you up so badly." "After thinking about it a bit, I''ve come to realise I may have been a bit excessive back then, so I hope you could forgive me for that." William was caught a bit off guard by hearing Michael apologise, but thanks to his mask, it didn''t show on his face. William had already forgiven Michael for beating the shit out of him, especially considering how his spells would''ve killed him multiple times if not for him being so much stronger than himself. However, he doubted whether Michael apologised to him out of the goodness of his heart or because he felt guilty. If he had to take a guess, Michael probably had a task for him or wanted something. He wasn''t sure what yet, but since he already had leverage, he didn''t want to let it go and planned to use it in case Michael asked for something unreasonable. "Words are shallow; if you''re truly sorry, prove it with your actions," Edge Lord replied in an emotionless tone, unfazed despite being in the presence of someone capable of ending his life in less than a second. His current confidence comes from his judgement of Michael''s character as well as his artifacts and [Shadow Step]. Worse comes to worse; he''ll reveal his identity and use Rex''s name to pressure Michael. But he hoped it didn''t come to that. "Hoh, well said" Michael smiled, acknowledging the young man''s boldness. It seems the masked adventurer had seen through his plan to make his image better in Edge Lord''s eyes before suggesting his proposal. With his plan seen through, he moved straight to the main topic he wanted to discuss today. "In today''s fight, I observed a few things." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "First, let''s start with the obvious: while your magic talent is great, you seriously lack any worthwhile capabilities in close combat." "And from our fight, I could tell that you don''t have that much experience." "Also, you rely too much on firepower, which I suppose makes sense considering you''re a mage, but I would still suggest learning more technical spells that could tip the scale of the fight or less destructive spells that won''t destroy your surroundings and kill your allies." The more he heard him speak, William had no choice but to reluctantly agree, after all the things Michael was saying were things he had already noticed. But he did not really have a way to fix these flaws yet. The reason he liked to use flashy and destructive spells so often was because it got a reaction out of the crowd and also because it allowed him to easily kill his enemies without the chance of them getting close to him. Sure, it may be a waste of mana, but he could afford it. And as for the point related to close combat, it was another thing he had to reluctantly agree with. While yes, he had experience in hand-to-hand combat in his past life that was against humans with similar body anatomy as him. But in this world, his enemies have a completely different body anatomy from him, and things are far too dependent on stats. As Naoya, he preferred to go for sensitive organs like the genitals, livers, and throat that would allow him to KO his opponent with minimal difficulty. But that became obscene when his opponent didn''t have such parts or was 20 times his size, and even against other humans, such tactics are mostly useless. Even a full-powered liver shot from him would easily be tanked by someone with a few extra thousand BF than him. And as for those who had less BF than him, he could easily knock them out, if not kill them, with a simple punch. And as for weapon techniques, Rex had taught him Dance of Steel, but it was a foundation technique meant to teach the basics and build a foundation, and from that point onwards, it''s his responsibility to create his own sword style. From what Rex had told him, this was the same method he used to become the strongest swordsman alive, and he wanted his son to follow his footstep. While William appreciated the sentiment, that also meant he had no proper offensive martial arts techniques. Martial art techniques were created to compete with mages and allow humans to defy elements of nature using their bodies and weapons. But another reason for their existence was to ensure that all fights don''t just end up being BF-checking competitions. Thankfully, things like aspects, skills, spells, and aspects added more elements to a fight, making them actually enjoyable and a much better learning experience. "Are you still here?" Michael asked. "Yeah, sorry about that," Edge Lord replied, finally snapping out. "Anyways, I agree with everything you have said, but do you have any suggestions for me?" He asked, not expecting much. "Yeah, I do." "You should become my disciple," Michael suggested. Chapter 69: Ch-69 Proposal-2 "I want you to become my disciple"An awkward silence followed Michael''s declaration, which was finally broken by William as he asked. "Do you have any reason for this?" Taking a disciple is not a joking matter. According to the culture of this world, it''s usually frowned upon to take more than one direct disciple. So why would Michael waste such an important choice on someone he''s met today? Not to mention, taking a disciple is usually done when one is old and is about to die in a few years to pass on their legacy to the next generation. So with that in mind, why would Michael even consider passing on his techniques despite his young age? People would literally kill just to learn a single technique or spell from someone of Michael''s status, and yet here he was freely offering it to someone he just met. No matter how he thought about it, the offer was too suspicious. "Well, yes, actually, I do," Michael replied. "I''m assuming you must have heard about Vox Harrions before, right?" he asked. William had obviously heard about Vox before he was the only human Rex had ever acknowledged as stronger than himself. In other words, he was the strongest human alive; many even considered him the strongest individual alive out of all the races. According to the general public, he had a Tier IV aspect that allowed him to manipulate vectors and mass. Due to this, aside from one or two individuals, no one had even managed to hit him. Oh, and he was also the element''s favourite of the space element. An element''s favourite is, as the name suggests, the favourite person of an element, granting them more than the known maximum of 100% affinity for an element. Of course, an overpowered title like this would have the slight downside of not allowing its user to gain an affinity for any other elements. While that''s slightly annoying, the perks more than make up for it, especially when it''s an element as powerful as space. But the thing that William really cared about was him being the principal of Starlight Academy, which was also the academy that William planned to study at when he was 16. However, he didn''t know much about Michael or that he was the brother of Vox, but thinking about it, since they both have the same last name, maybe it really is true. Anyway, that still didn''t explain what that had to do with wanting to make him his disciple. "Yeah, I do," he replied. "It makes sense after all; on the whole human continent, he''s the most famous person alive" Michael said. "But you see, ever since we were kids, he''s always been better than me at everything, causing everyone to compare us." "And I hated it; at first I wanted to beat him, but I''ve come to accept that it''s simply impossible for me, sadly." "However, even if I can''t do it myself, as long as someone else defeats him, I''d be satisfied." "And that''s where you come in; you''re young and also the most talented person I''ve ever seen. All you need is just a bit of guidance from me, and you''ll be able to defeat my brother." "As long as you fulfil my dream, I wouldn''t mind passing on my teachings to you." "So tell me, are you in?" ''Ah, so it''s a case of inferiority complex'' William thought. It seems Michael had developed a complex throughout his childhood and made it his life goat to defeat his brother, to the point it pushed him to pass on his teachings to a complete stranger like himself as long as he agreed to beat his brother for him. After thinking a bit about it, no matter how much he thought about it, the whole deal seemed stacked in his favour. After all, he''ll be getting the techniques and teachings of one of the strongest humans alive, almost on par with Rex, just to defeat an opponent he was going to defeat in the future anyway. That''s right Even without Michael''s request, William was going to defeat Vox anyway; after all, it wasn''t logical for a human to be stronger than a future god like him. But, of course, Michael had no need to know any of this. To sell the idea, he was having a tough time deciding, so he placed his hand on his chin, acting like he was thinking about it. Michael got a bit nervous seeing Edge Lord contemplate. He was expecting him to practically jump at the opportunity he presented to him. But it seems the mention of his brother Vox was making him hesitant, which makes sense considering the reputation of his brother. However, Michael had no plans of letting this opportunity slip, so he decided to hammer it while the iron was still hot. "If you accept my offer, I''ll pass on my sword style to you," he suggested, hoping to finally win him over. Hearing his suggestion, William smiled as he replied. ''Well, I guess that solves the issue of not having an offensive sword style'' "Fine, you win, let''s do this," his tone screamed of hesitation, which was the reaction that would be expected from a young man like himself being asked to defeat the strongest human alive in the future. Well, at least that was how it was on the outside, but inside he was practically screaming of happiness at getting such heavenly rewards for doing something he was about to do in the future anyway. Hearing his nervousness, Michael smiled as he replied. "Don''t worry, my experience and teachings, paired with your talent, would be more than enough to even defeat my monstrous brother" He said that as he brought out a blue-coloured paper out of his spatial ring. This was a mana contract that was used to sign contracts in this world. "Read it and tell me if you have any problems with any of the terms," he suggested. "Sure," William replied. Reading the contract, just like he expected, it was completely stacked in his favour, with Michael needing to sponsor him as well as teach him his techniques. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And in exchange, all he needed to do was defeat Vox Harrions and claim the title of the strongest human in a time frame of under 10 years. ''That''s more than enough time'' His smile under his mask only grew larger once he saw the consequences of failing to meet his end of the deal, which talked about the destruction of his mana core. This would''ve been devastating for almost anyone who dared to break their end of the deal. After all, it''s widely known that once a mana core is broken, it''s almost impossible to rebuild it. But just like everything else, exceptions always existed, and William was one such exception thanks to his multiple mana cores. Even if he wanted to just leave after getting taught by Michael and his mana core got destroyed, it would barely matter as he would have like 10 other cores to replace one broken core. But thankfully for Michael, he had no plans of betraying him like that, so after a bit more thorough reading, trying to find any clause or potential loophole he missed, he finally signed the contract. Seeing him sign, Michael also signed the contract, finally seeing the light out of his long and dark tunnel that was his impossible dream of beating his brother. But what Michael didn''t know yet was that he had gotten completely scammed today. Chapter 70: Ch-70 Choosing First Mission It had now been two hours since William had signed a contract with Michael.He was currently lying in a room of a hotel called Rosel High, which apparently was under the adventurers guild. The room wasn''t anything fancy, but it did its job of giving him somewhere to sleep for the night and giving him food in the morning. It costed 2 bronze coins per night, and he just booked it for tonight since he wasn''t sure if he would be able to make it back tomorrow after his mission. In this world, coins were used for currency, and they ranged from bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. And for their conversion, it went somewhere along the lines of. 100 bronze coins = 1 silver coin 100 silver coins = 1 gold coin 100 coins = 1 platinum coin And Rex had given William 500 golden coins before his departure, meaning he roughly had the equivalent of 5 platinum coins. To put it in perspective, the average middle-class family can live comfortably their whole life with just a single platinum coin. And he had five of them, so yeah, he was basically loaded, but that''s just a given for the heir of a noble. Anyway, he was getting sidetracked. The main thing was that tomorrow he was supposed to go on his first mission, which would be chosen by Michael. That''s right Michael had decided to handpick missions for him. "Fuck, it''s so annoying that I need to wait till I''m at least S rank," William muttered. That''s right back when William asked him about when he would start teaching him; he said to wait till he was at least S rank, which means that he still didn''t have an offensive martial technique. But it''s fine; his spells should be enough for now. He was currently not wearing his second mask,but his appearance was still altered thanks to his black slime, so his identity was safe. Looking at the time, it was 11:47 p.m. Realising it was getting late, he decided to finally get his much-needed rest. *** It was now a new day, and Edge Lord was currently in the guildmaster''s office discussing his first ever mission. "Yo, long time, no see," Michael greeted his disciple. "Wasn''t it just yesterday when you beat the shit out of me?" Edge Lord replied with a question. "Ignore the small stuff anyway; I handpicked a few suitable first missions for you, which I''m sure will be a good learning experience," Michael replied, dodging the question. "Yeah, whatever, just show me the missions you''ve selected," William said. Hearing his words, Michael took out three sheets of paper and placed them on his desk for Edge Lord to see. _________________________________________ Commission Objective:Hunt the blue petal green deer. Commissioned by Zuck Morbius, an esteemed alchemist. Estimated difficulty: A rank Rewards: 4500 merit points Suggestion: At least 2-3 member parties; only attempt this commission if you''re confident in your searching abilities. Time before expiry: 3 days Additional Information:Blue petal green deer are usually found in Mutterak Forest, a few kilometres away from Markwhelter Kingdom. These deer are quite scarce due to their delicious taste, causing them to be frequently hunted by various predators. _________________________________________ ''A hunting mission, huh, with my hounds, this should be quite easy, and 4500 merit points for my first mission, not too bad'' ''But first, let''s take a look at the other missions. _________________________________________ Commission Objective:Escort a group of miners into a rock golem dungeon. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Commissioned by: Merchant Lark Estimated Difficulty: A rank. Suggestion: 4-5 member parties, should be avoided by fire or lightning mages or mages who use destructive spells. Rewards: 8500 merit points Additional information: The interested party should have defensive spells to protect the miners while they mine and have the combat ability to kill A ranked golems and should also be able to fight comfortably in compact spaces. Time before expiry: 2 week _________________________________________ ''Oh, this should be interesting. I''ve never really fought in a compact space like this one before, and I''ll also not be able to use fire and lightning magic. ''This might be a bit tough, but I should be able to manage thanks to ice magic'' ''But let''s take a look at the last one''s _________________________________________ Mission Objective: Locate and rescue the daughter of the village chief. Commisioned by: Head of Zunesha Village. Estimated Difficulty: A rank Suggestion: The interested party should have good deductive capability and high combat ability. Rewards: 12000 Merit Points Additional Information: Not much information has been given by the chief; please go visit him in person to acquire more information. Time Limit: As fast as possible. _________________________________________ Seeing the third mission, William only had one thought, so to clear his head, he asked. "What criteria does the adventurer guild use to assign the reward to a mission?" "It''s assigned based on the urgency and importance of a mission paired with the difficulty of a mission," Michael replied. "While we take some fees from the one commissioning missions that don''t play a part in the overall reward of the mission," "For example, since in the first mission the risk is relatively low as well as the lack of urgency, it has the lowest reward." "But this mission was commisioned by a pretty big alchemist who the guild would like to maintain a good relationship with to buy potions from in the future, causing the reward to be evaluated at 4500." "As for the second mission, its reward is due to the danger involved in the mission." "And at last, the third one, which is the most urgent due to it involving a human life, and according to our estimations, it probably involves a pretty big gang of bandits, due to which it''s priced at such a high price." "If you choose not to accept the third mission, I''ll look for another adventurer to do it in your place." "With that knowledge, what mission would you like to choose?" Michael asked. "Reserve all three in my name for today. I''ll start with the third one. Tell me when the next carriage to Zunesha village will depart." William replied with confidence oozing out of his tone. Michael smiled upon hearing his response, almost as if he were expecting it. "Very well, the next carriage will depart in 3 hours. Be prepared." "Sure" Chapter 71: Ch-71 Traveling to Zunesha Village It had now been a few hours since Williams talked with Michael, and he was currently in a carriage travelling towards Zunesha village to get some information about his mission.According to the map he had received, Zunesha village was located near the outskirts of Markwelter kingdom. ''A missing child, huh? This might get a bit annoying depending on how cooperative the village folk will be with his investigation'' Michael had told him that he suspected this to be the work of some local bandit gang. Due to rumours about some bandit sightings near the area,. The Marquis family of Balakar had conducted some searches around the area, but they found nothing, so the rumours were declared baseless. But people still believe in the existence of a bandit gang nearby, due to which the adventurer guild assumed the rumoured bandit group was involved in this case. But William would disagree with that notion. If it really was the work of a bandit gang, it was highly unlikely for them to discreetly kidnap a child. They most likely would''ve just raided and ravaged the village. But since there weren''t any such mentions, he highly doubted the existence of a gang. Personally, if William had to guess, then some jealous village people had probably kidnapped the village head''s daughter. But those were all assumptions; for now, the only way to know anything for sure was by conducting a proper investigation. Well, whatever the cause was, it didn''t matter; the only important thing was saving the innocent girl. After all, one consistent thing throughout both of his lives was his soft spot for children and the belief that children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood. ''I just hope I can get there in time'' (Hey brat I know how you feel, but in case things get dangerous, make sure to prioritise your own life.) Agni commented inside his head. (I agree with Agni that while wanting to save people is commendable, make sure to always prioritise your own life.) Sera chimed in. ''Don''t worry, guys; I value my life too much to risk it for a stranger. I just feel that since I have the power, I should at least not completely ignore the cries of help in front of me,'' William defended himself. (As long as you know.) (Fine, just keep what we said in mind.) ** After another hour of travelling, William had finally reached the outskirts of the village. Once William had paid 1 silver coin of fees, the carriage driver went away to pick up its next passenger. Zunesha village was a relatively small village, only housing a population of 3000, but despite this, the houses were well built and looked quite spacious to live in. The streets looked clean, and there wasn''t an unpleasant smell in the air. It was clear that the Marquis families were taking good care of this village, despite its small size and non-ideal location. William was currently donning his usual Edge Lord attire of his tuxedo and mask, which made him stand out. But that''s fine; it should make it easier for him to make his way around this way. However, the more he walked around, the more he came to a strange realisation. The village was quite, almost too quiet. He had seen one or two people walking around, but when he called out to them, they just ignored him. It was strange¡ªreally strange¡ªwhy the people were behaving this way. According to what he had been told, this village had great relations with outsiders, usually welcoming them. So why was he being avoided like this? [Ah, I see.] Zephyr commented inside his head. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''What exactly do you see? he asked. [Nothing; don''t worry about it.] ''Huh, strange'' Ignoring Zephyr''s weird antics, William made his way through the village, but despite his best efforts, he couldn''t find anything. So with no other choice, he decided to knock on the door of a random house, hoping to ask for directions. ~Knock~Knock~ After a few seconds of knocking, a middle-aged man with a thick white curly moustache and brownish skin tone opened the door. "Hi, sir," William said. Hearing him, the man didn''t say much and instead just nodded unenergetically. "Sir, if you don''t mind, can you please tell me where the head of the village lives?" William asked. After taking a few seconds to process his words, the man replied. "Go straight and then turn right, and after walking for a few minutes, you''ll see a house with a blue roof," he said, his voice sounding hoarse and rough. "Thanks, sir; much appreciated," William thanked before continuing to walk again. The man didn''t say anything and just went back inside his house and closed the door. ''This place is really weird,'' William thought. He couldn''t quite put his finger on what exactly was making him feel this way, but something just felt wrong in this place. Was it perhaps the eerily quiet atmosphere? Maybe the weird behaviour of the people. Or the weird comment from Zephyr, who usually likes to stay quiet. But regardless of how much he pestered him, he just refused to elaborate, so in the end, he had to give up. Ignoring his worries, William followed the instructions given to him by the man earlier. After a bit more walking and searching, he finally found the house with a blue roof. Which, strangely enough, looked even smaller than the houses around it despite seemingly belonging to the head. But at this point, William really couldn''t be bothered to start getting worried over every weird thing in this place; he just wanted to quickly complete his mission and be done with it. And for that, the first step was learning about what exactly was going on from the man inside. ** Authors Note: So guys, any guesses about what''s going on in the village? Chapter 72: Ch-72 Looking For Clues Knock~KnockAs William knocked on the door of the house with a blue roof, there was no response, even after a few minutes. After a bit more knocking, finally a middle-aged woman with visible wrinkles and dark circles opened the door. The woman had an empty expression on her face, as if she had lost her meaning in life, which, considering she was probably the mother of the missing girl, made sense. As William saw her, he started by introducing himself. "Good afternoon, maam. My name is Edge Lord, and I''m the adventurer assigned by the guild." Hearing his words, the woman''s pupils visibly expanded, and the light that her eyes had lost rekindled as she asked. "Really? So you''ll find my Maya?" Her tone contained desperation. William felt bad for the women, but he didn''t let it show on his face. As he doubted, the woman wanted his pity. "Don''t worry, maam, I''ll do everything in my power to reunite your daughter with you," he reassured her. Hearing the masked man''s words, the woman smiled as she spoke. "Thank you so much; our whole family is forever indebted to you. Ah, where are my manners? Please come inside." With that said, the women led William inside. As William entered the house, he observed that the house was quite small and didn''t have much furniture. While he kept this in mind, he didn''t point it out. ''It seems the loss of their daughter has affected both parents quite hard,'' he thought as he noticed how disorganised the house looked. Even the dishes seemed unwashed; overall, there was a suffocating, gloomy atmosphere inside the house. Anyone else probably would''ve found it suffocating inside, but William had experienced worse things in his past life, so he didn''t mind. As the women led him inside the bedroom, he saw an old man lying on the bed. The man had brown skin with wrinkles and black spots, and his eyes were open wide as he stared at the ceiling. It was a bit weird seeing an old man just staring at the ceiling with an empty mind, but at the same time, William didn''t think he could relate to a grieving father. "He''s been like this for the past few days ever since sending a commission to the guild; he barely even eats or speaks nowadays and instead just keeps staring at the ceiling," the woman said as she welped looking at the condition of her husband. She didn''t know just who they had offended to have to go through such tough times, but she just hoped that someday her family could return to normal, and for that, her hope was in the masked adventurer. She didn''t really have any reason to have such blind faith in a complete stranger, but she was desperate, and he was perhaps their best bet. "I see," Edge Lord commented as he heard the woman''s words. "Hi sir, I''m the adventurer who has been assigned to this mission. It''s a pleasure meeting you." Hearing the masked adventurers words, the old man sat up so suddenly that it almost startled William. "Show me your ID," the man said coldly. William was a bit impressed by the man''s ability to stay rational despite his state. He was honestly expecting him to be like his wife and just instantly believe him, but he was pleasantly surprised. Hearing his words, William took out his ID and handed it to the man. "A-ranked adventurer, huh? Not bad," the man commented. After a few minutes of scrutinising and confirming the authenticity of the card, the man returned the card. "Since you''ve now confirmed my identity, how about you tell me a bit about what''s going on?" William asked. The man took a deep breath before he started narrating everything. "Due to my status as the village chief, everyone in the village loved my daughter." "But with all this love, people who were envious of my position and hers were quite common." "But I never paid them much attention; after all, I never expected them to do anything." "Instead, I just focused on making the village more prosperous and saving my own money to send Maya to an academy so she could get educated." "Neither me nor my wife have been educated; it''s always been our dream for our child to not be uneducated like us, which is why we even sold our old house and instead settled for this modest one so we could save money." "But my daughter Maya was smart for her age, and realising our efforts to send her to an academy, she started studying whatever she could find and even started training." "And to everyone''s surprise, last year she actually managed to awaken." "This was simply unbelievable for everyone in the village, as we haven''t had a new awakened among our population in years." "And if her mere awakening wasn''t enough, she even awakened a Tier II aspect." "Hearing the news, everyone around the village was elated to hear such a genius arise from among us and ended up placing a lot of expectations on her." "Obviously, me and my wife were perhaps the most excited, and we encouraged her to hone her talents so we could get her admitted to a good academy." "With all these newfound expectations on her, she started pushing herself during training to not disappoint us; however, even despite knowing this, we chose to ignore it as we believed it would only benefit her in the future." "But if only I could go back in time and beat up past me for his stupidity and tell him to take care of his daughter more." "Tell her that it was fine for her to not push herself so much and that even if she never attended an academy, me and her mother would still love her more than anything." "Now she''s been gone for a whole 5 days with no contact." "At first, we thought maybe she was just training harder than usual, but after she had been missing for a whole day, I got worried and led a search party around the village, but to no avail." "In the end, I had no choice but to commission the guild as a last-ditch effort." "Now as I lay in bed, all that''s left is guilt and regret as I keep thinking about different what-ifs." "I''ve failed my daughter as a father and failed my wife as a husband for not protecting our child," the man welped, tears flowing down his face. The more William heard the man speak, the worse he felt for the fate of this family, as he found his throat getting dryer. Not able to take the feeling anymore, William finally said something. "Don''t worry, sir. I''m sorry to hear that happened to you, but now that I''m here, I promise to reunite you with your daughter, so apologise to her in person." When he first came here, he was only interested in the rewards, but not anymore now that he had promised the village chief that it was now his responsibility to complete this mission, and he, for one, wasn''t one to go back on his words. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 73: Ch-73 A Lead At Last It had now been around 30 minutes after his conversation with the village chief, and at the end of his talk, he had received a list containing the names of all of Maya''s friends as well as the people the village head suspected to have been responsible for Maya''s disappearance.To start his investigation, he decided to first ask the adults before he looked for Maya''s friends. And his first target was a man named Mox, who was a childhood friend of the village chief, whose name he learned to be Reat. Apparently, Mox and Reat were childhood friends until they had a falling out around a decade ago. Right now, William was in front of a house where, according to the list, the man most likely responsible for Maya''s disappearance resided. William didn''t knock on the door this time and instead used [Stealth] to erase his presence and [Shadow Step] to sneak inside. It was pretty dark inside, which was very weird considering it was still daytime. But thanks to Williams''s ability to sense shadows that he gained from his second ascension, he didn''t have trouble seeing in the dark. However, even after looking around for a few minutes, he couldn''t find anybody, which definitely weirded him out. According to what he had been told, Mox and his wife had no child of their own due to his infertility, and Reat suspected that Mox was jealous of his status as the village chief as well as his having a child. Mox''s house was untidy and quite disorganised, almost as if the owners had left in a hurry. The more William learned about the man named Mox, the more suspicious he got, but William knew better than to jump to conclusions. With his newfound knowledge of Mox''s disappearance and suspicion, William stepped out, still maintaining his [Stealth] active, as he made his way towards the second and last target before he moved to the children. ** ~Slap~ A loud slapping sound reverberated through the house as a boy seemingly no older than 12 was slapped and fell to the ground. ~Thud~ This boy was Billy Morok, and the person who had slapped him was his father Dilly Morok. Billy''s whole body ached from his fall and when he tried to get up. ~Stomp~ His father, Dilly, stomped on him once again, pushing him back down. "Ahh!" Billy groaned in pain. Hearing his sons groan, Dilly spat on him, as he said. "I can''t believe such a disgusting thing has the same blood as me." For a normal child, such a statement from their own father would''ve broken them. But for Billy, this was practically a daily occurrence, so he was already past the point of letting such a statement affect him. The reason behind why his father hated him so much, you ask? Well, the reason was jealousy. Seeing Reats daughter Maya not just awaken but awaken with a Tier II aspect and be praised by everyone in the village enraged him, as he was aiming for the position of village chief. When Billy was born, his mother ended up dying at his birth, which resulted in Billy not having the best relationship with his father. While yes, he would still occasionally get taunted and be called a demon who killed his own mother, it never devolved into physical abuse. That is, until last year, when his already bad life went from bad to worse. All because some girl he didn''t even know was more talented than him. At first, Billy hated Maya for being the reason why his life was so shit; however, he quickly came to realise that the one to blame behind his shitty life wasn''t some girl he didn''t know but rather his horrible father. If possible, Billy wanted to fight back and beat his father up, but he couldn''t. He had tried once, and it had ended horribly for him due to the difference in height and weight. While Billy hated this, he had already given up and decided to just wait until he was older. However, it all changed once news of Maya''s disappearance was made public a few days ago, causing everyone in the village to grow uneasy and be on guard. Billy was a bit suspicious about the whole thing, despite his young age and lack of talent for magic. He was many things, but an idiot wasn''t one of them. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After a lot of pestering, his father finally gave in and told him about how he had hired a gang of bandits to kidnap Maya and sell her to a slave market for profits. That''s right, slave markets still existed, while it was a capital offence to buy or sell a slave, but since when has something like that stopped the truly disgusting bastards with more money than they know what to do with? And as long as there''s demand, supply will always find a way to exist. When Billy came to learn of this, he realised that his father, whom he always assumed to be a terrible father, was also a horrible human. His hatred and disgust for his father had reached a new boiling point, to the point that he was repulsed by even the idea of having the blood of such a man run through his veins. But he was too weak and powerless to do anything; even if he told anyone about this, they wouldn''t believe him, thinking that he was just playing a prank. So in the end, all he could do was plead with his father in the hopes of reigniting any traces of sympathy still left within him. What was the result you ask? His current brutal beatdown, Billy was already bleeding from his mouth and having trouble breathing, but his father didn''t care; he truly felt as if he were about to die today. That is, until something shocking happened as the whole house grew dark. Billy and Dilly were stunned to see the change in their surroundings, but before any of them could adapt to the changes, a thick, dark tendril manifested out of Dilly''s shadow and hit him at the back of his neck, knocking him out almost instantly. By this point, Billy was too horrified to even speak, as the scene was straight out of a horror movie, but before he could pass out, a well-dressed, masked man materialised out of the shadows. Chapter 74: Ch-74 A Lead At Last-2 ''Holy sh*t, I''m going to die'' Billy thought as he saw his father passing out and the masked man materialising.Sure, he wanted his father to die, but that didn''t mean he was expecting a ghost-like man to manifest and kill his father for him. If anything, he wanted to be the one to kill his father, but those thoughts were secondary right now; the important thing was his own life, which looked to be in danger in the presence of the masked man. As he realised this, Billy started panting for air, having trouble not passing out from fear for his life. But before he could piss his pants, the lights turned back on, as the masked man said. "Calm down, kid." ** Once William had reached his second location, he breathed a sigh of relief to find that at least they were still present inside. However, what greeted him inside was a haggard, middle-aged man beating up a kid. If it was just a slap, William would''ve been willing to give the father the benefit of the doubt, but once he saw the beatdown getting a bit too intense, he decided to interfere and lightly knocked out the father, which was easy since he didn''t have mana. However, what he didn''t anticipate was that he would end up scaring the boy to such an extent. So he dispersed his shadow mana, which was responsible for making the insides of the house dark, and asked the kid to calm down. Now that he took a closer look, the boy seemed to be in terrible condition and was bleeding. Thankfully, William had multiple health and mana potions stocked inside his shadow, so while he could use his life bombs that could heal, they were only for him and not for others. "Here, take this," William said, offering the vial of green liquid to the boy, who seemed hesitant, probably because it was coming from a stranger. While yes, you shouldn''t take things from a stranger, now was not the time. "If you don''t drink it, you''ll die from blood loss," he urged once again. Hearing about his condition from the man, and due to fear for his own life, the boy stopped resisting and took the potion, drinking it all in one gulp. ~Cough~Cough~ Billy coughed a little after drinking, not anticipating the bitter taste. But he quickly forgot about it as he witnessed the miraculous effects of the potions and felt his body regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye. "Wow," he muttered in an almost inaudible tone, still shocked by the miraculous effects. William smiled behind his mask, seeing the boy''s reaction. Once Billy was fully healed, William used earth magic to erect two seats from the ground. ~Thur~ Once the chairs had manifested, William took his seat and urged the boy to do the same. ''So this is what magic looks like,'' Billy thought as he observed the chairs, still amazed at them appearing out of seemingly nowhere. This was the first time he had witnessed the greatness of magic, excluding the dark tentacle from earlier, but that didn''t count. As Billy took a seat and saw that the chair didn''t crumble from his weight, he realised that the man in front of him was a awakened, and that too a really strong one. "Now, boy, wanna tell me about what exactly was going on here?" William asked. "I uh-" The boy tried to speak, but it seemed he was hesitating. "Don''t worry, no one will hurt you; just tell me everything," William reassured him. Hearing the masked man''s words, Billy finally started narrating everything. ** Disgust That was the feeling that overwhelmed William as he heard the boy named Billy describe everything that he had been going through because of his father. Even in his past, he had seen many disgusting parents reminding him of a pretty popular phase from his previous world. ''Every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child. In his previous life, whenever he encountered someone who disgusted him to such an extent, he just killed them and sent the child to an orphanage or adopted him or her. And he truly wanted to kill the man named Dilly Moroks. But sadly, unlike in his previous world, he wasn''t some boss of the underworld. Heck, maybe even if he wasn''t hiding his identity, he could''ve gotten away with murder, but no, he was just some no-named adventurer right now. Unnecessarily killing someone on his first mission would kill his career before it even began. So all he could do was leave a shadow hound inside his shadow and restrict his movement with a hand cough artifact meant to restrict awakened people. He didn''t have enough range in his magic to use something like shadow binding or ice magic to restrict him; all he could do for now was leave him here and make a mental note to hand him over to the URF once he had saved the girl he was meant to save. Speaking of the girl, from what he understood, the girl seemed to be in deep trouble, and unless he moved quickly, it would be too late. Sadly, the only person who knew where she was being held was the little kid in front of him. He felt bad for the boy and wanted to hand him over to someone who could help him overcome his trauma. But that would have to wait for now. "Billy, that''s your name, right?" he asked. Hearing him, Billy nodded. "Good, I just want you to know that you did well holding out for so long, and now that I''m here, your evil father will be punished for his actions, but before that, how about you lead me to where Maya is being held?" William asked. Billy found it weird to be complimented; this was a first for him, but strangely, he didn''t hate it; in fact, he loved the feeling. But when he heard the kind-masked man talk about leading him to the bandits, who, according to what he had been told, were really strong and dangerous,. With hesitation in his tone, he asked. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Are you sure? From what I''ve heard, the bandits are supposed to be really strong and dangerous." "Haha, don''t worry, I''m strong, and I promise to keep both myself and you safe." William reassured him, feeling confident in dealing with a few bandits. That''s right, it was time to finally conclude his first ever mission. Chapter 75: Ch-75 One Sided Massacre Cloudhead Bandits A fearsome group that, 30 years ago, was quite infamous in the underworld due to the sheer number of villages they had ravaged. They were practically unstoppable during their heydays, but like all things, their era also came to an end. The only reason they hadn''t gotten caught yet was due to them going into hiding in a relatively secluded village. And the strength of their leader, Aron Holger, a man who, during his prime, was a feared man due to his strength and brutality. Aron was blessed with a Tier II aspect that directly aided in combat and had managed to amass more than 20,000 BF; that wasn''t a feat many people could boast. But sadly, even despite his strength, he was just one man, and there''s a limit to how much one person can do, due to which they were almost caught by an officer sent by the Marquis family of Balak. Thankfully for them, this officer was corrupt, and they were able to buy him off using the money they had amassed over the years to keep his lips shut. After that incident, practically no one really came to bother them, and if anyone did, they were quickly disposed of, allowing them to live their lives in peace and relative luxury with booze and women. For poor to middle-class men like them, what more could they ask for? But sadly, life wasn''t sunshine and rainbows, and now, after more than three decades of luxury and paying an exhorbant price of hundreds of gold coins to the corrupt officer, they were now about to run out of money. Or that was what was supposed to happen until two men came up to them and hired them to kidnap a 12-year-old. For the infamous Cloudhead gang, something like this was as easy as taking candy from a kid. And after they had kidnapped her, they learned that she was quite cute and even had a Tier II aspect, so they decided to sell her on the black market. She was supposed to be shipped in about two days. However, apparently, without their knowledge, the father of the girl had commissioned a mission, and the guild had commissioned an adventurer faster than expected. Half a hour ago, the man named Mox, who was responsible for hiring them, came running to them in panic along with his wife. While he was worried, their boss reassured him not to worry. Currently, their boss, Aron, was inside his room with Mox and his wife, chatting and reassuring them not to worry. "I don''t get the big deal about worrying over a single, no-named adventurer," said a dark-skinned man with a bottle of liquor in his hand. "I agree, but I guess it makes sense that the man doesn''t know about the might of our boss," another man commented. "That''s true, but if you ask me, we don''t even need the boss for a no-named adventurer," said a light-skinned man. "I could probably take on 10 adventurers at the same time," said the gigantic black-skinned man as he ripped off his t-shirt, flexing his huge toned muscles. "I agree" "Yeah, for sure." "Jok, the man." "If Jok can take on 10, then I can probably take on 5." "Yeah, for sure." BOOOOOOOOMM!!!! While the bandits were cheering, drinking booze, and just having an overall good time like usual, they were interrupted by a deafening flame explosion, killing a lot of their men and lighting the whole warehouse on fire. *** ''Phew, good thing I had Billy to guide me here'' William was currently standing in front of an abandoned warehouse a few kilometres away from Zunesha village. It was really well hidden, with an absurd number of trap artifacts capable of hiding the presence of this location. William was really grateful for having someone like Billy, who had a rough idea of the location, guide him. Otherwise, it probably would''ve taken him days to find this place by himself simply due to how overboard the owner of this place had gone with setting artifacts. It was quite obvious that the owner of this place was a paranoid person, which was probably the reason no one had been able to find this place for so long. But unfortunately for the owner, he was dealing with the child of Mana himself, and now that he had located the hideout, it was easy for him to disable the traps thanks to his [Master of Mana], as they were quite rudimentary and basic by his standards. Sure, they would''ve worked just fine on non-awakened and regular-awakened people without a high affinity for mana, but that wasn''t the case today. "Wow." Billy wasn''t sure what exactly was going on, but he had a feeling that the masked man just did something amazing as he witnessed multiple expensive-looking artifacts become visible and fall. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I''m glad you enjoyed it, but sadly, I don''t think you should see the things that are about to follow," William commented as he erected a small barrier of shadow around Billy and blocked his sense of smell, sight, and hearing. William was sure things were about to get gory once he entered, and he didn''t wish to traumatise the boy even more than he already was. Just to be safe, he sent two shadow hounds inside his shadow in case someone tried to take him hostage. But before he blindly charged in, he used [mana sense] to sense how many people were inside, and in total, he sensed 302 unawakened, 50 awakened, 1 exceptionally strong awakened, and one pretty weak mana signature who he assumed to belong to the girl he was supposed to rescue. "This should be doable," William reassured himself as he changed the mode of the finger on his ring to level 3, which was his usual preferred mode when starting a fight. As William stretched his hand, he activated the (fire blast) spell, and a giant ball of fire started forming in his palms. (Heh, this should be fun.) Agni commented inside his head, seeing the ball of fire. ''You bet it will'' William agreed with him inside his head, and then it began. Chapter 76: Ch-76 One Sided Massacre-2 BOOOOOMMMM!!!! A massive fireball entered the warehouse and exploded, burning most of the bandits alive and setting fire to the whole place. The attack would''ve likely killed everyone if not for the few awakened people inside, creating a barrier to save themselves and their allies. The bandits breathed a small sigh of relief to have survived before quickly raising their guard to try and find the perpetrator behind the attack. But before they could find the one responsible for the attack, a bipedal grey-furred wolf rushed inside and started slicing everyone with zero difficulty. "What the fuck is that thing?" a man screamed in panic as he saw the bipedal wolf brutally massacring all his friends and allies. "Someone hel-" Before another man could scream for help, his face was ripped into shreds by the sharp claws of the wolf. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Seeing the scene, the few awakened inside finally regained their senses, aiming their skills, spells, aspect abilities, or whatever they had in their arsenal towards the beast in hopes of taking it down. Spikes of rocks, fire balls, bolts of lightning, blades of wind, beams of ice, and various other attacks of all kinds were charged at the foul beast. But it was all useless as the beast manoeuvred around the burning establishment, easily dodging the spells. As the wolf was running around, he let out a beastly howl. "HOWWLLL!!! " The howl paralysed the few remaining non-awakened who somehow managed to survive the initial fireball and even a few awakened people. Taking this opportunity, Noir (AN:the name of MC''s first chaos servant) opened his mouth, and a small, dark purple ball of energy started forming inside, which, when released, fired like a beam of destruction, destroying anything it came into contact with. With just this single ability, Noir killed at least 50 people. Now, out of the 300 people who were previously present inside, only 20 remain. Describing the battle as anything other than a one-sided massacre would be completely wrong. The bandits were completely unmatched against the beast who had invaded their territory; they were merely lambs to the slaughter. However, things weren''t all bad for the bandits, as out of the still-lived 20 members, all of them were awakened, so if they all worked together, they might be able to bring down the beast. "Ahh! This is annoying!" Jok screamed as he summoned an axe, which was probably his aspect beast, and charged at the wolf. The metal of his axe clashed with the claws of the wolf, and sparks flew as both weapons collided. ~Skring~ Their exchange continued for a few seconds, and both of them looked to be equal in terms of strength from an outsider''s perspective. But that was merely an illusion, as Jok was quite heavily outmatched and was being pushed back. Just when Noir was about to bite the gigantic man''s head off, a fireball and an ice shard crashed into it, disorienting it in the process. Using the opportunity his allies created, Jok used his [Great Hit] skill to strengthen his axe and slash the wolf, finally managing to make it bleed and send it flying. "Yeah, how''s that?" Jok celebrated, finally managing to hit the monstrous beast. His whole life, his physical strength was something Jok prided himself on, and his 2200 points in strength were proof of that. He had never ever lost in a battle of strength aside from that one time against the boss, but that obviously doesn''t count. Due to his overwhelming physical advantage, he just relied on it to win fights, which is why he got caught off guard and almost died back there if not for his allies intervention. Sadly, his total BF was 2800, and 2200 of that was just strength, so as one might expect, intelligence wasn''t exactly his strong suit, which is why he let himself get distracted mid-fight and started celebrating after just landing one good hit without confirming the state of his opponent. And now he was about to pay the price for his costly mistake. ~cluck~ Three beastly claws came out of Jork''s chest, and as he turned around to his horror, he saw the bipedal wolf he had sent flying moments ago behind him with one of its claws piercing through his chest. His vision started growing dark, and with his last few breaths, he muttered. "H-how? " Sadly, he would never receive the answer to his question, as the beast couldn''t talk, and even if it could, it probably wouldn''t tell him. But Noir had basically used [Shadow Step] to teleport through the shadows and kill the two men who had disturbed its fight, and after quickly disposing of them, it made its way towards the giant of a man it was fighting before and killed him before he could even react. "Fuck, what even is that thing?" a man asked, his legs trembling in fear. He had just witnessed the strongest guy among them, Jork, get killed helplessly. He didn''t want to die, but at this point, he didn''t think he had much of a choice. However, just before he could make a futile attempt at trying to run away from the peripheral of his vision, he saw a mysterious, well-dressed, masked man standing near the entrance¡ªthe same place that huge fireball from earlier came from. And it was easy to pull 2 and 2 together for him. The wolf from earlier must have been a summoned creature, judging by the strength of it. The man must be someone who mainly focuses on summoning magic, which generally means that the summoner must be weak physically. Of course, there was the possibility that the wolf was an aspect beast, and the masked man was a regular warrior or mage type awakened. But he didn''t want to think about such a possibility. "Hey guys, two of you go distract the wolf while the rest of us will go kill the summoner standing at the entrance," he announced. While the man who had announced this was just a random mob, nobody had the time to care right now; everyone was desperate, and in this situation, his words made sense, so they just chose to follow them. However, what these poor men didn''t know yet was that in order to escape from a wolf, they were willingly charging into the mouth of a lion. Chapter 77: Ch-77 Aron Holger After using his spell to destroy the warehouse, William decided to summon Noir to deal with the bandits. To be honest, he was expecting more of a challenge, but it was easy; the gang members stood no chance against Noir and were brutally slain helplessly without him needing to even move from his spot. But it seems his period of inactivity was about to come to an end, as a man announced. "Target the summoner." Hearing his words, everyone inside the warehouse turned their attention towards him. "Ah, finally, this should be fun," he muttered as he dismissed Noir, observing the injury on its chest and also so he wouldn''t get caught in the crossfire of his attacks. "Now come, no need to watch your back; show me what you guys can do," he announced. "You motherfucker!! " one of the bandits shouted, observing the devastation the masked man had brought on their hideout and his friends. The man charged towards the masked adventurer with his trusty cutlass in his. Seeing the man moving towards him, William stayed stationary until the man was just about to slice him up; however, the man suddenly stopped moving. Or rather, he simply couldn''t move as all his limbs were restricted by invisible strings that came out of seemingly nowhere, and before he could struggle to free himself,. ~slish~ The man was cut into multiple different parts by the strings restraining him. "Guys maintain distance and bombard him with spells; the man seems to have some mysterious skills." One of the bandits announced, warning his allies not to fall into a similar fate as the man from earlier. William smiled as he saw the bandits prepare to cast spells. He was excited because if he was lucky and any of the bandits used a spell he didn''t know before, he could easily copy it and add it to his ever-growing arsenal of spells. Sadly, as he witnessed the incoming barrage of spells heading his way, his wish didn''t come true. Sighing in disappointment with a wave of his hand, an extremely thick and tall wall of ice was erected in front of him, easily protecting him before going down again. "I guess it''s now my turn," he muttered as he activated (Barrage of Wind Blades) . Upon activation, hundreds of green magic circles materialised behind him before any of the bandits could realise what had happened. ~Skring~ Hundreds of tiny daggers made of wind emerged from the circle and pierced all the remaining bandits, killing everyone, no exception. Now surrounded by fire and blood, one lone masked man stood in the middle, his clothes pristine and an ominous aura surrounding him. His expression was unreadable due to his mask, but his demeanour showed no change as he observed the hundreds of dead bodies, all caused by his actions. It was an unsettling scene, which thankfully Billy didn''t witness, or else he would have had an even bigger trauma than the 12 years he spent with his scumbag of a father. With a simple wave of his hand, the flames inside the destroyed building calmed down. However, before he could use his life bombs to absorb the life force of these dead bodies, he was interrupted by the ground sliding and a stair emerging outside. From these stairs, a bearded brown-haired man walked out, and as he observed the carnage around him, he had a calm expression on his face as he asked. "I assume you''re the one responsible for all this." ** Aron Holger was a man who had lived the first two decades of his life without realising his talent. Aron was someone who was born into a middle-class family, but sadly for everyone around him, he had an insatiable greed for more. He didn''t want to be a bottom feeder like everyone else; he wanted to be at the top of the food chain to experience the view from the top. But sadly, his dreams came to a quick halt once he failed to awaken despite trying multiple times, and before he knew it, he was over the age of 18, making it impossible for him to awaken mana. However, his greed didn''t let him give up; even if he couldn''t have mana, he still chose to train his body to become as strong as humanly possible. And after two whole years of rigorous training, he surprisingly ended up acquiring the power of the aura and awakening through it. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Very rarely, there are individuals who, despite not being able to awaken mana, end up acquiring aura. Such people are called aura berserkers. Aron was one such person. After awakening his aura, he finally found the thing he was most talented at and made full use of it to acquire the wealth he now owned. As Aron stood in front of the masked man, he observed his now-destroyed warehouse and the dead bodies of his men. He felt nothing seeing them; he had already retired, so he had no more need for them, and feeding them for so long had put a hole in his pockets. While he didn''t want to kill them himself, he was glad someone else had done the job for him. His gang didn''t matter anymore once he sold the girl they had kidnapped; his life was set until he died of old age. However, he was a bit wary of the masked man, considering he alone managed to display such destruction and killed hundreds of his men. His strength was quite obvious. ''He must be the man that coward was yapping about'' Around 2 hours ago, one of the men who had hired them to kidnap the girl came to him along with his wife. The man was scared when he came to him. He warned him about a mysterious adventurer who was dispatched by the guild to take care of this mission. He even talked about just returning the girl and pretending like this never happened. Annoyed by his ramblings, Aron just sliced the man and his wife down. The thing he hated the most in the world were cowards who wimp out at the first hardship they encounter. However, despite everything he had heard and seen, Aron didn''t feel like he was going to lose. Why do you ask? The reason was simple. Aron was strong, and this was something he had always prided himself on, ever since he awakened. After a few seconds, the awkward stare-off between Aron and William finally ended, and their fight to the death began. Chapter 78: Ch-78 Aron Holger-2 ''He''s strong'' this was the only thought flowing through his mind when he observed the man in front of him. William was assuming this was the strong presence he felt earlier when he used mana sense. Now that he took a closer look at the man, he could tell that, at least in terms of pure stats, he was probably stronger than him. Thankfully, he was mainly a mage or summoner, so aside from intelligence, stats were kind of useless for him. Yes, having a higher BF will benefit him and make his spells stronger compared to if he used them with a lower BF. But thankfully, William had multiple overpowered mana-related skills, which should allow him to bridge the gap. The main problem for him will probably arrive in terms of the difference in experience between the two of them. But it''s fine he should be able to manage with that thought. William adjusted the level on his ring to level 5. ** Not wanting to let his opponent get close to him, William created three swords of ice and launched them at the bearded man. However, just when the swords were about to pierce him, the man summoned a giant grey greatsword that was even bigger than him and destroyed the swords of ice with ease. After breaking his spell, Aron readied his stance as he charged towards William, preparing to slice him down. Seeing the man charging towards him, William remained calm and combined earth and water magic and casted (Ground Sink). The ground beneath Aron became muddy and started sinking, temporarily trapping him. Using the opportunity he created, William combined wind and fire magic to create the spell (Fire Storm) . A giant storm of fire emerged from Williams arms and made its way towards Aron to burn him alive. ~Scorch~ The storm of fire burned the old gang leader alive, enveloping him in a tall column of fire. Just when it looked like the fight was over, the flames got cut in half, and standing in the centre was a man with burn marks on his skin, breathing in a haggard fashion. And his sword was coated in brown light. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Aura Weapon'' William thought. According to his knowledge, mastery of aura had three levels: aura enhancement, aura weapon, and aura manifestation. In the first stage, it lets the user augment his body using aura; in the second stage, the user can enhance his weapon to be sharp enough to cut steel; and in the last stage, the user can manifest a physical manifestation of their aura. But William didn''t have much knowledge about the last stage, so he couldn''t really comment on the topic. William himself was currently barely in the enhancement stage, and from what he just saw, the man seemed to be in the weapon stage. "This might be tougher than expected," William muttered. His opponent seemed to possess a level of mastery over his aura. The only saving grace In this situation, was the lack of mana that William sensed in his opponent. This was also the reason why he still chose to start this fight despite already knowing about his opponent being physically stronger than himself. "Not bad kid, you''re strong," Aron spoke as he dusted himself off, his shirt already burned, exposing his hulking muscles and scars, a testament to the countless extreme situations he had encountered and survived over the year. "I see why my men weren''t able to stop you." "But you see, unfortunately, you''re exactly the type of person I hate the most in the world." That''s rights Aron was not only extremely greedy but also as petty as a child. He hated seeing others having and enjoying things he himself could never have, so he made sure to either steal these things for himself or, if that''s not possible, destroy them so none of them could have them. And what was the thing he was most jealous of, you ask? Mana is the living block of the universe, something abundant in nature. A thing that every 4 out of 5 people has access to, most mechanisms in the world are built on the assumption that the person interacting with them has mana. Something that most children just get without even needing to put in much effort. He hated it; he hated everything related to magic. The whole society practically ran on magic, and while people like to claim that they have eliminated discrimination,. In reality, that isn''t true. Humans are disgusting creatures who always find something or someone to discriminate against. With discrimination based on race and other things being declared illegal, people have started discriminating based on whether someone has mana or not. While no one is actively being hostile towards non-awakened people, the upper echelons of society don''t let someone without mana hold significant influence and ensure to limit them. This was the reason why, despite his talent for aura manipulation, people didn''t acknowledge him due to his lack of mana. Which is what pushed him to start his own gang, and unlike everyone else, people in the black market didn''t discriminate based on mana. They respected him for his strength, which he had struggled hard to earn, unlike the babies, who had everything handed down to them by mana. All his strength was earned through rigorous hard work. Using the strength and influence he had amassed in the underworld, Aron kept raiding and ravaging villages for years. That is, until a mere 14-year-old anhilated most of his gang and even defeated him using mana. It didn''t make sense how it was possible for a mere kid to defeat him and his men. Aron felt betrayed as if his whole life had been a joke, his years of hard work pointless in the face of a mere teenager still wet behind the years. Everything he had built his whole life was destroyed by a fucking teenager in a single moment. The only reason he was still alive was because the kid had pitied him and left him alive after destroying his lifes hard work andreputationt. It was humilating. However, it was at his lowest point that he realised the reason behind all of his life''s hardships could be linked to mana. Ever since that day for the past 30 years, Aron has dedicated himself to never losing to Mana ever again. And now, after 30 years, the time for all his hard work to pay off has arrived. With great determination, he muttered. "Aura Manifestation" Chapter 79: Ch-79 Edge Lord VS Aron Holger "Aura Manifestation" A blinding brown light shone through the whole area, and when it disappeared, 12 brown swords made of pure aura appeared behind Aron. "Kid, you did well, too bad; you just chose the wrong opponent," Aron announced. ''What the fuck?'' William thought as he saw the 12 swords behind his opponent. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He hadn''t even seen Rex use aura manifestation yet, and now a random thug casually pulled it out from God knows where. But it didn''t matter how he had it; what did matter was that he had to somehow defeat an aura master while holding back. The energy those swords combined released was suffocating, and William didn''t think he could survive a clean hit from even one of them. That was how much pressure they released. Hearing his opponents words, William stayed silent as he instead cast the Quadra Elemental Arrow. This was an upgraded version of the spells he had showcased in front of his mother two years ago, and it was the same spell he used against Michael. This was one of his strongest spells; he didn''t know what ability those swords had, and he had no intention to find out. He was going to end his enemy before he could fully use the sword. At his command, a bow made up of wind manifested in front of it, floating horizontally. At the centre of this bow rested an arrow made up of ice, with elements of fire, wind, and lightning flowing through it, enhancing its strength. Not waiting for his opponent, William pulled back the string and released the arrow at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see. As the arrow travelled through the air, ready to take its target''s life, strangely, instead of being worried like one would expect, Aron signalled one of his 12 brown swords to intercept the arrow in the middle. Seeing this, William prepared to cast another spell, expecting both his arrow and the brown sword to cancel each other out. However, contrary to his expectations, instead of the attacks cancelling each other out, the sword just cut through the arrow with zero difficulty, and before William could react, it stabbed him. ~Skring~ or at least that''s how it should''ve been, if not for the golden barrier that appeared out of seemingly nowhere in front of him, protecting his life and causing the brown sword to dissapear upon being stopped. This barrier was summoned automatically by one of the many life-saving artifacts that William had been given by his father upon sending a threat to his life. After protecting him, the barrier started disappearing. Now, with one gone, he had four more similar artifacts left. ''I almost died just now,'' William thought in panic, his expression hidden behind the mask he was wearing, but he quickly composed himself, not allowing himself to lose focus mid-fight. While he had expected the swords to be strong, he could''ve never expected the sword to cut through one of his strongest attacks with zero difficulty, which ended up catching him by surprise, and this one mistake almost cost him his life if not for the artifacts his father had given him he would''ve died. The sword had cut through his spell a little too smoothly instead of destroying it, almost like it could cut through mana. Once he had this thought, William had a hypothesis that those swords could cut through mana, which, if true, was really bad for him. (William, this isn''t a fight you can win; your main magic-related abilities are completely countered by the man with his swords.) Gionne advised inside his head. (I agree with him; let''s use [Shadow Step] to run away and live to fight another day.) Sera also chimed in. William seriously considered the option of running away, but after a bit of thinking, he realised that if he ran away now, he would be abandoning both Billy and the girl named Maya. He couldn''t allow that. He''s supposed to be strong, but what''s the point of strength if you can''t even do the things you want to do? And right now, he wanted to save those kids. But more than even his desire to save the kids, he didn''t want to break his promise. To go back on his words and betray the trust placed in him. The very thought disgusted him almost as much as the idea of running away was beneath him. Was it what one would call chivalry? Or was it plan stupidity? William didn''t know that, but what he did know was that he would rather die than run away today. ''No, you''re right. I can''t just run away like this; I need to make that fucker pay'' William replied inside his mind. Strangely enough, he looked to be in sort of a trance-like state, with his eyes emitting a slight purple glow that sent shivers down one''s spine. For some reason, as soon as he heard the voice, William breathed a sigh of relief, almost like he had been waiting for this, and without even thinking of the consequences, he muttered. "Please help me." after saying this, he passed out. He was completely unaware of the notifications displayed on the World System throughout the world. [An Ominous Presence Has Entered the World] Chapter 90: Ch-90 Someone Who Makes Gods Tremble What makes someone a god? Is it someone with a lot of power? Is it someone who can do the impossible? Is it someone who is revered and worshipped by the people? Is it someone who exists beyond mortal comprehension? Someone who stands at the apex of everything? The one who created everything? Throughout human history, there have been a thousand different definitions for the qualifications of a god. But something common among all these iterations is that a god is someone who stands at the pinnacle; in that case, what does that make someone who can make even a god tremble in fear? ** Inside the world of memoirs. The whole golden world trembled, reflecting the inner turmoil of its master. Unlike his usual stoic and dignified state, Zephyr was breathing heavily, with a lot of sweat piling up on his face. "In the end, I couldn''t stop ''it; it looks like in my current state, I''m simply too weak to stop it." "But it doesn''t make sense. I can still sense the connection to my barrier; it''s still holding up, so how did that ''thing'' sneak past it and enter our world?" The reason Zephyr was unable to respond to William earlier was because he was stuck trying to hold back that ''thing''. But it seems in the end he failed, and ''it'' managed to enter Astressa through William. Zephyr had a lot of questions about what was going on, but he at least now had the answer to one question that had been troubling him ever since he first met William. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He now knew why someone who was born with seemingly everything like William ended up destroying all of existence. After all, inhibiting his protege body was the only existence even he couldn''t defeat. ** [An ominous presence has entered the world.] A single notification was displayed on the system screen of everyone who possessed mana globally. This single message was enough to send the whole world into mass panic and hysteria. Many people theorised that maybe another demon king had entered the world. Some superstitious people proclaimed that the world was ending; others said that they had angered a God by advancing in technology too much. Other cultists celebrated, thinking maybe their ''God'' had finally answered their prayers. But what no one could''ve predicted was that the one who had set foot on their planet was someone beyond their wildest imagination. ** BOOOOOMMM!!! A massive purple explosion occurred at the place William was lying, blowing Kaust away in the process. [An ominous presence has entered your body.] A single system message appeared in front of ''William'' but was ignored by him. As William now stood back on his own two feet, his whole demeanour and aura around him had changed. Except for his usually pretty red eyes adapting a malevolent purple colour, the rest of his appearance was the same. All his injuries had healed themselves, and the black suit he was wearing previously was now lost, so he donned a plain buttoned white shirt and black pants. Despite there being no physical difference between William from before and now aside from his eyes, it was abundantly clear that the person standing was not William but rather someone far more evil and overwhelmingly more powerful. ** ''Wtf just happened? '' He thought, just seconds earlier, he was about to kill the boy who had been disrespecting him constantly. And in the next moment, just when he had finally broken that pesky barrier of his, he was blown away by a purple explosion. He had sustained some injuries from that attack, but it wasn''t anything he couldn''t heal. After all, even among demons 6,000 years ago, his healing powers were above those of everyone else of his race. After healing, he was about to go and finish the job, but out of nowhere, a frightening pressure descended upon him. ''What is this feeling? he thought. His whole body was shivering; he couldn''t even move. No matter what he did, his body refused to listen to him. 6000 years ago, during the era of war between demons and the rest of the world, he was subjected to the presence of many beings far above him in strength, the most notable of which was the one humans now refer to as the God of Mana Zephyr and the demon king. But both of those existences were like mere ants compared to the being''s pressure he was feeling right now. For the first time in thousands of years, Kaust felt afraid; he felt like his life no longer even belonged to him and that even a single stupid action on his part would spell the end for him. However, just when Kaust was about to give up and accept his fate, the overwhelming pressure suppressing him disappeared. The moment he regained the ability to move, his first thought was using everything he had to run away and hoping that the person in front of him simply didn''t care to chase after him. But for some reason, he knew that the moment he turned his back on being responsible for him feeling this way, he would die. There wasn''t any specific reason for this other than the instinct honed through fighting and surviving countless battles, as well as participating in the deadliest war throughout the history of the world. Now that he took a closer look at the boy, it was abundantly clear that the person in front of him wasn''t the same kid he was thrashing around with moments ago. His physical body looked like that of a little kid; his injuries had somehow completely healed themselves, but more importantly was the change in the colour of his eyes. Those purple eyes were bright in tone and looked far more malevolent and evil than any demon he had ever seen or could imagine. It was then that the entity inhibiting the boy''s body finally opened his mouth. "At long last, I''ve finally arrived at the mortal world again, all thanks to that idiot." ** AN:- Ooh, I wonder who this being inhibiting Williams body is. Do you guys have any guesses? Chapter 91: Ch-91 Element Made For Destruction "At long last, I''ve finally arrived at the mortal world again, all thanks to that idiot." William shouted in excitement as he looked around at the destruction all around him. A wide, malevolent smile formed on his face, which would make even the one Kaust had earlier look cute. It was after a few seconds that he finally bothered to look at the previously fearsome demon, who was sweating buckets out of sheer terror. "I guess I should first start by taking care of you," he said. His words drained the colour out of Kaust''s face, but before he could do anything, William had disappeared from his place. ''Where i-'' Before Kaust could even complete his thought, he felt a hand grabbing his face and crushing it, and before he could even react, his face was slammed to the ground. ~BAMM~ Kaust was slammed on the ground with such force that the floor broke. Not even waiting for him to get up, William grabbed his head and slammed it on the ground again. ~Bam~ And again. ~Bam~ He kept doing this till his whole body was pulverised and destroyed, leaving just a single black core in the middle. "Ah, this must be your demonic core; no wonder that Brat wasn''t able to kill you." "Well, too bad for you. I''m feeling stressed after not being able to have fun for so long. You might not be that strong, but a punching bag like you who heals himself should be pretty entertaining." He said this as he picked up the palm-sized demonic core and threw it aside to let Kaust regenerate. Against his will, Kaust regenerated as the black miasma smoke formed, and from it emerged a Kaust who had a pale and horrified expression on his face. ''What just happened? he thought as he panted for breath. Everything happened too fast for him to even react or try to resist; before he knew it, he was dead. He had expected that to be the end, and yet, for some reason, his core was left intact and he wasn''t killed. When he looked at the insane expression on his opponent''s face, he knew it probably wasn''t because of something stupid like pity. Just by looking at his expression, he knew that he was about to have a bad time. "You''re too weak; this won''t be fun if you don''t even try, so go ahead and give it your best shot," William mocked, his purple eyes shining brightly as his words fell. Despite his fear, the moment he saw the boy taunting him, he lost his sense of self-preservation and had only thoughts of destruction and making his enemy pay for disrespecting him. It didn''t make sense how his mood changed so drastically out of nowhere or why he felt so affected by some childish insults. After all, he was 6,000 years old; he should have been way past the point of letting such insults affect him, and yet he was almost hypnotised and had momentarily lost his rationality. To make his opponent pay, he activated all the skills he had gained and mastered over the years. [Malevolent Pressure] [Miasmic Conversion] [Demonic Form] [Stuff of Nightmares] [Terrorising Power] [Demonic Power] After activating all his skills, he had now achieved a whole new realm of power¡ªthe kind of power that would allow him to even fight a count who was above his rank. Due to the absence of miasma in Astressa, it was almost impossible for Kaust to rank up; in the past 6,000 years, he had only managed to rank up once. But that didn''t mean that all the time he had spent in the mortal world was wasted. Over the years, he had been able to observe and adapt to the skills humans or other races used, and after adjusting them to be used with miasma and fit his needs, he had gained a wide arsenal of skills and abilities, the kind of which no other demon aside from the demon king himself possessed. Even at a lower rank, if he played his cards right and utilised his skills to their full potential, it wouldn''t be impossible for him to fight and defeat multiple demons at a higher rank. Now armed with all of his active buffing skills, Kaust was confident in being able to take the purple-eyed boy head-on. He had already experienced how dominant he was in close range, so he instead decided to opt for long range as he activated another skill of his. [Miasmic Skull] S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Upon his command, a purple miasma circle manifested in front of him, and from it emerged a giant purple skull made up of purple miasma smoke. This was Kaust''s strongest skill against non-Miasma users, as it basically served as an extremely potent poison for them. "Oh, not bad," William muttered as he saw the giant skulls heading his way, but strangely, instead of being afraid like one would expect when in front of what appeared to be the manifestation of death itself,. Not only that, but multiple of Kaust''s skills that he had activated were intimidation skills meant to scare the opponent and make them see the stuff of their worst nightmare, and yet despite this, William was completely unfazed by all of these skills, almost like something like fear wasn''t even a concept he was aware of. Once the skull was just mere inches apart from him, he finally decided to retaliate, and he did so by utilising an element that William had been unable to use ever since he was reincarnated. (Chaos Spell: Ball of Destruction) Upon his command, a single marble-sized red ball was fired from his hand and made contact with the skull, instantly destroying it in the process instead of being destroyed like when William was using mana against a miasma-based attack. In fact, instead of getting destroyed, the ball grew even larger and made its way towards Kaust, who formed multiple barriers to try and defend himself, but all to no avail as the barriers were vaporised upon contact. With the barriers gone, Kaust had no protection left, and he was forced to take the full brunt of the spells head-on. And before he even realised what happened, his body was completely destroyed except for the black core in the middle, which seemed to have been deliberately left intact by William. However, the spell didn''t stop yet and instead kept moving in a straight line for multiple kilometres until it had destroyed everything in its path and was about to go through Zunesha Village. However, just before it could destroy the village like everything in its path, it dissipated upon Williams command. This was a chaos spell, an element made and designed purely for destruction. There was no grandiose explosion, no big blasts, just pure, unfiltered destruction as the spell ate the very world itself. ** Chapter 92: Ch-92 Terror ''What the fuck just happened?'' Kaust thought as his body once again regenerated against his will. The last thing he remembered was being consumed by the red ball of energy that the purple-eyed boy had fired. He thought he had died for sure, but no, instead he was somehow still alive. ''But why?'' He thought it didn''t make sense; why was the boy wasting his time on him? He had already been killed three times today, and yet he was somehow still alive. ''Surely he must have realised that he needs to destroy my core in order to kill me by now, right?'' He questioned his opponent''s intelligence. But he knew it wasn''t that, so was the boy willingly killing him and forcing him to revive? Kaust shivered at the possibility, but he didn''t want to consider it any further, so he just asked. "Why are you not killing me?" he asked. Hearing his question, William placed his finger on his chin as he started thinking before replying. "Because it''s fun to bully you." As he said, William had the purest smile on his face with zero traces of bad intentions. If one ignored his words and just focused on his looks and smile, the scene would look like it came straight out of a painting. But it was of no concern to Kaust how cute the boy looked; the thing he was concerned about were the words that fell out of his mouth. The possibility he had been dreading had come true; his opponent wasn''t even taking him seriously and was just playing around, almost like he had his life in the palms of his hand. And the only feeling this realisation arose in him was terror, as he finally realised that the one in front of him wasn''t a human; he wasn''t even a demon. Even demons took pride and joy in bringing suffering to others and ending lives, compared to the purple-haired boy who feels nothing playing with life, which is far worse. And to back up his personality was strength, which, in his mind, surpassed the last known memory of Zephyr, the man who eventually became a god. This was more than enough for Kaust to realise that the entity controlling the boy was perverse, something that didn''t belong in this world; he was what many would call evil itself. "Hey, stop zoning out; it''s not fun if you don''t try to resist," William said as he slowly made his way towards Kaust. Seeing the boy approach him so carelessly without any measure of guard or care in the world, Kaust knew he was simply outmatched. And he had no problem admitting that; he was the type who was strong against the weak and weak against the strong, and it was this very nature of him that allowed him to survive for so many thousands of years in a world filled to the brim with people wanting to kill him. And since he had already cheated death three times in just one day, he had no intention to do it anymore. With a single thought, he activated all his buff skills at once and used miasma to form wings, which, without thinking, he used to fly away at his top speed, hoping to run away. . After a few minutes of flying, he had flown a few kilometres away after seeing no sight of Zunesha village and, more importantly, that monster in human skin. He breathed a sigh of relief. "What the fuck was that?" he thought aloud. Throughout his extremely long life, he had encountered various different people and species. And yet none of them was as otherworldly or terrifying as that ''being''. Even now, when thinking about him, he feels shivers run down his spine. After a while, he finally calmed down, remembering that he was safe now and had escaped that being. It was then that he heard the voice he had been dreading. "Who are we running from?" A seemingly innocent question was asked by a voice that seemed to belong to a child. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And just like the voice suggested when Kaust turned his head around, there he was. A white-haired, purple-eyed kid sitting on his back. "But how?" he muttered in disbelief. He couldn''t believe this¡ªthe one he had been running away from was chilling on his back, and he wasn''t even able to sense him. "Since when?" he asked. "What do you mean when? I''ve always been here?. William replied with an innocent expression. "Anyways enough about me, you''re a bad punching bag; a good punching bag wouldn''t try to run away, so you must be punished." Before Kaust could even react to his statement, William grabbed both of his ''magnificent'' ram-like round horns and forcefully straightened them. The whole process was extremely painful for Kaust, and he tried to retaliate, but each of his attacks was stopped by a red barrier that kept appearing around William each time. And his pain was only about to get a lot worse as, after straightening them, William forcefully ripped out his horns, causing blood to gush out of the spot like a fountain. "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! " He screamed in agony as the horns were the most sensitive parts of a demon, to which their pain receptors were connected. In his over 6,000 years of existence, the pain he was feeling now far exceeded anything he had ever experienced before or could have even imagined. At this point, his will to live was destroyed; he wanted to die. The horns, which are the pride and joy of every single demon, can keep on healing themselves as long as there''s still at least a trace of them left in the body, but instead of just cutting or destroying them like a normal person, he completely ripped them apart. Meaning that even if Kaust somehow survives, his beautiful horns will never come back. Not caring about Kaust''s feelings in the slightest, William grabbed his own horns and used them to pierce him in the eyes. "Ahhhh!! " Kaust screamed in agony, but his scream would soon come to an end as William used his own horns and dragged them downward, ripping his body into pieces. And just like that, for the fourth time today, Kaust had died. He hoped for this to be the last; he hoped to finally get to rest now in the eternal darkness. But sadly, regardless of what he wanted, he once again opened his eyes, surrounded by the rubbles of the very same warehouse he was thrashing William around in earlier. And as he slowly looked up to his horror, he found the boy responsible for his current state just smiling innocently, as if he hadn''t just killed him four times. This was it. Kaust was at his limit; he wanted to kill himself, but sadly, he knew that his own life was no longer in his own hands. ** Chapter 93: CH-93 One Last Chance At Surviving Demon Core Unlike the mana cores used by humans, which are usually made many years after their birth and are mainly used for gaining and using mana,. A demon core is part of their natural anatomy and has been present inside them since birth. It''s the most important body part of their body, as not only does it let them use miasma, but it also makes them immortal for as long as their core is safe. This was the reason Kaust could come back to life even after William had decapitated him. This also means that unless a demon is killed or starves, they can''t die since demons don''t age. Another thing about a demon core was that a demon couldn''t destroy his own core; usually, this would not be relevant as no demon would ever willingly try to end their own life. However, this also means that Kaust was no longer in control of his own life and that his fate was completely in the hands of the being inhibiting Williams body. ** A sense of dread overwhelmed Kaust as he saw the white-haired boy slowly walk towards him. ''No, I need to do something, anything that would let me survive'' ''No matter what happens, I must make sure to not fight that monster again'' Hoping for the best, he expanded his senses, covering the whole forest. And it seems luck was still not completely against him, as he sensed the boy who was with William earlier hiding behind a tree a bit further away from here. Back when the adventurer had first entered the warehouse, he had noticed this kid who was accompanying him. He had considered taking him hostage in case the masked adventurer was too strong, but that wasn''t necessary, and once his eyes became purple and he became possessed by some mysterious entity, he had completely forgotten about the little boy and was only focused on his own survival. But now that he knew where he was and that the white-haired boy probably cared about the kid, he could use him to save his life. [Miasma Blasts] With a single command, multiple purple energy balls of various sizes made their way towards William, who didn''t bother to dodge or retaliate and instead just formed a crimson barrier around himself. Using this opportunity he created, Kaust used everything he had at his disposal to run towards the kid who was hiding behind a tree. ** Once William suffered the backlash from his [mana ascension] and [spirit ascension] and was unable to use mana, the spell he had cast on Billy to restrict his senses and the sleep spell were undone, allowing him to wake back up. When Billy had regained his senses, the thing he first noticed was a white-haired boy even younger than him getting beat up by some super scary-looking demon like the one he had seen in picture books. Billy wanted to try and help the boy, but he was too helpless; his legs didn''t even move even when he tried his best. And deep inside, he knew that he''d get killed instantly if he stuck around,, so he did what any logical person would have done in the situation, and he ran away. Once he felt he was far enough, he finally stopped and hid in a bush nearby as he waited for Edge Lord. His whole life, Billy had always wanted an older brother, someone he could rely on. And today, when the adventurer named Edge Lord saved him from his father and promised to help him. For the first time, he felt like he had someone he could rely on¡ªsomeone who was an older brother of his. This trust was the reason why he led him to the warehouse his father had told him about, despite knowing all the risks. It was because he had faith in his older brother, who promised to not let harm fall his way. This trust was the only reason why he was still hiding and waiting for his older brother to come back to him with Maya, so he could apologise to the poor girl on behalf of his scumbag father. After a few more minutes, someone showed up at his location. ''Big brother must finally be here'' he thought as he almost got out of the bush he was hiding in. But all it took was a single peak for him to realise that the one who had arrived at his location wasn''t his big brother but rather the same evil demon who was beating up that poor white-haired kid earlier. Ignoring his instinct, Billy made sure to not scream or make any kind of sound; sadly for him, Kaust was simply far too powerful for a non-awakened like him to be able to hide himself like this. Seeing the boy he was looking for, Kaust wasted no time and rushed towards him, causing Billy to realise that his location was already compromised. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Realising this, Billy did the only sensible thing in this situation and tried to run away. But it was useless, as in less than a second, Kaust caught up, and was about to knock the boy out. However, before he could do that, from the boy''s shadow emerged a wolf made of shadow that Kaust was all too familiar with and bit his hand, making him pull back. After the first wolf, five more wolves emerged and bit Kaust, causing him to step back and make distance. Even Billy was surprised when the wolves appeared out of nowhere; he wasn''t sure where they came from, but after a bit of thinking, it was obvious that his older brother was looking out for him even without being physically there. Now, with reassurance that his older brother had left behind something to protect him, he no longer felt afraid and was prepared to fight the demon head-on. Sadly, at this time, Billy had no clue just how outclassed these shadow wolves of Williams were compared to the monstrosity he was trying to use them to fight against. ** Chapter 94: Ch-94 It All Ends With Destruction "He''s taking too long," William muttered as he sat on a luxurious-looking throne made of stone. He was currently waiting for Kaust to come back. It was obvious to him what that demon was trying to do, and he didn''t care; in fact, he even welcomed it. After all, his time in this body was limited, and he hasn''t had fun like this in thousands of years. So now that he''s gotten the chance, he might as well just have some fun before the original owner takes back control. Speaking of which, he could also feel the presence of an old ''friend'' inside the body of the boy. So if possible, he''d like to meet his old ''friend'' Sadly, it seems like he has created a sort of sub-dimension inside the body where he''s hiding. So the only way for them to meet is if Zephyr lets him in, which is highly unlikely. His current abilities were being restricted too much by the weak body of the boy. He couldn''t even use a quarter of his full strength in this body. Which was quite unfortunate, or else he would''ve been able to have a lot more ''fun''. ''Well, it is what it is; at least, thanks to the easily exploitable weakness of this boy, I was able to infiltrate into the mortal world again'' "Enough about that. I should go and make that infernalcunt pay for running away again by making him experience a million years of pain in a single moment." However, just when he was about to get up and make Kaust pay for running away, he felt a presence rapidly approaching. And in just a few seconds, the demon was back at the place he had run away from, this time holding a bleeding kid in his hand. Billy wanted to scream, run away, or do anything, but he couldn''t even move his body in the presence of the white-haired boy. His mind was flooded with questions, but neither the demon nor the current William cared about them, so he was forced to stay quiet. His plan to fight against the demon using the shadow wolves that were gifted to him sadly didn''t work out, and he was easily captured in under a minute. Billy had a lot of questions, such as why the demon took him hostage instead of just killing him directly. Or who was the white-haired boy who paralysed his body just by existing? Also, wasn''t the demon thrashing around this white-haired boy earlier, so why was he now trying to negotiate with him? However, his biggest question was: Where was his brother, Edge Lord? ''I miss you, brother,'' he thought as he fell unconscious, unable to take the pressure anymore. ** "You know him, right?" Kaust asked in a knowing tone as he pointed at Billy, who was unconscious. ''This little kid will be the thing that saves my life,'' Kaust thought. While he did feel that the purple-eyed boy was probably possessed by some evil entity,. This entity still didn''t seem to go against the wishes of the boy; after all, he had specially stopped his attack right before it could destroy the village. If he had to guess, then the entity probably had partial control over the body, and since the original owner cared for the boy, he probably couldn''t hurt him. Meaning that as long as he leverages it properly, he should be able to leave alive, or at least he hoped so. Seeing him not respond, Kaust got anxious, so he unleashed his claws, threatening to rip apart Billy as he shouted. "Stop zoning out; if you want me to spare the boy, all you need to do is form a contract to not hurt me or do anything that will lead to me being hurt ever again, and I''ll do the same." "Are all demons as stupid as you?" William finally asked. Hearing this, Kaust had a bad feeling in his heart as the possibility of him having misjudged the situation started sinking in. Sadly, it was already too late from the moment that ''entity'' had descended¡ªnot just Kaust, but everything in his immediate surroundings had their fate sealed. Before Kaust could respond to his question, William flashed another smile; however, this one wasn''t the innocent type that he had been flashing the whole fight, but this one looked like the stuff of nightmares¡ªsomething that could even scare a demon himself. ''William'' had stopped playing around and had finally revealed his true nature as the one who caused even gods to tremble. As the smile formed on his face, an invisible pressure descended upon the whole world, causing most people to pass out as purplish crimson energy dyed the whole world. "Thanks to you, I have a pretty funny idea." Not waiting for his punching bag to process his words, he muttered. "[Ultimate skill:It All Ends With Destruction]" This skill wasn''t powered by mana, aura, or even miasma, but rather something far above these energies. After all, what William was trying to do wasn''t simple destruction but rather concept destruction, and the concept he had chosen to destroy was existence itself. Upon activation of the skill, a bright purplish crimson colour spread everywhere, covering not just Zunesha village but the area around it, and almost as fast as it came, it was gone. There was no grandiose explosion or sound that accompanied the attack, as the only thing it brought with it was complete and utter destruction. Zunesha Village was fully destroyed, and the 3000 villagers who used to inhabit it were destroyed down to a physical, spiritual, and existence level. Not just their souls, but their very existence itself, was erased from the plane of reality. With just a single word, 3000 souls were destroyed, with any memories related to either them or Zunesha village erased from the minds of everyone. Not just memories, but even any written mention of them or anything similar. Almost like they never even existed to begin with, and while he was at it, ''William'' also erased the notification that the World System had announced worldwide of his presence. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now, with both of these events completely erased from existence, ''William'' had a wide smile on his face, as he said. "That was fun; this should be enough for now. "Oh, also, my good friend Zephyr, I know you''re watching this. Make sure to not tell William about any of what happened today or try to harm him unless you want to make me angry." After saying that, William didn''t get to see the reaction of his old ''friend''. But he knew that he had gotten the message, so he took his leave, but not before leaving a little part of him inside the body he was currently inhibiting. Once that entity was gone, the true William finally returned to his body, which was completely healed from the injuries he didn''t even remember anymore. And once he came and saw the crater around him, his only thought was:. ''What am I doing here? '' Chapter 95: Ch-95 What Am I doing here? The World of Memoirs Atop a massive and luxurious throne sat a handsome-looking boy with an ethereal charm to him. However, this charm was nowhere to be seen in the moment and was instead replaced by an expression of pure shock. "What the fuck?" Zephyr exclaimed. He had seen everything that had happened today from start to finish. He had seen how that ''Being'' manipulated William and managed to descend into this world, all the way to how he erased more than 3000 people out of fucking existence itself. He was probably the only one who still remembered them. At first, Zephyr tried to stop his descent, but in his current form, he was too weak. "I should''ve tried harder; now, because of my failure, 3000 innocents lost their lives to that thing" Even now, he still felt his body run cold as he remembered his past with the person he once called a friend 6,000 years ago. So he tried not to think about him. But now that he knew that it was involved in William becoming a villain in the future and destroying existence itself,. It all makes sense after all; the only person he had ever seen possess a chaotic element aside from him was William. Now that he knew this, he considered just killing William once and for all before he loses control again and becomes a threat to everyone around him and even himself. But then he remembered the words he said before leaving, and for some reason, he didn''t doubt them. After all, in all the years he had known him, he was never one to make empty promises. Zephyr had no doubt that even if he killed William now, all he would be doing was making the whole situation worse. As for the memories William had lost, they were better off forgotten. It might be cruel to those who died, but remembering them will do nothing but give William trauma and hinder his growth. And Zephyr couldn''t allow that since he couldn''t kill him, he might as well groom him to become someone capable of fighting and killing his old friend, but that was for later. For now, all he could do was observe and ensure that William didn''t get corrupted by that any further. But before that, he needed to confirm something, so he called William inside the world of memoirs. ** "Where am I?" William asked in confusion and panic as he looked around a large crater spanning multiple kilometres around him. Yesterday,he had gotten his ass kicked by Michael and was accepted as a disciple by him. Today he was supposed to go and get his first mission, but instead of that, he was standing in some crater in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how or why. But before long, he calmed down almost artificially, like someone had altered his memories, but William didn''t bother to think about that. "Well, from the look of things, my clothes are still in good condition." He commented as he looked at his white shirt, which was almost completely ripped and dirty with dirt and the purple blood of a demon he did not even know existed. But without even his command, Dark Slime automatically moved to restore his clothes to their usual state. "My body also seems to be in good condition." He said as he noticed six of his precious mana cores broken and the unresponsiveness of his spirits. Despite noticing this, his thoughts didn''t match his condition. "Well, since I seem to be unharmed, I might as well go back and rest for today. For some reason, I feel kind of tired. I guess I can start my adventurous career tomorrow." Before William could leave the crater and start to make his way back to the Adventurers Guild, a voice was heard inside his head. [Hey William, come inside the memoirs; we need to talk.] ''Huh, weird. Zephyr is almost never the one to call me like this'' Despite noticing the weirdness of his request, he didn''t pay it much attention as he entered the world of memories. And just as expected, it was still the same over the top world of golden. William had always thought of Zephyr''s obsession with the colour gold as a bit childish, but he had no intention of courting death by calling a god childish, even though he was. "Sup, what''s up with the sudden request to visit?" William asked as he entered the throne room. "Nothing; I was just a little curious. Do you mind activating your status screen?" Zephyr asked. ''Weird, but I guess since that''s all he wants, I can show it to him after all; it''s not like he hasn''t seen it before'' "Status screen" ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:William Verhein Age:10 Race:Human Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:9710 S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Strength:1510-->1810 Agility:1700-->2000 Endurance:1200-->1500 Vitality:1600-->1900 Intelligence:2200-->2500 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C- -->D+ Aura:F Charm:B- Luck:F- Resistance:E+ Chaos Energy-E- Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Child Of Mana], [Loved By Spirits], [Mana Circuits], [Master Of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Mana Sense], [Master Of Elements], [Martial Genius], [One With Shadows], [Danger Sense], [Pain Resistance], [Poison Resistance], [Genius Of Aura] [Active Skills]: [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth], [Strings of Mana], [Elemental Strings], [Heavy Hit] [Chaos Energy]:- Authority:Sin of Pride Chaost skills: [Suggestive Voice], [Chains of Sins] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) and Swordmanship (Expert-), Spirit Water Arts (Intermediate+), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low+) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of the Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of the Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of the Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of the Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ Seeing his status screen, Zephyr muttered, "It''s as I feared." ** AN: Chapter 96: Ch-96 Changes In His Body ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:William Verhein Age:10 Race:Human Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:9710 Strength:1510-->1810 Agility:1700-->2000 Endurance:1200-->1500 Vitality:1600-->1900 Intelligence:2200-->2500 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C- -->D+ Aura:F Charm:B- Luck:F- Resistance:E+ Chaos Energy-E- Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Child Of Mana], [Loved By Spirits], [Mana Circuits], [Master Of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Mana Sense], [Master Of Elements], [Martial Genius], [One With Shadows], [Danger Sense], [Pain Resistance], [Poison Resistance], [Genius Of Aura] [Active Skills]: [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth], [Strings of Mana], [Elemental Strings], [Heavy Hit] [Chaos Energy]:- Authority:Sin of Pride Chaost skills: [Suggestive Voice], [Chains of Sins] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) and Swordmanship (Expert-), Spirit Water Arts (Intermediate+), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low+) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of the Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of the Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of the Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of the Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------- Aspect Name:Walking Calamity Aspect Tier: Tier V Aspect Ascension: 3rd Aspect Flaw: Terrible luck; slight chance of personality being affected by aspect. Corruption progress:14% 1st Ascension Ability: One-man Army [Chaos Soldiers]:- (Life Bomb): You can create bombs capable of stealing life force from others upon contact. You can also add this property to your attacks. This collected life force can be used to: 1.Self Heal 2.Chaos soldiers Use life force to summon beasts of chaos who stay inside the shadow domain. You can also use the skills of these beasts; to add new beasts, you need to absorb a race seed. Contracted Soldiers 1. Shadow hounds x 0 [Chaos Servants]:- Absorb A, S or SS rank natural treasures to summon a servant of chaos who stays in the shadow world until called forth. The summoned servants depend on the treasure used (as you ascend, you can use different tiers of treasures to summon). Summoned Servants:- 1.Noir(currently recuperating inside shadow) 2.Golden Sting(currently recuperating inside shadow) 3.Machak(currently recuperating inside shadow) 2nd Ascension Ability: Power of Darkness 1. [Darkness Manipulation]: gain the element of darkness; have an easier time manipulating the darkness element; strengthens darkness spells. 2. [Shadow Manipulation]: Gain the element of shadow, have an easier time manipulating the shadow element, Strengthened shadow spells, able to turn shadows tangible, able to sense shadows, were able to store items in a shadow domain. 3rd Ascension Power-Shadow Slime (Aspect Beast) 1. A dark slime-like creature that grows in size and strength as the user ascends. It can consume weapons, armour, or items and then recreate a strengthened version of them with 100% magical conductivity. 2. The user can also combine the properties and abilities of the consumed items to make new, stronger items. 3. The user can make any shape using the slime as long as he''s familiar with it. Consumed items:32 ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ Sin Of Pride-Buff to users stats as long as he believes himself to be superior to his opponent. 1.10% resistance to physical attacks. 2.5% resistance to magic attack 3.Minor Buff to stats when exposed to sunlight. ------------------------------------------------------------ "Huh, weird. I wonder what this chaos energy is or how I got it." William asked "Even all my stats have gone up by 300, and my total BF has been boosted by 1500." "And for some reason, my mana has fallen from C- to D+." "My swordsmanship has advanced to expert-level, and my dance of steel has gone up to low+ level." "Not to mention all of my summons being dead, it''s almost like I''ve been through a life threatening fight where all of my summons died and was forced to push past my limits and suffered backlash causing in a regression of my mana rank and even forcing my spirits to enter rest mode to recover" At this point, it was obvious even to William that there was an inconsistency in his memory and that maybe they had been manipulated, but before he could start thinking along that line, his mind blanked out, and he completely forgot about the inconsistency. For most people around the world, they had hardly lost 10 or so minutes of memories related to that system message and the bright light, but for William, the one who was most affected by the memory wipe, he had pretty much lost all the memories of today, and he didn''t even know it. Even in the future, if he ever wonders about the weird inconsistency in his memories, his brain will autocorrect and make him forget about it like it did today. ''How frightening. I always knew that the chaos element was scary, but this is really something else,'' Zephyr thought as he witnessed Williams inability to think about the inconsistency in his memories. ''It seems I was right that Bastard left a trace of himself inside William; unless we''re careful, most likely he''ll show up again'' Zephyr looked at the corruption progress bar on the Williams aspect screen. ''So his flaw was referencing ''him'' when it talked about corrupting the user''s personality? S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''I wonder what connection William has to that bastard? '' 14% is more than expected, but it''s still manageable. "What are you thinking about? Do you know about something? What''s going on with all the changes?" William asked as he noticed Zephyr being quiet and not saying anything. Hearing him, Zephyr snapped out of his internal monologue and replied. "Oh, nothing; also, just forget about today; go back home and rest; we need you to get stronger before we depart for the neutral continent after all." "We''ll leave in 7 months. Oh, and make sure to never use chaotic energy." "Sure, my glorious career will start tomorrow; no point wasting time on useless things here." ** AN: I''m sorry if you felt that not much happend this chapter but I needed to show all the changes in Williams stats as that ''beings'' presence changed quite a few things but don''t worry we''re picking up the pace next chapter. Chapter 97: CH-97 Easy First Mission A lush and pretty green forest, with beautiful sunlight shining and weather that would even make the gloomiest person smile. And in such a pretty environment, Jasmine was engaged in a fight using her gigantified arms to contest a humongous brown bear with a massive rock on his back in strength. After getting her licence, Jasmine formed a party with two other relatively experienced B-ranked adventurers. The first one was a girl named Raya who excelled with a bow and was an archer, and the second one was Max, a charismatic and well-spoken guy who used a hammer. Right now, their party is undertaking their first ever mission after being created in Mutterak Forest, which involved them capturing two brown stone bears alive so they can be used in future adventurer rank evaluation tests and a baby so it can be groomed into a companion of an adventurer in the future. Right now, Jasmine was fighting the male brownback bear and trying to knock him out before the female brownback bear, who had gone out to hunt, could come out. Jasmine had trouble knocking the monster out without fatally injuring it. If she wanted, she could''ve easily killed the bear, but since the mission required her to keep him alive, trying to restrict a father who was fighting to protect his child and home was proving to be harder, even despite possessing higher stats and skills. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Thankfully she wasn''t alone, and just when things were starting to get tough for her, Max jumped in and, reinforcing his hammer with the element of earth, hit the bear forcefully, separating it from Jasmine and sending it flying away. "Took you long enough," Jasmine snickered while trying to take a breather before engaging the bear again. "Sorry about that; I was busy sealing the cub inside the cave so it couldn''t escape," Max replied. While Jasmine was keeping the father busy, Max used the chance to use earth magic to create a wall and seal the baby bear they were supposed to capture inside the cave they lived in so that it couldn''t escape. Seeing his baby get trapped inside the cave, the father bear tried to break the wall, but he was quickly stopped by Max, who appeared in front of him and used his hammer to hit the bear. But this time, instead of flying again like last time, the bear used earth magic to reinforce his arms and held back the hammer. And not only was it just holding back the nearly two-tonne hammer, but he was also pushing it back, but sadly for him, humans don''t like to have fair 1V1s. Seeing her party member get overpowered, Jasmine fired a [Wind Slash], forcing it to jump back to try and dodge the attack, giving Max a chance to disengage and make distance. "Trying to capture this monster without killing or critically injuring it is proving to be harder than expected," Max said as he stood near Jasmine. Both he and Raya had been adventurers for 4 months now, and they had experienced multiple missions involving capturing monsters alive. Which gave them confidence to attempt this mission, but the only problem was that unlike all their previous missions, the brown bear was actually strong and also highly aggressive in nature, with expertise in earth magic, a magic notorious for its defensive capabilities. And while both he and Raya combined could probably kill it trying to take on not just one but two of them, that too while they were protecting their cub, resulting in higher-than-usual aggressive behaviour. While trying to keep all of them alive was too much of a task for the two of them, and they almost skipped it. That is, until they saw the newly registered B-rank adventurer Jasmine and teamed with her. Jasmine''s talent was overshadowed by Edge Lord, the monstrous adventurer who had appeared out of nowhere, and one shotted a B-rank monster before fighting the guild leader for 5 whole minutes. While yes, he was just fighting a version of Michael who was holding back all of his abilities and most of his stats and only playing around for most of the spar before brutally beating up the masked adventurer near the end. The performance of Edge Lord was far more impressive than what most of them could do and managed to win the hearts of everyone who saw the duel. And to top it all off, he had done the impossible by being promoted to A-rank right away. Honestly, Max found the masked man scary, and he didn''t think that he could win against the him despite being older than him. But he was getting sidetracked by Edge Lord, who had managed to steal the spotlight from Jasmine with his debut, which gave him the perfect opportunity to recruit her with relative ease. And with the added might of her added to their team, they were confident enough to attempt the mission they had previously avoided. But it seems like they had overestimated their combined abilities, as Raya, who was in charge of keeping an eye out on the female bear who had gone out to hunt earlier, came back and said. "Guys, wrap up the male bear; the female one is rushing back after hearing all the noise." ''Well, shit'' was the only thought that flowed through the heads of both Jasmine and Max. They were having trouble with just one of the bears trying to fight two of them at once while holding back, which would just be suicidal. "Fuck it," Jasmine said before rushing towards the enraged male bear to try and quickly knock him out. She wasn''t using a sword, as it would fatally injure the bear, and was instead resorting to her bare fists, which were stronger and sturdier than most weapons. ~BAMM~ The punches of both Jasmine and the bear collided, causing the ground under them to break from their combined weight. ~BAMM~ Another exchange of fists caused the ground to break even further. They continued to exchange blows for a few minutes before a sharp spike of rocks emerged from the ground beneath Jasmine and attempted to stab her. But before it could, she used her size manipulation ability to enlarge her legs and jump back, allowing her to dodge the surprise attack. While she had dodged the attack, it had left her vulnerable in the air for a few seconds, and while this normally wouldn''t matter,. Out of seemingly nowhere, the female bear from earlier appeared and jumped at the vulnerable Jasmine in the air, attempting to rip her apart. ''This is going to hurt,'' Jasmine thought as she held her arms up, covering her face, to prevent any fatal injury. However, the attack she was expecting never came, and she just fell on her buttocks. "Oww." She winced in pain, but once she opened her eyes, she saw two completely frozen figures of the two monsters her party had been struggling against as she heard a voice. "Younglings these days are too suicidal to take on missions beyond their ability." Chapter 98: Ch-98 Friendly Introduction "Younglings these days are too suicidal to go around taking on missions beyond their ability." A handsome youth with black hair and black eyes appeared out of the shadows, making his presence known. William had basically given up on wearing a mask at this point since basically everyone already knew what his second identity looked like. And besides, it''s not like this is his real face, so it should be fine. William had come here to hunt the blue petal green dear for his first mission. For anyone else, it would have been really time-consuming and tedious to find a single dear who was an expert in hiding. But thanks to his [mana sense] and [stealth], hunting a mere dear was like child''s play. When he was about to leave and submit the dear to get his merit points, he sensed a battle going on and came to see it. And he was surprised to find fellow adventurers in the forest; it seems like there were more than one mission issued in this forest. After observing for a little bit, it seems like they were trying to capture the monsters alive. He originally didn''t plan to interfere, but when he saw the young girl about to get seriously injured, he had no choice but to interfere, or else it would''ve weighed on his conscience. But he didn''t want to kill steal, and brew enmity with random adventurers, and they seemed to be trying to capture the monsters alive, so he just used an ice spell. ''What the fuck'' was the collective thought of all Jasmine, Max, and Raya. Which makes sense considering some random, extremely handsome guy appeared out of thin air and took care of multiple B-rank monsters without killing them in less than a second, a task all three of them had been struggling with. "E-edgez Lord?" Jasmine asked in confusion. "Yep, that''s the name I go by," William replied. All three of them gasped in shock upon hearing his confirmation. They had briefly seen his face when his face mask broke in his fight, but back then it was covered in blood, and he had a crazy expression on his face. But seeing his face up close and without it being covered in blood, he was extremely handsome; his face was only second to Michael Harrions himself with his eyes revealed. And as for his strength, it didn''t really need any introduction; they had all already seen it, but still, seeing his magic up close was much different than seeing it from afar. He was truly someone worthy of being an A rank. Max had seen some A-ranked adventurers in the past, and Edge Lord was much stronger than them. ''Ahh, I''m gawking too much.'' Max realised his mistake and decided to introduce himself. "Hi, I''m Max Welk. I''m a B-rank adventurer, and thanks for saving my party member Jasmine; we really appreciate it." Taking the lead from their leader Jasmine and Raya also introduced themselves. "My name is Jasmine Verona, and I''m a B-rank adventurer. Thanks for saving me." "H-hi, my name is Raya Kelter. It''s a p-pleasure meeting you." Raya had her head down, wasn''t able to look William in the eye, and stuttered a little. (AN:Someone call 911.) [Being popular with the ladies is the tragic fate of us divine aspect users] Zephyr said in a sad voice, as if talking about some sort of great burden that he and William were forced to bear inside Williams minds. William completely ignored Zephyr''s attempt at humour. He didn''t want to admit it, but he was kind of funny, and William didn''t want to admit it, so he moved on with a smile as he introduced himself, completely ignoring Raya''s obvious crush. "John Sinners, but I''m more popularly known as Edge Lord, so feel free to refer to me as that, and don''t worry, I just did what anyone else would''ve done." He said as he held out his hand and shaken Max''s hand to show good faith. Once the introductions were out of the way, William moved on to the main topic he had wanted to talk about. "You guys should be careful of the missions you take; if not for my timely intervention, Jasmine might have gotten fatally hurt." William scolded as he looked at the three adventurers, who had their heads held down in shame, recognising that they had allowed their greed to almost get them killed. William felt bad for them seeing their expressions, so he decided to go easy on them since they were all still pretty young, fired by the spirit of youth, and had an adventurous heart that sawked thrills and adrenaline. "It''s fine, you guys are still young; it''s fine to make mistakes, and since you''re still safe, it must mean you guys are lucky, and luck is a skill after all, so I would say you guys have some good talent." "Also, what kind of adventurer doesn''t have greed?" "Just make sure to not test your luck too much and instead slowly gain experience and skills by doing missions that are around your level." Max and Raya thought it was funny considering that, excluding Jasmine, Edge Lord was the youngest person here. But for some reason, they didn''t feel like they could rebuke him even if they tried, as he seemed to be filled with life advice and knowledge for them to learn from. Which made sense considering William had 30 years worth of memories of his past life. While he himself didn''t try to confuse his two identities and tried to keep William Verhein as a separate person compared to Naoya Zingar,. 30 years worth of memories inside your brain are bound to affect your personality, regardless of whether you want them or not. But it seems his words were perfect for the situation, as they had managed to both lighten the mood of his fellow guildmates and even call them out for their mistake without coming off as rude. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In fact, Williams words left such a big impression on Max that his next words even shocked William. "Thanks, man. I really needed that, and if you don''t mind, how about teaming up for this one mission I had in mind?" Chapter 99: CH-99 The Cleansers "So you want to form a party with them?" Belle asked in bewilderment as she looked at the weird assortment of individuals wanting to form a party together. Max Welk was a promising adventurer who was barely 23 years old and had started as a C rank 4 months ago, but through constant hard work and charisma, he managed to be promoted to a B rank. His talent and determination to grow were evident and admirable. It was obvious that he was someone who was born to be an adventurer. Raya Kelter, a 21-year-old pretty archer who, like Max, started out as a C rank. But, unlike Max, she wasn''t charismatic; in fact, she preferred to stay silent most of the time, and she also didn''t have his curiosity or desire for improvement. However, what she lacked in charisma and desire was easily made up for in talent. And unlike most geniuses, she wasn''t just talented in fighting but rather in supporting; she possessed an extremely rare healing skill, which already made her highly desirable and welcomed in most parties. But,her value only increased when one considered her aspect, which allowed her to know the best move to make to help her ally, and another ability, which buffed her allies just by being in their presence. After both Max and Raya teamed up, they were able to climb all the way from C to B rank in just 4 months, which would normally take anywhere from 8 to 12 months. And then there was the genius who had just joined two days ago and instantly debuted as a B-rank adventurer with her fearsome size manipulation aspect. Which, despite being tier III, had potential on par with many tier IV. She for sure would''ve been in the spotlight for quite a while if not for someone far more monstrous than her showing up right after her test. Speaking of which, perhaps the person who was the most surprising out of all of them was Edge Lord. The man who appeared out of seemingly thin air two days ago, like Jasmine, and proceeded to do the impossible again and again. Things like one shotting a B-ranked monster infamous for its durability, displaying magic talent like never seen before, and quadra casting a feat previously thought impossible before ''exchanging blows'' with the guild master himself. And as if that wasn''t enough, he was also extremely handsome and pleasing to the eye. Speaking of his looks, he had originally tried to hide his pretty face behind a mask, but after his mask broke in his fight against the guild master, he stopped wearing it as everyone had already seen his face, so it became pointless to try and cover it behind a mask. But yeah, the point was that pretty much the whole Adventuring world had their eyes on the man called John Sinners, or, as he was popularly known as, Edge Lord. A name that breeds intrigue and paints a picture of power, even proclaiming himself a ''Lord''. Bella knew that both Mark''s team and Edge Lord had a mission in the same region, but she didn''t expect them to meet and even get acquainted considering how big the forest was. But just an hour ago, both Edge Lord and Max''s party came in at the same time, and they seemed to be talking fondly, almost like they had known each other for years. Even though, according to Bella''s knowledge, they shouldn''t have met before,. During the corpse collection process, the corpse of the blue petal green dear that Edge Lord killed was clean and well preserved, with just a single projectile passing through its skull. The interesting thing happened during Max''s party collection, where the two brown-backed bears were completely frozen. The weird thing was that no one in the party possessed an ice element. So by putting two and two together, it was easy to understand what happened. I guess this was why they split the reward from the bear mission between the four of them. "Secretary, are you still here?" Edge Lord asked as he looked at Bella, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. "Ah, yes, my bad," Bella quickly apologised. "Anyways, please register our guild and issue this mission under us," William said as he pushed a piece of paper towards Bella. _________________________________________ Commission Objective:Escort a group of miners into a rock golem dungeon. Commissioned by: Merchant Lark Estimated Difficulty: A rank. Suggestion: 4-5 member parties, should be avoided by fire or lightning mages or mages who use destructive spells. Rewards: 8500 merit points Additional information: The interested party should have defensive spells to protect the miners while they mine and have the combat ability to kill. A-B-ranked golems and should also be able to fight comfortably in compact spaces. Time before expiry: 2 weeks _________________________________________ "So you four would like to form a party for this mission?" Bella asked, looking at the mission, not noticing anything weird. "Yes, we would," William answered. "And what should the name be?" "We shall be called cleansers." "Is there any specific reason for the name? "Nah, I just think it sounds cool." Bella was a bit stunned, but she couldn''t be bothered to question a genius. After all, Geniuses are infamous for having a few screws loose in their heads; trying to understand them would just hurt her brain. "I''m assuming you''re the leader." "Yep," William replied, to which his now-partymate nodded. After all, he was the strongest one out of all of them, so it only made sense. "Alright done; your new party has been registered in the database. Good luck on your future adventures. The guild will closely observe your future achievements. And such a party, which would one day change the Adventurers Guild, was formed simply because a highly profitable mission needed a minimum of four people to accept it. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ** AN: Chapter 100: CH-100 What Lies At The Peak The pinnacle of everything that can be achieved in the world. The peak, as many would call it. A place that is deemed to be at the very top of the world itself is achieved when you have achieved everything there is to achieve and bested every single competition possible. Just what kind of emotion will someone who has achieved something like this and bested everyone else feel? Will it be pride? Happiness? Satisfaction? Perhaps greed to achieve even more? No, the only emotion someone who has nothing left to do anymore will feel is boredom. ** ''Man, this is boring,'' Zephyr thought as he stood on his grandiose throne. It had now been 70 years since he had killed the demon king and sealed all the demons inside a single dimension, never to see the light of day ever again. Normally, someone, after saving the entire world, would want to just rest and take it easy for the remainder of their finite mortal life. But not Zephyr; it was never just his goal to save the world; he always wanted to change the very world he lived in. The very first thing he did after winning the war was unite all the humans under a single banner and allow them to live together on the human continent, which he ruled. After that, he purified the land that was ruled and conquered by demons and divided it amongst the other races while ensuring that no race was left unsatisfied or would have a resource shortage in the future. And dealt with a couple other things that might lead to a war or conflict in the future before making everyone sign a peace treaty to avoid any war in the future. Sure, he couldn''t completely eliminate things like war, conflicts, and inner fighting. But he didn''t need to; what he did ensured that there wouldn''t ever be another race foolish enough to try and conquer the whole world or declare war on another race. Because if they did, they''d have to bear the full brunt of not just one or two but every single other race against them. What he had basically done was achieve world peace, a feat previously thought impossible. Once that was already done, the next thing on his agenda was making sure that things like poverty and unemployment didn''t plague the beautiful nation he was trying to build. So by using all the riches and spoils of war he had gained after defeating the demons, he built houses for everyone in his nation as well as made basic amenities like education and healthcare free for those below the poverty line. But even with their basic needs taken care of, a person still needs money to put food on the table, and even Zephyr couldn''t make such a thing free for millions of people their whole life just because he felt bad for them. So instead, he created job opportunities, especially in areas like helping rebuild the land that was destroyed in the war and many other fields that didn''t exist before. And after many years, he had finally fixed the problem of poverty and unemployment, at least in his own nation. He offered his help to other nations, but they refused it as they felt he was sticking his nose where it didn''t belong, so he stopped trying and instead just decided to stay content with his own nation. Magic was previously something that only the rich and those born with extreme talent could learn, but he made it so that anyone, regardless of their class and talent, could gain access to the wonderful art of magic and be taught at least a few self-defence spells, even if they didn''t have much talent. If a commoner had enough talent, they''d be sponsored by the royal family itself, which served as good motivation to push everyone to try their best to prove themselves. Zephyr never had any talent in martial arts, so he couldn''t ever understand the charm. But what he lacked in martial arts, he more than made up in magic. Thanks to his [Child of Mana] skill and many other different skills, his talent in magic was unparalleled by even dragons, the race blessed by mana itself. However, the problem was that humans didn''t have much affinity for magic and needed to cast super-long chants and do long and tedious calculations just to cast a single spell. Both of which were extremely impractical to do mid-combat, which caused magic to be looked down upon by many who chose to believe martial arts to be superior to magic. But Zephyr completely flipped this belief on its head, earning the acknowledgement of many in the process. But still, he was only one person, and there''s only so much a single person can do and achieve. Even with all his feats, magic was still considered impractical by many due to not everyone possessing his talent. But after more than a decade of research, he had finally developed a method of magic that was objectively better than the previous chanting method and arguably made magic even better than martial arts. He called it the ''chantless method'' due to it not requiring a super long chant and instead replacing it with a single word. And even the super long calculations were replaced with a super easy-to-follow, 3-step process. But aside from the ease of the method, the more important thing was the speed with which it allowed someone to cast spells, assuming they had the mana. And the best part was that it removed the talent barrier in magic. Sure, having more talent will obviously help you, but unlike before, common folk could now at least cast spells and experience the wonders of magic and everything it had to offer. And before long, even die-hard martial arts fans were forced to accept it as equal to their art, even though many common folk considered this new form of magic to be better than martial arts due to it not requiring years of practice and hard work just to produce something half decent. Magic was the thing Zephyr had loved the most his whole life, and being able to see other people share the same love and passion for the art made him really happy. There were also a few other things he had done throughout his life, but they weren''t as influential as the aforementioned feats. Somewhere down the line, people started calling him the ''Boy who changed the world''. He was extremely humbled by this, considering this was his dream, but he still wasn''t satisfied; he wanted to achieve and improve the world even more before his eventual ascension. But the only problem now was: what more could he even improve? S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ** AN: A massive thanks to everyone who has supported me and this novel so far. Thanks to your support, we have now hit the amazing milestone of 100 chapters, and this was all thanks to the support you guys have shown me over the past months. Now all I can ask is for you guys to be able to enjoy the story even in the future as more of it gets told and hopefully becomes even better than it already is. Chapter 101: Ch-101 A Single Mistake Which Doomed The Whole World "This sucks," Zephyr said as he stood up from his throne. His physical appearance was still the same as when he was just 20 and had killed the demon king, despite him already being well over 90 years old now. This was because divine aspect users stop ageing after they hit the 20-year-old age mark, thus allowing them to maintain their peak physical body for thousands of years even if they don''t ascend. And if they still haven''t ascended somehow, the bacteria inside their bodies would kill them. "Alter," with a single word, his appearance changed to that of a 30-year-old middle-aged man wearing a plan brown shirt and pants, the attire matching the aesthetic of the clothes worn by the commoners in his nation. "Chantless magic is great; whoever made it must be super intelligent and handsome" Zephyr praised, observing the alterations in his appearance. If he wanted, he could''ve used the spell without needing to say something, but he just liked to use and praise the magic he had spent a whole decade of his nearly immortal life making. "Teleport" And with a single word, he teleported outside to an empty street and mixed in with the people walking by. Disguising himself and walking amongst his people was one of Zephyr''s favourite activities, as it allowed him to get a glimpse into the lives of his people firsthand without any special treatment he would normally get. As he walked, he witnessed three hooded people bowing by the side of the street and occasionally shouting. "Praise Zephyr, the God of Mana!!! " "Praise Zephyr, the God of Mana!!! " "Praise Zephyr, the God of Mana!!! " Zephyr was really beloved worldwide for obvious reasons, but some people just took it too far; even Zephyr was a bit weirded out. But he didn''t stop them; after all, this was their right, and as long as they didn''t hurt anyone in this ''cult'' of theirs, he wouldn''t mind letting them exist. However, what Zephyr didn''t know yet was that one day this little ''cult'' would become the biggest and most influential church in the world. Ignoring the group of fanatics, he continued to walk by like everyone else, ignoring the group of madmen. As he walked, he could hear the laughter and cheers of his citizens, and they did nothing but reinstate inside his mind that all of his efforts so far had been worth it, and they also motivated him to continue doing what he had been doing so far so he could make even more people laugh and smile. After an hour of walking and buying a few nick-nacks from the local shops, he was finally done and was about to leave. However, just when he was about to go back to his castle and spend some time with his beautiful wife and cute kids, he saw some kid sneakily steal the wallet of some rich-looking guy and run away to a shady-looking alley without the man he stole from even realising he had been robbed. Seeing this, Zephyr was distraught, as he had already done everything in his power to prevent kids like these from one day becoming robbers and needing to steal just to survive. Without hesitation, Zephyr followed the kid into the alley, and seeing him appear, the kid panicked and fell on his buttocks before trying to run away. "Haha, don''t worry, I''m not here to hurt or capture you; I''ll leave and let you be as long as you just answer a few questions for me." Zephyr chuckled, seeing the funny sight, before saying. "Uh, ok," the kid replied. "Why did you steal that man''s wallet?" Zephyr asked. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I was hungry," the kid replied. "I see, here you go," Zephyr said as he summoned a sweet bread-like snack out of thin air and tossed it towards the kid, who thankfully caught it. The kid looked at the bread with curiosity, amazed at the bread appearing out of thin air, but it seems his hunger was stronger than his fascination as he quickly devoured the bread. Seeing the boy having finished the bread, he asked. "What about your parents?" "They died," the boy replied in an emotionless tone, like he didn''t care about his parents dying, which was obviously just a facade he was trying to put on. "I see," Zephyr replied in a melancholic voice, having already expected something like this. "But why did you not go to an orphanage?" "I don''t like how they treat me as a kid in the orphanage," the boy replied, finally having finished the bread he was given. "Hahaha!! " Zephyr laughed listening to the ridiculous reply of the boy, which he could''ve never predicted. "Why are you laughing?" the boy asked in anger. "Ah, nothing, my bad," Zephyr replied, recognising his mistake. "Good that you understand," the boy replied. "What''s your name?" Zephyr asked. "|$=????¡ï*" "What an interesting name, Zephyr replied. "Hey boy, do you want to work under me?" Zephyr asked as his transformation slowly undid itself, reverting it back to his majestic self. However, what Zephyr didn''t know at this time was that his little random act of kindness had actually doomed the very world he had spent his whole life saving and improving. ** "Ahahaha!" Zephyr panted heavily as he opened his eyes and stood up from his throne. Sweat had accumulated on his body and was even dripping down. ~Drip~ ~Drip~ "Just a nightmare," Zephyr muttered as he grabbed his own throat, trying to return his breathing to normal. Zephyr''s mind had subconsciously suppressed all memories related to that guy as a coping mechanism. But it seems that ''beings'' descent back into the mortal world has brought back terrible memories of when he first met him thousands of years ago. Zephyr still remembered everything that had happened just because of his decision to help out a random homeless kid out of kindness, and how it had almost caused the destruction of the whole world. "It''s fine I don''t need to blame myself for what happened." With that mantra, Zephyr once again went to sleep, this time with no more unpleasant memories resurfacing. ** AN: Brand new character art for Zephyr, Edge Lord, Michael, Zack, Jasmine, and Clara is now uploaded to the app. Go check it out. Chapter 102: CH-102 Difficulty With Something Basic "Try to feel the energy inside your body," Michael advised. Right now, William was sitting in a private guild training hall, trying to improve his aura manipulation with Michael helping him out. The mission they had taken didn''t start until three more days. While William wanted to rest today due to his body still having accumulated fatigue from his time in Zunesha village that he had forgotten about, Zephyr strongly advised him to work on his aura manipulation. While William didn''t remember it, Zephyr clearly remembered how William almost got killed by an aura master. And he wanted to prevent a similar scenario in the future, so he advised him to ask Michael to finally take his responsibility as his master seriously and teach him about aura. While Rex had taught him the basics of aura and what it was, he hadn''t spent enough time yet to teach him to use the power. He probably planned to take things slow in the aura department until William''s body was a bit more mature and developed; he had no way of knowing that William would leave the house before he could teach him. But thanks to William''s [aura genius] skill, he was at least able to sense and feel the energy inside him. The problem came when he tried to move this energy. No matter what he did, it refused to listen to him like Mana did. His whole life, William didn''t need to try to move Mana; from the moment he was born, Mana just listened to him. Whenever he thought of something, Mana responded to the wishes of its child. However, the same wasn''t the case for Aura; despite his best efforts, it wasn''t listening to him, so he now had to learn and practice it like everyone else. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. From what he had learned and understood so far,. Aura was the energy of self, which came from within the body, more specifically from the heart. If mana was the energy of the universe capable of being used by most people and races in the world, aura was the energy of the self, which can only be used by very specific individuals and races. According to his knowledge, beasts, folk, and humans were the only races capable of harnessing the power of aura. But the universe was fair; if it gave something, it took something else. The beast folk, in exchange for their talent in aura manipulation, didn''t have access to mana. Humans are one of the most versatile races in the whole world, capable of using most energies in the world under the right circumstances. They can use mana by awakening, aura by training, and spirit energy through a spirit by forming a contract, assuming they have the right talent for it. Heck, they could even use miasma by forming a devil contract with a demon; such humans were called devil humans. These devil humans were a huge problem 6,000 years ago, but now, over the years, they have been persecuted and executed for siding against the world. But in exchange for all their versatility, humans lack talent in the manipulation of all energies and even have the lowest life span out of all races out there. In a way, humans are the perfect example of jacks of all trades but masters of none. But he was getting sidetracked. The point was that he had trouble using aura, and to help improve this, he asked Michael for help. A decision he very much regretted now due to the latter being a genius himself, just like William. "Why are you having so much trouble doing something so simple? Aren''t you supposed to be a genius?" Michael asked, annoyed to see his disciple having trouble doing something that was supposed to be simple. Basic aura manipulation can be divided into four parts. Aura enhancement is the stage where a person uses their aura to enhance their body and stats. Aura refinement is when a person refines their aura to the best of their abilities to increase its power and toughness. Aura weapon is when a person coats their weapon in aura. And last but not least is aura manifestation, where a person manifests something made of aura based on their life experiences and personality to aid them. Out of these 4 stages, aura enhancement was supposed to be quite basic and not give someone who understood the concept of aura trouble to use it. ''Didn''t he tell me he had a skill to help him with using aura? Did he lie? '' ''No, that shouldn''t be possible. My skill wouldn''t alert me if he had lied'' "I''m not sure what''s going on exactly," William replied as he rested his body. This was a first for him in his second life. When he started training today, he expected to be in the aura enhancement stage in just an hour or two. But now he had been stuck doing the same thing for almost four hours with no progress. He could feel the dormant energy inside his heart, but it just refused to listen to him and move, regardless of what he tried. "This sucks," William muttered, having trouble doing something for the first time in his second life. The worst part was that he was having trouble, which was supposed to be basic. If he didn''t have [Aura Genius] skill, he would''ve just assumed that maybe he wasn''t talented in aura and given up. After all, not like you need aura to be strong, his talent in mana is more than made up for by a supposed lack of talent in another field. But that wasn''t the case, and he felt he''d be wasting his talent if he didn''t learn and master aura, which he didn''t want. ''Just what exactly am I missing? '' Seeing him struggle so much, Michael had the hypothesis that maybe John didn''t have faith in himself. He didn''t know what he wanted to become in the future or what he even wanted in the moment. Aura isn''t like mana; it comes from within, and in order to use it, a person needs a clear image of why they want it. But he wasn''t sure yet, so he didn''t bother telling him yet; he needed to observe him more before he could give him some advice. After that, William trained for another 5 hours, only to end the day with zero progress in his aura manipulation. Chapter 103: CH-103 Start Of Dungeon Mission It had now been 3 days since the formation of the cleansers, and now William, Jasmine, Raya, and Max were sitting in carriages as they made their way towards the newly discovered dungeon. They were supposed to escort the guards inside. "John, are you good?" Jasmine asked, concerned, as she looked at the haggard and tired figure of William in his disguise, who looked like he hadn''t slept in days. While he had told his party to just use his alias while addressing him, they refused it, saying how it made them feel more distant than they were, and instead called him using ''his'' name, John, which he had given when he was registering. William understood that they just wanted to be friends with him, and since they didn''t have any malicious intent, he didn''t refuse their good will, even though he merely considered them acquaintances at best. And as for the reason behind his tired state, it was due to him not having made any progress with his aura mastery despite training like a madman for the past 3 days. Michael had told him to try and visualise the kind of man he wants to become in the future and to understand why he wanted an aura. While William found the advice a bit pretentious, almost like those hidden old monsters in the Xianxia stories who give the MC cryptic advice to confuse him instead of just saying it like a normal person,. But at this point, he was desperate, and after a lot of thinking, he had an answer. ''I want to become strong in the future, and for that, I need aura'' While he wanted to reach the apex of magic, he didn''t think the aura would respond kindly if he asked for its help just to master another energy, so he went with the second-best option. And unsurprisingly, Aura still didn''t respond to him; it seems that Michael''s advice was complete bullshit, just like he had expected. "Yeah, I''m fine; don''t worry," he finally replied to Jasmine''s question with a lie. William was in fact not fine; if anything, he was pissed and wanted to let loose, but thankfully he was going to the perfect place for such a task. Jasmine looked unconvinced, but she didn''t want to bother him, so she didn''t pursue the matter any further, and before long, they had finally arrived at the place where they were meant to meet the guy who had commissioned the mission. ** "Lord Lark, the adventurers are here," said a butler as he entered a large tent, where inside on a chair sat a tall and lanky man in fancy-looking clothes with a monocle on his right eye. "At long last, it''s time for me to finally get my long-awaited harvest," Lark replied as he stood up with a smile on his face, which would put most scammers to shame. Once Lark exited the tent along with his butler, he saw four adventurers standing near a carriage. He instantly moved to the handsome-looking black youth standing in the middle, who exuded an aura of authority. Lark had been informed of the rising star of the Adventurers Guild, who had skyrocketed into the spotlight like a comet. "I greet the famous adventurer Edge Lord; I have heard great things about you," Lark said as he held out his hand for William. William met the handshake, as he said. "It''s a pleasure meeting you, sir, with us here. You can rest assured about the safety of your workers and your profits." "Oh, please, Lark is just fine. For such a great and capable adventurer like you, I have great trust in your team and your future," Lark replied as his already wide smile grew even wider. "Very well, Lark. I''m glad to see you have faith in me, and I assure you that you won''t regret it." After a bit of ''building connections'' or, as William likes to call it, professional boot licking,. Both of them moved away as William introduced his newly formed team. "Lark, meet my team of cleaners." "Guys, introduce yourselves." Waiting for their queue, Max, Raya, and Jasmine stepped forward. "I''m Jasmine Verona, sir; it''s a pleasure to meet you," she said with enthusiasm. "Raya Kelter, pleased to meet you," she said in a calm voice before stepping back. "Max, it''s a pleasure meeting you, sir," Max said as he held out his hand for Lark to shake. Lark was pleasantly surprised to see the straight-forwardness of the adventurer, and he gladly shook his hand. After this, William and his group went towards the miner they were supposed to protect, and Lark went back inside his tent. "What do you think about them, sir?" the butler asked Lark. "Scary," Lark commented. "What do you mean, sir?" the butler exclaimed. "That black-haired boy, while talking to me, was observing everything in the entire campsite to see if I was hiding something." The monocle on Lark''s right eye was an A-rank artifact he had spent years worth of money on, and it allowed him to see the flow of mana around someone. And he could see the mana spreading from William and covering everything¡ªsomething that required extreme mana control and precision. ''If he wanted Edge Lord, he could''ve easily blown up everyone here'' Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If not for Lark''s impressive poker face, he would''ve been sweating buckets simply due to the terrifying pressure that William naturally exuded without even doing anything. But after saying that Lark smiled, the fact that he was still safe and sound was enough of a confirmation that Edge Lord at least didn''t have malicious intention. While William''s unnatural strength scared him, it also served as reassurance, as that strength was on his side. "I have a good feeling about this mission." A statement that, if heard by the people who went inside the golem dungeon, would make them beat up Lark for jinxing a mission that was supposed to be easy. ** AN; Chapter 104: CH-104 Never Ask William About History In Astressa, monsters are just animals who, over the years, have accumulated mana inside their bodies, adapted, and evolved into higher versions of themselves. Around four thousand years old, these monsters used to number billions and roam the world. But after an event called the Great Purging, the monsters were killed around the world for their valuable bodies, which can be used for a variety of different purposes. And after a few years, the monsters, which used to number billions, were reduced to a mere fraction of the population, with most of them living on the neutral continent. The place is home to dragons, pheonixes, and many other mythical beasts. While all races wanted the valuable bodies of monsters, no one wanted to risk angering the mighty mythical beasts. The dragons, a race famous for their neutrality, finally took a stance after seeing the influx of beasts invading their territory, with many daring individuals coming after them in order to hunt them. At first, dragons were enraged and massacred thousands of lives, both monsters and other sentient races like humans, elves, and dwarves alike. But other races did not take kindly to the breach of neutrality they were promised from dragons after their inactivity and refusal to lend out a helping hand during the war against demons. Tension between dragons and the other races was always at an all-time high and only needed a single trigger to erupt into an all-out war. Which is exactly what happened after dragons broke their ''neutral'' stance, and it started what is now known as the great dragonic war of 1470 AZ. Despite Zephyr''s best efforts to avoid wars, he couldn''t fully rid the world of war. Thankfully, this war didn''t devolve into a full-blown racial extinction or planet-domination-level conflict. And after five whole years of war and the deaths of a few thousand dragons, the war came to an end. Sadly, just to kill a few thousand dragons, millions of human, vampire, elves, dwarves, and beastfolk lives had to be sacrificed. Dragons, despite numbering not even a fraction of the combined might of the other combined races, were the dominant force for the majority of the war. This was due to even the weakest dragon possessing enough strength to level cities and kill thousands. With their scales being impenetrable by the weapons and spells of most people,. Even back then, only a few hundred powerhouses were capable of actually damaging and killing dragons. So the war from a surface level may have looked completely one-sided in favour of the United Race Federation, also known as the URF. In truth, it was actually the opposite of the actual war between thousands of dragons and a few hundred powerhouses, most of whom were barely able to kill a single dragon. It was during this time period that a very rare and powerful bloodline of dragon slayers revealed itself, which gave its users enhanced stats and abilities exclusively when fighting against dragons. This bloodline was later named Dragneel, and they had been promoted from commoners to the status of dukes all because of their war achievements. These dragon slayers, while few in number, were the bane of all dragons, and every single one of them killed more than hundreds of dragons. While, in terms of sheer numbers, URF had suffered far more casualties, it was the dragons who had truly suffered from this war. For the URF, the millions of lives lost were spread out between billions of lives and could easily be replaced. But the dragons had lost almost half of their entire already limited population, and their lost lives could not be replaced due to female dragons being extremely picky about their mates and them only being able to give birth once. Due to their innate pride and arrogance, dragons got cocky, ended up grossly underestimating their opponents, declared a war they couldn''t win, and almost got wiped out of the face of Astressa. To avoid going extinct, the dragons proposed a peace treaty. And the URF, despite knowing about their inevitable victory, would choose to continue the war, but the loss would far outweigh the profit. After this incident, the neutral continent was declared ''No man''s land, a place unclaimable by all races and instead belonging to mythical beasts and monsters. Multiple laws have been put into place regarding the entrance to the neutral continent. But the most important one is that once you step foot inside the neutral continent, all your past affiliations with the outside world are cut off. So basically, even if the king of the human continent stepped on a neutral continent and got killed by a dragon, humans would not have the right to seek revenge on dragons. But the same applies in the opposite case, and if the king kills a dragon, the dragons won''t be able to seek revenge against the human race. In nature, naturally formed artifacts called dungeon cores can be found that attract nearby monsters, and once enough monsters satisfy their total capacity, they create a subdimension. And these sub-dimensions are called dungeons. This type of dungeon is called a natural dungeon; there are also artificial dungeons, but before that,. "Does all of that make sense?" William asked as he looked at the half-sleeping figures of Jasmine, Raya, and Max. They were currently in this situation because Jasmine made the mistake of asking William about dungeons. Giving him the opportunity to yap to them about information that they didn''t know or were interested in for a whole hour. None of them could have guessed that the usually calm, stoic, and cool Edge Lord was secretly passionate about history and was just waiting for a chance for someone to ask him. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All three of them were tired from the journey and wanted to rest to be ready for tomorrow''s dungeon excursion, but thanks to Jasmine ignorantly asking a question, they were forced to listen to John''s ramblings for a whole hour. ''Let''s never talk about history in front of Edge Lord ever again.'' This single thought ran through the minds of all Cleansers members aside from William, who was just excited to finally pass on a bit of knowledge he had accumulated thanks to spending multiple hours every day inside his family library. After this, the cleaners had to listen to Williams ramblings for another 3 hours before they could finally go to sleep. Chapter 105: CH-105 Even Better Than Expected "Is everyone ready?" William asked as he looked at his team of cleansers and the 10 miners and porters they were supposed to accompany inside the dungeon. They were currently standing outside a cave with a blue portal-like entrance. According to what they had been told, their task was simple. All they had to do was protect the miners from the monsters inside while the miners mined all the ores. It would probably take one whole day, and once the miners were done mining, they were supposed to clear the dungeon and come back with the loot. They had the right to any artifacts found inside, while all the ores and monster cores would go to Lark for commercial use. William and his team had already met the miners they were supposed to accompany, and they looked like good people, so he wanted to make sure they stayed safe. Hearing his question, a collective "yes" resounded throughout the area, after which they all entered inside. ~Vroom~ Space warped as the daring adventurers and miners entered. Once they entered, the world around them shifted from an empty field with bright daylight to a narrow, dark cave. But most of them didn''t have the time to notice it, as everyone aside from William and a few experienced miners vomited. "Blurgh" "Blurgh" "Blurgh" This happened due to them experiencing teleportation for the first time in their lives, which made them nauseous and resulted in their vomiting. William had gone through multiple teleportation gates with his parents before, so he was more or less used to it by now. Ignoring the condition of his party and the people he was supposed to protect, he took a look around him and saw the dark cave they were currently in. But that posed no problem for him thanks to his [Shadow Sense], which allowed him perfect vision and sense even in the dark. As he looked around, he saw the dull rock sticking out at irregular intervals in the cave. But before placing too much attention on them, he looked around for any potential threats and breathed a sigh of relief at the absence of any monsters nearby. "Alright guys, enough, take out the lamps," William ordered. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hearing the voice of the guy who was in charge, a few miners who had already experienced going inside a dungeon before took out the light-generating lamp artefact they had been given. Strangely, as the lamp turned on, instead of lighting up a small area like it was supposed to, the entire passageway of the dungeon lit up. The weird, dull rocks that William had seen earlier now glew a beautiful blue glow and lit up the whole passageway. Seeing the sudden bright news, the people who were previously on the ground looked up and saw the eye-dazzling sight. "Wow," Jasmine muttered in amazement at the sight she was presented with. "I can''t believe I''m still inside a dungeon," Max said as he looked at the prettiest thing he had seen his whole life inside a place infamous for blood and gore. "But what is that?" asked a miner, looking clueless at the identity of the pretty blue rocks. "Luminous blue stone," replied a miner as he looked at an ore encyclopaedia that had been given by Lark to help the workers recognise what type of mineral they were supposed to mine in case they encountered it. "What''s that?" asked another miner, clueless about what the name meant. "It''s an extremely rare type of mineral used in the creation of water and ice-type artifacts." "It looks dull in the darkness, but when exposed to light, it glows in a beautiful blue light, like the one we are seeing now." "And even a single piece of this stone is worth a minimum of 100 gold coins," he exclaimed in shock as he dropped the encyclopaedia and looked around to see the goldmine they had accidentally stumbled into. Which wouldn''t be a wrong comparison considering every single piece of this stone is worth 100 gold coins, and just in their plain sight, there were hundreds of these rocks. Without even going any deeper, if they just mined the rocks near the entrance and left, they''d have 10 platinum coins, an amount of wealth that the whole nine generations of all of their families could live off in luxury. Everyone was in a state of shock at the jackpot they had just hit. Enjoy reading at NovelFire-lem-pyr "Raya, can you pinch me?" Max asked in shock, still unconvinced that this was actually happening. Not wasting even a single second, Raya pinched him on the cheek. "Oww!" Max cried out in pain at the surprising strength of Raya. "Finally, I can pay off my family debt," a miner cried out as he fell to the ground, thanking his goddess Elona for listening to his prayers. "I can''t believe this is real," another miner said, still in disbelief. Everyone was excited about this potential opportunity to turn their lives around. While everyone was just excited about potentially getting rid of their debts, curing their dying mother, or maybe even making their parents proud,. Someone else had their greed flare up with a desire to take everything for himself and kill everyone else. "Alright guys, enough fooling around. Let''s harvest everything and leave quickly; we''re still in a dungeon after all," William shouted, snapping everyone out of their excitement and reminding them about the potential dangers lurking around. ''I have a bad feeling about this'' William thought, a bit unsettled by the idea of letting something so fortunate happen to him without some kind of catch. And sadly, his uneasiness would soon prove to not be baseless. ** An: Brand new character art has been uploaded to the app; go check it out. Chapter 106: CH-106 Please Skip This Chapter AN: Ah shit I messed up please just skip this chapter if you have read the last two chapters and pease forgive this foolish authors blunder In Astressa, monsters are just animals who, over the years, have accumulated mana inside their bodies, adapted, and evolved into higher versions of themselves. Around four thousand years old, these monsters used to number billions and roam the world. But after an event called the Great Purging, the monsters were killed around the world for their valuable bodies, which can be used for a variety of different purposes. And after a few years, the monsters, which used to number billions, were reduced to a mere fraction of the population, with most of them living on the neutral continent. The place is home to dragons, pheonixes, and many other mythical beasts. While all races wanted the valuable bodies of monsters, no one wanted to risk angering the mighty mythical beasts. The dragons, a race famous for their neutrality, finally took a stance after seeing the influx of beasts invading their territory, with many daring individuals coming after them in order to hunt them. At first, dragons were enraged and massacred thousands of lives, both monsters and other sentient races like humans, elves, and dwarves alike. But other races did not take kindly to the breach of neutrality they were promised from dragons after their inactivity and refusal to lend out a helping hand during the war against demons. Tension between dragons and the other races was always at an all-time high and only needed a single trigger to erupt into an all-out war. Which is exactly what happened after dragons broke their ''neutral'' stance, and it started what is now known as the great dragonic war of 1470 AZ. Despite Zephyr''s best efforts to avoid wars, he couldn''t fully rid the world of war. Thankfully, this war didn''t devolve into a full-blown racial extinction or planet-domination-level conflict. And after five whole years of war and the deaths of a few thousand dragons, the war came to an end. Sadly, just to kill a few thousand dragons, millions of human, vampire, elves, dwarves, and beastfolk lives had to be sacrificed. Dragons, despite numbering not even a fraction of the combined might of the other combined races, were the dominant force for the majority of the war. This was due to even the weakest dragon possessing enough strength to level cities and kill thousands. With their scales being impenetrable by the weapons and spells of most people,. Even back then, only a few hundred powerhouses were capable of actually damaging and killing dragons. So the war from a surface level may have looked completely one-sided in favour of the United Race Federation, also known as the URF. In truth, it was actually the opposite of the actual war between thousands of dragons and a few hundred powerhouses, most of whom were barely able to kill a single dragon. It was during this time period that a very rare and powerful bloodline of dragon slayers revealed itself, which gave its users enhanced stats and abilities exclusively when fighting against dragons. This bloodline was later named Dragneel, and they had been promoted from commoners to the status of dukes all because of their war achievements. These dragon slayers, while few in number, were the bane of all dragons, and every single one of them killed more than hundreds of dragons. While, in terms of sheer numbers, URF had suffered far more casualties, it was the dragons who had truly suffered from this war. For the URF, the millions of lives lost were spread out between billions of lives and could easily be replaced. But the dragons had lost almost half of their entire already limited population, and their lost lives could not be replaced due to female dragons being extremely picky about their mates and them only being able to give birth once. Due to their innate pride and arrogance, dragons got cocky, ended up grossly underestimating their opponents, declared a war they couldn''t win, and almost got wiped out of the face of Astressa. To avoid going extinct, the dragons proposed a peace treaty. And the URF, despite knowing about their inevitable victory, would choose to continue the war, but the loss would far outweigh the profit. After this incident, the neutral continent was declared ''No man''s land, a place unclaimable by all races and instead belonging to mythical beasts and monsters. Multiple laws have been put into place regarding the entrance to the neutral continent. But the most important one is that once you step foot inside the neutral continent, all your past affiliations with the outside world are cut off. So basically, even if the king of the human continent stepped on a neutral continent and got killed by a dragon, humans would not have the right to seek revenge on dragons. But the same applies in the opposite case, and if the king kills a dragon, the dragons won''t be able to seek revenge against the human race. In nature, naturally formed artifacts called dungeon cores can be found that attract nearby monsters, and once enough monsters satisfy their total capacity, they create a subdimension. And these sub-dimensions are called dungeons. This type of dungeon is called a natural dungeon; there are also artificial dungeons, but before that,. "Does all of that make sense?" William asked as he looked at the half-sleeping figures of Jasmine, Raya, and Max. They were currently in this situation because Jasmine made the mistake of asking William about dungeons. Giving him the opportunity to yap to them about information that they didn''t know or were interested in for a whole hour. None of them could have guessed that the usually calm, stoic, and cool Edge Lord was secretly passionate about history and was just waiting for a chance for someone to ask him. All three of them were tired from the journey and wanted to rest to be ready for tomorrow''s dungeon excursion, but thanks to Jasmine ignorantly asking a question, they were forced to listen to John''s ramblings for a whole hour. ''Let''s never talk about history in front of Edge Lord ever again.'' This single thought ran through the minds of all Cleansers members aside from William, who was just excited to finally pass on a bit of knowledge he had accumulated thanks to spending multiple hours every day inside his family library. After this, the cleaners had to listen to Williams ramblings for another 3 hours before they could finally go to sleep. "Is everyone ready?" William asked as he looked at his team of cleansers and the 10 miners and porters they were supposed to accompany inside the dungeon. They were currently standing outside a cave with a blue portal-like entrance. According to what they had been told, their task was simple. All they had to do was protect the miners from the monsters inside while the miners mined all the ores. It would probably take one whole day, and once the miners were done mining, they were supposed to clear the dungeon and come back with the loot. They had the right to any artifacts found inside, while all the ores and monster cores would go to Lark for commercial use. William and his team had already met the miners they were supposed to accompany, and they looked like good people, so he wanted to make sure they stayed safe. Hearing his question, a collective "yes" resounded throughout the area, after which they all entered inside. ~Vroom~ Space warped as the daring adventurers and miners entered. Once they entered, the world around them shifted from an empty field with bright daylight to a narrow, dark cave. But most of them didn''t have the time to notice it, as everyone aside from William and a few experienced miners vomited. "Blurgh" "Blurgh" Brought to you by m-vl_emp,yr "Blurgh" This happened due to them experiencing teleportation for the first time in their lives, which made them nauseous and resulted in their vomiting. William had gone through multiple teleportation gates with his parents before, so he was more or less used to it by now. Ignoring the condition of his party and the people he was supposed to protect, he took a look around him and saw the dark cave they were currently in. But that posed no problem for him thanks to his [Shadow Sense], which allowed him perfect vision and sense even in the dark. As he looked around, he saw the dull rock sticking out at irregular intervals in the cave. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before placing too much attention on them, he looked around for any potential threats and breathed a sigh of relief at the absence of any monsters nearby. "Alright guys, enough, take out the lamps," William ordered. Hearing the voice of the guy who was in charge, a few miners who had already experienced going inside a dungeon before took out the light-generating lamp artefact they had been given. Strangely, as the lamp turned on, instead of lighting up a small area like it was supposed to, the entire passageway of the dungeon lit up. The weird, dull rocks that William had seen earlier now glew a beautiful blue glow and lit up the whole passageway. Seeing the sudden bright news, the people who were previously on the ground looked up and saw the eye-dazzling sight. "Wow," Jasmine muttered in amazement at the sight she was presented with. "I can''t believe I''m still inside a dungeon," Max said as he looked at the prettiest thing he had seen his whole life inside a place infamous for blood and gore. "But what is that?" asked a miner, looking clueless at the identity of the pretty blue rocks. "Luminous blue stone," replied a miner as he looked at an ore encyclopaedia that had been given by Lark to help the workers recognise what type of mineral they were supposed to mine in case they encountered it. "What''s that?" asked another miner, clueless about what the name meant. "It''s an extremely rare type of mineral used in the creation of water and ice-type artefacts." "It looks dull in the darkness, but when exposed to light, it glows in a beautiful blue light, like the one we are seeing now." "And even a single piece of this stone is worth a minimum of 100 gold coins," he exclaimed in shock as he dropped the encyclopaedia and looked around to see the goldmine they had accidentally stumbled into. Which wouldn''t be a wrong comparison considering every single piece of this stone is worth 100 gold coins, and just in their plain sight, there were hundreds of these rocks. Without even going any deeper, if they just mined the rocks near the entrance and left, they''d have 10 platinum coins, an amount of wealth that the whole nine generations of all of their families could live off in luxury. Everyone was in a state of shock at the jackpot they had just hit. "Raya, can you pinch me?" Max asked in shock, still unconvinced that this was actually happening. Not wasting even a single second, Raya pinched him on the cheek. "Oww!" Max cried out in pain at the surprising strength of Raya. "Finally, I can pay off my family debt," a miner cried out as he fell to the ground, thanking his goddess Elona for listening to his prayers. "I can''t believe this is real," another miner said, still in disbelief. Everyone was excited about this potential opportunity to turn their lives around. While everyone was just excited about potentially getting rid of their debts, curing their dying mother, or maybe even making their parents proud,. Someone else had their greed flare up with a desire to take everything for himself and kill everyone else. "Alright guys, enough fooling around. Let''s harvest everything and leave quickly; we''re still in a dungeon after all," William shouted, snapping everyone out of their excitement and reminding them about the potential dangers lurking around. ''I have a bad feeling about this'' William thought, a bit unsettled by the idea of letting something so fortunate happen to him without some kind of catch. And sadly, his uneasiness would soon prove to not be baseless. ** An: Brand new character art has been uploaded to the app; go check it out. Chapter 107: Ch-107 Bad Feeling ~Crack~ ~Crack~ ~Crack The sound of pickaxes colliding with rocks resounded throughout the small dungeon. It had now been a whole hour since the miners and cleansers had entered the dungeon, and despite their initial excitement, Williams reminded them of the potential dangers lurking around. Even now, after one whole hour, the party had yet to encounter even a single monster; they hadn''t yet ventured that deep yet, but it was still weird how empty the whole dungeon was. Continue the excitement on m_vl-em,py-r ''I have a bad feeling about this,'' William thought. He didn''t know why he felt this way, but he knew that something was amiss here. ''Screw it; whatever the reason behind this feeling is, I don''t care; let''s get this mission over with'' "Enough dilly-dallying guys, let''s pick up the pace," William encouraged the miners to hasten the mining process. They had barely harvested 8 ores in the past hour, and judging by their current pace, their progress will only slow down the longer it goes on. While the miners were excited when they first saw the jackpot, they had accidentally hit it, but in their excitement, they forgot about one thing. Before entering, both his party and the miners had signed a contract to not steal any of the ores or beast cores. Meaning even if just a single piece of rock around them could change the lives of most of them, they couldn''t take it. The morale of everyone was at an all-time low, thanks to this, meaning the excursion would take longer than normal. And William had no intention of spending extra time in this dangerous place, which had been giving him a bad feeling for a while now. William was quite well aware of human nature and their innate greed. He knew that at least a few of the miners here would try to steal the rocks despite knowing the risks, or maybe even sabotage the whole operation, just so they could get a piece of the wealth around them. Thankfully, Lark had prepared for situations like this and gave William the perfect artifact as well left him in charge of the mission. William wasn''t sure why Lark had so much faith in him, but he wasn''t complaining. With a single thought, a thin piece of paper manifested out of his shadow. A mana contract is a very useful artifact that allows people to sign permanent, non-breakable contracts with their mana. Even non-awakened people can sign a mana contract as long as the other party is supplying mana. "Alright, everyone, line up; I have something to say." Hearing his voice, the miners stopped what they were doing previously and, despite being confused, decided to see what Edge Lord wanted to say. ~Swish~ A contract appeared in front of the miners and even the cleaners. "I know all of you guys have your own situation at home and probably want to steal one or two pieces of the ore you''re mining." "But I would advise against that because, in case you have forgotten, you have already signed a contract with Lark before coming inside." "So instead of stealing, I''ll give everyone here 1 whole luminous blue stone; that''s basically 100 gold coins. I highly doubt you''ll need any more money." The miners and even the cleansers were shocked at his words as they exclaimed. "He can''t be serious!!! " "This is insane." "I can finally repay my family debts. "My daughter can finally get a proper education." "I can finally leave this shitty job." "I can propose to my girlfriend now." Reading the contract he had been offered, Max was a bit shocked, as unlike what Edge Lord had said earlier in his contract, he was being offered three stones instead of one. But before he could raise his voice, a text appeared on his, Raya and Jasmine''s contract. ''Stay quiet; they don''t need to know that I''m giving you guys a bigger share than them. It seems the man they had chosen to lead their team was looking out for them and giving them preferential treatment even in this situation. And they most certainly had no problems about receiving extra cash. Once everyone had signed the contract, William announced. "Can you really just give away such precious ores to us?" "Yes, I can. Lark put me in charge, and I won''t be taking any of the ores for myself, so it''s fine." The miners and even his own team were shocked by his declaration, thinking that he was sacrifing his own portion just so they could get a bit higher portion of money. But what they didn''t know was that William was unfazed by the value of the ores around him, as his father earned more than the total value of all the ores inside this cave in a month. So to him, he was just doing some petty charity work by giving away to the less fortunate. "Now then, I hope this is enough to satisfy you guys. Now don''t do anything stupid and get to mining. We''re still inside a dungeon, and your newly acquired wealth would be useless if you couldn''t make it out alive." Hearing his words, the miners shouted in agreement, and now, with renewed morale, the pace of the excursion hastened. ** ''I can finally cure my mother with just 2 or 3 of these rocks,'' Jasmine thought as she stood in a daze, trying to wrap her head around the sheer wealth she was surrounded by. As long as she just made it out of this dungeon alive with the newly promised money that John had offered the cleansers. ''I can''t let anything go wrong now; this is the perfect opportunity. It may have arrived sooner than expected, but I''m not complaining. Her mother only had two months left to live. She was honestly just desperate before and wasn''t sure how she was going to gather enough money for the treatment, but now things were different. She had joined Max and Raya on a whim, not expecting much. The person she was interested in was already gone, and she had expected that he was probably already on another team. But due to her team taking on a mission they were ill prepared for and her own carelessness, she almost got critically injured. But like a knight in shining armour, he appeared out of nowhere to save her and even joined their team. And on their first mission together, she ended up accomplishing her goal of gathering enough money to cure her mother. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. At this point, he was basically her lucky charm. He was extremely handsome, powerful, smart, and talented. As if that alone wasn''t enough, he was even kind and benevolent, giving away roughly 20 luminous blue stones, and he had given up his own portion so that they could have more ores. He truly was the perfect man, and while Jasmine could see that Raya was interested in him, Jasmine wanted to try her luck. She was aware of the age difference, but it was at least worth a shot, or else she could do nothing but give up and let Raya have him. However, before Jasmine could let her imagination run any wilder, ''her lucky charm'' shouted. "Miners to the back, cleansers to the front, we''ve got monsters approaching our location." Chapter 108: CH-108 Blue Golems "Miners to the back, cleanslers to the front, we''ve got monsters approaching our location," William shouted. It seems that all the noise they had made so far had finally alerted the monsters in the cave. Hearing his words, the miners ran away in fear, and Max, Raya, and Jasmine went in front of them, with William standing between them. It was now time for them to work for their pay. And before long, two blue golems with two large, clear rocks sticking out from their shoulders emerged. The golems charged at the daring adventurers who dared invade their territory. Not waiting for the golems to get any closer, Jasmine and Max charged at them. ~Shing~ The sword and hammer collided with the arms of the golems. After a moment of contest of strength, the golem started overpowering Max. But Max used his aspect ability to increase the weight of his hammer and managed to easily switch the tables, and with a single swing, he broke the arms of the golem who was trying to crush him and sent it flying away. While this was going on, Jasmine used her size manipulation aspect to increase the size of her fist and pinched the golem, cracking its body and sending it flying even further back than the golem that was fighting Max. But neither Jasmine nor Max let their guard down, as they knew the fight still wasn''t over, as it was common knowledge that a golem will keep getting up till its core is destroyed. As if knowing what was going on inside their heads, Raya announced. "Guys break the transparent crystals on their backs; that''s where their core is located.'' After all, thanks to her aspect, she could see the weakness of her enemy. Hearing her words, Jasmine and Max charged forward, using skills to enhance their speed and other stats. The golems recovered from their momentary stun and attempted to retaliate, but before they could, green whips of plant sprung forth and ensared them. This was Raya''s (Plant Bind) spell, and it created the perfect opportunity for her teammates to manoeuvre and destroy the crystals. ~Crack~ The golems crumbled after having their core inside the crystal destroyed, and like that, two B-rank monsters were killed. "Phew!" both Jasmine and Max breathed a sigh of relief at being able to kill the golems with relative ease. ~Clap~ ~clap~ S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Not bad, you guys didn''t even need my help," William said as he applauded his party at their performance. Throughout the whole fight, he was observing everything around them and was on high alert. Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary happened, and he was able to give his party a chance to work together and improve their teamwork. Speaking of them, William was quite impressed by how easily they managed to defeat two B-rank golems; it seems he was underestimating them quite a bit after the last incident. "Thanks," Jasmine muttered, almost inaudibly appreciating the praise. "Sung, if you don''t mind, please go and extract the beast cores of those dead golems." William requested the porter, whom he had learned to be named Sung. All monsters have a core inside them, which is basically like their heart and is used to determine the rank of the monster. These cores have a variety of uses and are quite sought after, especially the higher-ranked ones. Hearing his voice, an average-sized young boy, looking no older than 17 with long black hair and wearing a blue track suit, stepped forward and went to do his job. While Sung was extracting the beast core, William turned around and said,. "As you guys can see, we''re all quite strong, so you can mine with peace of mind without needing to worry about your safety." William addressed the miners, and just like he expected, their previously scared and worried expressions were replaced with those of admiration and reassurance. After that, the miners went back to mining with relatively no major hiccups. A few golems showed up here and there, but they were easily disposed of by the cleansers. William didn''t really fight, as he was still paranoid about his flaw and wanted to keep his mana consumption low. He wanted to only use his mana if something his team was unable to take care of showed up, which thankfully didn''t happen. Once Jasmine, Max, and Raya killed a golem, Sung extracted and stored the beast cores safely. With their morale at an all-time high and nothing really threatening them, after 8 hours, all the ores in the area were mined and safely collected. "Well done, good job guys. Now let''s take a break for an hour before moving on," William announced reluctantly. Even though he didn''t want to spend more time than necessary in the dungeon, he knew most of the miners were not awaken and were tired. Forcing tired workers to mine will just slow down the overall progression of the task. The miners rejoiced at finally being given the chance to rest. Their bodies had been hurting for a while, but they were pushing forward because of the life-changing money they had been promised. Read new tales at m-vl-em,pyr ** After an hour of rest and refreshment, they were ready to continue advancing in the dungeon. ''I hope this dungeon isn''t that big'' William hoped, as the uneasy feeling he had been feeling for a while still wasn''t gone. If anything, it only grew stronger the longer he spent in this dungeon. ''It''s fine; no matter what happens, I won''t compromise again. William didn''t know why he felt this way, but for some reason, he didn''t want to let his party or the miners die because of his bad luck. While William didn''t remember about Zunesha village, his body still remembered all the trauma it suffered there and how many people he let down and got killed just because of his own incompetence and bad luck. In a way, it was probably for the best that he no longer remembered the event, or else his personality most likely would have changed quite drastically due to guilt and trauma. Now let''s just hope that William doesn''t get fucked by his flaw again, because it was highly unlikely that an outer-dimensional being was going to descend and save his life two times in a row. ** An: Chapter 109: CH-109 Progress In The Dungeon ~Step~ ~Step~ The noise of footsteps resounded through the hall as William and Jasmine walked in the front while Raya and Max walked in the back, with the miners walking in the middle. The whole party had been walking for roughly 10 minutes after their last rest. It had now been one whole day since the party had entered the dungeon, and so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The whole place was filled to the brim with luminous blue stones, which were obviously all mined by the miners. At this point, they probably had more than 1000 blue stones; it was to the point that even William couldn''t ignore the amount of wealth that they had acquired from just one dungeon. And this was without even mentioning all the beast cores that had been dropped by the golems, which should probably be worth a couple hundred coins just on their own. Lark had truly hit the jackpot with this dungeon. Once the party leaves with all these stones and beast cores, Lark would easily become a major distributor in the luminous blue stone market and even be able to step his feet into the beast core market. Speaking of which, the party occasionally encountered some blue golems every now and then, but they were easily taken care of by Jasmine, Max, and Raya. They hadn''t encountered any A-rank monsters yet, and the number of overall monsters in the dungeon was quite low, which usually means that the boss monster must be quite powerful. But William was still confident in being able to take care of an A-rank monster, especially when he was backed by his party, who were all pretty strong in their own right. The thing that really worried William was the uncomfortable feeling that he had been feeling ever since entering the dungeon. Over time, it had only grown stronger, and as far as he could see, it was pretty much baseless. This was his first time in a dungeon, but from what he had studied, nothing was out of the ordinary in this dungeon aside from the abnormal number of ores inside the dungeon. But William wasn''t sure why that would be a matter of concern. The dungeon was thankfully pretty small, but due to them needing to mine every ore they could find, it had taken them so long. ''Maybe I''m just paranoid,'' William thought. So far, nothing has gone wrong, and hopefully it stays that way. But just to be safe, he called out to Wiz inside his head. ''Hey Wiz, can you do me a favour and look around the dungeon to try and find anything that may be a threat to us? '' (Sure, give me a minute.) Wiz replied as a tiny blue spirit flew out of Williams chest and flied straight through Jasmine without her being able to see or feel it. William wasn''t worried about Wiz being seen, as a person needs an affinity for spirits in order to see them, and even if she were seen, no one would connect it to being related to William Verhen, and he could just get away with saying that it belonged to his Edge Lord persona. On that note, for some reason, Wiz was a lot more attached to him than his other spirits. William wasn''t sure why this was, but he didn''t mind, as having a voice inside his head that he could talk to was comforting for some reason. After around 30¨C40 seconds, Wiz returned to his core, as she said. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. (Nothing out of the ordinary aside from the dungeon being pretty empty, which considering you guys have been exploring for one whole day now makes sense.) (Also, if you''re interested, I found the location of the boss room, but I couldn''t really see inside.) ''I see, that''s a bit reassuring. Also, tell me the location of the boss''s room. After learning the location from Wiz, William announced. "Guys, we''ve pretty much cleared the whole dungeon. Now let''s go and kill the boss so we can go back with all our newly found riches." Cheers of excitement erupted from the miners at the mention of their riches. This one dungeon had completely turned their lives around, and now all they needed to do was clear it, and they could do the things they could only dream about before. But despite their excitement, the party didn''t let their guard down, with William being the most alarmed as they made their way through the dungeon before eventually reaching the boss room. Two gigantic stone doors with weird engravings on them stood in front of the party, most likely the entrance to the boss room. The engraving was very weird and incomprehensible. It had strange writings that even the world system known to help the user understand other languages could translate. There were also some poorly drawn depictions of what looked to be a mother sacrificing a baby, but they were covered in a lot of dirt and filth and were really hard to see. William tried to read the language or make sense of it, but he eventually gave up and decided to just ignore it and prepare to instead kill the boss instead of trying to decipher what looked to be nonsensical ramblings with a very poorly drawn and crude drawing that was too dirty to be made sense of. "Is everyone ready?" William asked his party. "As ready as I''ll ever be," Max said as he strengthened his grip on his hammer. After agreement from the other members, the party entered inside. The plan was simple: the miners would stay near the entrance with a strong barrier made by William to protect them while he and the other cleansers fought the boss. While yes, the miners could have just stayed outside the boss room, William was far too paranoid to leave them out of his sight. As William and the party entered inside, all they saw was a giant statue of a demonic-looking king-like figure sitting on a massive throne in the centre. William instantly erected the barrier to guard himself and the miners as he took a stance to begin fighting, with the rest of his party doing the same. ~Thud~ The door behind them closed once the party was inside, but no one paid any attention to it as they had already expected something like this and they couldn''t lose sight of the statue in front of them. However, despite never losing sight, a red laser fired itself from the eyes of the statue too fast for anyone to react, instantly melting through the Williams barrier upon contact and finding its way towards a clueless and unfortunate miner. ~Sizzle~ The lower body of the miner fell down with smoke flying from it, and the upper body was completely eviscerated. The only thing flowing through William and everyone else''s heads when they witnessed this sight was. Delve into more on m-vlem,pyr ''What? '' Chapter 110: CH-110 Fighting the boss monster In an empty room with weird, incomprehensible engravings on the wall, a massive throne was affixed to the end of the wall in the centre. Sitting atop the throne was a black-coloured humanoid statue with a round horn protruding from its head and shaping what looked to be a crown. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The eyes of the statue still had smoke coming out of them, and in front of the statue were 14 people and one dead body who were standing in front of a now-closed giant stone door. The lower body of the dead miner fell to the ground with his upper body completely erased, with no traces of it left. It all happened far too quickly for anyone to react, and before they knew it, their barrier was destroyed, with one of their men dead. "Ahhhh!!! " Jasmine screamed in panic as she moved away from the corpse in fear and ended up breaking the discussed formation. She was still young, and this was her first time seeing a corpse, so her reaction was expected, and no one could blame her, but her panic started a chain reaction amongst the still-living miners as they realised that they had almost just died. "Ahhh! Please, I don''t want to die." "Someone save us." "You promised you would protect us." "Tony, my friend!!! " The miners started separating and trying to run with some, even trying to bang on the dungeon door to try and escape, but sadly, it was useless as the door didn''t open despite their best efforts. Read the latest on M-VL-em|p,yr And to their horror, the eyes of the statue started glowing as it prepared to fire another laser from his eyes, this time to kill all of them. While a few miners closed their eyes, Max moved in front of the laser and created a wall of stone to try and protect everyone. Sadly, it was nothing but a useless last-ditch attempt at retaliating, as even Max knew that his shield wasn''t strong enough to stop a laser that even John couldn''t stop. ''It doesn''t matter if it can stop the laser or not; I''m not going down without a fight. However, just when the laser was about to collide with the wall and break it, a thick and massive block of ice appeared in front of the stone wall. ~Sizzle~ The laser tried to burn through the ice, but it was eventually stopped and failed to get through. Invisible strings of mana ensnared all the miners and cleansers and trapped them all in one place, with 10 thick barriers of mana emerging in front of them to protect them. Everyone was confused about what was happening until a familiar voice called out. "Sit back and relax; not everything needs a reaction," William, or rather Edge Lord, said as he stood in front of the party. His appearance was now different from before two wings made up of water sprung from his back; his black eyes and hair were now blue like water, with a royal crown made up of water adorning his head. Everyone was shocked at the sudden shift in his appearance and had many questions, but now wasn''t the time. "John, stop the joke. You might be strong, but you can''t fight against that thing on your own; we''re supposed to be a party. Let us help you, please." Max cried out as he tried to break the nigh invisible strings binding him, only to fail and give up. "I agree with Max; let us help you, please," Jasmine chimed in, trying to convince John. "No, you guys are too weak to try and fight against that thing; I''ll handle it myself," William said as he turned away from his party, who were still crying out to him to free him as he faced the monstrosity sitting on the throne. ** A few moments earlier ''What the fuck just happened?'' William thought as he looked at the corpse of the miner who had just died in front of him. It all happened far too fast for him to react; before he could do anything, the miner who he was supposed to protect was dead. ''I let someone under me die again'' ''Wasn''t it my responsibility to protect him? '' ''How am I supposed to meet my party and the other miners after letting one of them die?'' (William, snap out of it now isn''t the time.) Wiz cried out inside his head. ''Ah, you''re right, my bad. I''m not sure what just happened to me'' For some time now, William had been feeling weird; he''d randomly zone out and have an inflated sense of ego. He didn''t know why this was happening, but he never wanted to let those who were counting on him down. And it wasn''t for some weird moral reason, like one would expect. But rather, it was his pride; every time he failed to do what he had promised or failed to do something, his pride got hurt, and he hated that feeling. William was quite sure that he wasn''t like this. In his past life, in fact, he was fairly shameless. But in this second life, he was willing to even risk his life just to not let his pride get hurt. (William, what are you doing? They need you.) Wiz cried out inside his head. ''Ahh, I did it again'' Despite finding it weird, now wasn''t the time to ponder about it. After all, it was time to not let any more of his men down and fulfil his responsibility. [Spirit Ascension:Water Sprite Dive] In his current situation, Agni and Sera were automatically listed out due to his location, as well as their already being associated with William thanks to the little stunt he pulled at the birthday party. Gionne was currently resting, so Wiz was the perfect choice for the situation. And after turning up the suppression ring to 5, William was ready to kill the boss and protect his people. ** An: Chapter 111: CH-111 Soloing The Dungeon Boss Currently, an intense stare-off is going on between a giant humanoid statue sitting on a throne and a blue-haired boy with wings and a crown made up of water. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. (William you be sure you don''t need any help?) Agni asked inside Williams head, recognising the stone statue as a major threat. (Even if you can''t use Agni because of the location, why not do a dual spirit dive with me and Wiz?) Sera asked. ''Yeah, I don''t want to overreact and end up revealing more than necessary, and besides, I''m fairly certain I can win by just using Wiz. ''Isn''t that right, Wiz? '' (Of course it is; I''m the strongest spirit you have, after all.) Wiz replied arrogantly. Discover magic on m_v_l_e_m_p_y_r William almost laughed upon hearing her comment; he expected his other spirits to disagree with her, especially Agni, who liked to constantly banter with her inside his head. But strangely, no one tried to refute Wiz. ''Are you guys really not going to try to argue with her?'' William asked Agni and Sera. (Yeah, pretty much she''s right after all.) Sera replied. (I hate to admit it, but she''s right), Agni said in defeat. William was shocked to hear this. He never knew that there was a hierarchy difference amongst his spirits, but even more so was he surprised by the usually fiery-tempered and competitive Agni calling Wiz stronger than himself. (William, stop zoning out; the statue is standing up.) Wiz warned him. ''Ah, I did it again'' With that thought, William left the previous conversation he was having as a topic for later and moved his attention towards the monster he was supposed to fight. The demonic-looking humanoid statue finally stood up from its throne, recognising William as a threat. A giant sword made of stone appeared in the hands of the statue. The statue raised its arms to try and slash William, but before it could do that, William used. (Water Storm) A storm of water escaped his hand and collided with the statue, knocking it off balance and breaking its stance. With a mental command, the storm of water dropped in temperature and froze the statue momentarily. Instead of trying to break the ice, the statue once again fired lasers from its eyes towards William. ''If I dodge it, my allies will get hit instead'' With a raise of his hand, he used the (water wall) spell and created a thick wall of water to stop the laser. ~Sizzle~ The laser was unable to get through despite its best efforts, but by using the opportunity it created, the statue broke through the ice, trapping it, and rushed at William to crush him under it. ~Rumble~ ~Rumble~ The whole room trembled as the statue charged at William, who started flying using the wings on his back to avoid getting crushed. The statue swung its sword at William once he was close enough, but William easily dodged it by manoeuvring in the air. ~BAMM!! ~ The stone sword crashed on the ground, unable to hit its target, and put the statue in an awkward position to block or move for a moment. Using this opportunity, William activated (Lance of Water) . A massive lance of condensed and sharp water formed behind William and fired at the statue. ~Pierce~ The lance pierced the statue in the abdomen area and flew straight through it, creating a clean hole in that area. But William wasn''t given a chance to rejoice at being able to damage the statue as a fist made up of rocks emerged from the ground and charged at William. ~Ting~ Williams [Danger Sense] warned him of the upcoming attack in the nick of time, allowing him to create a thick barrier of water to defend himself in the last second. ~BAMMMM!! ~ The fist of rock sent William flying and made him crash into a wall. "John noo!!!" Jasmine cried out, her concern evident on her face. "John!!! " Raya yelled as she tried to free herself from the strings binding her and the rest of her allies, only to fail and give up. Dust and rubble arose as William limped out of the massive crater formed on the wall from his crash. "Cough" "Cough" William coughed as blood came out of his mouth. ''Fuck that hurts'' Thankfully, his [Danger Sense] activated in the last moment and allowed him to create a shield of water, or else he probably would have died from the attack. His left arm was broken, and he had probably also broken one or two other bones from that attack. His body hurt, but by this point, he was already used to this level of pain. The more concerning thing was that the statue could use magic. Monsters weren''t supposed to use magic. Magic was supposed to be the privilege of humans and other sentient races. But despite this, a few exceptions always existed, and such monsters were called unique monsters. Magic was something that required intelligence to be used¡ªsomething monsters weren''t supposed to have. They were supposed to live purely based on their beastly instincts, but unique monsters broke that basic rule of nature. What this means is that. ''This statue possesses intelligence,'' William thought as he stared at the statue. Williams wounds were already healing thanks to him having used his life bomb, but to his horror, the previously stoic statue displayed a wide demonic smile that could scare away the coldest hearts. And under Williams gaze, the giant wound he had created on the statue started healing. And before long, the statue was back to normal, as if it had never gotten injured or had a part of its abdomen blown away. ''So this statue surpasses the strength of normal A ranks and is almost on par with S ranks, has magic and intelligence, and can even heal'' William thought, cursing himself for being born with such a shitty flaw that was trying to kill him every chance it got. ''Fuck me'' (Only if you let me, Wiz said inside his head with zero hesitation. ''What? '' (I said, Let me control your body. I''ll deal with this thing, but beware; it will hurt once you take back control.) Wiz replied. ''Pain again, huh? Is there any other way? '' (Not really. Unless you want to see your allies dying, you sadly don''t have enough mastery over water spirit arts to be able to use a spell destructive enough to kill that monster, and unless you destroy it in one clean hit, it will just keep regenerating.) ''Fine whatever, I''ll trust you. Let''s see what you can do'' (Prepare to be surprised.) Chapter 112: CH-112 Might Of A Duke Ranked Spirit The atmosphere turned colder as the duke-ranked water spirit Wiz finally gained a physical body. The previously blue colour of Williams hair and eyes got slightly more blue as he raised his hand. "(Nine Water Dragon Heads)" William, or rather Wiz in his body, muttered. A massive blue mana circle formed in front of him, and from it emerged nine eastern-style dragons made up of water. These dragons charged at the statue, aiming to devour it. The statue created multiple walls of stone in front of it to defend itself, but the dragons tore through the walls with zero difficulty. And before long, the demonic-looking humanoid statue met the same fate. ~BAMM! ~ ~BAMMM! ~ ~BAMMM!~ The dragons crashed into the statue and passed through it, creating a clean hole through which they went before spinning around and once again coming back for the statue. The statue tried to resist, but it was hopeless. Even with its monstrous stats, ability to use magic, and ability to heal, it was completely devoured and destroyed without being able to resist. The whole room, aside from the small barrier where the cleansers and miners were still trapped, was flooded due to the presence of the sea dragons. Once the statue was destroyed with a wave of her hand, Wiz unsummoned all the water in the room and deactivated her spell. (That should be enough, Wiz said as she returned control to William. In just a few seconds after getting control, Wiz was able to easily anhilate a unique A-rank monster who was almost on par with a S-rank monster. It was truly frightening to see just how strong the upper ranks of the spirit world were. And even more so that William had four of such beings at his disposal with the potential to get even more, it was scary to even imagine how strong William would be in the future once he''s older. But William had no time to think about any of this as the backlash of giving control of his body to someone far above his level finally hit. "Ahhhh!! " he cried out in pain as he fell down on the ground. His hair and eyes were back to black. It seems that even in his agonising state, he remembered to channel mana into his artifact to not revert back to his 10-year-old self. Due to a stop in the supply of mana from William, the strings binding his allies and the barrier dissipated. Both the cleansers and the miners ran towards William to try and help him. "Raya, quick, use your healing skill!!" Max shouted at Raya, who rushed through the crowd, and upon reaching William, she placed her hand on him and used her skill [healing bed of flowers]. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Green, lush grass with flowers grew under William as a revitalising, bright green glow spread through him, healing his internal injuries caused by Wiz''s possession. And before long, the light subsided and Williams injuries healed. ~Pant~ ~Pant~ Raya breathed erratically as she tried to take a rest; sweat had formed on her face as she lay on the ground beside William. The reason why Raya preferred to avoid using her healing skill was due to how mana heavy it was and her not having much mana. Raya only had a D rank in mana, which is why she didn''t like using this skill, but seeing her party member John hurt, she completely forgot about the toll the skill would take on her and used it without hesitation. Thanks to Raya''s effort, William was now healed and able to avoid suffering in pain for another 5¨C10 minutes. ''It doesn''t hurt anymore'' William thought as he got up, shocked by the lack of pain he was expecting to feel. After taking a look around him, he was able to get a rough idea of what happened, so he moved towards the lying Raya, kneeled down, and said. "Thanks a lot for using your skill on me to help alleviate my pain; it means a lot to me," he said, a dazzling smile formed on his lips. "I''ll make sure to repay you for this favour one day." The faces of both Raya and Jasmine glew red in embarrassment seeing his smile and words. It was even worse for Raya, who was in direct sight of William and also extremely close to him. "It''s fine; you don''t need to thank me; you did way more for us." Raya said in a muffled tone with a slight stuttering as she covered her face with her hand, unable to focus properly, seeing William, or rather, as he was right now, John''s handsome face. "John, what the fuck was that?" Max asked, in rage as he shook William. Williams handsome face might be enough to make Raya and Jasmine forget about what happened, but it most certainly wasn''t enough for Max, who almost relived his trauma of letting a friend die to protect him. During his childhood, Max had some pretty bad experiences with his friend dying, and he swore to himself to never let such a thing happen again. And yet, despite this, he almost watched John die just to protect him. Hearing Max''s question brought Jasmine back to her senses and helped her remember what just happened. "I agree with Max; why did you do that?" She asked, her tone containing confusion, as if she had trouble understanding John''s actions. "What do you mean by why? I was just doing my responsibility," William replied, annoyed by why his party was having trouble understanding something so simple. "The moment I became the leader of this party, your guys safety became my responsibility." "And I for once don''t like to run away or half-heartedly fulfil my responsibilities." "And besides, it''s fine; my life wasn''t in any danger at any point throughout the fight. You guys are overreacting." Max, Jasmine, and even Raya were stunned to hear his reply, almost like he was saying the obvious. Eventually, Jasmine asked. Discover tales at m|vl|e|mp|y|r "I thought you died back when you got hit by that attack from the statue, and why did you not let us help you? Aren''t we supposed to be a party?" Jasmine asked, annoyed by John''s complete disregard for the feelings of anyone other than himself. "It''s fine; I''m still alive, and as for why I didn''t let you guys help me?" "You guys are simply too weak to have been anything other than liabilities in that fight" William said coldly, effectively turning the whole mood in the room awkward. Chapter 113: Ch-113 Value Of A Single Life "You guys are simply too weak to have been anything other than liabilities in that fight." The mood became awkward inside the room after Williams comment. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ah, I see," Jasmine said self-deprecatingly. "Yeah, maybe you''re right." Max sighed in defeat as he moved away. [Wow, way to ruin the mood, Zephyr said in Williams mind. ''Shut up'' [Whatever you say, buddy] ''Ugh, you suck. ''I came off a bit too rude there; I should probably apologise.'' William thought as he got up. If possible, he didn''t wish to sour his relationship with his party. While he had originally only made this party for this one mission, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth to part on bad terms with these people. ** ''I''m too weak, huh?'' Jasmine thought ''Yeah, he''s right I''m too weak; I couldn''t even help my party member when he needed me. ''Not only that, I even made the whole situation worse by panicking at the worst possible moment'' While it was true that she originally became an adventurer just for money, that didn''t mean that she didn''t care about anything other than money. Ever since Jasmine was a child, she never had many friends due to the absence of her father and her mother being sick constantly. As the oldest in the family, the responsibility of raising her little brother and buying medicine for her mother fell on her. Ever since she was a child, she had heard the stories about adventurers of the past and how, through many tribulations and multiple life-threatening situations, they forged bonds of friendship that stood tall even against the sands of time. She had also read about how, in many stories after surviving near death, the flower of love blossoms between two people. Jasmine had always dreamed about a future husband who was strong, would help support her family, and would hopefully spoil her with love. But today she just witnessed her first crush almost ''die'' and even got called weak by him. At this point, her hopes of a love story with a prince who would take care of her whole life were ruined before they even began. But on the bright side, she had at least earned enough money for her mother''s treatment. So she was still somewhat content with the results of her first ever A-rank mission. And while she likely won''t ever find another man as handsome or talented as John in the future, she can probably find someone half decent with her charm and talent. "Jasmine, do you have a minute?" William asked as he approached Jasmine, who was standing in a corner with a gloomy look. William felt bad for her; after all, she was probably blaming herself for panicking and breaking the formation during the start of the fight, and Williams later comment about her being too weak probably made her feel worse. Thankfully, William didn''t know that the only reason for Jasmine''s gloomy expression was because she couldn''t marry him or else he would have coughed blood. "Yeah, sure," Jasmine replied. "Are you okay?" William asked, concerned by her gloomy expression. "Yeah, I''m fine," Jasmine replied. "Glad to hear it, and I just wanted to say, Don''t worry about what happened earlier, and I''m sorry for saying something rude; I didn''t mean it," William said. "Ohh," Jasmine exclaimed, shocked by hearing William worry about her and apologise. ''Maybe I do have a chance after all,'' Jasmine thought. "No, it''s fine; don''t worry about it." Jasmine reassured him. "I''m glad there are no hard feelings. William breathed a sigh of relief. William had already reconciled with Max and Raya, and Jasmine was the last one left. William was glad to not be parting ways with his party on bad terms, as they seemed like genuinely good people. ''Now just one last thing'' William thought as he made his way towards the miners. As he made his way, the reactions he got were quite mixed; some were grateful to him for keeping them alive. Others were angry at letting the miner, whose name William learned to be Tony die despite promising to protect them. Keep the adventure going with m|vl-em|p-yr But more than that, there was one man in particular who looked like he was dead despite still being very much alive as he stared at what was still left of Tony''s corpse. William knelt down as he stared the man in the eyes as he asked. "May I ask who Tony was to you?" After a few seconds, the man replied. "Tony was my younger brother." "He had just gotten engaged and was working tirelessly to earn money so he could afford his marriage." "I had promised our parents to take care of him, and I even promised his fianc¨¦ to protect him." "But now how am I supposed to look them in the eyes now?" "It should have been me instead; Tony had so much to live for and so many people that cared for him." "It''s all my fault for being a bad older brother who couldn''t protect his younger brother." Tears were falling down the man''s face as he struggled to speak, the guilt of letting his younger brother threaten to overwhelm and break him. With a single command, William made a glass of ice and put some water in it, created with spirit magic, so it wouldn''t disappear once he stopped supplying mana. The man slightly calmed down after drinking the water William gave him. William''s chest hurt from guilt, and his throat was dry as he was unsure about what to say, but he still didn''t want to run away from his responsibility. "It''s not your fault; I''m sure your parents will be happy at least to see you still alive." "I know it can''t replace what you have lost, but I''ll give you five luminous blue stones. Please use them to give Tony a proper burial and take care of his fiance." William said he felt bad for letting something like this happen in the first place. "You''re right, motherfucker, it''s your fault!! " the man said as he lashed at William, grabbing him by the collar. Jasmine tried to move to stop the man, but with a single hand gesture from William, she was stopped. "Why did you not protect him?" the man asked, anger oozing out of his tone. "Didn''t you promise to protect us?" "You were clearly stronger than that statue, so why did you let my younger brother die?" "And now you think you can get rid of your guilt by showing me fake pity and giving me some money." "But you know what? Go fuck yourself; we don''t need your money. I hope the guilt of your incompetence keeps you up at night." "I hope you fucking die moth-" Before the man could say anything more, he was knocked out by Max with a clean chop to the neck. "Alright, that''s enough." If before William was just feeling bad because his pride got hurt at letting someone under him die when he promised to protect them, now even his heart ached from the overwhelming guilt that threatened to crush him. And this pain would have lasted for much longer if it wasn''t replaced by a sense of dread from the words of another miner. "Why hasn''t the boss drop appeared yet?" "Yeah, and now that you mention it, isn''t the dungeon core supposed to appear once you defeat the boss monster?" As these questions were asked, an ominous, chilly feeling spread through the room. Chapter 114: Ch-114 A Chance To Turn Your Life Around "Lord Lark!!!" A worker rushed into Lark''s private tent while screaming in panic. "How dare you barge into the Lord''s private tent like this?" Lark''s personal butler said as he almost took out his sword to protect his Lord in case the worker had malevolent intentions. "Wait, Alphonse, what''s the matter?" Lark said as he stopped his butler, Alphonse, and addressed the worker, who looked like he had seen a ghost. "Sir, the dungeon colour has changed from blue to purple." Silence followed the workers declaration. After awfully long seconds, Lark finally asked. "What''s the estimated danger rank of the dungeon now?" "S rank," the worker replied. "Oh no," Alphonse said in horror. "S-ranked double dungeon," Lark muttered as his throat went dry thinking about the kind of horror those still inside the dungeon were about to experience. ** A dungeon is formed when a naturally formed dungeon core appears in the environment,and attracts nearby monsters close to it, and once it has gathered enough monsters to fill its capacity, it forms a sub-dimension, trapping all the monsters. This subdimension is what''s popularly known as a dungeon. The monsters inside adapt and evolve based on their environment and abundance of mana over time. And the dungeon creates a suitable boss monster to protect its core. Once this boss is defeated, the dungeon will drop a reward, which is usually a natural treasure, artkfact, skill cube, or some other valuable item, and the dungeon core, which, upon being broken, allows the adventurer who killed the boss monster to escape the dungeon. But what happens when two dungeon cores form in close proximity to each other? Both the dungeon cores form interconnected subdimensions, both of which need to be beaten back to back in order to leave and gain the rewards of the dungeon. Such a dungeon is called a double dungeon, and the monsters inside the double dungeon surpass those found in a regular dungeon. ** ------------------------------------------------------------ [Do You Wish To Turn Your Life Around?] ------------------------------------------------------------ A single system prompt message appeared in front of Sung, the porter who was hired by Lark to accompany the cleaners and the miners to extract beast cores. Sung had awakened 3 years ago and was really excited when he learned of his awakening, but his excitement quickly turned into disappointment after finding out that he only had a Tier I aspect. Sung hated it; his father used to be a really famous SSS adventurer before he died on a mission. According to what his mother had told him, he had Tier IV aspects, aka the peak of natural human potential, and his BF exceeded even 300,000. So how could the son of such a man be born with a tier I aspect and a mere 480 BF. Before his awakening at the age of 14, Sung used to be really popular in school because of the identity of the man whose blood he carried and his family name. Everyone, including Sung himself, expected him to awaken with a Tier IV aspect or a Tier III at worst. But after his awakening, people who used to hang out with him or praise his blood distanced themselves from him. And when he had no one by his side, the people who used to be jealous of him started bullying him. They were too strong, and there were too many of them for little Sung. In the end, the bullying got so intense that he was forced to drop out. Sung''s father was from a very wealthy family that Sung was supposed to inherit due to being only a direct descendant. But using his lack of talent as a basis for his being unfit to lead the family and accusing his mother of adultery for birthing such an untalented child, his uncle kicked him and his mother out of the family. And as if being forced to leave his school, awakening below-average talent, and getting kicked out of his family weren''t enough,. His mother, the only person he still cared about, fell into a coma, requiring constant medications just to stay alive. While he had no basis for this, Sung believed that his uncle somehow played a role in his mother''s condition. As one might expect, Sung hated his family, especially his uncle. If need be, Sung was even willing to sell his soul to the devil just for a chance at revenge. Sadly, not even the devil was interested in below-average talents. While Sung was able to awaken successfully and wasn''t cursed by some evil god or demon, he was cursed with something equally as bad as that. He was cursed with mediocrity, a curse that plagues the majority of the population, forever condemning them to remain content with just living their non-exciting lives before eventually dying, unable to leave their mark on history or be like the idols that they grew up admiring. Sung wanted to train and become strong enough to take revenge, but he knew it was useless with his medicore talent, and his mother also needed constant medication just to stay alive. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And sadly, due to the way the world functioned, a person needed money to afford medications. Money, which Sung obviously didn''t have, so instead he had to work day and night tirelessly switching from one job to another just to barely make enough money to scrape by and keep his mother alive. He had been living this way for the past 3 years, and this time he had accepted the job offer to be a porter despite knowing the risks just because the pay was good. And he was glad he had made this decision, as the man known as Edge Lord had offered to give him one whole luminous blue stone, which was equivalent to 100 gold coins. While this wasn''t enough to completely cure his mother, it was at least enough to supply medications to her for a year or two, which he could use to finally train and hopefully get stronger for his revenge. But even despite the optimism deep inside, Sung knew that it was useless after all. Even when given time to train his medicore talent was still the same and would always hold him back. At most, he''ll accomplish a BF of 3000¨C4000 after 2 years of dedicated training, which most certainly wouldn''t be enough to destroy the behemoth that was his family. And after seeing the strength displayed by the man called Edge Lord, his jealousy only grew as he cursed the world for its unfairness. If only he had even a fraction of the strength or talent possessed by that man, his life would''ve never turned into such a tragedy. But in the end, it was pointless after all. What''s even the point of crying or cursing the world or the gods above? After all, if they cared about him, he would have never gotten into such a situation in the first place. However, out of nowhere, a system prompt appeared in front of him, and while the content looked like a scam that couldn''t be true after all, this was the world system they were talking about. Out of curiosity, he muttered in a low voice. "Yes" ------------------------------------------------------------ [Marvellous choice in that case. Make sure to not chicken out now; after all, this is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.] ------------------------------------------------------------ ~Gulp~ Sung gulped. His throat was dry, and he thought that someone was playing a prank on him or that he was dreaming, but whatever it was, he didn''t want to wake up. But still, scepticism got the best of him as he asked. "How do you plan to help me?" ------------------------------------------------------------ [By getting rid of the root of all your problems, which is by upgrading your aspect rank.] However, let me warn you that it will be painful. So, are you in? Experience more at m_vl-em,pyr ------------------------------------------------------------ Almost without hesitation, Sung answered. "Yes" Chapter 115: Ch-115 Throwing Away Morals For A Life Changing Opportunity "Why hasn''t the dungeon core appeared yet?" a miner asked in confusion. It had now been more than 20 minutes since William had defeated the statue, and yet no dungeon core had appeared, and they were still trapped. The dungeon core is usually supposed to appear almost instantly once the boss is defeated, but due to Williams''s condition after fighting the boss monster as well as the whole drama with Tony''s now-dead brother, they didn''t notice until now. "Maybe the tower is just lagging; let''s just wait for the core to appear," a miner suggested, trying to be optimistic despite their current situation. Sadly, his attempt at optimism was useless, as the people around him were unconvinced. Read the next part on m|vl-e-mpyr "Everyone, look at the throne," a miner said in horror. The massive throne that the statue previously sat on was now nowhere to be seen. In its place was a simple door. The door wasn''t massive or had weird engravings on it like the one that led to the boss room, but just the sight of the door along with the absence of a dungeon core sent chills down the spines of everyone present in the room aside from one person. This was because their worst fears had come true, and the dungeon they had stumbled into was actually a double dungeon. In a double dungeon, the second dungeon is always tougher than the first dungeon, and they had barely just defeated the boss of the first dungeon. So how were they supposed to defeat someone even stronger? "This can''t be," a miner said as he fell on his knees, already having accepted his inevitable death. Seeing him, the already low morale of everyone only got worse as they all felt the jaws of death sneaking in on them. "Everyone stay away from the door; don''t go near it." Williams shouted as he erected a wall of ice, separating the room into two parts. The first part contained all the cleaners and miners, and the other part just contained one single door. ''Fuck, this can''t be'' William thought, still unsure of what to do. His mana still hadn''t recovered, and it would probably take another hour for it to be back to normal. He knew that he had no choice but to somehow clear the double dungeon if he wanted to get out alive, but he also knew that chances were that if he tried to challenge the double dungeon, things wouldn''t end well for him. He didn''t know how or why, but his flaw probably, as usual, played a role in his first ever dungeon turning out to be a double dungeon. The dungeon he was currently in was supposed to have rank A. And in a double dungeon, the second dungeon is always harder than the first one, so at the minimum, the second dungeon was at least S rank. How was he supposed to clear a S-rank dungeon when he had trouble clearing even an A-rank one? Not to mention he even had 10 liabilities he needed to protect, and while his party was decently strong and could probably help him against weaker opponents, against actually strong opponents, he''d be forced to once again solo it. ''It seems that Zephyr was right after all; this flaw will most certainly cause my death sooner than later unless I fix it.'' William sighed as he sat down to wait for his mana to recover. ** ''This is insane. I can''t believe that I will finally be able to turn my life around. ''Not only will I be able to take revenge on my uncle and family, I''ll also be able to potentially heal my mother,'' Sung thought as he stared at the system prompt in front of him. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Are you willing to throw away your morals for this opportunity?] ------------------------------------------------------------ Sung hesitated for a second, as he wasn''t sure what the system prompt meant by this, but he had a feeling that whatever it was, the people around him wouldn''t like it. From what he had seen, the man called Edge Lord looked like a genuinely good guy, and he had talked to a few miners before who also looked to be pretty decent people. Causing something bad to happen to them would probably weigh on his conscience, but definitely not as much if he missed this once-in-a lifetime opportunity. He had seen everything that was happening around him, especially the whole double dungeon thing, and he had a pretty good guess about what he was supposed to do, but he had no clue how he was supposed to do it. So he asked the system. "What am I supposed to do and how?" S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Just run to that door and enter; everything else will happen on its own; all you''ll need to do then is survive the agonising pain you''ll go through for your rebirth.] ------------------------------------------------------------ ''It''s as I expected,'' Sung thought. "But how do I do that?" he asked the system. If he tried to do something funny or enter the door, he''d get killed or restricted almost instantly without being able to do anything. After all, Sung was one of the weakest people present in this dungeon, and even many of the miners were probably stronger than him. ------------------------------------------------------------ [Just Use These] 1. shield of invulnerability x 1 (duration: 1 minute) 2.Curse of Death x 1 (will guarantee an agonising death for the person targeted) [Use the curse on the strongest person in the room and use the shield on yourself; after that, the only thing left to do is run with all your might.] ------------------------------------------------------------ ~Gulp~ Sung gulped as the implications of what he was about to do finally settled in. For his own selfish gain, he was about to kill someone. ''If I do that, how will I be any different from my uncle? '' ''No, it doesn''t matter if it means getting revenge; I''ll gladly become a worse scumbag than even my bastard of an uncle'' With a steeled resolve, Sung pointed his fingers at William, or rather, as he knew him to be Edge Lord. "Activate the curse of death." [Ding] [The chosen target will die agonisingly in a few minutes.] Chapter 116: Ch-116 Involuntarily Progression "Activate the Curse of Death" William fell on his knees as his vision went dark. The effects of his appearance-altering artifact dissipated as his hair changed back to white and his eyes became red. But despite this, no one could tell that he was William Verhein or even that he was a kid. This is because his appearance was completely different from normal; his usually bright and shiny skin was now dull, dry, and pale with wrinkles. His beautiful snow white hair looked dull and plain, almost like that of an old man. "Blarghh!!!" William vomitted on the ground as some nasty black stuff came out of his body. His whole body hurt far too much for him to even form a proper thought. Unable to bear the pain anymore, he fully fell down and screamed. "Ahhh!!!!" (William, what''s happening?) Sera asked in concern. Sadly, William was in no condition to talk. (Zephyr, do you know what''s happening?) Agni asked, still shocked by why his master was suddenly dying out of nowhere. [That bastard, I will kill him] Zephyr said, enraged, as he contemplated descending just to save William and kill the bastard responsible for his current condition. While Zephyr tried to hide it, over time he had come to appreciate Williams company and thought of him as a friend. But sadly, he was in no condition to descend, so in the end, he could do nothing but sit back down in anger and hope for his protege to somehow survive, even if the chances were low. William was currently inflicted with a certain death curse that was nearly incurable. The worst part is that during his life, Zephyr suffered this same curse from the same entity who cursed William. Zephyr only survived it back then through the use of time magic, something that William didn''t have. (William, please don''t die.) Wiz called out in panic as she was awakened from her slumber after body possession due to her master dying. Wiz had already witnessed the death of her previous master and was still traumatised. The only reason she agreed to sign a contract with William was because he was a divine human who was supposed to ascend to godhood and become immortal. So how can he die now without ever even being able to become an adult? Another person who was almost as worried as Wiz were Jasmine and Raya, who rushed to his side. "John, what happened to you?" Jasminee asked, her tone containing fear at the sudden development in her party members conditions. "[Healing Bed of Flowers]" Raya once again used her skills by pushing her body to its limits. Like before, lush green grass appeared under William as a bright green glow spread through his body. However, unlike last time, instead of healing his body like last time, it made his condition worse. Dark black veins spread throughout his body as his skin became so pale that it looked like there was no blood under them, which wouldn''t be that far from the truth in the next moment. ~Splurt!! ~ Blood exploded out of his body, dyeing the whole ground as well as Raya and Jasmine red. At this point, William had already passed out from the pain, unable to bear it anymore. Passing out was potentially the worst thing William could have done in his current situation, as it hastened the spread of his curse throughout the body. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If nothing changed in just a few seconds, William was about to die. Read today on m,v,l,e,mpyr ** While William was going through a kind of pain that can''t even be described in words,. "Motherfucker, I will kill you!! " Max screamed in anger as he took out his hammer and activated his aspect to the maximum while rushing towards Sung to kill him. Sung remained calm as he saw Max rushing towards him, and just when Max was about to kill him, he muttered in a low tone. "Shield of Invulnerabilty" As soon as his words fell, a purple shield appeared in front of Sung, which sent Max flying back when he tried to attack it. ~thum~ Max fell back away from Sung. Completely dropping any attempt at subtlety, Sung turned around and ran towards the door, which held the key to getting him out of his life of mediocrity. "Kill that bastard; don''t let him reach the door," Max shouted in panic, having figured out what Sung was trying to do. Max didn''t know why or how he did it, but he knew for sure that letting Sung open that door would bring an outcome no one in this dungeon aside from Sung himself would like. Hearing his words, the few miners who were awakened used whatever one or two spells they had to attack Sung, who was still running. Fireballs, ice shards, blades of wind, and lances of earth rushed at Sung; sadly, it was all futile as the attacks dissipated after making contact with his overpowered shield. Sung was now in front of the ice wall previously made by William. The wall was starting to dissipate once William stopped supplying mana to it; however, enough of it was still there to stop Sung. Sadly, his shield was simply too overpowered, and the wall broke once he made contact with it, allowing him to just run past without any need to stop. After a few more seconds of sprinting at his top speed, he finally reached the door. For a single moment, Sung hesitated just when he was about to push the door, which led to the double dungeon, and asked himself. ''Is this really worth it? '' However,during this moment, the disgusting smile that his uncle had on his face when he kicked both him and his poor mother out of their household and stole everything from them resurfaced in his mind. He relived the sensation he felt that day as he shouted. "I will kill you, bastard!!! " Causing him to push the door mere moments before his shield ran out. Once the door was opened, the whole A-rank dungeon disappeared as everyone aside from Sung, who was standing near the door, fell into a S-rank dungeon against their will. William had no idea about what was happening around him, as he was already passed out mere moments away from death. That is, until a single voice called out inside his mind, forcefully reawakening his consciousness. ''Do you know what fire is?'' Chapter 117: Ch-117 What Is fire? ''It''s cold,'' William thought as he opened his eyes. He wasn''t sure what was happening. The last thing he remembered was Sung pointing his finger at him and him falling unconscious after experiencing agonising pain. He couldn''t feel the connection to Mana like he usually could. "Wait, my mana!" William exclaimed in panic, thinking he had lost his precious mana again. ''Zephyr,Wiz, Agni, Sera, and Gionne, anyone still here? '' Williams unease only grew upon noticing the absence of the usual presences that were supposed to be inside his head. but this unease was quickly replaced with another thought. ''It''s really cold.'' William wrapped his arms around his body, trying to warm up his body at least a bit. ''Wait, I don''t remember my arms looking like this'' he thought as he stared at his trunk like hairy giant arms. Out of curiosity, he moved towards a nearby body of water. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It wasn''t much, just a small puddle of water that looked dirty and would probably make someone uncomfortable upon consumption, but it was enough for William to see a reflection of himself, and what he saw shocked him. As William looked at himself in the reflection of the water, a middle-aged man with a thick, bushy brown beard stared at him. The man was really tall and muscular and was also dirty and wearing clothes that looked prehistoric. It was a simple yellow cloth made up of animal hide that was wrapped around his groynes. "Who is this guy?" William muttered as he touched his face, trying to feel it, and despite what he wanted, he could tell that it was indeed him. ''Why do I look like this?'' William thought. William''s mind was currently running wild with all kinds of wild possibilities; he even imagined a scenario where he had been commatosed for more than hundred years, like in a certain movie he watched. But he quickly recovered from his shock as he instead took a look around his surroundings. William was in a dark cave, but it wasn''t like the one in the dungeon but just a normal cave. Due to the lack of his mana, William could no longer see in the dark, but despite this, instead of being completely blind like one would expect in darkness,. He could make out his surroundings, almost like his eyes had adapted to the darkness over the years. ''Just what is going on?'' William wondered; he was beyond confused right now. But he put his question in the back of his mind for now as he walked further deep in the cabe. For some reason, he felt that if he walked further inside, his questions would be answered. After a bit of walking, he heard a feminine voice. "Dear, you''re back." The woman spoke in a language that was unknown to William, but despite this, he could somehow understand her. The woman was very pretty, with fair skin and long brown hair. And just like William himself, she wore a yellow cloth made up of animal hide, which covered only her breasts and groins William was beyond embarrassed to see an unknown woman in such revealing clothes, but he didn''t let it show on his face. It didn''t take a genius to get a basic understanding of what was happening. William was currently transmigrated inside the body of a caveman, and the woman was probably supposed to be this body''s wife, judging by her words. "Yeah, I''m back," William replied, his words being automatically translated to the same language as the women. "Did you find anything to eat?" the woman asked excitedly. ''so that''s what this is about,'' William thought. "Sadly, I didn''t find anything." William sighed, remembering how there wasn''t anything edible near him when he regained consciousness. Read new tales at m-vl-em,pyr "Ahh," the woman became sad upon hearing her husband''s answer, but she quickly changed her tone as she said. "Well, I''m glad you''re at least still safe. I was worried about you," she said as she hugged William, expressing her relief at seeing him back alive. ''Well, this is awkward,'' William thought as he awkwardly received the woman''s hug. He felt bad for tricking her, but he didn''t think he could explain to her what was happening even if he wanted, and also blowing his cover when he still wasn''t sure about what was happening would be beyond stupid, so he decided to just play along as he also hugged her back. After a few seconds, the woman finally broke free, as she said. "Come, let''s go inside; the others are waiting." After that, the woman, whose name William still didn''t know, led her inside. The woman didn''t say anything as they walked; she probably found walking in silence, accompanied by her husband, comforting, but for William, it was nothing but awkward. After a while, William and the woman he hypothesised to be the wife of his current body reached an agreement. It was a single circle of clean land protected by mountains on all sides, with the sunlight coming from above serving as light. "Gabura, Miyari, you''re back," said a black-bearded man as he ran towards William and Miyari. The man, just like William and Miyari, wore a yellow cloth made up of animal hide, which covered his groin. ''Now who''s this guy?'' William thought as he stared at the man. William had hoped for this place to only be the home of this body and the woman who was supposed to be his wife. But now that his worst fears had come true, this place was filled with people he had no clue about. Now the only thing he could hope for was that they didn''t think of him as a demon possessing this body due to his odd behavior and tried to kill him. ** AN: Chapter 118: Ch-118 What Is Fire? -2 "What are you zoning out for Gabura?" asked the man as he shook Williams shoulder. "Ah, nothing!" William exclaimed. "So, as I was asking, did you find anything to eat?" the man asked. "Sadly, no." William faked his guilt to try and stop the man from any further questioning. "Ahh, well, it''s fine; we all have bad days." The man just laughed off William''s failure as he patted him on the back, trying to cheer him up. "Thanks," William replied. "Come guys, Gabura and Miyasi are back!!" the man announced. Hearing him, a bunch of men and women came out of their little tents, like houses made up of twigs and leaves. "Welcome back, Gabura and Miyasi." "Welcome back" "Miyasi, come with us; let''s prepare the food while Gabura and the others can go and bathe to clean themselves," suggested an elderly woman. "Sure, grandma." Miyasi heeded the women''s advice as she went away with her and the other women in the village to prepare food. "Well, you heard the elder come, let''s bathe you stink," said the black-bearded man from earlier as he patted William on the back, encouraging him to go clean himself. "Shut it, Baruk; that''s not dirt or sweat; it''s a men''s honour of battle," said a cleanfaced, young-looking man. "Yeah, I don''t think I''m going to take advice on being a man from a beardless baby face like you, Karul." "Even my wife has more hair on her face than you," Barakul mocked Karul. "That says more about your wife than it says about me," Karul retorted. "Hahaha" "Haahaaha" "Karul, man, you''re too funny." Everyone in the area chuckled at Karul''s remark at the expense of Baratul''s wife. Even William let out a small chuckle, finding the whole atmosphere amusing and pleasant despite not knowing the context. Enjoying the atmosphere, William and a few other men made their way towards the bathing area. The whole bathing area was just one big pool. While most people may have found it embarrassing to get naked in front of other men, not William. William was pretty confident in his own body, and his current body wasn''t even his own, so he didn''t care about it. Also, the whole thing was similar to the onsens from an eastern country on Naoya''s home planet. The whole process was supposed to be relaxing for both the mind and body, so William was pretty excited for it. But sadly, his dreams were crushed after discovering the water to be cold instead of hot like it was supposed to be in Onsens. So William was basically naked in cold water with a bunch of old, hairy men. It was similar to Onsens, but just without the good parts. ''This sucks'' S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ** Now refreshed, William and the other men, were clean with their spirits high and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere, made their way towards the main lobby, excited to eat the food they had worked hard for while hunting. "Come, take a seat," said a woman with a baby moustache on her face who William didn''t know the identity of. Until he remembered the conversation between Karul and Baratul from earlier and finally understood what they were talking about earlier. "Hoom!!" William bit his tongue, trying to stop himself from laughing, as he covered his mouth with his hand and his cheeks puffed up. "What''s the matter, Gabura?" the woman asked, confused by his reaction. "Don''t worry about it," William replied, finally managing to get his emotions back in control. "Anyways, go take a seat; food is ready," the woman said. William and the other men took a seat on rocks that were carved to be comfortable to sit on. Find endless stories on m_vl_em_p_yr Before long, a woman appeared holding big leaves similar to banana leaves, which served as plates. The men of the village were excited to see the food they were served. "Nothing beats a good old meal after a hard day of work." "I agree" "Man, this is life." Even the women were happy to see the excitement of the men seeing their cooking. Everyone was excited except for William, who was having a mental breakdown after seeing the raw meat he was served. ''Did they just serve us raw, uncooked food? '' ''Nah, this can''t be; surely there has to be a catch,'' William thought as he saw the other men enjoying the meat as if it were the best food they had ever had the pleasure of tasting. "This is amazing!" Baratul exclaimed as he furiously devoured the meat. Ignoring his common sense, William closed his eye and took a bite of the meat. Almost instantly, as the meat went into his mouth, William barfed. "Blargh" William spat out the meat on the ground, as it turned out there wasn''t a catch or some secret spice that made even uncooked meat edible. The people around him were just crazy and genuinely enjoying uncooked and unseasoned meat. Despite having been through poverty and living in the underworld, even in his past life, William could never consume raw meat. As if the awful taste alone wasn''t enough, all the hygienic problems with consuming something like this would never allow William to eat this kind of food or let anyone else eat it. After all, food was something William deeply respected and understood the value of. William had experienced starvation for days in his past life, and in his opinion, it was the worst kind of pain imaginable. But even despite this, William refused to eat this unseasoned and uncooked meat. "What happened, Gabura?" Baratul asked, seeing his confused friends weird actions. "Yeah, what the fuck? Why did you disrespect food like that?" Karul asked, enraged at seeing Williams disrespectful act. "Why are you guys eating something uncooked like this?" William asked, confused. "What do you mean, we eat this daily, and you used to love meat?" asked Miyasi in confusion. Miyasi had heard all the commotion and came to see what was wrong and was surprised to see her husband acting weirdly. Seeing the confused reaction of everyone around him, it finally clicked for William. ''These people don''t know what fire is'' "Get me some twigs, stones, and dry leaves," William demanded, leaving no room for rebuttal. Chapter 119: Ch-119 What Is Fire? -3 The village people were a bit confused about what he wanted to do, but they still followed his request and got him what he wanted. After getting what he wanted, William arranged the items in a weird formation on the ground as he started spinning a twig on the dry leaves and twigs. The people were confused about what he was trying to do, but they didn''t interrupt and instead just watched in intrigue. And before long, smoke formed around William. ~cough~ ~cough~ A few men and women coughed as they inhaled the smoke and tried to stop William, but they were stopped by the men around them. A bit after the smoke, a very small and fragile fire burned. The fire could be extinguished at any moment due to a lack of fuel to burn and the wind. But William had no intention of letting such a thing happen, as he brought out even more dry leaves and fed them to the fire. And before long, a proper, big fire capable of burning on its own was created. "How?" "This is magic." "Gabura is God himself." "I''m sorry for doubting your divine will, my Lord." It should go without saying, but the villagers were completely enthralled by what he had done and how he had done it. To them, William had created something out of absolutely nothing. If he wanted, William could have explained how he had done it, but this misunderstanding worked out in his favour, so he didn''t bother. After that, William taught the villagers how to create fire and how to cook meat, and the more he talked, the more divine he looked into their ignorant eyes. William wanted to teach them a lot more, but before he could, a villager came running in panic as he shouted. "A saber-tooth tiger is here." As soon as he finished his shout, an orange-furred tiger with long fangs rushed inside and plunged into the villagers who had just entered the settlement. Panic spread among the villagers as they saw the gory and bloody sight. But before they could start to run a voice, the person they had come to put their full faith in stopped them. "No need to run; I''m still here," William announced, catching the attention of the villagers and the tiger. The villagers went behind him, and the tiger rushed towards him to devour him before feasting on all the other men and women. Seeing the tiger rushing towards him, William didn''t panic and instead lit a stick near him on fire using the fire he had created earlier and, with pin-point accuracy, threw the burning stick at the tiger. Once the stick fell on the tiger, it fell back as it rolled in agony, crying and roaring in pain as it burned alive. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And after a few agonising minutes, it was dead. Seeing this, the villagers cemented Garuba as the vessel of God and declared him as the new chief. Exclusive content from m,v lem|p,yr But that wasn''t what William cared about, and instead, in his mind, a single thought surfaced. ''With just fire today, I completely changed the fate of these people, first saving their lives from the tiger and then later from all the diseases they were going to get from eating raw meat.'' For the first time, William realised how influential fire was in the course of human development as he muttered "Fire is development and protection." He didn''t know why he said it, but after saying it, his vision went black, and once it returned, his surroundings had changed. ** ''So cold'' William thought as he looked around. This time, he looked to be inside a little hut. It looked much better than what the village people he taught about fire were living in, but it was still primitive. There was this sort of cold sensation on his body, just like when he woke up in the cave before, except this time the sensation was even stronger. And just like before, he forgot about it almost involuntarily. Instead, he went towards a nearby mirror to take a proper look at his new body. From the mirror, a brown-haired kid with chestnut-coloured eyes stared back at William. The kid was even younger than William himself, looking no older than 8 years old. ''Just what is going on?'' William wondered. He had no clue about what was happening or why. But he did know that the porter probably played a role in it. ''I will kill that bastard,'' William thought as rage filled inside him. William wasn''t able to see everything that had happened, but he did know that the man called Sung had betrayed them and almost killed him. William still wasn''t sure about the status of his mortality. For all he knew, he could be in hell, suffering for all his sins. However, almost instinctively, William lost all of these thoughts as a motherly voice called out to him. "Maran, dear, are you awake?" said a pretty woman as she entered the room. She had brown hair and chestnut-coloured eyes, which were very similar to Williams''s current body, which led him to believe that she was the mother of his body. "Aww, look at my little prince waking up on his own," the woman said as she lifted him off the ground and spun him around. In her eyes, the boy looked like the most precious thing in the world, and she felt pride in having birthed him. Normally, William would feel angry at being treated as a kid by someone he didn''t recognise as his parents. But strangely, he felt happy at being treated like this by the women. ''I love my mother'' What Williams didn''t realise yet was that this wasn''t his own thought but rather the thoughts of his body. The more time William spent inside these scenarios, the more his personality was getting affected, and it was only a matter of time until he lost his sense of self. And once that happened, he was going to die without even knowing how or why. Chapter 120: Ch-120 What Is fire? -4 "Alright, that should be enough for now," said the woman as she finally let her son down. William, or rather the will of the boy to whom his body belonged, pouted, as he said. "No, pick me back up. I want to play with Mother more" Maran said as he raised his hand, asking the women to pick him back up. "No, silly, did you forget you promised to play with your friends today?" the woman asked playfully as she lightly bumped him on the head. "Aww" Maran said, making a cute sound as he lowered his head in disappointment. His sad expression was more than enough to melt the woman''s expression as she gave up and said. "Fine, we''ll play more once you come back, but only after you come back. You shouldn''t keep your friends waiting." "Yay, I love you, mom," Maran shouted as he ran outside, excited to come back and play with his mother again. "My precious son," the woman said as she saw her son run outside excitedly. ** ''What was I doing here again?'' William thought suddenly, he was finally regaining his sense of self, having no memory of his interaction with ''his'' mother just moments earlier. William looked around in confusion, trying to understand what was going on. He seemed to be in a primitive village in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a forest. Slowly, his memories of what was happening started coming back. "I need to get out of this place; my team needs me. I promised to protect them." "They are my responsibility." "And that bastard Sung can''t get away with this." William looked around in panic, but before he could act on any of his thoughts, the will of his body regained control, and he fell to the ground. But in the next moment, he got back up and said,. "Well, that was weird, but anyway, I should go play with my friends." After a bit of running, William, or rather, Maran, finally reached the place he had agreed to meet his friends. "Where are you guys?" Maran asked, confused by not seeing any of his friends. Maran was already 10 minutes late compared to the agreed-upon time, and his friends were pretty punctual, so it was weird for them to not be here yet. Almost as if answering his questions, a ball rushed out of a nearby bush, aimed at Maran. But to the surprise of everyone, even Maran himself, almost instinctively, raised his hand and caught the ball. "Huh?" Maran stared at the ball in his hand in bewilderment, confused by where it came from and even more so by how he had caught it. "I didn''t expect you to actually catch it," said a childish voice as a black-haired kid stepped out of the same bush from where the ball had come from earlier. "Wow, you''re amazing, Maran," said another voice as a chubby kid with a snotty nose stepped out of another bush. "It must just be dumb luck," said a red-haired girl as she stepped out of another bush. "Why are all of you hiding in the bushes?"" Maran asked in confusion, unable to understand the reason behind their actions. "It''s your fault, idiot, for being late," said the red-haired girl as she expressed her annoyance at her friend''s non-punctuality. "I''m sorry, I was busy playing with my mother," Maran said non-apologetically. "Hmm, mother, boy, as usual," said the red-haired girl mocking him. Unfortunately, her remarks had no effect on Maran; if anything, he took pride in his love for his mother. "Forget that; how did you catch the ball?" asked the black-haired boy, still confused by how Maran had caught the ball without even looking at it. "Yeah, that was awesome," said the chubby kid. "I''m not sure; it kind of just happened," Maran replied truthfully. "Like I said, it was dumb luck." The red-haired girl puffed up her chest at being proven right. "Shut up, Margaret; that makes it even more surprising. Maybe Maran has some sort of hidden talent," said the black-haired kid. "I agree with Jang; Maran must secretly be super talented," said the chubby kid. "Thanks, Jang and Chang," Maran said as he smiled upon hearing the praise and looked away shyly. Margaret clenched her fists in annoyance until they were white before she said. "Are you guys done wasting time?" Her comment brought Jang, Chang, and Maran back as they remembered the real reason why they had gathered today in the first place. "You''re right, Margaret, let''s get this done with quickly so I can go back to my mother," Maran said as he urged his friends to stop wasting time. Hearing his words, Margaret, Jang, and Chang had the same thought. ''Such a mama''s boy'' ** "Wow, Maran, I was right; after all, you''re something else today." Jang complimented Maran as he was hit by a ball and eliminated. The kids had been playing a variation of dodge ball for the past hour, and Maran was completely unstoppable. No one was able to hit him, and he easily hit anyone he wanted. Even with all three of the other kids trying to hit him, they were unable to. Join us on m-vl-em,py-r sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was obviously due to the influence of William on his body, but none of the kids knew this, so to them, Maran had just awakened his hidden talent or something. "This sucks; I don''t want to play anymore," Margaret said as she fell on her buttocks. She and all her friends had been trying to eliminate Maran for the past hour, but it was all futile. It was almost like he could read all of their moves and actions before they even made them. "I agree; let''s call it a day for today, and tomorrow let''s play a game Maran isn''t so ''talented'' in," Chang said as he also gave up. "Sure, that works with me," Maran said as he stepped outside the game boundary. He felt bad for killing all the fun for his friends in the game, but then again, who cares? This just means he can go back to play with his mother earlier. ''I can''t wait to go back home,'' Maran thought in excitement as he hastened his pace. ** AN: Chapter 121: Ch-121 What Is Fire? -5 ''I can''t wait to get home and play with my mother'' Maran thought as he made his way back home. Today had been a bit strange for him; he kept randomly blacking out every now and then. Also, for some reason, his reflexes and instincts were extremely sharpened today, and he was really good at dodge ball. He wanted to ask his mother if this was normal or if she had any idea about what was happening. However, just as he was on his way back home, he saw the people in his village running and shouting. "Everyone run" "God, please, I don''t want to die." "Why us?" "Those bastards will pay for this." A bunch of similar shouts and curses could be heard as the village folk ran for their lives. Maran was confused, but he remembered his mother''s teachings as he waved his hand and said. "Hi, where are you guys going?" he asked cluelessly. Seeing him, an uncle stopped and picked the boy up as he started running. Maran felt scared by the actions of the uncle, and all the fear in the atmosphere finally made its way towards him as he felt uneasy and started crying. "Am I getting kidnapped?" he asked. Discover more content on m-vl-em-pyr The uncle carrying him slowed down, bewildered by the confusion, but he still explained what was happening. "The city folk have set fire to our forest, and it''s too big now to be put out." "It''s only a matter of time till the fire makes its way towards the village, which is why we''re prioritising the safety of the villagers." Maran''s face went pale, almost like he had seen a ghost, as he looked around in panic, hoping to find his mother. But alas, it was futile, as she was nowhere to be seen. "Where''s mother?" Maran asked, hoping to be proven wrong. The man carrying him remained silent for a few seconds, as he said. "She already made it out; don''t worry about her." The man was a terrible liar, and his lying skills were so bad that even a child could see through him and tell that he was lying. Without any hesitation, Maran bit the hands of the man. ~Crunch~ "Ahh!!" the man screamed in pain as he accidentally dropped Maran. Normally, Maran would''ve fallen head first, but thanks to Williams''s personality affecting him and his instinct, he was able to land gracefully and start running to the opposite side of everyone else as he made his way towards his mother. The village people were shocked to see the boy running in the direction where the flame was spreading and wanted to stop him. But in the end, their own survival instinct won against their humanity, and they instead kept running. ''Why is this happening to us?'' Maran thought as he ran through the empty streets and passed by empty houses, their residents having already long escaped. And before long, he had reached his destination. His precious, small, but familiar house was now nowhere to be seen, and instead all he found was a small hut on fire. Maran went into a house besides his own that wasn''t on fire and wetted himself, filled some water in a utensil, and picked up a cloth. Completely disregarding all his survival instincts, Maran rushed inside to ''rescue'' his mother. ~cough~ ~cough~ He coughed as he had trouble breathing due to all the smoke attacking his lungs, but he still kept running. Everywhere his eyes could see was on fire. He looked through all the rooms in the house before he made his way towards his own room. ~sizzle~ ~sizzle~ The flames sizzled as they burned a humanoid figure. While the figure no longer bore any resemblance to his mother, Maran knew it was her. After all, who else could it possibly be? "Mom!!!" he shouted as tears flooded his eyes, from both the emotional trauma and the smoke invading his eyes. ~cough~ ~cough~ He coughed from all the smoke, but he didn''t care as he rushed towards his burning mother. ~Splash~ Maran threw the water he had stored in the utensil at the burning figure and used his cloth to dissipate the fire, even if only a little bit. And against all odds, he succeeded in putting out the fire. Sadly, it was useless, as all that was left of his once beautiful mother was a disgusting black, charred corpse that fell to the ground. Silence. Maran didn''t say anything anymore, and neither did he cry anymore. Instead, he turned his face to look at the door, and as expected, it was covered in fire, making it impossible to make it out of here alive. Unlike what one might expect, the boy didn''t cry or curse his faith like most adults. As his reason for living was already gone, why should he still be alive? "I''ll come play with you soon, mom." The boy said as he passed out from the trauma of losing his mother right before the fire could engulf him. And instead of the boy, the one who was engulfed in fire was William Verhein, who had no clue about what was happening. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!" William screamed in agony as he felt himself burning alive. "Ahhhhhh!!!!!" William once again screamed, hoping for someone to help him. ''It hurts so much'' William thought as he hoped for the cold embrace of death to come for him. His skin started melting, and before long, his screams stopped. This wasn''t because he was dead or that it no longer hurt. But rather, his voice box had burned; he was now physically incapable of screaming. By now, an average person would have died, but for some reason, William was still alive, despite his current body being much weaker than the average person. Williams opinion about the worst kind of pain has now changed. He no longer thought that starvation was the worst kind of pain. As someone who had experienced both, he was quite sure that he hated the feeling of being burned alive far more than simple starvation. ''Please, someone kill me,'' he prayed sadly; his prayers fell on deaf ears. He tried to use his precious mana, the energy he was supposed to be the child of. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The power he had so desperately craved in the final years of his past life and the energy that had accompanied him every step of the way in his second life. And yet today, in his time of need, it was nowhere to be found. He called out to Zephyr, Wiz, Sera, Agni, and even Gionne. The beings that had been in his head for the past few years and used to constantly pester him were also nowhere to be seen. He even tried to use the aura, thinking maybe being literally burned alive was enough of a goal for it to respond, but sadly, somehow it wasn''t. He tried to use his aspect thinking since it was linked to his soul; maybe it would work. And just like all the other times, it didn''t work. He was truly on his own in his time of need. All alone to suffer as he burned alive for hours, completely unable to do something or die. The same emotion, which he had come to hate in his past life, had once again found him. He was completely helpless. After this realisation, he continued being burned alive for hours, unsure of when his suffering would end, assuming it would even end. He wanted to scream, but he couldn''t. He wanted to die, but he couldn''t. He wanted to escape this fire, but he couldn''t. He wanted to use mana to put out the fire, but he couldn''t. He wanted to hear the voices he had grown accustomed to over the years, but he couldn''t. He wanted to feel less helpless, but he couldn''t. ''Maybe this is hell, and I''m now suffering for all the sins I have committed over the year''s All the heinous crimes he had done in his past life to gain power, the unborn son of Jason he had killed in the name of revenge. The maids and servants he had killed just by being born in his second life, the village that had been destroyed in the fight between Rex and the Hydra, all the soldiers that had been killed by the dragons and other beasts lured by his flaw, the other tragedies caused by his flaw, and now even the death of Tony. At least in his past life, all his bad deeds were done consciously by him, but in his second life, even his existence was a sin. Wherever he went, tragedy struck, and whenever he tried to do good, things went wrong. While he tried his best to hide it with the persona he put on, in truth, he was hurt as he tried to cope with the sin that was his existence. It was almost like the whole world was against him, which probably wasn''t that far from the truth. He was just a normal person with normal goals, like everyone else. So why must his existence be such a sin? What was the point of being able to use magic if the price for his dream was paid by everyone he cared for and even random people around him? ''Maybe this is where I really belong,'' William thought as he finally accepted the pain as a reminder for what he had done and what more he would do if he continued living. However, after hours of being burned alive as he burned, another thought crept inside his head as he gained another enlightenment about the true nature of fire. ''Fire is death and destruction'' And before he knew it, his vision went dark, and his surroundings changed. Chapter 122: Ch-122 What Is Fire? -6 "Achoo!" William sneezed as snot came out of his nose. ''So cold'' In both of his previous scenarios, his body got progressively colder as time went on, but almost involuntarily, he kept ignoring it. However, not anymore, as it had finally reached a tipping point where the cold was starting to affect him. Going from agonisingly burning alive in the flames of ''hell'' to freezing alive was definitely not an experience William ever thought he''d have. And if he were still conscious, he probably would have joked about his situation as usual. But that was no longer the case; throughout these scenarios, Williams control over his body got reduced, and now he had none. He was merely a spectator who experienced everything that happened to his body without being able to form thoughts or move his body. His individuality was already waning; it was clear that it wouldn''t be possible for him to survive for much longer. ** "Mother, it''s cold" said a boy wearing very thin and dirty brown clothes and a sweater with holes in it. The boy had snot running down his nose as he shivered due to the feeling of cold constantly invading his body. "It''s fine, Nagi; just bear with it for a bit longer, please" said a dirty woman as she painfully smiled to try and make her child feel at ease. The woman used her own clothes to wipe the boy''s nose and wrapped her stall around him to make him feel less cold. "But mom, won''t you be cold if you give your stall to me?" The boy was confused by his mother''s selfless act. "Don''t worry, silly, your mom is immune to the cold" the woman said as she lifted her arms to flex her nonexistent muscles. The woman looked malnourished, with her cheek bones showing and dark circles having formed under her eyes. She was also shivering from the cold, but she made sure to hide it and put up a brave front so that her child wouldn''t be worried. And despite her poor acting skills, due to the boy''s young age and trust in his mother, he believed her and said. "Wow" The woman had a smug expression on her face, seeing her son''s admiration, which made her forget their family''s poor condition, but not for long. "Here, keep your sister warm," said the woman as she handed her daughter to her son, who hugged her tightly to allow some of his body heat to wrap around her. After handing off her daughter, she removed the bag that was on her back and took out some cute dolls that were made by knitting. The woman and her children lived in a city and used to be fairly well off. But after her husband died in a car accident, things started going wrong. Almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. And now, a whole year after his death, they were forced to sell dolls and other nicknacks on the street just to live from day to day. They had lost their house and moved from one spot to another every day. It was December 25th, aka Christmas. It''s a day of joy and celebration as everyone around the world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ by giving gifts to their loved ones, spending time with them, and enjoying delicious food together. And even those who don''t celebrate Christmas usually at least take the day off to rest and spend time with their family. On such a joyous and happy day, Nagi and his family were forced to sell dolls on the streets if they wanted to afford food for the day. Stay tuned with m,v le,mpyr As one would usually expect from Christmas, it was snowing heavily, and the snow had piled up on the streets. While everyone else who was seeing the weather from inside the comforts of their home while drinking hot chocolate might consider the atmosphere festive and that it embodied the ''Christmas spirit''. However,Nagi and his family had no such thought as to them weather was very lethal. Because of their thin clothes with holes in them and spending all day on the streets with nothing to warm up their bodies, the possibility of them just dying from hypothermia was very real. And when your life is on the line, it doesn''t matter how pretty something is; to you, it will just look demonic. After a whole hour of shouting and advertising, an elderly couple finally stopped by Nagi''s mother''s shop. The couple were in a black car and were just going home after buying some cake to eat on Christmas. But on their way back home, the elderly woman''s attention was caught by the dirty-looking woman, who seemed to be selling something on the roadside with her children beside her on the joyous occasion of Christmas. "What are you selling here, dear?" the woman asked in a kind voice as she asked Nagi''s mother, who was excited at finally getting a customer after a whole hour of nothing. "Handmade dolls, ma''am." "Oh my, you''re really talented; they look beautiful," the woman said as she picked up the doll and inspected it. The woman was surprised by how finely detailed and well crafted it was. "You must really like knitting," the woman asked. "Yeah, ever since I was a kid, I really enjoyed knitting and found it relaxing." "But as I grew up, I just didn''t have the time anymore to knit." sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s just too bad that I only started knitting again after everything that happened," she said with a bittersweet expression as she once again relived the trauma of everything that had happened to her. The elderly woman had an understanding expression on her face, knowing that there must have been quite a traumatic chain of events that led the family to their current position. "Dear, how much is a single doll?" she asked. "Around 3.99, ma''am." The elderly woman placed her hand on her chin as she started thinking. Nagi''s mother grew worried, thinking the women wanted to bargain. But to her surprise, she asked. "How many dolls do you have?" "Around 20, ma''am," she answered despite being a bit confused. After hearing her, the elderly woman took out $200 from her purse and handed it to her. "I''m sorry, ma''am, but we don''t have that much change," she tried to explain, a bit confused by the actions of the elderly women. "Oh no, you''re misunderstanding; I want all of your dolls, and you can keep the change; I don''t mind." "You see, I have quite a lot of grandchildren, and I believe your dolls would be the perfect present for them." Nagi''s mother was a bit stunned to hear her until, after a few seconds, she finally processed it. "Thank you so mu-" before she could thank the elderly women for the generosity she passed out. "Mother!!" Nagi rushed over, seeing his mother collapse, fear creeping through his body. Chapter 124: Ch-124 New Bloodline "Do you now understand what fire is?" a voice resounded throughout the seemingly endless black void. Everywhere the eye could see, it was all black, with nothing else in sight. All except for a white-haired boy who stood in the centre. Hearing the voice, William replied. "Yes, I do." "Then tell me your interpretation," the voice asked. Without any hesitation, William replied. "Fire is life." "And why do you think that?" the voice asked. "Because without fire, life is not possible." Silence filled the void after Williams answered, before bright white light filled the whole void. The light was so bright that William almost got blind and was forced to use his hands to cover his eyes. After a few seconds, the sudden brightness finally subsided, and William''s vision returned. Once Williams vision returned, he was beyond bewildered by what he saw. A massive, majestic orange and red bird stood in front of William. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The bird was so massive that it was even bigger than multiple planets put together. Its wings, while not yet fully opened, were big enough to swat away planets with just a single flap. It''s orange and red wings looked like they were made of lava itself. And just with its mere presence, the temperature rapidly rose to the point where William felt like his body was on fire, yet he didn''t dare to complain in the presence of the otherworldly creature that stood in front of him. Space itself warped around the bird just from the heat that it subconsciously released. Even after looking up, William could not see the face of the creature. There was not a single doubt in Williams mind that the creature in front of him was a pheonix. ''But how?'' William thought. In the countless hours that he spent reading in his family library, William had read basically every single book related to the neutral continent and mythical beasts. And in all of them, there was not even a single mention of a creature similar to a pheonix. The only reason William even knew of pheonixes was due to memories of his past life, where the immortal bird of flames was referenced a few times in multiple books. William was confident that he had not left any possible place unsearched, which initially led him to believe that pheonixes didn''t exist in Astressa. And yet, defying all odds, there was one in front of him. In the media from his past life, pheonixes are usually portrayed as being weaker than dragons, and yet, despite everything he had experienced from dragons, he couldn''t even imagine a dragon who was stronger than the bird of fire in front of him. William didn''t even want to consider the possibility of a creature like this trying to kill him the same way dragons were currently doing. If that happened, it would literally take someone like Zephyr to descend just to save him, assuming Zephyr actually cared about him, which William doubted. But despite what he wanted, William couldn''t completely dismiss the possibility of the bird trying to kill him. After all, William was currently living on the assumption that his flaw caused all mythical creatures to want to kill him. Despite acknowledging the futility of his own actions, William tried to sense his mana in case the worst came to the worst. And to his horror, he still couldn''t feel his mana. However, it seems he was not going to die today, as the bird finally spoke after revealing its true form. "Fear not, child; if I wanted to hurt you, I would''ve already done so." William had no choice but to accept the bird''s words, as even he knew this was true, that still didn''t help the chills running down his spine despite the constantly increasing temperature. "And I suppose this form might appear a bit scary for you; give me a second," the pheonix said as it began to shrink. And once it had shrunk enough, it transformed as its claws turned into limbs and it stood on two legs, and before long, the previously planetary-sized pheonix was now an 8''0 inch human. Which, while still massive compared to humans, was no longer as frightening as a creature capable of destroying your entire planet with a single flap of its wings. The pheonix had long, lustrous-like gold hair that reached its back, and it had two eagle-like golden eyes, which made one feel like they were staring at a predator. The pheonix was extremely ripped with muscles, despite not being too bulky. It had orange-like tribal looking pants and a coat made up of feathers on its upper body, which left his 8-pack uncovered. However, the most noteworthy thing about him were the two massive orange and red wings adorning his back. "Greetings, divine human. My name is Fariel, and I belong to a race called the pheonix" Continue exploring on m-vl-em,pyr "You probably haven''t heard of me since I''m the first and last of my kind." ''Ah, so that was why I have never heard or seen any mention of pheonixes in my second life.'' It finally made sense why, despite all his efforts to acquire as much information about his new world as possible, especially about the neutral continent, after Zephyr mentioned him needing to go there, he had never heard or seen any mention of pheonixes. But that just made it more confusing. Just what was this dungeon? Wasn''t it supposed to be a mere A-rank dungeon? In that case, why was a creature capable of casually destroying the planet with a single flap of its wing here? and not to mention, according to what Fariel himself said, the only pheonix in this whole universe. William had many questions, and he was quite sure that there was more to this dungeon than what met the eye. But before anything else, there was one question he desperately needed an answer to. "Just what were all the scenarios I just went through, and what was the purpose of them?" "They are all events that have happened throughout the history of the various planets in this universe, but don''t worry, your involvement did not affect them; the results you saw were the things that had actually happened to these people." "And as for your second question, this was just a test for me to see if you''re worthy of inheriting my legacy," Fariel explained. "So did I pass?" William asked. "Yes, you did," Fariel replied. Chapter 125: CH-125 New Bloodline -2 ''So everything I had experienced was real'' William had already considered this possibility, as everything he experienced just felt far too real to be fake. But he just needed this confirmation, and now, after getting it, he felt happy for Gabura, who probably lived like a king in his village after discovering fire; sad for Maran and his mother, who died tragically after burning alive; and relief for Ella and her family, who were able to find their place in the world and hopefully managed to live a good life after everything they had gone through. All of these people whose lives William had peeked into were probably already dead or were on some other planet, which ensured that William would never meet them. And despite this, he felt grateful, as he had been able to understand himself better thanks to them. If not for them, William probably never would have realised that deep inside he hated himself for all the bad things he had done or that were caused by his existence. While it was a bittersweet realisation, it at least helped him understand himself a bit better. However, the more important thing was that he had somehow gained a bloodline, and that too of the only pheonix in the universe, according to Fariel. This whole ordeal, despite all the mental trauma he had suffered, was definitely more than worth it. Bloodline abilities are left behind by extremely powerful mortals for their descendants. A good example of this kind of bloodline ability would be Zephyr and the Royal Family, who, thanks to carrying Zephyr''s blood, all had a very high affinity for mana, though not as high as William or Zephyr and, surprisingly, even less than Clara. Speaking of whom, William was still surprised that she had such a high affinity. But he was getting sidetracked; another way of getting a bloodline was by catching the interest of a really powerful and deceased mythical beast. Explore the story on m-vl-em,py-r This was what was happening to William here, and this probably meant that Fariel was already dead. But this raised another question. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Aren''t pheonixes supposed to be immortal?" "You know about us?" Fariel exclaimed. ''Ah sh*t, I messed up,'' William thought. But thankfully, it seems Fariel wasn''t interested in pursuing this topic and just chose to answer William. "But to answer your question, yes, we are. I just got tired of living and decided to kill myself." "But since I''m the only pheonix in this universe, I felt it would be a shame if I didn''t pass on our glorious legacy and bloodline to at least someone before I die." "And I just decided to choose whoever was the first one to enter this dungeon, but to my surprise, against all odds, a divine human decided to show up, so I just gave it to you instead." "I remember meeting the golden-haired boy 6,000 years ago; he was ¡ê+@9_+@09";037! 0@;_001" In the middle of saying something, Fariel''s words became incomprehensible to William, and he fell down while tightly clutching his chest. William rushed over to try and help him, but was stopped by a single hand gesture. After a few seconds, Fariel finally stood up and said,. "Fuck this universe." A statement that William could not agree more with. In almost every step of his life, the universe has always found a way to screw him over. It was almost like it was conscious and just hated his existence. But surely that can''t be true, right? While William was quite curious about what Fariel wanted to say about the person who he assumed to be Zephyr, he didn''t pester him after seeing what just happened when he tried to talk. William had already learned about the forbidden knowledge of the universe that mortals weren''t supposed to learn, and while he had the potential to become a god in the future, he by no means was one now, so he decided to reel back his curiosity. And as for the comment about Fariel killing himself, William could honestly kind of relate. As someone who had killed himself in his first life and almost considered killing himself in his second life, William knew how shitty life can be. William was already suicidal after just barely 40 years of life; he didn''t even want to imagine the kinds of horrors Fariel must have seen and experienced in the more than 6,000 years of life he claimed to have lived for. Also, William wasn''t really a therapist and already had enough trauma of his own, to the point where he didn''t want someone else to also dump trauma on him. Which is why he didn''t ask just what made Fariel end his immortal life. However, while he wasn''t curious about that, there was actually something that really bewildered him, so he decided to just ask it now while he still had the chance. "Just what is this dungeon, and why are you trapped in it?" William asked. "I''m afraid that''s another thing classified as forbidden knowledge, and unlike the last time where I merely had a heartache for trying to say it, both of us will die if I try to answer this question." "I see," William replied, a bit disappointed despite having already expected something like this. It was quite obvious that there was something really malignant going on in the shadows and with the history of this dungeon. But it being classified as forbidden knowledge just confirmed Williams doubt about the involvement of a god in this whole thing. Now the question just remained about who it was. But sadly, it seems William won''t ever be able to learn the answer to this, as by the time he''s strong enough to learn forbidden knowledge, Fariel, presumably the only one who can answer his question, will have long departed this world. "Don''t look so sad. I had a feeling you''d be curious about this, so I recorded the answer in my bloodline. It will be unlocked after you unlock 100% of my bloodline. Just make sure you''re strong enough to learn forbidden knowledge at that point, unless you have a death wish like me." William breathed a sigh of relief at this and slightly chuckled at the playful jab that Fariel made about his own suicidal tendencies. But it seems that in the midst of the enlightenment about fire, a new understanding of self, meeting a creature bigger than the planet, a new bloodline, and potential malefic divine schemes, he had forgotten about the question that was the most important for the current him. "What happened to my body?" Chapter 126: Ch-126 New Bloodline-3 "What happened to my body?" William asked with worry oozing out of his voice. "You were cursed to death by a evil god," Fariel replied calmly. Williams face went pale as he finally understood what had happened to him and the implications of it. "So am I dead?" he asked. "Of course not; we wouldn''t be having this conversation if you had died." "Just a few seconds before you died, I teleported you to a bath made of my blood, which ended up saving your life," Fariel replied. "Also, that bath probably increased your stats quite a bit as my essence was absorbed by you." But William didn''t care about his stats increasing now, as instead his focus was on another thing. ''So I almost died again,'' William shivered as he once again realised just how meaningless all his current strength was against the true powerhouses of this world, and even more so compared to those who existed out of it. If not for Fariel''s timely intervention, he would have died without even knowing how or why he died. But despite this, William still had a question that he couldn''t quite understand. "But why would a god try to kill me?" As far as he could remember, William had no memory of ever doing something that would offend a god. So just why was he cursed? Was his flaw even attracting gods to kill him now? William''s head ran wild as he tried to find a reason behind his almost untimely death. Thankfully, before long, Fariel finally opened his mouth and said,. "You were a threat to him." "I was a threat to God." William exclaimed. "Of course not, but you were a threat to his new vessel." "That God has chosen a vessel and is trying to change his aspect rank to divine using the lives of all of you in this dungeon." Discover worlds on m-v le-mpyr "And once he does that, he will forcefully take over the boy''s body and descend into the mortal world." "And since you were the strongest person present, he used his authority to kill you," Fariel explained in a solemn voice, hoping for William to understand the gravity of the situation. William went silent as everything finally clicked for him. He felt his blood boil as he remembered the scene where Sung pointed at him and cursed him. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''I will kill him'' William vowed to make sure to make Sung suffer even worse than what he had gone through. But this rage was quickly replaced by worry for his party and the miners who were still out there with the potential vessel of an evil god. "How much time has passed outside since you teleported me inside the pool of your blood?" he asked. William had spent hours inside the scenarios where he learned about fire; if time flowed the same way, chances were it was already too late, but he desperately hoped to be proven wrong. Thankfully, Fariel didn''t disappoint. "A bit less than 2 hours have passed since you guys entered the second part of this double dungeon," Fariel replied. William breathed a sigh of relief, realising it wasn''t too late yet, but still he didn''t want to try his God''s awful luck. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Fariel, but as you might have guessed, I don''t have the time to stay here and talk. Let me go outside and stop the descent of that bastard," William said. Since the evil God had already tried to kill him and probably already hated him, there was no need to treat him with respect. "Very well, I understand." "But make sure to not let your emotions control you." "Also, your mana is still destabilised due to the aftereffects of the curse, and you won''t be able to use it to its full potential. The same is true for your spirit energy, and it will probably take a few days till you can use your full strength." "So instead of that, just use your bloodline powers." William was a bit worried about hearing that thinking he''d be weakened. But there was nothing he could do about it except hope that all the effort he went through to gain his new bloodline was worth it. "Good bye, Fariel, and thanks for the bloodline. I''ll make good use of it." William truly felt honoured to have had the pleasure to meet the first and last Phoenix in the universe and even gain his bloodline, and there were a lot of questions he had for him, but now wasn''t the time his party and the people he promised to protect were in danger, and it was his responsibility to save them. "Do whatever you want; I don''t care." Fariel faked indifference at William''s gratitude, and with a flick of his finger, William was returned to the real world. Leaving Fariel all alone in the black void. ** "How scary!" Fariel muttered as he stood alone in the void. Fariel had used his eyes to peek into William''s soul and had seen his essence, and what he saw confused him. William''s existence was a contradiction; while he belonged in this universe, he also didn''t. While the universe hated his existence and tried to kill him, mana, the building block of the universe, loved and cherished him. This was probably the only reason why he had managed to survive for this long. While he was fated to be an evil destroyer, he did his best to be kind. In his evil, there was kindness, and in his kindness, there was evil. It just didn''t make sense to Fariel how a single existence could be so full of contradictions. Even Fariel, with all of his thousands of years of experience, just couldn''t comprehend him. With his special eyes, Fariel could see things that others couldn''t see, and one of the things he saw was the branch of time. Which allowed him to see the future of someone, and yet despite this, when he used it on William, it didn''t work. He couldn''t see his future. William''s soul, like everyone else in the world, had a special colour. His soul was crimson red, and due to the divinity gained from his divine aspect, the radiance of his soul was blinding. And despite this, perfectly hidden inside this bright radiance was such a deep darkness that it threatened to even consume Fariel. The darkness was even scarier than the God who had trapped him in this godforsaken dungeon. Even Zephyr, whom Fariel had met 6,000 years ago, paled in comparison to William in terms of pure potential. Fariel was truly curious about what kind of future awaited William and if he would be able to change his fate. Sadly, it seems his curiosity would never be satisfied as he was already dead, and as if to hammer this fact into his soul, it started to dissipate. Over his extremely long life, Fariel had a lot of regrets that still continued to haunt him, and they all led to him killing himself, a decision he still didn''t regret. In his final moments, Fariel only had two thoughts: the first was a wish for the downfall of the god who trapped him in this dungeon for so many years, and the second was for the inheritor of his legacy, William, to succeed in changing his fate. And after a few minutes, the black void became empty forever as Fariel, the first and last phoenix of this universe, left the mortal world. Chapter 127: Ch-127 Newfound Power "So red'' this was William''s first thought after regaining consciousness. He was currently sinking in the pool of Fariel''s blood. And despite this, he wasn''t having any trouble breathing normally. William may have had trouble wrapping his head around this before, but after everything that had happened today, he couldn''t be bothered, so he just swam out. ~splash~ Once William came out, he was greeted by a lonely dungeon floor with nothing on it. Except for the massive pool of blood that he had just swam out of. ''Why does my body feel different?'' After coming out, the first thing he discovered was the weird feeling his body gave off. Strangely enough, it felt different than usual, so he moved towards the pool of blood to see his own reflection, and it shocked him. His snow white hair had grown longer around shoulder length. His face looked much sharper and smarter than before, and due to him being naked for some reason, William could see his muscles. Which, while present before, due to his young age weren''t that devoleped. However, that was no longer the case, as his muscles looked devoleped now and his height had grown by quite a few inches. But the most surprising thing was his abs, which were a proper 6-pack now. And after observing his body more closely, even his excalibur seemed to have grown longer. (You have potential, kid.) Wiz whistled inside his mind. (Wiz have some shame.) Agni commented on Wiz''s indecent behaviour towards a minor, especially that too her own host. The relationship between a spirit and a mortal is supposed to be a sacred bond, which Wiz was sullying. (Boo, no fun.) Wiz retorted. William felt violated by being stared at and talked about like this, so he quickly used his dark slime to cover him in a plain white shirt and baggy brown pants. Now feeling a bit more covered. "I guess you guys finally came back now that I''m no longer burning," William joked. But to his surprise, the spirits seemed confused by his remark, so they asked in unison. (What do you mean we were always here?) William was a bit taken back by this, but he realised that they must be clueless about him getting a new bloodline and everything he just went through. "Don''t worry, I''ll explain everything later once we''re out of here." William tried to feel his mana and use spirit energy through his spirits, and like Fariel said, it felt unnatural and weaker than usual. "I guess I''ll need to rely on my bloodline abilities, like Fariel said." (You got a bloodline!!???) All four spirits exclaimed in unison. "Yeah, I''ll tell you the details later," William replied. William wanted to immediately rush to aid his comrades and stop Sung, but before that, he needed to understand everything he had , so he muttered "Status Screen" ----------------------------------------------------------- Name:William Verhein Find hidden gems at m-vl-em-pyr Age:10 Race:Human Bloodline:Ancestral Pheonix (10%) Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:9710-->18300 Strength:1810-->3900 Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Agility:2000-->3400 Endurance:1500-->>3800 Vitality:1900-->4200 Intelligence:2500-->3000 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D+ -->C+ Aura:F Charm:B- -->B Luck:F- Resistance:E+ -->D Chaos Energy-E- Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Child Of Mana], [Loved By Spirits], [Mana Circuits], [Master Of Mana], [Magic Amplification], [Mana Sense], [Master Of Elements], [Martial Genius], [One With Shadows], [Danger Sense], [Pain Resistance], [Poison Resistance], [Genius Of Aura] [Active Skills]: [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Shadow Step], [Stealth], [Strings of Mana], [Elemental Strings], [Heavy Hit], [Bloodline Ascension] [Chaos Energy]:- Authority:Sin of Pride Chaost skills: [Suggestive Voice], [Chains of Sins] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) and Swordmanship (Expert-), Spirit Water Arts (Intermediate+), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low+) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of the Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of the Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of the Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of the Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ (Holy shit William just how did you get so strong out of nowhere?) The spirits exclaimed. Even William was shocked seeing his new stats, his BF had practically doubled. ''This is amazing'' William still couldn''t believe his eyes. It seems bathing in the blood of the only ever Phoenix as well as getting the bloodline of the same Phoenix was far more potent than he gave it credit for. But moving away from his variable stats even his invariable stats had changed quite a bit. First was his charm which had gone up by one minor rank which made sense considering all the changes in his appearance. Second was his resistance which had gone up by 2 minor subranks which in William''s mind he was robbed after everything he had gone through it should have gone higher. But alas nothing he could do about it. However, William''s feeling of being robbed was quickly replaced by excitement as he looked at his mana which had gone up by one whole major rank. Meaning he had surpassed even his previous amount of mana. Speaking of which William was still clueless about why his mana dropped randomly a few days ago. ''Oh well it doesn''t matter'' With that clueless thought William tried to sense for the additional cores Inside his body and just as expected he now had 20 more cores though all of them weren''t that refined but moving away from that he had gained [Bloodline Ascension] meaning he now had 3 ascension skills. Many people would literally sacrifice their unborn children just for single ascension skill and yet William had 3 of such overpowered skills before even properly maturing. Life truly was unfair, but the universe was fair and if it gave something it also took something but he was getting distracted the next thing he needed to check was his bloodline abilities so he muttered. "Bloodline Abilities" _________________________________________ Current Bloodline Owner :William Verhein Original Bloodline Owner: Fariel Bloodline Name:Ancestral Pheonix Bloodline Rank: Divine Bloodline Integration: 10% Bloodline Abilities:- [Eyes Of The Pheonix]- Allows the user to see things which others can''t see. [Blue Flame]- Flames which are much stronger than normal flames and can burn creatures without a physical body. [Green Flames]- Allows the user to heal others or himself. [Regeneration Of A Pheonix]- Grants the user the regeneration of a Pheonix as long as they have enough mana. [Wings Of A Pheonix]- Nearly Indestructible wings of a Pheonix. [Authority Of Mana]- Drastically increases users authority over mana. [Master Of Flames]-Makes user immune to fire and gives him mastery of fire Additional Note:Previous abilities will increase as user increases bloodline integration and new abilities will be unlocked. _________________________________________ Seeing all the abilities he had gained William was bursting with excitement but he knew now wasn''t the time, his allies needed him and Sung needed to die. With these two thoughts in mind he muttered. "[Bloodline Ascension]" Chapter 128: Ch-128 A Desperate Situation 20 minutes before the awakening of William. "What just happened?" Max asked, still shaken by everything they had just gone through. Everything was going smoothly before, but then they encountered a boss who was way above the A rank level, like it was supposed to be, and basically at S rank. After encountering it, Max basically thought his life had been forfeited, but he didn''t want to go down with a fight. Discover more on m|vl|e|mp|y|r However, just when he was about to die, John appeared out of nowhere and killed the S-rank dungeon boss on his own. It was really shocking how John was basically holding back, even when facing one of the strongest humans alive. Max hadn''t known John for a long time, but he was a very social person and easily made friends. Max was almost worried, thinking he was about to see another friend of his die, and that too while saving him. But surprisingly, John managed to win even without his help. However, while he was glad that he didn''t die, nor did he see his friend die, that still didn''t help the feeling of uselessness that he was feeling. Before this mission, Max thought he was doing pretty well, but it was only after experiencing the dangers involved in his career as an adventurer. Ever since he was a child, Max has always dreamed about becoming an adventurer. His older brother was one before he went missing, but despite knowing all the risks and dangers involved, Max still wanted to give the job a shot. And if possible, maybe even try to find his brother. And after adventuring for months at this point, Max could say with certainty that this was the profession for him. He really enjoyed meeting all the new people his job allowed him to meet, and he even liked the thrill. With each mission, he could feel himself growing stronger. But it was only now that he realised his growth still wasn''t enough, and he planned to devote himself to training after this mission before he took another mission. However, before that, he wanted to treat his party to a fancy meal and thank John for saving his life, and if possible, he wanted to extend the duration of their party and keep taking missions together. Out of all the people he had worked with in the past, he had the best chemistry with the cleansers, and they all complimented each other. But more than that everyone in his new party seemed to be genuinely nice people who Max wanted to get closer to. Sadly, it seems life had other plans for them, and their first ever dungeon turned out to be a S-rank double dungeon. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even with the overpowered Edge Lord by their side, the chances of them clearing such a dungeon were close to zero. And as if that alone wasn''t bad enough, they were even betrayed by their porter, Sung, who somehow managed to take out John and prematurely started the second part of the dungeon when all of them still hadn''t fully recovered. Speaking of which, Max had very little hope for actually surviving their current predicament and getting out alive. Without Edge Lord, the responsibility of protecting everyone naturally fell on his shoulders, as he was the original leader of the party. Unlike Edge Lord, Max didn''t have overpowered magic or unnatural combat sense and experience for his age. But what he did have were his unwavering spirit and leadership qualities. However, Max was mainly focused on getting out alive while minimising the casualties. That didn''t mean he had forgotten about John or Sung. Max planned to be actively looking for John as he cleared the dungeon. Afrer all, he couldn''t just abandon the man who saved his life and also someone he considered a friend. And as for Sung, every time Max thought about him, he was filled with rage, but he was still doing a pretty good job of containing himself and instead focusing on what was really important right now. However, that didn''t mean that, if given the chance, he wouldn''t crush the skull of that bastard. ''Ok, this should be enough for now,'' Max thought as he finally stood up. For the past few minutes, cleansers and the few miners were using their breathing techniques to recover as much mana as they could before they started exploring the second part of this dungeon. ** The atmosphere was gloomy and eerily silent in the room where the cleansers and miners had fallen. Being forced to challenge a S-rank double dungeon without their leader and the strongest member by their side was no different from a death sentence. Most of them had originally thought that they were extremely lucky after they discovered this dungeon, which was a ''goldmine'' of luminous blue stones. With just one of these stones capable of completely turning their lives around,. Almost all the miners wanted to retire from their current shitty life of constantly risking their lives and entering the death traps that were dungeons just to have a roof over their heads and food on their plates. However, now these were the same people who were cursing their luck for having ever entered this death trap of a dungeon. All the riches and gems were useless to them if they never made it out alive, and by the look of things they were all going to, he was buried alive in this dungeon, just like their leader. Due to the constant feeling of dread in the air and uncertainty about their own fate, one of the miners finally broke down as he fell to the ground and cried. "I don''t want to die; please someone save me," he cried. "This is all that black-haired kid''s fault; he promised to protect us, and yet he let Tony die." "And then he went ahead and died himself, leaving all of us to follow him to his grave." "I have a daughter waiting for me at home that I need to look after" "God of Mana, please save us. My family has been praying to you religiously for generations. Please save your devotee in his time of need." Jasmine was disgusted to see a grown man like him breaking down and wanted to beat him up for saying John was dead when he obviously wasn''t. Jasmine didn''t know why, but she just knew that he was still alive; he had to be alive. However, before she could reach the man breaking down on the floor, he was already knocked out, with Max standing behind him. "Everyone stay silent and follow my lead. I won''t be making any promises like John did, as I''m not as strong as him, but I will give you my reassurance to do everything in my power to get us out of here safe and sound." His tone was cold and authoritarian, completely contrasting with his previous warm and easy-to-approach personality. However, his authoritarian voice was what everyone needed in this situation, as morale finally increased with the people once again willing to follow a leader to get them out of the hellhole life had thrown their way. Chapter 129: CH-129 A Desperate Situation-2 As the cleansers and miners made their way through the dungeon, they followed a pretty standard formation. With Max in the front, accompanied by two awakened miners, all the non-awakened miners in the centre were accompanied by Raya, who used her ability to see in the dark to let Max in the front know of all upcoming threats before they reached the squad. Raya was accompanied by another awakened miner, and the backside of the formation was entrusted to Jasmine along with two other miners. After the death of Tony, only nine miners out of the original 10 are still alive, and five of these miners were awakened. All these miners were very weak and couldn''t even really do any damage to A-rank monsters, let alone the S-rank monsters they were supposed to face in this dungeon. But the absence of John had left too big of a void in the formation, and they needed all the help they could get. The whole squad had been exploring now for a whole hour, and despite this, they had only encountered 3 A-rank monsters with not even a single S-rank monster in sight. . These A-rank monsters were giant, 7-foot-long red wolves with extremely sharp claws, fangs, and the ability to spew fire. Find exclusive content at m|v-l-NovelFire Which made them a really big hassle to deal with on the small dungeon floors. But despite this, with the help of teamwork and perfect coordination, the cleansers were able to kill these beasts against all odds, and surprisingly, they hadn''t even suffered any casualties. But despite the good news, almost everyone felt chills run down their spines at the familiar feeling of deja vu. After all, it was just like in the first part of this dungeon, where it was mostly empty, and this resulted in the boss monster being stronger than intended. They were already dreading just facing a S-rank monster; how could they be expected to fight something even stronger? It was far too absurd for the sick joke that was being played on them. Max almost wanted to laugh, but he had to remain strong as an unshakable wall of trust and protection for his people. After all, that was his responsibility as the leader. After another 30 minutes of exploring the almost abandoned dungeon, they had reached right outside the boss room. They had searched every nook and cranny, and despite this, there was nothing in the whole dungeon aside from the three A-rank beasts they had encountered near the start. There was no other monster, which, while normally was something to celebrate, no one could make the same mistake after going through the first half of this dungeon and almost dying. At this point, almost everyone was sure that whatever was lying inside the boss room was stronger and more dangerous than the average S-rank monster. And as if this already wasn''t bad enough, they hadn''t even seen any trace of John or where he was. As Max stood in front of the boss room, he gulped as the possibility of an inevitable death settled inside his mind. "Status Screen," he muttered, to see how much he had grown. ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:Max Welk Age:23 Race:Human Aspect:Weight Manipulation (Tier III) 4th Ascension Battle Force: 9066 [Variable Stats] Strength:3230 Agility: 980 Endurance:1500 Vitality:1156 Intelligence:1200 [Invariable Stats] Charm- D Mana- E+ Luck-B+ Resistance- B Skills: [Passive Skills]: [Tough Skin], [Passive Regeneration], [Charisma], [Power of Will] sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Active Skills]: [Enhance Mental Prowess], [Rock Lance], [Iron Fist], [Sand Clone] Element Affinities:- [Basic Elements] Earth(49%) Fire (12%) [Deviant Elements] Sand (69%) ------------------------------------------------------------ "I have grown quite a bit," Max thought as he looked at his status screen. With his current stats paired with his skills, he could take on multiple A-rank monsters, but even then he knew that there wasn''t much he could do against a S-rank monster, let alone a S-rank boss monster. And if that was the case for him, the same would probably be true for everyone else. Meaning entering the boss room was nothing short of suicide, and as their leader, he would be leading his men to their suicide. And despite this, he had no intentions of backing down. After all, if he backed down. Now he''d let Sung succeed in whatever he wanted to do. While he wasn''t sure what it was, he knew he couldn''t let him accomplish it. And even if they choose not to enter the boss room, they will die of starvation as they are already running out of food. So instead of dying such a pathetic death, it was better for them to make one last proud attempt at trying to win their freedom. "My men, come now. There''s just one more obstacle remaining between us and freedom, and once we conquer it, we will win back our freedom," he shouted. And thanks to his [charisma] skill, his words worked like magic, and before long they stood face to face with the monstrosity standing between them and freedom. ** AN:- Brand new character art of Rex, Myra, Wiz, Agni, Sera, and Gionne is now out on WN. Please go check it out and vote. Also, brand new cover; do let me know what you think about it. Btw, I''m curious about what you guys think of Volume 2 so far. I''ve been really enjoying writing it, and I hope you guys have also enjoyed reading it. Also, I know some of you guys don''t like non-MC pov chapters, but please bear with it for one or two more chapters, and then we''ll be back to William pov. And before I forget, thanks a lot for all the support so far. I hope I can keep entertaining you guys in the future too. Chapter 130: CH-130 Sacrifical Ritual ~Rawwrrr!!!!~ A deafening roar was heard as Max and his party entered the boss''s room. A fearsome giant black-furred hound with three heads glared at the adventurers who had entered his lair and dare disturb his master. Each head of Kerberus was wearing a black dog collar around their necks, with chains coming out of them that reached the ground. Behind the kerberus was a ritual circle drawn out of dry red blood, and on top of this circle was a simple altar made of bones. Lying atop this alter was a unconscious Sung with a sword piercing his heart. Behind the alter, thousands of monster corpses could be seen with their blood flowing towards the altar where Sung was lying. A purple barrier was erected in front of the altar, separating the boss room into two parts. The first part contains Sung lying on an altar along with a thousand monster corpses, and the second part featured Kerberus along with Max and his squad. Everyone who saw the scene had an ominous feeling overwhelming their senses, almost like they had seen something they weren''t supposed to. Which wasn''t that far from the truth, as in a few minutes, an evil god was going to descend into the room they were currently occupying. But of course no one in the party knew this, as they had one massive problem in front of them that needed to be dealt with first. ''So this is where Sung was and why there were so little monsters in the dungeon,'' Max thought. Max could tell that some sort of weird ritual was ongoing in this room and that it probably wasn''t for a good cause. But he couldn''t be bothered to concern himself about that yet, as he first needed to deal with the kerberus in front of them. The miners stepped back as they felt the gaze of the fearsome three-headed hound, eager to devour them. "We can''t face that thing," one of the miners said. "Yeah, we''re going to die if we try to fight," another miner agreed. The morale was once again going down as a few of the miners planned to attempt and run away. But before they could do that, both Max and Jasmine rushed at the beast they were supposed to defeat without any signal from each other. Max had his hammer in hand, and Jasmine had her katana now increased in size as she attempted to slice the hound in half. Seeing this, the kerberus used the chains around its neck and launched them at the incoming adventurers. Both Jasmine and Max clashed with the chain, holding it in place for a few seconds before jumping back once they started getting overpowered. Using the opening they created, an arrow made up of wind charged at the hound, who was unable to notice it in time due to having its attention on Max and Jasmine. ~Whistle~ The arrow managed to make contact with the left eye on the right head of the beast, managing to destroy it in the process. ~growl~ The beast growled in pain at losing an eye, but it didn''t seem like its opponents cared about that as a lance of rock and slash of wind charged at it, not giving it even a moment to rest. Seeing the attack, the two other heads of the kerberus spewed flame from their mouths, which consumed the two other weaker attacks and continued to fly towards the miners and the girl responsible for damaging one of its eyes. But before it could burn them alive, three thick and sturdy walls of stone appeared between the attack and the humans. ~Bamm~ The first wall crumbled easily, unable to stop the attack. ~Bamm~ After a bit more effort, the second wall was also destroyed. The flame was already weakened by now, but it still rushed towards the third wall. ~Bamm~ After a lot more effort, the third wall was also destroyed, but it had achieved its purpose as the flame also dissipated. Not wanting to give the boss any moment to rest, Myra enlarged her left hand and formed a fist as she attempted to punch the beast. But before she could do that, black chains emerged from the ground, catching Jasmine off guard as they trapped her left hand. And almost instantly, the previously black chains grew orange as their temperature increased and burned Jasmine''s left hand. "Ahhhh!" Jasmine screamed in agony at having her left hand burned, but the beast didn''t let go of her hand and instead pulled the chains towards itself so that it could devour Jasmine. But just when Jasmine was a few kilometres away from the kerberus, Max appeared and crashed his hammer onto the chain holding Jasmine, utilising his aspect to its fullest, and managed to free her right before she could be eaten alive. After freeing her, he used his maximum speed to rush towards Jasmine and grab her before rushing towards their allies and managing to once again make distance between them and the beast. "Oww, it hurts," Jasmine cried out in pain as her entire left arm was burned alive, making her unable to use it for the rest of the fight and also making her get hindered by it due to the constant burning feeling. "Be more careful," Max suggested as he handed her a mid-grade healing potion. After consuming it, her hand appeared to be a bit more normal but still too burned to let her use it anytime soon. But it at least stopped the constant feeling of agony and worked as a temporary fix. It seems they overestimated the dungeon boss of this dungeon, and the reason behind the absence of monsters was the weird ritual altar that the boss seemed to be protecting. And as for the kerberus itself, it seemed to be inexperienced in combat, which made it make many openings in the fight that were exploited by the cleansers. Speaking of which, all of them were significantly weaker than the kerberus itself, but thanks to their perfect teamwork and complimenting abilities, they were able to hold their own in the fight. The only reason Jasmine got hurt this time was because she got cocky and tried to act on her own. However, one might wonder how the cleansers were able to work in such perfect coordination despite not having much experience working together. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The reason behind this was Raya, who was using a telepathy skill to command both Max and Jasmine using her eyes while also trying to look for any weak spots the kerberus may have. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Raya was the brain of the group, with both Max and Jasmine serving as her two hands. ''Jasmine, make sure to not make a similar mistake; you almost died back there'' she scolded Jasmine using her telepathy skill. ''I''m sorry, Jasmine apologised almost instantly. ''Don''t worry and go attack the right flank of the beast while Max and I distract it,'' Jasmine said. ''Alright'' After getting the instructions, Max used his [Sand Clone] skill as three other identical-looking Max appeared out of the ground and charged at the kerberus, who looked confused to see more enemies appear out of the ground. But this confusion didn''t last for long, as six lances made up of fire appeared behind the kerberus and charged at the sand clones, destroying them easily. The sand clones created by Max were much more than that and could only use a fraction of his abilities. They were mainly meant to serve as distractions to trick his opponent, and they had done their job perfectly, as three arrows made up of wind appeared from behind the now-destroyed clones and caught the kerberus by surprise. The kerberus looked like it was about to jump leftward and dodge from its body language, but after realising that dodging would make the arrows hit the barrier guarding the altar, it chose to tank the attack. This was something that Raya had predicted, as she had theorised that the kerberus was protecting the altar, meaning it was its weak spot. ~Boom!!~ ~Boom~ ~Boom~ The arrows crashed on the still target, causing dust and rubble to rise on the spot, blinding everyone for a few seconds. Jasmine uses this opportunity created by her allies and by utilizing her [Strong Punch] paired with her [Strengthen] to launch a devastating punch at the kerberus. The attack was sure to do some serious damage even to a S-rank monster if it connected; however, contrary to her and her team''s expectations, the punch hit nothing as it came right through the smoke. ''What?'' Jasmine, Max, and Raya all collectively had this thought, as none of them could have ever expected the kerberus to dissipate out of thin air. And out of pure instinct, Raya looked behind her, where she saw a towering, fearsome entity standing behind her and the miners. Not even in their wildest imagination could they have expected a monster with the ability to teleport. Without even realising it, they had ended up underestimating a S-rank monster due to it not being as strong as they expected, and now it was time to pay for their mistake. Experience tales at m v|l e-NovelFire They had been completely outclassed and outsmarted by a monster as the Kerberus finally launched a counterattack at the party. Chapter 131: Ch-131 William Arrives ''I''m going to die here.'' This single thought overwhelmed Raya''s senses as she stared at the towering monstrosity standing before her. Both Max and Jasmine were too far away to help her in time, meaning she had to somehow survive the incoming attack on her. As a last-ditch effort, Raya used her (Vine Control) spell to guard her head and all her other vital organs. Sadly, all the other miners weren''t that lucky, as the fire chains of the Kerberus went wild throughout the whole room. The few awakened miners tried to use their spells or other means to defend themselves, but they were too helpless against the might of a S rank, and their bodies exploded upon even the slightest contact with the chains. And in just a few seconds, all the miners were killed. After the miners, the chains aimed towards Raya''s head, intending to kill her in one swift, but thanks to the vine she had created just moments earlier, she was able to redirect the attack, avoiding instant death. But despite her best efforts, the chains were too strong for her to stop, and they pierced her in the chest. Upon being impaled, Raya fell on her ground as the ground became dyed in her own blood as she breathed her last few breaths and awaited her inevitable death. At the same time as this was going on, both Jasmine and Max were also attacked by chains erupting from the ground. But thanks to their superior stats and instincts, they managed to avoid fatal hits to vital organs, but they couldn''t avoid the attacks completely. In the end, Jasmine lost her right leg and Max his left arm. Despite their best efforts, they had lost. They had put up a good fight, but in the end, it wasn''t enough to close the massive chasm of difference that existed between them and the Kerberus. And now, as both of them lay on the ground, awaiting their inevitable end that they knew was coming, they both had one single thought. ''I wasn''t strong enough in the end'' ''I let everyone die'' Both of them thought, respectively, as they wallowed in self-shame and felt a sense of loss mere moments away from death. As for Raya, she was also lying on the ground, rapidly losing consciousness as her vision started going blank. ''We couldn''t live up to his expectations,'' she thought. Raya was devastated seeing John ''die'' in front of her, but she managed to control her emotions and told herself that he was still alive. Discover exclusive content at m,v l''-NovelFire Her whole life, Raya was pretty physically weak, and she didn''t have much talent in terms of mana. The only thing she had was her intellect, good looks, and an aspect that worked really well when assisted by others. The only reason she became an adventurer was so that she could become stronger and stop needing to constantly rely on others for help. But despite everything she did, her stats just refused to budge. She was still only at 3000 BF, despite all the natural treasures she had consumed thanks to her family. In the end, it really came down to her being untalented despite having an above-average aspect. Raya came from a family of merchants who sought monetary gain above everything else. And her father wanted to use her good looks to marry her off to a baron-rank family to build connections. But after a lot of back and forth, she made a deal with her father to cancel the marriage if she could become a S-rank adventurer in under two years. In Markwhelter Kingdom, S-rank adventurers are practically treated like celebrities, and having one come from their family would definitely benefit them a lot more than merely marrying into a Baron family. Her father had nothing to lose; if she managed to become a S-rank adventurer, she would bring a lot of good publicity and monetary gain for them, and if she didn''t, he could just marry her off and build connections, so he allowed it. But for Raya, her whole life was on the line, and she was willing to kill herself rather than marry the man her father wanted her to marry. There were multiple rumours about the heir of that Baron family being a sexual assaulter, with multiple cases of rape fired at him. But using their families money and authority, they always just swept it under the rug and avoided any kind of punishment so far. With this knowledge, how could Raya allow herself to be married to such a man? Who knows what kind of things such a man would do to his own wife? Raya had tried to tell her father about this, but he just called them baseless rumours and told her to stop wasting her time doing useless things. But Raya knew that all rumours have at least some truth to them. All of this combined to cause her current desperation, which made her take risky missions all for a chance to gain a really powerful relic or natural treasure to compensate for her lack of talent. Sadly, her hopes were useless, as even after months of adventuring, she was unable to find such an item, and even her stats hadn''t improved that much. But despite this, she didn''t give up and kept switching from one team to another. And it was just a few days before she met Edge Lord, a man overflowing with so much talent and power despite his young age. The more she watched him, the more envious she became of everything he had. She wanted to hate him, but he was too handsome for her to hate. It didn''t make sense to her how a single man could have talent, good looks, and a good personality. Before meeting him, she used to think these things were mutually exclusive, until he proved her wrong. Raya was convinced that John was the luckiest man alive and someone who was loved by the world itself. It was only after meeting him that she learned what it was like to have a crush on someone, but she knew that he was far out of the league of someone like her. Just after a single conversation with him, she could tell he was destined for greatness, and she had no right to stand beside someone like him. But despite knowing this in her final moments, she only wished to see him one last time before she lost consciousness. However, right before she fell into the cold clutches of death, she felt a warm green fire envelope her body as the temperature around her decreased and a familiar presence entered the room. ** As William entered the dungeon room, he was overwhelmed with extreme rage, which threatened to consume him as he saw the headless corpses of the miners whom he was supposed to protect and his own party mere moments away from death. But before even realising it, he used the [green flames] that he gained from his new bloodline. The warm and healing green flames engulfed Max, Raya, and Jasmine. As the green flame engulfed them, their bodies started healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. And before long, they managed to stand back up and look around in confusion, unable to properly understand what had just happened. "How am I still alive?" "My arm is back?" "My leg is back?" Confused mutters like this could be heard from the cleaners. Upon looking around, they found William, or rather, as they knew him, John. He looked completely different from normal; his height was a few inches smaller than before, but it was hard to notice due to him being elevated in the air. Instead of his previous black hair, he now had very long, pearly white hair that fell below his waist. Near his eyes, two bright golden runes could be seen. And behind him, gigantic, majestic red wings, which looked too big for his body, adorned his back. The pressure that his mere presence gave off was suffocating for everyone in the room. His presence even dwarfed that of the Kerberus, which defeated the cleansers. The temperature around him rose rapidly as all the cleansers could feel sweat falling down their faces. Despite how different he looked, all the cleansers could instantly tell who the person in front of them was. But they all had one main question aftet seeing him. ''Just what had happened to him?'' However, William didn''t care about their questions, and instead of that, he asked a simple question. "Did you guys miss me?" he asked as he flashed a bright smile. And without even knowing why all the cleansers fell unconscious, due William using hhis [Authority of mana] to make them fall asleep. And now, with the cleansers asleep, the only two people and one creature left in the room were William, the kerberus, and an unconscious Sung, whom William vowed to kill. ** AN: sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 132: CH-132 Fighting Fire With Fire Fear An emotion the Kerberus didn''t even know about. After all, it was a S-rank monster and the strongest in its lair, with the sole purpose of protecting the ritual altar. If anything, others were supposed to fear it instead of the other way around, and yet as he saw the boy who had entered the boss room, it felt afraid. It wanted to abandon its duty and run, but due to the way it was born, it ignored its survival instinct and prioritised the protection of its master. ~Rawwrr~ The kerberus let out a fearsome roar to scare the white-haired boy, but instead of that, its roar had the opposite effect, as William said. "No need to scream, little puppy," William taunted, and despite not understanding him, the Kerberus knew it was being mocked and unleashed its strongest fire attack at him. Seeing the deadly attack capable of instantly incinerating most humans into ashes heading his way , William didn''t do anything and instead just stood there, waiting for the attack to hit him. BOOOOMMM!! The entire room trembled from the shockwaves of the attack. Dust and rubble rose in the atmosphere as the Kerberus relaxed, knowing that its attack had hit and the menacing human was dead. However, all of its expectations were crushed as a voice came out from within the smoke. "Too cold, little puppy." As soon as his words fell, the smoke cleared and revealed William, who was standing there completely unharmed. There wasn''t even a single speck of dust on him, and even his clothes were fine. This wasn''t because William had dodged the attack or used some sort of defensive spell at the last minute, but rather because of his [Master of Fire] skill that he had gained after receiving the bloodline of a phoenix, which allowed him to be completely immune to fire and made him a master at controlling the element of fire. The Kerberus looked shocked to see its strongest attack be unable to damage the boy. A feeling of fear gripped its heart and told it to run to preserve its life. The boy wasn''t an enemy it could face, but despite his wishes, he couldn''t run. After all, it still needed to protect the vessel of its master. Unaware of the dilemma the monster was going through, William said. "Let me show you what true fire magic looks like." As he said, these eight palm-sized red magic circles formed around the Kerberus. Long vertical pillars of flame emerged from the circle, reaching all the way to the ceiling and trapping the Kerberus within. The Kerberus tried to use its teleportation skill to escape the imprisonment of flames, but before it could, the pillars exploded. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. BOOOOOMMMM!!! An explosion even larger than the one from the Kerberus attack occurred and destroyed the already-ruined room even more. Once the smoke subsided, a badly burned, injured, and huffing figure of a once-three-headed dog could be seen. Due to the attack, one of the Kerberus heads exploded. "Not bad, right?" William asked, not expecting an answer. "I call it (Hellfire Imprisonment) " William announced his newly created spell with pride oozing out of his tone, almost like he was expecting to be praised. But instead of praising him, Kerberus just glared at him with a desire to devour him and launched chains at him. Seeing this, William sighed as he used the massive wings behind his back to form a cocoon of protection. ~THUM!!~ The chains hit his wings but were unable to pierce through like Kerberus expected or wanted. This was his [Wings of Phoenix] and just like Phoenix wings, they were indestructible and gave him flight abilities surpassing merely flying using magic like he had been doing in the past. The wings could also be turned into blades to pierce the opponent, but William didn''t see any reason to use this feature as the range required to use it was too short for his liking. After being blocked, the chains caught on blue fire and were burned away almost instantly. This was the [Blue Flame] ability he gained from his new bloodline, and it allowed him to manifest flames much stronger than normal, and it could even burn things without a physical form. At this point, William had mostly tried out all the new abilities he wanted to try and was finally ready to end the fight. But before that, he had one main question. "Are you really a S-rank monster?" William asked, expressing pure confusion. It didn''t make sense to him why a S-rank monster was so weak. Your journey continues at m v|l-e-NovelFire William had always expected a S-rank monster to be an extremely tall wall, which would even give him some trouble to overcome atleast at his current young age. But this was too easy; even if one took into consideration that he gained a divinely ranked bloodline and the massive buff in his stats, it still felt like a bit too much. The Kerberus was furious at being insulted and wanted nothing more than to tear the arrogant human apart, but its survival instinct won over, and it instead used its teleportation skills to teleport near the unconscious Jasmine. After getting close enough, it used its chains to entrap her and brought her near its mouth, but before biting, it stopped and instead looked at William smugly, almost like telling him that it had a hostage and to stop resisting. ~Flick~ In the very next instant, a bright blue flame erupted from inside his body and completely engulfed him, burning him alive. And in merely a few seconds, not even the ashes of the beast were left as it finally died. "How interesting," William muttered. The spell he had just used was called (Internal Combustion) and was an improved version of his Set Your Heart Ablaze spell that he had used against the assasin at his birthday party. But that wasn''t the thing that interested him, but rather the amount of intelligence the Kerberus displayed despite not being a unique monster. "So this is a S-rank monster." William was really interested in S-ranked monsters and the level of intelligence and strength they possessed, but he knew now wasn''t the time. After all, it was finally time for payback against the one who had messed everything up. Chapter 133: Ch--133 I will Kill You Death For the past hour and a half, Sung had been begging for it just to escape the pain he was going through. While he had known that it was going to hurt even before he started the whole process, not even in his wildest dreams could he have properly estimated the sheer amount of pain he was going to go through. But despite this, he endured it all for the sake of his mother and revenge. And he could feel that he was getting closer; he could feel his previously weak soul getting stronger from all the life force he was absorbing. And now, in just a few seconds, he could tell that he''ll take the first step towards accomplishing his dream. His system had promised him that once all this was over, he''d be reborn with the legendary Tier V divine aspect. Throughout history, there has only been one other divine aspect, and he has become the most famous and well-known god. Well, that was assuming you excluded the two other new divine aspects born in the last decade. Sung didn''t know just what could have possibly caused the birth of two divine aspect users when there hadn''t been one in multiple millenials now. But he didn''t really care; once he was done with his revenge, he planned to kill both of them. After all, how can there be three potential gods at the same time in the mortal world? But he was getting ahead of himself; he knew that his party was probably going to become a life force for him to absorb. He felt bad for them, but he quickly got rid of the guilt once he remembered everything he would gain from this. ''You guys would die for a good cause,'' he thought. He wasn''t sure about what was going on outside, but the system assured him that he''d be protected during the process, and all he needed to do was go through the agonising pain for a few more minutes, and his life would completely change. Sung was sure that the world was on his side and that nothing would go wrong. ** "It''s finally time to pay for your sins," William muttered as he stared at the man lying on an altar while being protected by a barrier. The more William stared at him, the more he started losing his sense of reasoning as an understandable rage started consuming him. It was reminding him about everything he had gone through because of Sung. He had almost died. How his whole party that he promised to protect almost died. How the miners he said he would protect died. All because of one man''s stupidity, just because he had been tricked by an evil god. And he was now assisting in the descension of the said god. William didn''t even think for a second that if the evil God managed to descend, anyone could stop him. His personal grudge aside, the whole world was being threatened here. William was sure that Sung was probably just desperate and thought this was his moment to turn his life around, but in reality, all he was doing was sacrificing his soul to destroy the whole world. In hindsight, for a sane man, it should be obvious that no actual God would randomly change the aspect of a nobody without any nefarious intentions or some other agenda. But Sung was probably blinded by desperation and acted rashly by accepting the offer. It was funny to William how he wanted to make fun of Sung for his stupidity, and yet he too was similar to him in his past life as Naoya when his parents died. If that version of him were placed in Sung''s position, he probably would have done the same thing. But thinking about what ifs was useless, and the only thing that mattered was reality, and even after considering all of that, it didn''t change the fact that William was no longer the man he once was and that him and his party almost got killed due to Sung''s betrayal and stupidity. He made a mistake and had to repent by dying. Speaking of which, his spell was ready. In his palm now rested a marble-sized, spinning blue ball of fire. This was a spell William had been working on for months now but had only completed after gaining [Master of Fire]. This spell was called (Condensed Infernal Doom) Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|m,p| y- r Unlike most other fire spells, which were very inefficient in terms of mana and total destructive potential due to their nature of them spreading too much,. This spell was extremely efficient in terms of mana, and despite this, William overloaded it with mana, and it was extremely condensed into a single marble-sized ball. And the whole spinning motion added extreme armour and barrier-piercing capabilities to the spell. An easy way to understand the spell would be to call it a grenade in the form of a bullet meant to kill whoever William aimed it at, regardless of whatever defence they had or used. William was sure that the evil God must have spared no effort to create the strongest barrier possible for his descent. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Which is why William was also not pulling any punches and used his strongest lethal spell. William made a finger-gun motion with his hands, and the spinning ball of fire rested near his finger tips. And after readying his aim, he finally launched it as he muttered. "Bang" ** I know I might have made Volume 2 a bit too long for some of you guys when you only really care about the neutral continent and the Academy arc. But don''t worry, it was all important for the plot and future events. I just hope you guys enjoyed it. And fear not, volume two will be ending very soon, and after that, we just need to do a few things on the neutral continent, and we can finally have the long-awaited academy arc. And don''t worry, I promise to try my best to make the arc worth all the buildup and hype, so just keep reading, please. Chapter 134: CH-134 I will Kill You-2 BOOOMMM!! The spinning ball of fire broke through the barrier, but just when it was about to go through Sung''s head, it was forcefully redirected and hit the altar he was lying on instead. The impact of the spell broke the altar, forcefully ending the ritual, and Sung was caught in the blast radius of the attack. His whole body exploded, and just like that, Sung, a man who was on the verge of becoming a divine human by obtaining a Tier V aspect, had died. Or did he? His destroyed body got forcefully pulled together and reconstructed to Williams horror, and he could do nothing but watch as the man he just killed got revived in front of him. William tried to use his spells to kill him again, but the purple barrier that previously protected Sung had now also been reconstructed and was even stronger than before. William kept using one spell after another and throwing everything he had to prevent Sung''s revival, but in the end it was useless. And after a full minute, Sung had been revived. Due to his body being reconstructed, he was naked, but neither he nor William cared about that. As they both stared at each other, their eyes filled, wanting nothing more than to kill the other person. William could see that Sung''s body had changed quite a lot compared to before. It was still like his previous body, but just a lot more handsome. But it wasn''t the type of handsomeness that would make girls fall for him; rather, it would make them scared of him. His face looked perfect, with no blemishes, dark spots, or any other imperfections; it was the perfect face. It was almost too perfect, like it was fake and didn''t exist; it did not look like it belonged to a human, a race defined by their imperfections and mistakes. He was much taller than before, easily above 6 feet, and his body had now grown muscles, unlike his previous thin self. But just like his face, his muscles looked wrong; it was hard to point out what was wrong with them as they didn''t have any glaring flaws. But just like his face, they looked unnatural and fake, and it looked like he had consumed various substances to obtain them. Overall, Sung looked like a completely fake person, almost like he had gotten plastic surgery. Sung wasn''t sure what was going on; one second he was mere moments away from becoming a divine human, and the next he died. The sensation was very brief, but Sung knew what he felt, and he could tell that he had come back from the dead. Looking around, he saw the ritual altar as well as the room outside destroyed, with a white-haired boy standing outside glaring at him almost like he wanted to rip him apart. And before long, everything finally made sense to Sung; his transformation had probably been stopped. Realising this at first, Sung was overcome with despair, thinking he had lost the chance to turn his life around. But this feeling of despair was replaced by anger as he glared at the boy, wanting to make him pay for stopping his transformation. At first, Sung was confused about who the white-haired boy was, but despite how different he looked, the aura of power and authority he had around him reminded him of Edge Lord. But the identity of the boy didn''t matter to Sung; he just wanted to kill him, no matter the cost. If looks could kill, William probably would have died around now, but sadly, they couldn''t. Feeling Sung''s meagre attempt at a blood lust, William finally stopped holding back and unleashed his own bloodlust while also activating [mana ascension]. Upon activation, the mana particles in the boss room became visible, and they got dyed a crimson colour. Unlike before, where William was merely suggesting mana do things, thanks to the [Authority of mana] he had gained, it was now actively obeying him, at least in his current form. The whole dungeon trembled as the mana in the area reacted to the anger of its child. Throughout all of this, Williams expression remained cold, almost like he didn''t care about everything that was happening. But the mana reacted to his rage, and judging from its reaction, the amount of anger and hatred that was currently consuming William probably can''t even be put into words. Stay tuned with m-v l|-NovelFire.net Sung''s knees started shaking as he saw the dungeon room tremble. Mana became visible. And the bloodlust made him completely forget everything ''Just who the fuck is this guy?'' Sung asked himself, but he had no time to ponder on this question as the pressure on him increased even further and his body was plummeted to the ground, with the ground around him cracking due to the pressure of Williams power and rage. ''I''m going to die here?'' Sung thought to himself as his face went cold and tears appeared near his eyes. The boy in front of him looked no different from the grim reaper himself. ''System, help me'' He called out, but the system didn''t respond. Just when Sung was starting to lose hope, he remembered the purple barrier that separated both him and the boy. He had seen the boy try to bombard the barrier with spells, only to fail. He wasn''t sure how he managed to destroy the altar despite the presence of the barrier, but he was certain that as long as the barrier existed, he was safe. He was sure that Edge Lord couldn''t possibly use such a powerful ability for long, and once his ability ran out, he could use that opportunity to hit him at his weakest. But it was almost like William could read his inner thoughts. He muttered. "Step outside the barrier." Hearing this, Sung almost wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the boy, thinking that he could make him step out so easily. However, contrary to his thoughts, his body stood up against his will and started walking towards William. Seeing this, Sung was beyond confused at what was going on and why he couldn''t control his body, but it felt like some sort of invisible energy was pushing his body outside towards the grim reaper. Realising this, Sung only had one thought. ''Am I going to really die here like this?'' sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 135: Ch-135 I will Kill You-3 ''Am I going to die here?'' Sung thought in horror as he felt his body refuse to listen to him and continued to walk towards William. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wasn''t sure what was happening or how Edge Lord was doing it. But he did know that Edge Lord hated him and would waste no second in killing him if given the chance. The only reason he had survived until now was the presence of the barrier. Once he stepped outside, his life would be over. Even his system, which had guided him so far, was absent. ''Have I been abandoned?'' He wondered, thinking that maybe, due to him failing the ritual, his guardian system had abandoned him. As Sung continued walking, the feeling of dread that he felt continued to increase. The closer he got to William, the more he could see the massive chasm that existed between the two of them. Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net One that he would never be able to bridge, regardless of what he does. Sung could tell that the boy was younger than himself, and yet he was so much more powerful than he could ever even dream of being. ''So this is what it''s like to be talented?'' He thought as the hate he felt for William increased even more making him once again realise just how unfair the world was. And despite this, there was nothing he could do; in just a few seconds, he was about to get killed by the boy who had the thing he lacked. The thing that Sung hated even more than merely dying to someone born with talent they did not deserve was how the boy, despite already having so much talent, took away his once-in-a lifetime chance to gain talent. ''No, I can''t die yet,'' Sung thought as he tried to bite his tongue to regain control over his own body, but even that didn''t work. He had completely lost control over his body, leaving him a mere puppet for someone more talented than him to control. Was this really it? Had all his efforts led up to this moment? Was he about to just die helplessly after all the sacrifices he had made? "No, fuck that." Somehow, against all odds, through sheer power of will, for just a brief moment, Sung managed to regain control over his body to say this before he lost control again. Even William was shocked to see how Sung had managed to regain control over his body for a second, despite his authority over Mana being absolute, at least against those weaker than him. Almost like waiting for this, a new system prompt appeared in front of Sung. [Well done in that case. I''ll help you do that.] Sung smiled seeing this as he realised that he hadn''t completely given up on yet ,as a bright blue portal appeared in front of him and the mana controlling his body was forcefully repelled, allowing him to regain control. "Don''t you dare fucking step through that portal, motherfucker," William shouted in panic as he used all his power to forcefully close that portal or at least stop Sung from stepping through. This was the first time William had lost composure since he entered the boss room. Hearing the desperate cry for help from its child, all the mana in the area followed his wish and tried to close the portal or at least stop Sung from stepping through it. But it was unable to even do that, as the authority of even a sealed God in his own domain was simply too much for William to contest. Seeing William lose his composure like this, Sung smirked, relishing in the little victory he had gotten. He was completely forgetting about how he almost died if not for the evil God who saved him. As Sung stepped through the portal, he said:. "Let''s meet again, Edge Lord." And with those words, he stepped through the portal. Once Sung entered the portal, it closed, as it took him to a faraway place safe from the wrath of William. And just like the birth of the fourth divine aspect, as well as the descent of an evil god was stopped. Without the world ever even knowing just how close it had come to complete destruction if not for William. ** "Fuck" William muttered as he fell to the ground after deactivating both his ascension abilities. William''s whole self was overflowing with rage and hatred as he realised he had really just let Sung escape after almost killing both him and his party, as well as killing the miners who he promised to protect. William had done everything in his power to kill him, and yet in front of a sealed God, it was all useless. All of William''s talent and abilities became useless when faced with a god. He hated this feeling where someone could hurt him and those dear to him and get away with it, scott free. It doesn''t matter if he had the backing of a god or not; the only thing that mattered was that he was unable to make the person who almost killed him pay. While yes, it was a good thing that he managed to prevent the end of the world and the power of a divine aspect falling into the wrong hands. Anyone else would have probably celebrated such a feat. But not to William; to him, the only thing that mattered was his hurt pride. William''s mind was filled with ideas of revenge and the things he was going to make him go through to make him pay. After a while, William finally stood back up and said to seemingly no one but himself. "Sung I promised to you that I would kill you in the most horrific way possible, and the next time we meet, not even God of yours will be able to save you." [Ding! The sin of pride positively reacts to the user''s desire for revenge. William was weirded out seeing this, but just like all the previous times, his mind forcefully forgot about the notification as he went back to planning his revenge. While William was planning all the things he was going to do to Sung to make him pay, another system notification appeared in front of him. [Allocating rewards for clearing the S rank dungeon altar of |-+";? *+| ¦Ð¡Ì$ based on the personal contribution of each party member] Chapter 136: Ch-136 Bountiful Rewards [Allocating rewards for clearing the S rank dungeon altar of |-+";? *+| ¦Ð¡Ì$ based on the personal contribution of each party member] "Ah, I forgot about the rewards," William exclaimed. It seems that after everything he had gone through, he had forgotten about the rewards, which, considering his current mental state, probably made sense. [Ding! Rewards are allocated to all surviving members; feel free to summon the rewards whenever you want to use them.] William felt a pinch of regret as he read the notification talk about the surviving member, making him once again realise all the lives that were unfairly sacrificed due to Sung''s stupidity and his weakness. ''It can''t be helped. I just need to make sure that such a thing doesn''t happen again and to make Sung pay for his actions. William told himself, and to distract himself, he finally decided to check out everything he had gained from this place. Honestly, the bloodline he had received already made everything worth it, even if he got nothing else, but since he did end up getting rewards, he might as well check them out. "Show Dungeon rewards." _________________________________________ 1. Skill Cube:Skill Merger [Unclaimed] 2. SS Natural Treasure: Order of Combat [Unclaimed] 3.S Natural Treasure: Feet of the Moon Rabbit [Unclaimed] 4.S Natural Treasure:Lush Seed [Unclaimed] 5. Ring of Invisibility [Unclaimed] ________________________________________ "What the fuck?" William exclaimed, seeing everything that was being displayed to him. Not even in his wildest dreams could William have expected to gain so many rewards. William almost forgot that he was supposed to be unlucky and that the world was trying to kill him due to how generous the rewards for this dungeon were. But after calming down a bit and thinking logically, it made sense. After all, this was a S-rank double dungeon associated with a god. So having such generous rewards made sense, and he had killed an A-rank unique boss monster, an S-rank boss monster, and stopped the descension of an evil god. The dungeon probably took all of it into account when distributing rewards to him. But before he got ahead of himself again, he needed to know what all these rewards actually did. _________________________________________ Skill Cube: Skill Merger Allows the user to fuse two or more skills and create a new skill. _________________________________________ Experience more on m v|l -NovelFire.net ''This is insane'' William thought he could already imagine all the things he could do with a skill like this. He had some plans on how to use this skill and what skills to fuse. With a single click, William decided to claim the cube and learn it. As soon as William pressed the button, a palm-sized silver cube appeared in his hands. This was a skill cube, an item usually obtained in dungeons, and it allowed humans and other races with mana to instantly learn a skill and skip the boring, monotonous process of manually learning a skill. Once William channelled his mana inside the cube, it disappeared as an overwhelming amount of information flooded inside his mind. Normally, so much information flooding inside someone''s brain at a rapid rate could be dangerous and might leave permanent damage, but skill cubes were safe to use and did not leave any side effects. After a few seconds, William knew that he had completely learned the skill. He was very excited to try it out, but he knew now was not the time, so he shifted his focus to other rewards. _________________________________________ Name: Order of combat Type:Natural Treasure Rank:SS Description: An orb made from grinding the heart of a warrior who lived his whole life on the battlefield and died on it, but his love for combat and fighting transcended death and became a natural treasure. Effect: 5000 stat points added to all variable stats, excluding intelligence. _________________________________________ ________________________________________ Name:Feet of the Moon Rabbit Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The feet of a rabbit who once stepped on the moon. Effects:Increase in agility stats by 1000 _________________________________________ Name:Lush Seed Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The seed of a very pretty flower which has now gone extinct. Effect:Grants the user nature element _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Name: Ring of Invisibility Type:Artifact Rank:A Effect:By channelling mana into the ring, the user can temporarily become invisible; however, overuse of the ring will cause it to break. _________________________________________ William had a wide smile on his face as he read the effects of everything he had gained. A SS natural treasure would easily go for more than 10,000 platinum coins on the market, but that is the market price. The main problem with high-ranking natural treasures is a lack of supply and an excess of demand. Due to this, if William wanted, he could easily sell it for more than one million platinum coins. However, William had no intention of selling such a priceless treasure, and neither did he plan to consume it to gain the additional stats. While the effect was nice, William had an even better plan for this treasure in mind, and that was to use it to summon a chaos servant. William was getting excited just thinking of how powerful a chaos servant summoned from a SS natural treasure would be. The whole reason why William had become an adventurer was to gather natural treasures and summon chaos servants before venturing into the dangerous lands of the neutral continent. Having a SS chaos servant on his side on this journey was sure to make William a lot safer compared to before. He planned to do the same with the feet of the rabbit. However, for the lush seed, he was going to consume it. Nature was an element that William didn''t have yet, and having an additional element would only make him more powerful and versatile as a mage. Myra mainly used nature elements, and from what she had shown him, it was a very powerful and useful element to have. Most people usually avoid getting new elements they weren''t born with, as they would need to scratch from zero and invest too many resources before they get any real use out of the element. For most people, it just isn''t worth it, but not for William. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Due to his [Child of Mana] skill, all elements William gained were at 100% affinity from the start without him needing to consume additional resources. He also liked the ring of invisibility, and William could see it being very useful in the dangerous lands of the neutral continent, especially when paired with his [Stealth] skill. Overall, setting aside everything that he had gone through to get them, William was very satisfied with all of the rewards as well as the bloodline he had gained. The current version of William was easily more than twice as strong as the version of him that had entered the dungeon. Speaking of which, a bright giant purple crystal orb had appeared in the centre of the room; this was the dungeon core, meaning it was now time to finally say goodbye to this double dungeon. Chapter 137: Ch-137 Malicious Intentions ~Swish~ A blue portal appeared out of thin air in a dark cave far away from the human continent. A naked young man fell out of this portal as the portal behind him closed. ~bum~ "Oww, couldn''t you have made the exit a bit more comfortable?" Sung complained to seemingly no one as he stood up and touched his body, still shocked at being alive. "So I somehow managed to survive, huh?" he questioned himself, still in disbelief at everything that had happened. A lot happened today, and his life probably won''t be the same anymore. First, he had been selected by a system and gained the opportunity to gain a divine aspect, which he failed to do. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Remembering that still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He just lost the greatest opportunity in his life, all because of one talented prick who didn''t want common folk like him climbing up the ladder. Speaking of him, Sung still felt chills, remembering the display of overwhelming power that Edge Lord had shown. Sung had almost given up on his life and had come extremely close to dying. But still, somehow, he managed to live through it. And now that he was alive, he had no intention of letting Edge Lord get away with what he had done. Now, alongside his uncle and family, there was another name that he needed to get pay back on. He had also betrayed his party, and while all the miners died, Edge Lord''s party survived, and they would probably report him to the URF, meaning he was going to become a wanted criminal. As betraying your party inside a dungeon is a serious offence, it would get him blacklisted from all dungeons, and he would probably be arrested on sight. "How annoying," Sung grumbled, realising how shitty his situation was. "I wish I was able to kill all of them; that would''ve been better." Such a statement was extremely out of character for Sung, as before today he hadn''t even killed a fly, and yet today he was casually talking about killing humans without even a change of expression. This was obviously because of the god who was helping him, but Sung sadly didn''t know of it yet. ''I feel thirsty,'' Sung thought, realising he hadn''t drank any water today and decided to venture into the cave he was in a bit further in hopes of finding something to drink. And after a while, he found a small puddle of water to drink. This probably wasn''t the cleanest water, but Sung was long past the point of caring about hygiene. However, just when he was about to drink the water, he saw something shocking. He saw a reflection of himself. "Who the fuck?" Sung exclaimed as he dramatically stepped back, thinking there was another person in the cave, but surprisingly, his reflection mirrored his action. ''Wait, this is me?'' he thought as he touched his face, finally having confirmation about his doubt. "Holy sh*t, this is amazing," Sung exclaimed, finally realising that the tall and handsome young man who was starting at him through the reflection was him. Sung was always short and skinny due to him never being able to eat proper meals despite working all day due to him needing to pay for his mother''s medical bill. While Sung tried to ignore it, the truth is that he was always very insecure about his looks, especially when he saw everyone being taller and better built than him. But his insecurity about his talent far outweighed his insecurity about his looks. But it seems at least one of his insecurities was fixed; his new body was very tall, easily above 6 feet, and very well built with visible abs. And even his face was extremely handsome, almost too handsome, like it didn''t belong on a human, but who cares about that? The more, the merrier. Even his manhood down there was much longer than his previous one. Sung felt weird to suddenly become so incredibly handsome and well-built after being short and average his whole life. But this was definitely something he could get used to. ''Mother would be so happy to see my new body'' Sung was getting excited just imagining his mother''s reaction to his new body. But before he got ahead of himself, there was another thing he needed to check. "Status Screen" ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:Sung Race:Human Age:17 Aspect:Plague Doctor (Tier IV) 1st Ascension Battle Force: 7500 [Variable State] Strength:1700 Agility:1800 Endurance:1300 Vitality:1600 Intelligence:1100 [Invariable Stats] Miasma:D- Charm:S- Luck:F+ Resistance:A- Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Scent of Toxins], [Dissease Immunity], [Cold Blooded] [Active Skills]: [Spider Web], [Corruption], [Aura of Intimidation], [Corrupt Centipede], [Rust], [Mind Corruption], [Mind Control], [Malefic Healing], [Poison Bombs], [Poison Javelins] Elemental Affinities: [Basic Elements] Wind(14%) [Deviant Elements] Experience more content on m v|l e''-NovelFire.net Poison(96%) Darkness(57%) ------------------------------------------------------------ Silence engulfed the whole cave as he looked at his own status screen. He was too shocked to even form a proper thought until a few minutes later, when he said. "This is unbelievable" He still couldn''t believe everything that was being displayed to him. While he failed to become a divine human, it seems all the pain he went through wasn''t in vain, as it resulted in him gaining a Tier IV aspect, which meant he had the potential to reach the peak of all humans. While there were other Tier IV aspect users out there, they didn''t have a system to assist them, meaning that just by having this, he could reach the peak of all humans and take his revenge. This, while not as amazing as having the potential to become a god, was certainly far better than anything he could have imagined. And just by having his aspect evolved, he had gained more stats and battle force than what he had after years of training. Honestly, Sung felt a little bitter about it, but it didn''t matter anymore. What did matter was that his revenge was no longer a pipe dream but only a matter of time. "Hahaha!!!" Sung let out an insane laugh as he finally realised that everything he had done and sacrificed was worth it. "Edge Lord, in the future, you will wish that you had managed to kill me today, but sadly for you, I would be much stronger than even a talented prick like you by then." "Mark my words, both you and my uncle will die by my hands." Chapter 138: Ch-138 Please Skip this chapter [Allocating rewards for clearing the S rank dungeon altar of |-+";? *+| ¦Ð¡Ì$ based on the personal contribution of each party member] "Ah, I forgot about the rewards," William exclaimed. It seems that after everything he had gone through, he had forgotten about the rewards, which, considering his current mental state, probably made sense. [Ding! Rewards are allocated to all surviving members; feel free to summon the rewards whenever you want to use them.] William felt a pinch of regret as he read the notification talk about the surviving member, making him once again realise all the lives that were unfairly sacrificed due to Sung''s stupidity and his weakness. ''It can''t be helped. I just need to make sure that such a thing doesn''t happen again and to make Sung pay for his actions. William told himself, and to distract himself, he finally decided to check out everything he had gained from this place. Honestly, the bloodline he had received already made everything worth it, even if he got nothing else, but since he did end up getting rewards, he might as well check them out. "Show Dungeon rewards." _________________________________________ 1. Skill Cube:Skill Merger [Unclaimed] 2. SS Natural Treasure: Order of Combat [Unclaimed] 3.S Natural Treasure: Feet of the Moon Rabbit [Unclaimed] 4.S Natural Treasure:Lush Seed [Unclaimed] 5. Ring of Invisibility [Unclaimed] ________________________________________ "What the fuck?" William exclaimed, seeing everything that was being displayed to him. Not even in his wildest dreams could William have expected to gain so many rewards. William almost forgot that he was supposed to be unlucky and that the world was trying to kill him due to how generous the rewards for this dungeon were. But after calming down a bit and thinking logically, it made sense. After all, this was a S-rank double dungeon associated with a god. So having such generous rewards made sense, and he had killed an A-rank unique boss monster, an S-rank boss monster, and stopped the descension of an evil god. The dungeon probably took all of it into account when distributing rewards to him. But before he got ahead of himself again, he needed to know what all these rewards actually did. _________________________________________ Skill Cube: Skill Merger Allows the user to fuse two or more skills and create a new skill. _________________________________________ ''This is insane'' William thought he could already imagine all the things he could do with a skill like this. He had some plans on how to use this skill and what skills to fuse. With a single click, William decided to claim the cube and learn it. As soon as William pressed the button, a palm-sized silver cube appeared in his hands. This was a skill cube, an item usually obtained in dungeons, and it allowed humans and other races with mana to instantly learn a skill and skip the boring, monotonous process of manually learning a skill. Once William channelled his mana inside the cube, it disappeared as an overwhelming amount of information flooded inside his mind. Normally, so much information flooding inside someone''s brain at a rapid rate could be dangerous and might leave permanent damage, but skill cubes were safe to use and did not leave any side effects. After a few seconds, William knew that he had completely learned the skill. He was very excited to try it out, but he knew now was not the time, so he shifted his focus to other rewards. _________________________________________ Name: Order of combat Type:Natural Treasure Rank:SS Description: An orb made from grinding the heart of a warrior who lived his whole life on the battlefield and died on it, but his love for combat and fighting transcended death and became a natural treasure. Effect: 5000 stat points added to all variable stats, excluding intelligence. _________________________________________ ________________________________________ Name:Feet of the Moon Rabbit Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The feet of a rabbit who once stepped on the moon. Effects:Increase in agility stats by 1000 Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelFire.net _________________________________________ Name:Lush Seed Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The seed of a very pretty flower which has now gone extinct. Effect:Grants the user nature element _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Name: Ring of Invisibility Type:Artifact Rank:A Effect:By channelling mana into the ring, the user can temporarily become invisible; however, overuse of the ring will cause it to break. _________________________________________ William had a wide smile on his face as he read the effects of everything he had gained. A SS natural treasure would easily go for more than 10,000 platinum coins on the market, but that is the market price. The main problem with high-ranking natural treasures is a lack of supply and an excess of demand. Due to this, if William wanted, he could easily sell it for more than one million platinum coins. However, William had no intention of selling such a priceless treasure, and neither did he plan to consume it to gain the additional stats. While the effect was nice, William had an even better plan for this treasure in mind, and that was to use it to summon a chaos servant. William was getting excited just thinking of how powerful a chaos servant summoned from a SS natural treasure would be. The whole reason why William had become an adventurer was to gather natural treasures and summon chaos servants before venturing into the dangerous lands of the neutral continent. Having a SS chaos servant on his side on this journey was sure to make William a lot safer compared to before. He planned to do the same with the feet of the rabbit. However, for the lush seed, he was going to consume it. Nature was an element that William didn''t have yet, and having an additional element would only make him more powerful and versatile as a mage. Myra mainly used nature elements, and from what she had shown him, it was a very powerful and useful element to have. Most people usually avoid getting new elements they weren''t born with, as they would need to scratch from zero and invest too many resources before they get any real use out of the element. For most people, it just isn''t worth it, but not for William. Due to his [Child of Mana] skill, all elements William gained were at 100% affinity from the start without him needing to consume additional resources. He also liked the ring of invisibility, and William could see it being very useful in the dangerous lands of the neutral continent, especially when paired with his [Stealth] skill. Overall, setting aside everything that he had gone through to get them, William was very satisfied with all of the rewards as well as the bloodline he had gained. The current version of William was easily more than twice as strong as the version of him that had entered the dungeon. Speaking of which, a bright giant purple crystal orb had appeared in the centre of the room; this was the dungeon core, meaning it was now time to finally say goodbye to this double dungeon. ~Swish~ A blue portal appeared out of thin air in a dark cave far away from the human continent. A naked young man fell out of this portal as the portal behind him closed. ~bum~ "Oww, couldn''t you have made the exit a bit more comfortable?" Sung complained to seemingly no one as he stood up and touched his body, still shocked at being alive. "So I somehow managed to survive, huh?" he questioned himself, still in disbelief at everything that had happened. A lot happened today, and his life probably won''t be the same anymore. First, he had been selected by a system and gained the opportunity to gain a divine aspect, which he failed to do. Remembering that still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He just lost the greatest opportunity in his life, all because of one talented prick who didn''t want common folk like him climbing up the ladder. Speaking of him, Sung still felt chills, remembering the display of overwhelming power that Edge Lord had shown. Sung had almost given up on his life and had come extremely close to dying. But still, somehow, he managed to live through it. And now that he was alive, he had no intention of letting Edge Lord get away with what he had done. Now, alongside his uncle and family, there was another name that he needed to get pay back on. He had also betrayed his party, and while all the miners died, Edge Lord''s party survived, and they would probably report him to the URF, meaning he was going to become a wanted criminal. As betraying your party inside a dungeon is a serious offence, it would get him blacklisted from all dungeons, and he would probably be arrested on sight. "How annoying," Sung grumbled, realising how shitty his situation was. "I wish I was able to kill all of them; that would''ve been better." Such a statement was extremely out of character for Sung, as before today he hadn''t even killed a fly, and yet today he was casually talking about killing humans without even a change of expression. This was obviously because of the god who was helping him, but Sung sadly didn''t know of it yet. ''I feel thirsty,'' Sung thought, realising he hadn''t drank any water today and decided to venture into the cave he was in a bit further in hopes of finding something to drink. And after a while, he found a small puddle of water to drink. This probably wasn''t the cleanest water, but Sung was long past the point of caring about hygiene. However, just when he was about to drink the water, he saw something shocking. He saw a reflection of himself. "Who the fuck?" Sung exclaimed as he dramatically stepped back, thinking there was another person in the cave, but surprisingly, his reflection mirrored his action. ''Wait, this is me?'' he thought as he touched his face, finally having confirmation about his doubt. "Holy sh*t, this is amazing," Sung exclaimed, finally realising that the tall and handsome young man who was starting at him through the reflection was him. Sung was always short and skinny due to him never being able to eat proper meals despite working all day due to him needing to pay for his mother''s medical bill. While Sung tried to ignore it, the truth is that he was always very insecure about his looks, especially when he saw everyone being taller and better built than him. But his insecurity about his talent far outweighed his insecurity about his looks. But it seems at least one of his insecurities was fixed; his new body was very tall, easily above 6 feet, and very well built with visible abs. And even his face was extremely handsome, almost too handsome, like it didn''t belong on a human, but who cares about that? The more, the merrier. Even his manhood down there was much longer than his previous one. Sung felt weird to suddenly become so incredibly handsome and well-built after being short and average his whole life. But this was definitely something he could get used to. ''Mother would be so happy to see my new body'' Sung was getting excited just imagining his mother''s reaction to his new body. But before he got ahead of himself, there was another thing he needed to check. "Status Screen" ------------------------------------------------------------ Name:Sung Race:Human Age:17 Aspect:Plague Doctor (Tier IV) 1st Ascension S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Battle Force: 7500 [Variable State] Strength:1700 Agility:1800 Endurance:1300 Vitality:1600 Intelligence:1100 [Invariable Stats] Miasma:D- Charm:S- Luck:F+ Resistance:A- Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Scent of Toxins], [Dissease Immunity], [Cold Blooded] [Active Skills]: [Spider Web], [Corruption], [Aura of Intimidation], [Corrupt Centipede], [Rust], [Mind Corruption], [Mind Control], [Malefic Healing], [Poison Bombs], [Poison Javelins] Elemental Affinities: [Basic Elements] Wind(14%) [Deviant Elements] Poison(96%) Darkness(57%) ------------------------------------------------------------ Silence engulfed the whole cave as he looked at his own status screen. He was too shocked to even form a proper thought until a few minutes later, when he said. "This is unbelievable" He still couldn''t believe everything that was being displayed to him. While he failed to become a divine human, it seems all the pain he went through wasn''t in vain, as it resulted in him gaining a Tier IV aspect, which meant he had the potential to reach the peak of all humans. While there were other Tier IV aspect users out there, they didn''t have a system to assist them, meaning that just by having this, he could reach the peak of all humans and take his revenge. This, while not as amazing as having the potential to become a god, was certainly far better than anything he could have imagined. And just by having his aspect evolved, he had gained more stats and battle force than what he had after years of training. Honestly, Sung felt a little bitter about it, but it didn''t matter anymore. What did matter was that his revenge was no longer a pipe dream but only a matter of time. "Hahaha!!!" Sung let out an insane laugh as he finally realised that everything he had done and sacrificed was worth it. "Edge Lord, in the future, you will wish that you had managed to kill me today, but sadly for you, I would be much stronger than even a talented prick like you by then." "Mark my words, both you and my uncle will die by my hands." [Allocating rewards for clearing the S rank dungeon altar of |-+";? *+| ¦Ð¡Ì$ based on the personal contribution of each party member] "Ah, I forgot about the rewards," William exclaimed. It seems that after everything he had gone through, he had forgotten about the rewards, which, considering his current mental state, probably made sense. [Ding! Rewards are allocated to all surviving members; feel free to summon the rewards whenever you want to use them.] William felt a pinch of regret as he read the notification talk about the surviving member, making him once again realise all the lives that were unfairly sacrificed due to Sung''s stupidity and his weakness. ''It can''t be helped. I just need to make sure that such a thing doesn''t happen again and to make Sung pay for his actions. William told himself, and to distract himself, he finally decided to check out everything he had gained from this place. Honestly, the bloodline he had received already made everything worth it, even if he got nothing else, but since he did end up getting rewards, he might as well check them out. "Show Dungeon rewards." _________________________________________ 1. Skill Cube:Skill Merger [Unclaimed] 2. SS Natural Treasure: Order of Combat [Unclaimed] 3.S Natural Treasure: Feet of the Moon Rabbit [Unclaimed] 4.S Natural Treasure:Lush Seed [Unclaimed] 5. Ring of Invisibility [Unclaimed] ________________________________________ "What the fuck?" William exclaimed, seeing everything that was being displayed to him. Not even in his wildest dreams could William have expected to gain so many rewards. William almost forgot that he was supposed to be unlucky and that the world was trying to kill him due to how generous the rewards for this dungeon were. But after calming down a bit and thinking logically, it made sense. After all, this was a S-rank double dungeon associated with a god. So having such generous rewards made sense, and he had killed an A-rank unique boss monster, an S-rank boss monster, and stopped the descension of an evil god. The dungeon probably took all of it into account when distributing rewards to him. But before he got ahead of himself again, he needed to know what all these rewards actually did. _________________________________________ Skill Cube: Skill Merger Allows the user to fuse two or more skills and create a new skill. _________________________________________ ''This is insane'' William thought he could already imagine all the things he could do with a skill like this. He had some plans on how to use this skill and what skills to fuse. With a single click, William decided to claim the cube and learn it. As soon as William pressed the button, a palm-sized silver cube appeared in his hands. This was a skill cube, an item usually obtained in dungeons, and it allowed humans and other races with mana to instantly learn a skill and skip the boring, monotonous process of manually learning a skill. Once William channelled his mana inside the cube, it disappeared as an overwhelming amount of information flooded inside his mind. Normally, so much information flooding inside someone''s brain at a rapid rate could be dangerous and might leave permanent damage, but skill cubes were safe to use and did not leave any side effects. After a few seconds, William knew that he had completely learned the skill. He was very excited to try it out, but he knew now was not the time, so he shifted his focus to other rewards. _________________________________________ Name: Order of combat Type:Natural Treasure Rank:SS Description: An orb made from grinding the heart of a warrior who lived his whole life on the battlefield and died on it, but his love for combat and fighting transcended death and became a natural treasure. Effect: 5000 stat points added to all variable stats, excluding intelligence. _________________________________________ ________________________________________ Name:Feet of the Moon Rabbit Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The feet of a rabbit who once stepped on the moon. Effects:Increase in agility stats by 1000 _________________________________________ Name:Lush Seed Type:Natural Treasure Rank:S Description: The seed of a very pretty flower which has now gone extinct. Effect:Grants the user nature element _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Name: Ring of Invisibility Type:Artifact Rank:A Effect:By channelling mana into the ring, the user can temporarily become invisible; however, overuse of the ring will cause it to break. _________________________________________ Chapter 139: Ch-139 Aftermath A gloomy and eerily silent atmosphere enveloped the room. A weeping mother cried in the corner as she mourned the loss of her precious sons. An absent-minded father stared at the wall his face drained of all colour and his will to live absent from his eyes. And last but not least was a angry and grieving women who grieved at the loss of her fiance and brother-in-law by blaming the handsome black-haired man who had come bearing grim news. "How could you let this happen?" the brown-haired woman in her mid-twenties asked her voice brimming with anger and her eyes full of hatred as she accused William of letting them die. On the ground were two corpses. They were preserved well to prevent decay but there was not much left of them. The first was a headless body and the second was just a pair of legs, both wrapped in clean white sheets of cloth. "Why did they have to die while you still live?" the women asked with tears in her eyes and her expression and voice containing nothing but complete hatred for the black-haired man. Hearing her question William had nothing he could say to her but keep staring at her without even a change in his expression. It had now been three whole days since William and his party had come out of the double dungeon. After coming out William had made sure to inform the URF and adventurers guild about everything that had happened inside the double dungeon and about Sung''s betrayal which led to him getting blacklisted from all government building, having his supporters agency card blocked and also becoming a wanted criminal. Betraying and trying to kill a member of your own party inside a dungeon was one of the worst crime an adventurer could do and was punishable by a minimum of 30-year prison but depending on the specifics the punishment could be extended. And this punishment was only even more severe for supporters hired from the support agency. After a bit of digging around William learned that Sung was an officially registered porter in the support agency in Markwhelter kingdom which dealt in providing miners, porters, healers and other dungeon related support people. After telling the authorities about everything Sung had done and how he had caused the death of all the miners inside the dungeon as well almost killing both William and his party. William and the rest of the cleansers had to properly testify their testimonies in front of multiple lie detecting artifacts to make sure they weren''t lying. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After ensuring that all the testimonies matched, Sung was officially put on the same list as all the other criminals with all the merits and achievements he had gained over the years stripped. But that was only natural if anything he should be glad William didn''t tell the authorities about him trying to summon an evil God or else he would have been declared as the number one enemy of the world actively being hunted down by all races alike. As for the reason why, he didn''t spill the beans about that was because he didn''t want to reveal more than necessary. In all his multiple testimonies William hadn''t told anyone about his bloodline and the rewards he gained this was thanks to the right that all adventurers enjoy where they didn''t need to reveal what they had gained inside a dungeon unless they want to sell the items. However, it was a whole another situation if an evil God and the safety of the entire planet were put in question. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net William was sure that he would''ve been forced to reveal everything that had happened inside the dungeon including things related to Fariel and before long the conversation would have become entered around him and his origin. And before long his identity would''ve been revealed something William absolutely could not allow. The second reason was that his whole case was handled by people not that high up in the URF authority ladder and for a case like this someone at the level of at least the president himself was a must. Because the information about an Evil God''s potential descent must remain confidential and under no circumstances must be leaked as the consequences of such an event would be disastrous. And for his current persona arranging a meeting with the President was impossible maybe it would be possible if he revealed his true identity as the heir of the Verhein county and the importance of the issue at hand. But William obviously didn''t want that also in this scenario Rex would come to learn about everything that had happened to him and William didn''t want to worry his father any more than he already had. The last reason was a lot more personal than the other reasons but it played a significant role in Williams ultimate decision. And it was that he wanted to kill Sung with his own two hands no matter the cost. But despite all of this William felt it was a bit stupid if he hid this information and it came back to bite him in the ass in the future. So, he told Michael about all the details of the dungeon of course excluding his bloodline and rewards. But with Michaels identity as one of the strongest people alive as well as the guild leader of the main Adventurers Guild headquarters he had more than enough authority to arrange a meeting with the president. Of course, William told Michael to not mention him so he didn''t need to worry about his identity being compromised while still managing to warn the authorities about the risk Sung posed to the world as a whole. According to Williams guess this information about the evil God will remain confidential among the true big shots of humanity with zero chance of being leaked as the aim to silently hunt and eliminate Sung while keeping the people general population blind. But even despite knowing this William secretly hoped that they failed to do it so he could personally have the honour of ending his pathetic life. All of this really reminded William about the government in his old world and how they operated but he was being side tracked. Right now, there was an even bigger issue that he needed to worry about William thought as he gulped while looking at the enraged and teary expression of Tony''s fiance. Chapter 140: Ch-140 Proof Of Humanity "Answer me, please. I beg of you," she asked with tears in her eyes, barely able to speak coherently. And as for the man her question was targeted at, he just remained silent as he muttered. "I''m sorry" Despite Williams barely audible tone, she could easily hear him. And hearing his words, she felt nothing but her anger increasing at the man who had come to deliver the corpses of her fiance and her brother-in-law. Tony was the love of her life, and they were supposed to live their whole lives together. But he went ahead and got both himself and his brother killed. She had warned him to quit the job multiple times due to all the dangers involved in his profession. And today her worst fears had come true: the love of her life was dead. She couldn''t even properly think or process what had happened. She wanted to grieve and cry like her parents-in-law were, but instead of that, she felt herself losing her sense of reasoning as her whole self was consumed with anger at the people who allowed Tony to die. She didn''t know who the black-haired man was, but just the fact that he was representing the Adventurers Guild was enough for her to hate him. But even despite this, she managed to keep her emotions in check, as she knew that the black-haired man wasn''t the man responsible for the deaths of her fiance and brother-in-law and was instead just the one who was in charge of delivering the corpses. It was only when the man tried to offer them compensation that she finally lost control of herself and ended up lashing out. She still couldn''t believe that those insensitive bastards at the guild would try to compensate by just offering some money. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And hearing the man only apologise once she asked him to explain it to her pissed her off even more than before. In the end, there was nothing she could do but say. "Get out of our house!!!" she yelled in a hostile tone, making her intentions clear. "I understand, ma''am," William replied. "I''ll leave the guild compensation here, and I would like to once again apologise if my actions came off as rude or insensitive, and I pray for you and your family to get through these tough times," he said as he dropped the pouch containing multiple platinum coins off in a corner and dissapeared in the shadows, almost like he was never even here. Seeing him leave, she finally fell down on her knees, dropped the act, and allowed herself to grieve for those they had lost. ** "Phew, that was tough," William muttered as he sat on a bench in a nearly empty park. After coming back from the dungeon and reporting Sung, he personally volunteered to be the one to deliver the corpses of those who died to their loved ones. Usually this job was done by the guild, as adventurers hated seeing the devastated reaction to the corpses they were supposed to deliver to their loved ones. It somehow made them feel guilty about letting their party members die, which is why it was weird for William to personally volunteer for such a job. But the guild staff didn''t complain, as it only made their job easier. The only reason William volunteered was so that he could see the effects of his fuckup and incompetence firsthand. And despite already expecting the reaction he was going to get, it still didn''t make it easier. Today he had gone to nine different households, and in every single house, his heart broke even more and more. He saw a daughter who had lost her father, a wife who had lost her husband, a mother who had lost her son, and a brother who had lost her brother and many more. Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -NovelFire.net The lifeless expression that all of them had in their eyes broke something inside his soul every time. Honest William preferred the hateful reaction of someone like Tony''s fiance a lot more, where she blamed him for the deaths of their loved ones, than his parents, where they just said nothing and just looked like they had lost their purpose in life. That silence and soulless eyes did nothing but multiply Williams guilt. Those eyes made him feel like he was the one who had killed their son, despite knowing that it wasn''t really his fault. But despite this, William still couldn''t help himself from asking. ''What if I was a bit stronger?'' Would it then have been possible to avoid such needless tragedies and deaths? But alas, it was too late now, and there was nothing he could do but take revenge for what had happened to them. The guild had a policy of giving compensation money to the loved ones of dead adventurers who died on mission. The money wasn''t anything crazy, but it allowed the loved ones to live a modest life. But despite this, William still had a promise to keep, and while he couldn''t keep his first promise of keeping them alive, he at least kept his second promise and added all the money they would have gained from selling their share of the luminous blue stone to the compensation money. This much money should hopefully allow them to deal with personal problems and live comfortably. Of course, William knew that money didn''t heal the wound of what they had lost, but it would at least lessen the pain compared to if they also needed to worry about financial issues on top of what they had lost. William had signed a mana contract for this kind of thing with the miners, but the contract became null due to their deaths. Still, out of his own good heart, William decided to uphold his end of the deal. Honestly, today William was really reminded of his past life, where he would personally go to deliver the corpses of his gang members to loved ones. William wasn''t ever close to any of his men, but he still felt responsible for them due to them being his men. And due to being their leader, it was his responsibility to be accountable and look after their families after their deaths. But despite this, William could never get used to those soul-less eyes and wails when he went to deliver the corpses. This feeling of guilt was one of Williams''s most hated feelings in the world, right below being looked down upon. Ever since being reincarnated, William had almost forgotten how valuable even a single life was and how many people, even the most seemingly insignificant person affected. But today, despite the emotional turmoil he was going through, William was still smiling. After all the pain in his heart and the guilt he felt just went to show that despite how big of an omen his existence had been so far, bringing tragedy wherever he went, all the power he wielded as well as the potential to become a god in the future and literally gaining the bloodline of a mythic being, at the end of the day he was still human. It proved that William Verhein, the child of Mana, the divine human,the second ever wielder of a divine aspect, the heir of the Verhein county, the boy with the greatest potential, the carrier of the bloodline of the only phoenix in the universe, the contractor of four spirit dukes, was just a human like everyone else. And that was something worth celebrating. But he was getting sidetracked; it seems his endeavour today ended up taking longer than expected; thankfully, he is now done. It was now time to meet the cleansers for the first time after the dungeon. Chapter 141: Ch-141 Optimized Skill Set "Wow that was fun" William muttered with a wide smile on his face as he lied on the bed in his private room that he was given to him by the guild. William had just come back from his meeting with the cleansers and a lot had happened and he had come to know a lot more about his party. And to basically sum up the whole meeting the cleansers were going to stick around for a while longer instead of just being a one off party like originally planned. As for the second thing they all needed to become much stronger than they currently were and the first step was obviously using his new skill. ** "Phew that took a lot longer than expected" William complained to no one. It had taken roughly 4 hours for William to merge all of his skills but at last he was done and it was now time to see the fruiits of his labor so he muttered. "Status Screen" ----------------------------------------------------------- Name:William Verhein Age:10 Race:Human Bloodline:Ancestral Pheonix (10%) Aspect:Walking Calamity (Tier V) Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net 3rd Ascension [Variable Stats] BF:18300 Strength:3900 sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Agility:3400 Endurance:3800 Vitality:4200 Intelligence:3000 [Invariable Stats] Mana:C+ Aura:F Charm:B Luck:F- Resistance:D Chaos Energy:E- Skills: Passive Skills - [Child Of Mana], [Grand Master of elemental Spirits], [Ruler Of Mana], [Master Of Shadows], [Danger Sense], [High Resistance To Pain and Toxins], [Genius Of Body and Aura] Active Skills:[Stealth],[Master Of Threads],[Heavy Hit], [Skill Merger] Ascension Skills- [Mana Ascension], [Spirit Ascension], [Bloodline Ascension] Bloodline Abilities-[Green Flames], [Blue Flames], [Wings Of A Phoenix], [Eyes Of A Pheonix],[Regeneration Of A Pheonix], [Authority Of Mana], [Master Of Flames] Chaos Energy:- Authority:Sin of Pride Chaos skills: [Suggestive Voice], [Chains of Sins] Masteries: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced),Swordmanship (Expert-), Spirit Water Arts (advanced-), Spirit Flame Arts (novice+), Spirit Earth Arts (novice+), Spirit Wind Arts (novice+), Dance of Steel (low+) Ancient Powers¡ªMemoirs of the Great Sage Spirits: Agni (Duke of the Fire Tribe), Wiz (Duke of the Water Tribe), Gionne (Duke of the Earth Tribe), and Sera (Duke of the Wind Tribe). Elemental Affinity:- [Basic elements] Fire(100%) Water(100%) Wind(100%) Earth(100%) [Deviant Elements] Ice(100%) Lightning(100%) Darkness(100%) Shadow(100%) Chaos(100%) [Progenitor] ------------------------------------------------------------ "Not bad" William muttered. Taking a look at his current status screen, William had to admit the effects of his [Skill Merger] were a lot better than he could have predicted. His current status screen was a lot more organised and easier to understand compared to before, due to the effort he had spent properly organising everything. And while his skills were less than before, almost all of them were of way higher quality compared to before. By extension, just by utilising his [Skill Merger], he had become even more powerful than he already was. The current William was definitely way above the level of most S-rank adventurers, but sadly, unlike the previous ranks where strength was the only important factor that decided one''s rank, the same wasn''t the case for S rank, as while it was still a major factor, the merits an adventurer had were just as important. William had already skipped to the A rank thanks to Michael''s interference, so if he wanted to become an S rank, he needed to devote himself to grinding missions to earn merit points. But that was for later, and he currently needed to focus on his current new and improved skill set. While using [Skill Merger], William had learned quite a few things. First of all, to his dismay, he couldn''t just fuse skills instantly, and it usually took anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes per skill, depending on how many skills he was merging and their compatibility. This meant this skill couldn''t be used in combat, but still, that was barely a negative compared to everything the skill offered. But speaking of compatibility, the skill only allowed William to merge skills with a certain level of compatibility. For example, all the mana-related skills he had merged to create [Ruler of Mana]. This new mana skill of his was the ultimate mana skill, second only to [Child of Mana], and it basically allowed him to do everything all his previous mana skills did but amplified multiple times and a whole lot more. At this point, Mana was basically a part of himself. Basically, like a heart, he couldn''t even imagine living without it. This, paired with [Child of Mana] and [Authority of Mana], basically made him unrivalled in terms of magic. Maybe excluding Zephyr, but William was sure he could probably even compete with him in terms of mana control now compared to before, when he couldn''t even dream about competing against Zephyr using mana. Honestly, William still hadn''t explored the full potential of this new skill, but he was extremely excited for all the new possibilities. Honestly, just this one skill was a major power-up for him, but he was just getting started. [Skill Merger] was usually pretty predictable, where it just combined the effects of multiple skills into one and enhanced them, other times it was unpredictable, such as when it created [Master of Shadows] by merging [One With Shadows] and [Shadow Step]. William figured since they were both shadow skills, they were probably pretty compatible, and he was right. But unlike what he expected, the skill he got not only had the abilities of his previous two skills but also a completely new one that let him communicate with shadows and even create living entities out of shadows. Meaning he could create summons out of shadows; however, these summons took too much mana to maintain, weren''t that strong, were fragile, and didn''t have any special abilities. So William didn''t intend on using this ability other than for some reconaisance. However, another bonus effect was that it allowed him to create much more elaborate and intricate objects using shadows. So William could definitely see this ability coming in handy in a lot of situations. But enough about that. There were a few more skills he needed to look at before he could get to the thing he was most excited for, which was obviously using the natural treasures he had gained. Chapter 142: Ch-142 Optimized Skill Set-2 The third thing he learned was that he couldn''t merge his bloodline abilities or chaos skills. Which probably made sense considering they weren''t normal skills, but that still didn''t stop William from hoping for it. Speaking of chaos skills William felt like he was forgetting something very important every time he looked at that section of his status screen. ''Hmm, what was it about?'' William tried his best to think about it, overexerting his brain to the limit. And after a few minutes, he finally remembered a name. "Zunesha?" William exclaimed. However, almost as soon as he remembered that name, his mind went blank for a few seconds, and once he came back, he asked himself. "What was I thinking about again?" "Ah, right, I was looking at my new skills." Ignoring that weird moment the fourth thing which he learned was that some skills were just too high leveled to be merged. A perfect example was his [Child of Mana] skill. William wasn''t exactly sure why this was, but he just assumed that it was because it was too high-level compared to all of his other skills. Which probably made sense considering how he was the second person in the whole world to have it. But moving on, the last and final thing he had taken note of was that ascension skills could not be merged. William wasn''t sure just why this was or what made ascension skills so special, but this was definitely something he wanted to explore a bit more in the future. But speaking of ascension skills, William now had three of them, even though he was impressed at just how many he had considering even some of the powerhouses of the world didn''t have an ascension skill due to how rare it is, and yet William had three of them. Life truly wasn''t fair, but speaking of that, even William wasn''t sure just how strong he could be if he went all out and used all three of them at the same time. Sadly, the time when William could freely use his ascension skills all at the same time was still far away, as currently William could only use one ascension skill at a time, and even that he couldn''t use to its full potential. But if he was truly desperate and needed to push himself, he could use two of them at once, though as one might expect, such a power came with drastic consequences, so William didn''t want to consider it. And moving on, the last skill he was really interested in was [Grand Master of Elemental Spirits], and this skill was created by merging [Loved by Spirits] and [Master of Elements]. This skill combined the best effects of the previous skills while offering a lot more and even amplifying the old effects by a sizable margin. William could now manipulate elements that he had an affinity for (excluding chaos) at a basic level. For example, William could now use pure wind element magic to fly in the air, unlike using a flight spell like he was before. But sadly, this had quite a lot of limitations, such as being unable to follow complex commands. For example, if he wanted to create spears of wind, he needed to use a spell like normal. Which definitely reduced the versatility of this skill quite a bit in Williams eyes, but nonetheless, it was a nice addition to have, especially since it enhanced his elemental magic even more than before. All in all, William was definitely very satisfied with everything he had gained. And with that, he was pretty much done with everything that really caught his eye, but just for the sake of checking them out, William decided to check the description of his other skills. [Master of Threads], [Genius of Body and Aura], and [Resistance to Pain and Toxins] were basically just merged and enhanced versions of his previous skills, meaning there wasn''t really much to comment on. But they are a good addition to his arsenal. And after checking them out, William was finally done with his skills, meaning he could finally move on to the thing that had most interested him. While the skills were nice, the whole reason why William had become an adventurer was so that he could gain natural treasures and amass as many chaos servants as possible. And this was his first step towards that goal. He was going to gain two brand new chaos servants, and one of them was going to be of the SS rank. William had yet to see any servants summoned using a SS treasure as a sacrifice, but he was certain it was definitely going to be something worth seeing. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. By this point, his eyes were practically twinkling due to how excited he was. William had already tested this multiple times before, so he knew that whatever creature his aspect summoned would no doubt be safe for both him and his surroundings, meaning what he was about to do was safe. With that considered, it was finally time for what he had been waiting for. After placing the purple SS natural treasure on the floor, he moved away as he chanted the prayer required for the summoning. "With this natural treasure, I summon..." ** An: With that, after over 108 chapters, volume 2 [Calamity Out in the World] has come to an end. Also, I''m sorry for ending it on a cliffhanger, lol, but I just thought it was funny, so I did it. Find your next adventure on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net And for anyone who was confused about the Cleansers meeting, don''t worry, I''ll show it in arc 3. I opted to skip it in this volume since I felt this arc was dragging on too much, but I still sincerely hope you guys enjoyed volume 2. I spent a lot of time and effort into this volume, and I definitely feel I''ve improved as an author over the course of this volume, so I hope you guys were able to see the improvement. But enough about now to move on to some serious things. First of all, I would like to apologize for not uploading for the past few days, but to basically explain it to you, I got burned out after daily posting for 3 months and needed a small break for my own mental and emotional health. Thankfully, I have recovered now and can start posting again, but despite this, I would like to take a day or two to properly plan everything out for the next arc before I start writing, and I just hope you can understand my reasoning. And to end this author note, I wish to tell you guys to prepare for Volume 3 [Calamity in the Neutral Continent], as it will most likely be the best volume so far. Cheers. Chapter 143: Ch-143 S Rank Adventurer 25th Octobal, 5678 2 months after the double dungeon incident at Adventurers Guild headquarters in Markwhelter Kingdom "Today it is with great pleasure of mine that I announce to everyone that we now have a new S-rank adventurer among us." "Everyone, please give a round of applause for Edge Lord" Bella announced with a wide smile plastered on her face and her voice oozing pride at the new S-rank adventurer that their city had birthed. ~clap~ ~clap~ ~clap Read exclusive chapters at m_v-l''-NovelFire.net "Man, you''re insane. Keep up the good work!!" "The future of adventurers guild!!!" Hearing Bella''s words, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and claps as they celebrated the man who broke the record of the current sword saint and forever engraved his name in the history books of the Adventurers Guild as the fastest man to become a S-rank adventurer. "I still can''t believe he actually achieved S rank in less than 3 months. Isn''t this a new record?" spoke a man from amongst the crowd, still a bit unsettled by how Edge Lord was basically speedrunning the guild ranks. He had already started as an A-rank adventurer, a feat that many still had trouble believing. But they had no choice but to come to terms with it over time. Normally, it takes a person more than one year to go from A to S rank. Even Rex Verhein, the current sword saint as well as the strongest adventurer in the history of the kingdom, took 5 months just to reach that level of S rank. But Edge Lord not only broke this record, he completely crushed it by halving it. A bunch of adventurers present still had trouble believing how it was possible for someone so young to be able to be this strong. All of them had been working for years and were yet to reach the prestigious level of S rank. According to some estimations, more than 30,000 active adventurers were registered in just the Markwhelter kingdom branch, and out of those, only a little over 1000 were registered as S ranks, and most of them were away on one mission or another. That was just how rare S-rank adventurers were supposed to be, and yet a mere rookie managed to accomplish the feat before them. It would be a lie to say that most of them present here weren''t jealous of him, but in the end, their complaints and whinings would do nothing but earn the ire of the guild and a S-rank adventurer. So they could do nothing but accept it as it is and just cheer Edge Lord on for his achievement. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, both Bella and William smiled. "How about sparing a word or two for everyone gathered here today?" Bella suggested. Hearing her suggestion, William smiled as he said. "Sure" ** For the past 2 months, William has spared no effort in trying to gather as many merit points as possible. He did one mission after another nonstop, and before long, he had become a S rank. His initial plan had changed a lot due to everything that had happened inside the double dungeon. Originally, he planned to take multiple months just doing one mission after another to purchase as many natural treasures as possible. But for some reason, Zephyr was really persistent about him departing in exactly 7 months. It had already been 3 months, and now that he had become a S rank, he could spend the next 4 months training under Michael and learn everything that he could from him. He had already gotten two very powerful chaos servants thanks to the double dungeon, and the opportunity to learn under one of the strongest people alive was probably much more valuable than a few more servants. And finally, after 2 months, he finally had enough merit points to attempt the S rank promotion test. As for the S rank promotion test itself, it was extremely easy for him thanks to his improved stats and skill set. The test required him to fight an evolved version of the thickmatte bear that he defeated for his B rank promotion test. Depending on the environment a monster grows up in, it is possible for a monster to evolve. Which is exactly what happened to this particular bear, evolving from a thickmatte bear to a boulder-armed bear. This evolved version of the monster had even higher endurance than its previous counterpart, and it now even had the strength to crush massive boulders easily. But despite all of this, in front of William, who was much stronger than in the past, it was helpless, completely unable to resist his powers. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now that he had finally become a S-rank adventurer, the only thing left to do was make Michael fulfil his promise and teach him. William still laughed sometimes, remembering how he had managed to scam Michael out of his once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a disciple, but he was getting distracted again. Bella gave him a ring-like artefact that functioned pretty similar to a mic, with the only difference being that it used mana. Since Bella wanted him to give a speech, he had the perfect plan for what he needed to say. William could see the looks most of the adventurers were giving him. Some were out of envy. Most of them were out of respect. And even more of them were in fear of his monstrous talent. William smiled upon seeing this, finding their reactions a bit funny. "For those of you who respect me for the strength I possess, thank you." "But I can see that some of you are envious of me and even a bit scared of me." "For all of you, the only thing I have to say is that if you truly wish to reach the same place as me, then push yourself instead of complaining about your lack of talent like bums." "And if you try hard enough, who knows, you just might also reach the S rank." "However, by then I''ll be at an even higher level." With that, Williams speech finally concluded, and there was silence amongst the crowd after Williams bold declaration of reaching an even higher level, most likely suggesting that he would reach the prestigious SS or SSS. Most of them were hoping it was the latter, as even now there was not even a single active SSS adventurer in the whole Markwhelter kingdom. But just based on what he had displayed so far, he definitely had a very good shot at achieving it. And the thing that really inspired everyone was how he said that even they could reach the S rank level by just trying harder. Some more logical and pragmatic individuals were skeptical of his claim; however, some people just needed a bit of motivation to fully devote themselves to something, which is exactly what the Williams speech did. After the silence came excited yells and screams, as the whole hall erupted in cheers and excitement. However, William didn''t care about any of this, as he had already used [Shadow Step] to leave the guild hall after returning the ring to Bella. After all, today was the day Jasmine returned, and William had no plans of missing out on welcoming her. ** AN: Welcome everyone to Volume 3, ''Calamity in the Neutral Continent'' I would advise you to strap in and enjoy the ride, because this will be a fun one. And also, please join our discord. Chapter 144: Ch-144 Cleansers Meeting 2 months ago, right after William finished delivering the corpses of all the miners to their loved ones,. William made his way through the city as he tried to find Mark''s house. Today was supposed to be the first time all the cleansers met after the double dungeon. Mark had invited all of them for dinner, and without even realising it, the time for dinner had arrived. It ended up taking him longer than expected just to deliver the corpses, but William didn''t regret it. If anything, he was relieved to have witnessed firsthand the consequences of his incompetence. William was once again starting to spiral into the endless rabbit hole of self-blame and regret. But before he could, he was stopped by the sight of a modest-looking house. The house wasn''t that big and looked quite small in comparison to some of the houses next to it. Even the exterior of the house looked a bit old and very lived-in. But despite all this, the house had a sort of nostalgic, homelike feeling that made William forget about all his worries and smile as he entered. Once he entered, he was greeted by Mark, who was wearing brown pants and a loose white shirt. "Welcome, John" Mark said. "Sup been a while" William smiled as he replied. "Yep indeed," Mark replied. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With the basic greetings out of the way,Mark led him inside to the living room, where he found a dining table with food on it and three girls. Two of these girls were young, while the last one looked to be in her early fifties. On the table,a wide variety of food was served,ranging from simple mashed potatoes,salads to meat balls. The food didn''t look very fancy but it looked like it was made with love,which reminded William of both his own mother''s cooking. William was excited to dig into the food as it looked delicious, but he had to hold back as there was something more important that he needed to do first. "Greetings, Mrs. Welk" William said with a respectful tone as he bowed a little. "Oh, no need for the formality dear" the middle-aged woman said as she got up with her hands held. Now that he was a bit closer to her, he could get a better look at her. She had short black hair and eyes and wrinkles were evident on her face signifying her age. But despite this she had a bright wide smile and lively eyes that reminded William of his mother in his previous life. "You look like a very capable and strong young man I''m glad Mark has a friend like you" she said. "No ma''am,, it''s the other way around Mark has been a great friend to me" William replied. Once he was done with the greetings he took a seat next to Jasmine, who was wearing a black dress which really complimented her hair. And while William didn''t want to admit it in front of her,she looked very pretty. "Sup" Jasmine said. "Hi" William replied. "I hope you''ve been well the past few days" "I have and I and I hope you''ve also been doing well" William said. Jasmine looked like she wanted to say more, but due to the presence of Mrs.Welk, she held back. William easily picked up on this, but he didn''t continue the conversation. If he had to guess, she probably wanted to talk about his experience delivering the corpses and what he saw. Even earlier,earlier, Jasmine was very vocal about not wanting him to go to deliver the corpses, and even if he wanted to go, she wanted to accompany him. William could see her good intentions behind the proposal and knew that she was probably just worried for him. Honestly, he found it quite cute, as it was a new experience for him to have someone worry for him aside from his parents. Especially someone who was basically a complete stranger to him, like Jasmine. It almost brought a smile to his face, but it would look weird if he randomly smiled, so he restrained himself. Next was Raya, who was sitting to the right of Jasmine. She wore a simple green top and had her golden hair in a bun, which made her look very pleasing to the eye. In Williams opinion, this hairstyle really suited her. "Nice hair," he complimented. His words seemed to have woken Rays up from her previous trance, as she hadn''t said anything since William entered, almost like she was thinking about something. "Th-thanks!" she exclaimed. William ignored her stutter, as he said. Find more adventures on m-v|-NovelFire.net "Been a while." "Yeah" Unlike Mark and Jasmine, whom he had seen over the last few days in the guild hall, this was the first time he had seen her since the double dungeon. After this, he didn''t say much to her, as Mark''s mother interupted them. "Since you guys are done greeting each other, how about eating the food before it gets cold?" "Of course, ma''am, the food looks great, and I''m sure it will taste just as good" William said. "Hoh, such a well-spoken young man; Mark should take notes." Everyone laughed hearing this except for Mark, who looked a bit embarrassed. A very lively and warm atmosphere was created as everyone enjoyed the food that was served. Just like he expected, the food, while not as good as some of the food he was served in the Verhein mansion, was filled with love and the taste of a mother''s hand. The whole atmosphere reminded William of his own parents, both in this life and the last one. In both his lives, he was blessed with loving parents, something he was thankful for, and today he was really reminded of how lucky he was. As William took another bite of the mashed potato, he felt truly happy and satisfied. For the first time in months, he didn''t feel worried about the future or his flaw. He hoped that this moment of joy and laughter could last. ** An: So first of all, I would like to apologise for not being able to post daily, but to basically sum it up for you, a lot of personal stuff happened and I couldn''t focus on writing. But don''t worry, I''m back now, and I''ll try to be consistent again. Also, please consider joining the discord. Chapter 145: ch-145 Please skip This chapter 2 months ago, right after William finished delivering the corpses of all the miners to their loved ones,. William made his way through the city as he tried to find Mark''s house. Today was supposed to be the first time all the cleansers met after the double dungeon. Mark had invited all of them for dinner, and without even realising it, the time for dinner had arrived. It ended up taking him longer than expected just to deliver the corpses, but William didn''t regret it. If anything, he was relieved to have witnessed firsthand the consequences of his incompetence. William was once again starting to spiral into the endless rabbit hole of self-blame and regret. But before he could, he was stopped by the sight of a modest-looking house. The house wasn''t that big and looked quite small in comparison to some of the houses next to it. Even the exterior of the house looked a bit old and very lived-in. But despite all this, the house had a sort of nostalgic, homelike feeling that made William forget about all his worries and smile as he entered. Once he entered, he was greeted by Mark, who was wearing brown pants and a loose white shirt. "Welcome, John" Mark said. "Sup been a while" William smiled as he replied. "Yep indeed," Mark replied. With the basic greetings out of the way,Mark led him inside to the living room, where he found a dining table with food on it and three girls. Two of these girls were young, while the last one looked to be in her early fifties. On the table,a wide variety of food was served,ranging from simple mashed potatoes,salads to meat balls. The food didn''t look very fancy but it looked like it was made with love,which reminded William of both his own mother''s cooking. William was excited to dig into the food as it looked delicious, but he had to hold back as there was something more important that he needed to do first. "Greetings, Mrs. Welk" William said with a respectful tone as he bowed a little. "Oh, no need for the formality dear" the middle-aged woman said as she got up with her hands held. Now that he was a bit closer to her, he could get a better look at her. She had short black hair and eyes and wrinkles were evident on her face signifying her age. But despite this she had a bright wide smile and lively eyes that reminded William of his mother in his previous life. "You look like a very capable and strong young man I''m glad Mark has a friend like you" she said. "No ma''am,, it''s the other way around Mark has been a great friend to me" William replied. Once he was done with the greetings he took a seat next to Jasmine, who was wearing a black dress which really complimented her hair. And while William didn''t want to admit it in front of her,she looked very pretty. "Sup" Jasmine said. "Hi" William replied. "I hope you''ve been well the past few days" "I have and I and I hope you''ve also been doing well" William said. Jasmine looked like she wanted to say more, but due to the presence of Mrs.Welk, she held back. William easily picked up on this, but he didn''t continue the conversation. If he had to guess, she probably wanted to talk about his experience delivering the corpses and what he saw. Even earlier,earlier, Jasmine was very vocal about not wanting him to go to deliver the corpses, and even if he wanted to go, she wanted to accompany him. William could see her good intentions behind the proposal and knew that she was probably just worried for him. Honestly, he found it quite cute, as it was a new experience for him to have someone worry for him aside from his parents. Especially someone who was basically a complete stranger to him, like Jasmine. It almost brought a smile to his face, but it would look weird if he randomly smiled, so he restrained himself. Next was Raya, who was sitting to the right of Jasmine. She wore a simple green top and had her golden hair in a bun, which made her look very pleasing to the eye. In Williams opinion, this hairstyle really suited her. "Nice hair," he complimented. His words seemed to have woken Rays up from her previous trance, as she hadn''t said anything since William entered, almost like she was thinking about something. "Th-thanks!" she exclaimed. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. William ignored her stutter, as he said. "Been a while." "Yeah" Unlike Mark and Jasmine, whom he had seen over the last few days in the guild hall, this was the first time he had seen her since the double dungeon. After this, he didn''t say much to her, as Mark''s mother interupted them. "Since you guys are done greeting each other, how about eating the food before it gets cold?" "Of course, ma''am, the food looks great, and I''m sure it will taste just as good" William said. "Hoh, such a well-spoken young man; Mark should take notes." Everyone laughed hearing this except for Mark, who looked a bit embarrassed. A very lively and warm atmosphere was created as everyone enjoyed the food that was served. Just like he expected, the food, while not as good as some of the food he was served in the Verhein mansion, was filled with love and the taste of a mother''s hand. The whole atmosphere reminded William of his own parents, both in this life and the last one. In both his lives, he was blessed with loving parents, something he was thankful for, and today he was really reminded of how lucky he was. As William took another bite of the mashed potato, he felt truly happy and satisfied. For the first time in months, he didn''t feel worried about the future or his flaw. He hoped that this moment of joy and laughter could last. ** An: So first of all, I would like to apologise for not being able to post daily, but to basically sum it up for you, a lot of personal stuff happened and I couldn''t focus on writing. But don''t worry, I''m back now, and I''ll try to be consistent again. Also, please consider joining the discord. William made his way through the city as he tried to find Mark''s house. Today was supposed to be the first time all the cleansers met after the double dungeon. Mark had invited all of them for dinner, and without even realising it, the time for dinner had arrived. It ended up taking him longer than expected just to deliver the corpses, but William didn''t regret it. If anything, he was relieved to have witnessed firsthand the consequences of his incompetence. William was once again starting to spiral into the endless rabbit hole of self-blame and regret. But before he could, he was stopped by the sight of a modest-looking house. The house wasn''t that big and looked quite small in comparison to some of the houses next to it. Even the exterior of the house looked a bit old and very lived-in. But despite all this, the house had a sort of nostalgic, homelike feeling that made William forget about all his worries and smile as he entered. Once he entered, he was greeted by Mark, who was wearing brown pants and a loose white shirt. "Welcome, John" Mark said. "Sup been a while" William smiled as he replied. "Yep indeed," Mark replied. With the basic greetings out of the way,Mark led him inside to the living room, where he found a dining table with food on it and three girls. Two of these girls were young, while the last one looked to be in her early fifties. On the table,a wide variety of food was served,ranging from simple mashed potatoes,salads to meat balls. The food didn''t look very fancy but it looked like it was made with love,which reminded William of both his own mother''s cooking. William was excited to dig into the food as it looked delicious, but he had to hold back as there was something more important that he needed to do first. "Greetings, Mrs. Welk" William said with a respectful tone as he bowed a little. "Oh, no need for the formality dear" the middle-aged woman said as she got up with her hands held. Now that he was a bit closer to her, he could get a better look at her. She had short black hair and eyes and wrinkles were evident on her face signifying her age. But despite this she had a bright wide smile and lively eyes that reminded William of his mother in his previous life. "You look like a very capable and strong young man I''m glad Mark has a friend like you" she said. "No ma''am,, it''s the other way around Mark has been a great friend to me" William replied. Once he was done with the greetings he took a seat next to Jasmine, who was wearing a black dress which really complimented her hair. And while William didn''t want to admit it in front of her,she looked very pretty. "Sup" Jasmine said. "Hi" William replied. "I hope you''ve been well the past few days" "I have and I and I hope you''ve also been doing well" William said. Jasmine looked like she wanted to say more, but due to the presence of Mrs.Welk, she held back. William easily picked up on this, but he didn''t continue the conversation. If he had to guess, she probably wanted to talk about his experience delivering the corpses and what he saw. Even earlier,earlier, Jasmine was very vocal about not wanting him to go to deliver the corpses, and even if he wanted to go, she wanted to accompany him. William could see her good intentions behind the proposal and knew that she was probably just worried for him. Honestly, he found it quite cute, as it was a new experience for him to have someone worry for him aside from his parents. Especially someone who was basically a complete stranger to him, like Jasmine. It almost brought a smile to his face, but it would look weird if he randomly smiled, so he restrained himself. Next was Raya, who was sitting to the right of Jasmine. She wore a simple green top and had her golden hair in a bun, which made her look very pleasing to the eye. In Williams opinion, this hairstyle really suited her. "Nice hair," he complimented. His words seemed to have woken Rays up from her previous trance, as she hadn''t said anything since William entered, almost like she was thinking about something. "Th-thanks!" she exclaimed. William ignored her stutter, as he said. "Been a while." "Yeah" Unlike Mark and Jasmine, whom he had seen over the last few days in the guild hall, this was the first time he had seen her since the double dungeon. After this, he didn''t say much to her, as Mark''s mother interupted them. "Since you guys are done greeting each other, how about eating the food before it gets cold?" "Of course, ma''am, the food looks great, and I''m sure it will taste just as good" William said. "Hoh, such a well-spoken young man; Mark should take notes." Everyone laughed hearing this except for Mark, who looked a bit embarrassed. A very lively and warm atmosphere was created as everyone enjoyed the food that was served. Just like he expected, the food, while not as good as some of the food he was served in the Verhein mansion, was filled with love and the taste of a mother''s hand. The whole atmosphere reminded William of his own parents, both in this life and the last one. Discover exclusive content at m,v l''-NovelFire.net In both his lives, he was blessed with loving parents, something he was thankful for, and today he was really reminded of how lucky he was. As William took another bite of the mashed potato, he felt truly happy and satisfied. For the first time in months, he didn''t feel worried about the future or his flaw. He hoped that this moment of joy and laughter could last. ** An: So first of all, I would like to apologise for not being able to post daily, but to basically sum it up for you, a lot of personal stuff happened and I couldn''t focus on writing. But don''t worry, I''m back now, and I''ll try to be consistent again. Also, please consider joining the discord. Once again sorry for messing up and posting the wrong chapter. But to make up for this mistake I''ll be posting 4 chapters tomorrow Chapter 146: ch-146 Please skip this chapter 25th Octobal, 5678 2 months after the double dungeon incident at Adventurers Guild headquarters in Markwhelter Kingdom "Today it is with great pleasure of mine that I announce to everyone that we now have a new S-rank adventurer among us." "Everyone, please give a round of applause for Edge Lord" Bella announced with a wide smile plastered on her face and her voice oozing pride at the new S-rank adventurer that their city had birthed. ~clap~ ~clap~ ~clap "Man, you''re insane. Keep up the good work!!" "The future of adventurers guild!!!" Hearing Bella''s words, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and claps as they celebrated the man who broke the record of the current sword saint and forever engraved his name in the history books of the Adventurers Guild as the fastest man to become a S-rank adventurer. "I still can''t believe he actually achieved S rank in less than 3 months. Isn''t this a new record?" spoke a man from amongst the crowd, still a bit unsettled by how Edge Lord was basically speedrunning the guild ranks. He had already started as an A-rank adventurer, a feat that many still had trouble believing. But they had no choice but to come to terms with it over time. Normally, it takes a person more than one year to go from A to S rank. Even Rex Verhein, the current sword saint as well as the strongest adventurer in the history of the kingdom, took 5 months just to reach that level of S rank. But Edge Lord not only broke this record, he completely crushed it by halving it. A bunch of adventurers present still had trouble believing how it was possible for someone so young to be able to be this strong. All of them had been working for years and were yet to reach the prestigious level of S rank. According to some estimations, more than 30,000 active adventurers were registered in just the Markwhelter kingdom branch, and out of those, only a little over 1000 were registered as S ranks, and most of them were away on one mission or another. That was just how rare S-rank adventurers were supposed to be, and yet a mere rookie managed to accomplish the feat before them. It would be a lie to say that most of them present here weren''t jealous of him, but in the end, their complaints and whinings would do nothing but earn the ire of the guild and a S-rank adventurer. So they could do nothing but accept it as it is and just cheer Edge Lord on for his achievement. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, both Bella and William smiled. "How about sparing a word or two for everyone gathered here today?" Bella suggested. Hearing her suggestion, William smiled as he said. "Sure" ** For the past 2 months, William has spared no effort in trying to gather as many merit points as possible. He did one mission after another nonstop, and before long, he had become a S rank. His initial plan had changed a lot due to everything that had happened inside the double dungeon. Originally, he planned to take multiple months just doing one mission after another to purchase as many natural treasures as possible. But for some reason, Zephyr was really persistent about him departing in exactly 7 months. It had already been 3 months, and now that he had become a S rank, he could spend the next 4 months training under Michael and learn everything that he could from him. He had already gotten two very powerful chaos servants thanks to the double dungeon, and the opportunity to learn under one of the strongest people alive was probably much more valuable than a few more servants. And finally, after 2 months, he finally had enough merit points to attempt the S rank promotion test. As for the S rank promotion test itself, it was extremely easy for him thanks to his improved stats and skill set. The test required him to fight an evolved version of the thickmatte bear that he defeated for his B rank promotion test. Depending on the environment a monster grows up in, it is possible for a monster to evolve. Which is exactly what happened to this particular bear, evolving from a thickmatte bear to a boulder-armed bear. This evolved version of the monster had even higher endurance than its previous counterpart, and it now even had the strength to crush massive boulders easily. But despite all of this, in front of William, who was much stronger than in the past, it was helpless, completely unable to resist his powers. Now that he had finally become a S-rank adventurer, the only thing left to do was make Michael fulfil his promise and teach him. William still laughed sometimes, remembering how he had managed to scam Michael out of his once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a disciple, but he was getting distracted again. Bella gave him a ring-like artefact that functioned pretty similar to a mic, with the only difference being that it used mana. Since Bella wanted him to give a speech, he had the perfect plan for what he needed to say. William could see the looks most of the adventurers were giving him. Some were out of envy. Most of them were out of respect. And even more of them were in fear of his monstrous talent. William smiled upon seeing this, finding their reactions a bit funny. "For those of you who respect me for the strength I possess, thank you." "But I can see that some of you are envious of me and even a bit scared of me." "For all of you, the only thing I have to say is that if you truly wish to reach the same place as me, then push yourself instead of complaining about your lack of talent like bums." "And if you try hard enough, who knows, you just might also reach the S rank." "However, by then I''ll be at an even higher level." With that, Williams speech finally concluded, and there was silence amongst the crowd after Williams bold declaration of reaching an even higher level, most likely suggesting that he would reach the prestigious SS or SSS. Most of them were hoping it was the latter, as even now there was not even a single active SSS adventurer in the whole Markwhelter kingdom. But just based on what he had displayed so far, he definitely had a very good shot at achieving it. And the thing that really inspired everyone was how he said that even they could reach the S rank level by just trying harder. Some more logical and pragmatic individuals were skeptical of his claim; however, some people just needed a bit of motivation to fully devote themselves to something, which is exactly what the Williams speech did. After the silence came excited yells and screams, as the whole hall erupted in cheers and excitement. However, William didn''t care about any of this, as he had already used [Shadow Step] to leave the guild hall after returning the ring to Bella. After all, today was the day Jasmine returned, and William had no plans of missing out on welcoming her. ** AN: Welcome everyone to Volume 3, ''Calamity in the Neutral Continent'' I would advise you to strap in and enjoy the ride, because this will be a fun one. And also, please join our discord. 25th Octobal, 5678 2 months after the double dungeon incident at Adventurers Guild headquarters in Markwhelter Kingdom "Today it is with great pleasure of mine that I announce to everyone that we now have a new S-rank adventurer among us." "Everyone, please give a round of applause for Edge Lord" Bella announced with a wide smile plastered on her face and her voice oozing pride at the new S-rank adventurer that their city had birthed. ~clap~ ~clap~ ~clap "Man, you''re insane. Keep up the good work!!" "The future of adventurers guild!!!" Hearing Bella''s words, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and claps as they celebrated the man who broke the record of the current sword saint and forever engraved his name in the history books of the Adventurers Guild as the fastest man to become a S-rank adventurer. "I still can''t believe he actually achieved S rank in less than 3 months. Isn''t this a new record?" spoke a man from amongst the crowd, still a bit unsettled by how Edge Lord was basically speedrunning the guild ranks. He had already started as an A-rank adventurer, a feat that many still had trouble believing. But they had no choice but to come to terms with it over time. Normally, it takes a person more than one year to go from A to S rank. Even Rex Verhein, the current sword saint as well as the strongest adventurer in the history of the kingdom, took 5 months just to reach that level of S rank. But Edge Lord not only broke this record, he completely crushed it by halving it. A bunch of adventurers present still had trouble believing how it was possible for someone so young to be able to be this strong. All of them had been working for years and were yet to reach the prestigious level of S rank. According to some estimations, more than 30,000 active adventurers were registered in just the Markwhelter kingdom branch, and out of those, only a little over 1000 were registered as S ranks, and most of them were away on one mission or another. That was just how rare S-rank adventurers were supposed to be, and yet a mere rookie managed to accomplish the feat before them. It would be a lie to say that most of them present here weren''t jealous of him, but in the end, their complaints and whinings would do nothing but earn the ire of the guild and a S-rank adventurer. So they could do nothing but accept it as it is and just cheer Edge Lord on for his achievement. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, both Bella and William smiled. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "How about sparing a word or two for everyone gathered here today?" Bella suggested. Hearing her suggestion, William smiled as he said. "Sure" ** For the past 2 months, William has spared no effort in trying to gather as many merit points as possible. He did one mission after another nonstop, and before long, he had become a S rank. His initial plan had changed a lot due to everything that had happened inside the double dungeon. Originally, he planned to take multiple months just doing one mission after another to purchase as many natural treasures as possible. But for some reason, Zephyr was really persistent about him departing in exactly 7 months. It had already been 3 months, and now that he had become a S rank, he could spend the next 4 months training under Michael and learn everything that he could from him. He had already gotten two very powerful chaos servants thanks to the double dungeon, and the opportunity to learn under one of the strongest people alive was probably much more valuable than a few more servants. And finally, after 2 months, he finally had enough merit points to attempt the S rank promotion test. As for the S rank promotion test itself, it was extremely easy for him thanks to his improved stats and skill set. The test required him to fight an evolved version of the thickmatte bear that he defeated for his B rank promotion test. Depending on the environment a monster grows up in, it is possible for a monster to evolve. Which is exactly what happened to this particular bear, evolving from a thickmatte bear to a boulder-armed bear. This evolved version of the monster had even higher endurance than its previous counterpart, and it now even had the strength to crush massive boulders easily. But despite all of this, in front of William, who was much stronger than in the past, it was helpless, completely unable to resist his powers. Now that he had finally become a S-rank adventurer, the only thing left to do was make Michael fulfil his promise and teach him. William still laughed sometimes, remembering how he had managed to scam Michael out of his once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a disciple, but he was getting distracted again. Bella gave him a ring-like artefact that functioned pretty similar to a mic, with the only difference being that it used mana. Since Bella wanted him to give a speech, he had the perfect plan for what he needed to say. William could see the looks most of the adventurers were giving him. Some were out of envy. Most of them were out of respect. And even more of them were in fear of his monstrous talent. William smiled upon seeing this, finding their reactions a bit funny. "For those of you who respect me for the strength I possess, thank you." "But I can see that some of you are envious of me and even a bit scared of me." "For all of you, the only thing I have to say is that if you truly wish to reach the same place as me, then push yourself instead of complaining about your lack of talent like bums." "And if you try hard enough, who knows, you just might also reach the S rank." Enjoy exclusive content from m v -NovelFire.net "However, by then I''ll be at an even higher level." With that, Williams speech finally concluded, and there was silence amongst the crowd after Williams bold declaration of reaching an even higher level, most likely suggesting that he would reach the prestigious SS or SSS. Most of them were hoping it was the latter, as even now there was not even a single active SSS adventurer in the whole Markwhelter kingdom. But just based on what he had displayed so far, he definitely had a very good shot at achieving it. And the thing that really inspired everyone was how he said that even they could reach the S rank level by just trying harder. Some more logical and pragmatic individuals were skeptical of his claim; however, some people just needed a bit of motivation to fully devote themselves to something, which is exactly what the Williams speech did. After the silence came excited yells and screams, as the whole hall erupted in cheers and excitement. However, William didn''t care about any of this, as he had already used [Shadow Step] to leave the guild hall after returning the ring to Bella. After all, today was the day Jasmine returned, and William had no plans of missing out on welcoming her. ** AN: Welcome everyone to Volume 3, ''Calamity in the Neutral Continent'' I would advise you to strap in and enjoy the ride, because this will be a fun one. And also, please join our discord. Chapter 147: Ch-147 Getting To learn a bit more about each other Like all good things even the dinner came to a end. "Thanks for the dinner ma''am" William said. "The pleasure is mine dear, I''m glad you guys enjoyed the food" "Now how about you guys go and hang out in Mark''s room for a bit while I go clean the dishes" she said. "Let me help you ma''am" William tried to help but his offer wad quickly rejected. So he along with the rest of his former party went to hang out in Mark''s room. ** Mark''s room didn''t have much in it and it wasn''t because of him being a minimalist or something but rather because it wasn''t that lived in. Maybe it was because Mark preffered to spend most of his time outside. It just had one queen sized bed, one poster of the sword saint and a small study table. The room wasn''t that big, due to which despite not having much it didn''t look that weird. William and Mark took a seat on the bed ,while Jasmine sat on the study table chair and Raya took a stray chair that was in the room. For a few seconds there was a awkward silence with no one talking, but it was broken by William. "I didn''t know you were a fan of the sword saint" he said while looking at the lone poster in the room which depicted Rex posing heroically with his sword held in the sky. William had always known that Rex was a big shot in the world even before he left home, but it seems he had gravely underestimated his influence. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Every 1 out of 3 aspiring adventurer had Rex as their role model. The strongest adventurer in history, sword saint, dragon slayer,second strongest man alive, sword that can cut the sky, count Verhein and many more. These were just some of the nicknames Rex had earned over the years. While now he was mostly retired and had settled to live a simple life with his family while governing his territory. The mark he had left on the world was still felt. And as the son of such a man he was naturally the center of many discussions and debates. With most people debating about his speech and if whether he was too cocky, while others believed his words and praised his talent. He had known this even before but the notion was only made clearer over the last few months that the whole world had its eyes on him and were patiently watching each and every move of his. For anyone else this realization would have probably felt daunting and stressful to know that all their moves were being watched and observed but for William it just felt exciting. As the son of the sword saint as well as the second ever divine aspect holder, this much attention should be minimum and it did nothing but motivate him to try even harder to live up to everyone''s expectations. Especially his parents but it seems he had ended up zoning out again and even Mark seemed to have noticed. "I''m sorry I was just thinking about something" William exclaimed. "Oh no problem man, so like I was saying" "Rex Verhein has always been my childhood idol and I''ve always dreamed about following his footsteps" "He was the inspiration for both me and my brother to pursue a career as adventurers" "I know it might be a bit childish but I still want to keep trying my best" Mark explained. "I see that''s great,I''m sure you''ll succeed in your goal as long as you keep trying" William replied enthusiastically. Honestly William didn''t really think it was possible for Mark to ever become as strong as Rex. Rex was really an annomaly in how he managed to become so strong, it was really weird how despite all his powers he wasn''t even the strongest human. But that wasn''t important right now, what was important was that Mark was probably never gonna reach a level even close to Rex, but he didn''t have the heart to crush his childhood dream. Besides, with his talent and personality Mark will probably end up becoming relatively famous atleast in the guild and William wished him nothing but good luck as a friend. " I didn''t know you had a brother" Jasmine spoke. This was something even William was interested in and considered asking about later in the conversation. But he wasn''t complaining about Jasmine bringing it up earlier. Hearing her question Mark went quite for a second which made Jasmine wonder if she had asked something she shouldn''t have. Thankfully the wait didn''t last long long as after sighing he finally spoke. "Yeah I used to have a brother before. We were really close in the past and we both had the same dream of surpassing Rex Verhein. He was much more talented and skilled than me and after a few years of being a adventurer had managed to reach the rank of SS, given a few more months or a year even SSS rank wouldn''t have been out of reach for him. Sadly life doesn''t work according to what one expects and he took a mission which was too tough for him and has now now been missing for the past 2 years. "Most people think that he died already " Rex took a break as if fighting the tears which threatened to spill out, thankfully he managed to control himself and continued speaking. "But I disagree I''m sure he isn''t dead yet, he can''t die without achieving our dream, he will one day come back for sure" "He has to" Mark said with determination in his voice. Find more chapters on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net Everyone looked concern for him as this was the first time they had seen this side of the usually composed and collected Mark. They wanted to comfort him but weren''t sure what to say. "I see I didn''t know that but, I pray that you''re right and he ends up coming back after all" William finally decided to break the ice as he tried his best to comfort his friend. He really hated doing this and sucked at it, but as one says experience is the best teacher and William had a lot or experience doing this thanks to his past life. "Thanks I appreciate it" "But well that''s enough about me how about you guys share a bit about yourselves now" Mark suggested. The night was still young and there were still a lot of things which needed to be discussed and talked about. Chapter 148: Ch-148 Question Of Trust After Mark next was Raya and Jasmine. Explore stories on m,v l''-NovelFire.net William had come to learn about how Raya needed to become a S rank adventurer, unless she wanted to get married to a corrupt heir of a baron family. It was a tragic situation and went to show just how shitty her family was, but William wasn''t worried as he knew that Raya would be able to easily become a S rank adventurer given a bit more time. Even though her stats and battle force wasn''t the greatest her aspect more than made up for it. Thanks to the way her aspect functioned she would be a invaluable asset to any team or expedition. Also he had asked her for the name of the corrupt noble while he couldn''t really do anything about it now due to having his identity hidden as well Rex being in a tough spot thanks to his actions. He was definitely going to do some research of his own and if Raya''s claims turned out to be true, strip the baron family of their title. After all their kingdom had no need for corrupted nobles who were abusing their authority and powers to hide the acts of a criminal and constantly dealing with the underworld. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Not to mention even with all that excluded as Raya''s friend, he could definitely help her out. It was basically killing two birds with one stone. Next was Jasmine who told them about how her father had abandoned them forcing her mother to look after both her and her brother. Apparently the only reason why she had even attempted to become a adventurer was to earn money for her sick mother. William felt a bit of pity hearing about her situation , but he was also glad after all thanks to their last mission she now had enough money to get her mother treated. According to what she had told them she was planning on going back to home tomorrow to buy treatment for her mother. And he wished nothing but good wishes for her and her mother. He originally thought that she was planning on quitting being an adventurer but apparently not. As she planned to come back to Markwhelter after getting her mother cured to continue working as a adventurer for a few months before she finally became 16 years old and joined Starlight academy which was the most prestigious academy in all of human continent. It was a bit funny since William was also planning on enrolling in that academy once he was 16. Meaning by the time he enrolled she would technically be his senior which felt really weird to even think about. Thankfully the academy only lasted 3 years so by the time it was Williams time to join she would have long since graduated already. Now that all of them had talked for a couple of hours, William definitely felt a lot more closer to these people compared to before. He had learned about their past, vulnerabilities and just overall more about these people while he already knew this before the idea was solidified even more now. That all these people were good and honest people. During the conversation Mark, had brought up the idea of continuing their party for a bit longer, a idea which was met with a overwhelming positive response. However, there was just one problem with all this. Since everyone else had talked about each other and revealed their secrets it was now his turn. He knew that this was coming and yet he had been dreading it for the past few days. While yes he could just lie and probably get away with it. It wouldn''t be fair to these people who trusted him and chosen to be vulnerable with him. Also he had genuinely grown to enjoy the company of these people and even started to think of them as friends. So if possible he wanted to continue adventuring with them for a bit long. During the boss room of the double dungeon they had seen his true form and appearance. While he could try and lie by saying it was just a transformation that didn''t sit right with him. He had a lot of secrets that he under no circumstances could allow others to know such as him retaining memories of his past life, his aspect, the fact that he had the literal God of mana himself inside his head and more recently about Fariel the last of his kind, the fact a evil God almost descended in the world. Compared to all of this his identity was really nothing. Since they had chose to trust him the least he could do was return the favor. The atmosphere was tense as no one spoke and uneasy almost palpable tension hung in the air as all eyes in the room were looking at him. Waiting for him to talk. Everyone in the room was curious about John''s past and where he had come from after all they knew almost nothing about him ,aside from the fact that he wielded incredible power that they could never even dream to match and that he had talent to achieve even more. All three of them had different reasons for their curiosity but all of them had the same question in mind. ''Just where did someone as monstrous as him even come from'' And it was time to answer their curiosity. Using his masterful control over mana William stealthily created a invisible barrier than was completely untraceable by everyone but him. Now finally having steeled his resolve, it was time to do what he had set his mind to. With a single command the dark slime which was currently altering his appearance and hiding his real identity came off. Dark and gooey slime fell of William''s face and went into his shadow. His previously jade black hair became beautiful snow white. His mature and handsome face changed to another handsome but young one. He had no baby fat left on his cheek thanks to his new bloodline which had removed all unnecessary fat to optimize his body to limit and increased muscle density. His jaw dropping crimson eyes came into view as they observed the reaction of the people in the room. His jawline became a bit less defined thanks to his age. His height got reduced by quite a few inches and his clothes changed from a all black casual suit to a slightly oversized but stylish white shirt. At long last the cat was out the bag as William had revealed his true appearance to his party. "Hi guys" he spoke Chapter 149: Ch-149 Question Of Trust-2 "Hi guys" William spoke trying his best to hide his nervousness. Gone was the mask of his fake identity of Edge Lord. Now he stood in front of his party with his true appearance revealed waiting for their reaction. Thanks to his new bloodline he looked much different from before. First was obviously him becoming taller than before as well as him losing his baby fat. Next was his body becoming very lean and muscular. But the muscles weren''t overbearing and instead looked aesthetically pleasing. His beautiful snow white hair had also grown longer reaching all the way to his shoulder. He hadn''t gotten the chance to cut them yet so instead he had opted to tie them in a bun for now. ''Are you sure about this?'' Wiz asked inside his mind. ''About as sure as I''ll ever be and while, I would prefer to not resort to them, I have already erected a barrier and plan to take counter measures if I deem them likely to leak my identity'' Jasmine didn''t show much of a expression seeing him as if already expecting something like this. But the same wasn''t the case for Mark who had his jaw wide open, unable to believe what he was seeing as it was too absurd. After it was not easy to accept that the extremely powerful friend and party member of yours was actually the 10 year old son of your idol. As for Raya she looked even more shocked and strangely enough afraid. After all the reason for her shock wasn''t the same as Mark but rather completely different. Read exclusive adventures at m_v-l''-NovelFire.net ''Oh god I''ve been crushing on a 10 year old all this time, does that make me a criminal?'' That''s right for a 22 year old adult to have a crush on a 10 year, was nothing but absolutely disgusting and repulsive. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And just like on the blue planet Astressa had a age of consent with various laws and punishments for those disgusting enough to try and take advantage of minors. Raya was considering trying her luck and confessing to John soon. But to think the always calm, smart, handsome and powerful John was actually just a 10 year old was absurd and unbelievable. Raya had really just dodge a bullet, otherwise she too would''ve have become a criminal just like the disgusting heir of the baron who was trying to marry her. She was disgusted at herself for having such indecent thoughts about a kid who was even younger than her own younger brother. Just what face would she even have left if she had really started dating him only to later learn his age. Raya wanted to bury herself in a hole as just imagining such a future was more dreadful than the both the stone statue and the kerberus they had faced in the double dungeon combined. This was just considering the moral and legal implications of her affections. But what about the family of the target of her affection. It was a well known fact just how much the sword saint cherished his only son and heir. Stories of all the mercenary and groups he had singlehandedly crushed overnight just for setting their eyes on his son were famous today. All these people that he had destroyed without any difficulty were far stronger than she could ever be. She didn''t even want to imagine the potential faith of her and her family. It was just too harrowing and frightening. Knowing all this the pale and horrified expression on Raya''s expression like she had just seen a ghost only made sense. Needless, to say any crush or affection that she had ever harboured for William were already far gone. ** As William observed the expression of Mark and Raya he could do nothing but sigh as they only made sense considering his status. Though even he was a bit surprised seeing Raya''s reaction like she had just seen a ghost. ''Do I look scary or something?'' He wondered, but quickly got the thought out of his head as there was another person in the room who caught his attention. "You don''t look surprised" William asked while looking at Jasmine. He was really weirded out by Jasmine and her seemingly nonchalant reaction to him. It was honestly a bit dissapointing how she didn''t seem to care about him hiding his identity or about him being the son of the sword saint. "Oh no, you''re mistaken I''m indeed a bit surprised but I also kinda expected something like this" Jasmine replied as if stating the most obvious thing in the world. It was now William''s turn to be shocked as he couldn''t believe his ears hearing her response. ''Was my identity that obvious?'' "I mean just think about it a random no name adventurer shows up out of nowhere with enough magic talent and power to put even the wisest mages to shame" "And you looked too smart and experienced for any commoner" "Ultimately the only real conclusion left was that you were some noble hiding his identity" "Though even I must say I never expected you to be so young" "But I guess nobles are just different from everyone else even at a young age" Jasmine explained her reasoning for her deduction. And the more she spoke the more stunned William became. He couldn''t believe everything she was saying, it seems he had really underestimated the intelligence of the young girl. Hearing her explanation even Mark and Raya calmed down and tried to play off cool as if they had already known about his identity. It was almost funny how he had been overthinking so much over the past two days. After the reveal William spent the next few hours just talking and hanging out with the rest of the cleansers about their pasts, plans for the future among other things. Unlike with Zack and Lilly who were kids and talked about childish things that he didn''t care about much. The same wasn''t the case with the cleansers who were much more closer to his real age and didn''t need him to pretend to be naive and childish. Today was one of the most memorable nights in Williams new life and one thing was for sure that he had finally made some friends in his new life that he could be himself with. Chapter 150: Ch-150 Lighthearted Fun Present time. William smiled remembering the night he had made the hard decision to reveal his identity to the cleansers. He still laughed sometimes thinking about how much he had over overthinked before revealing and the reaction he ultimately got. Well it was all in the past now and didn''t really matter. Today Jasmine was supposed to come back to Markwhelter after getting her mother treated. Mark and Raya were already waiting for her at the place they had chosen to reunite. They had even missed his promotion exam for it saying how they already knew he was gonna easily pass. And they were right, he had rushed the exam and promotion as fast as possible for this reunion. He didn''t know why yet but he had come to enjoy the company of Jasmine and even missed her a little in her absence. Without the ever enthusiastic and naive young girl the team just seemed incomplete. Over the past 2 months a bunch of people had tried to join their team, thanks to the increasing popularity and fame of their party. And even more of William or rather Edge Lord himself. William had always expected his Edge Lord persona to gain some attention , due to his refusal to hide his strength. But, he could have never predicted the sheer scale of this fame. As by this point Edge Lord was a name that was known by pretty much any half competent adventurer outside Markwhelter. And he was sure this fame was only going to increase even more in the future, due to him becoming a S rank adventurer. While that in itself wasn''t that special as there were thousands of S rank adventurers in the whole human continent, the speed at which he had achieved this feat definitely was. After all he had just broken Rex''s seemingly unbeatable record and not just break but crush it by halving it. But, all of this was irrelevant after all William had finally arrived at the location they had decided to reunite in. A giant billboard was revealed outside the establishment. And it read [Brothers Tavern] The tavern had the classic wooden exterior that one might expect in the taverns like this and had a sort of welcoming aura around it. Once William entered he was greeted by a strong but welcoming aroma of alchohol. ''Ah I really missed this'' Thanks to how tough his last life was he had developed a deep love and appreciation for alchohol. It was by no means an addiction and he could go without it for months and years if he wanted. But, when he wanted to drink he wanted the highest quality possible. He hadn''t gotten the chance to drink any alchohol so far in his second life due to his young age. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But,not anymore, today was the day he finally ended his liquor virginity. The tavern was mostly empty today aside for 3 people, a bar tender and few staff members. This was obviously because William had booked the whole place for himself and his friends. Usually such a place would be very hard but apparently being a famous and talked about adventurer had a lot of unusual advantages such as this one. Normally, a tavern like this would be filled to the brim with people and especially adventurers. But, that would ruin his experience so he just booked the whole bar,since money wasn''t exactly a problem for him. ** Upon, entering William was greeted by a staff member who took him to where his friends were seated. "Well, well if it isn''t Mr big shot S rank" Mark jokingly teased as he saw William enter. "Funny coming from the guy called ''Boulder armed Mark'' " William retorted playfully. That''s right over the past few months William wasn''t the only one to have made a name for himself as both Mark and Raya had become A-rank adventurers and gotten relatively popular. In fact, they had apparently gotten popular enough to earn nicknames and William really enjoyed teasing Mark with his childhish nickname. "Ugh, always the same comeback" Mark grumbled in embarrassment as he admitted defeat. "Why would I come back with a new comeback when the old one always gets the job done" William joked. Now that his little banter with Mark was done, he moved his attention to the girl of the hour. The one for whom they had all gathered here today. "Hi Jasmine" William greeted in a soft voice. Jasmine had been smiling seeing William and Mark''s little exchange, and finally greeted him at being addressed. "Hi John" William had already instructed everyone to not use his real name when addressing him in public so, they just chose to call him John like before. He finally took a seat besides Mark and made himself comfortable. After sitting down he made sure to also greet Raya and even teased her a bit for ''Dead Eye'' nickname. Over the past few months Raya''s behavior towards him had changed quite a bit and she was way less awkward with him, which he really appreciated. ''Revealing my identity was a good decision after all'' Once again he was reaffirmed of what he what he already knew. William was determined to have as much fun as possible today, after all he was probably not going to get another chance for a while. All this time he had been preparing for the single opportunity to learn Michael''s teachings and now that he was a S rank, there was no more need to wait. But, that could wait for later, today he just wanted to have some fun with his friends. ** Explore hidden tales at m,v l''-NovelFire.net AN: I know the uploads were a bit inconsistent over the past few days but I hope you guys can forgive me and continue to enjoy the daily two chapters now. Also as usual here''s the discord link, make sure to join. Btw ,do let me know what you guys think about Williams decision to reveal his identity and ,also I would appreciate if you told me what your guys thoughts are on the cleansers are ,especially Jasmine . Chapter 151: ch-151 Please Skip This Chapter 25th Octobal, 5678 2 months after the double dungeon incident at Adventurers Guild headquarters in Markwhelter Kingdom "Today it is with great pleasure of mine that I announce to everyone that we now have a new S-rank adventurer among us." "Everyone, please give a round of applause for Edge Lord" Bella announced with a wide smile plastered on her face and her voice oozing pride at the new S-rank adventurer that their city had birthed. ~clap~ ~clap~ ~clap "Man, you''re insane. Keep up the good work!!" "The future of adventurers guild!!!" Hearing Bella''s words, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and claps as they celebrated the man who broke the record of the current sword saint and forever engraved his name in the history books of the Adventurers Guild as the fastest man to become a S-rank adventurer. "I still can''t believe he actually achieved S rank in less than 3 months. Isn''t this a new record?" spoke a man from amongst the crowd, still a bit unsettled by how Edge Lord was basically speedrunning the guild ranks. He had already started as an A-rank adventurer, a feat that many still had trouble believing. But they had no choice but to come to terms with it over time. Normally, it takes a person more than one year to go from A to S rank. Even Rex Verhein, the current sword saint as well as the strongest adventurer in the history of the kingdom, took 5 months just to reach that level of S rank. But Edge Lord not only broke this record, he completely crushed it by halving it. A bunch of adventurers present still had trouble believing how it was possible for someone so young to be able to be this strong. All of them had been working for years and were yet to reach the prestigious level of S rank. According to some estimations, more than 30,000 active adventurers were registered in just the Markwhelter kingdom branch, and out of those, only a little over 1000 were registered as S ranks, and most of them were away on one mission or another. That was just how rare S-rank adventurers were supposed to be, and yet a mere rookie managed to accomplish the feat before them. It would be a lie to say that most of them present here weren''t jealous of him, but in the end, their complaints and whinings would do nothing but earn the ire of the guild and a S-rank adventurer. So they could do nothing but accept it as it is and just cheer Edge Lord on for his achievement. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, both Bella and William smiled. "How about sparing a word or two for everyone gathered here today?" Bella suggested. Hearing her suggestion, William smiled as he said. "Sure" ** Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For the past 2 months, William has spared no effort in trying to gather as many merit points as possible. He did one mission after another nonstop, and before long, he had become a S rank. His initial plan had changed a lot due to everything that had happened inside the double dungeon. Originally, he planned to take multiple months just doing one mission after another to purchase as many natural treasures as possible. But for some reason, Zephyr was really persistent about him departing in exactly 7 months. It had already been 3 months, and now that he had become a S rank, he could spend the next 4 months training under Michael and learn everything that he could from him. He had already gotten two very powerful chaos servants thanks to the double dungeon, and the opportunity to learn under one of the strongest people alive was probably much more valuable than a few more servants. And finally, after 2 months, he finally had enough merit points to attempt the S rank promotion test. As for the S rank promotion test itself, it was extremely easy for him thanks to his improved stats and skill set. The test required him to fight an evolved version of the thickmatte bear that he defeated for his B rank promotion test. Depending on the environment a monster grows up in, it is possible for a monster to evolve. Which is exactly what happened to this particular bear, evolving from a thickmatte bear to a boulder-armed bear. This evolved version of the monster had even higher endurance than its previous counterpart, and it now even had the strength to crush massive boulders easily. But despite all of this, in front of William, who was much stronger than in the past, it was helpless, completely unable to resist his powers. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net Now that he had finally become a S-rank adventurer, the only thing left to do was make Michael fulfil his promise and teach him. William still laughed sometimes, remembering how he had managed to scam Michael out of his once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a disciple, but he was getting distracted again. Bella gave him a ring-like artefact that functioned pretty similar to a mic, with the only difference being that it used mana. Since Bella wanted him to give a speech, he had the perfect plan for what he needed to say. William could see the looks most of the adventurers were giving him. Some were out of envy. Most of them were out of respect. And even more of them were in fear of his monstrous talent. William smiled upon seeing this, finding their reactions a bit funny. "For those of you who respect me for the strength I possess, thank you." "But I can see that some of you are envious of me and even a bit scared of me." "For all of you, the only thing I have to say is that if you truly wish to reach the same place as me, then push yourself instead of complaining about your lack of talent like bums." "And if you try hard enough, who knows, you just might also reach the S rank." "However, by then I''ll be at an even higher level." With that, Williams speech finally concluded, and there was silence amongst the crowd after Williams bold declaration of reaching an even higher level, most likely suggesting that he would reach the prestigious SS or SSS. Most of them were hoping it was the latter, as even now there was not even a single active SSS adventurer in the whole Markwhelter kingdom. But just based on what he had displayed so far, he definitely had a very good shot at achieving it. And the thing that really inspired everyone was how he said that even they could reach the S rank level by just trying harder. Some more logical and pragmatic individuals were skeptical of his claim; however, some people just needed a bit of motivation to fully devote themselves to something, which is exactly what the Williams speech did. After the silence came excited yells and screams, as the whole hall erupted in cheers and excitement. However, William didn''t care about any of this, as he had already used [Shadow Step] to leave the guild hall after returning the ring to Bella. After all, today was the day Jasmine returned, and William had no plans of missing out on welcoming her. ** AN: Welcome everyone to Volume 3, ''Calamity in the Neutral Continent'' I would advise you to strap in and enjoy the ride, because this will be a fun one. And also, please join our discord. 25th Octobal, 5678 2 months after the double dungeon incident at Adventurers Guild headquarters in Markwhelter Kingdom "Today it is with great pleasure of mine that I announce to everyone that we now have a new S-rank adventurer among us." "Everyone, please give a round of applause for Edge Lord" Bella announced with a wide smile plastered on her face and her voice oozing pride at the new S-rank adventurer that their city had birthed. ~clap~ ~clap~ ~clap "Man, you''re insane. Keep up the good work!!" "The future of adventurers guild!!!" Hearing Bella''s words, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and claps as they celebrated the man who broke the record of the current sword saint and forever engraved his name in the history books of the Adventurers Guild as the fastest man to become a S-rank adventurer. "I still can''t believe he actually achieved S rank in less than 3 months. Isn''t this a new record?" spoke a man from amongst the crowd, still a bit unsettled by how Edge Lord was basically speedrunning the guild ranks. He had already started as an A-rank adventurer, a feat that many still had trouble believing. But they had no choice but to come to terms with it over time. Normally, it takes a person more than one year to go from A to S rank. Even Rex Verhein, the current sword saint as well as the strongest adventurer in the history of the kingdom, took 5 months just to reach that level of S rank. But Edge Lord not only broke this record, he completely crushed it by halving it. A bunch of adventurers present still had trouble believing how it was possible for someone so young to be able to be this strong. All of them had been working for years and were yet to reach the prestigious level of S rank. According to some estimations, more than 30,000 active adventurers were registered in just the Markwhelter kingdom branch, and out of those, only a little over 1000 were registered as S ranks, and most of them were away on one mission or another. That was just how rare S-rank adventurers were supposed to be, and yet a mere rookie managed to accomplish the feat before them. It would be a lie to say that most of them present here weren''t jealous of him, but in the end, their complaints and whinings would do nothing but earn the ire of the guild and a S-rank adventurer. So they could do nothing but accept it as it is and just cheer Edge Lord on for his achievement. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, both Bella and William smiled. "How about sparing a word or two for everyone gathered here today?" Bella suggested. Hearing her suggestion, William smiled as he said. "Sure" ** For the past 2 months, William has spared no effort in trying to gather as many merit points as possible. He did one mission after another nonstop, and before long, he had become a S rank. His initial plan had changed a lot due to everything that had happened inside the double dungeon. Originally, he planned to take multiple months just doing one mission after another to purchase as many natural treasures as possible. But for some reason, Zephyr was really persistent about him departing in exactly 7 months. It had already been 3 months, and now that he had become a S rank, he could spend the next 4 months training under Michael and learn everything that he could from him. He had already gotten two very powerful chaos servants thanks to the double dungeon, and the opportunity to learn under one of the strongest people alive was probably much more valuable than a few more servants. And finally, after 2 months, he finally had enough merit points to attempt the S rank promotion test. As for the S rank promotion test itself, it was extremely easy for him thanks to his improved stats and skill set. The test required him to fight an evolved version of the thickmatte bear that he defeated for his B rank promotion test. Depending on the environment a monster grows up in, it is possible for a monster to evolve. Which is exactly what happened to this particular bear, evolving from a thickmatte bear to a boulder-armed bear. This evolved version of the monster had even higher endurance than its previous counterpart, and it now even had the strength to crush massive boulders easily. But despite all of this, in front of William, who was much stronger than in the past, it was helpless, completely unable to resist his powers. Now that he had finally become a S-rank adventurer, the only thing left to do was make Michael fulfil his promise and teach him. William still laughed sometimes, remembering how he had managed to scam Michael out of his once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a disciple, but he was getting distracted again. Bella gave him a ring-like artefact that functioned pretty similar to a mic, with the only difference being that it used mana. Since Bella wanted him to give a speech, he had the perfect plan for what he needed to say. William could see the looks most of the adventurers were giving him. Some were out of envy. Most of them were out of respect. And even more of them were in fear of his monstrous talent. William smiled upon seeing this, finding their reactions a bit funny. "For those of you who respect me for the strength I possess, thank you." "But I can see that some of you are envious of me and even a bit scared of me." "For all of you, the only thing I have to say is that if you truly wish to reach the same place as me, then push yourself instead of complaining about your lack of talent like bums." "And if you try hard enough, who knows, you just might also reach the S rank." "However, by then I''ll be at an even higher level." With that, Williams speech finally concluded, and there was silence amongst the crowd after Williams bold declaration of reaching an even higher level, most likely suggesting that he would reach the prestigious SS or SSS. Most of them were hoping it was the latter, as even now there was not even a single active SSS adventurer in the whole Markwhelter kingdom. But just based on what he had displayed so far, he definitely had a very good shot at achieving it. And the thing that really inspired everyone was how he said that even they could reach the S rank level by just trying harder. Some more logical and pragmatic individuals were skeptical of his claim; however, some people just needed a bit of motivation to fully devote themselves to something, which is exactly what the Williams speech did. After the silence came excited yells and screams, as the whole hall erupted in cheers and excitement. However, William didn''t care about any of this, as he had already used [Shadow Step] to leave the guild hall after returning the ring to Bella. After all, today was the day Jasmine returned, and William had no plans of missing out on welcoming her. ** AN: Welcome everyone to Volume 3, ''Calamity in the Neutral Continent'' I would advise you to strap in and enjoy the ride, because this will be a fun one. And also, please join our discord. Chapter 152: Ch-152 Mana Contamination Williams had ordered a lot of snacks and drinks to enjoy today. He had tried to order liquor, but he was stopped by Mark due to his real age. ''Ugh, so annoying, he grimaced. William knew that technically he was still 10 in this world, but mentally he was easily above 30. So being denied alcohol like this really annoyed him. The mood felt really light and comfortable in the bar. It was just the four of them here today, and yet there wasn''t even a moment of silence in the bar. Every minute was lively, with one of them making light-hearted jokes or asking questions. It felt really strange to William, as this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this. While it was a new experience, he didn''t hate it. ''So this is what it''s like to have friends?'' He wondered. Moments like this, where he could forget about everything and just enjoy the company of his friends, were truly rare. And the. being so rare only made them more precious to him. ''I wonder if it''s possible to have moments like this more often? '' William wondered, but he didn''t think too much into it and instead asked Jasmine something that probably everyone in the room was curious about. "How did your mother''s treatment go?" The atmosphere suddenly became quiet as all eyes moved towards Jasmine. "My mother is safe now," she said with a strained smile. Even though she tried to hide it, others were able to tell something was wrong. "What''s wrong, Jasmine?" he asked, worry etched on his face. "Mana contamination," she muttered with clear difficulty. Hearing that term, Mark and Raya seemed confused. But William, who knew about it, finally understood why Jasmine looked troubled. In Astressa, everyone is born with a certain level of affinity to mana No matter how small their affinity is, mana shouldn''t be harmful to them. Due to this, mana is considered a gift from the gods themselves to help humans live and thrive. But it should be noted that while every human possessed affinity, not everyone could wield mana. This was the reason why awakening was such an important part of a person''s life. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As it dictated the course of their whole life. Through awakening, it was possible to make a mana core inside the body. Which allowed a person to freely absorb and store mana inside their cores to use it for various purposes in the future. But just like everything else, exceptions always existed. Some special people were born without any affinity for mana. Usually, this wasn''t that bad, as Mana just ignored their existence. Meaning they would never be able to use mana, but that was all. They still had the option of training and acquiring aura. The problem came with the second type of exception. These special people were born with too high an affinity for mana for their own good. Mana was naturally attracted to them, but their bodies were too weak to form a core. It led to mana conglomerating inside their body but being unable to form a core. This is where the term mana contamination came from. Such high quantities of mana inside the body without the presence of a core to contain it ends up slowly poisoning and destroying the body from the inside. The disease starts shortly after a person is born, but it only starts showing symptoms many years down the line. Mana as an energy is property-less and malleable to whatever its owner desires. Due to this, it doesn''t harm the body even in its pure state unless it is willed to. But after a few decades of its unauthorised presence in the body, it slowly grows in quantity to the point where it starts interfering with the natural bodily functions of humans. And before long, the infected end up crippled, and if the condition is still not cured in just a few months, death is guaranteed. While the disease might sound pretty serious and lethal at first glance,. The main problem stemmed from the fact that it was so rare. Out of every billion humans, barely 10 people were born with it. And it showed no symptoms for most of their lives, only acting when they reached the middle stages of their lives. Due to it being so rare and incontagious, not much research has been done on finding cures for it. As almost no one ever suffers from it,. Or at least, that was how it was before the merger with Morgov happened. After the merger, Morgov wasn''t the only planet to have benefited from it. Once the situation with Voidstruck was brought under control, thanks to the help of people from Astressa and their powerful magic,. It was Morgov''s people''s turn to help Astressa. Especially in terms of development in many fields of the world. While mostly all the brightest minds in their world had long died. Their technology was mostly compromised, and many years had passed since the regression of their civilisation. Knowledge of what they once had still existed in the minds of people. While it was mostly just concepts inside their heads without technical know-how on how to recreate them,. Just their innovative ideas and concepts were enough to completely revolutionise the world''s people in Astressa. And bring forth an era of peace and development in almost all fields of life. It was during this era that some genius a couple centuries ago came up with a ''cure'' to mana contamination when his wife was infected with it. But due to no one ever caring too much about such a disease, no one cared to invest a significant amount of manpower and resources to look for a cure. And yet, even without support from the government or any significant organization, against all odds, he managed to make a ''cure''. Even if it was only a temporary cure, it allowed him and his wife to live a normal life by each other''s sides. William had found the story quite inspiring and sweet when he first read it. Which he was able to so easily recall after hearing the term today. As sweet and wholesome as the story was, it also meant that after his death, no one cared enough to do further research into the subject. That meant there was no permanent cure for the disease. Meaning every few years,Jasmine would need to spend an exhorbant amount of money just to prolong her mother''s life by a few years. He finally understood why she had such a strained expression on her face. For a second, he considered offering help. After all, his family was very well off and could definitely help them. And yet he didn''t. After all, doing so would be nothing short of disrespectful. Offering her help like this would''ve been no different from spitting on her face and making fun of her goal of earning money for her family. Providing help to her now would make it seem like she had only revealed her personal problems so that he could pity her and help her out. She already knew his identity; if the situation ever seemed out of control, she was free to ask for his help, and he would lend it to her without a second thought. Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelFire.net But since she didn''t, it must mean she had it under control or at least had plans for it. Besides, this was her personal problem, and he had no intention of being a busybody or disrespectful to her. But looking at Mark and Raya, he could tell that they were very confused about what Jasmine was talking about. This was only normal, as it wasn''t a condition many people were familiar with. So he took the liberty of enlightening them about the disease and its implications. ** "Ah, I see," Mark exclaimed, doing his best to keep his voice low. Hearing Williams explanation, a somber and uncomfortable silence overtook the tavern for the first time. But it was broken by none other than Jasmine herself. "You guys are acting like somebody died here." "Come on, cheer up; my mother will be fine." "I''m just going to earn so much money in the future that it wouldn''t matter even if I had to spend some spare change for her." "You guys don''t need to worry about us; instead, let''s just focus on partying it up tonight. After all, we don''t get chances to let loose often." Hearing her bold words, everyone was speechless, unsure of how to react. But as if on que, a bar waitress arrived holding all of their food and drinks. Seeing this, William was the first one to break out laughing. It started with a small chuckle that he tried to contain but failed miserably, and before long he was laughing cheerfully with small tears leaking out of his eyes. "Hahahahahahaha!!" Now everyone in the room was left speechless for the second time today for a completely different reason. This was the first time any of them had seen John, or rather, as they now knew William, laugh, let alone so heartily. "You have a beautiful laugh; you should laugh more often." Williams laugh was stopped by Mark, who caught everyone off guard with his comment. Unfortunately, his comment was met with a completely different response than what he expected. "Sorry, dude, but I''m not into guys." Mark almost choked on air hearing his reply, and it took almost an entire minute for him to compose himself. But eventually he did, and when did he retort with a remark of his own? "Yeah, I''m not into kids." Mark felt really proud of himself for his comeback and didn''t think William could come back from this. Too bad he was proven wrong less than a moment later. "Does that imply you would have been into me if I wasn''t a kid?" This time, Mark couldn''t even retort, as he knew that no matter what he said, he had already lost. ''So much for being nice to this Bratty Prick, never again'' He wanted to cry at being slandered like this, but he couldn''t, as that would only make his loss even more pathetic. Seeing the usual social butterfly blabbermouth Mark be speechless like this, everyone laughed except him. Finally, the jolly mood from earlier had returned. Today was a special day for the cleansers, as they could finally let go of all the troubles of life for tonight and let loose. Not needing to worry about their dying mother, missing brother, being married to an alleged rapist, or a flaw threatening to kill everything they know and love before painfully killing him. Even if only for tonight, they were free of the worries of the past, present, or future. Instead, all that was left were four friends drinking and eating all night while having fun. ** AN: Hi guys, it''s been a while, so first of all, I would like to apologise for being missing the last few days. I try my best to be upfront with you guys about these types of things, so today will be no different. Due to some personal issues, I was really disturbed mentally and was in no condition to write. Once I finally figured out my personal issues, I realised I wasn''t satisfied with the way this novel was going and what I had planned for the future plot. So begrudgingly, I decided to take a break to revise my entire outline of the novel. And now that I''m back, I''m pleased to announce that this novel is finally in a state where I can be proud of it. Which is why I have resumed it, and now that I''m back, I promise you that I will be doing my best to upload as frequently as possible. Hopefully, that turns out to be daily. Also, while you''re here, consider checking out my second novel. http://wbnv.in/a/94iQwJg I sincerely think you guys will enjoy it a lot, and while you''re at it, join our wonderful and growing Discord community to talk with me or our fellow readers. If in the future I ever stop uploading feel free to barrade me on discord where I''m usually pretty active. And once again thank you for all the support you guys have shown this novel and me over the past few months Chapter 153: Ch-153 Spatial Isolation It was now the next day. Last night was one of the most memorable nights of Williams life, and he was lucky to have been able to make some actual friends in this life. This has always been one of his gripes in his past life about not having any friends or people he could trust. Even now, he doesn''t regret revealing his true identity to them. But just when he was being happy, a voice spoke inside his mind. ''Don''t get careless now; the more people you have that you care about in your life, the more it would hurt if you lost them because of your flaw'' Zephyr reminded him. William shuddered at being reminded of this. He already knew this, which is why he tried to stay closed up before. But he also knew that he would just be admitting defeat if he was too afraid to do anything just because of his flaw. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''I know'' Discover more stories at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net This was the whole reason why he had started this trip in the first place. But before he could go to the neutral continent to claim his prize, there was one last thing that he needed to do. Which is exactly why he was standing outside Michael''s office. Once he entered, he was once again greeted by a familiar blue colour. Reminding him of how much Michael loved the colour. But that wasn''t his focus at the moment; instead, it was the bespectacled brown-haired man sitting on a desk. Seeing William enter his office, Michael flashed a smile and just stared at him without saying anything. "I assume you already know about the promotion" William asked. "So I''ve heard" Michael replied in a knowing tone. Well done on your promotion; you''ve really managed to exceed mine and others expectations this time," Michael congratulated him, but his voice showed no emotion. "I assume you still remember our deal?" William asked. "Of course, as the head of the Adventurers Association, it would be improper of me to go back on my word." "Good, we can start whe-" William was speaking something when he was suddenly off guard. The space around them changed. As a luminescent white-blue colour spread everywhere, envoleping everything in Michael''s chilling mana. And before he knew it, both William and Michael were in a completely different subdimension. ''I can''t feel the outside world anymore'' William inwardly panicked but didn''t let it show. He tried using the [Shadow Step], but there were no shadows to teleport into. It was all white, as far as the eye could see. And just standing here, William felt like he was freezing to death. He felt the chill down to his bones. His first instinct was to flare up his mana and prepare to fight. But in the end, he decided against it. After all, if Michael wanted to harm him, he wouldn''t be standing here unharmed like this. "What''s this?" William asked, looking around the beautiful blue-white space. His voice contained a hint of admiration for the beautiful white space. While it didn''t affect him that much due to him being a child of Mana, as well as his other skills,. He felt that for anyone, it would be troublesome to feel their mana here. "Spatial isolation," Michael muttered in a stoic tone. But his face contained a hint of surprise at Williams''s ability to stay calm in such a situation. It impressed him a bit. "I didn''t know you had spatial affinity," William asked this time, genuinely surprised. As spatial affinity was extremely rare, he only knew two people with it. And one of them was a literal God, while the other was the strongest individual in the world. So for there to be a third person with this affinity was really surprising to him. During their previous encounter, William could only feel ice mana particles around and inside Michael. Which lined up with the general knowledge of him being the elemental favourite of ice. So he hadn''t questioned it before, but now seeing what he was seeing, he couldn''t help but wonder if Michael had somehow managed to hide his second affinity from the world all this time. But his queries were shortly quelled by the man in question. "Nah, it''s nothing as special as that." "But I must say you''re quite a curious kid to wonder about the opponent''s ability instead of worrying about yourself in such a potentially dangerous situation." "I''ve been told that, after all, a curious mind is the makings of a good magician, and as for worrying about myself, there is no need; if you wanted to harm me, I wouldn''t be standing here anyway," William replied in an easy-going tone as he continued admiring the space around them. "Glad to see you can still think rationally even when caught by surprise like this, but to answer your question. All I did was refine my control over a single element, in this case, ice, and make it dominate the space around us to isolate us in this spatial domain. This whole dimension is saturated to the limit with ice mana, all of which is marked by my mana signature. So it should be really hard to use mana for anyone other than me here" Michael calmly explained, answering Williams doubt. Hearing such a concise and detailed explanation from Michael really impressed William. He could finally understand what this ability was and wondered if he could use it himself in the future. The answer to that question was yes. In fact, he had a fun idea in mind. "Name an element," William asked playfully. Michael seemed slightly taken back upon hearing his question, but he decided to answer anyway. "Lighting" "Sure, cancel out your isolation," William replied calmly. Michael seemed a bit stunned, almost as if he had heard wrong, but his eyes told a different story. A hint of excitement creeped into his face as his lips twitched. He seemed to want to say something like, ''It can''t be'' but he held back. And instead, he did as he was told. Cracks similar to breaking ice started showing around the beautiful space, and before long, it was no more. Allowing both of them to return to the same overly blue office. As soon as the whitish blue space had shattered. A violent, azure-dark blue colour spread from William and engulfed everything in sight. In less than a heartbeat, both of them found themselves once again isolated in a different sub-dimension. The only difference being the source and master of the dimension. Unlike the previously beautiful and refined ice dimension from before,. This one was much different, taking on a more violent appearance to match the element that had been used to create it. Lightning mana ran rampant in the area, manifesting itself into stray tendrils of lightning that wrecked the surroundings. But it didn''t harm either of the two people inhabiting it. The borders of the whole dimension were azure. And unlike the previously endless expanse of the white domain, this one was much smaller. Barely 500 metres in all directions. The borders also looked rather filmy compared to the hard, impenetrable white border from earlier. The whole dimension was relatively unstable and not nearly as refined as Michael had conjured it to be. It was easy to tell that the space wouldn''t be able to hold on for long if two equally powerful opponents fought or if either one of them tried to break it. This was without even mentioning that unlike the barrier from before, where all the mana particles were ice and all were marked in Michael''s signature and it was almost impossible for his opponent to use mana. This one, while filled to the brim with lightning particles like one would expect, was unmarked. Meaning all the abundant lightning particles were free for both William and his opponent to utilise. And yet, despite all its flaws, nothing could discredit the fact that William had managed to isolate space itself just after seeing it once. Looking around, William seemed dissatisfied with what he had created, and despite not saying it aloud, it was easy to tell what was going on inside his head. ''I can do better'' Seeing this finally, the laugh that Michael seemed to be trying to suppress since earlier finally came out. "Hahahahahahahaha" A loud and hearty laughter resounded throughout the space. William was finally distracted from his poor attempt at isolating space and instead stared at Michael as if seeing a zoo animal. "This is simply absurd," Michael exclaimed, finally having calmed down. "I''m having trouble believing it, despite it being in front of me." "Spatial isolation is supposed to be an extremely secret and high-level technique reserved for the best of the best" "Heck, it took even me, with all my talent, a whole year of practice and training just to learn it" "And that too can mostly be attributed to my being an elemental favourite" Yet a mere kid was able to recreate it with just a single glance. And the fact he had asked him about what element to use implied he could potentially recreate theisolation with other elements "If I tried to tell anyone this, they would think I''m going insane." For the first time today, Michael genuinely seemed surprised. One could tell he was feeling a lot of emotions at the moment, and yet not one of them indicated even a shred of jealousy. Instead, he seemed genuinely amused at what he had stumbled upon. There seemed to be a lot that he wanted to say and ask, but before that, there was something that needed to be done. "Before we continue this conversation any further, remove your mask." Chapter 154: Ch-154 Master And Disciple "Before we continue this conversation any further, remove your mask." William took a long breath, trying his best to remain calm as he asked. "How long have you known?" "Since the day you joined the Adventurers Guild. I''m sure even you didn''t expect to deceive one of the strongest in the world with a mere S-rank mask," Michael replied. "Yeah, you''re right. I didn''t," Williams answered in a knowing tone. It would be a lie to say that he was expecting to be able to hide his identity from Michael forever, especially with just a S-rank mask. Michael was pretty close to Rex in terms of strength, so if the mask couldn''t fool Rex, there was no reason for it to be able to fool Michael. He was just waiting to see if he would mention it or not. And now that he had it, there was no need for the mask between them. Before long, the tall and handsome black-haired man was replaced by a much smaller and cuter white-haired kid. He was wearing a loose but stylish white shirt with baggy brown pants. "William Verhein" Michael said, already knowing the identity of the boy. "Yep, that''s me." "There''s a lot I want to ask, but for starters, let me ask this: What exactly are you doing all the way in Markwhelter when you''re supposed to be in isolation training back in your house?" "Did you maybe sneak out?" Michael didn''t really think it was possible for William to sneak out if either of his parents didn''t want it. Michael had known both Rex and Myra during their heyday, and he knew both of them were common sense-defying monsters. Rex is the person closest to his brother in terms of strength. While the kid in front of them was talented, he was nowhere near either of their level or even good enough to sneak out without them knowing. But if it wasn''t that, why had the two of them let their 10-year-old leave his home town under their protection and travel to a different kingdom all alone? Especially right after he had just provoked arguably the most dangerous criminal organisation and was under heavy scrutiny world-wide for his actions. No matter how he tried to spin it, he had trouble understanding their thought process. Thankfully, he didn''t need to waste his time trying to understand for long as his questions were soon answered by William himself. "Let''s start with your second question. I didn''t sneak out, not that I could even if I wanted to." "I had the full and knowing approval of my parents before leaving, and you don''t need to worry about my age; after all, I think I''ve proven myself enough over the past few months." "As for the first question, you don''t need to concern yourself over the reason; just know that it''s something extremely important to me and requires me to go to the neutral continent." Michael was originally just going to let it go, as he knew that he was being a busybody, and whatever reason William had started travelling alone didn''t really involve him. But that changed at the mention of ''Neutral Continent''. His eyes dilated unnaturally and turned bloodshot, with his lips twitching as his breath quickened, allowing his chest to move unnaturally fast. The only thought in his mind at the moment was. ''This kid is going to die'' Despite knowing everything he did about William, he didn''t think for a second that he could survive for more than a week in that dreadful place. Neutral continent was listed as the deadliest in all the black zones of the world. While it was true that most of the magic artifacts and natural treasures came from that place, it was also true that millions of harrowing and dreadful abominations resided on that single piece of land. Titans towering over mountains, massive rocs capable of covering the sun with their mere bodies, cunning and mischievous kutsunes. Abominable wendigos being notified the moment someone thought of them and attacking, skin crawlers posing as humans, nigh-indestructible giant lizards. Dragons capable of razing towns to ashes in mere minutes, unicorns capable of running at the speed of sound, massive basilisks slithering the ground. Any kind of creature the mind could imagine probably existed on that God-forsaken piece of land. There''s a reason why not even the strongest of adventurers, as long as they have even a shred of sanity left, choose to avoid that place. This was the reason why a separate body of independent guilds called neutral guilds existed. They were all individual guilds that were created and controlled by a single individual, and all of them competed with each other. Instead of being one unified collective body under the command of one leader, like the adventurer guild,. There was a reason why neutral guilds were considered the most dangerous jobs in the world. There were only three types of people who chose to actively live and work there. Those who were desperate for money, desperate for power, and those without anything left to lose. The only thing these three groups of people had in common was that they were all batshit crazy. And according to what Michael had observed so far, William didn''t fall into either of these categories. Neither was he desperate for money or power; in fact, he was probably loaded for life due to his family and father. He didn''t even have a lack of talent or opportunity; in fact, according to what he had heard and seen, he had too much of it. He had already achieved far more than most people would ever come close to doing in just the first decade of his life. It also couldn''t be the last one, as he had a loving family who loved him more than anything. So what could possibly lead him to risk it all and go to neutral when he still has so much left to live for? But that wasn''t even the thing that was the cause of his worry, but rather the identity of his father. Rex Verhein is a legend among men. The sword saint and the man with an undefeatable blade and technique. The monster slayer, one strike, martial emperor, steel monarch. He was a man known by a number of names. Someone who was closest to his brother in strength and someone he looked up to and respected. But none of those things mattered at the moment. The only thing that mattered was his nickname, or rather, more specifically, his title, ''Dragon Slayer''. Ever since the birth of his son, for an unknown reason, whenever the corpse of a dragon is found one way or another, Rex Verhein ends up being the perpetrator. In just the last decade, he alone was responsible for over 10,000 dead dragons. And these were just the ones that were known to the public. Who knew how many he had actually killed? It was almost like he actively searched for dragons to kill every day, or maybe it was the other way around. He didn''t know, but the point was that because of his achievements over the past decade, he had managed to solidify himself as the one and true dragon slayer, or, as Michael liked to call it, the ''Natural Enemy of Dragons''. It was due to his exploits in the field of dragon slaying and reducing their already low population by such a drastic margin over the past few years that he had earned the ire of every single dragon alive. Normally, this wouldn''t be much of a problem, as Rex was capable of slaying hundreds of dragons in a swing. Or at least that was the case outside the neutral continent. In this world, there are two types of dragons: monsters and true. Monster dragons were evolved versions of monsters who evolved into dragon types in one way or another. They are usually found in dungeons as bosses or in neutral continent just roaming the vast skies. While for the average awakener, encountering even a single one of them was no different from a guaranteed death sentence. To those who had honed their art over the years and could boast about their strength, they were no different from overgrown lizards capable of spewing fire. As that was essentially all, they were just monsters ranging from S-SSS rank incapable of thinking or intelligence and were incapable of using magic instead on living on purely instinct. In essence, while dragons in name, they were hardly much different from the normal monsters in their ranks. And these were the dragons who were killed in the thousands by Rex. While that barely distracted from how impressive Rex''s feat is. It didn''t come close to the real monsters, which is why the neutral continent had to be sealed up and restricted. True Dragons. These are the dragons closest to the world itself and are actually capable of thinking. By extension, they also have control over mana, and their control over it far surpasses anything any of the other races could ever even hope to achieve. True dragons, while low in number, were nigh immortal. Having a seemingly endless life span, each one is able to live for thousands of years. Even Michael himself wasn''t confident in his ability to handle a true dragon on his own. And due to Rex''s contribution to reducing their already small race over the years, all of them hate him with all their might. In fact, if not for the pact of them being unable to leave the neutral continent, he was sure that they would have already all attacked Rex years ago. If even a single one of them caught a whiff of the fact that the son of their natural enemy had willingly entered the neutral continent,. His fate would be sealed within moments. And to make matters worse, most of the neutral continent was ruled by these true dragons, so it was extremely hard, if not impossible, to hide from them in neutral. It was because of this knowledge that Michael was panicking so much hearing Williams intentions to go to neutral. But, trying his best to remain calm, he asked. "Do you think you can survive in neutral as you are now?" "I don''t" William replied almost instantly, catching him by surprise. Enjoy exclusive content from m-v l''-NovelFire.net But before Michael could say anything, William added. "Which is exactly why I came today? I want you to make me strong enough to the point where I can survive there." "After all, if I ever want to beat your monster of a brother, I need to at least be strong enough to survive in neutral, don''t you agree?" Michael wanted to retort to criticise Williams thinking, but the words didn''t come out. In the end, only a small chuckle came out of his mouth as he asked. "Fine, you got me. I doubt anything I say will make you change your mind anyway." "So instead, the best I can do is teach you everything I know and hope for the best." "Before we start, just know it won''t be easy." "Do you still want to do this?" "It doesn''t matter what it takes; I''ll do anything to get stronger" "I''m ready whenever you are, master," William replied, having one of his palms open while the other striked it in the form of a fist. This was the proper way of recognising someone as your master in the world, and even if he wanted to change his mind now, it was already too late. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Perhaps if only William knew what exactly Michael meant when he said, ''It won''t be easy'' he wouldn''t have been so quick to make up his mind. But alas, it was too late for regrets now. Chapter 155: Ch-155 Trumpet Of Death 22 Februal, 5679 It was a seemingly peaceful night, with the beautiful luminescence of the moon in the night sky illuminating the world. The whole world was peaceful and silent as everyone went about their business. Most people were already long asleep, while others stayed up for one reason or another. But this quiet scene was disturbed by the cackling of bones. Cackle~ It started with a single cackle, then a second one, and then another. The cackles resounded in a rythemic tone, almost as if it were a well-rehearsed play. 1, 2, and 3. This went on for quite a while until the cackles started resembling footsteps. But the rythemic cackling was stopped by the sound of a music note. The note resembled something melodic, as if played by a professional, and yet the sound it produced sounded nothing less than deranged and demonic. As the musical note fell, a strange figure emerged from the darkness. Its shiloute was humanoid in shape, but it was hard to see its features due to its whole body being covered in an old, tattered brown cloak fluttering in the wind. The only visible thing was a black instrument held within his hands. The instrument was held tightly between its boney hands, with white linings around the black body. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Looking closely, it resembled a trumpet, but strangely enough, it gave out a dreadful feeling to anyone who stared at it. As the figure holding the black trumpet-like object walked, strange, dreadful undeads appeared behind it. At first, it was skeletons coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Then came the zombies, with stinking, rotting bodies dragging across the ground. Behind the zombies, various monsters with one or two limbs missing walked their massive size, taking the breath away from anyone who stared at them. But this was just the start. Headless dullahans rode on their intimidating black steeds, liches holding on to their staffs made of bones. Gigantic titans made of bones, frail-looking reapers with their massive scythes, and faceless wraiths flying in the sky. Or a frightening undead dragon made of bones. Undead creatures who looked straight out of a nightmare, numbering in the millions, all followed a single entity trumpet. What was once rythemic cackling was now replaced by ear-deafening stomps announcing their presence through the vast lands. Warning them of their arrival to anyone unfortunate enough to be close enough to hear. Following the stomping came a deranged demonic sound as the trumpet-holding entity imitated what was known as music by humans. The entity''s steps didn''t look aimless but rather deliberate, as if they were moving in a particular direction. A direction that would soon have it encounter humans for the first time in a hundred years. ** It was just like any other day in the adventurer guilds. Adventurers enjoyed booze and delicious food as they bantered and enjoyed some time off. While their fellow adventurer brethren were busy completing whatever quest they had chosen to take,. "So any news on the guild leader?" asked one drunk, stout middle-aged man as he stared at his tall and lanky party mate. "Nope," replied the lanky man in a quick, to-the-point tone. It wasn''t that he didn''t enjoy the stout man''s company, but rather that he didn''t like talking while eating food. "Hmm, it''s been 4 months already. I wonder what he''s doing?" The stout man asked, not minding the lanky man''s seeming indifference to the conversation. "Have you heard that apparently the super rookie Edge Lord, who blew up a few months ago and completely shook the whole adventururing world with his achievement of S rank in record time, has also been missing for 4 months?" a short, cute girl chimed in, wanting to join the conversation. "Now that you mention it, I don''t think I''ve seen him in a while, and that probably means he hasn''t come to Guild in months now since his face is too memorable to forget seeing." "It''s not like it''s possible for him to come when I''m not here since I''m always here enjoying the delicious food while feasting my eyes on some fair maidens," the stout man said before changing the topic by shamelessly boasting about staring at girls younger than him and not doing anything productive all day. Hearing his boasting, both the cute girl and the lanky man winced in disgust, which killed the conversation. But this group wasn''t the only ones curious about the whereabouts of Michael and William. Due to their complete absence for the past 4 months. Many rumours about them had become popular in the guild. Some of them were completely untrue, like the idea that the two of them had taken on a super-secret SSS mission. While others were pretty close to the truth suggesting that Michael, impressed by Edge Lord''s performance, had chosen to take him as his successor,. And these were just some of the many. Due to there being no official confirmation about the two of them, many people had started making their own stories and possibilities. But Michael and Edge Lord''s missing status wasn''t the only topic of discussion in the guild. The rapid rise of cleansers was also something being discussed by guild mates. With Jasmine''s promotion to A rank, it has now become a team with 3 A ranks, led by one of the youngest and strongest S ranks. It was easy to tell that they had quickly become one of the strongest and most credible teams in the guild, despite none of the party members having been adventurers for more than a year. The team''s fame had grown so much that they had become known outside of the well-informed adventurer circles and by the general public. Read latest stories on m_v-l''e|-NovelFire.net With many people specifically asking for them to fulfil their commission,. And with their captain missing, one could only imagine how much they would grow once their captain was back. But that was a conversation for another day. Today, a brand new commotion was about to blow in the guild hall as a young, black-haired, unfamiliar boy entered the hall. Similarly to the young boy who had entered these halls all those months ago,. ** Oblivious and uncaring about the commotion that was about to start outside, Belle stared at a sheet of paper that had been sent to her by Marquis Orlion with dread and worry. Sweat fell down the side of her face as she stared at the paper unresponsively. It read as follows:. ----------------- Greetings to the adventurer guild. It is with great worry that I''m writing this letter to you, asking for assistance. According to our sources, a trumpet of death has been observed over the past few days, steadily making its way to a particular location. And according to our estimations, our beautiful kingdom of Markwhelter lies in its path. Judging by its current pace, it will arrive in roughly 4 days, and that''s the best-case scenario. As you should be able to tell, this is a situation of absolute urgency that requires the unwavering effort of all of us. For the above reason, I would like to express an invitation for you to send a representative to join us on Februal 23, 5679, to further discuss strategies and our course of action. -Orlions ------------------- She had read the letter multiple times just to confirm she wasn''t reading it wrong, and to her dismay, the content of it didn''t magically change despite how much she wanted it to. "Shit" she cursed, no longer caring about her etiquette now that she was alone. In all her years as the manager of the guild, this was the first time she had seen such a desperate situation. The trumpet of death was a monster. No, that wasn''t quite right. It was closer to a natural disaster. A cruel and indifferent absolute force of nature that can''t be stopped. Records of this entity have existed in the books for multiple centuries now. No one knows where it came from or what its purpose is. The only known information about it is its immortal and ruinous nature. It shows up out of nowhere, only announcing its presence with its deranged, demonic music, as if laughing at the helplessness of anyone who hears it. No one truly knew what its trumpet sounded like, since no one who had heard it ever lived to tell the tale. Any location or person that was in the way of its march was destroyed by its eternal army of undead, without exception. In the past, many people and organisations had tried to defeat it, yet it always proved to be too strong. Some exceptionally powerful heroes had actually even managed to kill it in the past, and yet no matter what method was used, it would show up again in the world after a few years at most. It was its eternal and disastrous nature that earned it the title of a calamity. One could even call it a calamity upon this world. Though the name was rarely used,. The sound of its trumpet was synonymous with the whispers of the reaper itself. Maybe if Michael were still present, the situation wouldn''t be so helpless. But with their strongest person being God knows where, the situation looked grim. In the end, Belle could only lower her head and wonder what exactly humans like them were supposed to do against the literal force of nature itself. Chapter 156: Ch-156 His Arrival Just when belle was worrying about the issue of the trumpet of death on their hands she was distracted by a commotion outside. As she got up from her desk to go outside she made sure to grumble a little even if no one could hear her. "Ugh when will these guys stop being so annoying?" As she got out of her office before she could say anything she was left stunned. A young black haired kid stood in silence holding a sword as two drunk much older adventurers were lying on the floor around him. Everyone in the hall looked too stunned to speak. Which added to Belle''s confusion in the end she could only ask a single question. "What happened here?" ** It had now been a few months since Aiden had awakened and got his system. After months of contast struggle and adventures most of them forced upon by the system in the form of quests. Aiden had experienced rapid and explosive growth that would leave anyone who learned of it jealous. Despite his young age he had more battle experience and power than the average adult. For the past few months his life had been nothing short of a constant rollercoaster. Ranging from hunting monsters, catching criminals, illegally leaving his home planet Morgov and entering Astressa doe to not having enough money to afford proper entry. A lot had happened over the months and it all led to this moment. The adventurer guild the whole reason behind his whole adventure. It all started because of a single quest to achieve the status of S rank adventurer in Markwhelter. Even though he hadn''t actually completed the quest he couldn''t help but get emotional at the sight of the building. Before entering he decided to take a proper look at how status as he hadn''t had the opportunity to do it past few months. "Status" ---------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9000 Strength:2490 Agility:2150 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity Of Heart],[Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of light], [Light ray], [Stone canon], [water slash], [Metal spears], [Earth Wall], [Power rise], [Eyes of a beast], [water bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-) , Rebound Art(Intermediate+), Quick Steps(intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- "Wow I''ve grown a lot" Aiden exclaimed impressed by how much he had grown over the past months. And all of it was thanks to him completing all sorts of different quests given to him by the system. He had almost died because of them on multiple occasions but he somehow managed to survive every time and the reward in the end always justified the risk he took. If he ever told anyone how much he had grown in less than year he was sure they would end up coughing blood. After all he doubted anyone other than him had been able to grow so fast in such a short period of time. But aside from just the massive Increase in stats perhaps the most shocking thing was the astounding number of skills he possesed Before he could never have even dreamed about getting a new skill simply due to how absurdly expensive they were. For most people in the world the only way to gain skills was by awakening with them or risking their life in dungeons to get them. As it was simply impossible for the average person to even dream of buying a skill. And yet Aiden now possessed more than 10 unique skills. It was a little absurd to him but all of it was thanks to his system shop which allowed him to buy all sorts of different skills and items. Initially when he had seen his flaw of being unable to learn spells he was a bit worried but his worries ended up being for nought. As even if he couldn''t learn spells nothing was stopping him from buying and learning skills similar to spells front he system store. On his long journey he had also traced all sorts of different weapons thanks to his aspect. Allowing him to now be confident to be able to handle no matter what the guild threw at him. As he entered her was greeted by a very lively atmosphere. But for some reason his appearance drew a lot of attention. ''Ah right my age'' This was bound to happen he was only 10 and didn''t have a way to mask his age. So adventurers probably just thought he was a child who accidentally wandered into the guild hall. "Hello kid" He was greeted by a middle aged man who had a warm expression on his face. "Hello uncle" Aiden replied trying his best to not be disrespectful. "What are you doing here kiddo" S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Do you perhaps have a parent in the guild?" the man asked. Aiden looked confused at the question and doubted the man''s intelligence. There was only one reason someone like him would come to the guild. "Ah " the man exclaimed. "If you''re here to register a quest you''re in the wrong building you need to go to another mission registration office a few blocks away from here" "Come I''ll guide you" the man offered to help. He attempted to grab Aidens hand but his attempt was thwarted by him dodging the hand. While Aiden failed to detect any malice from the man he couldn''t help but get annoyed by him. "What''s wrong?" the man asked in genuine confusion. Discover hidden stories at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net "I appreciate the gesture but I''m here to register as a adventurer" Aiden explained himself. His words caught everyone in the hall by surprise. Before loud laughter echoed in the hall as the adventurers mocke him. "Even little kids think they can become adventurers now" "What next he''s gonna go to neutral continent to slay dragons? " "Kid go back to your mommy" "You''re atleast 20 years too young to be here" "God this is so hilarious" "He''s still wet behind his ears" All sorts of insults and mockery fell on Aiden by the crude adventurers. He was left completely stunned as this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this. While h was able to ignore the comments the few about his parents were hard to ignore. A part of him just wanted to beat up the crude adventurers who had made the comments. "Oi kid is this enough for you?" The middle aged man from earlier asked. "I was trying to save you the humiliation but you couldn''t catch the hint" "But take my word for it becoming a adventurer isn''t a easy job and death lingers at every corner" "I''m sure you must have a warped sense of the profession due to the romanticized story books" "There''s no need to stupidly throw away your lfe instead go home and change your dreams if not train for a few years before trying again" Aiden sighed as he calmed down hearing the mans words. Thanks to his words he was able to remember that most of the adventurers here wwere good people and didn''t have bad intentions so there was no need for him to beat them up. But that didn''t mean he was just going to let them walk all over him. Maintaining a calm smile he muttered. "I really appreciate the concern but there is no need to worry about my safety I''m stronger than most of you here" Before any of the adventurers could get offended a bright sun like warm golden man engulfed the whole. The whole surroundings trembled. The surroundings around him quacked. And all the adventurers in the whole were left stunned. They couldn''t believe the fact that a mere child could possess such power. And while no one wanted to admit a lot of them could tell that the power the boy possessed triumphed their own. "I hope that resolves my worth in taking the test" Aiden said hoping to have calmes the situation down but his words had the opposite effect. As two intoxicated adventurers jumped down and stood in front of Aiden as if challenging him to a duel. "Kid you might be a bit powerful but you should learn to respect your elders" one of them spoke. As they released their own mana which while not as impressive as Aidens was still impressive in its own right. They hoped to have intimidated him with this but their actions had the opposite effect. As Aiden retorted. "If you want my respect earn it" Obviously the adventurers were enraged by his words and attempted to attack him but before any of them could figure out their situation. They were on the ground knocked out with Aiden standing in middle holding a sword and a hall full of adventurers too stunned to speak. Chapter 157: Ch-157 Depth Of Power "So that''s what happened," Aiden explained to Belle, hoping to prove his innocence. Belle felt her headache from earlier, getting even more intense hearing about the situation. First it was the upcoming threat of the trumpet of death, and now a kid is beating up two adventurers in broad daylight. While she initially wanted to scold him for his reckless actions, she couldn''t deny the palpable amount of power and mana emanating from him. It felt incredibly warm and pure and, in a way, reminded her of the priests of the Church of Light. ''Could the boy have a connection to them?'' she wondered. Also, while it might just be her reaching, the events of today reminded her of the day Edge Lord showed up. While his strength and talent were nowhere near those of Edgeord, at least in terms of mana,. One had to keep in mind that the boy in front of her was less than half his age. So it wasn''t exactly a fair comparison in the first place. But that raised a question about how exactly a kid like him got his hands on such power in the first place. ''How curious'' Momentarily, she found her curiosity growing, and a desire to learn more about the boy had grown inside her. But just when she was lost in thought, a voice called out. "Uhh miss?" Aiden called out, confused by Belle''s seeming unresponsiveness. "Oh, I''m sorry," Belle exclaimed, recognising her mistake. It seems she let her curiosity get the better of her momentarily. But she quickly composed herself, thanks to her years of experience, and returned to her formal work tone. Letting the issue of an upcoming disaster sit near the back of her head. After all, she couldn''t let the adventurers know about the upcoming disaster about to hit their hometown. At least until they reach a decision in tomorrow''s meeting. "So, from what I''m understanding, you want to become an adventurer?" Belle inquired carefully, ensuring that she wasn''t misunderstanding what she had heard. "Yes," Aiden replied. "I understand. Follow me." Belle decided to not annoy the poor boy about his age anymore than the crude adventurers around them had already done. While she did have a lot of questions and concerns about the kids age, it wasn''t part of her job to worry about them. Just like with Jasmine and William all those months ago. Belle lead Aiden underground. A bunch of adventurers also followed them underground, curious about the depths of the little kids power. As all of them stepped inside, the underground was the same as it had been all those months ago. A plain white room devoid of any distractions, with seats for spectators arranged in a corner. As all the spectators took their respective seats. Belle and Aiden stood in the middle, awaiting his choice. "What level would you like to challenge?" She had already explained all the different difficulty levels to him and what the maximum level was. And for some weird reason, she felt like she already knew what he was going to choose, but still, following proper guild protocol, she waited for his answer. "B rank" Aiden replied confidently. Murmurs of shock filled the stance, with many people criticising the boy for his overconfidence. But Aiden didn''t seem to mind, and Belle also didn''t seem surprised, as if already expecting his choice. "I understand," Belle said as a tiny, palm-sized metal cube appeared in her hands. She placed the metal cube on the ground, around 100 metres away from Aiden. It expanded in size until it towered over both Aiden and Belle. As the outer covering of the cube came undone. A mud-coloured alligator about the size of a truck became visible. It''s body was still trapped behind bars, but through the bars, one could see its tail, which had a green snake head coming out of its tip. Even with the monster still trapped, it gnarled aggressively as Drool fell into its cage. It emanated a disgusting, nose-curling smell, which forced one to involuntarily crunch their nose. Aiden seemed to have a similar reaction, with his lips twitching and his nose wincing. But he still remained calm, waiting for Belle to introduce it. "The Mudstench Gator is a B-rank monster usually found near swamps in close proximity to neutral continents." S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It uses poison and earth element powers to hunt its prey," Belle introduced methodically, her face showing not even a tinge of emotion, as if not minding the disgusting stench of the creature. "Are you sure about your choice? If you get hurt during the test, the guild won''t be held responsible for the damage" she asked one last time. "Yes, I am" Aiden replied, his lips slightly curling into a smirk with his back held straight and his body expressing pure confidence in his ability. "I understand, and good luck, brave aspiring adventurer," Belle said with a small bow as she took her leave to join the spectator. Once she had left the area, a bright golden dome erupted around the whole field, encasing both the monster and alligator in a dome meant for fighting without escape. While Belle''s expression showed no change inwardly, she was happy that the boy had chosen the B rank test as it would allow her to better satiate her curiosity and gain a better understanding of his powers. Belle took her seat and moved her attention towards the incoming fight. The cage trapping the gator till now finally came undone, allowing it to finally escape its clutches and hunt like it once did. ** Discover exclusive content at m,v l''-NovelFire.net _________________________________________ Quest Name: Maximum Difficulty Quest Details: Choose and clear the highest possible level in the Adventurers Test. Quest Type: Sub Quest limit: 10 minutes Quest rewards: +20 stat points in all variable stats. _________________________________________ Aiden smirked at seeing the small system pop up in front of him. He already knew that this was going to happen, which is why he had chosen the highest possible difficulty. And his guess seemed to have been correct. As long as he could defeat the monster in front of him, he would be able to get stronger. ''This should be fun,'' he thought, excited. While there was a part of him that was a bit worried due to the gator looking pretty formidable, he was also excited, as it would give him a chance to go all out for the first time in months. Seeing him not move, the gator used the opportunity and fired mud from its mouth. The ball of mud flew through the air at a rapid pace towards Aiden, promising to break his bone if it made contact. But just when it was mere metres away from his face, Aiden performed a perfectly timed side step to the left, easily dodging the attack. As soon as he had dodged the attack, he activated his [fireball] skill and sent a hot, palm-sized ball of fire towards the monster. But just when it was about to make contact and burn it, a sturdy wall of stone appeared in front of it. Booom~ A small explosion occurred, the earth wall shattered, and a cloud of dust and smoke formed. And when it dissipated, the wall formed by the gator was no more, but it had already done its job, as evident by the completely unharmed gator standing in the same spot it was at the start of the fight. Like that, the first exchange of the fight was over. Both sides were unable to damage each other, but that was just because the fight was just starting, with barely a few seconds having passed since the battle started. Not wanting to get close to the gator due to its terrible stench, Aiden resorted to another one of his long-ranged skills, this time opting for. [Metel Spears] Around five long spears made of metal manifested behind Aiden, and on his command, they charged forward at breakneck speed. But this time he wasn''t just going to use one skill, as he knew it would just be stopped by the earth wall from last time. So he used a skill that had saved his life multiple times over the past few months [Impact Increase]. It was a relatively simple skill and allowed him to increase the power of his attack. And yet, it was the simple nature of the skill that made it so reliable for him. With the power of his spears amplified, he was certain they''d be able to easily penetrate the annoying earth wall from earlier and even damage the gator. As if knowing that its earth wall was going to be useless, the monster didn''t try to use it, instead resorting to going underground. In less than an eye blink, the gator was underground, hidden from sight. The amplified metal spears made contact with the place the monster had once been and managed to completely wreck the place. Boom~ Despite the attack having hit its mark, it was unable to do as much damage to the gator as Aiden had hoped. In fact, it had made the situation worse. With the gator now underground, there was no way to know where it would attack from. Causing a tense silence to fall in the basement as everyone anticipated the crafty beasts next attack. Chapter 158: Ch-158 Please Skip This Chapter "So that''s what happened," Aiden explained to Belle, hoping to prove his innocence. Belle felt her headache from earlier, getting even more intense hearing about the situation. First it was the upcoming threat of the trumpet of death, and now a kid is beating up two adventurers in broad daylight. While she initially wanted to scold him for his reckless actions, she couldn''t deny the palpable amount of power and mana emanating from him. It felt incredibly warm and pure and, in a way, reminded her of the priests of the Church of Light. ''Could the boy have a connection to them?'' she wondered. Also, while it might just be her reaching, the events of today reminded her of the day Edge Lord showed up. While his strength and talent were nowhere near those of Edgeord, at least in terms of mana,. One had to keep in mind that the boy in front of her was less than half his age. So it wasn''t exactly a fair comparison in the first place. But that raised a question about how exactly a kid like him got his hands on such power in the first place. ''How curious'' Momentarily, she found her curiosity growing, and a desire to learn more about the boy had grown inside her. But just when she was lost in thought, a voice called out. "Uhh miss?" Aiden called out, confused by Belle''s seeming unresponsiveness. "Oh, I''m sorry," Belle exclaimed, recognising her mistake. It seems she let her curiosity get the better of her momentarily. But she quickly composed herself, thanks to her years of experience, and returned to her formal work tone. Letting the issue of an upcoming disaster sit near the back of her head. After all, she couldn''t let the adventurers know about the upcoming disaster about to hit their hometown. At least until they reach a decision in tomorrow''s meeting. "So, from what I''m understanding, you want to become an adventurer?" Belle inquired carefully, ensuring that she wasn''t misunderstanding what she had heard. "Yes," Aiden replied. "I understand. Follow me." Belle decided to not annoy the poor boy about his age anymore than the crude adventurers around them had already done. While she did have a lot of questions and concerns about the kids age, it wasn''t part of her job to worry about them. Just like with Jasmine and William all those months ago. Belle lead Aiden underground. A bunch of adventurers also followed them underground, curious about the depths of the little kids power. As all of them stepped inside, the underground was the same as it had been all those months ago. A plain white room devoid of any distractions, with seats for spectators arranged in a corner. As all the spectators took their respective seats. Belle and Aiden stood in the middle, awaiting his choice. "What level would you like to challenge?" She had already explained all the different difficulty levels to him and what the maximum level was. And for some weird reason, she felt like she already knew what he was going to choose, but still, following proper guild protocol, she waited for his answer. "B rank" Aiden replied confidently. Murmurs of shock filled the stance, with many people criticising the boy for his overconfidence. But Aiden didn''t seem to mind, and Belle also didn''t seem surprised, as if already expecting his choice. "I understand," Belle said as a tiny, palm-sized metal cube appeared in her hands. She placed the metal cube on the ground, around 100 metres away from Aiden. It expanded in size until it towered over both Aiden and Belle. As the outer covering of the cube came undone. A mud-coloured alligator about the size of a truck became visible. It''s body was still trapped behind bars, but through the bars, one could see its tail, which had a green snake head coming out of its tip. Even with the monster still trapped, it gnarled aggressively as Drool fell into its cage. It emanated a disgusting, nose-curling smell, which forced one to involuntarily crunch their nose. Explore more stories at m,v l''-NovelFire.net Aiden seemed to have a similar reaction, with his lips twitching and his nose wincing. But he still remained calm, waiting for Belle to introduce it. "The Mudstench Gator is a B-rank monster usually found near swamps in close proximity to neutral continents." "It uses poison and earth element powers to hunt its prey," Belle introduced methodically, her face showing not even a tinge of emotion, as if not minding the disgusting stench of the creature. "Are you sure about your choice? If you get hurt during the test, the guild won''t be held responsible for the damage" she asked one last time. "Yes, I am" Aiden replied, his lips slightly curling into a smirk with his back held straight and his body expressing pure confidence in his ability. "I understand, and good luck, brave aspiring adventurer," Belle said with a small bow as she took her leave to join the spectator. Once she had left the area, a bright golden dome erupted around the whole field, encasing both the monster and alligator in a dome meant for fighting without escape. While Belle''s expression showed no change inwardly, she was happy that the boy had chosen the B rank test as it would allow her to better satiate her curiosity and gain a better understanding of his powers. Belle took her seat and moved her attention towards the incoming fight. The cage trapping the gator till now finally came undone, allowing it to finally escape its clutches and hunt like it once did. ** _________________________________________ Quest Name: Maximum Difficulty Quest Details: Choose and clear the highest possible level in the Adventurers Test. Quest Type: Sub Quest limit: 10 minutes Quest rewards: +20 stat points in all variable stats. _________________________________________ Aiden smirked at seeing the small system pop up in front of him. He already knew that this was going to happen, which is why he had chosen the highest possible difficulty. And his guess seemed to have been correct. As long as he could defeat the monster in front of him, he would be able to get stronger. ''This should be fun,'' he thought, excited. While there was a part of him that was a bit worried due to the gator looking pretty formidable, he was also excited, as it would give him a chance to go all out for the first time in months. Seeing him not move, the gator used the opportunity and fired mud from its mouth. The ball of mud flew through the air at a rapid pace towards Aiden, promising to break his bone if it made contact. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just when it was mere metres away from his face, Aiden performed a perfectly timed side step to the left, easily dodging the attack. As soon as he had dodged the attack, he activated his [fireball] skill and sent a hot, palm-sized ball of fire towards the monster. But just when it was about to make contact and burn it, a sturdy wall of stone appeared in front of it. Booom~ A small explosion occurred, the earth wall shattered, and a cloud of dust and smoke formed. And when it dissipated, the wall formed by the gator was no more, but it had already done its job, as evident by the completely unharmed gator standing in the same spot it was at the start of the fight. Like that, the first exchange of the fight was over. Both sides were unable to damage each other, but that was just because the fight was just starting, with barely a few seconds having passed since the battle started. Not wanting to get close to the gator due to its terrible stench, Aiden resorted to another one of his long-ranged skills, this time opting for. [Metel Spears] Around five long spears made of metal manifested behind Aiden, and on his command, they charged forward at breakneck speed. But this time he wasn''t just going to use one skill, as he knew it would just be stopped by the earth wall from last time. So he used a skill that had saved his life multiple times over the past few months [Impact Increase]. It was a relatively simple skill and allowed him to increase the power of his attack. And yet, it was the simple nature of the skill that made it so reliable for him. With the power of his spears amplified, he was certain they''d be able to easily penetrate the annoying earth wall from earlier and even damage the gator. As if knowing that its earth wall was going to be useless, the monster didn''t try to use it, instead resorting to going underground. In less than an eye blink, the gator was underground, hidden from sight. The amplified metal spears made contact with the place the monster had once been and managed to completely wreck the place. Boom~ Despite the attack having hit its mark, it was unable to do as much damage to the gator as Aiden had hoped. In fact, it had made the situation worse. With the gator now underground, there was no way to know where it would attack from. Causing a tense silence to fall in the basement as everyone anticipated the crafty beasts next attack. Agh Chapter 159: Ch-159 Those Eyes Are Unmistakable The air was pregnant with a tense and uncertain atmosphere as everyone held their breath, awaiting the gator monster. ''This is a bit tougher than expected'' Aiden thought, but despite the tense atmosphere and precarious situation, he couldn''t help the smile creeping up on his face. After all, this is exactly what he had been waiting for. A chance to go all out. Activating [Beast Eyes] His previously green irises became yellow, and his pupils became wide. With this skill, Aiden could easily follow the movement of his target. Using his skills, Aiden was finally able to trace where the gator was underground. Sadly, it was already too late. The ground directly under him became muddy, and his feet started slowly sinking into the ground. Before long, Aiden was trapped with his feet stuck in the ground. All the spectators were worried for the kid, thinking the fight was about to end with the kid dying. Within moments, the gator was about to attack, and with his feet still stuck, he would be defenseless. And yet, despite the precarious situation, Aiden didn''t look worried. Maybe it was a bluff, or he really did have something under his sleeve; it was hard to tell. As expected, the gator jumped out from behind him with its jaw wide open, ready to bite Aiden''s head off. A few of the spectators closed their eyes, not wanting to see the gruesome sight that was about to greet them. But for everyone else who was closely paying attention to the fight, they could see a smile appear on Aiden''s face as he muttered. "[Power Boost]" A surge of power flowed through Aiden as he felt all his stats rapidly rise. His previously impressive golden mana got even more intense and stronger. Catching everyone by surprise. And through the use of brute strength, he broke free of the ground, trapping his legs by breaking it with force, and rushed towards the gator, catching it by surprise. He was like a blur in the air, causing many people to not be able to keep track, and just when he was mere inches away from the jaws of death. A finely crafted, thin silver sword manifested into his hands out of thin air. Firmly wielding it in his hand, the sword clashed with the gators fangs. Crunch~ The gator tried to crush the sword by closing its fangs. But the sharp, solid steel didn''t break under the fangs. Instead, both the boy and the monster were stuck in a dead lock, fighting for their lives. Gone was the need for technique or skill, and this was now just a battle of pure brute force, with both fighters lives depending on who could overpower the other first. Despite Aiden''s now superior stats, he was having trouble contesting due to his small body. It was only a matter of time until his sword was broken and his arm was bitten. Many of the keen and experienced adventurers were able to pick up on this and wanted to get the fight stopped. But just when all hope looked lost, Aiden activated another skill. [Impact Increase] With [Power Boost] raising his stats as well as [Impact Increase] increasing the power of his slash,. His power had entered a league of its own, allowing him to break the tough steel like the fangs of the monster. With the fangs no longer stopping the sword, Aiden was able to cleanly cut the beast in half with a single, well-executed circular motion. As the perfectly cut body of the gator fell to the ground,. A silence took over the basement. [Ding! Quest Successfully Cleared] A notification informed him of his victory, causing Aiden to smile at his achievement and allocate his new stats. --------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God: Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9020 Strength:2490 Agility:2150-->2170 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity of Heart], [Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of Light], [Light Ray], [Stone Canon], [Water Slash], [Metal Spears], [Earth Wall], [Power Rise], [Eyes of a Beast], [Water Bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-), Rebound Art (Intermediate+), Quick Steps (Intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- With his stats allocated, Aiden turned towards his audience as the golden barrier separating him from the outside world came undone. "I hope this proves my competence" He spoke in a clear and well-paced voice, making sure his words were clearly heard and understood. Almost as if waiting for his words, the crowd erupted into cheers and ran down from their seats towards him. Aiden was a bit startled to see the adventurers rushing towards him, and a part of him almost thought he was about to get attacked. But he knew that wasn''t the case, so he didn''t overreact. Once the adventures were upon him, he expected to be congratulated or questioned about his powers. But to his surprise, that didn''t happen. And instead, in less than a single moment, he found himself ascending in the air. ''What?'' Aiden wondered, confused. But he didn''t have time to think as gravity did its magic and he started falling back down. Growing tense, he prepared to land, but looking down, he soon found there to be no need. Multiple hands were already down there, waiting to catch him. Once he made contact with them, he once again found himself in the air. And this time, he was able to hear what they were saying. "Congratulations, little man" "Sorry for doubting you." "You''re really talented." "Now that you''re one of us, we''ll take good care of you." Multiple cheers of excitement could he hear from the adventurers. Allowing the initial poor and unsavoury impression that Aiden had of them to change into something much more accurate and pleasant. Finally, a bright smile found its way onto his cute face as he joined in the laughter. During this moment, he couldn''t help but think. ''Being acknowledged feels good'' ** Finally, with the commotion downstairs quietening and Aiden''s skills proven, the only thing left to do was register him as a proper adventurer. Word of the young boys achievement spread like wildfire in the establishment. Many of them wanted to talk to the young prodigy and establish connections with him. But their attempts were temporarily halted by Belle. "Alright, everyone, save your questions and greetings for later; let me officially register the boy first." Aiden and Belle made their way towards her desk. Belle took out the same machine from last time and asked. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net "Wait, before we start, what would you like your nickname to be?" she asked. Hearing her questions, everyone''s ears perked up as they awaited Aiden''s answer. As for Aiden himself, he seemed to be in deep thought, seemingly unaware of the need for a nickname. He thought for a few minutes, with the audience slowly losing their patience. Honestly, he could have chosen a completely random name, as it wouldn''t have mattered that much either way. But he wanted his nickname to be something that represented him and gave hope to those who were troubled. And eventually, he finally had an answer. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Lightseeker" he announced proudly, having made up his mind. ** Many miles away from Markwhelter Kingdom in seemingly random locations. A wild and intense chilling blizzard covered the sun and sky. Long and towering snow mountains pierced the sky. Pained growls and screams could be heard from miles away. Before a loud, resounding thud fell,. Silencing all activity in the area. Moving closer to the source and much deeper into the mountains. A bone-chilling sight awaited the eye. Gruesome monster corpses numbering in the thousands lied lifelessly on the ground The corpses were piled on a tall, menacing mountain. The mountain of corpses was comprised of all sorts of different monsters. Their blood made the once pretty snow-covered ground white. Traces of all sorts of different spells were visible in the area. The whole area is in ruins due to the fearsome clash. Looking past the terrible, mangled, and destroyed state of the corpses if one looked closely. They would be able to notice how all the corpses belonged to monsters ranging from C to A rank. But one didn''t have the time to look at the corpses, as atop the mountain of corpses sat a truly terrifying presence. Mana seemed to quiver and tremble in his presence, excitedly awaiting his command. Due to the snowstorm, it was hard to see the figure clearly. But those with skills assisting in vision would be able to witness the young body of the terrifying perpetrator. He was sitting bare-chested, a truly harrowing sight considering his chilling environment. But perhaps more chilling than the atmosphere was the sight of his bare back covered to the brim with all of his bruises, cuts, and injuries. And yet, despite the injuries, his back stood tall, refusing to bend. His long white hair, which seemed to perfectly complement the snow around him, fell below his back. Due to their long and unkept stature over the past months. But more striking than that were his red eyes. Those eyes were unmistakable. In a quiet and chilling voice, the boy announced. "I am ready." Chapter 160: ch-160 What Hes Been Upto Just when belle was worrying about the issue of the trumpet of death on their hands she was distracted by a commotion outside. As she got up from her desk to go outside she made sure to grumble a little even if no one could hear her. "Ugh when will these guys stop being so annoying?" As she got out of her office before she could say anything she was left stunned. A young black haired kid stood in silence holding a sword as two drunk much older adventurers were lying on the floor around him. Everyone in the hall looked too stunned to speak. Which added to Belle''s confusion in the end she could only ask a single question. "What happened here?" ** It had now been a few months since Aiden had awakened and got his system. After months of contast struggle and adventures most of them forced upon by the system in the form of quests. Aiden had experienced rapid and explosive growth that would leave anyone who learned of it jealous. Despite his young age he had more battle experience and power than the average adult. For the past few months his life had been nothing short of a constant rollercoaster. Ranging from hunting monsters, catching criminals, illegally leaving his home planet Morgov and entering Astressa doe to not having enough money to afford proper entry. A lot had happened over the months and it all led to this moment. The adventurer guild the whole reason behind his whole adventure. It all started because of a single quest to achieve the status of S rank adventurer in Markwhelter. Even though he hadn''t actually completed the quest he couldn''t help but get emotional at the sight of the building. Before entering he decided to take a proper look at how status as he hadn''t had the opportunity to do it past few months. "Status" ---------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9000 Strength:2490 Agility:2150 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity Of Heart],[Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of light], [Light ray], [Stone canon], [water slash], [Metal spears], [Earth Wall], [Power rise], [Eyes of a beast], [water bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-) , Rebound Art(Intermediate+), Quick Steps(intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- "Wow I''ve grown a lot" Aiden exclaimed impressed by how much he had grown over the past months. And all of it was thanks to him completing all sorts of different quests given to him by the system. He had almost died because of them on multiple occasions but he somehow managed to survive every time and the reward in the end always justified the risk he took. If he ever told anyone how much he had grown in less than year he was sure they would end up coughing blood. After all he doubted anyone other than him had been able to grow so fast in such a short period of time. But aside from just the massive Increase in stats perhaps the most shocking thing was the astounding number of skills he possesed Before he could never have even dreamed about getting a new skill simply due to how absurdly expensive they were. For most people in the world the only way to gain skills was by awakening with them or risking their life in dungeons to get them. As it was simply impossible for the average person to even dream of buying a skill. And yet Aiden now possessed more than 10 unique skills. It was a little absurd to him but all of it was thanks to his system shop which allowed him to buy all sorts of different skills and items. Initially when he had seen his flaw of being unable to learn spells he was a bit worried but his worries ended up being for nought. As even if he couldn''t learn spells nothing was stopping him from buying and learning skills similar to spells front he system store. On his long journey he had also traced all sorts of different weapons thanks to his aspect. Allowing him to now be confident to be able to handle no matter what the guild threw at him. As he entered her was greeted by a very lively atmosphere. But for some reason his appearance drew a lot of attention. ''Ah right my age'' This was bound to happen he was only 10 and didn''t have a way to mask his age. So adventurers probably just thought he was a child who accidentally wandered into the guild hall. "Hello kid" He was greeted by a middle aged man who had a warm expression on his face. "Hello uncle" Aiden replied trying his best to not be disrespectful. "What are you doing here kiddo" "Do you perhaps have a parent in the guild?" the man asked. Aiden looked confused at the question and doubted the man''s intelligence. There was only one reason someone like him would come to the guild. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net "Ah " the man exclaimed. "If you''re here to register a quest you''re in the wrong building you need to go to another mission registration office a few blocks away from here" "Come I''ll guide you" the man offered to help. He attempted to grab Aidens hand but his attempt was thwarted by him dodging the hand. While Aiden failed to detect any malice from the man he couldn''t help but get annoyed by him. "What''s wrong?" the man asked in genuine confusion. "I appreciate the gesture but I''m here to register as a adventurer" Aiden explained himself. His words caught everyone in the hall by surprise. Before loud laughter echoed in the hall as the adventurers mocke him. "Even little kids think they can become adventurers now" "What next he''s gonna go to neutral continent to slay dragons? " "Kid go back to your mommy" "You''re atleast 20 years too young to be here" "God this is so hilarious" "He''s still wet behind his ears" All sorts of insults and mockery fell on Aiden by the crude adventurers. He was left completely stunned as this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this. While h was able to ignore the comments the few about his parents were hard to ignore. A part of him just wanted to beat up the crude adventurers who had made the comments. "Oi kid is this enough for you?" The middle aged man from earlier asked. "I was trying to save you the humiliation but you couldn''t catch the hint" "But take my word for it becoming a adventurer isn''t a easy job and death lingers at every corner" "I''m sure you must have a warped sense of the profession due to the romanticized story books" S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "There''s no need to stupidly throw away your lfe instead go home and change your dreams if not train for a few years before trying again" Aiden sighed as he calmed down hearing the mans words. Thanks to his words he was able to remember that most of the adventurers here wwere good people and didn''t have bad intentions so there was no need for him to beat them up. But that didn''t mean he was just going to let them walk all over him. Maintaining a calm smile he muttered. "I really appreciate the concern but there is no need to worry about my safety I''m stronger than most of you here" Before any of the adventurers could get offended a bright sun like warm golden man engulfed the whole. The whole surroundings trembled. The surroundings around him quacked. And all the adventurers in the whole were left stunned. They couldn''t believe the fact that a mere child could possess such power. And while no one wanted to admit a lot of them could tell that the power the boy possessed triumphed their own. "I hope that resolves my worth in taking the test" Aiden said hoping to have calmes the situation down but his words had the opposite effect. As two intoxicated adventurers jumped down and stood in front of Aiden as if challenging him to a duel. "Kid you might be a bit powerful but you should learn to respect your elders" one of them spoke. As they released their own mana which while not as impressive as Aidens was still impressive in its own right. They hoped to have intimidated him with this but their actions had the opposite effect. As Aiden retorted. "If you want my respect earn it" Obviously the adventurers were enraged by his words and attempted to attack him but before any of them could figure out their situation. They were on the ground knocked out with Aiden standing in middle holding a sword and a hall full of adventurers too stunned to speak. Ghl Chapter 161 155: Ch-155 Trumpet Of Death 22 Februal, 5679 It was a seemingly peaceful night, with the beautiful luminescence of the moon in the night sky illuminating the world. The whole world was peaceful and silent as everyone went about their business. Most people were already long asleep, while others stayed up for one reason or another. But this quiet scene was disturbed by the cackling of bones. Cackle~ It started with a single cackle, then a second one, and then another. The cackles resounded in a rythemic tone, almost as if it were a well-rehearsed play. 1, 2, and 3. This went on for quite a while until the cackles started resembling footsteps. But the rythemic cackling was stopped by the sound of a music note. The note resembled something melodic, as if played by a professional, and yet the sound it produced sounded nothing less than deranged and demonic. As the musical note fell, a strange figure emerged from the darkness. Its shiloute was humanoid in shape, but it was hard to see its features due to its whole body being covered in an old, tattered brown cloak fluttering in the wind. The only visible thing was a black instrument held within his hands. The instrument was held tightly between its boney hands, with white linings around the black body. Looking closely, it resembled a trumpet, but strangely enough, it gave out a dreadful feeling to anyone who stared at it. As the figure holding the black trumpet-like object walked, strange, dreadful undeads appeared behind it. At first, it was skeletons coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Then came the zombies, with stinking, rotting bodies dragging across the ground. Behind the zombies, various monsters with one or two limbs missing walked their massive size, taking the breath away from anyone who stared at them. But this was just the start. Headless dullahans rode on their intimidating black steeds, liches holding on to their staffs made of bones. Gigantic titans made of bones, frail-looking reapers with their massive scythes, and faceless wraiths flying in the sky. Or a frightening undead dragon made of bones. Undead creatures who looked straight out of a nightmare, numbering in the millions, all followed a single entity trumpet. What was once rythemic cackling was now replaced by ear-deafening stomps announcing their presence through the vast lands. Warning them of their arrival to anyone unfortunate enough to be close enough to hear. Following the stomping came a deranged demonic sound as the trumpet-holding entity imitated what was known as music by humans. The entity''s steps didn''t look aimless but rather deliberate, as if they were moving in a particular direction. A direction that would soon have it encounter humans for the first time in a hundred years. ** It was just like any other day in the adventurer guilds. Adventurers enjoyed booze and delicious food as they bantered and enjoyed some time off. While their fellow adventurer brethren were busy completing whatever quest they had chosen to take,. "So any news on the guild leader?" asked one drunk, stout middle-aged man as he stared at his tall and lanky party mate. "Nope," replied the lanky man in a quick, to-the-point tone. It wasn''t that he didn''t enjoy the stout man''s company, but rather that he didn''t like talking while eating food. "Hmm, it''s been 4 months already. I wonder what he''s doing?" The stout man asked, not minding the lanky man''s seeming indifference to the conversation. "Have you heard that apparently the super rookie Edge Lord, who blew up a few months ago and completely shook the whole adventururing world with his achievement of S rank in record time, has also been missing for 4 months?" a short, cute girl chimed in, wanting to join the conversation. "Now that you mention it, I don''t think I''ve seen him in a while, and that probably means he hasn''t come to Guild in months now since his face is too memorable to forget seeing." "It''s not like it''s possible for him to come when I''m not here since I''m always here enjoying the delicious food while feasting my eyes on some fair maidens," the stout man said before changing the topic by shamelessly boasting about staring at girls younger than him and not doing anything productive all day. Hearing his boasting, both the cute girl and the lanky man winced in disgust, which killed the conversation. But this group wasn''t the only ones curious about the whereabouts of Michael and William. Due to their complete absence for the past 4 months. Many rumours about them had become popular in the guild. Some of them were completely untrue, like the idea that the two of them had taken on a super-secret SSS mission. While others were pretty close to the truth suggesting that Michael, impressed by Edge Lord''s performance, had chosen to take him as his successor,. And these were just some of the many. Due to there being no official confirmation about the two of them, many people had started making their own stories and possibilities. But Michael and Edge Lord''s missing status wasn''t the only topic of discussion in the guild. The rapid rise of cleansers was also something being discussed by guild mates. With Jasmine''s promotion to A rank, it has now become a team with 3 A ranks, led by one of the youngest and strongest S ranks. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was easy to tell that they had quickly become one of the strongest and most credible teams in the guild, despite none of the party members having been adventurers for more than a year. The team''s fame had grown so much that they had become known outside of the well-informed adventurer circles and by the general public. With many people specifically asking for them to fulfil their commission,. And with their captain missing, one could only imagine how much they would grow once their captain was back. But that was a conversation for another day. Today, a brand new commotion was about to blow in the guild hall as a young, black-haired, unfamiliar boy entered the hall. Similarly to the young boy who had entered these halls all those months ago,. ** Oblivious and uncaring about the commotion that was about to start outside, Belle stared at a sheet of paper that had been sent to her by Marquis Orlion with dread and worry. Sweat fell down the side of her face as she stared at the paper unresponsively. It read as follows:. ----------------- Greetings to the adventurer guild. It is with great worry that I''m writing this letter to you, asking for assistance. According to our sources, a trumpet of death has been observed over the past few days, steadily making its way to a particular location. And according to our estimations, our beautiful kingdom of Markwhelter lies in its path. Judging by its current pace, it will arrive in roughly 4 days, and that''s the best-case scenario. As you should be able to tell, this is a situation of absolute urgency that requires the unwavering effort of all of us. For the above reason, I would like to express an invitation for you to send a representative to join us on Februal 23, 5679, to further discuss strategies and our course of action. -Orlions ------------------- She had read the letter multiple times just to confirm she wasn''t reading it wrong, and to her dismay, the content of it didn''t magically change despite how much she wanted it to. "Shit" she cursed, no longer caring about her etiquette now that she was alone. In all her years as the manager of the guild, this was the first time she had seen such a desperate situation. The trumpet of death was a monster. No, that wasn''t quite right. It was closer to a natural disaster. A cruel and indifferent absolute force of nature that can''t be stopped. Records of this entity have existed in the books for multiple centuries now. No one knows where it came from or what its purpose is. The only known information about it is its immortal and ruinous nature. It shows up out of nowhere, only announcing its presence with its deranged, demonic music, as if laughing at the helplessness of anyone who hears it. No one truly knew what its trumpet sounded like, since no one who had heard it ever lived to tell the tale. Any location or person that was in the way of its march was destroyed by its eternal army of undead, without exception. In the past, many people and organisations had tried to defeat it, yet it always proved to be too strong. Some exceptionally powerful heroes had actually even managed to kill it in the past, and yet no matter what method was used, it would show up again in the world after a few years at most. It was its eternal and disastrous nature that earned it the title of a calamity. One could even call it a calamity upon this world. Though the name was rarely used,. The sound of its trumpet was synonymous with the whispers of the reaper itself. Maybe if Michael were still present, the situation wouldn''t be so helpless. But with their strongest person being God knows where, the situation looked grim. In the end, Belle could only lower her head and wonder what exactly humans like them were supposed to do against the literal force of nature itself. Chapter 162 156: Ch-156 His Arrival Just when belle was worrying about the issue of the trumpet of death on their hands she was distracted by a commotion outside. As she got up from her desk to go outside she made sure to grumble a little even if no one could hear her. "Ugh when will these guys stop being so annoying?" As she got out of her office before she could say anything she was left stunned. A young black haired kid stood in silence holding a sword as two drunk much older adventurers were lying on the floor around him. Everyone in the hall looked too stunned to speak. Which added to Belle''s confusion in the end she could only ask a single question. "What happened here?" ** It had now been a few months since Aiden had awakened and got his system. After months of contast struggle and adventures most of them forced upon by the system in the form of quests. Aiden had experienced rapid and explosive growth that would leave anyone who learned of it jealous. Despite his young age he had more battle experience and power than the average adult. For the past few months his life had been nothing short of a constant rollercoaster. Ranging from hunting monsters, catching criminals, illegally leaving his home planet Morgov and entering Astressa doe to not having enough money to afford proper entry. A lot had happened over the months and it all led to this moment. The adventurer guild the whole reason behind his whole adventure. It all started because of a single quest to achieve the status of S rank adventurer in Markwhelter. Even though he hadn''t actually completed the quest he couldn''t help but get emotional at the sight of the building. Before entering he decided to take a proper look at how status as he hadn''t had the opportunity to do it past few months. "Status" ---------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9000 Strength:2490 Agility:2150 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity Of Heart],[Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of light], [Light ray], [Stone canon], [water slash], [Metal spears], [Earth Wall], [Power rise], [Eyes of a beast], [water bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-) , Rebound Art(Intermediate+), Quick Steps(intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- "Wow I''ve grown a lot" Aiden exclaimed impressed by how much he had grown over the past months. And all of it was thanks to him completing all sorts of different quests given to him by the system. He had almost died because of them on multiple occasions but he somehow managed to survive every time and the reward in the end always justified the risk he took. If he ever told anyone how much he had grown in less than year he was sure they would end up coughing blood. After all he doubted anyone other than him had been able to grow so fast in such a short period of time. But aside from just the massive Increase in stats perhaps the most shocking thing was the astounding number of skills he possesed Before he could never have even dreamed about getting a new skill simply due to how absurdly expensive they were. For most people in the world the only way to gain skills was by awakening with them or risking their life in dungeons to get them. As it was simply impossible for the average person to even dream of buying a skill. And yet Aiden now possessed more than 10 unique skills. It was a little absurd to him but all of it was thanks to his system shop which allowed him to buy all sorts of different skills and items. Initially when he had seen his flaw of being unable to learn spells he was a bit worried but his worries ended up being for nought. As even if he couldn''t learn spells nothing was stopping him from buying and learning skills similar to spells front he system store. On his long journey he had also traced all sorts of different weapons thanks to his aspect. Allowing him to now be confident to be able to handle no matter what the guild threw at him. As he entered her was greeted by a very lively atmosphere. But for some reason his appearance drew a lot of attention. ''Ah right my age'' This was bound to happen he was only 10 and didn''t have a way to mask his age. So adventurers probably just thought he was a child who accidentally wandered into the guild hall. "Hello kid" He was greeted by a middle aged man who had a warm expression on his face. "Hello uncle" Aiden replied trying his best to not be disrespectful. "What are you doing here kiddo" "Do you perhaps have a parent in the guild?" the man asked. Aiden looked confused at the question and doubted the man''s intelligence. There was only one reason someone like him would come to the guild. "Ah " the man exclaimed. "If you''re here to register a quest you''re in the wrong building you need to go to another mission registration office a few blocks away from here" "Come I''ll guide you" the man offered to help. He attempted to grab Aidens hand but his attempt was thwarted by him dodging the hand. While Aiden failed to detect any malice from the man he couldn''t help but get annoyed by him. "What''s wrong?" the man asked in genuine confusion. "I appreciate the gesture but I''m here to register as a adventurer" Aiden explained himself. His words caught everyone in the hall by surprise. Before loud laughter echoed in the hall as the adventurers mocke him. "Even little kids think they can become adventurers now" "What next he''s gonna go to neutral continent to slay dragons? " "Kid go back to your mommy" "You''re atleast 20 years too young to be here" "God this is so hilarious" "He''s still wet behind his ears" All sorts of insults and mockery fell on Aiden by the crude adventurers. He was left completely stunned as this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this. While h was able to ignore the comments the few about his parents were hard to ignore. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A part of him just wanted to beat up the crude adventurers who had made the comments. "Oi kid is this enough for you?" The middle aged man from earlier asked. "I was trying to save you the humiliation but you couldn''t catch the hint" "But take my word for it becoming a adventurer isn''t a easy job and death lingers at every corner" "I''m sure you must have a warped sense of the profession due to the romanticized story books" "There''s no need to stupidly throw away your lfe instead go home and change your dreams if not train for a few years before trying again" Aiden sighed as he calmed down hearing the mans words. Thanks to his words he was able to remember that most of the adventurers here wwere good people and didn''t have bad intentions so there was no need for him to beat them up. But that didn''t mean he was just going to let them walk all over him. Maintaining a calm smile he muttered. "I really appreciate the concern but there is no need to worry about my safety I''m stronger than most of you here" Before any of the adventurers could get offended a bright sun like warm golden man engulfed the whole. The whole surroundings trembled. The surroundings around him quacked. And all the adventurers in the whole were left stunned. They couldn''t believe the fact that a mere child could possess such power. And while no one wanted to admit a lot of them could tell that the power the boy possessed triumphed their own. "I hope that resolves my worth in taking the test" Aiden said hoping to have calmes the situation down but his words had the opposite effect. As two intoxicated adventurers jumped down and stood in front of Aiden as if challenging him to a duel. "Kid you might be a bit powerful but you should learn to respect your elders" one of them spoke. As they released their own mana which while not as impressive as Aidens was still impressive in its own right. They hoped to have intimidated him with this but their actions had the opposite effect. As Aiden retorted. "If you want my respect earn it" Obviously the adventurers were enraged by his words and attempted to attack him but before any of them could figure out their situation. They were on the ground knocked out with Aiden standing in middle holding a sword and a hall full of adventurers too stunned to speak. Chapter 163 157: Ch-157 Depth Of Power "So that''s what happened," Aiden explained to Belle, hoping to prove his innocence. Belle felt her headache from earlier, getting even more intense hearing about the situation. First it was the upcoming threat of the trumpet of death, and now a kid is beating up two adventurers in broad daylight. While she initially wanted to scold him for his reckless actions, she couldn''t deny the palpable amount of power and mana emanating from him. It felt incredibly warm and pure and, in a way, reminded her of the priests of the Church of Light. ''Could the boy have a connection to them?'' she wondered. Also, while it might just be her reaching, the events of today reminded her of the day Edge Lord showed up. While his strength and talent were nowhere near those of Edgeord, at least in terms of mana,. One had to keep in mind that the boy in front of her was less than half his age. So it wasn''t exactly a fair comparison in the first place. But that raised a question about how exactly a kid like him got his hands on such power in the first place. ''How curious'' Momentarily, she found her curiosity growing, and a desire to learn more about the boy had grown inside her. But just when she was lost in thought, a voice called out. "Uhh miss?" Aiden called out, confused by Belle''s seeming unresponsiveness. "Oh, I''m sorry," Belle exclaimed, recognising her mistake. It seems she let her curiosity get the better of her momentarily. But she quickly composed herself, thanks to her years of experience, and returned to her formal work tone. Letting the issue of an upcoming disaster sit near the back of her head. After all, she couldn''t let the adventurers know about the upcoming disaster about to hit their hometown. At least until they reach a decision in tomorrow''s meeting. "So, from what I''m understanding, you want to become an adventurer?" Belle inquired carefully, ensuring that she wasn''t misunderstanding what she had heard. "Yes," Aiden replied. "I understand. Follow me." Belle decided to not annoy the poor boy about his age anymore than the crude adventurers around them had already done. While she did have a lot of questions and concerns about the kids age, it wasn''t part of her job to worry about them. Just like with Jasmine and William all those months ago. Belle lead Aiden underground. A bunch of adventurers also followed them underground, curious about the depths of the little kids power. As all of them stepped inside, the underground was the same as it had been all those months ago. A plain white room devoid of any distractions, with seats for spectators arranged in a corner. As all the spectators took their respective seats. Belle and Aiden stood in the middle, awaiting his choice. "What level would you like to challenge?" She had already explained all the different difficulty levels to him and what the maximum level was. And for some weird reason, she felt like she already knew what he was going to choose, but still, following proper guild protocol, she waited for his answer. "B rank" Aiden replied confidently. Murmurs of shock filled the stance, with many people criticising the boy for his overconfidence. But Aiden didn''t seem to mind, and Belle also didn''t seem surprised, as if already expecting his choice. "I understand," Belle said as a tiny, palm-sized metal cube appeared in her hands. She placed the metal cube on the ground, around 100 metres away from Aiden. It expanded in size until it towered over both Aiden and Belle. As the outer covering of the cube came undone. A mud-coloured alligator about the size of a truck became visible. It''s body was still trapped behind bars, but through the bars, one could see its tail, which had a green snake head coming out of its tip. Even with the monster still trapped, it gnarled aggressively as Drool fell into its cage. It emanated a disgusting, nose-curling smell, which forced one to involuntarily crunch their nose. Aiden seemed to have a similar reaction, with his lips twitching and his nose wincing. But he still remained calm, waiting for Belle to introduce it. "The Mudstench Gator is a B-rank monster usually found near swamps in close proximity to neutral continents." "It uses poison and earth element powers to hunt its prey," Belle introduced methodically, her face showing not even a tinge of emotion, as if not minding the disgusting stench of the creature. "Are you sure about your choice? If you get hurt during the test, the guild won''t be held responsible for the damage" she asked one last time. "Yes, I am" Aiden replied, his lips slightly curling into a smirk with his back held straight and his body expressing pure confidence in his ability. "I understand, and good luck, brave aspiring adventurer," Belle said with a small bow as she took her leave to join the spectator. Once she had left the area, a bright golden dome erupted around the whole field, encasing both the monster and alligator in a dome meant for fighting without escape. While Belle''s expression showed no change inwardly, she was happy that the boy had chosen the B rank test as it would allow her to better satiate her curiosity and gain a better understanding of his powers. Belle took her seat and moved her attention towards the incoming fight. The cage trapping the gator till now finally came undone, allowing it to finally escape its clutches and hunt like it once did. ** _________________________________________ Quest Name: Maximum Difficulty Quest Details: Choose and clear the highest possible level in the Adventurers Test. Quest Type: Sub Quest limit: 10 minutes Quest rewards: +20 stat points in all variable stats. _________________________________________ Aiden smirked at seeing the small system pop up in front of him. He already knew that this was going to happen, which is why he had chosen the highest possible difficulty. And his guess seemed to have been correct. As long as he could defeat the monster in front of him, he would be able to get stronger. ''This should be fun,'' he thought, excited. While there was a part of him that was a bit worried due to the gator looking pretty formidable, he was also excited, as it would give him a chance to go all out for the first time in months. Seeing him not move, the gator used the opportunity and fired mud from its mouth. The ball of mud flew through the air at a rapid pace towards Aiden, promising to break his bone if it made contact. But just when it was mere metres away from his face, Aiden performed a perfectly timed side step to the left, easily dodging the attack. As soon as he had dodged the attack, he activated his [fireball] skill and sent a hot, palm-sized ball of fire towards the monster. But just when it was about to make contact and burn it, a sturdy wall of stone appeared in front of it. Booom~ A small explosion occurred, the earth wall shattered, and a cloud of dust and smoke formed. And when it dissipated, the wall formed by the gator was no more, but it had already done its job, as evident by the completely unharmed gator standing in the same spot it was at the start of the fight. Like that, the first exchange of the fight was over. Both sides were unable to damage each other, but that was just because the fight was just starting, with barely a few seconds having passed since the battle started. Not wanting to get close to the gator due to its terrible stench, Aiden resorted to another one of his long-ranged skills, this time opting for. [Metel Spears] Around five long spears made of metal manifested behind Aiden, and on his command, they charged forward at breakneck speed. But this time he wasn''t just going to use one skill, as he knew it would just be stopped by the earth wall from last time. So he used a skill that had saved his life multiple times over the past few months [Impact Increase]. It was a relatively simple skill and allowed him to increase the power of his attack. And yet, it was the simple nature of the skill that made it so reliable for him. With the power of his spears amplified, he was certain they''d be able to easily penetrate the annoying earth wall from earlier and even damage the gator. As if knowing that its earth wall was going to be useless, the monster didn''t try to use it, instead resorting to going underground. In less than an eye blink, the gator was underground, hidden from sight. The amplified metal spears made contact with the place the monster had once been and managed to completely wreck the place. Boom~ Despite the attack having hit its mark, it was unable to do as much damage to the gator as Aiden had hoped. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In fact, it had made the situation worse. With the gator now underground, there was no way to know where it would attack from. Causing a tense silence to fall in the basement as everyone anticipated the crafty beasts next attack. Chapter 164 158: Ch-158 Please Skip This Chapter "So that''s what happened," Aiden explained to Belle, hoping to prove his innocence. Belle felt her headache from earlier, getting even more intense hearing about the situation. First it was the upcoming threat of the trumpet of death, and now a kid is beating up two adventurers in broad daylight. While she initially wanted to scold him for his reckless actions, she couldn''t deny the palpable amount of power and mana emanating from him. It felt incredibly warm and pure and, in a way, reminded her of the priests of the Church of Light. ''Could the boy have a connection to them?'' she wondered. Also, while it might just be her reaching, the events of today reminded her of the day Edge Lord showed up. While his strength and talent were nowhere near those of Edgeord, at least in terms of mana,. One had to keep in mind that the boy in front of her was less than half his age. So it wasn''t exactly a fair comparison in the first place. But that raised a question about how exactly a kid like him got his hands on such power in the first place. ''How curious'' Momentarily, she found her curiosity growing, and a desire to learn more about the boy had grown inside her. But just when she was lost in thought, a voice called out. "Uhh miss?" Aiden called out, confused by Belle''s seeming unresponsiveness. "Oh, I''m sorry," Belle exclaimed, recognising her mistake. It seems she let her curiosity get the better of her momentarily. But she quickly composed herself, thanks to her years of experience, and returned to her formal work tone. Letting the issue of an upcoming disaster sit near the back of her head. After all, she couldn''t let the adventurers know about the upcoming disaster about to hit their hometown. At least until they reach a decision in tomorrow''s meeting. "So, from what I''m understanding, you want to become an adventurer?" Belle inquired carefully, ensuring that she wasn''t misunderstanding what she had heard. "Yes," Aiden replied. "I understand. Follow me." Belle decided to not annoy the poor boy about his age anymore than the crude adventurers around them had already done. While she did have a lot of questions and concerns about the kids age, it wasn''t part of her job to worry about them. Just like with Jasmine and William all those months ago. Belle lead Aiden underground. A bunch of adventurers also followed them underground, curious about the depths of the little kids power. As all of them stepped inside, the underground was the same as it had been all those months ago. A plain white room devoid of any distractions, with seats for spectators arranged in a corner. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As all the spectators took their respective seats. Belle and Aiden stood in the middle, awaiting his choice. "What level would you like to challenge?" She had already explained all the different difficulty levels to him and what the maximum level was. And for some weird reason, she felt like she already knew what he was going to choose, but still, following proper guild protocol, she waited for his answer. "B rank" Aiden replied confidently. Murmurs of shock filled the stance, with many people criticising the boy for his overconfidence. But Aiden didn''t seem to mind, and Belle also didn''t seem surprised, as if already expecting his choice. "I understand," Belle said as a tiny, palm-sized metal cube appeared in her hands. She placed the metal cube on the ground, around 100 metres away from Aiden. It expanded in size until it towered over both Aiden and Belle. As the outer covering of the cube came undone. A mud-coloured alligator about the size of a truck became visible. It''s body was still trapped behind bars, but through the bars, one could see its tail, which had a green snake head coming out of its tip. Even with the monster still trapped, it gnarled aggressively as Drool fell into its cage. It emanated a disgusting, nose-curling smell, which forced one to involuntarily crunch their nose. Aiden seemed to have a similar reaction, with his lips twitching and his nose wincing. But he still remained calm, waiting for Belle to introduce it. "The Mudstench Gator is a B-rank monster usually found near swamps in close proximity to neutral continents." "It uses poison and earth element powers to hunt its prey," Belle introduced methodically, her face showing not even a tinge of emotion, as if not minding the disgusting stench of the creature. "Are you sure about your choice? If you get hurt during the test, the guild won''t be held responsible for the damage" she asked one last time. "Yes, I am" Aiden replied, his lips slightly curling into a smirk with his back held straight and his body expressing pure confidence in his ability. "I understand, and good luck, brave aspiring adventurer," Belle said with a small bow as she took her leave to join the spectator. Once she had left the area, a bright golden dome erupted around the whole field, encasing both the monster and alligator in a dome meant for fighting without escape. While Belle''s expression showed no change inwardly, she was happy that the boy had chosen the B rank test as it would allow her to better satiate her curiosity and gain a better understanding of his powers. Belle took her seat and moved her attention towards the incoming fight. The cage trapping the gator till now finally came undone, allowing it to finally escape its clutches and hunt like it once did. ** _________________________________________ Quest Name: Maximum Difficulty Quest Details: Choose and clear the highest possible level in the Adventurers Test. Quest Type: Sub Quest limit: 10 minutes Quest rewards: +20 stat points in all variable stats. _________________________________________ Aiden smirked at seeing the small system pop up in front of him. He already knew that this was going to happen, which is why he had chosen the highest possible difficulty. And his guess seemed to have been correct. As long as he could defeat the monster in front of him, he would be able to get stronger. ''This should be fun,'' he thought, excited. While there was a part of him that was a bit worried due to the gator looking pretty formidable, he was also excited, as it would give him a chance to go all out for the first time in months. Seeing him not move, the gator used the opportunity and fired mud from its mouth. The ball of mud flew through the air at a rapid pace towards Aiden, promising to break his bone if it made contact. But just when it was mere metres away from his face, Aiden performed a perfectly timed side step to the left, easily dodging the attack. As soon as he had dodged the attack, he activated his [fireball] skill and sent a hot, palm-sized ball of fire towards the monster. But just when it was about to make contact and burn it, a sturdy wall of stone appeared in front of it. Booom~ A small explosion occurred, the earth wall shattered, and a cloud of dust and smoke formed. And when it dissipated, the wall formed by the gator was no more, but it had already done its job, as evident by the completely unharmed gator standing in the same spot it was at the start of the fight. Like that, the first exchange of the fight was over. Both sides were unable to damage each other, but that was just because the fight was just starting, with barely a few seconds having passed since the battle started. Not wanting to get close to the gator due to its terrible stench, Aiden resorted to another one of his long-ranged skills, this time opting for. [Metel Spears] Around five long spears made of metal manifested behind Aiden, and on his command, they charged forward at breakneck speed. But this time he wasn''t just going to use one skill, as he knew it would just be stopped by the earth wall from last time. So he used a skill that had saved his life multiple times over the past few months [Impact Increase]. It was a relatively simple skill and allowed him to increase the power of his attack. And yet, it was the simple nature of the skill that made it so reliable for him. With the power of his spears amplified, he was certain they''d be able to easily penetrate the annoying earth wall from earlier and even damage the gator. As if knowing that its earth wall was going to be useless, the monster didn''t try to use it, instead resorting to going underground. In less than an eye blink, the gator was underground, hidden from sight. The amplified metal spears made contact with the place the monster had once been and managed to completely wreck the place. Boom~ Despite the attack having hit its mark, it was unable to do as much damage to the gator as Aiden had hoped. In fact, it had made the situation worse. With the gator now underground, there was no way to know where it would attack from. Causing a tense silence to fall in the basement as everyone anticipated the crafty beasts next attack. Agh Chapter 165 159: Ch-159 Those Eyes Are Unmistakable The air was pregnant with a tense and uncertain atmosphere as everyone held their breath, awaiting the gator monster. ''This is a bit tougher than expected'' Aiden thought, but despite the tense atmosphere and precarious situation, he couldn''t help the smile creeping up on his face. After all, this is exactly what he had been waiting for. A chance to go all out. Activating [Beast Eyes] His previously green irises became yellow, and his pupils became wide. With this skill, Aiden could easily follow the movement of his target. Using his skills, Aiden was finally able to trace where the gator was underground. Sadly, it was already too late. The ground directly under him became muddy, and his feet started slowly sinking into the ground. Before long, Aiden was trapped with his feet stuck in the ground. All the spectators were worried for the kid, thinking the fight was about to end with the kid dying. Within moments, the gator was about to attack, and with his feet still stuck, he would be defenseless. And yet, despite the precarious situation, Aiden didn''t look worried. Maybe it was a bluff, or he really did have something under his sleeve; it was hard to tell. As expected, the gator jumped out from behind him with its jaw wide open, ready to bite Aiden''s head off. A few of the spectators closed their eyes, not wanting to see the gruesome sight that was about to greet them. But for everyone else who was closely paying attention to the fight, they could see a smile appear on Aiden''s face as he muttered. "[Power Boost]" A surge of power flowed through Aiden as he felt all his stats rapidly rise. His previously impressive golden mana got even more intense and stronger. Catching everyone by surprise. And through the use of brute strength, he broke free of the ground, trapping his legs by breaking it with force, and rushed towards the gator, catching it by surprise. He was like a blur in the air, causing many people to not be able to keep track, and just when he was mere inches away from the jaws of death. A finely crafted, thin silver sword manifested into his hands out of thin air. Firmly wielding it in his hand, the sword clashed with the gators fangs. Crunch~ The gator tried to crush the sword by closing its fangs. But the sharp, solid steel didn''t break under the fangs. Instead, both the boy and the monster were stuck in a dead lock, fighting for their lives. Gone was the need for technique or skill, and this was now just a battle of pure brute force, with both fighters lives depending on who could overpower the other first. Despite Aiden''s now superior stats, he was having trouble contesting due to his small body. It was only a matter of time until his sword was broken and his arm was bitten. Many of the keen and experienced adventurers were able to pick up on this and wanted to get the fight stopped. But just when all hope looked lost, Aiden activated another skill. [Impact Increase] With [Power Boost] raising his stats as well as [Impact Increase] increasing the power of his slash,. His power had entered a league of its own, allowing him to break the tough steel like the fangs of the monster. With the fangs no longer stopping the sword, Aiden was able to cleanly cut the beast in half with a single, well-executed circular motion. As the perfectly cut body of the gator fell to the ground,. A silence took over the basement. [Ding! Quest Successfully Cleared] A notification informed him of his victory, causing Aiden to smile at his achievement and allocate his new stats. --------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God: Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9020 Strength:2490 Agility:2150-->2170 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity of Heart], [Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of Light], [Light Ray], [Stone Canon], [Water Slash], [Metal Spears], [Earth Wall], [Power Rise], [Eyes of a Beast], [Water Bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-), Rebound Art (Intermediate+), Quick Steps (Intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- With his stats allocated, Aiden turned towards his audience as the golden barrier separating him from the outside world came undone. "I hope this proves my competence" He spoke in a clear and well-paced voice, making sure his words were clearly heard and understood. Almost as if waiting for his words, the crowd erupted into cheers and ran down from their seats towards him. Aiden was a bit startled to see the adventurers rushing towards him, and a part of him almost thought he was about to get attacked. But he knew that wasn''t the case, so he didn''t overreact. Once the adventures were upon him, he expected to be congratulated or questioned about his powers. But to his surprise, that didn''t happen. And instead, in less than a single moment, he found himself ascending in the air. ''What?'' Aiden wondered, confused. But he didn''t have time to think as gravity did its magic and he started falling back down. Growing tense, he prepared to land, but looking down, he soon found there to be no need. Multiple hands were already down there, waiting to catch him. Once he made contact with them, he once again found himself in the air. And this time, he was able to hear what they were saying. "Congratulations, little man" "Sorry for doubting you." "You''re really talented." "Now that you''re one of us, we''ll take good care of you." Multiple cheers of excitement could he hear from the adventurers. Allowing the initial poor and unsavoury impression that Aiden had of them to change into something much more accurate and pleasant. Finally, a bright smile found its way onto his cute face as he joined in the laughter. During this moment, he couldn''t help but think. ''Being acknowledged feels good'' ** Finally, with the commotion downstairs quietening and Aiden''s skills proven, the only thing left to do was register him as a proper adventurer. Word of the young boys achievement spread like wildfire in the establishment. Many of them wanted to talk to the young prodigy and establish connections with him. But their attempts were temporarily halted by Belle. "Alright, everyone, save your questions and greetings for later; let me officially register the boy first." Aiden and Belle made their way towards her desk. Belle took out the same machine from last time and asked. "Wait, before we start, what would you like your nickname to be?" she asked. Hearing her questions, everyone''s ears perked up as they awaited Aiden''s answer. As for Aiden himself, he seemed to be in deep thought, seemingly unaware of the need for a nickname. He thought for a few minutes, with the audience slowly losing their patience. Honestly, he could have chosen a completely random name, as it wouldn''t have mattered that much either way. But he wanted his nickname to be something that represented him and gave hope to those who were troubled. And eventually, he finally had an answer. "Lightseeker" he announced proudly, having made up his mind. ** Many miles away from Markwhelter Kingdom in seemingly random locations. A wild and intense chilling blizzard covered the sun and sky. Long and towering snow mountains pierced the sky. Pained growls and screams could be heard from miles away. Before a loud, resounding thud fell,. Silencing all activity in the area. Moving closer to the source and much deeper into the mountains. A bone-chilling sight awaited the eye. Gruesome monster corpses numbering in the thousands lied lifelessly on the ground The corpses were piled on a tall, menacing mountain. The mountain of corpses was comprised of all sorts of different monsters. Their blood made the once pretty snow-covered ground white. Traces of all sorts of different spells were visible in the area. The whole area is in ruins due to the fearsome clash. Looking past the terrible, mangled, and destroyed state of the corpses if one looked closely. They would be able to notice how all the corpses belonged to monsters ranging from C to A rank. But one didn''t have the time to look at the corpses, as atop the mountain of corpses sat a truly terrifying presence. Mana seemed to quiver and tremble in his presence, excitedly awaiting his command. Due to the snowstorm, it was hard to see the figure clearly. But those with skills assisting in vision would be able to witness the young body of the terrifying perpetrator. He was sitting bare-chested, a truly harrowing sight considering his chilling environment. But perhaps more chilling than the atmosphere was the sight of his bare back covered to the brim with all of his bruises, cuts, and injuries. And yet, despite the injuries, his back stood tall, refusing to bend. His long white hair, which seemed to perfectly complement the snow around him, fell below his back. Due to their long and unkept stature over the past months. But more striking than that were his red eyes. Those eyes were unmistakable. In a quiet and chilling voice, the boy announced. "I am ready." Chapter 166 160: ch-160 What Hes Been Upto Just when belle was worrying about the issue of the trumpet of death on their hands she was distracted by a commotion outside. As she got up from her desk to go outside she made sure to grumble a little even if no one could hear her. "Ugh when will these guys stop being so annoying?" As she got out of her office before she could say anything she was left stunned. A young black haired kid stood in silence holding a sword as two drunk much older adventurers were lying on the floor around him. Everyone in the hall looked too stunned to speak. Which added to Belle''s confusion in the end she could only ask a single question. "What happened here?" ** It had now been a few months since Aiden had awakened and got his system. After months of contast struggle and adventures most of them forced upon by the system in the form of quests. Aiden had experienced rapid and explosive growth that would leave anyone who learned of it jealous. Despite his young age he had more battle experience and power than the average adult. For the past few months his life had been nothing short of a constant rollercoaster. Ranging from hunting monsters, catching criminals, illegally leaving his home planet Morgov and entering Astressa doe to not having enough money to afford proper entry. A lot had happened over the months and it all led to this moment. The adventurer guild the whole reason behind his whole adventure. It all started because of a single quest to achieve the status of S rank adventurer in Markwhelter. Even though he hadn''t actually completed the quest he couldn''t help but get emotional at the sight of the building. Before entering he decided to take a proper look at how status as he hadn''t had the opportunity to do it past few months. "Status" ---------------------------------------------------------- Name:Aiden Lunar Race:Human Age:10 Sponsor God:Goddess of Light Level:24(32%) Aspect: Martial Blade God (Tier V) 1st Ascension [Variable Stats] Battle Force:9000 Strength:2490 Agility:2150 Endurance:1900 Vitality:2400 Intelligence:1450 [Invariable Stats] Mana:D- Charm:D Luck:B- Resistance:D+ Skills: [Passive Skills]¡ª[Strong Mind], [Appraisal], [Purity Of Heart],[Combat Style] [Active Skills]¡ª[Circulation of Light], [Light Railgun], [Accelerate], [Heavy Impact], [Fire Storm], [Swords of light], [Light ray], [Stone canon], [water slash], [Metal spears], [Earth Wall], [Power rise], [Eyes of a beast], [water bullet], [Dodge], [impact increase] [Click to view more¡ý¡ý] Masteries: Flame Sword Style (Advanced-) , Rebound Art(Intermediate+), Quick Steps(intermediate-) Elemental Affinities:- [Basic Elements] 1.Fire(96%) 2.Earth(87%) 3.Water(45%) 4.Wind(25%) [Deviant Elements] 1.Metal(92%) 2.Light(100%) 3.Magma(34%) Host Exclusive Perks 1. Inventory (56/100) [Click to view more] 2. Shop (unlocked) [click to view more ¡ý¡ý] 3.Quests [click to view more¡ý¡ý] 4. Host Protection Protocol (cooldown: 100 years) 5.Auto Kill ----------------------------------------------------------- "Wow I''ve grown a lot" Aiden exclaimed impressed by how much he had grown over the past months. And all of it was thanks to him completing all sorts of different quests given to him by the system. He had almost died because of them on multiple occasions but he somehow managed to survive every time and the reward in the end always justified the risk he took. If he ever told anyone how much he had grown in less than year he was sure they would end up coughing blood. After all he doubted anyone other than him had been able to grow so fast in such a short period of time. But aside from just the massive Increase in stats perhaps the most shocking thing was the astounding number of skills he possesed Before he could never have even dreamed about getting a new skill simply due to how absurdly expensive they were. For most people in the world the only way to gain skills was by awakening with them or risking their life in dungeons to get them. As it was simply impossible for the average person to even dream of buying a skill. And yet Aiden now possessed more than 10 unique skills. It was a little absurd to him but all of it was thanks to his system shop which allowed him to buy all sorts of different skills and items. Initially when he had seen his flaw of being unable to learn spells he was a bit worried but his worries ended up being for nought. As even if he couldn''t learn spells nothing was stopping him from buying and learning skills similar to spells front he system store. On his long journey he had also traced all sorts of different weapons thanks to his aspect. Allowing him to now be confident to be able to handle no matter what the guild threw at him. As he entered her was greeted by a very lively atmosphere. But for some reason his appearance drew a lot of attention. ''Ah right my age'' This was bound to happen he was only 10 and didn''t have a way to mask his age. So adventurers probably just thought he was a child who accidentally wandered into the guild hall. "Hello kid" He was greeted by a middle aged man who had a warm expression on his face. "Hello uncle" Aiden replied trying his best to not be disrespectful. "What are you doing here kiddo" "Do you perhaps have a parent in the guild?" the man asked. Aiden looked confused at the question and doubted the man''s intelligence. There was only one reason someone like him would come to the guild. "Ah " the man exclaimed. "If you''re here to register a quest you''re in the wrong building you need to go to another mission registration office a few blocks away from here" "Come I''ll guide you" the man offered to help. He attempted to grab Aidens hand but his attempt was thwarted by him dodging the hand. While Aiden failed to detect any malice from the man he couldn''t help but get annoyed by him. "What''s wrong?" the man asked in genuine confusion. "I appreciate the gesture but I''m here to register as a adventurer" Aiden explained himself. His words caught everyone in the hall by surprise. Before loud laughter echoed in the hall as the adventurers mocke him. "Even little kids think they can become adventurers now" "What next he''s gonna go to neutral continent to slay dragons? " "Kid go back to your mommy" "You''re atleast 20 years too young to be here" "God this is so hilarious" "He''s still wet behind his ears" All sorts of insults and mockery fell on Aiden by the crude adventurers. He was left completely stunned as this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this. While h was able to ignore the comments the few about his parents were hard to ignore. A part of him just wanted to beat up the crude adventurers who had made the comments. "Oi kid is this enough for you?" The middle aged man from earlier asked. "I was trying to save you the humiliation but you couldn''t catch the hint" "But take my word for it becoming a adventurer isn''t a easy job and death lingers at every corner" "I''m sure you must have a warped sense of the profession due to the romanticized story books" "There''s no need to stupidly throw away your lfe instead go home and change your dreams if not train for a few years before trying again" Aiden sighed as he calmed down hearing the mans words. Thanks to his words he was able to remember that most of the adventurers here wwere good people and didn''t have bad intentions so there was no need for him to beat them up. But that didn''t mean he was just going to let them walk all over him. Maintaining a calm smile he muttered. "I really appreciate the concern but there is no need to worry about my safety I''m stronger than most of you here" Before any of the adventurers could get offended a bright sun like warm golden man engulfed the whole. The whole surroundings trembled. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The surroundings around him quacked. And all the adventurers in the whole were left stunned. They couldn''t believe the fact that a mere child could possess such power. And while no one wanted to admit a lot of them could tell that the power the boy possessed triumphed their own. "I hope that resolves my worth in taking the test" Aiden said hoping to have calmes the situation down but his words had the opposite effect. As two intoxicated adventurers jumped down and stood in front of Aiden as if challenging him to a duel. "Kid you might be a bit powerful but you should learn to respect your elders" one of them spoke. As they released their own mana which while not as impressive as Aidens was still impressive in its own right. They hoped to have intimidated him with this but their actions had the opposite effect. As Aiden retorted. "If you want my respect earn it" Obviously the adventurers were enraged by his words and attempted to attack him but before any of them could figure out their situation. They were on the ground knocked out with Aiden standing in middle holding a sword and a hall full of adventurers too stunned to speak. Ghl